Gou Zai Fei Men made up myths

The Azure Cloud Alliance's outpost at the Black Swamp's front line—"Soul-Broken Ridge".

This ridge is located on the outer edge of the Black Swamp. It is situated at a high elevation and overlooks most of the swamp. It has now been converted into a temporary command post by the War Hall.

The camp was built against the mountain, constructed with a mixture of thick iron and wood and array patterns, exuding a strict military atmosphere.

Inside the central tent, the atmosphere was so heavy it was almost palpable.

Shi Tie sat in the main seat with a gloomy expression, his large, copper-bell-shaped eyes bloodshot, and his fists clenched so tightly they cracked. In front of him lay three cultivators, dressed in the standard leather armor of the Qingyun Alliance, barely clinging to life.

Their faces were ashen, their eyes unfocused, and they uttered unconscious mutterings from time to time. Their bodies twitched uncontrollably, and a strange, gray-black mark was faintly visible between their eyebrows, slowly writhing like a living thing, exuding a chilling, deathly aura.

"Take them all away! Use 'Heart-Cleansing Talismans' to calm them down, feed them 'Spirit-Protecting Pills,' and keep a close watch on them every second!" Shi Tie roared at the physician beside him, suppressing his anger. Immediately, disciples carefully carried the three wounded away.

"Damn it!" Shi Tie slammed his fist on the ironwood table in front of him, making a dull thud. The sand table on the table even jumped. "These ignorant fools! I've repeatedly given orders, set up multiple layers of formations, and clearly warned them not to approach within a thousand miles of the Boiling Bone Pool! Did they think I was just talking nonsense?!"

A deputy general standing nearby gave a wry smile and said in a low voice, "Elder Shi, please calm down. These three are stewards of the 'Azure Wood Sect,' and the other two are disciples of the 'Listening Waves Pavilion.' They are all from small sects nearby."

"They said... they were tracking a 'Bone-Rotting Crocodile' and strayed into the formation, becoming bewildered by the illusion array, and unknowingly... approached the edge of that perilous place. By the time they realized something was wrong, they had already been affected by the aura of reincarnation..."

"Mistakenly entered? Bewitched by an illusion array?" Shi Tie laughed angrily, pointing to the direction of the Bone-Corroding Pool on the sand table, marked in a conspicuous red. "Is my 'Nine Palaces Illusionary Heaven Array' just for show?"

"There are warning signs fifty miles away, and the illusion array within a hundred miles is fraught with danger. How could they have 'accidentally' wandered into a place less than three hundred miles from the pool's mouth?"

"What a load of rubbish! He's clearly just greedy and trying to take advantage of the chaos to sneak in and steal a bargain!"

The lieutenant shrank back, not daring to reply. In fact, similar incidents had occurred more than once in the past few days.

There are always some rogue cultivators and disciples from small sects who are confident in their cultivation or take a chance and try to bypass the Qingyun Alliance's blockade to sneak into the depths of the Black Swamp and catch a glimpse of the true face of the "Ancient Relics of Reincarnation".

Without exception, the result was either death or injury.

In mild cases, the soul is shaken and cultivation regresses; in severe cases, the mind is directly eroded by the aura of reincarnation, turning the person into a muddled idiot, or like the three people on the ground, whose souls are damaged, memories are confused, and life is worse than death.

Even worse, some directly triggered the outer killing array, leaving no trace of their bodies.

"Report—!" A disciple from the Battle Hall rushed into the main tent, knelt on one knee, and said urgently, "Elder Shi! To the southeast, seventy miles away, at the edge of the 'Poisonous Miasma Forest,' three spies from the Blazing Sun Sect have been discovered. They were trapped by Elder Zhao's 'Star Lock Formation' and attempted to break through, but have been captured! What should be done with them?"

"Those scum from the Blazing Sun Sect!" A fierce glint flashed in Shi Tie's eyes. "I knew they couldn't hold back! Bring them here!"

Soon, three cultivators, bound tightly by the Spirit-Sealing Lock and dressed in the crimson robes of the Blazing Sun Sect, were pushed in. Each of them had bruises on their faces and scorch marks from being burned by star power, clearly having suffered considerable losses in the formation.

The leader was a middle-aged man with triangular eyes. Although he had been captured, he still held his neck straight and looked arrogant.

"Shi Tie! How dare you! You actually detained my Lieyang Sect's patrolling disciples! Release us immediately, or else..." the triangular-eyed man shouted fiercely.

"Otherwise, you son of a bitch!" Shi Tie abruptly stood up, unleashing his Golden Core stage aura without reservation, pressing down on the three like a mountain. "Patrolling? Patrolling all the way to your grandma's Black Swamp? And carrying a 'Formation-Breaking Cone' and a 'Concealment Talisman'? Do you think I'm blind?!"

