Chapter 45: The Nine Cold Sects

At the Ziyang Palace, only the sect leader remained, still fighting against the demon cultivators in the Sea of Immortals and Demons—effectively, it had already perished.
At this moment, Qu Yi and the Northern Envoy were casually conversing on Ziyang Peak.
“Northern Envoy, since the Ziyang Palace has been destroyed, has your demon cultivator leader given you any instructions for the next steps?” Qu Yi asked with a smile.
“The leader said that once the Ziyang Palace was destroyed, I should take full control of subsequent actions. He would only intervene to launch a surprise attack on that Red Golden Immortal who is just at the early stage of distraction during the attack on the Jinding Sect,” the Northern Envoy replied calmly.
Upon hearing this, Qu Yi’s eyes lit up with joy—now he could carry out his plans as he wished.
“Then let’s head straight to the Nine Cold Sects and wipe them out completely,” Qu Yi said with a cold laugh.
The Northern Envoy nodded immediately. “Yes, master.”
Then, Qu Yi summoned the fourteen palace masters of the Ziyang Palace, telling them to organize their disciples before all fourteen entered the Dimensional Sphere. He also asked the Northern Envoy, Bai Yan, Hai Gui Xin, and Xuan Gu Shangren to enter as well, though Wei Yan and the Southern Envoy did not—both still had their own roles to play.
“Wei Yan, take four thousand demon cultivators to Tianzang Peak at the edge of the Nine Cold Mountains and wait for my orders,” Qu Yi said, staring at Wei Yan with a smile.
“Yes, master,” Wei Yan replied promptly.
Next, Qu Yi turned to the Southern Envoy and said with a smile, “Southern Envoy, it’s your turn to take on this task. After all, you have the Golden Shuttle—take us to the Nine Cold Mountains.”
It turned out that Qu Yi wanted the Southern Envoy to use the Golden Shuttle to travel while he stayed hidden inside the Dimensional Sphere, attached to the Southern Envoy.
“Yes, master,” the Southern Envoy replied succinctly.
Soon after, the Southern Envoy took out the Golden Shuttle and soared into the air, heading toward the Nine Cold Mountains. Behind them, Wei Yan, Xiong Guan, Lang Qiang, and Long Zhan, along with four thousand demon cultivators, also set off for the same destination.
…
The Nine Cold Sects were located in the Nine Cold Mountains, comprising sixteen cultivation peaks, or sixteen sub-palaces.
At that time, in the middle of the Nine Cold Mountains, on the summit of a snow-capped peak, the Southern Envoy landed. Shortly after, Qu Yi and the Northern Envoy emerged from the Dimensional Sphere.
“Master, we’ve arrived at the Nine Cold Mountains,” the Southern Envoy said calmly.
Qu Yi nodded and turned to the Northern Envoy, smiling. “Northern Envoy, go and summon the demon cultivators lurking within the Nine Cold Sects.”
The Northern Envoy replied and immediately flew off.
A day later, the Northern Envoy returned, accompanied by a beautiful girl with an extremely cold expression.

The girl’s true form was an ice dragon from the frigid regions, with a cultivation level reaching the middle stage of exiting the body, practicing water-based martial arts.
“Southern Envoy, let me introduce you to this one—this is Jiaoling,” said the Northern Envoy as soon as he reached the peak, speaking to the Southern Envoy without even glancing at Qu Yi.
“Jiaoling, I’m the Southern Envoy,” the Southern Envoy said with a smile.
The girl nodded gently.
At that moment, seeing that Jiaoling had dropped her guard, Qu Yi immediately released all the experts at the exiting-the-body stage from his Dimensional Ball. Then, twenty such experts attacked simultaneously, knocking the girl unconscious.
Qu Yi smiled and promptly planted a soul shackle on Jiaoling.
After a while, Jiaoling regained consciousness. A cold glint flashed in her icy eyes as she struggled internally for a long time before finally sighing in relief, her expression calming down.
“Master!” Under the command of the Artifact God, Jiaoling finally obeyed Qu Yi.
Seeing that Jiaoling had submitted, Qu Yi immediately said with a smile, “Jiaoling, tell me about the top experts of the Nine Cold Sect.”
Perhaps not fond of talking much, Jiaoling hesitated for a while before saying, “Master, in the Nine Cold Sect, there is currently an elder named Bai Zhi, who is at the late stage of exiting the body. Among the sixteen sect leaders, eight are at the middle stage and eight at the early stage. I’ve already taken control of five sect leaders, all at the early stage. Out of concern for Elder Bai Zhi, I can’t be too active in the sect.”
Qu Yi’s eyes lit up. He hadn’t expected Jiaoling to have taken control of five sects, which saved him some time.
“Very good. Since there’s that Elder Bai Zhi blocking the way in the Nine Cold Sect, let’s deal with her first,” Qu Yi said with a cold laugh.
Jiaoling quickly looked at Qu Yi and hurriedly said, “Master, Elder Bai Zhi is on Nine Cold Peak, where there are thousands of elite disciples. Moreover, she has set up restrictions while in seclusion—how can we attack her?”
Upon hearing this, Qu Yi, the Southern Envoy, and the Northern Envoy all laughed at Jiaoling.
Jiaoling was stunned. She still didn’t know that Qu Yi possessed the precious Dimensional Ball.
“Alright, Jiaoling, lead the way for us to Nine Cold Peak,” Qu Yi said with a smile.
Seeing the relaxed expressions of the Southern and Northern Envoys, though puzzled, Jiaoling understood that Qu Yi must have a plan, so she felt reassured.
……
Nine Cold Peak was 20,000 meters high, with thousands of tall buildings built on it, housing thousands of disciples from the Nine Cold Sect.

