The members of the Ancient Sacred Cult were primarily gathered in three locations. Among them, the group led by the black-robed man was the strongest, and they had already been dealt with by Dongbo Xueying. The other two groups were relatively weaker, lacking even a single Unity Realm expert! Although they also possessed the Ancient Sacred Cult’s secret joint formation techniques, the combined formations passed down by the Tai Void Heavenly Palace were no less formidable, and the Tai Void Heavenly Palace’s forces were even stronger.
The reason the battle had dragged on until now was that they had learned from Dongbo Xueying’s side that their enemies were members of the Ancient Sacred Cult, so they all intended to capture them alive!
Whoosh—
Dongbo Xueying swiftly traversed the void, heading toward one of the gathering locations.
There, a team from Tianshui City was besieging nine Void Gods of the Ancient Sacred Cult, though capturing them alive would still take some time.
“There’s no escape.”
“We can’t escape. What do we do?”
“Fight! Take down as many as we can. For the Sacred Master, kill!” These Void Gods were all fervent.
Dongbo Xueying appeared silently and immediately activated the *Panbo Diagram*. Countless transparent threads emerged from the void, entangling each Void God and infiltrating their bodies to seal their souls. However, these Void Gods were extremely vigilant. The moment they sensed power invading their bodies, several of them went berserk and self-detonated without hesitation!
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Six of the nine Void Gods self-detonated almost instantly, their terrifying power sweeping outward, only to be swiftly suppressed by countless ripples. Only three Void Gods reacted slightly slower and had their souls sealed by Dongbo Xueying.
“All lunatics,” Dongbo Xueying frowned. “The Ancient Sacred Cult, the Mother Ancestor Cult…”
The Ancient Sacred Cult and the Mother Ancestor Cult were two terrifying forces spread across the Five Great Sacred Realms and the Chaos Void. The Ancient Sacred Cult was backed by the supreme existence among the ultimate beings—the Sacred Master, who ruled over the Ancient Sacred Realm. The Mother Ancestor Cult, as the name suggested, worshipped the Mother Ancestor, who occupied the Mother Ancestor Realm among the Five Great Sacred Realms. These two sects were like malignant tumors.
Once someone joined the Ancient Sacred Cult and pledged allegiance to the Sacred Master, or entered the Mother Ancestor Cult and worshipped the Mother Ancestor, they would become absolutely loyal!
For example, upon joining the Ancient Sacred Cult, the Sacred Master’s will would supersede all else. For the Sacred Master, they would willingly die, and even their closest friends would be killed without hesitation—or they would kill themselves without a second thought!
It was a tragic fate.
Most cultivators with any ambition would never willingly join the Ancient Sacred Cult or the Mother Ancestor Cult. However, the two cults’ methods of indoctrination were frighteningly effective.
The other three major Sacred Realm factions had a clear stance—any discovered members of the Ancient Sacred Cult or the Mother Ancestor Cult were to be executed without mercy! Of course, cultivation systems themselves were not inherently tied to these cults. For example, the Ancient Cultivation System was widespread, and even the “Mother Ancestor Cult’s cultivation system” could be abandoned early on if one sensed danger, switching to another system.
However, once a soul was branded with the Ancient Sacred Mark or the Mother Ancestor Mark, it was over! Saving them? Though the laws of the universe still left a sliver of hope—such as the Sacred Master voluntarily retracting the mark, or an incredibly rare Ancient Cultivator capable of “reversing time” to slightly alter the past—such changes were terrifyingly limited in scope and required the affected cultivators to be as weak as possible.
In short, once a soul was branded, it was practically doomed. Even a Cosmic God would find it nearly impossible to save them.
“Elder Dongbo.”
The eight envoys from Tianshui City bowed respectfully.
“They self-detonated without hesitation,” Dongbo Xueying remarked, glancing at the ruins below. With a wave of his hand, he collected the remnants of the explosions, along with the three captives.
—
The battle at the final gathering point had also concluded.
Dongbo Xueying and the others had returned to the ruined estate where the black-robed man had previously resided—after all, this had been the enemy’s core stronghold.
“Hmph.”
Dongbo Xueying coldly observed the five captured Void Gods before him, their strength sealed and their possessions confiscated. He immediately ordered, “Lock these five away. Along with the Void Gods captured earlier, they will all be transported back to Tianshui City.”
