Chapter 324: The Human Race, Where Infighting Is the Norm

Dark clouds blanketed the sky, lightning flashed and thunder rumbled.

A funnel-shaped spiritual energy vortex connected heaven and earth; a gale rose violently, sand and stones flew, and the sky was a sheet of gloom.

After continuing for eight full days, the spiritual energy vortex came to a halt.

"One, two, three… ten breaths."

Jiang Ding concealed his form, silently counting the time in his heart, a sliver of killing intent gradually surfacing in his eyes: "Good, the dark clouds are still there—his Dao heart can be called resilient, and his magic power foundation is also up to standard."

Sheets of dark clouds crackled and hissed, endless streams of heaven and earth spiritual energy gathered toward them, the Lei Chong Guang growing ever denser, dazzlingly brilliant.

Within dozens of kilometers in every direction, ten thousand beasts prostrated themselves, shivering, every hair on their bodies standing on end.

The pressure of heaven and earth was still gathering.

"There's a sliver of hope!"

The white-browed old cultivator's breath quickened; he shot into the air, swiftly arriving near Fire Flame Peak, his might spreading outward to intimidate any nearby ruffians who might cause trouble.

"Senior brother."

Zhou Zhou Sanyan came to his side and remarked with feeling: "This clansman nephew of mine has always been extreme and narrow-minded; in temperament he is not as generous and magnanimous as your disciple, yet he managed to overcome the Heart Demon Tribulation."

"The ways of heaven are inconstant; none can fathom them."

Two enormous auras arrived in an instant.

"Two Core Formation celestial omens in a single day—your sect truly produces talent in abundance, filling this concubine with envy."

In a voice bright with laughter, Princess Princess Chiyan the Fox King appeared; as she swayed her lotus steps, waves rose and fell, drawing every gaze and holding it firmly.

"The human race—this is what makes them most loathsome."

The Peacock Great King's pupils shone bright, ringed by five-colored light; watching something, he transmitted his voice sideways to the Fox King and said coldly: "In just two hundred years, his aptitude is nothing special, yet he can charge at the third-tier bottleneck—still, one cannot say he has no hope."

"Among my own kind, it takes far longer, and even then only those with top-tier bloodline aptitude have any chance."

Princess Princess Chiyan the Fox King nodded slightly.

"The Nation Lord jests."

The white-browed old cultivator smiled: "My two disciples merely have a one-in-ten-thousand chance; how could they compare with the demon race's astonishing bloodline aptitude, their long lifespans, and their innate divine abilities? Any one of them has a greater chance of advancing to Great Demon than any disciple of my sect."

Amid the polite exchange.

The Xiang Qiyu Sect's grand array activated soundlessly, ready to unleash a heaven-shaking strike at any moment.

"The direction of Jin Ling Mountain must also be watched."

Zhou Zhou Sanyan transmitted his voice, speaking softly.

The white-browed old cultivator nodded.

Several hours later.

The heaven and earth spiritual energy being drawn in by the dark clouds had reached an extreme; lightning crackled and hissed, dense and countless, a terrifying heavenly might emerged, and every Jin Dan cultivator and Great Demon held their breath, not daring to release even a trace of aura.

"Come on!"

Beneath the Lei Ting, Zhou Zhou Kunlong's eyes were blood-red; charging forward without retreat, he roared: "He cannot kill me—I will kill him! Heaven, you are no different!"

Crack!

A bolt of lightning descended.

It split everything apart, blasted a supreme-grade magic artifact shield to pieces, then shattered a supreme-grade pearl flickering with flame-light, and struck straight onto his body—flesh and bone shattered, a charred black mess.

A faint crack was barely heard.

The dark clouds dispersed.

Silence, utterly still.

"He's not dead."

"False Core!"

Jiang Ding silently sensed with sword intent across a ten-kilometer range, a glint flashing in his eyes.

"A False Core—one form of flawed Core Formation; lifespan of four hundred years, the Dao path severed, strength far above Foundation Establishment cultivators but below Jin Dan cultivators."

"It is often seen during the condensation of low-grade Jin Dan; the Jin Dan is flawed, magic power cannot fully undergo qualitative change, and thus it cannot trigger the qualitative change of divine soul and body."

An invisible escape light swayed, and he once again entered the Xiang Qiyu Sect's array, returning to Jin Ling Mountain and putting away Armor-25.

"Will it appear?"

Jiang Ding's divine sense connected into the Jin Ling Mountain array, and he murmured to himself.

……

After a long while.

