The words spoken by Yanyan’s grandmother echoed to fill the entire sect.

Xu Qing didn’t say anything. The Captain and Third Elder Brother both looked at him. Second Elder Sister even stopped sending voice messages to do the same.

Master Seventh looked over his shoulder at Xu Qing, a look of praise on his face. “Well done. You’re just like me back in the day.”

Then he looked at his other three apprentices, frowning in frustration at how they continuously failed to live up to his expectations. That said, his gaze quickly omitted Second Sib, and focused mainly on Big Sib and Third Sib. After thinking about Third Sib for a moment, he ignored him and stared straight at the Captain.

“You could learn a thing or two from your Junior Brother!”

“If I looked like him, I’d be doing fine!” the Captain said gloomily. “Not even magical techniques can replicate little Ah Qing’s face!”

Far gloomier than the Captain, however, was Patriarch Soaring Cloud. As he hovered in the air above the sect, he glared at Guru Eastnether, his expression immeasurably unsightly. It was bad enough that Sir Bloodsmelter was protecting the scum who had harmed the interests of his sect. But it was completely unthinkable that Guru Eastnether, who had long ignored the outside world and never made alliances, was also doing the same thing. 𝗼𝐯𝐥.𝗻𝐭

Patriarch Soaring Cloud thought about how his grandson was injured, and might not even survive. He thought about the stolen life lamp, and he thought about how everything had gone wrong lately. Seven Blood Eyes now qualified to be a supervisory sect, and was clearly no weaker than any of the other top seven sects. All of it caused his eyes to become completely bloodshot. He knew that he couldn’t stop Seven Blood Eyes from becoming a supervisory sect.

After all, the Seven Sect Coalition was not run by any one particular sect. There were eight people on the senate: the president plus seven patriarchs and matriarchs. Although they had common interests, there was also friction between various members. Seven Blood Eyes was powerful, and now they had a taboo treasure. They didn’t just qualify to join the coalition, they would obviously be a force to be reckoned with.

Patriarch Soaring Cloud knew that the other members of the senate would approve of the change. In fact, thinking about everything Seven Blood Eyes had done to reach this point, he was convinced that they must have already made contact with people in the coalition, and earned their secret support.

Grinding his teeth, he said, “If you give us back our life lamp, then the Soaring Cloud Sword Sect will support you joining the coalition! If you don’t, then you’re responsible for the consequences! You have the power, Sir Bloodsmelter. You decide whether you’re our enemy or our friend!”

Patriarch Soaring Cloud raised his hand and pointed toward the sky. The sea of blood in the dome of heaven rumbled as it began to form a blood tree that could descend on Seven Blood Eyes in an instant. Great pressure suddenly weighed down on Seven Blood Eyes.

Sir Bloodsmelter chuckled darkly. “How amusing, Soaring Cloud. And how very sinister of you. You think I’m going to sacrifice one of my disciples’ interests to join the Seven Sect Coalition? If I did that, what would the other disciples think?

“Might they not wonder if I would sacrifice them later on, just to get ahead? And what would allies think? Might they not wonder if I would sacrifice them?to get ahead? How much face would I lose by doing that?

“Soaring Cloud, you vermin, such words are deplorable even for you. It seems to me you don’t believe that I really have a taboo treasure.”

Eyes hardening, Sir Bloodsmelter shoved out his right hand. As heaven and earth trembled, the patriarchs and matriarchs from the Seven Sect Coalition watched closely. In the Seazombie ancestral land, the huge bronze mirror rotated until it was facing Seven Blood Eyes. As it completely locked down onto Patriarch Soaring Cloud, one of the seven eyes hovering above the seven zombie ancestor statues snapped open.

The blood-red eye had no pupil. As soon as it opened, a sinister wind sprang up that seemed cold enough to freeze the nine heavens. As it enveloped Seven Blood Eyes, an image of Patriarch Soaring Cloud appeared within the mirror.

Patriarch Soaring Cloud’s face fell as an intense sensation of deadly crisis overwhelmed him. It had been many years since he had experienced any feeling like this. His flesh and blood quivered, his mind shook, and his life force screamed. It was like he was facing a deadly predator who held his life in its hand, and could easily rip out his soul. Sensing that death was coming for him, Patriarch Soaring Cloud unleashed the power of his cultivation base to fight back.

