Chapter 10: The First Gathering of the Geniuses of the Four Great Sects — The Demon Race Appears
Inside the trial Secret Realm, a smile played on Xiao Jianming’s lips as he turned his head to look at Su Huan. The dense affection in his pitch-black eyes was visible to the naked eye, almost overflowing.
Su Huan, however, couldn’t help but shiver, and a word spontaneously arose in his heart: Hypocritical.
He discreetly took a step back toward Nangong Yi, a smile plastered on his face. “Dashixiong must be joking. Slaying demons is the inherent duty of a cultivator.”
One party displayed an air of intimacy, while the other secretly glossed over the abnormality to keep the peace. Nangong Yi glanced thoughtfully at the two, nodding slightly. “Fellow Daoist Xiao possesses formidable strength. With Fellow Daoist Xiao here, the matter of slaying the demon will be like a tiger adding wings, adding another measure of certainty to our victory.”
Xiao Jianming shot him a sidelong glance, giving a smile that didn’t reach his eyes. “You flatter me.”
Sensing the other’s dislike for him, Nangong Yi glanced at Su Huan hiding behind him and rubbed his nose sheepishly.
Seeing no further moves from him, Su Huan felt slightly relieved. He lowered his eyes, pondering how to snatch food from the tiger’s mouth under Xiao Jianming’s watch once they found the demon, as well as the most important issue at hand—since the compass could be wrong, what method should they use to find the demon hiding in the dark?
Before he could come up with a clue, four figures suddenly burst out one after another from the sparse greenery. The leading youth let out a deafening laugh that instantly resonated through the forest upon seeing Nangong Yi—
“Haha! Nangong Yi, I didn’t expect you to be cowardly enough to associate with the Xuanji Sect!”
As the voice fell, a youth in red arrived, treading on the wind and flipping through the waves.
With a golden-patterned red-tasseled spear on his back, his heroic face featured sharp phoenix eyes. His cold gaze swept arrogantly over the crowd, and he snorted neither lightly nor heavily, saying, “Even if you join forces, you won’t beat my Soaring Sky Sect. Just wait to be defeated by me!”
“Qi Zi, you’re boasting again. Aren’t you afraid of blowing that thirty-thousand-jin Chi Dragon Divine Spear of yours up into the sky!”
Before the person arrived, the voice was heard first. A touch of azure-rouge color flew down from mid-air. The young girl’s waist was adorned with fluttering colorful ribbons, and her lush black hair was simply tied up with a bright yellow ribbon. A dot of bright red cinnabar marked her fair forehead. In her beautiful eyes, there was two parts spring vitality and eight parts drifting mist and ice, cold and rippling.
Followed behind her was a youth in cinnabar robes holding his forehead, unable to watch, while another person was dressed gaudily, like a green peacock spreading its tail. He raised his hand to lightly flick the single blue-green feather pendant by his ear, chiming in with a smile: “Senior Sister knows this person’s stinking temper. Why bother with him? It’s better to let me find a few fresh bamboo leaves and play a little tune for Senior Sister to listen to.”
In an instant, the geniuses of the Four Great Immortal Sects were all gathered.
Upon hearing this, Qi Zi of the Soaring Sky Sect pointed at him and laughed loudly, “That tune you play isn’t even as good as mine! Meng Qinghui is already blind; have some mercy and don’t ruin her ears too.”
Only then did Su Huan realize that although the girl’s eyes were beautiful, they were like dead water without waves, incomparable to the vivid expression on her face, looking as if a pair of glazed beads had been installed.
After Qi Zi finished speaking, ignoring how furious the green peacock from the Myriad Manifestations Sect was, he lifted his chin and said to Xiao Jianming, “I say, your Xuanji Sect is too careless, actually letting the Demon Race sneak in. And you, called Xiao Jianming, right? As the host of the Immortal Alliance Conference, you actually came to participate in the trial too? What, want to practice favoritism and cheat?”
“Also, listening to your words just now, you were even avoiding us to hog the great merit of slaying the demon? Could it be that your Xuanji Sect is finally going to tear off the hypocritical mask of a great sect pasted on your face?”
With a cartload of words poured out, Xiao Jianming’s face instantly darkened.
Su Huan couldn’t help but sigh in admiration. This person fired off a barrage of words and successfully provoked two major sects without blowing away any dust. Such guts.
The youth in cinnabar robes standing at the end of the four lowered his head even deeper, seeming to try his best to clear his relationship with this person.
It made Su Huan want to laugh a little. If he had a teammate who set fires everywhere with his words, he might look like that too.