“As you command,” two Outer Hall Elders and thirty enforcers responded respectfully.
The Golden Wing Monarch, standing nearby, quickly added, “The Ancient Sacred Cult dared to spread their teachings in my Golden Wing Nation. Elder Dongbo, if there’s anything you require, please do not hesitate to ask. I will spare no effort.”
Dongbo Xueying glanced at him.
The Golden Wing Monarch’s heart trembled.
Over the past month, he had gradually become aware of the Ancient Sacred Cult’s infiltration, but he had feigned ignorance. The Ancient Sacred Cult and the Mother Ancestor Cult were forces capable of clashing head-on with the other three Sacred Realms! Even a minor faction of theirs could easily annihilate the Golden Wing Nation. How could he dare interfere? As long as the cult didn’t act too brazenly, he pretended not to notice.
“Search thoroughly. See if you can uncover any traces of the Ancient Sacred Cult,” Dongbo Xueying instructed before casually entering a nearby estate. This estate, adjacent to the cult’s hideout, was naturally luxurious. The Golden Wing Monarch had arranged for its original owner to vacate temporarily, allowing the envoy team to rest there.
Inside, Dongbo Xueying waved his hand, releasing all the items obtained from the slain cult members. He began refining them one by one, meticulously examining each for clues.
“I hope to find a lead—something pointing to a major Ancient Sacred Cult stronghold,” Dongbo Xueying murmured to himself.
The Golden Wing Nation’s outpost was merely a minor one.
There had to be more significant bases. The larger the discovery, the greater the merit points—and Dongbo Xueying never had enough treasures.
—
The imprisoned cultivators were released one by one and interrogated. These individuals were all prominent figures in the Golden Wing Nation, and their suffering in captivity made them relatively trustworthy. After questioning, their seals were lifted, though they were temporarily confined to the Golden Wing Palace for further investigation.
“Incredible.”
“The one addressed as Elder Dongbo—even our monarch treads carefully around him.”
“Terrifyingly powerful. With a flick of his hand, countless fish-like shadows descended, slaughtering all those Void Gods.”
The freed cultivators, now at ease but unable to leave, gathered in small groups to discuss the events.
Among them, a burly man anxiously scanned the surroundings, his face tense. “Qing Ruo isn’t here! She must not have been captured.”
With his communication devices confiscated, he couldn’t send any messages.
“Hum.”
Now that his strength had been restored, the burly man activated a secret art. He was a prodigy of the Golden Wing Nation, and his wife was even more remarkable. Besides their rigorous training, the two had once encountered a fortuitous encounter that transformed their souls, forging a faint but enduring connection between them.
Through this link, he strained to sense her presence.
“Not good.” His expression darkened.
Through their soul bond, he sensed his wife’s soul was far, far away—beyond the Golden Wing Nation—and moving rapidly into the distance. Such speed could only mean void traversal… yet his wife, a mere Dominator, shouldn’t be capable of that.
“Could it be…?” The burly man’s face twisted in horror as realization struck.
He immediately approached the two Outer Hall Elders, who stood at the forefront of Tianshui City’s Void Gods, and bowed respectfully. “Esteemed Elder, I request an audience with Elder Dongbo.”
“You wish to see Elder Dongbo?” The two Outer Hall Elders exchanged glances. “Not just anyone can meet with him.”
That was an understatement.
He was an Inner Hall Elder of the Tai Void Heavenly Palace—a figure of immense status across the Five Great Sacred Realms, one even Chaos Realm overlords treated with respect.
“It concerns the Ancient Sacred Cult,” the burly man transmitted silently.
The two Outer Hall Elders shared another look.
“I’ll take him. You, follow me!” The elder with a single emerald horn on his forehead led the burly man toward Dongbo Xueying’s location. He wasn’t worried—a weaponless True God Dominator posed no threat.
In the adjacent estate’s hall, countless items lay scattered across the floor. The white-robed Dongbo Xueying sat nearby, levitating objects one by one for inspection. His furrowed brow betrayed his frustration—he had found nothing. The Ancient Sacred Cult’s infiltration was too well-hidden; critical information wouldn’t be easily uncovered.
“Hm?” Dongbo Xueying looked up as the horned elder and the burly man entered.
The burly man wasted no time. “Elder Dongbo, I know where the black-robed leader of the Ancient Sacred Cult is!”
Dongbo Xueying’s eyes gleamed.
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