48: Master said, "To cut weeds, you must pull them out by the roots; even earthworms must be split vertically."

Above the ruins of the Yunlan Sect.

Xiao Chen stood with his hands behind his back, his robes flapping in the wind, exuding the air of a solitary Revered Master.

He hadn't left.

He was waiting for someone.

"Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!"

Three streaks of light tore through the air and landed steadily beside him.

It was Shi Tian, Leng Yanran, and Ye Fan, who had rushed over after hearing the news.

"Senior Brother! Are you okay?"

Shi Tian, carrying his iconic large hoe, was the first to rush up, examining Xiao Chen from head to toe, worried he might be missing an arm or a leg.

"I heard you challenged the entire Yunlan Sect by yourself? And you even angered that Old Ancestor so much he spat blood?"

Xiao Chen coughed dryly, trying to maintain his aloof persona: "A small matter, nothing worth mentioning."

"Hmph." Leng Yanran crossed her arms and pouted, "Senior Brother, that wasn't cool. You didn't even call us for such a fun fight."

"Exactly!" Ye Fan joined in the commotion, flexing his golden fists, which made a crisp 'crunch, crunch' sound. "My sandbag-sized fists have been thirsty for action for ages!"

Xiao Chen felt a headache coming on as he looked at these three Junior Brothers and Junior Sisters who seemed bent on causing chaos.

"Alright, stop messing around."

His expression turned serious, and a cold glint flashed in his eyes.

"Revered Master just sent a voice transmission; he has located the Soul Palace Branch Hall."

"Our team-building activity for today has just begun."

...Half an hour later.

The Black Wind Mountain Range, a desolate mass grave.

The Yin Qi here was dense, ghost fires flickered, and it was perpetually shrouded in poisonous miasma; there wasn't a single living creature within a hundred miles.

No one would have guessed that the greatest cancer of the Eastern Barrens—the Soul Palace Branch Hall—was hidden deep beneath this foul land.

"This is the place."

Xiao Chen checked the map Revered Master had given him and pointed toward a massive cave entrance covered by weeds ahead.

The entrance was pitch black, like the gaping maw of a giant beast, continuously emitting a chilling coldness that made the Soul tremble.

"Such heavy resentment." Leng Yanran frowned. "Who knows how many innocent beings have been harmed inside here."

"Then what are we waiting for?"

Ye Fan was the first to grow impatient. He stretched his limbs, and the Qi and blood of his Sacred Body surged, immediately dispersing some of the surrounding Yin Qi.

"Revered Master said to finish the fight quickly! I'll go in first and smash the door!"

"Boom—!!!"

Before his voice faded, Ye Fan, like a human cannonball, crashed directly into the cave.

The ground trembled violently, and a muffled crash came from underground, as if something had been forcibly smashed open.

"Fourth Junior Brother is still so reckless." Xiao Chen shook his head.

"Let's go, follow him!"

Four figures, plus a Dahuang Dog that had tagged along somehow, filed in one after another.

Underground was a massive palace built from black stone.

Inside the palace, ghost fires flickered faintly, and countless wronged Souls chained up floated in the air, letting out miserable wails.

Dozens of Hall of Souls Protectors, dressed in black robes and wearing Ghost Masks, were startled by the sudden change and scattered, fleeing in panic.

"Enemy attack! Enemy attack!"

"It's people from the Hidden God Sect! Hurry! Activate the Great Formation!"

"A bunch of ants dares to trespass on my Soul Hall?"

A Golden Core Stage Branch Hall Master roared, forming hand seals, about to activate the Palace Protection Great Formation.

However.

He hadn't even finished reciting the incantation.

"Buzz—"

An invisible wave instantly enveloped the entire underground palace.

"Be careful! It's poison!"

The Branch Hall Master's expression changed drastically.

But it was too late.

Leng Yanran stood at the entrance, her jade fingers lightly flicking, releasing a trace of colorless, odorless fragrance.

"Thump! Thump!"

Those ordinary Protectors who only had Foundation Establishment cultivation collapsed in large swathes, like wheat being harvested, without even a groan, convulsing and foaming at the mouth.

"Heavenly Demon Soul-Corroding Powder? You are a Demonic Path Vixen!"

The Branch Hall Master was shocked and furious, quickly holding his breath.

"Vixen?" Leng Yanran sneered, "Compared to you beasts who play with Souls, I'm practically a Living Bodhisattva who saves the suffering."

Just then.

"Behold my Divine Farmer... Pfft, Divine Sect Earth-Shattering Strike!"

Shi Tian yelled strangely, leaping high. The large hoe in his hand carried immense force and smashed heavily onto the floor of the underground palace.

"Rumble!"

The ground cracked, and the palace shook!

