Chapter 582: A Treacherous Situation

"ROAR!!"

A deafening roar swept across the mountains and seas, sending the azure waves crashing backward, slamming violently into a tall mountain.

The mountain was scattered with panicked cultivators. Some, though their features were twisted, still forced themselves to remain calm and operated the grand formation, hoping to put up some resistance.

But more cultivators instead took out life-preserving treasures they had exchanged for a fortune, trying to grasp the last sliver of hope for survival under this demon calamity—even though they were the sect's deacons, or even elders, usually revered by tens of thousands, with their entire clans entrenched here.

Yet under the terrifying pressure of a Dao Merging realm great demon, all of that was instinctively cast to the back of their minds.

However… when had there ever been any hope to speak of, let alone grasping it?

The murky waves easily shattered the formation between the mountains. The cultivators operating the formation were all blasted away, their mouths and five orifices filled with the sweet-sickly taste of blood plasma. In the blink of an eye they were gasping their last, clearly not long for this world.

Without the formation's protection, those figures soaring into the sky on their treasures were all overturned by the sound waves emitted by the demon. Amid cracking sounds, those precious treasures shattered one after another!

Just one roar had nearly utterly destroyed this vassal force, which had quite a reputation in Yu Nanhong and relied on the Seven Sons of Nanhong.

This was the crushing slaughter a Dao Merging realm great demon could inflict upon ordinary beings.

"Delightful! Delightful!"

The great demon, only a few zhang long, leopard-like in appearance but with three heads, laughed wildly: "Fine medicine! All into my belly!"

If this had been in Xi Nanhong, which of these forces didn't have a Xian Sect backing them? Pull one vine and a whole melon comes with it, a tangled mess impossible to sort out—perhaps before it could finish devouring every living thing here, those old-timers would already arrive riding flying swords. How would it dare be so unrestrained?

It had previously felt that the West Long Gong was going too far, driving it to this godforsaken wilderness without even a reason.

Who would have thought, this was no wilderness at all, but clearly a medicinal garden left untended for many years, overgrown with fragrant human-body great medicines, and not even a single caretaker!

The leopard demon swept its gaze around, recalling that there were over a thousand similar forces, not even counting the unregistered loose cultivators in the wilds. It suddenly felt its mouth watering.

It wasn't the only one driven to Nanhong this time; it had to move fast, or others would reap the benefits for nothing.

Thinking of this, it no longer hesitated. It leaped into the sky, casually lowered its head, and all three great maws opened at once. Accompanied by the sound of inhalation, a foul-smelling gale ravaged for thousands of li, sweeping up mountains, rivers, and azure seas alike, bundling the bodies of those countless beings straight toward its mouth.

"…"

Amid wails that filled the sky and earth, this sect's Shen Zongzhu stumbled to the mountain peak. He did not strike; merely resisting the suction had already exhausted every ounce of his foundation.

He knelt down with the last of his strength, raising both palms above his head, a small, exquisite token clutched within.

The token was etched with a crescent moon pattern.

The old man kowtowed violently, his despairing, hoarse voice spreading across the peak: "May the Clear Moon shelter us! May evil demons be driven away!"

Hearing this, the leopard demon visibly froze for a moment. Using the eyes on its two side-heads, it swept a glance around, and its devouring motion also paused for a beat.

The old man's words were quickly swallowed by the gale, just like the moonlight that drifted out from the token—barely emerging before scattering apart under the blood-red demonic power.

Before a Dao Merging realm great demon, a decree token crafted by an elder of Bai Yujing was so feeble, even looking somewhat pitiful.

"Hee-hah—"

After a brief daze, a chilling laugh rose from the leopard demon's throat: "You southern barbarians are quite amusing, I'll give you that."

"…"

The old man slightly raised his head, pale hair fluttering, watching the moonlight shatter at his fingertips. The last glimmer in his eyes faded, and his face grew increasingly withered and desolate.

He did not blame the Qidaxian Sect.

Although the Seven Sons of Nanhong had seemed somewhat reclusive in recent years, they had truly, beneath the eyes of the South Long Gong, sheltered people like them.

Only this great tree had already rotted, reaching a point where it could barely protect itself, and truly had no capacity to spare for roots like them.

