King of Creation Chapter 1681 - 1666: The Vanished Divine Masters

Ye Zhen's initial Talisman Communication target turned out to be the gambler who'd tagged along with him for shopping errands in the daytime.

Once Ye Zhen's Talisman Communication shot out, the fellow barreled inside like a fierce gale in under ten breaths.

"Brother Cheng, what awesome goodies did you snag? You wouldn't hold out on me...?" The gambler Grand Spirit Master gazed at the Spirit Beast Bag hanging from Ye Zhen's waist, his face brimming with eager hope.

Watching Ye Zhen secretly deploy a Silent Barrier to block every sound and minor energy pulses, the gambler Grand Spirit Master's curiosity surged even further.

"Get closer and check it out!" Ye Zhen unsealed the bag, wearing a secretive grin.

While the gambler Grand Spirit Master bent forward, he overlooked the pair of green potted plants positioned next to Ye Zhen.

The very moment he leaned in, thorns from the green plant shot out abruptly, stabbing straight into his calf.

A mere tickle hit the gambler Grand Spirit Master's leg at first, which he brushed off. But upon glancing downward, his expression twisted in shock.

"Brother Cheng, you..."

Lifting his gaze, all he caught was Ye Zhen's eerie, wicked smirk. Sensing danger on instinct, the gambler Grand Spirit Master scrambled to channel his Spiritual Power.

Yet as he tried to mobilize Spiritual Power, terror gripped him—he couldn't summon a shred, like his Divine Soul Power stood utterly sealed.

Shuili Dan King's enhanced Jade Finger Scorpion Poison proved utterly undetectable by sight or smell, but fiercer in potency and quicker to strike, igniting the instant blood made contact.

Before a cry could escape his lips, Ye Zhen wielded a razor-edged dagger to sever his head clean off, all without a drop of Spiritual Power.

Right as blood gushed forth, both head and corpse vanished into the Mirage Dragon Pearl Space. There, the War Soul Blood Flag Ye Zhen hurled within blazed with light, devouring the man's entire Innate Divine Soul.

Flawless!

Not a single power ripple escaped, nor did any blood scent linger—merely the tiniest whiff hung in the atmosphere.

In one sweeping sleeve flourish, Ye Zhen scattered that faint blood trace, then pulled out a jug of potent spirits, filling the room with booze aroma so thick even bloodhounds couldn't sniff out the kill.

A quick Divine Sense pulse later, Ye Zhen fired off yet another Talisman Communication via Cheng Ji’s Talisman Lead.

This round, though, the Talisman Lead landed with one of the rare Divine Masters in the Heavenly Temple Luozhou Branch.

Taking down a Seventh Stage Realm King Realm Divine Master silently poses a vastly tougher challenge than offing a Dark Palace Realm Grand Spirit Master.

Still, Ye Zhen chose his Talisman Communication targets with razor-sharp precision.

To illustrate, Ye Zhen's follow-up message hit a Divine Master—Abbot Jiwei's close confidant, Seventh Stage Realm King Realm—who shared a buddy-like bond with Cheng Ji most days.

That Divine Master, mind you, harbored a notorious love for fine liquor.

The Talisman Communication stayed identical: "Hurry over, got some prime stuff."

Posing as the Luo Prefecture Branch Abbot's bastard son proved mighty tempting—even a Divine Master showed up at his door in just thirty breaths.

The second he stepped inside, Ye Zhen jiggled the fancy wine jug in his grip and, mimicking Cheng Ji's voice, quipped, "Wanna guess what top-shelf brew I scored for you back in Luo State this round?"

"Prime liquor? Don't tell me it's that Jade Saber Brew I've hunted everywhere?" Freshly arrived Divine Master swallowed hard, saliva pooling. Ye Zhen's odd Silent Barrier setup struck him as strange, yet he let it slide.

"Have a peek!"

Flashing a casual grin, Ye Zhen lobbed the wine jug lightly. The Divine Master snatched it up greedily, popped the seal in a flash, and inhaled deeply.

Just as the potent liquor scent bloomed, agony exploded in his leg.

Mirroring the earlier Grand Spirit Master, this Divine Master glanced down on reflex, his features warping in instant alarm.

As his eyes snapped up, Ye Zhen's Acquired Spirit Treasure—the Purple Spirit Immortal Sword, aura fully masked—had already carved into his throat.

Grand Spirit Masters fall easy enough, but Divine Masters boast toughened bodies. Facing one who'd tempered his flesh intensely, Ye Zhen risked full exposure.

Thus, in plotting to bait and slay these Grand Divine Masters sequentially, Ye Zhen ordered the Purple Spirit inside the Purple Spirit Immortal Sword to hide its aura entirely.

The keen edge of the Purple Spirit Immortal Sword could behead not just Divine Masters, but even unwary Grand Divine Masters with one devastating strike.

In the Heavenly Temple Luozhou Branch, confronting the abbot's illegitimate son, who would ever suspect a thing? Who would bother to defend?

"You...." Barely half a word escaped the Divine Master before air gushed into his severed neck, silencing him completely. As head separated from body, Ye Zhen swiftly stored them in the Mirage Dragon Pearl.

"Second one."

Ye Zhen murmured softly to himself, dissolving the barrier just like earlier, wiping out the faint blood trace, scattering a touch of wine aroma, then dispatching the third Talisman Communication.

Yet this time, Ye Zhen's Talisman Communication carried altered words: "Master Ru Hui, hurry to my room, there's important business to discuss."

The procedure on arrival stayed identical, passing the sealed Jade Scroll to Master Ru Hui while stressing it stemmed from the Abbot's command.

