Chapter 1209: A Clumsy Performance

All the ambition, high spirits, and grand designs of the Demon Rock Clan turned into illusions the moment the Domain Hegemon's tentacles truly arrived.

Everything was vanishing into thin air.

"Master Canghai Canghai Tianjun..."

"Immortal Gate Master Canghai Canghai Tianjun..."

The Demon Mountain King's eyes revealed intense pain; he no longer possessed the demeanor of an overlord looking down on all as he had when slaughtering Immortal Gate citizens.

Crack! Crack!

His bones and soul were shattering inch by inch.

He clearly sensed his own death yet dared not curse or roar, instead revealing a look of deep pleading.

At this moment, the overlord who ruled the Minor Thousand Worlds, the Laozu Sect, was gone.

The groveling servant who once stood beside the Flame Flow Emperor's son had returned, begging the powerful one from the Domain Hegemon for something.

"Master Canghai Canghai Tianjun!"

"This... this was all the Demon Mountain's greed for profit clouding his judgment, his ignorance of heaven's height and earth's depth, his disregard for the many clan cultivators who advised against it, and his stubborn insistence on his own path."

"The Demon Mountain deserves death ten thousand times over; his soul shall never find rebirth for eternity!"

"This has nothing to do with the Demon Rock Clan; please, Master Canghai Canghai Tianjun, do not punish the innocent."

The Demon Mountain pleaded.

But he could do nothing; he was immobilized, his mountain-sized demon body held by the neck by a slender hand, unable even to commit suicide, let alone anything else.

"Hehe, you are naturally going to die, and you will die from having your soul searched."

Jiang Ding smiled.

"Your race cannot be spared either; everyone involved, whether directly or indirectly, the Demon Rock Clan members must die, with at most one or two retained as a gene bank for species diversity."

"Master Canghai Canghai Tianjun!"

The Demon Mountain King trembled in terror, revealing despair and deep resentment that not even the waters of five lakes and four seas could wash away, crying out shrilly: "This was merely my stubborn insistence; what does it have to do with others?"

"The Demon Iron King even advised against it; I severely injured him, nearly killing him. It was all my stubborn insistence; the Immortal Gate has always been benevolent..."

"Silence! Such a clumsy trick!"

"A ridiculous performance; the Demon Rock Clan has just escaped slavery and lacks political experience to an extreme degree, making them so naive."

Anger flared in Jiang Ding's eyes as he cut him off.

He looked at the Demon Iron King, bound by iron chains, the one who had been nearly beaten to death by the Demon Mountain King for trying to stop the Immortal Gate citizens from being slaughtered, and intense disgust appeared in his eyes.

This disgust was even greater than that for the Demon Mountain King, the primary responsible party for the citizen slaughter.

"Demon Mountain!"

"Do you think I, or any other Immortal Gate Master Canghai Canghai Tianjun, are so foolish? That a simple performance can make us jump back and forth, occupying every possible path?"

"Ah?"

Jiang Ding's gaze was icy.

Citizens died, and that was that.

The death of citizens was being used as a prop for a performance.

This was something he could not tolerate!

If not for some necessity, the entire Demon Rock Clan would die and pay the price.

"Master Canghai Canghai Tianjun!"

"What does Master Canghai Canghai Tianjun mean by this?"

The Demon Iron King knelt, kowtowed, and wept tears and snot: "When the Immortal Gate cultivators were killed back then, this slave did his utmost, truly did his utmost; my four limbs were broken, I was bound by iron chains, yet I truly could not stop the traitor Demon Mountain; please, Your Excellency, see the truth!"

"Within the Demon Rock Clan, there are many clan members who opposed this matter; they were merely suppressed by the Demon Mountain, having no choice."

"If Your Excellency does not believe, please search my soul!"

The Demon Iron King kowtowed, swore to the heavens, and spoke each word with blood-tears.

He was sincere to the extreme.

"Did your utmost?"

"What a fine 'utmost'!"

Anger began to appear in Jiang Ding's voice: "Daoist Friend, you have done well! You did your utmost, your soul did not burn, your essence blood did not burn; is that what you call doing your utmost?"

"Did you die? Ah?"

"Or perhaps, Demon Iron Daoist Friend, in your usual struggles and battles, when facing Bi Si Zhi Jing, you were unwilling to burn your essence blood and soul, simply hanging your head and waiting for death?"