Nanhong was done for—

Just then, watching the countless sect disciples swept into that blood-red maw, the old man likewise could not withstand the suction. His form was forced to rise, and only his vacant pupils suddenly dilated slightly.

His gaze was suddenly overtaken by a shadow.

He saw, in that desolate blue sky, a furry arm slowly reaching out—so shocking—and then its rough fingers opened and closed, seizing the leopard demon in one grasp.

Under the immense force, the leopard demon's laughter cut off abruptly, turning into a piercing howl!

"Old ape! These are the precious medicines I've claimed! How dare you shamelessly come to rob me!"

"Release me this instant!"

As that tremendous force grew ever more terrifying, all three of the leopard demon's heads simultaneously bit into that hand, until they had torn all the flesh from it clean, exposing the pale-white bone beneath.

While chewing, it inexplicably found that what was in its mouth tasted somewhat off.

Moreover, that hand of interwoven bone and flesh seemed unable to feel pain; not only did it not let go, it cruelly tightened its grip further.

"Brother Ape! Take all these precious medicines—I'll go look elsewhere… just look around…"

Facing this abnormal scene, the leopard demon suddenly felt a chill in its heart. Its cultivation was already lower than the other's, and now it instinctively began to retreat.

What answered it was a disdainful, faint laugh from deep within the heavens: "Tch."

The instant that laugh rang in its ears, the leopard demon suddenly realized—this old ape clearly looked down on these cultivators and wanted to take advantage of the chaos to devour it by force.

"You're forcing my hand!"

Faced with this situation, where would it have the mind to care about human-body precious medicines? It immediately mobilized its demonic power, intending to fight this old ape to the death.

In this Nanhong feast, if the other party got injured, it would inevitably fall a step behind the rest.

Only by making this ape feel the loss outweighed the gain would it have a chance to escape with its life.

Before the words had faded, the leopard demon failed to notice that behind it, an exquisite feather blade had silently thrust forward. Even the old ape deliberately loosened its fingers, leaving space for the feather blade to pass through.

Puchi—

Scalding demon blood splashed across the furry fingers.

In the instant the leopard demon turned its head in terror, the terrifying demonic power long accumulated within that feather blade finally erupted violently at this moment. Dense white feathers transformed into countless blades, each possessing power no weaker than a Dao weapon. They scattered within the leopard demon's body, madly churning its flesh and blood.

The longest among them sliced straight through, bisecting this great demon.

Across Manshan and Gaoshan, aside from those who had fainted, every cultivator still conscious found their gaze drawn to that splattering crimson.

They instinctively swallowed, faces full of terror.

As cultivators of Nanhong, these people could truly say they had never witnessed a battle between Dao Merging realm great demons, much less known why they fought…

Now that the leopard demon had died a violent death, they themselves seemed even more devoid of any chance of survival. The only difference was being stuffed from one belly into another.

"What exactly has happened to this land and water..."

The old man stumbled back to the mountain peak, his expression turning somewhat dazed; he could not understand where these terrifying great demons had come from.

Watching helplessly as three Great Demon beasts of the Dao-Integration realm appeared, the token he tightly gripped in his palm silently slipped away.

Just at the moment that the Clear Moon Token was about to hit the ground.

A clear voice of An Yi rang in the old monkey's mind.

"Pick it up."

"..."

The old monkey slightly curled his fingers, and demonic energy surged; the moonlight that had originally scattered returned to the token, and this Clear Moon Token, once again radiating brilliance, slowly flew back into the old man's palm.

Plop.

The old man dazedly held the Clear Moon Token, watching the furry giant arm retract into the clouds; immediately, the entire sky became extremely calm, the dense demonic energy quickly dispersed, and aside from the mess on the ground, it seemed as if nothing had happened.

He looked down at the token in his hand, pondered for a long time, and finally understood something.

We... are alive.

And it is because of this token, to be precise, because of the Seven Hongze Daxian Sects behind it.

Although the demon immortal who suddenly intervened said not a word, this Shen Zongzhu still understood the other party's meaning.

Do your work well, and you will not be treated poorly.

Having figured out this logic, the old man's emotions suddenly became somewhat agitated; his arms trembled, and even facing such a perilous situation, the Qi Sect remained the Qi Sect!

