Unfortunately, it was a fact that Li Ling was still a Path Walker, a disciple at the very bottom of the Six Paths Demon Sect hierarchy, akin to an outer sect disciple of any publicly recognized sect. As such, his usage rights of the Tianming Continent Teleportation Array Network were only slightly better than an outer sect disciple's of a mid ranked sect, allowing him to make fewer jumps than necessary and wait for a shorter period of time.

Don't look at how he got here in one go with Bai Ruyi, that was because the Saintess herself and a Nascent Soul Elder came to make the request, not to mention that even then, they still had to wait for a short while, which gave the duo of Elder Yan and Lin Yue time to rush over.

Checking the map of the continent's array network, Li Ling was shown the nearest locale he could teleport to, which was a demonic sect region belonging to the Hundred Ghosts Valley, a middle rank sect on par with Boundless Joy and Qing Shan.

From there, he would have to make four consecutive jumps until he reached his target destination, the Black Heaven Sect.

After making the selection and waiting in line, Li Ling finally had time to digest the details of the war he was about to take part in. The target this time was the Black Heaven Sect, a low level Demonic Sect with a Core Formation Ancestor that had been in the queue for being granted overlord rights of a prospective region.

They had come under a purchased Bill of Development from the Six Paths Demon Sect to develop a new area that was liberated through a war of conquest. This basically meant that they had purchased the right to develop the land as a form of tenancy, with the overall ownership still belonging to the Six Paths Demon Sect.

However, should they manage the region well and establish a stable cycle of growth for the mortals there, they could be granted regional hegemony and true ownership by the Six Paths Demon Sect after a short review.

Heh, who knew that the Black Heaven Sect had found the corpse of an Ascension Realm Flood Dragon that failed to survive the immortal tribulation and was killed, buried in the land many millennia ago. After finding this precious resource to both righteous and demonic factions, rather than report upward, they tried to conceal it, instead constantly pinging the Six Paths Demon Sect for ownership.

Unfortunately for them, they underestimated the stringent nature of the review from the Six Paths Demon Sect and the truth was found.

Now, the Black Heaven Sect was slated for extermination to serve as a warning for other vassals to see what happens when you let greed take over your senses.

The first thing the Six Paths Demon Sect did was to lock down the region, sealing all entrances and exits then blocking space transmissions. All those who had been in the territory were now stuck there, with the only option of fighting for their lives left for them to consider.

Just how the Six Paths Demon Sect liked it.

So the place Li Ling was going to was the temporary outpost of the Asura Blood Hall at the edge of the Black Heaven Sect territory, where he would take his dispatch and then head out to kill. It was not a complicated process at all, but what Li Ling did not expect was that on his third jump, he was seen by a group who had been waiting for him for a while.

As Li Ling idled around the hall, five people who were seated within a nearby Tea House with an upper floor restaurant were occasionally scanning the area around the teleportation network hall, and one of them happened to spot Li Ling.

"Huh? Hey guys, isn't that the Li Ling guy we are looking for?" Nan Shidao exclaimed as she pointed at Li Ling from their table in the restaurant.

The other four, Gu Yang, Shi Feng, Lu Kuangren and Luo Roumei, turned their heads over to look with differing expressions.

"Damn, finally! We've been stuck in this damned low level region for too long! Let's quickly capture him and take him back to the sect for judgment!" Gu Yang muttered irritably, almost rising to his feet on the spot.

Yet, his shoulder was held by another person, whose cultivation was slightly higher than his. "Junior Brother Gu, calm down. We have waited for only a few days, not nearly enough time to lose our patience like this."

Shi Feng, the one who held down Gu Yang, narrowed his eyes. "Besides, look closely at what he is wearing."

The group then noticed this and shared a collective frown of difficulty.

"Dammit, we must have miscalculated. How was he able to bypass us and get to the Tianmo Empire to join that damned demonic sect?" Lu Kuangren complained with a bitter expression.

"That no longer matters. What we have to decide now is whether we are still going to carry out our mission despite the greatly increased risks." Shi Feng stated calmly, looking at his team directly.

Lu Kuangren rolled his eyes but remained silent while Gu Yang had a deep scowl. As for Nan Shidao, she had a troubled yet deeply unwilling expression, voicing the thought in the hearts of the entire group.

"So because he is with the Six Paths Demon Sect, we are going to let him go after all he's done? Aren't we supposed to be righteous cultivators who decimate all evildoers on behalf of the heavens?"

Gu Yang shook his head irritably. "It's easy to spout such words, but can you be held accountable if the Six Paths Demon Sect decides to initiate a War of Annihilation on us because of this? They have destroyed countless sects stronger than ours many times before, we wouldn't even register in their thoughts."

Nan Shidao was left speechless by the rebuttal, unable to say anything to counter because she really did fear this. If not for this fear she and other lower tier righteous cultivators had, there wouldn't be a tenuous balance between righteous and demonic factions on the continent if just any righteous cultivator could touch the disciples of the number one demonic sect freely.