This person seemed completely unaware, planting the Chi Dragon Divine Spear in his hand into the ground with a thud. He nodded his chin toward the three behind him and said arrogantly, “Unfortunately, your luck is bad to have run into us. As the saying goes, everyone who sees it has a share. Since we saw and heard it, we want a slice of the war merit for slaying this demon.”
Suddenly, a piercing laugh nearly penetrated their eardrums—
“Hahahaha! Truly overestimating yourselves. A group of wet-behind-the-ears brats dare to speak wildly of killing me?!”
Su Huan’s pupils contracted sharply as white mist rose around them again.
The demon hid in the thick mist, unseen but heard. A voice as unpleasant as rubbing tree bark lingered around them, coarse and vicious: “I originally didn’t come to kill, but unfortunately, you sought your own death!”
“Then don’t blame me for throwing you all in early as fuel for the Demon Summoning Formation, to help my clan’s Lord conquer the Immortal Sects and avenge the hatred of that old dog Feng Qing forcing my clan into exile back then!”
A fire instantly ignited in Qi Zi’s hand, but he sneered, “Ten thousand years ago, Immortal Venerable Feng Qing cared for the common people, willing to give up his immortal body to exile you lot to the Barren Lands! He was a man of great righteousness; who allowed you to insult him!”
The fire exploded with a boom. The youth in cinnabar robes standing at the end widened his round eyes and shouted urgently, “Back away quickly!”
The green peacock from the Myriad Manifestations Sect hurriedly pulled his own Senior Sister back ten miles, muttering incessantly, “It’s over, it’s over. This demon has poked a hornet’s nest. Qi Zi reveres Immortal Venerable Feng Qing the most usually. Now he must be wishing to burn this demon’s blood and flesh dry, disassemble its bones, and peel its tendons…”
Meng Qinghui found him noisy: “Shut up.”
The green peacock manually zipped his mouth shut.
The youth in cinnabar robes stayed far away from his senior brother’s deadly Brahma Fire. Seeing this, he started mocking in the same vein: “Hua Wuyou, I didn’t expect you to be the type who’s afraid of women. Does your father far away in Cangxuan know?”
Hua Wuyou’s phoenix eyes widened. Before he could act, he heard Meng Qinghui say, “You shut up too.”
The other party’s mouth was instantly sealed by an invisible force, his eyes widening in horror.
Meng Qinghui’s fingers moved slightly, and she scolded coldly, “A dog’s mouth can’t spit out ivory. Indeed, there are few good things in the Soaring Sky Sect.”
Su Huan was slightly surprised to see this. Fellow Daoist Meng can actually utter spirit words that follow the law. Could she be a descendant of the royal family of the old dynasty in Yixian Continent?
Legend had it that the royal ancestors of Yixian Continent possessed divine bloodlines, and their spoken words carried a trace of the power of rules. If one’s cultivation was lower than theirs, one could only bow one’s head. Relying on this innate ability, the entire dynasty lasted for a full ten thousand years, only being overthrown a hundred years ago.
But since she is from Yixian Continent, why didn’t she enter the Soaring Sky Sect, instead going to Cangxuan Continent ten thousand miles away to join the Myriad Manifestations Sect?
He only took a light glance, but Meng Qinghui noticed. She turned to look at him, her brilliant glazed eyes reflecting a glimmer of light, seeming to perceive his inner thoughts. She smiled slightly and said, “The geomancy of that place, Yixian Continent, is bad; it can’t raise any good people. If Fellow Daoist Su wants to travel for experience, do not go to that place.”
Jiang Fei, the Soaring Sky Sect disciple also from Yixian Continent standing aside, although unable to speak, was extremely agitated upon hearing this. Every inch of expression on his face accused Meng Qinghui, who also came from Yixian Continent, of forgetting her roots to such an extent. Is there anyone who disparages their own hometown like her?
Hua Wuyou glared back viciously: “What are you looking at? If it weren’t for the people of Yixian Continent, how could Senior Sister’s eyes become like this?”
Jiang Fei was stunned. He seemed to remember Meng Qinghui’s identity, and his ferocious expression suddenly quieted.
He glanced at the calm-looking Meng Qinghui, wanting to say something, but couldn’t open his mouth. He exhaled heavily through his nose, turned around, and flew out to join the battle between Qi Zi and the demon.
Su Huan’s eyelashes trembled lightly. Yixian Continent and Cangxuan Continent were close, but very far from Huayao Continent. He hadn’t heard of this Fellow Daoist Meng’s deeds, but no matter where they were from, common people wouldn’t easily abandon their hometown.
This Fellow Daoist Meng must have suffered a lot to turn around and join the Myriad Manifestations Sect.
Five years ago, when he was at his most bitter, he had also thought of leaving just like that.