At that moment, a slightly overweight man flew through the air and was about to land on Jiuhan Peak. This man was Xuanhan Shangren, the head of Xuanhan Hall. He had been enslaved by Jiaoling and was now driven by her to fly to Jiuhan Peak to find Bai Zhi Shangren.

On Jiuhan Peak, there was a protective formation. After Xuanhan Shangren showed his identification, the formation did not stop him, allowing him to enter the peak.

At the top of the peak stood a building called Bai Zhi Pavilion, which was Bai Zhi Shangren’s residence. However, at that time, Bai Zhi Shangren was practicing in a quiet room inside the pavilion.

Xuanhan Shangren flew in front of Bai Zhi Pavilion and called out, “Elder, it’s Xuanhan. I have important matters to report to you.”

His voice triggered the spirit-blocking barrier set up by Bai Zhi Shangren, who immediately became aware of it from within the quiet room.

Soon, Bai Zhi Shangren removed the barrier and said, “Xuanhan, come in.”

Xuanhan was overjoyed and immediately flew into the pavilion, then into the quiet room where Bai Zhi Shangren was practicing.

“What is it?” asked Bai Zhi Shangren, whose gentle and serene appearance matched her soft voice, as she sat on a cushion.

“Elder, my men found out on Yingxian Island that there’s a Dark Cold Crystal cave in the Bingfeng Gorge on Baiyin Star. I think you should go there and obtain it,” Xuanhan said happily.

Baiyin Star was a famous planet in the cultivation world, covered entirely in ice layers. It was a place often explored by cultivators who practiced water and ice-related techniques. These Dark Cold Crystals were extremely useful to Bai Zhi Shangren, as they could help her advance to the early stage of Spirit Division.

“Really? That’s great, great! Xuanhan, you’ve done well,” Bai Zhi Shangren said excitedly, her gaze toward Xuanhan becoming gentler.

“Elder, the Jiuhan Sect needs your protection. I’m willing to do anything to help improve your cultivation,” Xuanhan said seriously, expressing his loyalty.

Bai Zhi Shangren nodded with a smile and said, “Xuanhan, don’t worry. Once I reach the early stage of Spirit Division, I’ll help you advance to the middle stage of Soul Exit. In the future, I’ll also help you compete for the position of sect leader.”

Xuanhan was overjoyed and wisely left the quiet room, departing from Bai Zhi Pavilion.

Inside the quiet room, an almost imperceptible speck of dust fell to the ground as Xuanhan stood up.

Soon, Bai Zhi Shangren re-established the spirit-blocking barrier in Bai Zhi Pavilion and began practicing with closed eyes again.

She quickly entered a meditative state, fully immersed in the cultivation techniques, leaving only a trace of her spiritual awareness on the barrier.

At that moment, the dust that fell to the ground—the Cunjie Ball—allowed Qu Yi inside to know that Bai Zhi Shangren had entered meditation and that it was time to carry out the assassination. In an instant, twenty-one people suddenly appeared in the quiet room: Qu Yi, the fourteen palace masters of Ziyang Palace, the Southern Envoy, the Northern Envoy, Xuan Gu Shangren, Bai Yan, Hai Gui Xin, Jiao Ling, and others. Without hesitation, they immediately took out their magical artifacts and cast the spells they had prepared in advance. Spells of metal, wood, water, fire, earth, wind, and ice—various in color and type—all possessed immense destructive power. The twenty-one combined spells struck Bai Zhi Shangren so quickly that she had no time to react; they all hit her at once. The only spiritual awareness Bai Zhi Shangren left was focused on the spirit barrier, not in the quiet room. She only realized what was happening when the energy around her surged, but it was already too late—the twenty-one spells had already struck her. “Ah!” Bai Zhi Shangren let out a single cry before disappearing completely, dying an utterly unjust death. Instantly, Qu Yi led his twenty-one subordinates back into the Cunjie Ball and waited for the spirit barrier to vanish. Sure enough, it didn’t take long for the barrier to disintegrate without Bai Zhi Shangren’s spiritual control. The Cunjie Ball then flew out of Bai Zhi Pavilion and returned to Xuan Han Shangren, who was still at Jiuhan Peak. Xuan Han Shangren then flew away from Jiuhan Peak. The entire process unfolded so calmly that the disciples on Jiuhan Peak didn’t realize Bai Zhi Shangren had been eliminated. Xuan Han Shangren flew away from the Jiuhan Mountains and stopped at Tiancang Peak at the edge of the range. By then, Wei Yan, Xiong Guan, Lang Qiang, Long Zhan, along with four thousand cultivators, had already arrived at Tiancang Peak. Qu Yi emerged from the Cunjie Ball and, seeing the murderous cultivators around him, felt extremely proud. He believed that after another massacre of the Jiuhan Sect, some of these cultivators would likely reach the early stage of exiting the body. Shortly after, Qu Yi called Jiao Ling and the other twenty cultivators at the exiting-stage out of the Cunjie Ball. “From now on, the four thousand cultivators will be divided into four teams, and all the strong cultivators at the exiting stage will also be split into four groups to attack the four cultivation peaks of the Jiuhan Sect simultaneously. Let’s work together to eliminate the Jiuhan Sect as quickly as possible,” Qu Yi said with a cold smile. Since there were no more strong cultivators at the advanced exiting-stage within the Jiuhan Sect, Qu Yi was confident he could send several teams to massacre them at once.

As soon as he finished speaking, the experts at the Out-of-Body stage and the 4,000 demon cultivators quickly formed four teams on their own.