Before anyone could speak, Luo Roumei took charge with a soft yet grim tone. "It's okay. We will cease pursuit of Li Ling henceforth and report back to the sect. I will take responsibility for anything that happens."

The faces of the group shifted, Nan Shidao showing sadness, Lu Kuangren being despondent, Gu Yang looking ashamed yet defiant and Shi Feng calm and appreciative. Yet for all of them, there was a shameful feeling of relief from no longer having to deal with such a cruel monster anymore.

"What do you think the sect will do in response to his situation?" Nan Shidao couldn't help but ask now that they had decided not to take on this issue.

"Most likely mediation. We cannot afford to maintain enmity with him, so they will likely send an entourage to apologize and secure an understanding with him, probably through an oath path as that is the safest guarantee." Shi Feng replied calmly, seemingly bored.

"Eh? Then who will they send? And with what?" Lu Kuangren seemed interested by this and perked up.

Gu Yang glanced at Luo Roumei. "Likely Senior Sister will be sent, and with a Green Mountain Jade of the 4th grade at least."

Luo Roumei nodded. "I expect as much. I am still liable for the damage suffered at the number 9 marketplace and I have to atone somehow. Just coming back because he is now somewhat untouchable will not be enough to alleviate my crime, so what Junior Brother Shi and Junior Brother Gu speculated will come to pass."

Nan Shidao sighed. "That's so sad… I can't imagine how it feels to have to wear a smiling face towards such a beast that caused your, and so many others, great harm!"

Luo Roumei smiled gently, but it didn't reach her eyes. "This is what I should do. The responsibility is mine to bear and besides, can it be worse compared to Junior Sister Cai who lost her father and was almost savaged by a beast?"

This did silence the group, who realized that indeed, Luo Roumei had it easy from a certain point of view. Anyway, it was their sect that would foot the bill, as none of them were remotely worth any grade 4 item, especially not their sect's titular Green Mountain Jade which was a staple resource for artifact refining in the entire Tianming Continent.

The group decided to finish their meal and spend one more night here, leaving the area using the teleportation array tomorrow to avoid Li Ling for now.

But who decided that?

A hand was placed on the shoulder of Luo Roumei in the gentlest manner as a young man came to sit beside her, revealing it to be the amiably smiling Li Ling.

"What's up guys, how's everything going?" Li Ling asked politely, his hand still placed on Luo Roumei's shoulder, near her soft neck.

Meanwhile the group who had already decided to forget about this guy were completely caught off guard and flabbergasted. They firstly couldn't understand how he moved out of their sight and got here so fast that no one could react, and secondly how he avoided their spirit sense detection.

Even now, passing their spirit senses over him was as if going over a complete mortal with not a hint of cultivation, which was why they didn't feel any danger. However, they couldn't grasp how Li Ling could possibly achieve this at the lower realms, because only higher tier cultivators could easily block those weaker from sensing their auras.

Gu Yang was the first to react as his eyes flew open and he was about to stand up, reaching towards his storage pouch to take a weapon. "Li Ling! How dare you appear before-"

PSHT!

Gu Yang's words were cut off by the Blood Drinking Spear which lodged itself in his neck at a lightning fast speed, making use of Li Ling's Spear Will to perform maneuvers far more complex than what the Spirit Sense Control technique could achieve.

The young man's eyes widened with shock, never thinking that he would actually die here and certainly not today, in such a manner where he wasn't able to even take out his weapon. His eyes became glazed over in death as his life dissipated, his body becoming slack in his seat.

｢System Prompt: You have gained 50 Slaughter Points.｣

The pupils of the remaining four constricted greatly, their reaction incredibly intense in response to the murder. Shi Feng ducked to the ground and rolled, revealing a low grade Golden Blockade talisman which he activated around Nan Shidao.

This was just as well, because Nan Shidao who was about to scream in shock and horror did not see the Mountain Splitting Blade that had been zooming over from afar to take her head, but was blocked by the grade 2 talisman. No matter how powerful Li Ling's spirit sense and his Spirit Sense Control technique, in the end the weapon was merely peak grade 1, far inferior to anything at grade 2.

"Oh? Such combat sense?" Li Ling exclaimed with interest, using his hand to simply pinch the edge of the sword that Lu Kuangren furiously swung at him with his full cultivation imbued within.

The sword, which should have decapitated Li Ling and ended this conflict, was squarely held between his fingers that were coated with Blood Qi, though the density had reduced by nearly 70%. This alone wouldn't have been possible if not for his Azure Yang magic power being the main force behind the blockage, as his qi cultivation realm was superior to Lu Kuangren's.

Lu Kuangren's eyes were bloodshot with madness, the usual troublemaker now full of hatred at the loss of one of his apprentice brothers, only wanting to kill Li Ling to vent his hatred. However, his second blow was actually blocked by Luo Roumei who raised her hand to stop it.

"Calm down, Junior Brother Lu. Let us find a way to resolve this conflict outside of violence, for the sake of the sect and for the sake of our team." Luo Roumei said gently with a kind smile.

Yet that smile held more coldness and hatred than anything Lu Kuangren could muster.

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