Chapter 609: The Arrival of the East Dragon Palace

"Gurgle... gurgle..."

Yue Gonggui's throat was filled with blood, his two eyes nearly bulging from their sockets, straining every ounce of strength in his body to turn his head back for a look.

But just as he had twisted halfway, that massive Huo Lin head slammed down onto the ground whole and intact, kicking up clouds of dust amid a thunderous boom!

Shen Yi held the Jin Xuan blade in hand and meticulously dissected the remaining demon carcass, until he could remove that suit of treasured armor completely intact, only then did he store both the demon's flesh and blood and the treasured armor into the thumb ring on his finger.

The Canglong Shiri transformed back into its long saber form, blood beads seeped through the gaps of the dragon's claws, making the entire blade grow ever more jet-black, like an eternal night.

Able to shatter armor that even a late-stage Heavenly realm great demon trusted without question, this Demon Emperor weapon had already far surpassed the power a Bai Yujing Dao weapon should possess.

Compared to the Yin-Yang Life-Death Jade Pendant that An Yi represented, this blade had no flashy effects to speak of; just like Ke Shisan whose bloodline grew ever purer, its sole advantage was being sharp enough.

Shen Yi casually sheathed the long saber, standing deep within the boundless black clouds, his hands at his sides as he looked back.

"..."

Heavy breathing sounds filled their ears without end; the faces of the various sect lords were ashen pale — not because of this young man's slaughter, but because...

Whether the Wan Yao Dian or the Yue clan, both were colossal powers that the cultivators of West Hong did not dare to offend.

Yet now, with two tigers locked in combat, someone actually dared to seize this chance to settle his own private grudge — this boldness and strength that utterly disregarded both parties was what truly shocked people most.

A normal person, having killed two heirs of the Yue clan, even if unafraid, would have absolutely no need to swagger over in such a situation, openly admitting in front of them that he was the one who did it, and then striking again to kill.

When the snipe and the clam fight, the fisherman profits — wouldn't that do?

One must remember, there was still a Wan Yao Dian nearby; once this disciple was allowed to escape, and these fiends came to their senses, another bout of blood and carnage would be unavoidable.

It could only mean that this young cultivator had never regarded either of them as human to begin with, nor had he ever taken West Hong to heart.

"What are you gawking at! A pack of stupid, lowly wretches — withdraw the formation! Now!"

As the various sect lords stood dumbfounded, the remaining dozen or so elite disciples of the Yue clan had already burst out with shrill roars.

That peach blossom in the sky had blocked not only the Wan Yao Dian disciples, but them as well.

And at this moment, the tall, slender figure within the black clouds slowly cast his gaze toward this group of Yue clan disciples.

The clan's Grand Elder's swift defeat and death had utterly stripped these people from North Hong of their arrogance, to the point that even their reason was on the verge of collapse; what they had assumed to be a remote backwater of West Hong now seemed like a dragon's pool and tiger's den, suffocating them into despair.

"Withdraw the formation!"

Watching a group of Yue clan disciples all transform into ferocious Huo Lin, crashing about wildly in the air, the various sect lords instinctively wanted to pull themselves away and leave.

At this moment, Shen Yi swept a casual glance at them.

Just one calm look was enough to root everyone in place like wooden stakes; cold sweat soaked their backs, and they didn't even dare to draw a heavy breath.

"Xue Sect Lord! Save us!"

A Huo Lin produced a bronze mirror, so terrified that in its desperation it was clutching at straws, actually seeking aid from an Earth realm cultivator.

"What exactly happened? Speak!"

"Let Yue Gonggui answer this seat!"

In the West Hong Long Wang Palace, Xue Yan's face was dark with gloom as he stared fixedly at the water curtain before him.

He could not understand — with the Yue clan's Grand Elder present to hold the line, what on earth had happened, why the situation had instantly spiraled out of control.

That was a late-stage Heavenly realm Huo Lin, moreover bearing a heavy treasure, and with rich experience to boot — yet in the span of mere moments, it had actually come to the point where Yue clan disciples were crying out to him for rescue?!

"Grand Elder, it... it... save me!"

A shrill, voice-cracking scream came through the water curtain; in the murky image, only a single swaying ink-black robe remained, along with that Bai Xi, handsome face.

Xue Yan froze in place, seeing through the bronze mirror that the youth was looking down toward him with an indifferent gaze.

A pair of dark, deep eyes, as if containing endless stars.

"Hah!"

In an instant, the entire water curtain shattered, and in the whole Long Wang Palace only Xue Yan's breathing remained.

He stared blankly at the empty space, his expression dazed; only after a long while did he come back to his senses, his face shifting from white to green, as if suffering a tremendous humiliation, his lips trembling, from muttering to roaring: "It's you... it's you... How dare you!!"

This young beast actually dared to look at him with that kind of gaze.

Calm to the point of disregard — as if he, this branch sect lord of the Liangdaohuang Sect, was no different at all from those idiots of the Yue clan.

"You're seeking death—"

Xue Yan suddenly clenched his five fingers; he suddenly realized that he didn't even know this cultivator's identity.

"Who is this?" He spun around abruptly, grabbing the Qi family's Fifth by the collar, his face blank with shock: "This seat wants to know his background right now!"