Simultaneously, a cold voice rang out from the bronze mirror.

“Capital punishment!”

In the mirror, the image of Patriarch Soaring Cloud twisted and distorted. A vicious expression appeared on his face, as though the image itself were a unique entity, and not the patriarch himself. A moment later it exploded.

The eye closed.

Meanwhile, back in Seven Blood Eyes, blood sprayed out of Patriarch Soaring Cloud’s mouth. He shook violently, and his facial expression matched the image of himself in the mist. Then he exploded in a cloud of blood.

Some distance away, he formed back again. This time, his face was pale, and his eyes seemed dull. His expression was one of complete disbelief.

The cold voice from the mirror echoed out again.

“Capital punishment failed. Initiating second capital punishment.”

Sir Bloodsmelter snarled and was about to make a move when the other six patriarchs and matriarchs from the Seven Sect Coalition moved to interfere. Before they could, Sir Bloodsmelter grinned viciously and shouted, “Taboo activate!”

Instantly, the seven zombie ancestor statues beneath the bronze mirror unleashed unrivaled energy and blood, causing the six eyes that had not yet opened, as well as the seventh eye that had just closed… to all open!!

The seven eyes released seven gazes that crossed the Forbidden Sea, entered Seven Blood Eyes, and locked onto the seven patriarchs and matriarchs! All of them trembled, and their faces fell.

All of a sudden, they realized that Seven Blood Eyes taboo treasure was a lot more gruish than they’d realized. It wasn’t the case that each eye could unleash capital punishment. Even if one of the eyes’ capital punishment failed, it would unleash another attack immediately. Clearly, the attacks could build on each other. In other words, even if someone got incredibly lucky and survived seven capital punishments, they would end up so injured they would be hovering on the brink of death. Even more relevant was that Seven Blood Eyes’ taboo treasure had ample power, such that no one knew how many times it could be used. It was a terrifying thing considering that the other sects’ taboo items could only be used once in a specified period of time. Although it was likely that Seven Blood Eyes’ taboo treasure also had some sort of cooldown period, none of them wanted to take a risk considering they didn’t know for sure.

All of these patriarchs and matriarchs had a sense of propriety, and thus, in that moment, the representatives from Spiritgloam Valley and the Heavenmirror Treasure Sect spoke.

“We propose to let Seven Blood Eyes join the coalition!”

“We second the motion!”

Although it seemed like their decision was made in the heat of the moment, Patriarch Soaring Cloud wasn’t convinced that was the case. He was thinking about back when he had activated his own taboo treasure to destroy the Young Arbiter Sect and intimidate Seven Blood Eyes.

During the middle of that event, Spiritgloam Valley and the Heavenmirror Treasure Sect had also activated their taboo treasures. After the event was over, he’d come to the conclusion it made sense given the circumstances. But now he realized that those two sects must have activated their taboo treasures just in case he didn’t follow the plan, and actually attacked Seven Blood Eyes. 1

They’ve been working together all along!?Patriarch Soaring Cloud thought, his face turned even paler.

The action taken by Spiritgloam Valley and the Heavenmirror Treasure Sect seemed to sway the other four.

Seeing that, Patriarch Soaring Cloud’s heart filled with grief. He wanted to do something, but the sensation of imminent death that filled him prevented him. Right now, maintaining face was more important than a life lamp. As the saying goes, if you ride a tiger, it’s hard to get off.

Around this time, a calm, ancient voice suddenly spoke from the dome of heaven.

“We’re all on the same side here. There’s no point in making such a big fuss over a simple misunderstanding.

“Fellow Daoist Soaring Cloud, please return to headquarters. And the rest of you Fellow Daoists do the same. Fellow Daoist Bloodsmelter, we welcome you to join the senate, and we are pleased to have Seven Blood Eyes as part of the coalition. Please come so that we can discuss the particulars of transporting your sect here.

“I hereby swear an oath, witnessed by all Revered Ancient, that the Seven Sect Coalition will be renamed the Eight Sect Coalition. What do you think, Fellow Daoist Bloodsmelter?”

