Chapter 602: They Have Returned

West Flood, Banshan Sect.

In the silent main hall, only Old Huang's murmur and the faint sound of Shen Yi turning a page remained.

"Shen Zongzhu, I'm certain the matter of South Flood hasn't reached here yet, but the things you've done…"

Huang Wenfa spoke, glancing at the thick stack of edicts on the table, caught somewhere between horror and helpless amusement.

Anyone who could carry an edict of the Second Prince of the Western Palace was either a dragon's descendant or a trusted close attendant — and now Shen Zongzhu had cleanly slaughtered every last one of them. How could the Western Long Gong not know?

He truly couldn't figure it out.

Having just cut down the South Long Wang, shouldn't the Nanhongqi Sect keep a low profile for now?

Otherwise, what was the point of their sealing off the news?

With so many dragon descendants and close attendants dead, the Western Long Gong would surely investigate with full force. Relying on the Banshan Sect and the Baohua Sect alone, they had no way to block its eyes and ears.

"Good that it hasn't reached here."

Shen Yi gave a slight nod, slowly closed the scroll in his hand, and showed no intention of offering further explanation.

What he wanted to prevent was the news of the South Long Wang's fall spreading elsewhere. As for what happened in West Flood… what did that have to do with the Seven Sons of South Flood? Other forces would naturally step forward to "take responsibility" for these dragon descendants' deaths.

Having left South Flood and come here, Shen Yi had no intention of continuing to play defense, nor had he any thought of covering anything up.

The scroll recorded how the various demon generals of the Western Long Gong controlled this stretch of water and land.

After silently reciting this information several times, Shen Yi leaned back against the chair, then actually closed his eyes.

"This—"

Huang Wenfa stared at the young man's quiet, handsome face. Though he himself was the lord of a sect and a late Earth-realm cultivator, faced with this situation he suddenly found himself at a loss.

The other party gave no instructions on what they should do — were they just supposed to sit here and wait for the Western Long Gong to come knocking?

What the Banshan Sect Lord did not know was that the instant Shen Yi closed his eyes, throughout every corner of West Flood, one terrifying fierce shadow after another suddenly rose and silently streaked toward the very places recorded in that scroll!

……

West Flood, Yunhe Sect.

Outside this seemingly tranquil blessed land, few cultivators passed by. The occasional ones out on business kept their heads down, their expressions low, as they flew past on their treasures.

The great demons of this stretch of water and land had already been driven out entirely — something that ought to have been cause for celebration.

Yet after the Western Long Gong finished dealing with those monsters, before the cultivators of West Flood could even show a smile, they abruptly found themselves reduced to the status of prisoners.

Those few had barely left the sect a hundred zhang when dozens of figures surged up from the water's surface, all clad in dragon palace scale armor, riding the waves under the command of a fierce demon general.

The few cultivators, as if long accustomed to this, carefully drew a jade slip from their sleeves and handed it over.

It recorded where they were headed on this trip, what business they had, who they were to meet, and even when they would return.

The moment the West Long Wang re-seated himself in his palace, every living being in this stretch of water and land was reminded of who was master here, and who was slave.

What Xian Sect? Before the Long Gong, they were nothing but dog shit.

Those once-renowned seniors and lofty figures now all hid behind the name of "closed-door cultivation," terrified of being targeted by these enraged Jade-Horned Silver Dragons and becoming the pitiful chicken used to warn the monkeys.

Crack.

The dragon palace demon general finished reading the jade slip with an indifferent gaze, lightly crushed it in his sharp five fingers, and said in a voice that left no room for negotiation: "Get back inside."

At his words, the few cultivators all looked over in terror.

The tall one among them broke out in a cold sweat, fishing out a storage pouch as he said in a low voice: "General, my junior brother failed his breakthrough and urgently needs a pill to stabilize his realm, or his life is at stake. We're only missing this one precious herb — I swear I'll return right after I get it. Please, show some leniency…"

Before he finished speaking, the storage pouch in his hand had already arrived in the demon general's palm. The fierce demon glanced down at it, a sneer on his face, and casually tossed the pouch to the demon soldiers behind him.

Then, without another word, he turned with his demon soldiers and headed back toward the waters.

"Thank you, General, for your mercy…"

The tall cultivator, furious but not daring to show it, forced a smile and cupped his hands again and again in thanks.

Lately the Western Long Gong had been tightly guarding the water and land, and had even discovered that Yunhe Sect had previously hosted a Dao-child of the Nanhongqi Sect. Being able to buy off disaster with money was already a decent outcome.

With that, he gathered his fellow disciples and was about to urge his treasure forward to leave.

But the moment the tall cultivator took a step forward, silver light suddenly flashed in the air!

Splurt—

Amid fresh red blood, a bright silver great spear brutally pierced through his chest. The Dao Infant's shattered five organs' dissipating aura drifted out from that horrifying gap.