The man with the triangular eyes turned deathly pale under the pressure, and the words he was about to say caught in his throat. He hadn't expected Shi Tie to be so forceful.

They showed no regard for the reputation of the Lieyang Sect.

"Speak! Who sent you? What does that old ghost Huoyun want?" Shi Tie stepped forward, looking down at him with murderous intent in his eyes.

The man with the triangular eyes swallowed hard, forcing himself to remain calm as he said, "Elder Shi... Elder Shi, don't make false accusations! We... we were ordered by our sect to pursue a traitorous disciple and mistakenly entered this place..."

"Bullshit!" Shi Tie slapped him across the face, using his spiritual power to send the triangular-eyed man spinning three times in place. Half his face swelled up, and he spat out a few bloody teeth. "You've chased a traitor into my formation? And you even brought your special formation-breaking equipment?"

"If you don't tell the truth, I'll strip you naked and hang you in front of the battle lines so that all the comrades in the Southern Region can see what kind of people the Blazing Sun Sect's spies are!"

"You...you dare!" The man with the triangular eyes was both shocked and furious, his fierce words masking his inner weakness.

"You'll see if I dare!" Shi Tie grinned maliciously, waving his hand, "Drag him out! Strip him!"

"Yes!" The fierce disciples of the Battle Hall on both sides responded loudly and stepped forward to tear at the three people's clothes.

"Stop! I'll talk! I'll talk!" The triangular-eyed man panicked completely. He had no doubt that this brute Shi Tie was really capable of doing such a thing. If he were really stripped naked and hung up, the Lieyang Sect would lose face, and Elder Huoyun would skin him alive when they got back!

"It was Elder Huoyun who ordered us to come here to investigate the truth behind the changes in the Black Swamp, and... and to try to find out the details of the entrance to the Reincarnation Ruins..."

"Anything else?" Shi Tie's eyes were icy.

"And...and if there's an opportunity, we could...we could try to infiltrate and get firsthand intelligence..." The triangular-eyed man's voice trailed off.

"Where are the people from the Heavenly Sword Sect and the Profound Yin Sect? Are you colluding with them?" Shi Tie pressed.

"This... I don't know! I really don't know! We were just following orders and had no contact with other sects!" The man with the triangular eyes quickly shook his head.

Shi Tie stared at him intently for a long time, until the other man was drenched in cold sweat, before finally letting out a cold snort: "Take him away! Keep him under strict guard! He's not allowed to see anyone without my order!"

"yes!"

After dealing with the spies from the Blazing Sun Sect, Shi Tie's anger subsided somewhat, but his worries deepened. The Blazing Sun Sect could no longer contain themselves and had begun sending spies to force their way in.

The Heavenly Sword Sect and the Profound Yin Sect are unlikely to remain idle. Those smaller sects and independent cultivators are like sharks smelling blood, eager to pounce.

Blockades and formations can only hold out for a while, not forever.

That remnant of reincarnation is like a piece of fat meat exuding endless temptation, hanging in the mouths of a pack of hungry wolves, which will sooner or later provoke a frenzied attack.

"Elder Shi, the sect leader's secret order has arrived." A guard strode in and handed over a jade slip that shimmered with a faint light.

Shi Tie's spirits lifted, and he quickly took it, immersing his consciousness into it. After a moment, a glint flashed in his eyes, and his face revealed a look of relief mixed with a hint of ruthlessness.

"Pass down the order!" Shi Tie's voice boomed. "Record all the information about these three Lieyang Sect spies, along with the other members of various factions who were captured earlier and attempted to infiltrate, whether they are dead or alive. Make images of them and detail their identities, origins, cultivation levels, methods used, and locations of capture."

"Then, record this for me using a recording stone, and send it through the Hundred Treasures Pavilion's channels to major sects, markets, and gathering places of independent cultivators in the Southern Region!"

"Just write this title for me: 'Black Swamp, a forbidden land of reincarnation, where trespassers are annihilated! Attached: The fates of some recent daredevils!'"

The generals inside the tent were taken aback at first, then suddenly realized what was happening and their faces showed admiration.

This is to make an example of them, to deter others! By making the fate of those unfortunate souls public, let's see who else dares to easily come and throw their lives away!

"Furthermore," Shi Tie continued, his tone chilling, "strengthen patrols. If any suspicious persons are spotted approaching the cordon, issue a warning first. If they do not heed the warning, activate the killing formation immediately! Show no mercy!"

"The sect leader said that extraordinary times call for extraordinary measures! The Land of Reincarnation is extremely dangerous, and those who trespass should not be spared death. Our Qingyun Alliance is saving their lives!"

"Yes, sir!"