Chapter 583: Who Is Ambushing Whom?

"This is absurd."

Deng Xiangjun tucked away his Dao tablet and gazed ahead.

He was only slightly weaker among the Seven Sons of Nan Hong, but still a late Foundation Establishment grand master.

And this late Foundation Establishment status was precisely because he had only opened three Immortal Cities during his Bai Yujing phase.

After all, the original Seven Sects were never anything transcendent; otherwise, they wouldn't have needed to form an alliance to establish their sects—wasn't their goal simply self-preservation? Their sudden rise later came from chance and fortune; how could they possibly have gathered seven prodigies capable of opening four cities to become sect leaders?

As time passed.

The General General Nanyang, Qing Yue, Ling Yue, and Tian Jian sects, along with the remaining three, were not on the same level.

It was as if they were dragging the rest of them forward.

With the help of these senior brothers and sisters, Deng Xiangjun's realm stagnated, yet his foundation grew ever richer—he could still match a late Foundation Establishment grand master in actual combat.

Moreover, in this region of Nan Hong, he could borrow a bit of the power from the other sects' sacred lands; he was virtually invincible below the Heavenly realm.

Yet even so, he still couldn't understand why the other two senior brothers had also found traces of Shen Zongzhu.

Could there truly exist such a mysterious technique, allowing a Dao-Union grand master to traverse the vast Nan Hong, appearing simultaneously at multiple battlefields?

What nonsense!

If such a technique truly existed, why bother dividing into the Four Hongs? The Bei Long Palace would have simply taken control of the entire Hongze, leaving no chance whatsoever for the Seven Sons of Nan Hong or the Liangdaohuang Sect to rise.

But—

Deng Xiangjun frowned deeply; he had indeed sensed the aura of a Dao-Union-level great demon's demise, and without pausing a moment, he had rushed here immediately.

Who else, besides Shen Zongzhu, could assist the Seven Sects' vassals in slaying such a great demon?

What exactly was it that he had been chasing all this time!

Thinking of this, Deng Xiangjun hesitated slightly and gazed toward Xuan Yue City.

He had previously sensed a terrifying aura, believing he had found Shen Zongzhu—but now, a faint unease stirred within him.

"Sss!"

Deng Xiangjun gritted his teeth and still surged forward.

Shen Yi's importance to the Seven Sons of Nan Hong was self-evident; for this reason, even risking great danger was worth it.

At least he needed to know what condition the other was in now.

With this thought, Deng Xiangjun parted the clouds and surged forward with full power!

Yet as he drew closer to that aura.

Deng Xiangjun's expression darkened; he glanced sideways at the surrounding clouds and noticed faint frost blanketing the area—the bone-chilling cold had even affected him, a Foundation Establishment cultivator.

"Hu."

He subtly pinched his fingers, summoning a wisp of white fire, swallowed it, and his complexion improved considerably.

Deng Xiangjun now confirmed: the entity ahead could not possibly be Shen Zongzhu. Even across heaven and earth, such an astonishingly terrifying coldness would have turned all living beings below into a sea of corpses.

He tried to suppress his aura even more cleanly, but his frantic pursuit had already brought him to an alarmingly close distance.

Amid the endless clouds, a withered figure gradually emerged.

Tattered, ragged robes, as if any gust of wind might shred them, stood motionless, gazing this way.

"..."

Deng Xiangjun's hand, already forming a spell, froze slowly; his other hand had just gripped his Dao tablet when he realized it was icy-cold, and a hairline crack had silently appeared on its smooth surface.

He swallowed hard, his face growing still.

"Are you the sect leader of the Seven Sons of Nan Hong?" The rag-clad figure slowly emerged from the clouds, studied him for a moment, then shook his head: "I won't eat you. Don't follow me."

Though this human treasure was so rare it made one salivate, Shen Shan Laozu knew well how close the relationships among the Seven Sects were.

The Prince Nanlong Palace, accompanied by the eldest son of the Qi family, was currently facing off against three Heavenly realm cultivators.

There was food everywhere—he had no need to rush devouring this great treasure and drawing the fury and hatred of those sect leaders upon himself.

If those cultivators abandoned the Long Palace entirely to hunt him down, that would be quite unpleasant.

Deng Xiangjun couldn't recall how many years it had been since he'd heard such words from a demon.

I won't eat you...

"Hu."

He silently chewed over those words in his heart, and an unexpected pang of sorrow rose within him.

Heaven and earth were cruel to cultivators; if one didn't walk the right path in youth, one could only waste away through endless years, with little chance of redemption.

Though the demon's words carried unmasked contempt, Deng Xiangjun had to admit—they were true. Even if he poured everything into battle, survival against this monster was nearly impossible.

