Over a hundred Cultivators could be seen up ahead, fleeing for their lives toward the Underground Palace.
Every one of them was injured, their clothes in tatters. The dignified air befitting elites at Qi Cultivation Perfection had vanished, replaced by faces etched with despair and terror.
The cause of their panic was a great army in relentless pursuit.
It too was an army of over a hundred Cultivators, but their condition was utterly bizarre.
Their faces were devoid of expression, their eyes so cold they no longer seemed human. A faint, dark cyan ring of Divine Dao Spiritual Light flickered around each of their necks.
Most chilling of all, flanking these Cultivators were hundreds of Demon Beasts at Late-stage Qi Cultivation!
Vibrantly-striped tigers, bizarre winged serpents, and even towering, brutish apes.
These monstrosities, which should have been tearing each other apart, now moved like a highly disciplined Imperial Guard, keeping in perfect step with the hundred Cultivators as they advanced and retreated.
Magic Techniques and Demon Techniques wove through the air, and each volley claimed the lives of several more of the fleeing Cultivators.
"This... is this some kind of infighting?"
The young Cultivator stared, dumbfounded, his voice trembling. "But... how are those Demon Beasts obeying them? What kind of Beast Taming Skill in this Secret Realm can control so many monstrosities at Qi Cultivation Perfection?"
A name flashed through Xia Xing’s mind. He gritted his teeth. "It’s not infighting, it’s enslavement! I think I’ve heard rumors about someone in here... taming people."
Within moments, the hundred or so fleeing Cultivators had reached the ruins at the periphery of the Underground Palace.
The thousand-plus Cultivators already stationed there, all vying for territory, immediately became hostile.
Countless Dharma Artifacts rose into the air, shimmering with Spiritual Light. Some were already preparing to strike first, intending to block this group of unknown origin from getting any closer.
"Don’t attack, everyone! Something terrible has happened!"
The Cultivator at the head of the group let out a bloodcurdling shriek. Half his shoulder had been torn away by claws, and his voice was so hoarse it was barely recognizable. "Help! The people behind us... those Cultivators, it’s like they’re possessed! They’ve allied with Demon Beasts and are killing everyone on sight!"
"We have to work together, or none of us will make it out alive!"
Before he could finish, the pursuing Demon Beast Swarm was upon them.
ROAR—!
A green-furred brutish ape at Qi Cultivation Perfection leaped from the swarm, crashing down onto the rubble before the Underground Palace’s entrance. The sheer force of the impact obliterated two Loose Cultivators who couldn’t get out of the way in time.
Perched on the ape’s shoulder, a Cultivator with a Cyan Talisman around his neck watched with a cold gaze. With a flick of his fingers, several vicious streaks of dark light shot toward the vital points of the people nearby.
"They’re insane! Absolutely insane!"
The Cultivators around Xia Xing cried out in terror and scattered.
The once relatively orderly safe zone collapsed in an instant.
"Formations! Defend!"
Amidst the ruins, some of the elites from the Great Prefecture Cities reacted with incredible speed, beginning to rally others to mount a defense.
But against this bizarre army—a fusion of man and beast, empowered by Divine Dao Authority—their hastily formed defensive line looked ready to crumble at any moment.
In an instant, blood stained the yellow soil of Lingma Mountain red.
And yet, in the clear zone spanning hundreds of feet around the Underground Palace’s entrance, the thrum of Spiritual Power, as heavy as lead and mercury, remained steady.
「Deep within the Underground Palace.」
Amid the deafening sounds of slaughter outside, Chu Bai slowly opened his eyes.
He cared little for the morals or conflicts of the outside world. However, the thick stench of blood and the fluctuations of the Earth Vein—forcibly twisted by Divine Dao Authority—had finally reached his senses.
’Things have reached this point. It seems the ensuing slaughter is unavoidable...’
’But... why haven’t I sensed the location of the Celestial Ladder yet?’
Chu Bai rose to his feet, a flicker of doubt in his mind.
His Merit was now leagues ahead of everyone else. By all rights, he should have been able to sense the Celestial Ladder’s location by now.
Yet, even now, he felt nothing.
’He didn’t know if it was because the time wasn’t right, or because the Secret Realm was about to collapse.’
「Outside the Underground Palace.」
The sounds of slaughter shook the very heavens.
The army—composed of several hundred ferocious Demon Beasts and over a hundred Soulless Cultivators—was like a filthy mudslide, mercilessly crushing every defensive line on the outskirts of Lingma Mountain.
Limbs and bodies flew through the air. The cultivators, who had been struggling to survive this final stage, were torn to shreds by their former comrades or the rampaging monstrosities before they could even cry out in question.
And there, at the very heart of the chaotic swarm, atop the back of a vibrantly-striped tiger at Qi Cultivation Perfection, was the figure of Wuu Ziqing.
The moment he got a clear look, however, Xia Xing—hiding behind a pile of rubble—sucked in a sharp breath. A chill, as if he’d been plunged into an ice cellar, shot through him.
This Wuu Ziqing bore no resemblance to the peerless Crown Prince of Dayuan Prefecture.
He still sat ramrod straight, still commanded his beast in the hunt, but his eyes had lost all trace of reason. In their place burned two orbs of cold, greedy, dark-green Divine Fire.
The cyan Spiritual Light around his neck was no longer a mere accent; it had sunk deep into his flesh, from which wisps of eerie black Qi now seeped.
"A fine slave. A truly fine slave."
A voice—ancient, hoarse, and tinged with a slimy sort of praise—echoed across the battlefield.
The phantom of the Beastkeeping Commissioner had now condensed, appearing almost solid.
It sat cross-legged in the air above Wuu Ziqing’s head. With every crack of the Bone Whip in its hand, the Cultivators and Demon Beasts below descended into an even greater frenzy of slaughter.
Wuu Ziqing had thought he was the one who had mastered the Divine Dao Authority, that he could command men as if they were beasts. Now, he had become the Divine Spirit’s first tamed "beast leader."
Wuu Ziqing had granted it the authority to tame beasts, but what right did a mere Qi Cultivation Perfection cultivator have to command a True God, one who had languished for millennia?
To this Beastkeeping Commissioner, driven by its profound, lingering obsession, all living things were merely livestock.
Since Wuu Ziqing had willingly offered up the Divine Seal, it had simply accepted his "pledge of allegiance." And as a bonus, it refined the clever-for-nothing junior into a walking corpse.

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