High in the dome of heaven a face appeared, pulsing with spectacular energy, and causing crushing pressure to weigh down on the nine of the first stage Void Returning patriarchs. It didn’t affect any of the Seven Blood Eyes disciples. The face belonged to that of a middle-aged cultivator. He seemed scholarly, and lacked any sort of perverse energy. As he looked down at Sir Bloodsmelter, a second, slightly larger version of his face appeared and superimposed upon the first. Then a third, a fourth, and a fifth face appeared. Each one was larger than the one before it. More and more appeared, until they were impossible to count, and seemed to fill the entire sky above the continent of South Phoenix.

“Well met, President!”

“Well met, President!” All of the Seven Sect Coalition patriarchs and matriarchs looked sober as they clasped hands respectfully.

Xu Qing struggled to control his breathing, while the Captain stood next to him, his eyes shining. Further ahead, Master Seventh looked up and murmured, “This is the second stage of Void Returning. Transform 10,000 Veracities….”

Xu Qing gazed into the dome of heaven, his heart pounding, his eyes burning with a thirst to become stronger.

Meanwhile, Sir Bloodsmelter took a deep breath and clasped hands respectfully to show his agreement.

A moment later, the faces in the sky vanished. Looking very frustrated, Patriarch Soaring Cloud flicked his sleeve, picking up all of the trembling disciples of his sect, then becoming a bright beam of light that shot off into the distance.

The other sect patriarchs and matriarchs clasped hands to Sir Bloodsmelter and Guru Eastnether, and then some of them departed. One of them, a woman from the Dark Serenity Sect whose face it wasn’t possible to see clearly, smiled faintly as she looked down at the summit of the Seventh Peak. Then she left.

The matriarch and patriarch from Spiritgloam Valley and the Heavenmirror Treasure Sect chose not to leave. She was tender and delicate, he was burly with a big beard. Whether in terms of appearance or aura, both surpassed anything ordinary. Their eyes glittered, and they smiled as they looked at Sir Bloodsmelter and Guru Eastnether. Apparently, all of them were well-acquainted with each other. Now that everything had played out, there was no need for any of them to maintain appearances.

“We’ll be waiting for you in the coalition.”

“Welcome to the coalition, Bloodsmelter, old pal!”

Sir Bloodsmelter laughed heartily, and Guru Eastnether gave a faint smile. After reminiscing for a short time, the coalition representatives said their farewells and headed back to the mainland.

The outsiders were gone. Master Seventh had accepted a new apprentice. And now, Sir Bloodsmelter publicly announced the result of everything that had happened. Seven Blood Eyes was to join the Seven Sect Coalition, which would become the Eight Sect Coalition. They would move to the mainland in a matter of days.

All Seven Blood Eyes disciples were filled with excitement. And that excitement lasted for the seven or eight days that came after. The entire sect was bubbling with joy, and everyone was talking about things to come.

As for Xu Qing, things quickly calmed down. Though he was now the fourth highness from the Seventh Peak, he still had work to do acclimating to his second life lamp. The sect did not officially ask him any questions about that second lamp.

A few more days went by, and then another announcement was made.

In three days, a delegation led by Sir Bloodsmelter and Master Seventh would go to the Seven Sect Coalition in the Revered Ancient mainland. There, they would negotiate details about the upcoming move.

Moving an entire sect was no small affair, and would require a lot of give and take on both sides. Though Xu Qing wouldn’t participate in the actual negotiations, he was going to be part of the delegation. Also coming along were the Captain and Third Elder Brother. There were also highnesses from the other mountain peaks. The Seven Sect Coalition wasn’t going to act arrogant and overbearing. They would treat Seven Blood Eyes as equals, and would follow all of the prescribed formalities to welcome them.

***

In the last few years, Xu Qing hadn’t dreamed very much, but the day before leaving, he did.

He dreamed of being a child, back with his mother and father in the city where he was born. Back then, he wasn’t a street urchin. Back then, he had a happy family life. Back then, he had no idea how evil the world really was. In the dream, his parents’ faces were blurry. He tried hard to remember what they looked like, but their faces seemed lost in time. It had nothing to do with his cultivation base. It was just how life worked. That said, his older brother’s face was very clear.

He did have a brother. In the dream, he and his brother got along well. They grew older together, playing in the dirt, giggling and laughing, going to school together, and whispering to each other after lights out. However, in the dream, his brother’s face suddenly split apart in a very gruish fashion, revealing another face underneath. It was a cold face, with nefarious, evil eyes.

1. Spiritgloam Valley and the Heavenmirror Treasure Sect activated their taboo treasures in 👈