The tall cultivator stared blankly ahead, his eyes full of disbelief.

"I said, get back inside."

The dragon palace demon general held the spear in one hand, his voice chillingly cold, his slit pupils slowly sweeping over the others beside him: "Don't you understand?"

The remaining cultivators were frozen stiff to the extreme. They didn't even dare tend to their fellow sect member's wounds, watching helplessly as his aura grew weaker and weaker, still standing rooted to the spot like wooden chickens.

Right at the entrance of their own sect's blessed land.

A Bai Yujing demon general, without the slightest scruple, laid hands on disciples of Yunhe Sect — as casually as slaughtering chickens and dogs.

One of the cultivators turned his head back in a daze.

He saw that quite a number of fellow disciples had already surged out from within the sect's formation, all staring over in shock, then exchanging uncertain glances — yet no order to fight back ever came from the sect.

In that instant, they once again gained the most visceral understanding of the Western Long Gong's terrifying power.

"……"

"Tch."

The dragon palace demon general pulled out the bright silver great spear, lightly flicked the blood droplets from its edge, turned around unhurriedly, and continued leading his demon soldiers toward the waters.

At the same time, the entire blessed land of Yunhe Sect was shrouded by a massive shadow, as if the whole sky had suddenly gone dark.

The next moment, accompanied by thunderous wild laughter, a furry giant leg like a pillar of heaven stomped down through the clouds.

"Who dares to act so brazenly here!"

The dragon palace demon general only had time to look up in horror and let out a furious roar.

That rough, coarse paw then suddenly swelled countless times larger in his vision — until everything before his eyes plunged into utter blackness!

Boom!!

Amidst the trembling earth and shaking mountains, the ugly old ape lowered its body that blocked the sun and sky, stretched out its slender right arm, casually scooped up the meat paste and severed limbs from the ground, stuffed them into a tattered bag, and then ran forward.

As if a dark cloud had suddenly vanished, it disappeared without a trace in the blink of an eye.

"Heh! Heh! Heh!"

The tall cultivator sat collapsed on the ground, clutching his chest, his entire body trembling uncontrollably, his clothes long soaked with blood and sweat.

Just then, that foot had been less than a foot away from him; it could be said to have stepped right past his face, and those demon soldiers and demon generals were crushed before his eyes without a shred of resistance.

Such a terrifying scene nearly shattered his soul and spirit!

Disciples of the Yunhe Sect surged out; finally, someone reacted to treat the tall cultivator's injuries, while the rest simply stared with wide eyes at the direction the old ape had departed.

"It is... it is him..."

An elder recognized the identity of this ape demon; it was a Great Demon of the Earth Realm, fully perfected, from Xi Hong, with an extremely fierce reputation!

But wasn't this Great Demon driven south by the Western Long Gong? How could it have suddenly returned?

Moreover, having just returned, it acted so decisively against the Long Gong's demon soldiers?!

The Elder of the Yunhe Sect slowly scanned the surroundings.

Discovering that not a single one of his own disciples was injured, he realized the old ape's seemingly casual kick had a target that was unmistakably clear.

He incredulously rubbed his brow furrowed with disbelief; it was too absurd... that in this land of water and earth, there still existed a living being daring to challenge the majesty of the Western Long Gong.

Xi Hong is truly about to descend into chaos!

As if to verify the thought of this Elder of the Yunhe Sect.

At the same time, huge waves were rising everywhere across Xi Hong.

Inside a certain market district.

The originally bustling area where cultivators gathered was now as desolate as a dead land.

Many cultivators remained in taverns and inns, waiting obediently for the order to lift the restrictions, while simultaneously devising ways to hide some precious treasures, hoping to slightly reduce their losses during the subsequent search.

The entire market district was guarded by the Long Gong's soldiers and generals; those towering figures clad in armor all held sharp blades, and the killing intent permeating their bodies was enough to chill the bones.

A female cultivator walked through cautiously like a quail.

She kept her eyes closed, enduring the hands and claws searching her body, her heart filled only with the desire to leave this wretched place as quickly as possible.

Yet for some reason, that chilling sensation grew increasingly real, spreading through her entire body, until she could not help but shiver, only then noticing something was wrong, and she opened her eyes in astonishment to look around.

She saw that the previously upright demon soldiers' forms had become even straighter.

Frost covering their entire bodies had caused the life to vanish from their eyes, and the weapons in their hands were also covered in cracks.

The female cultivator stood dazed amidst the many ice sculptures, hearing a faint sound of footsteps in her ears.

Soon, a figure in tattered clothes appeared in her line of sight, emaciated and skeletal, with messy hair and beard dragging on the ground, clutching a bag in hand, and like a scavenger, stuffed all the ice sculptures into it.

