...

However, just as the hand was about to touch him, his nine Spirit Seas erupted with a Heavenly Dao Halo, and the halo of death collapsed. The hissing snakes were wiped away, and the girl's hand withered, revealing dead skin and viscous drops of blood. It was unspeakably terrifying.

The girl let out a long, howling shriek that resonated through the air.

At the same time, the teleportation power around Yan Xiaobao exploded at full force, and he vanished from the Fallen Sword World.

After all the disciples of the four sects had left, the Fallen Sword World continued to collapse. But then something else happened. Massive, hazy gray mist surged forth, beginning to fill the world. It was laden with a halo of death and reeked of rot. Because of that decaying aura, even the four mighty teleportation formations crumbled into ruins.

In the blink of an eye, the entire world... became a Ghost Realm. Howls rose from within the fog. Clearly, all the banesouls that existed in this world were now beginning to awaken.

Strangely, the gigantic sword stopped its tottering collapse!

In the outside world, Ouyang Jie and the others saw the sword cease to sway and watched black mist begin to gush out. They exchanged frustrated looks. However, after a while, they attempted to enter the sword again, and this time, there was no problem.

When they went in, they could still sense a fading sacred halo.

"That aura..."

"Heavenstring energy!!! What an immense power!" Even as a flicker of shock flashed across their faces, a sinister young girl's voice rose from the mist below... It sounded bizarre and cruel, filling the entire world.

"Your disciples have already harvested the Heavenstring energy. From this day forth, this place shall be called... the Nine Serenities Ghost Domain. In the future, do not set foot here. Any who violate this decree will have their entire sect exterminated!"

With the sound, Ouyang Jie and the others coughed up mouthfuls of blood. As they were forcibly blasted out of the world, the voice crashed in their ears like thunder.

"Banespirit!!" they cried in horror. The pressure they felt surpassed the Nova Soul Stage. They trembled, their hearts filled with a shocking impact, and retreated at full speed while sending messages back to their sects.

"The Fallen Sword World has turned into the Nine Serenities Ghost Domain. Furthermore... one of the banesouls has awakened and become a banespirit!"

"The Heavenstring energy has been taken away? By whom? Which sect's disciple got it? Does that mean... someone has reached the Heavenly Dao Foundation!?!"

Even as they fled, the former Fallen Sword World, now the Nine Serenities Ghost Domain, was choked with fog. Standing within the mist was a girl in a white dress, holding an unskinned, shriveled Lei Shan in her hand. At first she gazed up at the sky, then lowered her eyes to stare at the tens of thousands of banesouls in the region. All of them... were bowing down to her!

No sound could be heard.

As for Lei Shan, his eyes were filled with inconceivable terror and agony.

Standing next to the girl in the white dress was a young, beautiful woman whose eyes were expressionless, like a puppet. She was... Gongsun Wan'er.

There was no poison on her, and no centipedes. The human-faced spider had turned into mist and vanished. She was now completely clean, utterly empty, inside and out...

"Oh, you don't want to play with me, darling..." the girl said, her voice sinister and strange. "Well, that's fine. I'll be able to leave this place soon, and then I can come find you. I'll show you how pretty this new dress of mine is." The girl chuckled, looking at Gongsun Wan'er.

The fact that the Fallen Sword World had transformed into the Nine Serenities Ghost Domain was a major event in the eastern lower reaches of the Cultivation World. What had once been a Heavenly Dao Foundation Holy Land was now a domain of horror!

Moreover, one of the banesouls had awakened, turning into a terrifying, sentient banespirit. Even the elders of the four sects were shaken by the thought.

However, there was nothing they could do about it. Although the matter affected the four sects to a certain extent, it was not a tremendous loss. Furthermore, it was a shared loss for all four. Shockingly, the girl's voice confirmed that the Heavenstring energy... had already been taken.

That meant someone had to have reached the Heavenly Dao Foundation.

"Who was it... which sect, which disciple obtained that immense energy!?"

"Damn it! If it was one of the other three sects, that means they'll have a disciple at the Heavenly Dao Foundation. We need to kill that person while they're still weak. If they reach Core Formation, they'll become a force that won't be easy to stop!"

"It's definitely our Blood Flow Sect. Hahaha! Now we have Patriarch Limitless... and another top-tier cultivator!"

The four elders immediately used transmission jade slabs to send the information back to their sects as quickly as possible.

At the same time, they tried to make contact with those disciples who had been teleported out of the Fallen Sword World. Unfortunately, they quickly discovered that the fluctuations caused by the teleportation made communication impossible.

Soon, the Blood Flow Sect, Deep Flow Sect, Spiritual Flow Sect, and Medicine Flow Sect were thrown into great upheaval. Even the Clan Leaders of the sects were shaken. Large numbers of Heavenly Dao Foundation Dharma Protectors and elders were dispatched. Even prime elders were sent out. No effort was spared in tracking down the disciples who had been teleported to random locations.

All they needed was to find a single disciple, and they should be able to obtain information about what had happened in the Fallen Sword World. Most importantly, everyone wanted to know... who had obtained that immense energy!