The figure on the ground stirred; charred bits fell away, revealing fresh, tender skin, and then a pair of blood-red pupils emerged, their gaze chillingly cold, each word measured: "Little whelps, did you ever imagine this day?"

"Two hundred years of cultivation, and in one breath I vent all the fury in my heart!"

"Kill!"

Zhou Zhou Kunlong laughed wildly, his body transforming into a flame-colored escape light that flew straight toward Jin Ling Mountain, not concealing his killing intent in the slightest.

"Halt!"

Two stern shouts rang out at once, and two escape lights blocked his path.

They were precisely two Xiang Qiyu Sect Jin Dan cultivators.

"Junior Brother Zhou Kunlong!"

Zhou Zhou Sanyan roared angrily: "The sect's precepts cannot be violated. Before, we protected you; now we protect Junior Brother."

"Do you understand this principle?"

As a Jin Dan cultivator, he understood the value of strength and immediately switched his form of address, addressing them as equals, and earnestly tried to persuade.

Speaking truly of their bond, the two did have some connection, but it had never reached the closeness of master and disciple, or parent and child—after Core Formation, one could no longer regard them as juniors.

The white-browed old cultivator said nothing, but a faint pressure spread outward, already making his stance clear.

"Quite a show."

The Peacock Great King watched the scene with great interest, and the wariness in his heart lessened somewhat.

"The human race is just like this — internal strife and killing are extremely brutal, not like our demon race where bloodline determines rank and nobility, in perfect order; otherwise our kind would be in danger."

The Scarlet Flame Fox King transmitted his voice with a light laugh.

"Uncle Yan!"

"Senior Brother Li!"

Zhou Zhou Kunlong's eyes were blood-red, weeping and howling: "Do you know, this whelp destroyed a magic artifact I had been refining and sacrificing for many years — just one thread short, just one thread, and I could have condensed a true low-grade Jin Dan!"

"Two hundred years of lifespan, the severed path of the Jin Dan!"

"If I don't slay this beast, I swear I am no man!"

Thick killing intent and resentment spread in all directions; even pouring out the waters of the five lakes and four seas could not wash it clean.

Zhou Zhou Kunlong's brow furrowed.

The white-browed old cultivator's expression remained as usual.

Between senior and junior brothers, there was no need for divine sense or eye contact — they already understood each other's thoughts, and who would play the good cop and who the bad.

"Junior Brother Zhou."

The white-browed old cultivator spoke slowly, the terrifying pressure of a late-stage Jin Dan spreading bit by bit: "Do you intend, within the sect, to murder without cause the final disciple of my master, True Person Golden Lotus?"

"Senior Brother Li… the Supreme Elder!"

Zhou Zhou Kunlong's heart trembled, the blood-red in his eyes swiftly vanishing, reason returning, as he recalled a fearsome name he had heard since birth, etched into his very soul.

The Supreme Elder of Xiang Qiyu Sect!

He immediately understood,

even between Jin Dan cultivators, there was a vast difference!

The gap between a False Dan cultivator and a late-stage Jin Dan cultivator even exceeded the gap between a peak Foundation Establishment cultivator and a Jin Dan cultivator.

Let alone that he himself did not possess a single magic treasure — slaying him here was no harder than beheading a Foundation Establishment cultivator.

"Junior brother wouldn't dare."

Zhou Zhou Kunlong dared no longer continue his frenzy, and said in a low voice: "When junior brother was undergoing Tribulation Crossing, a heart demon invaded my mind, leaving some lingering effects — please do not take offense, senior brother. I hold that whelp from Jin Ling Mountain in the deepest respect."

The white-browed old cultivator's brow furrowed, then eased.

"It's good that Junior Brother Zhou can think things through. After all, we are people of the same sect — what deep hatred could there be? Now that you've entered Jin Dan, let the past be scattered like smoke and clouds."

"Senior brother speaks wisely."

Zhou Zhou Kunlong recovered from that stretch of time, and said respectfully: "Junior brother has just survived the Lei Gao Jie and still needs to enter closed-door cultivation for a period. When I come again in the future, I shall trouble senior brother."

Having spoken, he turned and left.

Princess Princess Chiyan and the Peacock Great King watched his retreating back, their gazes flickering.

……

"He didn't come?"

"No sneak attack either?"

Jiang Ding sighed.

He knew that even if he took the initiative to strike, he would likewise be blocked by the Xiang Qiyu Supreme Elder — maintaining sect order was the other's instinct, and whichever side violated it would invite a strike and obstruction.

(End of this chapter)