When Pangu first formed the Primordial World, three species came to power. They were the Phoenix Clan, Dragon Clan, and Qilin Clan, led by their respective ancestors. The three clans waged war for hegemony, eventually damaging each other to the point they declined.
With their decline, they retreated to recuperate and restore their strength in their next bid for hegemony. Only, they never had their chance as numerous others came to power, such as the Demon Clan, Nuwa, the Three Purities, and more.
Instead, it was the three clan's impure descendants that rose to fame: the Vermillion Bird from the Phoenix Clan, the White Tiger from the Qilin Clan, and the Azure Dragon and the Black Tortoise of the Dragon Clan. Together, they were known as the Four Divine Beasts.
Their chance only came after the Primordial World shattered into the modern Three Thousand Immortal Realms System. Although the four original divine beasts have already fallen, their descendants lead the current three great clans.
They conquered the surviving members of the demon clan and launched numerous attempts to rule the Three Thousand Immortal Realms System. The most recent of which was over a thousand years ago.
If San Jiuling could conquer and force the Black Tortoise to become his spiritual beast, his future was all but assured. Even if his cultivation stagnated, he would come to possess a sovereign-level combat potential as long as the Black Tortoise could reach maturity.
He would just have to make sure that no one knew of this secret. The Buzhou Immortal Sect definitely wouldn't allow another expert to rival their sole immortal sovereign.
San Jiuling roared as he cut open his palm, spilling his blood on the Spiritual Beast Contract Formation. The chain and light it released turned a blood red. Moments later, a drop of blood covered in a violet glow appeared out of the formation and flew onto the tortoise's head.
The Black Tortoise struggled even more violently as a mark slowly appeared atop its forehead. The mark formed an intricate pattern and sunk into the tortoise's flesh, causing him to screech.
'What a powerful soul defense!' San Jiuling thought, alarmed. Although the Black Tortoise had just been born, the quality of its soul already matched an immortal monarch's.
Still, San Jiuling pushed forward. Although the Black Tortoise's soul was powerful, it was newly born, thus weak and small. And his soul wasn't that much weaker than an immortal monarch's. Plus, his soul was bigger and stronger.
It was a long and arduous process. San Jiuling let out more blood and spent more willpower to tame the Black Tortoise. By the time he succeeded, San Jiuling was a sweaty and gasping mess. He swallowed several blood-regeneration pills to restore the bloodletting he had done. However, the spent willpower and soul fatigue could only be recovered with rest and time.
Still, San Jiuling allowed himself to smile. He had finally succeeded in contracting the Black Tortoise as his spiritual beast. The Black Tortoise had shrunk to a tenth of its original size, small enough to carry with one arm, after spending all its energy and failing to resist.
He hugged the Black Tortoise to his chest and felt the powerful rhythmic heartbeat transmitted. San Jiuling's smile grew, and he felt like he had won a billion-dollar lottery.
San Jiuling controlled the Nautilus to traverse toward the shore of the Heaven Continent. He had stopped the immortal boat and focused all his attention on contracting the Black Tortoise. Luckily, no sea monster or demon took this chance to attack it, or else he might have failed.
Upon nearing the shore, San Jiuling stored the Nautilus in his spatial ring and activated a concealment spell. He refused to leak the information to the allied sects and even his own sect members, except for his grandfather. The fewer people who knew, the greater effect this trump card would have and the safer he would be.
He could already imagine it. When Sword Sovereign Xi and the Cloud Goddess battled, they reached a stalemate. Suddenly, the Black Tortoise would join and pincer Sword Sovereign Xi. After being teamed up by two sovereign-level experts, she would either perish or be severely injured and no longer be able to participate.
Without Sword Sovereign Xi's participation, the Tripartite Alliance and the Anti-Heaven Alliance would obtain an overwhelming advantage. Although it was likely that they wouldn't be able to destroy the Buzhou Immortal Sect's headquarters in one go, it was more than enough to isolate them and weaken them with time.
On the journey back to the Leakless Sect, San Jiuling used the paths within the Tripartite Alliance's jurisdiction as much as possible. Strangely, he sensed an air of panic coming from the locations defended by the Nihility Sect and Jade Cauldron Sect despite never entering. Even stranger was that the locations defended by the Leakless Sect had become empty.
Most of the Leakless Sect's forts were either abandoned, managed by the other sects of the Tripartite Alliance, or taken over by the Buzhou Immortal Sect. 'Did something happen while I was away?'
Suppressing the dread in his heart, San Jiuling became even more careful. As he neared the Leakless Sect's headquarters, he noticed numerous immortals flying to and from without concern.
San Jiuling's heart became even heavier as he pushed himself more. 'What, why is the detection formation down?'
Normally, all sects deployed a detection formation to separate friend and foe. The detection formation did not require as much power as a defensive formation, so they were also much larger. Core members like San Jiuling were privy to the inner workings and could sense it, but worryingly, he couldn't at all.
