Black Tiger God strode after Quinn Shepherd and said, "Stop staring! This is the god-control technique, my lord's own method—hurry up and keep pace!"
Everyone quickly followed. Just as they caught up to Quinn, his Primordial Spirit swiftly returned to his body. He slapped his Taotie Glutton Pouch, and the Sword Pill spun out, whirling and accelerating as it shot into the sky.
Quinn suddenly sped up, racing forward. With a thunderous boom, he broke the sound barrier, making no attempt to hide his presence.
Rain He and the other cultivators frowned. Quinn's charge could catch the enemy off guard, but the noise would definitely reach other watchtowers.
Ding Yun had scouted ahead: besides the six towers on their route, there were other watchtowers off the path. Quinn's sonic boom was so loud that it might alert those towers and force them to abort the mission.
Rain He gritted her teeth. "Keep up!"
Everyone accelerated, sprinting with all their might, pushing their speed to the limit. Explosive booms echoed as each of them broke the sound barrier—some faster, some slower.
Rain He, Shu Yao, and Sabrina were the fastest, even outpacing Quinn. The three caught up with him and looked ahead, just in time to see the Sword Pill reach the first watchtower.
The Sword Pill was still ten or so zhang away from the tower when countless swords burst out, slicing through the structure with a sharp whistle. A dozen swords suddenly angled down, skimming along the ground, while the airborne blades collided with the Pill and returned to it. The Sword Pill barely paused, continuing forward.
Quinn was still sprinting forward. In a few breaths, he could see the second tower—below it, several demon cultivators were drinking and making merry, while two more kept watch above.
The ground-skimming swords swept in; the drinking demons didn't even react before their heads flew off. The blood-streaked blades shot skyward, colliding with the Sword Pill as it exited the tower.
Whoosh—
Quinn charged past the tower like a gust of wind, heading for the third.
Rain He, Shu Yao, and Sabrina hurried after him. When they reached the third tower, Quinn abruptly stopped, but the Sword Pill had already shot toward the fourth.
Quinn's steps turned erratic, his right hand forming sword seals, his yuanqi (vital energy) boiling around him. He moved with a drunken gait, stabbing the air with sword fingers, then both hands formed seals, thrusting repeatedly.
The Sword Pill smashed through tower after tower, trailing countless flying swords like darting fish. Every demon cultivator inside was slain as the Pill burst out, breaking through the fourth, fifth, and sixth towers in succession.
The rest of the squad caught up just as Ding Yun projected his Primordial Spirit to chase the Sword Pill. After it broke the sixth tower, the Pill split apart—eight thousand blades divided into two swarms, each forming a smaller Pill and shooting off to either side.
Ding Yun jumped in shock, his Primordial Spirit trailing one of the Pills. It circled half the area at terrifying speed, clearing every watchtower in its path before the demons could react.
When the Pill reached the last tower, Ding Yun heard the thunder of their supersonic sprint, though it was faint. The demon sentries poked their heads out to look, but behind them, the Sword Pill flew in and exploded with sword-light, engulfing them.
Ding Yun quickly recalled his Primordial Spirit. Just as he returned to his body, one Pill flew toward them—and the other came howling in from the opposite direction.
The two Sword Pills collided with a crisp clang in front of Quinn, merging into a slightly larger Pill that floated gently into his hand.
"Mission accomplished." Quinn looked up with a smile.
Everyone was so tense they could barely breathe. They had just stopped running and hadn't even gotten a sense of their surroundings yet.
Shu Yao glanced at Ding Yun. Ding Yun nodded and said, "Within a radius of one hundred and fifty li, every watchtower that could hear the thunder has been destroyed by the Cult Master. Beyond that, the sound didn't reach."
"A hundred and fifty li?"
Rain He was incredulous. Quinn had only mentioned a hundred li, but he'd actually cleared one hundred and fifty. His yuanqi cultivation was unbelievably strong!
Seems he was being modest, she thought to herself.
Shu Yao said gravely, "Let's move quickly! Cult Master, you controlled so many swords just now—do you need a break?"
Quinn shook his head. "No worries, my yuanqi is still full."
Shu Yao was startled, thinking to himself, What a monster. The group hurried along the path of demolished towers; before long, they were close to the town Ding Yun had mentioned.
Everyone concealed themselves and looked ahead, hearts pounding in shock.
Up ahead, it was no mere town but a massive altar—every bit as grand as the one the Woodcutter Sage had used to descend!
Thousands of able-bodied humans, watched by demon soldiers, were building the altar.
The altar was more than halfway complete. Many demon cultivators carried huge buckets, using the blood inside to paint rune imprints across its surface.
"Haven't the demons already shattered High-Emperor Heaven's world barrier? In theory, demon gods from their world can descend freely—so why build an altar?"
Quinn was puzzled and whispered, "Unless... the gods they're summoning aren't from the demon world at all? Could it be..."
He recalled Zechariah Lee's origins, uneasily.
Zechariah was Logan Cross's disciple, from that so-called true Heavenly Court!
Shu Yao said urgently, "There's a Heaven-Man realm expert! Everyone, look away—don't stare!"
Everyone quickly averted their gaze. Next to the altar, the Heaven-Man demon's Primordial Spirit loomed more than ten zhang tall, burly and imposing. It seemed to sense something and glanced around, but found nothing amiss.
Quinn took out a mirror and used it to observe the altar from a distance. "There aren't too many demon cultivators here. Aside from that Heaven-Man expert, the others shouldn't be too difficult to handle..."
Just then, he saw a figure emerge from inside the altar, and his expression changed instantly.
Furylo!
Quinn's hand trembled. In the mirror, Furylo walked out from the altar, raised his head, and looked straight through the reflection at him.
Run...
Quinn's voice was hoarse. In the mirror, Furylo strode forward, his form growing larger and larger as if a nightmare were descending, filling the entire surface of the glass.
"Run!" Quinn shouted sharply.
—First update! A pseudo-mega chapter of 3,800 characters! Big brothers and sisters, do you still have any monthly votes left?