"We must act swiftly and strike as many strongholds as possible at the fastest pace. The enemy will react within a day or two at most.
The destruction of one or two strongholds might not attract attention, but if there are more, and they can't contact the people at those locations, they will definitely send people to investigate and discover the truth.
This process will take time. Then, whether they withdraw from the strongholds or gather to wait in ambush, they can minimize their casualties.
After two days, we must withdraw. Who knows how many Nascent Soul powerhouses they will send? They can't just let us slaughter their people.
By then, we will have to fight with all our might, and our methods will be completely exposed, making it easy for others to guess who we are."
"Mm, if we're clean, there won't be any issues. Let's get to work."
"Alright."
On the mountainside of a snow-capped peak, the two once again charged in, slaughtering everything within.
For these two days, they had been like a machine operating at full capacity, rushing and killing non-stop. Wherever they went, the strongholds of the Heavenly Scourge were all wiped out.
This matter caused no ripples in the Central Region, as the vast majority of people were unaware that those hidden places were actually Heavenly Scourge strongholds. Occasionally, people who saw the corpses scattered everywhere and bloodstains on the walls would simply assume it was a feud between cultivators, never thinking too deeply about it.
After all, in the vast Jianghu of the cultivation world, such incidents happened daily.
Upon receiving no news from the Heavenly Scourge strongholds near Kui Lian Sect, their headquarters immediately dispatched people to investigate. They too witnessed the bloody and brutal scene.
However, they did not know who was responsible, as the number of people who had enmity with them was simply too vast.
Since the establishment of their organization, countless families had been destroyed and lives ruined. Those they saved naturally felt grateful, but their enemies, without exception, wished to eradicate them.
After ruling out all other possibilities, the Heavenly Scourge finally set their sights on Kui Lian Sect.
As the incidents occurred near Kui Lian Sect, and only Kui Lian Sect possessed the capability to silently and precisely eliminate those strongholds, suspicion fell upon them.
The Heavenly Scourge sent envoys to Kui Lian Sect, openly accusing them of indiscriminately slaughtering their people.
Kui Lian Sect, naturally, was baffled and had no idea what they were talking about.
After a brief explanation that Kui Lian Sect had not committed such acts, the Sect Master directly asked the Heavenly Scourge envoys to leave.
This was only because Kui Lian Sect was generally good-tempered. If it were any other peak power, they likely wouldn't even deign to meet with these people.
The Heavenly Scourge dared not utter any threats of retaliating against Kui Lian Sect if the culprits were not handed over. After all, they were like vermin in the eyes of the Central Region's peak powers. If they were to threaten Kui Lian Sect further, it was feared that Kui Lian Sect might retaliate in earnest and eliminate all their strongholds.
At that point, other factions would likely follow suit.
Indeed, although Kui Lian Sect's strength was considered average among the Nine Great Powers, how many of the other eight great powers did not have women married out from Kui Lian Sect?
If their maternal family was being bullied, who could tolerate it...
The Heavenly Scourge attempted to contact their hidden operatives within Kui Lian Sect's territory, but their organization managed things layer by layer, with each powerhouse responsible for their own area.
The powerhouses in the vicinity of Kui Lian Sect had already been annihilated by Wan Lei's Lightning Tribulation Array on the snow mountain. Consequently, the Heavenly Scourge could not contact their directly subordinate operatives, leading to a breakdown in their command structure.
The Heavenly Scourge organization did not know who had killed them, as each regional supervisor had their own decision-making authority and did not need to report upwards.
In their helplessness, the Heavenly Scourge ordered all personnel in their strongholds within Kui Lian Sect's influence to transfer and lie low for the time being.
However, this humiliation was unbearable for the Heavenly Scourge. They had always been the ones people avoided; now they needed to hide from others. This was an utter disgrace.
"This is the third stronghold we've found empty."
Two days later, under the cover of night, Wan Lei and Fang Xiaoyu were lying prone on a dirt slope about a mile away from the stronghold.
They had just scanned the area with their spiritual senses and found it completely deserted. After sending out scout dogs to search further, they still found nothing.
"Let's call it a day."
Fang Xiaoyu frowned,
"By now, the Heavenly Scourge has reacted. We can't kill their people anymore. If we continue to take risks, we'll fall into the enemy's trap."
"I'm a bit unwilling to give up. How about this, there's another stronghold two hundred miles south. If it's empty again, we'll retreat directly.
If there are people there, and we can fight, we will. If we can't win, they still can't trap us; we'll just teleport back. I don't believe they can send more than a dozen Nascent Soul powerhouses to kill us."
"Fine."
The two bypassed the city and, cloaked in darkness, flew south.
Two hundred miles was not a long distance, and they soon arrived.
It was a natural bamboo forest, or more accurately, a sea of bamboo, as the area of this bamboo forest was equivalent to the size of several cities.
In the center of the bamboo forest were several bamboo houses. According to intelligence, this was a large stronghold, occupied by dozens of Heavenly Scourge members, with nearly ten Nascent Soul cultivators among them.
As usual, before arriving, Wan Lei scanned the area with his spiritual senses.
Inside, he detected only one person, or rather, a mist that obscured spiritual senses.
The mist was not large, only about the size of a person, and could not cover a second person. Thus, Wan Lei guessed it was a single individual.
"There's only one person. It might be a trap. Let's go check it out."
This statement was somewhat contradictory, like knowingly walking into a tiger's den. However, Young Master Lei possessed the strength to do so.
As long as it wasn't an old monster in the Tribulation Stage, their strength was sufficient to escape if they couldn't win.
The two quietly crept closer and landed outside the bamboo houses.
In front of the bamboo houses, the mist stood up.
Then, the mist dissipated, and Wan Lei saw a familiar face.
"Wan Liuchuan?"
"Wan Lei? Fang Xiaoyu?"
Wan Liuchuan also looked at the two armored figures in front of him in surprise. With the hammers and twin swords they held, it was impossible for him not to recognize them.
Wan Lei and Fang Xiaoyu retracted their armor.
"Why are you here?"
Wan Liuchuan asked curiously.
"Why are you here?"
"In the past two days, many Heavenly Scourge strongholds have been ambushed. I had the people here withdraw and am waiting here to catch the attackers, hoping to lure them out. I didn't expect to run into you...
Wait, you... you are the ones who ambushed the Heavenly Scourge strongholds?"
Before Wan Lei could reply, a ball of black mist descended from the sky, forming a triangle between Wan Lei and Wan Liuchuan.
The mist dispersed, and a delicate, pink figure appeared.
Looking at the two before him, Wan Lei's lips suddenly curved into a playful smile, and he raised his hand,
"Hello there, Yuxin."
---
Cartoon illustrations of Wan Liuchuan and Liu Yuxin have been posted in the book's comment section. You can check them out. This is the second set of illustrations, and the third set is also in production.
Yuxin is just too cute, ahhhh...