This was a great demon even stronger than Sister Ji! A genuine match for a mid-Heavenly realm!

Such a terrifying being, even in Xi Hong, would be among the absolute top experts—yet it had silently arrived in Nan Hong's lands, and now, right before his eyes, was calmly stepping into the vassal territory of General General Nanyang Sect.

And he, Deng Mou, one of the Seven Sons of Nan Hong's sect leaders, had pondered long and hard—and could not devise a single solution!

"Go."

Shen Shan Laozu gave Deng Xiangjun no chance to react; he lightly waved his palm, and the clouds instantly froze. Deng Xiangjun felt as if he himself had been encased in ice, watching the distance between them rapidly widen—separated by heaven and earth—until the great demon vanished from sight.

"Damn it!"

Deng Xiangjun gasped heavily, using the white fire he had swallowed earlier to melt the frost covering his body, then retrieved his Dao tablet, attempting to transmit the scene he had witnessed back to his sect.

Yet the Dao tablet, already riddled with cracks, shattered instantly the moment he poured his aura into it!

A mid-Heavenly realm great demon had the full power to alter the current situation in Nan Hong.

Yet it had not gone to the Seven Sects, but come here—naturally because it deemed something more important.

After careful thought, the only thing more important than suppressing Ye Jiu and the others... was intercepting Shen Zongzhu.

If he learned of this, even Brother Qi—could he truly remain unmoved?

"Hu—"

Deng Xiangjun let out a long breath, waved both palms repeatedly, and a series of lifelike paper cranes emerged from his sleeves, instantly transforming into real white cranes that swept away toward the Nanhong Qi Sect from all directions.

To prevent this news from being intercepted, he released over a hundred at once.

Even though this act might cause Brother Qi to make a wrong decision and throw his own formation into chaos, Deng Xiangjun truly could not pretend not to see it or harbor any hopes of luck.

This was an ambush targeting Shen Zongzhu; the Nanlong Palace understood Shen Yi's character even better than the sect leaders of their own Qunmeng Sect!

After finishing all this, Deng Xiangjun extremely carefully suppressed his aura and, having just escaped death, stepped forward once more without hesitation toward the direction of Xuan Yuecheng.

Only by obtaining first-hand information could the three Tian Realm experts make a better response.

Between the land and water of Nanhong.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

A terrifying ape demon ran with all its might across the sky, crossing mountains and seas, then knelt in mid-air, raising its long arms high above its head as if offering the object in its hands to the heavens.

Yet the direction in which it displayed such reverence held no Heavenly Court of the Heavens, only a figure in black robes sitting cross-legged.

"Go."

Shen Yi opened his eyes, nodded slightly, and accepted that bloodied corpse.

He saw the demon corpse turn into a river of blood surging toward him as he raised his palm slightly; with his five fingers loosely clenched, a figure with a beak like a silver hook slowly rose from the blood river formed by the demon corpse.

It was a humanoid golden eagle, gently flapping its wings.

In an instant, the eyes of this golden eagle great demon actually sparkled with brilliance, and it was thus brought back to life!

Such a bizarre scene, if seen by others, would probably make them begin to doubt the identity of this young man in black robes, wondering if he truly was the incarnation of heaven and earth.

Seizing creation, turning yin and yang, reversing life and death—where is this something human power can achieve!

Another consumption of over three hundred thousand years of demon lifespan.

Shen Yi, as usual, stored it in the Western Hall for An Yi to command, then silently counted in his heart and murmured, "The tenth one."

That's right; after slaying the ape demon and the crane demon, he used these two as bridges to successfully establish contact with this group of Xihong demons.

In the current Nanhong, Shen Yi was the one who controlled all the information.

Not only did he have the aid of many Xihong great demons, but he also顺势 collected all the letters transmitted by the eldest of the Qi family, and of course, casually collected the lifespan offered by that group of demon generals.

It could be said this way.

He was even clearer than some demons themselves about where the other party would go next... because that was precisely where he had intentionally let his subordinate town stones release an aura to lure them there.

The great demons coming from Xihong this time totaled twelve.

Except for the very beginning, Shen Yi did not personally act again, but remained stationed in the central part of Nanhong.

Because for almost all great demon town stones, the existence that left the deepest impression was a terrifying creature that had gained many benefits during the killing calamity, named Shen Shan Laozu.

From start to finish, he was searching for this Shenxu Laozu's location.

"It should be enough."

Shen Yi immersed his divine soul into the Ten Thousand Demons Western Hall, feeling the movement of the thing being nurtured within.

"Still a little short," An Yi replied softly.

With so many He Dao great demon town stones, under the pull of her bloodline, the connection between her and the Western Hall had become increasingly clear, as if she were about to comprehend something.

"Good."