'Is the sect under attack?' he thought. No, it didn't feel like an attack, and he could not sense any signs either. More importantly, the immortals flying to and from it were from different forces except for the Buzhou Immoral Sect. He even saw an immortal of the Cultivator Alliance.
Now knowing that something was wrong, San Jiuling treaded even more carefully. Infuriatingly, he saw more and more stragglers and loose cultivators the closer he got.
San Jiuling couldn't resist it anymore and disguised himself before appearing. He grabbed a loose cultivator who was flying away by the robes and coldly asked, "What happened?"
The loose cultivator stared strangely at San Jiuling, but upon sensing his disguised earth immortal aura, the loose cultivator quickly answered. "Haven't you heard? The Buzhou Immortal Sect wiped out the Leakless Sect down to the last disciple. I heard they secretly had an immortal emperor, but they still perished."
"What?" San Jiuling's shock even affected his disguise as he leaked his true aura, that of an immortal's. "Impossible. You must be lying!"
Feeling the increasing pressure that threatened to crush him alive, the loose immortal quickly added, "It's true. I didn’t believe it at first, but everyone is coming here to pilfer as much treasure as they can! I don't know where you secluded yourself to avoid the war, but you should quickly ransack as much treasure while you still can. Why bother with a mere master like me? The treasures I grabbed are but a pittance to what a powerful expert like you can."
That was the wrong thing to say, as San Jiuling released his grip on the robe and smashed his fist into the loose cultivator's chest. The loose cultivator didn't even have a chance to utter any words as he turned into a bloody mist.
"Is the Leakless Sect's things something a bug like you can take?!" San Jiuling growled out.
His eyes flashed with understanding as he recalled his three comrade's death under the crystalline sword. All the exhilaration and joy from escaping death turned to horror and fury.
He didn't waste any more time and turned into a greenish-white streak. Once San Jiuling saw the state of the sect, he collapsed onto the ground and clutched his heart in pain. He even dropped the Black Tortoise he had been carefully carrying.
His roar echoed in the sky, "Buzhou Immortal Sect, not only have you killed my blood brother, Dong Chifan! But you also massacred my sect and killed all my loved ones! This debt, I'll pay it back a hundredfold! Either I live, or you die!!!"
The cry of vengeance attracted all the looters and scouts sent to gather attention. They saw a man kneeling on the ground in pain and anguish, but they didn't think much of it.
Everyone knew that Sword Sovereign Xi had killed all the disciples and members of the Leakless Sect. Her crystalline sword had sent shockwaves throughout the Heaven Continent and even shocked the Eight Pillar Sect and Anti-Earth Alliance once they heard of the news.
However, just because they ignored San Jiuling didn't mean he would ignore them. His white spear appeared in his hand, and he disappeared from his spot. The next moment, an agonized scream pierced the air, drawing everyone's attention.
"Why?" the true immortal questioned as the light dimmed from his eyes.
He pulled his spear out of the immortal's corpse, causing blood to gush out, but San Jiuling's bloodlust had yet to settle. He turned his attention to the other looters. With a bestial roar, he charged at them.
The only looters were loose and devilish cultivators. They had to fight for every resource and material, but even if they were bathed by constant battle, it could not shorten the disparity between their methods and the ones possessed by a first-rate sect.
Soon, the ruins of the Leakless Sect were dyed red by the blood of the countless cultivators slain under San Jiuling's spear. It even gained a slight red tint and baleful air from all the killing. Whether it was just a lowly foundation establishment disciple or an exalted true immortal, San Jiuling did not let them go.
Not even the scouts sent from allied forces and the Anti-Heaven Alliance were spared. Ironically, San Jiuling killed no scouts dispatched by the Buzhou Immortal Sect. As the instigator of this extermination, they didn't need to gather intelligence from the ruins.
Even as the looters fled, San Jiuling chased after them. Their status as loose or devilish cultivators didn't matter. Whoever was in his line of sight became his target.
Because of his indiscriminate killing, a thin film of Karmic Sin surrounded him. As a true immortal, he would gain more sin from killing mortals, even mortal cultivators. However, San Jiuling did not care as he continued.
"Stop!" A shadowy figure appeared in front of San Jiuling and knocked him out of the air and into the ground. The pain broke him out of his frenzy.
"Who?" San Jiuling groaned out. He looked up to see a ragged Monarch Fiendclaw, the master of Hun Jusang. "Senior?"
Monarch Fiendclaw said nothing as he landed next to San Jiuling, who got back up, holding his aching chest. Finally, he opened his mouth, "What happened? How'd you survive when all others died?"
San Jiuling's expression twisted in sorrow. "I... I... I don't know. Maybe because I was in a sealed immortal grotto, I managed to escape the persecution."
"You lie," Monarch Fiendclaw said. "Monarch San said you were adventuring with fellow sect members. If you survived, where are they?"
