Chapter 148: Mean Business

Seeing that Wang Changsheng's killing intent was absolute, Zhu Zhizhang finally realized that Wang Changsheng was not joking, and he ultimately resorted to begging for mercy.

At this moment, the arrogance Zhu Zhizhang had displayed earlier had completely vanished.

Chen Yuan looked at Wang Changsheng, waiting for him to confirm his command.

"Kill him!"

Wang Changsheng said in a deep voice, "Do not waste any more time. We still have many things to do!"

Chen Yuan nodded. Ignoring Zhu Zhizhang's pleas for mercy entirely, he struck him down with a single palm, ending his life. As for the rest of the cultivators from Cloud Palace Peak, not a single one was spared; all of them perished at the hands of the Corpse Refining Sect disciples.

What brought a sense of gratification to Wang Changsheng was that after killing the Cloud Palace Peak cultivators, the Corpse Refining Sect disciples did not attempt to refine their corpses, but instead immediately destroyed the bodies to eliminate all traces. This indicated that this batch of Corpse Refining Sect disciples accompanying him was gradually shedding the habit of corpse refining.

"Although the speed of cultivation will slow down this way, it will at least prevent the Corpse Refining Sect from making an enemy of the entire cultivation world!" Wang Changsheng muttered inwardly.

The arts of the Corpse Refining Sect relied on refining cultivators to advance, making the speed of cultivation several times faster—this was the inherent characteristic of the sect's techniques! Now that Wang Changsheng had made the disciples out on this trial abandon this method, their progress would be slower, but it would allow the cultivators of the Deep Sky Realm to view the Corpse Refining Sect in a new light.

After all, the current Corpse Refining Sect possessed a foundation solid enough to establish itself firmly in the Deep Sky Realm. There was no longer any need to bolster its strength through such means, nor was there any reason to provoke more enemies.

"Steeward Wang, might this not be entirely wise?" Chen Yuan said with a solemn expression. "By killing these Cloud Palace Peak disciples, I'm afraid we will make an absolute enemy of Cloud Palace Peak!"

"Not necessarily!" Wang Changsheng said in a deep voice.

"Do not forget, this is the God of War Tomb!" Wang Changsheng emphasized. "Had we killed Cloud Palace Peak disciples in the Deep Sky Realm, the trouble would undoubtedly be immense, but here within the God of War Tomb, things are different..."

"What should we do if Saintess Caiyun comes looking for us?" Chen Yuan asked.

Wang Changsheng narrowed his eyes and remained silent.

Leading the Corpse Refining Sect disciples back to the vicinity of the God of War Mountain, Wang Changsheng immediately caught a faint scent of blood drifting through the air.

"It seems quite a few people have already died!" Wang Changsheng said gravely.

Chen Yuan nodded. "Judging by the density of this blood scent, at least several hundred people have perished."

"Let's move," Wang Changsheng said.

He led the Corpse Refining Sect disciples around the area of the God of War Mountain, continuously searching for spiritual herbs and plants. While these spiritual herbs were of no use to the Corpse Refining Sect disciples themselves, to Wang Changsheng, they were rare and precious treasures.

Given Wang Changsheng's personal strength, he could never have hoped to gain any benefits within the God of War Tomb on his own. However, having the backing of the Corpse Refining Sect changed everything.

Among all the major factions currently within the God of War Tomb, aside from Cloud Palace Peak and the He family, there was not a single force that Wang Changsheng needed to fear.

"The spiritual energy here is already dissipating. It must have been harvested just now!" Wang Changsheng said with a frown.

"It should have been taken only moments ago," Chen Yuan observed. "The spiritual energy has just begun to disperse, so they cannot have gone far."

Boom!

Just as Chen Yuan finished speaking, a muffled explosion echoed faintly in the distance.

"Over there!" Chen Yuan pointed toward the front-left.

"Can you sense them?" Wang Changsheng immediately asked.

Chen Yuan nodded.

As the one with the highest cultivation base—having reached the peak of the ninth layer of the Golden Core realm—Chen Yuan's range of perception was far beyond what Wang Changsheng and the others could match, surpassing even Jingang, who was at the eighth layer of the Golden Core realm.

Chen Yuan immediately led Wang Changsheng and the others rushing toward the direction from which the sound had come.

"Jingang!"

"Jingang, what are you doing?"

...

The group had flown only a short distance further when they saw a powerful aura erupt from Jingang. He shot forward at high speed, completely ignoring the shouts of Wang Changsheng and Chen Yuan.

"What is going on?" Wang Changsheng immediately asked Chen Yuan.

"I don't know!" Chen Yuan said solemnly. "This is rather abnormal!"

Chen Yuan immediately urged Wang Changsheng to pick up the pace and pursue Jingang. Jingang's injuries had only just healed; could something have gone wrong as a result of the Blood Explosion Technique?

Boom, boom, boom...

When Wang Changsheng and the others finally caught up to Jingang, they immediately saw him engaged in a fierce battle with three individuals. Not far below them lay several lifeless corpses.

"Corpse Refining Sect, you are going too far! We are disciples of Cloud Palace Peak; the Saintess will definitely avenge us!"

One of the three people fighting Jingang roared in fury.

None of their cultivation levels were high—all were only at the second layer of the Golden Core realm, completely out of Jingang's league. Within the span of just a few breaths, all three fell dead at Jingang's hands.

It was at this moment that Wang Changsheng and the others finally arrived.

"Jingang, what is the meaning of this?" Chen Yuan demanded immediately.

Jingang did not answer verbally. Instead, he pulled a spiritual herb from his bosom and handed it to Wang Changsheng.

"This must have been a small team from Cloud Palace Peak, consisting of only four members. When I arrived, they were fighting another group precisely over this spiritual herb," Jingang said in a deep voice. "Since they are capable of robbing others and killing others, why should I not be capable of robbing them?"

