Hu Mazi caught a glimpse from the corner of his eye, and saw that a black token hung from the scarred man’s waist. The “Evil” character engraved on the token was exactly the same as the Evil Dao Hall token he had seen before.
His heartbeat involuntarily quickened, knowing that his wait had finally borne fruit.
At that moment, the conversation between two cultivators at the neighbouring table drifted into Hu Mazi’s ears.
“Have you heard? The people from the Divine Hall have been holding lectures recently, and many cultivators have all gone to listen. But those cultivators who finished listening seem to have lost their souls.”
One cultivator said in a lowered voice.
“Shh! Keep it down! Are the matters of the Divine Hall something we can discuss? Last time, a loose cultivator talked too much and was directly slapped several times by the people from the Divine Hall!”
The other cultivator reminded him in alarm.
“What is there to fear? I heard that the people from the Divine Hall have been getting very close to the Evil Dao Hall recently.”
After saying that, the cultivator leaned directly to the other’s ear and whispered, “It seems the Evil Dao Hall is looking for something called a ‘Soul Jar’, said to be able to hold millions of souls. The Divine Hall seems to have this thing.”
Hu Mazi listened carefully, and his heart sank sharply.
“Soul Jar”, “millions of souls”, these few words struck his heart like a heavy hammer.
Could this be related to the disappearance of the Hu clan souls that he had come to investigate this time?
He wanted to listen more carefully, but the scarred man suddenly glanced towards the neighbouring table. The two cultivators immediately shut their mouths, hurriedly settled their bill, and left the teahouse.
The scarred man finished his wine, then stood up with his two subordinates and departed.
Hu Mazi’s heart stirred, knowing this was a good opportunity to follow them and uncover the truth.
He quietly followed after them, while activating the concealment talisman to hide his figure.
Trailing behind them, Hu Mazi passed through several narrow alleys. These alleys were filled with a rotten stench, and the walls were covered in black vines, as if they were tentacles of darkness.
In the end, they stopped before an abandoned altar.
The altar was covered in black runes, those runes flickering with eerie light, as if hiding endless secrets.
In the centre of the altar stood a clay jar half the height of a man. From within the jar came faint, shrill soul cries, that sound like wails from hell, making Hu Mazi’s back involuntarily chill.
“Is the item prepared?”
A cultivator in a white long robe slowly walked out from behind the altar. The hem of his robe was embroidered with a golden “Divine” character, he was clearly from the Divine Hall!
The scarred man nodded, and took out a storage pouch from his bosom: “This contains five hundred thousand immortal stones. It is estimated that in a short while, a large batch of immortal stones will also be sent from the lower realms. When can we get that ‘Soul Jar’?”
The white-robed cultivator sneered, that laughter filled with disdain and mockery: “What is the rush? Once our Hall Master fills the Soul Jar for you, it will naturally be given to your Evil Dao Hall. At that time, you use the souls for cultivation, we use the immortal stones for cultivation, and the two are mutually exclusive.”
“It is still your Divine Hall that collects souls faster than us. We need to collect in places of conflict, whereas your Divine Hall can trick those cultivators into attending lectures and directly harvest their souls.”
Hearing these words, Hu Mazi’s hands clenched white.
To think that the people from the Divine Hall would commit such filthy deeds. One must know that without their souls, cultivators could no longer continue cultivating and advancing their realms in the future, no different from death.
Just as Hu Mazi was about to draw closer to examine the clay jar on the altar, he was suddenly discovered.
The concealment talisman failed, and his aura was instantly exposed.
“Who is it?”
The white-robed cultivator whipped his head around, his gaze sharp as a sword. The long sword in his hand came out of its sheath in an instant, and a golden sword light slashed towards Hu Mazi’s position!
Hu Mazi hurriedly activated the concealment talisman again, sidestepping to dodge the sword light.
Even so, the hem of his robe was still torn open by the sword qi.
That sword qi seemed to carry a scorching power, making his skin sting with pain.
