Chapter 894
Cold Malice, Ready to Erupt
The deputy abbot transformed into a streak of black light and swiftly traversed the starry sky.
His speed was extremely fast, many times faster than those Supreme Elders in the Dao Integration Realm.
Wherever it passed, the space trembled slightly, leaving a faint black trace, like a black ribbon, slowly dissipating in the starry sky.
He didn't actually want to do it himself.
He has been biding his time in the Black and White Sect for many years, always keeping a low profile and never easily revealing his strength.
He deliberately suppressed his aura, making himself appear to be just an ordinary Dao Integration Realm cultivator.
Even the intelligence gathered by the righteous forces described him only as "Deputy Abbot of the Black and White Temple, cultivation level unknown, suspected to be in the middle to late stage of the Dao Integration Realm".
This is exactly the effect he wanted.
He didn't want to reveal his strength at this critical juncture.
That would only attract the attention of righteous forces, making them more wary of them.
Although those righteous forces are not significant, if they unite, they would be a considerable force.
At this crucial moment in the plan, he didn't want to cause any unforeseen complications.
But in the current situation, it seems that no one in the temple, except him, can stop that insidious rat that is constantly destroying the branch altars.
Even the two elders who went to investigate the situation were defeated, which clearly shows that the opponent is not someone that an ordinary Dao Integration Realm cultivator can handle.
Although those two elders weren't particularly strong, they were still at least at the Dao Integration Realm.
To be able to kill them silently, the opponent's strength must be at least at the mid-to-late stage of the Dao Integration realm.
Unfortunately, those useless people like Mo Cangtian had already perished once before. Even after being resurrected with a lot of resources, they only had the strength of the initial stage of the Dao Integration Realm and were still in seclusion, so they were completely useless.
As for the other elders... they either lack the strength or are far away in other immortal realms, unable to provide immediate assistance.
However, if that treacherous rat continues to cause such destruction, too much damage to the Heavenly Demon Pool will also affect their blood sacrifice.
Each of those Heavenly Demon Pools was built with countless efforts. Losing one or two is still bearable, but if too many are lost, the entire plan will be affected.
After much thought, the deputy abbot felt that only by going there in person could he break the deadlock.
"Alright."
He thought to himself, a cold glint flashing in his eyes.
"Back then, when those righteous ants besieged us, neither the abbot nor I had recovered our cultivation, so we couldn't take action and could only let them rant outside. Now, it's time to let these ants from the lower realms witness my power."
With that thought in mind, the deputy abbot no longer hesitated, quickened his pace, and moved in that direction.
He remembered that the last branch that had lost contact was in that direction.
The person who made the move in secret should still be nearby.
Once we find him and expose him, things will calm down.
A bloodthirsty glint flashed in the deputy abbot's eyes.
He hadn't eaten a creature at the Dao Integration level for a long time, and he even missed the taste.
Meanwhile, in another part of the starry sky, Lu Qing's divine sense clone had just destroyed the seventh Heavenly Demon Pool.
He opened his palm, and in the center of his palm, a group of Black and White Taoist disciples dressed in black and white robes were in a state of utter chaos.
Some of them were kowtowing and begging for mercy, their foreheads hitting the ground with loud thuds, blood streaming down their faces.
"Spare me! Spare me! I was just following orders, I didn't want to kill those people!"
Some were cursing loudly, their faces contorted in rage, veins bulging.
"You wait! We, the Black and White Temple, will not let you get away with this! Our abbot will avenge us!"
Others collapsed to the ground, their faces filled with despair, their bodies trembling, unable to utter a word.
They came in all shapes and sizes and reacted in different ways, but they had one thing in common: they were all tainted with intense resentment.
Those were the resentments of countless living beings, clinging to them like black threads, binding their souls.
The intensity of that resentment fueled Lu Qing's murderous intent.
Amidst the commotion, Lu Qing's expression remained unchanged.
He stared at these scumbags expressionlessly, as if they were a group of dead people.
A gentle squeeze with the palm of the hand.
All sounds suddenly ceased.
The group of Black and White Temple disciples didn't even have time to scream before they were completely crushed, their bodies and souls annihilated.
Their physical bodies turned to dust, their primordial spirits were crushed into fragments, and not even a trace of their souls remained.
Lu Qing released his hand, and the dust scattered in the starry sky, swallowed by the surrounding starlight, and disappeared completely.
He left the branch altar expressionlessly.
This is the seventh Black and White Temple branch he has destroyed.