Countless Spirit Stones used to maintain the Formation were instantly shattered into dust by this single strike of the hoe.

The Palace Protection Great Formation broke without being attacked!

"Kill!"

With Xiao Chen's command, the battle officially began.

This battle was fundamentally not on the same level.

It was like four max-level characters who activated their Musou mode charging into a Novice Village.

Leng Yanran was in charge of crowd control, scattering various poison powders and demonic sounds as if they were worthless, ensuring the enemies were either dead or crippled.

Ye Fan stood at the very front. The Archaic Sacred Body was immune to all techniques, and the Soul attacks from the Hall of Souls Protectors felt like tickles to him. He, meanwhile, swung his golden fists, smashing the black-robed figures open like watermelons, one with every punch.

Shi Tian was the most ferocious; he ignored the people and focused solely on the structures.

"Tear it down! Tear it down! Tear it down!"

He swung his hoe, and wherever he passed, walls crumbled, houses collapsed, and the earth shook. The entire Soul Palace Branch Hall was forcibly dug up and turned into a massive construction site.

And Xiao Chen was the most lethal reaper.

His figure was like lightning. Every time the iron sword in his hand swung out, a Golden Core Stage expert silently fell.

The strange movement techniques the Soul Hall Elders prided themselves on were child's play before him.

In less than the time it takes an incense stick to burn.

The battle was over.

Aside from the Branch Hall Master who had been scared witless, there was not a single survivor left in the entire Soul Palace Branch Hall.

"You... you all..."

The Branch Hall Master slumped in the ruins, looking at the four youths who resembled Demon Gods, his pants already wet.

"Who exactly are you?!"

Xiao Chen slowly walked up to him and rested the iron sword on his neck.

"The ones sending you on your way."

"Pfft."

The head fell to the ground.

Xiao Chen sheathed his sword, looked at the devastated underground palace, and let out a breath of stale air.

"We're done here."

"No, it's not over yet."

Shi Tian suddenly popped out from a corner, holding a wildly squirming... earthworm.

"Senior Brother, did you forget?"

Shi Tian solemnly held up the earthworm.

"Revered Master said, when cutting weeds, pull out the roots!"

"Even earthworms must be split vertically!"

Saying this.

He carefully placed the earthworm on a flat stone, then raised the hoe capable of splitting mountains and cracking rocks, and used the blade... "Smack!"

Accurately slicing the poor earthworm neatly into two halves right down the middle.

After finishing this, Shi Tian nodded contentedly: "Alright, now it shouldn't be able to revive."

Xiao Chen: "..."

Leng Yanran: "..."

Ye Fan: "..."

Even Dahuang, who was busy gnawing on a Stone Lion Head nearby, stopped eating and looked at Shi Tian with the gaze one reserves for an idiot.

Does this kid... misunderstand the meaning of "pulling out the roots of weeds"?

"Ahem."

Xiao Chen coughed dryly, breaking the awkward silence.

"Well done, Second Junior Brother. One must be meticulous when doing things."

"Alright, since everyone is dead, it's time for us to..."

He rubbed his hands together, revealing a money-grubbing smile identical to Li Daoxuan's.

"Clean up the battlefield."

Next.

Came the highly anticipated "Zero-Dollar Shopping" segment.

Xiao Chen was responsible for confiscating Magical Artifacts, Ye Fan for transporting Spirit Stones, and Leng Yanran was very interested in the bottles and jars of poison.

Shi Tian... Shi Tian was responsible for demolition.

He firmly believed that to pull out the roots of weeds, one must dig up the foundations entirely.

Dahuang wasn't idle either. It took a dislike to the two Ghost King Statues carved from Obsidian at the entrance, went up, and gnawed fiercely at them, making 'crunch, crunch' sounds and having a great time eating.

Half an hour later.

The once relatively magnificent underground palace had completely turned into a bottomless giant pit.

Not a single intact brick could be found.

As for the imprisoned wronged Souls, the moment the Soul Hall was destroyed, they were drawn by an invisible force, transforming into specks of starlight and vanishing into the Void Realm.

On Li Daoxuan's System panel, the points rapidly soared.

[Ding! Congratulations, Host, on completing the hidden mission: Deliverance of the Deceased Souls.]

[Gained Karma Points +10,000!]

"Let's go."

Xiao Chen clapped the dust off his hands, looked at his "masterpiece," and nodded in satisfaction.

"Now, the Eastern Barrens should be peaceful for a while."

"We finally... eliminated a scourge for the people."

Shi Tian rubbed his rumbling stomach and looked at Xiao Chen with anticipation.

"Senior Brother, the fight is over."

"What are we going to eat... tonight?"

"Those black-robed guys just now looked slimy and black; they probably wouldn't taste good, right?"