"You all follow me and respectfully welcome the Immortal Sect!"

Thinking of this, he raised his arm and shouted, leading many cultivators who had survived the calamity to bow together toward the sky.

"Hmm?"

Far in the distance in the sky, a figure rushing over froze in mid-air.

Venerable Bihai of the Bihai Sect looked down at himself with some disbelief; to come out and find Shen Zongzhu, he had already exerted himself to conceal his aura.

Could it be that he is getting old and his cultivation has regressed, to the point that even these ordinary cultivators can detect his presence?

"Tsk."

Venerable Bihai of the Bihai Sect shook his head and walked straight forward.

The perception range of Earth Realm cultivators is indeed vast, but it also depends on what it is compared to; in the face of the vast Nanhong, it is absolutely impossible to predict a crisis in advance relying solely on perception.

Let alone the Earth Realm, the Heaven Realm is the same.

For instance, right now, he did detect that Great Demon beasts of the Dao-Integration realm were rampaging here, but by the time he actually rushed over, how could he possibly arrive in time?

He can only rely on luck; if he encounters them, he saves them; if not... sigh.

Moreover, with the intervention of us and the assistance of the Southern Long Gong, that group of demons and monsters will gather more and more information, making it easier for them to avoid the Seven Sons, or even specifically design ambushes to kill them!

But the scene before his eyes did not seem like a fake.

These cultivators of the vassal factions indeed all survived, and they even sounded quite energetic.

As for who could save them, there is no possibility of a second person.

"I have probably found Shen Zongzhu."

Venerable Bihai of the Bihai Sect took out his Dao Token and began to transmit a message to the sect, while simultaneously descending toward the ground below, wanting to ask clearly what exactly was happening.

The Nanhongqi Sect still maintained the situation of confronting the Southern Dragon King.

The two sides gazed at each other from afar.

Ye Jiu kept making probes, but every time, that old dragon shamelessly reacted immediately, giving him absolutely no chance to fight.

This Tianjian Sect's Shen Zongzhu is too sharp.

Compared to a head-on clash, the Southern Dragon King prefers a dull knife cutting flesh; it does not cost a life, but it is more painful.

The progress speed of these cultivators' realms far exceeds that of demons and monsters, even reaching the level of hundreds of thousands of years for demons in mere tens of thousands of years; as a price, they must not only endure the trials of heaven and earth but also have restrictions set upon them step by step.

More importantly, their strength is also closely related to their Dao Heart.

The old man Qin of the past, aside from matters concerning his precious disciple, could be considered calm and indifferent, with a Dao Heart so stable it was hard to break.

But not every cultivator possesses such stability.

Take Ye Jiu, for example; his killing intent is fully exposed, and his sharpness is extreme; as a Heavenly Sword, if he is constantly hidden and suppressed, not allowed to vent the killing intent in his chest, he will soon be affected.

Therefore, he can only become the sword in the hands of old man Qin.

As it is now, Ye Jiu's cultivation has risen to the strongest among the Seven Sons, yet he is completely unsuited to steer the ship; Qi Yansheng is steady enough, but his strength cannot suppress Ye Jiu.

It will not take long before they gradually start fighting amongst themselves.

"How is it? Do you have news from your subordinates?"

Prince Nanlong King opened his eyes and glanced at Qi Zhaoyi beside him; for such a trivial matter, the other party actually managed it so disgracefully, even slightly diminishing its confidence in Xihong.

"I am still thinking of a way."

Qi Zhaoyi forced a smile and looked up, explaining: "It should just be an accident; with so many great demons gathering together, some conflict is quite normal. Anyway, the numbers are sufficient, and with Shen Shan Laozu suppressing the situation, I only need to guide them slightly; once they discover the fertility of Nanhong, such a situation certainly will not happen a second time."

"Is that so?"

Although what Qi Zhaoyi said was reasonable and well-founded, and indeed one could find no fault with it.

The Ke Family Crown Prince still glanced at him sideways, his voice carrying a hint of sarcasm, and then his gaze fell upon the conch shell in the other party's hand.

If he remembered correctly, this thing had not made a sound for several days.

"Best there are no accidents." The Ke Family Crown Prince withdrew his gaze.