"Besides, those who go about killing others should be fully prepared to be killed themselves," Jingang added in a muffled tone.

Hearing Jingang's words, Wang Changsheng frowned, a solemn expression washing over his face.

Jingang was not wrong. In the world of cultivation, the law of the jungle prevailed. Given the usual conduct of Cloud Palace Peak, they were certainly capable of seizing other people's spiritual herbs, meaning they should have been prepared to suffer the same fate.

However, the current situation was somewhat different.

"Very well, let us continue our search for spiritual herbs!" Wang Changsheng said heavily. "Jingang, the next time something like this happens, you would do well to inform me beforehand so I can be prepared."

With that, Wang Changsheng led the Corpse Refining Sect disciples onward to continue their search.

It was not that Wang Changsheng had nothing more to say, but rather that he simply did not know how to approach it. Having just ordered Chen Yuan and the others to slaughter Zhu Zhizhang and his faction from Cloud Palace Peak, it would make no sense to turn around and reprimand Jingang for doing essentially the same thing.

"Steeward Wang, Jingang is acting somewhat abnormally."

Chen Yuan's voice transmission echoed directly within Wang Changsheng's mind.

"Abnormally in what way?" Wang Changsheng replied via voice transmission.

Having had very little contact with Jingang, Wang Changsheng was unfamiliar with his usual temperament and thus failed to grasp what Chen Yuan meant.

"Although Jingang has a somewhat violent disposition, he would never act arbitrarily without authorization!" Chen Yuan's voice grew grave. "Furthermore, I could sense just now that his emotional fluctuations were extremely intense!"

Wang Changsheng furrowed his brow, lost in thought.

"Steeward Wang, someone is approaching!"

Just as Wang Changsheng was pondering the matter, Chen Yuan's voice sounded out loud, abandoning the private transmission.

"Not good, it's people from Cloud Palace Peak!"

As he spoke, Chen Yuan stepped directly in front of Wang Changsheng, shielding both him and the group of Corpse Refining Sect disciples behind his back.

At the same time, Jingang also moved to Chen Yuan's side, fixing his gaze on the rapidly approaching Cloud Palace Peak cultivators.

Seeing Jingang make this move, both Wang Changsheng and Chen Yuan frowned, though neither voiced any objection.

A few breaths later, the Cloud Palace Peak cultivators appeared not far from Wang Changsheng's group, descending from mid-air. Leading them was none other than Saintess Caiyun herself.

However, the number of Cloud Palace Peak cultivators present was far fewer than the total that had initially entered the God of War Tomb, indicating that the rest were still scattered throughout the realm.

"It seems the number of people Cloud Palace Peak sent in this time is at least several hundred!" Wang Changsheng thought with a heavy heart.

Counting the people Saintess Caiyun had brought openly alongside those hidden among the rogue cultivators, the total was by no means small.

Wang Changsheng had not expected Cloud Palace Peak to deploy such formidable strength.

"Steward Wang, trust you have been well?"

Upon landing, Caiyun greeted Wang Changsheng with a cold tone.

Judging by her tone, Wang Changsheng knew immediately that she had come with ill intent.

"Very well, very well indeed!" Wang Changsheng cupped his fists and replied, "Though the same cannot be said for the Saintess; I'm afraid your investment this time will yield no return at all!"

Upon hearing this, Caiyun's expression turned even uglier.

Cloud Palace Peak's stake this time had been immense—not only in terms of manpower, but also the enormous resources expended merely to break open the formation of the God of War Mountain. To their dismay, they had reaped virtually zero rewards.

Wang Changsheng's words had struck precisely at Caiyun's sorest point.

"That, however, is not something Steward Wang need concern himself with. Cloud Palace Peak can certainly afford a loss of this scale!" Caiyun said coldly. "What Steward Wang ought to be worrying about right now is rather his own safety!"

"And what does Saintess Caiyun mean by that?" Wang Changsheng asked.

"Meaning?" Caiyun's expression grew even more frigid. "Steward Wang, even if you chose not to ally with Cloud Palace Peak, surely there was no need to resort to killing our disciples so soon?"

Wang Changsheng frowned.

"What? Does Steward Wang dare to commit such acts yet lack the courage to admit them?" Caiyun pressed on.

"A short while ago, the Corpse Refining Sect slaughtered four of my Cloud Palace Peak disciples," Caiyun stated coldly. "And prior to that, outside the God of War Mountain, Steward Wang should also have wiped out a small team from our sect, no?"

"You even know about that?" Wang Changsheng asked with a look of genuine surprise.

Hearing this, Caiyun's expression turned glacial. "It seems Steward Wang admits to it, then?"

"I never intended to hide it," Wang Changsheng said in a deep voice. "Though I know not how you came to learn of it, since you already know, you should also understand what actually transpired."

"My Corpse Refining Sect came with absolute sincerity to forge an alliance with Cloud Palace Peak; our intentions were entirely amicable!" Wang Changsheng continued gravely. "If your Cloud Palace Peak disciples had not gone too far, do you truly believe we would not have shown restraint?"

"Even so, their offenses did not warrant death! You could easily have captured them and handed them over for me to deal with. Cloud Palace Peak would naturally have given Steward Wang a satisfactory explanation!" Caiyun's voice had grown icy-sharp, carrying the faint premonition of an impending clash.

Wang Changsheng's voice likewise turned sharp and cold. "In your eyes, their crimes did not warrant death; but in my eyes, they thoroughly deserved it!"

An explanation? Wang Changsheng had no illusions that Cloud Palace Peak would ever grant him anything of the sort.

"Steward Wang, is this the attitude your Corpse Refining Sect intends to maintain?" Caiyun demanded sternly.