Seven branch altars, seven Heavenly Demon Pools, and numerous disciples of the Black and White Temple were all reduced to dust by him.
But he felt no joy whatsoever.
Because in every branch altar of the Black and White Temple, he witnessed a scene of utter devastation and overwhelming resentment.
Those mountains of bones and pools of blood, countless wailing vengeful spirits, that demonized world...
Each one represents the tragic deaths of countless lives.
He didn't know how many vengeful spirits he had purified, nor how many lives were buried in those blood pools.
All he knew was that the numbers were too enormous, so enormous that he dared not think about them in detail.
And there are countless other such branch altars, including the Black and White Altars.
What he destroyed was only a small part of it.
How could Lu Qing possibly be happy about this?
What he wants to do most now is to destroy all these branch altars, leaving none alive.
Once the Dao Integration Body of the main body reaches its limit, go to the Black and White Temple headquarters, drag out that old guy hiding in his lair, and completely destroy him.
Let those scum pay for their crimes with blood.
Lu Qing took a deep breath, suppressed the killing intent in his heart, and continued to move quickly through the starry sky, heading towards the next Black and White Temple branch.
He moves very fast; with each step he takes, he covers hundreds of millions of miles.
The surrounding stars rushed past, turning into streaks of light.
Suddenly, his mind stirred, and he stopped.
He hovered in the starry sky, coldly gazing in a certain direction.
He could feel an incredibly strong malice coming from that direction.
The malice felt tangible, thick and cold, making him feel uneasy.
Moreover, judging from the speed at which it approached with such malice, it was clearly coming for him.
Their speed far exceeded that of the previous Black and White Temple elders, clearly indicating that they were up to no good.
"Finally, a big one has arrived?"
Lu Qing's mind stirred, and a cold glint flashed in his eyes.
He had previously killed two elders of the Black and White Guanhe Dao who came to stop him. Although their auras were not weak, they were far inferior to the malevolent force before him.
It's obvious that this must be a powerful figure of high status from the Black and White Sect.
Perhaps he is one of the most outstanding elders, or perhaps he is someone of an even higher rank.
Lu Qing did not dodge, but simply hovered quietly in the starry sky, waiting for the arrival of that malice.
He wanted to see just who the Black and White Temple had sent.
Just as Lu Qing was thinking, the space not far in front of him rippled.
The fluctuations were intense and violent, completely different from his spatial teleportation.
His movement was as silent as a fish entering the water, while the arrival of this figure was like a boulder crashing into a lake, creating ripples.
The next moment, a strange figure dressed in a black and white Taoist robe appeared.
The man was tall, half a head taller than the average person, with his hands hanging down at his knees, and his posture was somewhat strange.
His face was shrouded in an eerie black mist, obscuring his features. Only his eyes, faintly visible within the mist, emitted a ghostly light. That light was cold, cruel, and bloodthirsty, sending chills down one's spine at first glance.
What surprised Lu Qing even more was the terrifying malice emanating from him.
The intensity of that malice far surpassed that of any enemy he had ever encountered before.
It wasn't the killing intent emanating from an ordinary cultivator, but something far more bizarre and terrifying.
It was so viscous that it was almost solid, and it stained the surrounding space with a faint black color.
Lu Qing vaguely sensed that the malice was somewhat similar to the dark power deep within the Dark Abyss.
That is a power that does not belong to this world.
Cold, violent, and filled with a destructive desire.
Lu Qing's gaze sharpened slightly.
He had seen this power before.
He had sensed similar auras in the Dark Abyss, on the corpses of Xuanhua Great Powers, and on the countless demonic fire monsters.
However, the malice emanating from the figure before them was more restrained, profound, and human-like.
It seems to be suppressed and restrained by some kind of will, yet it could erupt at any moment.
"interesting."
Lu Qing thought to himself, but remained outwardly calm.
The figure also saw Lu Qing.
He hovered in the starry sky, a hundred feet away from Lu Qing, facing each other from afar.
Those eyes, faintly visible in the black mist, scrutinized Lu Qing from head to toe with a mixture of scrutiny, curiosity, and...greed.
The two remained locked in this standoff for a moment.
Then, Lu Qing spoke first.
His voice was calm, without a trace of emotion, yet it carried a hint of contempt.
"Finally, a barely passable little devil has arrived? I thought the Black and White Sect would only send those useless trash to their deaths."
Upon hearing this, a cold glint flashed in the eyes of the deputy abbot.
He snorted coldly, his voice hoarse and low, like the friction of metal.