"Daoist Friend, if you are going to put on a show, you must make it look convincing, alright?!"

He roared.

"You pay no price at all, put on a show, get severely injured, and then I will believe you; no matter what, the Demon Rock Clan will have a way out; no matter what, some Demon Rock Clan members will survive; is that it?"

"This..."

The Demon Iron was stunned.

Coldness rose along his spine as if frozen, and intense regret surfaced in his heart.

Indeed.

He was, after all, a king of the Demon Rock Clan, a Soul Transformation cultivator; no matter what, he could not possibly die; with such a performance, who would believe it?

Would the Domain Hegemon believe it?

Clang!

Jiang Ding drew his sword and struck down with a single slash.

The Demon Iron King, still dazed, felt intense pain in his brow; his body stiffened, and in intense fear, his soul could not even react before he was utterly annihilated.

A dark demon mountain fell, rolling down boulders one by one.

This king of the Mo Yan Clan, who called himself the king of the Immortal Gate sects, was the first to die.

"Foolish ones, there is no need for you to live."

Jiang Ding stared at the Mo Shan Wang in his hand.

He was already utterly desperate, seemingly about to curse, roar, and vent venomous curses, yet at this moment he had even lost the ability to speak.

"Immortal Gate citizens were slaughtered and died; someone must pay the price. The entire Mo Yan Clan, directly or indirectly, everyone must die to mourn the fallen citizens."

Jiang Ding's

palm closed.

Bang!

The Mo Shan Wang's neck snapped open; the break was smooth, as if cleaved by a blade. A head like a mountain peak rolled away with a thud, his soul and spirit both extinguished.

This Soul Transformation cultivator, who led the Mo Yan Clan to the peak of the Minor Thousand Worlds, became a ruling race, and might one day be recorded in Mo Yan Clan history as a Sage King, died right then and there.

Bang!

A sword light flashed; the Mo Huo Wang, who never had any qualification to speak from beginning to end, also died, like roadside weeds and dust, unable to even stir a ripple.

The once-dominant kings of the Mo Yan Clan were now all utterly exterminated.

The Xuan Hu King felt a chill in his heart, knelt on the ground, bowed deeply, his body trembling incessantly, daring not to move a single inch.

In the past, he too had ambitions, wanting to seize the Mo Shi Xiao Gao Jie and carve out a domain; otherwise he would not have launched the hegemony war, contending with the Mo Yan Clan, only to end in defeat.

Looking at it now, how laughable?

They actually tried to snatch food from the tiger's mouth of a realm hegemon that had annihilated the Jiao Mo Emperor Clan!

"Daoist Xuan Hu."

Jiang Ding smiled slightly.

"I dare not!"

"Master Canghai Canghai Tianjun, you may simply call me Xuan Hu."

The Xuan Hu King said respectfully: "If you have any orders, please instruct me; Xuan Hu will certainly serve unto death, daring not to violate even a hair's breadth. If I do, may heaven and earth destroy me!"

"Not at all, not at all."

"It is not so exaggerated."

Jiang Ding smiled gently: "The slaughter of citizens, this matter, has nothing to do with you, Daoist; you did not do it, I know. I simply wish to ask about another matter."

The Xuan Hu King breathed a sigh of relief: "Master Canghai Canghai Tianjun, please speak."

"I wish to ask: when the citizens were slaughtered, were you present? Did you burn your vital blood and soul to desperately stop it?"

Jiang Ding asked with a kind and pleasant expression.

"I was not present."

"Absolutely not present!"

The Xuan Hu King swore to the heavens, stating solemnly: "If I had heard of it, I would certainly not have allowed any damage or loss to any Immortal Gate cultivator!"

"That is good."

"That is very good."

Jiang Ding breathed a sigh of relief and smiled: "The latest 'Immortal Gate Minor Thousand Worlds Cultivator Management Regulations' stipulate that if you were present and ignored the slaughter of Immortal Gate citizens, then you would have to be buried alongside them; this is an obligation that arose the moment you accepted the Immortal Gate's enfeoffment."

"Then, may I now see your soul to confirm?"

Jiang Ding asked politely.

The Xuan Hu King felt as if he had fallen into an ice pit.