The deafening silence of the night was unsettling; the wind failed to blow as usual, and the usual night howls could not be heard.


    As for the bustling street, it was eerily quiet, with doors and windows closed.


    Under such a heavy atmosphere, a silhouette was running with difficulty, holding his waist.


    Trailing behind him was blood.


    This silhouette was Yijun, the firstmoner to be a cultivator.


    With the death of the woman he loved, he lost himself in rage and attacked the Necoris, trying to avenge her.


    Unfortunately, he did not have sufficient power to kill the Necoris.


    Controlled by rage, he lost his reasoning, allowing the Necoris leader to capitalize on his weakness.


    Thus, it was only a matter of time before all his teammates fell under the evil ws of the Necoris.


    When he realized he was thest man standing, he knew continuing to fight a losing battle would lead to his demise.


    Paying a heavy price, with a deep gash on his back and two deep w strikes on his chest, he managed to escape from the restaurant.


    Being an orphan, he had no backing whatsoever, and the only ce he found sce was the Celestial Heavenly Store.


    Looking at the Celestial Heavenly Store in the distance, Yijun bit his tongue hard, blood gushing out in order to stay conscious.


    Creak! Creak!


    Under the veil of night, a series of heavy footsteps came from behind him and were closing in rapidly.


    Turning back, Yijun saw the Necoris gaining on him, and his heart pounded heavily in his chest.


    ''I can''t allow them to capture me. I must avenge my Qin Yaling and teammates,'' he roared in his mind, pushing himself to the limit as he rushed toward the Celestial Heavenly Store.


    Tens of meters behind him, three savage Necoris, filled with bloodthirstiness, gripped their scythes tightly as they couldn''t wait to hack this damn human in two.


    As for the mysterious store, they didn''t think much of it.


    How mysterious could it be in front of their power?


    Filled with confidence, the three chased Yijun toward the Celestial Heavenly Store.


    Just as Yijun arrived in front of the Celestial Heavenly Store, a middle-aged man came out.


    He was Deng Kun.


    He stared at Yijun without any change in his expression.


    "What do you want?"


    "Elder…please save me…" Yijun begged with thest ounce of his strength before he fainted.


    Arriving before Deng Kun was through sheer willpower, but now that he was here, he could no longer sustain his injuries and copsed to the ground.


    Deng Kun looked at him, and a sh of pity appeared on his face before it disappeared.


    In the distance, the three Necoris saw their prey lying on the ground and noticed a man standing right in front of him.


    Without caring who the man was, they charged forward, raising their weapons to kill.


    Feeling the Necoris'' killing intent, Deng Kun raised his head, and his cold, piercing gaze fell on the three Necoris.


    Before they could understand what was happening, he waved his hand.


    Whoosh! Whoosh!


    Three powerful wind des appeared out of thin air and cut off their heads.


    Thud!


    Their heads were severed, but their bodies still had the momentum of running and managed to cover a few more feet before copsing to the ground.


    To the barrennders, killing the Necoris was no different from killing ants.


    He bent down and carried Yijun into the store but stopped at the door and looked at the dead Necoris. He waved his hand.


    Instantly, mes engulfed their corpses and burned them to a crisp, leaving nothing behind.


    Early morning.N?v(el)B\\jnn


    Dongping City woke up and resumed their daily activities, only to be confronted by rumors.


    Quickly, the rumors gained traction and spread like wildfire throughout the city.


    It was said that the Celestial Heavenly Store was not benevolent at all but was using people as blood sacrifices and turning those who imed to have cultivated the superior technique into puppets.


    Therefore, all the powerful ns dered war on the store and anyone associated with it.


    As the rumors spread throughout the city, many powerful ns began toe forward to confirm them.


    When the people heard the confirmation from many strong ns, they were enraged and turned their fury toward the Celestial Heavenly Store.


    However, among the popce, some with a littlemon sense realized that things were not as simple as they seemed.


    Why would all the nse out and attack the Celestial Heavenly Store? Besides, the store never forced anyone to enter.


    Moreover, they had interacted with some of the so-called puppets, and none of them showed any semnce of being one.


    The only thing different about them was their newfound strength, which was different from the generic martial artist.


    With all this in mind, they chose to see how things would unfold.


    As for the Celestial Heavenly Store, they were not bothered by the rumors and continued their business as usual.


    Compared to before, the inflow of people was reduced, with many raising their guard against them.


    To the shock of those in the dark, the store''s business continued.


    Even though there were no new faces joining the store, those who had already joined and had cultivators in their midst still came to take on missions.


    Inside the Wei n''s main hall, the four n alliance leaders looked at each other in confusion.


    "Why is the store still running?" The Wei n Patriarch asked in a deep voice.


    "Is our n not working?" The Feng Patriarch added with a knitted brow.


    "We must do something quickly. If this continues, the number of cultivatorsing out of the store will increase." Patriarch Sou''s voice was filled with impatience.


    After the three patriarchs spoke their minds, they all turned to the alliance''s brain—Matriarch Mo, the only woman.


    "What should we do?" Patriarch Wei asked.


    "I''m already on it. Just give me a few days, and the store wille begging us," she responded confidently, hiding her sinister thoughts.