Safety prevailed in the Heavenly Temple Branch, so doubts never arose. Cheng Ji's status alone confirmed the order's genuineness to all.

Once Divine Sense probed inside, thorns stabbed their thighs, rears, or sides one by one, trailed by Ye Zhen's sword slashing across their necks.

All actions proceeded smoothly as drifting clouds and flowing water, seamless without any snag.

For each Divine Master Ye Zhen took down—from issuing the Talisman Communication to masking the subtle blood scent—the process maxed at over a hundred breaths, minimized to forty breaths, usually around eighty to ninety breaths apiece.

The mighty Heavenly Temple never imagined their formidable Divine Masters would drop so effortlessly, one following the next.

Still, surprise struck when Ye Zhen called forth the twenty-third Divine Master.

Right upon stepping in, the Divine Master scanned about with clear astonishment.

Ye Zhen's heart leaped to his throat, yet the Divine Master abruptly questioned, "Oh, Governor Cheng, where's Master Ru Hui? Didn't you summon him just before? Why hasn't he arrived or returned?"

Ye Zhen froze for an instant but rallied fast.

Most likely, Ru Hui had been in the company of this Divine Master when the Talisman Communication went out.

"Ah, Master Ru Hui passed my screening and headed off to see the Abbot." Ye Zhen adapted seamlessly, replying in a laid-back tone.

A strained look crossed the Divine Master's face right away; Cheng Ji's background rang familiar to everyone, and 'screening' suggested promising developments?

"Oh, a screening—does that mean good news?" the Divine Master inquired.

"Sit down first!"

With a grin, Ye Zhen motioned the Divine Master to take a seat, then drawled slowly, "This involves word from the Upper House..."

Ye Zhen hadn't even completed his sentence when "Upper House" quickened the Divine Master's breaths. They held standing for the Heavenly Temple's Lower Court, but the Upper House represented...

Yet before joy could bloom, a sharp pang hit his back; he spun in shock, discovering his head already severed from his torso.

In such a scenario, should Ye Zhen press on through the night, every Divine Master could fall, along with all the Grand Spirit Masters in the Heavenly Temple Luo Prefecture Branch.

However, once Ye Zhen felled the forty-fifth Divine Master, turmoil suddenly burst in the backyard.

"Oh? Seen Master Ru Hui or Master Jiashan anywhere? They're due to oversee tonight, but they're absent, ignoring Talisman Communications, rooms empty. Anyone spot them?" A Grand Spirit Master's voice rang out.

"No, haven't seen them! Hmm, I'll check with Master Hee Yi."

"Oh, Master Hee Yi's gone missing too."

The hunt kicked off, panic surging fast; before long, they grasped that not just Masters Ru Hui, Jiashan, and Hee Yi were absent, but over twenty Divine Masters had vanished in mere moments.

Abbot Jiwei of the Heavenly Temple Luo Prefecture Branch jolted at the crisis's swift gravity.

Divine Masters faced loose oversight in the Branch Temple. Duty overseers aside, others moved freely, merely notifying the Abbot for long journeys.

Now and then, two or three Divine Masters going missing—even four or five—counted as routine.

But over twenty Divine Masters vanishing without word, unreported, screamed utter irregularity.

Truth be told, Abbot Jiwei harbored fears that these Divine Masters had met their end by murder.

Reflection, though, made him dismiss it as improbable.

According to reports from several on-site Grand Spirit Masters and Spirit Masters, those Divine Masters had appeared in the Branch Temple earlier today.

It was completely impossible to silently eliminate over twenty Divine Masters inside the Luo Prefecture Heavenly Temple.

Not even a Dao Realm powerhouse could accomplish such a feat.

Could the Heavenly Temple's upper echelons have sent them secret directives?

Yet after pondering it, he considered it improbable, since secret orders usually wouldn't circumvent him as the Abbot.

The crisis continued to worsen, with the shocking revelation that more than half the Divine Masters in the Heavenly Temple Luo Prefecture Branch had vanished.

The count of mysteriously missing Divine Masters reached a staggering forty-five.

Although the Heavenly Temple Luo Prefecture Branch commanded over ten thousand followers, merely fifty-four were Realm King Realm Divine Masters, comprising eighty percent of the Branch Temple's battle strength.

The sudden loss of forty-five Divine Masters meant a direct evaporation of sixty to seventy percent of the Heavenly Temple Luo Prefecture Branch's combat power.

This event is terrifyingly massive and earth-shaking.

The burden is so immense that even Abbot Jiwei struggles to endure it.

Without delay, Abbot Jiwei activated the alarm bell of the Heavenly Temple Luo Prefecture Branch, sealed off the entire compound, and summoned all ten thousand followers from every rank.

"Does anyone know where the missing Divine Masters have gone?"

"Whoever provides their location will receive lavish rewards from me!"

"Anyone who reveals their whereabouts will be promoted one rank in status immediately! Divine Envoys will receive Spirit Master privileges, Spirit Masters will get Grand Spirit Master privileges, Grand Spirit Masters will enjoy Divine Master privileges," Abbot Jiwei bellowed.

True to the adage that great rewards inspire bold actions, a Spirit Master promptly stood forth. "Reporting to the Abbot, I witnessed Master Ru Hui entering Grand Spirit Master Cheng Ji’s room one hour ago."

Abbot Jiwei's countenance shifted as he fixed his eyes on Cheng Ji, the message in his stare crystal clear—he demanded an explanation.

Instantly, the attention of thousands of Heavenly Temple followers shifted to Ye Zhen!