"You haven't even sat in Uncle Ke's position yet; speak a little more politely." Qi Zhaoyi looked over with a smile that didn't reach his eyes; the conch shell in his hand was not silent, but the message coming from inside was something he truly could not bring himself to say, so he could only order his subordinates to investigate immediately.

Prince Nanlong King silently looked toward the distance.

According to reason, when two sides are in confrontation, if one side loses its advantage, the other should be delighted.

But at this moment, the three guarding outside the Qi Sect all wore equally complex expressions.

"He said it seems he found something."

Ji Jingxi put away her Dao token and finally breathed a sigh of relief; even though she hadn't truly brought Shen Yi back yet, at least she had obtained some news.

It was better for the Seven Sons to receive this news first than for the Southern Long Gong to get it.

She really found it hard to imagine: if these dragon demons truly understood Shen Yi's background, what level of resolve would they show to kill him?

"That's good."

A hint of a smile also appeared on Qi Yansheng's somewhat gloomy face.

This was probably the only thing worth rejoicing over that he had heard in recent days.

Just then, his expression changed slightly; he took out his Dao token and listened carefully.

Moments later, Qi Yansheng raised his head, his eyelids twitching slightly: "You found him too?"

Hearing this, Ye Jiu suddenly turned around, his face full of astonishment; he was about to ask something but found his own Dao token trembling as well.

He was stunned for a moment, then clenched his fist tightly, forcibly suppressing the impatience in his heart: "Don't tell me you also found traces of that brat Shen Yi?"

On the other end of the Dao token, Deng Xiangjun was stunned for a few breaths: "How did you know?"

"I know your grandmother's legs!"

Ye Jiu finally swore; his three junior brothers had each gone to three different directions to search, spanning the entire north and south, separated by ten thousand li, and every single one had found traces of Shen Yi, yet not even a single hair had been seen.

A group of evil beasts; they had obviously learned of Shen Yi's departure from the sect and were now spreading confusion here.

What this action implied, they understood better than anyone else.

The Southern Long Gong was trying to blind them and ambush outside the sect the young Sect Master they had encountered since the sect's founding, whose talent and character were unparalleled in all of ancient and modern times!

"Just keep squatting here like a Wang Ba!"

"I, Ye, cannot endure this!"

"..."

Qi Yansheng was inexplicably cursed at point-blank range; even with his good temper, a flame of anger now rose in his heart.

He was already extremely worried, and now he felt it was somewhat absurd.

What was wrong with his arrangements? Who could have predicted that Shen Yi would leave quietly?

"Fine, fine, fine, then let's fight; we'll all listen to you, Sect Master Ye. I, Qi, have been holding back for these years and am already sick of it. Fight! Bet everything the Seven Sons have on it; let's have one fight, regardless of whether he lives or dies!"

Qi Yansheng suddenly stood up, his face gloomy.

Seeing the sudden anger flaring between the two senior brothers, Ji Jingxi had actually expected it; even without today's events, these two with completely opposite personalities would still have argued.

"Sit back down, all of you."

Ji Jingxi closed her eyes; her voice was extremely soft yet carried an undeniable tone.

Only when General Nanyang is absent can Qingyue's brilliance shine.

"What's wrong? Aren't you the one most worried about that brat Shen Yi? Do you dare not fight?" Shedding the guise of a Great Synthesis Realm powerhouse, Ye Jiu, having been pent up for so long, was like a mad dog, wanting to bite anyone he saw.

Ji Jingxi, however, showed no anger and said calmly: "Whether we fight or not, at least listen to Zhu Shixiong Deng finish speaking."

Only then did the remaining two realize that Deng Xiangjun had not severed the connection between their Dao tokens.

At this moment, the other party was emitting a voice full of confusion: "Hmm? Why do I feel something is not quite right?"

"What's the situation? Don't play coy." Qi Yansheng adjusted his breathing and said in a deep voice.

"Something is off in the direction of Xuan Yuecheng; I must go check... This is the territory of the General Nanyang Sect. If Sect Master Shen has emerged, he will surely come here too; allow me to take a look first!"

Having said this, Deng Xiangjun directly severed the Dao token connection, leaving the three of them staring at each other with complex expressions.

(End of this chapter)