The cultivation master

The sect's matriarch did not know how to react. When she witnessed the death of the Dark King, fear gripped her entire being for a moment. The death of one of the heavenly kings in her sect signified a declaration of war against Paradise, and no one would dare commit such folly.

Suddenly, the Dark King's body collapsed before the matriarch's horrified eyes like molten tar, joining the shadows. The assassin stood on the rooftop, watching the scene with rage.

[Who the hell was that guy?! I'm sure I aimed for the sect's matriarch, so how did this happen...?]

Yet, killing one of the heavenly kings was not that simple, especially someone like the Dark King. He was a worldly man well aware of the darkness in the world. In fact, he had sensed the assassin's presence and intentions long ago, but to protect the sect's matriarch, he had drawn the dagger towards himself using spiritual threads.

At that very moment, he had employed an illusion technique to create a duplicate of himself and soared into the sky. All this happened with such speed that even a matriarch of her status did not notice.

This was the power of one of the heavenly kings.

Suddenly, a crushing presence filled the peak with dread. All the cultivators in the lower realms fell unconscious, while those in relatively higher realms knelt. A shadow cast over the moon, observing everything with its cold eyes.

Despite the full moon being close and massive, its grandeur paled in comparison to this being, which appeared as a dark blot against the moon's bright disc.

The sect's matriarch gazed in terror at the ominous shadow that resembled a grim reaper. Her mind went blank, and her eyes trembled. Such magnificence had only been inscribed in legendary texts. This level of power, this maddening authority, and this devastating rage had only been mentioned in myths from thousands of years ago.

Some remembered their childhood stories when they saw that vile shadow, and they all had one name in mind.

[The heavenly true demon venerable Bai Mo...]

But they were mistaken. This level of power was in no way comparable to the power of Bai Mo from that time. In fact, Bai Mo had become so powerful that no one could defeat him; no one except one—cyrus.

Nevertheless, the grandeur of the heavenly kings might not have been as strong against the prominent and legendary cultivators of ancient times, but they were nevertheless powerful enough to instill fear across the entire world.

The Dark King extended his hand towards the assassin and ensnared him using spiritual energy. The assassin struggled, but there was no escape from the heavenly king's grasp. The Dark King pulled him closer and asked in a deep voice, "Who are you? Why did you wish to kill the sect's matriarch?"

However, the assassin, having reached the end of the line, suddenly swelled in the head and exploded like a balloon before he could respond.

The heavenly king recognized the technique used: "Could it be ...?"

But he had no proof to confirm that the dark path had reentered the game. However, if they had truly arise, then everything would make sense.

[Perhaps I should continue this expedition longer to gather more evidence.]

He knew that moving the heavenly army would only be possible if all the kings agreed, but mobilizing the heavenly army was no trivial matter. The last time this army had moved was in ancient times, and if it were to march again, it would leave nothing but destruction and slaughter in its wake.

The Dark King pondered a bit longer and then turned to the balcony where the matriarch had been kneeling.

In a serious tone, the Dark King said, "We need to discuss something."

The matriarch, still trembling with fear, bowed in submission and followed the Dark King towards the main hall.

The Dark King sat on a wooden chair, observing the matriarch. The matriarch, unable to comprehend the situation, considered various possibilities, but none led to a conclusion.

The Dark King asked her, "Has your sect encountered anything strange recently? Unprecedented invasions or anything that could attract attention?"

The matriarch thought for a moment and replied, "There is one case. Recently, a titan was sighted in the Mist Sect mountains disrupting the old road's safety. We quietly eliminated that titan."

The Dark King stroked his chin and said, "Who went there? I want to speak with them."

"Unfortunately, the elders who went to deal with that creature haven't returned yet."

"How so? Did something happen?"

"Apparently, something caught their attention, and they are investigating it. They'll likely return in a few days."

"What was it? Do you have any information on it?"

"Um... I don't know much, but in a second contact with them recently, they mentioned finding a zombie slayer with an excessive death aura. They suspect he might be a zombie, so they are monitoring him..."

Upon hearing the name "zombie," the Dark King's eyes widened suddenly, and he asked, "Where did they see that person?"

"In the Mist Sect mountains..."

"Show me on the map."

The matriarch stood up and pointed to a spot on the map.

The Dark King, darkly, said, "Isn't that west of the Crimson Mountain? And from there to the city of Fei Yun... My God!"

He suddenly ordered, "Immediately tell those elders to bring that zombie slayer here! This is an order. Be cautious, as that person is extremely cunning. He must not sense any danger. Do not threaten him! Just bring him here! I need to interrogate him myself!"

The matriarch was surprised by the Dark King's reaction and tried to conceal her emotions.

"Your Majesty, what has unsettled you so much? Do you know that zombie slayer?"

The Dark King replied, "You've heard about the battle at the city of Fei Yun, right?"

"Yes, Your Majesty... That battle was the starting point of the series of battles between the semi-immortals of Murim."

"And you know that during that attack, the heavens became enraged..."

"Yes, my lord... I heard you and the other kings descended from paradise to calm the heavens."

"I'm sure you know what we did there, right?"

"You destroyed a zombie..."

"Ha ha ha! If only he were just a zombie. The truth is, we suppressed a will. That individual, when he fell into our trap, was not a zombie. We thought we could interrogate him, and we tried to capture him to take him to Paradise. However, he chose to zombify himself to evade death. You know that this forbidden art has been lost for years; even dark sorcerers who attempt to mimic that magic can at best create an empty shell using their willpower. But that individual was a true zombie. So, just by seeing that I can say he does not belong to this era..."

The matriarch's eyes widened in shock. She wanted to say something, but the Dark King's words were not finished.

"He zombified himself and chose to act against the heavenly will. In that situation, we had two options: either destroy him or let him surge as a variable in the chaotic world. That way, we could have a pretext to intervene in the world and suppress these rebellions."

"We gave him a chance to escape, momentarily loosening the chains, and then we obliterated the place with all our might. After we ascended, we expected the zombie to make his move, but unexpectedly, he showed no movement for three years. There were no signs of him anywhere in the world, and we searched the entire continent for any trace of him."

The matriarch fixed her gaze on the map and the Mist Sect Mountains: "And now, after three years, a zombie slayer with a death aura has appeared near that same area..."

Then she asked the Dark King: "Do you know which era that will belongs to?"

The Dark King replied, "It's not easy to guess because we haven't seen its martial arts; we only noticed it's using dark magic. Since it knows a spell like zombification, it has to be at least ten to twenty thousand years old; it might even date back to the era of anomalies..."

"It's a will, I'm sure of that; a will that should never have been revived, but now it has returned. Given that in the final moments before zombification, it denied the heavenly will and Dao, it must be a demonic cultivator. But there aren't many demonic cultivators capable of using both spiritual energy and magic."

"I searched through the surviving texts and scoured forgotten and unexplored cities. I tread through long-forgotten castles and deserts to find a name of a renowned demonic cultivator from that era, but most of them do not match these characteristics."

"But one day, unexpectedly, I stumbled upon a name in an ancient hideout located in a very large cave deep within a mountain in the Plain of Secrets. It horrified me and changed my decision."

"I saw a name that even heavenly demons or arch-demons fear to utter..."

The matriarch of the Moon Sect involuntarily muttered: "The heavenly true demon venerable Bai Mo..."

But the Dark King immediately interjected: "However, the likelihood of that being him is very low. We know that he perished in the fight against the venerable emperor Zhu fan, but what if he truly did not perish?"

Even the thought of such an event would spell disaster for the entire world.