"Is it you, you rat in the gutter, who's been secretly ruining my plans to uphold justice?"
His gaze swept over Lu Qing, and suddenly, his pupils contracted slightly.
He sensed it.
The young man before them was not the real body, but a divine thought clone.
This gave the deputy abbot a jolt.
He never expected that the one who had been secretly sabotaging the Heavenly Demon Pool was actually a divine thought clone.
A mere divine thought clone possesses such power, capable of slaying a Dao Integration Realm elder, destroying the Heavenly Demon Pool, and even making him feel a sense of danger.
Then how powerful must his physical body be?
The deputy abbot was shaken and carefully examined Lu Qing's face.
Upon seeing this, his expression immediately changed.
He recognized that face.
That was a face that was highlighted in the intelligence given not long ago after the main bodies of Mo Cangtian and others were killed.
That exceptional cultivator who achieved the Dao Integration Realm through nine Great Daos.
The deputy abbot never expected that the person who was secretly sabotaging their plans was this very person.
What alarmed him even more was that the other party had only recently achieved the Dao Integration Realm, but now it was merely a divine sense clone, yet even he felt a sense of danger from it.
The sense of danger, though faint, was real, like a venomous snake lurking in the shadows, making him instinctively uneasy.
His intuition told him that although the young man in front of him was only an avatar, he might not be able to win easily if they started fighting.
A mere clone is enough to make him feel threatened?
How powerful must his true form be?
A chill ran through the deputy abbot's heart.
The abbot had previously guessed that although Lu Qing had merged with the Dao through nine Great Daos and possessed unlimited potential, he had only recently broken through and needed time to grow.
So they don't need to pay attention to him for now; it's not too late to deal with him after the plan is completed.
But now it seems the abbot was wrong.
The speed at which this kid was growing far exceeded their expectations.
How long has it been? In such a short time, his divine sense clone has become so powerful.
If we give him more time to continue growing...
The deputy abbot dared not think any further.
He instantly realized that if they didn't eliminate this kid as soon as possible, he would be the biggest obstacle to their plan.
It could even cause the entire plan to fail.
Immediately, the deputy abbot's murderous intent surged.
The light in his eyes grew even colder, and the malice emanating from him intensified.
"So it was you." He spoke coldly, his voice carrying a hint of fear and killing intent. "Mo Cangtian and the others died at your hands."
Lu Qing said calmly, "That's right, it's me. What, you want to avenge them?"
"Revenge?" The deputy abbot sneered, his tone full of disdain. "Those few good-for-nothings, they're dead, so be it."
I just didn't expect you to dare to come to me on your own initiative.
You should hide away, cultivate your skills diligently, and only come out when you are strong enough.
Instead of recklessly coming to their deaths like this.
"Going to your death?" Lu Qing laughed, a hint of mockery in his smile. "You think you can?"
A hint of anger flashed in the deputy abbot's eyes.
He took a deep breath, suppressed his anger, and said coldly, "Boy, I know you have merged with the Dao through the Nine Great Daos, and your strength is extraordinary."
But you've only recently broken through, and you haven't even reached the minor completion stage of the Dao Integration Body, have you?
"You think you can be so arrogant in front of me with just a divine thought clone?"
Lu Qing said calmly, "You can give it a try."
The deputy abbot fell silent.
He knew that saying anything more would be superfluous.
This battle between the two is inevitable.
The malice emanating from the deputy abbot began to surge wildly.
The black mist emanated from his body, turning the surrounding space pitch black.
Within that mist, countless faces could be vaguely seen struggling and wailing; those were the creatures he had devoured, their souls imprisoned within, never to be reborn.
His aura was rising steadily.
Mid-stage of Dao Integration, Late-stage of Dao Integration, Great Completion of Dao Integration...
He climbed all the way to the peak of Dao Integration, only stopping when he was just one step away from the Perfect Dao Integration.
The aura was so strong and intense that it caused the surrounding stars to tremble slightly.
Lu Qing watched this scene with a calm expression.
But a hint of seriousness also flashed in his eyes.
The pinnacle of the Dao Integration stage.
This was the strongest enemy he had ever encountered.
Moreover, the power emanating from the other party, similar to that of the Dark Abyss, forced him to be on guard.
That power was strange and strong, something that shouldn't exist in this starry sky.
But Lu Qing did not back down.
He took a deep breath, and his aura began to surge.
A myriad of profound and mysterious Daoist principles emerged from him. (End of Chapter)