Chapter 287 A Rat Crossing the Street

"Ding, damn Nine Heavens, stinky Nine Heavens, annoying Nine Heavens!"

Lu Ye raised an eyebrow.

"Why are you cursing the Great Sage Nine Heavens out of nowhere?" Lu Ye asked.

"Ding, he won’t let me watch the show!"

Lu Ye...

Fine, go ahead and curse then!

Lu Ye was currently setting up an array—not an ordinary offensive formation, but a type of witchcraft array.

It was called the Hundred-Thousand Curses Rebounding Array.

The main function of this array was to amplify the power of curses.

Just as the Shanhai Sect and the Invincible Sword Sect were thinking of dispersing and blending into the crowds, Lu Ye indeed had no particularly effective way to deal with them.

But that didn’t mean Lu Ye would let it go.

If he couldn’t act easily, someone else certainly could.

The curse bloomed.

This curse was called the Fog-Binding Curse!

Before him lay the remaining items of the Invincible Sword Sect and the Shanhai Sect, including even floor tiles, training ground stones, and various objects that everyone from these two sects might have come into contact with.

Through these items,

soon, strands of karmic threads began to emerge—too many, far too many.

Hundreds, thousands, even tens of thousands.

Lu Ye was using the two sects as the cursed objects, directly targeting everyone within them.

The Fog-Binding Curse, amplified by the Hundred-Thousand Curses Rebounding Array, instantly merged into these karmic threads.

In an instant, the curse took form.

......

Inside a tavern, someone was eloquently recounting the battle between Lu Ye and the various sects, marveling at Lu Ye’s overwhelming might.

They openly condemned the treacherous actions of the six major sects.

The crowd cheered in agreement. The six major sects were now in complete disarray, and many took delight in their downfall—the greater the fall of the mighty, the more thrilling it was.

"Brother Liu, now that the Invincible Sword Sect and the Shanhai Sect have blended into the crowds, using everyone as shields, what do you think?"

Liu Cheng smiled faintly at this.

"What everyone chooses to do is their own freedom. As for this matter, I must beg your pardon—I cannot offer an opinion."

Suddenly, black mist began to seep from his body.

Liu Cheng’s expression changed, and he hurriedly channeled his true essence, trying to dispel the black mist.

But this black mist clung to him like a persistent plague, tightly locked onto his body, and no matter what methods he tried, he couldn't dispel it.

"A curse? Fellow Daoist Liu, who did you offend? How could you be cursed?"

"This curse doesn’t seem harmful. The black mist feels more like a mark?"

Liu Cheng kept trying to dispel it, but to no avail.

Under the astonished gazes of the crowd, he hurriedly excused himself and left!

In a valley, a powerful figure was being surrounded.

"Fellow Daoist Chen, today you have no way to escape. Why struggle further? We don’t want your life—just hand over the secret techniques and cultivation methods of the Shanhai Sect, and we’ll naturally spare you!"

"If you know what’s good for you, surrender quickly. Otherwise, you’ll suffer greatly!"

"The Shanhai Sect has betrayed its allies and tried to use all of us as shields. The sect is already rotten. You’d be better off defecting outright—it might be your only way out!"

Suddenly, thick black mist surged from Chen Xing’s body.

The crowd froze—a curse?

In a secret chamber.

A figure covered in wounds, his white robes long stained crimson.

"Fellow Daoist, why endure such torment? Quickly hand over the secret techniques and cultivation methods of the Invincible Sword Sect. I swear, if you comply, I’ll let you leave unharmed!"

Lash after lash struck him mercilessly, leaving him wishing for death yet unable to die.

Then, black mist appeared on his body.

The once-numb disciple of the Invincible Sword Sect stared at the black mist rising from his body, his eyes suddenly filled with terror.

He believed he had no enemies.

No—only one.

Lu Ye.

But he had never even met Lu Ye.

Now, with black mist on him, did that mean all disciples of the Invincible Sword Sect were marked the same way?

And right now, everyone around him was eyeing the Invincible Sword Sect disciples like prey.

Yet every disciple bore this unmistakable black mist…

Despair.

Deep despair gripped his heart.

One by one, figures began manifesting the black mist. Someone was bound to wonder—why had this mist targeted them?

A quick inquiry revealed the truth.

Anyone marked by the black mist was a disciple of the Shanhai Sect or the Invincible Sword Sect???

No exceptions?

Not only did the disciples of these two sects bear the black mist, but even the elders and Grandmasters at the Heaven-Earth Realm found the mist lingering stubbornly. No matter how tirelessly they expelled it, fresh black mist continued to seep in through the threads of karma.

Some attempted to sever the threads of karma, cutting off the curse's pathway.

Of course, it was possible.

But within their sects, there were simply too many objects tied to their karma.

Just as they painstakingly severed one connection, another thread would effortlessly reattach elsewhere.

"Get out of the city!"

"Damn members of the Invincible Sword Sect, leave the city at once! Sang City doesn’t welcome you!"

"Get out of our town! How dare you try to drag our entire town down with you—what a vicious heart!"

"Capture him! Don’t let him escape! The *Invincible Sword Scripture*—I’ve coveted it for far too long!"

The people of the Invincible Sword Sect and the Shanhai Sect had become complete outcasts.

Not just outcasts—they were like golden rats, glowing with temptation, their bellies filled with treasure.

This was Lu Ye’s doing.

He possessed the Fragrance of Enlightenment and couldn’t enter cities.

Now, with all of you covered in black mist, trying to hide? Hide nothing! Let no one hide!

Across the entire Fourth Heaven, people were clamoring for the blood of the Shanhai Sect and the Invincible Sword Sect.

Lu Ye didn’t even need to lift a finger—countless disciples of the two sects were either slaughtered, expelled, or imprisoned.

The powerful figures of the two sects remained safe, but their locations were exposed. Wherever they appeared, other powerhouses either drove them away or fled outright.

There was no choice—the two sects’ elites were like two immensely powerful ticking time bombs.

Who knew when Lu Ye might appear nearby, bewitching everyone with the Fragrance of Enlightenment and burying them in his formations?

At this moment, the people of the two sects were utterly despairing.

"Ding, ding, ding..."

The system’s voice rang in Lu Ye’s mind, tinged with shock and excitement.

"Ding, Host, something’s wrong—very wrong."

Lu Ye raised an eyebrow. "What is it?"

"Ding, Bai Qiulan and Yue Hongling are acting very strangely. My gossip buddy, after relentless effort, finally managed to meet them, hoping to dig up some juicy details."

"Ding, Though unsuccessful, she did catch a whiff of something unusual."

Lu Ye frowned.

"What’s unusual about it?"