On the other side, the Brahma Fire in Qi Zi’s hand was massive. Before the weirdly fast white mist could get close, it had already burned through the area covered by the mist, forcing out the demon’s figure. However, he also paid a heavy price for his impulsiveness. If not for Jiang Fei joining the battle in time, his spear would have nearly been cut down, and his head would have fallen to the ground.
Jiang Fei’s long sword met the demon’s broad-faced saber, and he was violently knocked back dozens of steps, looking horrified. He seemed not to have expected this secretive demon to be so powerful.
Seeing the two about to be defeated, Meng Qinghui suddenly moved.
Clang—
The graceful girl used dual swords to block the demon’s broad-faced saber and shouted, “Hua Wuyou!”
“Coming!” Hua Wuyou’s long flute suddenly emitted a piercing, mournful cry, forcing the demon to retract his saber and cover his ears, looking pained. However, it only lasted for a few breaths before he returned to normal. The saber was raised again, slashing out layers of saber shadows like a sky-covering net, fiercely attacking the group!
As soon as the flute sounded, Yue Jiusi also covered his ears. “Ugh… Myriad Manifestations Sect person, at least distinguish between friend and foe!”
Nangong Yi frowned, erecting a barrier for the remaining three, then drew his silver square sword and joined the battle. Yue Jiusi hurriedly followed behind: “I’ll go with the Young Sect Master!”
With six people fighting one demon, the situation of the battle reversed instantly. The demon fell more and more into a disadvantage. Just as Su Huan was about to draw his sword to participate, he saw the demon’s eyes suddenly turn ruthless. A strong demonic energy erupted from his body, exploding brilliantly like ignited fireworks!
The six were forced back simultaneously by the demonic wave. The weakest, Jiang Fei and Hua Wuyou, suddenly spat out mouthfuls of blood. Su Huan hurriedly sheathed his sword to treat them, slowly sending golden spiritual energy into their bodies, easing their pale complexions slightly.
The demon sneered, wiping the blood flowing from his eyes, mouth, and nose. He stabbed the large saber in his hand fiercely into the ground, and a massive demonic array instantly spread out beneath his feet!
The flesh and blood on the demon’s body were disappearing visibly, and demonic markings crawled all over his skin, looking incredibly terrifying.
The scene of the white mist erosion they encountered at the beginning involuntarily surfaced in Su Huan’s mind. He suddenly realized that the white mist wasn’t mutated by demonic energy, but because of the Demon Summoning Formation on the demon’s body—the blood sacrifice had already begun back then!
Meng Qinghui’s expression changed abruptly, and she shouted, “Not good, the formation is actually on his body! Once the Demon Summoning Formation is activated, all living beings within the formation will be blood sacrificed. Leave the Secret Realm quickly!”
Nangong Yi’s pupils contracted slightly, and he spoke with difficulty: “…It’s too late.”
Meng Qinghui was stunned, then shockingly discovered that the crushed teleportation water bead had no reaction. She turned abruptly to look at Xiao Jianming!
Qi Zi widened his eyes, remembering that he was the host of this conference, and instantly aimed his long spear at Xiao Jianming!
Su Huan was slightly stunned, subconsciously taking a step forward to block him. “He can’t be a traitor.”
Surprise leaked from Xiao Jianming’s eyes, astonished by his subconscious action. Facing the targeting of the group, he lifted his eyelids to look coldly at them and explained, “If I were a traitor, I wouldn’t have entered the Secret Realm.”
Qi Zi didn’t believe it. Both sides were in a deadlock, neither willing to yield.
Nangong Yi sighed and said, “Instead of infighting first, we might as well think of a way to get out now.”
As soon as his voice fell, rustling sounds suddenly appeared around the demon, who had long since been eroded into white bones by the blood sacrifice.
Su Huan’s heart skipped a beat, and a chill crawled up his back.
The entire Secret Realm shook violently. An abyss suddenly appeared beneath the demon, and from the depths, a dark mass of endless human figures slowly emerged. Following them was a dense demonic energy that surged out continuously.
This was a revenge long planned by the Demon Race.
Demons are born from various thoughts in the human world. As long as there are greedy, angry, and deluded thoughts in human hearts, demons will exist for a day. Not only are they naturally cruel, but they are also like walking sources of evil. Wherever they go, they invisibly induce various desires from the bottom of people’s hearts, triggering constant disputes, gradually evolving into a hell on earth.
Therefore, the Immortal Sects suppressed the indestructible Demon Race within the Barren Lands, forbidding their exit. Once an escapee was found, they were to be executed on the spot. This has been an iron law agreed upon by the major Immortal Sects for ten thousand years.
But now, they had become prey, penned in and waiting to be slaughtered.
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