Shen Yi nodded slightly; although he could not yet verify whether the nurtured thing was indeed the divine technique he had expected.

But it was not entirely without gain.

With the addition of this golden eagle great demon, the last wisp of Jin Guang in the Kaihuang Dacheng, which represented the calamity of death, was swallowed, leaving only a dense red light, slightly viscous, flowing like bloody plasma or the red clouds of dusk, carrying a touch of twilight atmosphere.

Shen Yi reached out his hand, and that Yin Yang Xuan Pei fell onto his fingertip.

From the purple qi of the Hongmeng Heavenly Soldier at the very beginning, to Jin Guang, and now to this red light.

The appearance of this jade pendant finally changed.

On the jade body where black and white were clearly divided, the yin-yang fish eyes transformed into a pair of tiger pupils; the instant the tiger pupils opened, they were covered with crystal-clear blood vessels!

【Demon Emperor Weapon: Yin Yang Birth and Death】

Shen Yi had initially guessed that his Dao weapon could continue to grow; otherwise, how could the Dao weapon forged in Bai Yujing play a decisive role in the He Dao Realm battle? Now, under the prompt leaping up on the panel, this was confirmed.

"Demon Emperor Weapon..."

He gently held this jade pendant, only to see the yin and yang sides slowly separate, like a black and a white young tiger, gently circling Shen Yi's fingers, rubbing against his fingertips with a touch of affection.

In both swimming shadows lay a small, curled-up sleeping body.

The only difference was the color of the horse-face skirt on their bodies.

"Hurry up."

Shen Yi put away the jade pendant, stood up, and slightly adjusted his cuffs.

As he rose, in a certain place far away.

A snow-white giant wolf stood proudly in the clouds, its eyes carrying a touch of contempt for the southern barbarians, quietly watching the fleeing crowd below.

It had only released a bit of demon power, yet the cultivators of Nanhong had no will to fight; it was truly somewhat boring, merely for filling the stomach.

Thinking of this, the white wolf took a slight step forward, preparing to descend, but its eyes froze slightly.

It instinctively looked around.

It saw that in the originally empty clouds and mist, figures suddenly surged forth; some were as massive as Gaoshan, others as thin and small as monkeys; they walked out leisurely, blocking all paths around.

"What, all gathered together?"

The white wolf was stunned, looked at these familiar faces, and forced a smile as it raised its head.

However, the response it received was a fierce, crushing blow.

The white wolf took a hard hit on its face; its beautiful and muscular body flew sideways, tumbling several times in the air before it barely stabilized its posture, its aura somewhat chaotic: "You, what do you mean by this..."

Suddenly attacked, it should have been furious, but facing so many great demons of the same realm, let alone fighting back, even its questioning voice lacked a bit of confidence.

Fortunately, these great demons had no intention of mocking.

The Lord has little patience left.

Among them, the tall and burly great demon stamped the white wolf beneath its foot, then countless figures surged forward, unleashing their innate abilities without restraint; amid terrified and uncertain howls, they cruelly tore it into piece after piece of flesh!

「……」

They had slain the last of the Earth-realm great demons.

Shen Yi casually glanced at the interface.

To reshape the spiritual souls of these ten great demons, excluding their remaining natural lifespans, he had lost nearly two million years of demonic lifespan.

Fortunately, the group of demon generals brought by Qi's eldest son offered some compensation.

Though these Void-Refining demon generals were somewhat weaker in power, their numbers were decent—dozens had come voluntarily to deliver messages, several of them rivaling Bai Yujing in strength.

Altogether, scattered as they were, the total was still considerable, nearing four million years.

【Remaining demonic lifespan: 5.61 million years】

Not only would this be more than enough for an ordinary cultivator—even Yu Nanhong himself could live ten lifetimes off it.

But Shen Yi still felt uneasy.

After all, though these demonic lifespans were abundant, what he intended to do—control the entirety of the Southern Hong land and waters—was something no ordinary being could even imagine.

「Enough. Let's first see what this Western Hall can produce. 」

Shen Yi listened to the report from the great demon Zhen Shi—he had finally found that Laozu.

I hope this opponent's life will help me truly enter the Heaven-realm, so my journey to Southern Hong won't have been in vain.

Shen Yi gathered his spirit, and in an instant, the perfected Divine Yue suppressing Qingtian was fully unleashed.

The ink-robed figure merged back into the void, appearing unchanged.

But had anyone been present to observe closely, they would have been horrified to realize—the clear expanse of sky itself… was rapidly shifting toward Xuan Yuecheng!

Earlier, An Tingfeng had demonstrated the power of a Union-Path great demon by moving mountains and redirecting seas, allowing Shen Yi to witness such might.

And now, this scene of reshaping heaven and earth was enough to strike terror into all living beings!

(End of Chapter)