San Jiuling froze. He had a guess as to why he survived when everyone else died, but it involved his greatest secret. One that he would not reveal to anyone, not even his grandfather. If it were exposed, he might become a target of the entire world.
He looked down with false sorrow. "They all died while adventuring."
Monarch Fiendclaw's expression softened. "I see. It's been tough on you. Return with me back to the Nihility Sect."
San Jiuling opened his mouth to agree, but his instincts blared. Suddenly, he looked suspiciously at Monarch Fiendclaw. "Wait, you said my grandfather told you. Does that mean you were with him when all this happened?"
"Indeed, but I was lucky enough to survive," Monarch Fiendclaw admitted.
"Impossible. How can a monarch like you survive when our grand elder died? He was an immortal emperor!" San Jiuling questioned.
Monarch Fiendclaw softly shook his head. "I was lucky. Since I was not part of the Leakless Sect, they didn't realize I was here, so I was able to hide until it was over."
"I see. Senior Fiendclaw was very lucky," San Jiuling said. "Forgive me for failing your good intentions, but I plan to roam the Heaven Continent and see if I can find other survivors like me."
Monarch Fiendclaw's expression didn't change, and he nodded in understanding. "If that is your intention, I won't force you."
Before San Jiuling could answer or react, something struck him in his chest, leaving five long gashes dripping purplish blood. "You!"
"Since you don't want to, then rest here for eternity," Monarch Fiendclaw said. His hand had transformed into a monstrous form of black with five insidious claws dripping poison.
"I knew it, you're a traitor!" San Jiuling yelled.
Monarch Fiendclaw shook his head. "No, you're the traitor."
Before San Jiuling could understand what he meant, Monarch Fiendclaw attacked him. He wanted to resist, but he discovered that he had been paralyzed and not even his vaunted Unbound Forest Physique could counteract the poison in his body. Not to mention that he had overexerted himself in his maddened rage.
Just as it seemed that he would die, an object blocked Monarch Fiendclaw's attack. San Jiuling saw the underside of a tortoise and understood it was the Black Tortoise that saved him.
A voice rang out in his mind. "Stupid human. If you're going to forcibly contract me, don't die before I can cancel it, you damn idiot! I'm not going to die with you!"
A sphere composed of hexagons shrouded San Jiuling and carried him off into the distance. Monarch Fiendclaw gave chase, but the sphere's speed far outstripped him. It flew far faster than San Jiuling's ability to process what flew underneath.
It stopped a few seconds short of ten minutes, dropping San Jiuling at an unknown clearing. San Jiuling poked the Black Tortoise that shrunk to its smaller form. "You're pretty strong, Turt Little."
"My exalted name is Xuanwu, you damn...hu...man..." the Black Tortoise's voice faded as he sank into slumber.
"Turt Little?" San Jiuling asked, poking at the shell. He began to worry about the Black Tortoise's condition. However, no matter what he did, the Black Tortoise did not respond. Thankfully, he could still sense a strong, if slightly weaker, vitality emanating from him.
San Jiuling sighed and focused on himself. Because of his confidence in his strong physique, he didn't carry many healing or detoxification pills. He had to use all the detoxification pills he had and exhaust himself before Monarch Fiendclaw's poison disappeared.
He took another two months to fully recuperate. During this time, aside from checking on Turt Little and injecting some immortal qi, San Jiuling also planned his next move.
Going and reporting Monarch Fiendclaw's status as a traitor to the Nihility Sect would be an unwise choice. Maybe he acted under the Nihility Sect's order. And going to the Jade Cauldron Sect would just be as unwise. Even if they wanted to do something about it, what could they accomplish as a second-rate sect?
No, the better option would be going to the Anti-Heaven Alliance, especially the Cloud Goddess Cult.
After fully healing, San Jiuling slowly made his way toward the headquarters of the Anti-Heaven Alliance. In order to confuse anyone on his possible trail, he traveled toward the edge of the continent and made a long detour.
While resting at a teahouse in disguise, his ears perked up as he heard his name.
"Did you hear?" one guest quietly said.
"Hear what?" his table mate asked.
"The pride of the Leakless Sect, San Jiuling, is actually a traitor!"
"What? No way!" the tablemate said. Although his voice displayed disbelief, he could not hide his curiosity.
The guest laughed with confidence. "You don't know, but it was actually he who leaked the information to the Buzhou Immortal Sect about their hidden immortal elder, prompting them to exterminate the Leakless Sect regardless of cost. And, you know the best part?"
"What? Stop baiting me and tell me."
"The Buzhou Immortal Sect threw him away after using him. Although they didn't kill him, that's a cruel mercy. Now, he's being chased by both the remaining members of the Tripartite Alliance and the Anti-Heaven Alliance," the guest gleefully said.
San Jiuling's nearly shattered under his grip as he greeted his teeth and resisted the urge to shout the truth to the world. "Fiendclaw! You deserve to fall into the eighteen pits of hell!"
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