Throughout the entire process, the other party did not look sideways, with no expression on his face, concentrating with a strange intensity that made one's heart feel eerie.

"Move aside."

The old man approached slowly, not even glancing at the female cultivator, merely reminding her in a hoarse voice.

The female cultivator suddenly shivered, leaping far away, and then watched as this strange person continued forward, collecting all the ice sculptures, carrying the vast cold air, as if strolling through an icy snowfield, until he walked into the end of the wind and snow.

"..."

Similar situations occurred almost simultaneously across all of Xi Hong.

Such a group of fierce beings, arriving so suddenly, with a clear purpose, speaking not a single word of nonsense from start to finish, doing nothing but killing, and caring not at all for the gaze of others.

This familiar style of conduct, while shocking the many living beings of Xi Hong, also suddenly made them remember an existence that had disappeared for many days.

That group of vicious villains has returned?!

The Western Long Gong of Xi Hong.

Qi Zhaowen leaned against the throne, with two pretty water demons beside him massaging his shoulders; he closed his eyes, his brows tightly furrowed.

"If we cannot find out the truth, Father King will likely truly suspect me."

"Is the Wan Yao Dian truly unrelated to my elder brother?" Qi Lao Wu held a wine cup, looking at him curiously.

"Heh, I wish I could." Qi Zhaowen opened his eyes and said calmly: "Although this group of rats cannot compare to the Western Long Gong, if they could be used by me, they would indeed be a good asset. To be honest, if before Father King wakes up, they are willing to bow and submit, I could indeed consider letting bygones be bygones..."

"As for now..."

Qi Zhaowen waved his hand to signal the two pretty water demons to withdraw, then slowly stood up: "Their only function is to offer their lives, to win Father King's favor for me, and to secure this Crown Prince position."

"Congratulations in advance to my elder brother." The fifth of the Qi family smiled and raised his cup.

"Do not speak too soon."

Although Qi Zhaowen said this, he still bent down to pour wine for himself; as the fine liquor entered the cup, he seemed to suddenly remember something, letting the wine splash everywhere, and slowly raised his head: "It is already this hour; why has no one returned to report today?"

"Perhaps they were delayed on the road?"

Qi Lao Wu took out a conch shell and advised indifferently: "Elder brother need not be so cautious; our water tribe demon soldiers are spread throughout Xi Hong; only someone of immense supernatural power could stir this iron bucket, and still leave us completely unaware."

Hearing this, Qi Zhaowen did not reply, but simply stood upright again.

He closed his eyes and began to sense.

As time passed, the face of this Second Prince grew increasingly iron-green.

All sixteen magical decrees had lost contact!

When he opened his eyes again, Qi Zhaowen's pupils had contracted, containing a chilling killing intent: "Something has happened!"

The Dragon Grandsons and close attendants, at the very least, possessed power comparable to Bai Yu Jing, and were leading elite soldiers and strong generals; to activate the magical decrees to protect their bodies, they only needed to infuse a little demon power.

But up to now, not a single magical decree had been activated; otherwise, he would have discovered it long ago.

That is to say, they were all slaughtered without even generating the thought of resistance?

Once or twice would be one thing, but all sixteen magical decrees, all in this situation?

What kind of joke is this? Even a cultivator at the Dao-Integration Realm could never possess such overwhelming power.

Perhaps some other method has obscured their aura, blinding our eyes and deafening our ears.

But regardless.

These dragon descendants and close attendants are scattered across various places, yet all have gone missing. This indicates the one who acted knows the Western Hong and even the Long Gong extremely well, that there are many of them, and that they possess terrifying, even somewhat eerie, execution!

At this thought, Qi Zhaowen's heart instantly surged with a trace of unease.

"Something is wrong! I must go see Father King!"

He was not the arrogant fool that Qi Zhaoyi was; now that Father King is stationed in the palace, in a situation like this, he must report to the other party immediately.

"Then I will go check the situation."

The fifth of the Qi family withdrew his smile and stood up as well: "Eldest brother, do not panic. First, ascertain exactly who is causing this chaos."

Qi Zhaowen hesitated for a moment, then nodded: "Very well. Be extra careful. Even when a lion wrestles a rabbit, one must use full strength; do not be careless."

"Does eldest brother not trust me to handle matters?" The fifth of the Qi family smiled. As the other's most loyal supporter from the very beginning, the two brothers had cooperated for years; such understanding required no further words.

"By the way."

Just as Qi Zhaowen took a step, he stopped again, letting out a cold snort: "Put aside matters of fighting for power and status for now. Send a message to those two, telling them to return from the Myriad Phenomena Pavilion first, lest some accident occur."

With the status of a second son, having competed with the eldest brother for the Crown Prince position for these years, he did not lack this kind of magnanimity.

Taking this opportunity, he would also let Father King see who was more suitable to govern the land and water of Western Hong.

(End of this chapter)