"I... I..." The Qi family's Fifth could no longer care about the face of a Heavenly realm great demon; he was still immersed in the shrill wails of the Yue clan people — a colossal power from North Hong actually suffering a major loss in West Hong — this was something they had never dared to imagine, and it even shattered his perception of North Hong's lofty, untouchable superiority.

"I don't know."

The Qi family's Fifth wore a bitter face; having followed his second brother for many years, he was no useless drunkard, and he had a fairly good grasp of West Hong's factions.

But this face, including the other's attire and appearance — he truly had no impression of it.

"Go to hell!"

Xue Yan released his grip and kicked the Qi family's Fifth, but unfortunately he forgot that this dragon demon's realm was far above his own; not only did he fail to budge the other, he himself stumbled and fell onto the throne instead.

He panted heavily, gasping for breath, and finally regained a sliver of reason.

The reason Xue Yan was so agitated — besides the Yue clan incident and being ignored by that young man — the more important reason was...

The Greedy Wolf Star Extermination Immortal-Slaying Formation was still on those wretches!

A treasure of the Liangdaohuang Sect, lost just like that because of his own carelessness!

"Wait."

Xue Yan suddenly thought of something, as if grasping a life-saving straw, a vicious glint surging in his eyes: "Someone must know your identity — you can't escape!"

When gathering those West Hong cultivators earlier, Zi Xian had met this person!

Thinking of this, Xue Yan sprang up abruptly and darted toward the outside of the palace.

"..."

The Qi family's Fifth wore a dark expression, dusted off his clothes, and silently stared at the other's departing back.

The incident involving the Yue family, along with Xue Yan's reaction, had altered its view of Northern Hong.

These dogs of the immortals were not necessarily as profound and unfathomable as it had imagined.

As for the Ten Thousand Demon Palace—

The fifth elder of the Qi family's eyelid twitched, and fear gradually welled up in his pupils.

At the same time.

A rain of blood mixed with severed limbs and broken arms drifted down over Western Hong.

Shen Yi still stood amidst the thick black clouds; though the crimson rain threads whipped wildly, not a single drop could stain his dark robe.

Even at his current realm, Xiang Tianyan's Sijiu remained as useful as ever.

He lowered his gaze to the bronze mirror fragment in his palm, his expression showing little change.

Long before striking, Shen Yi had already prepared for exposure.

Of course, this exposure did not refer to his identity as the Nanyang Sect Master; due to his short time in the world, very few people in Western Hong had seen him—only a handful.

The only one beyond his control was Lady Yushan, the Dragon Consort beneath the waters.

With such a major problem arising in the Yue family, the Western Long Wang would inevitably gather everyone available; the news of Qi Zhaoyi's demise could likely not be concealed for long, meaning exposure was only a matter of time.

Shen Yi had already formed the idea of cooperating with the Eastern Dragon Palace, so he might as well take this opportunity to test her one last time.

Besides that.

The identity of the Ten Thousand Demon Palace had been死死盯住 by the Western Dragon Palace; another person needed to emerge to stir the waters further, allowing the branch masters to act.

As for now... Shen Yi waved his hand, gathering all the corpses of the Disaster Qilin into his ring.

【Killed a Late Heaven Realm Disaster Qilin, total lifespan 720,000 years, remaining lifespan 140,000 years, absorption complete】

【Killed a Late Earth Realm Disaster Qilin, total lifespan 520,000 years, remaining lifespan 370,000 years, absorption complete】

More than a dozen notifications leaped into his sight; among them, six were at the Dao-Integration level or above, while the remaining Bai Yujing minor demons possessed abundant lifespans.

It was clear these were indeed the elites of the Yue family.

In total, over 1.6 million years of demon lifespan were harvested, bringing him one big step closer to gathering two Demon Emperor Seals.

The sky full of black clouds scattered completely; Shen Yi raised his gaze, still unsatisfied, looking toward the horizon, then furrowed his brow.

"Hiss."

The hearts of the various sect masters skipped a beat; originally, this bloody storm had already made their scalps go cold, and judging by this, this young cultivator's killing intent had surged, still unsatisfied, planning to deal with the disciples of the Ten Thousand Demon Palace as well?

If that truly happened, today would not have been in vain.

Yet the peach blossoms in the sky remained unchanged, only the figure of that petite silhouette was gone.

"This Ten Thousand Demon Palace... actually possesses a method to escape from the Star Map of Tanlang?!"

The sect masters' expressions changed again, suffering another significant shock; how had this water and land they knew so well suddenly become so unfamiliar?

It was ruined! If the Ten Thousand Demon Palace truly escaped, with this group of villains' unforgiving nature...

As they dazedly withdrew their gazes, everyone stepped back several paces in unison.

They saw that dark-robed figure had, at some unknown moment, arrived before them.

These famous sect masters of Western Hong, at this moment, all turned pale, swallowing hard, not knowing how to speak.

However, what they did not expect was that the voice of this youth, whose hands were stained with the fresh blood of Late Heaven Realm great demons, sounded so clear and pure.

"Trouble you all to hand over that array diagram to me."

"This—"

While the crowd was stunned, Huang Wenfa had already walked over quickly, reaching for the storage bag of the person in front, complaining: "Stop standing there stupidly, hand it over quickly; it's as if you could understand it anyway."

Such a great array, comparable to immortal arts, could only be cultivated by Shen Zongzhu.

"..."

Shen Yi glanced wordlessly at the old man; he still remembered when he first met the other party, when this Elder Huang had been full of the aura of a reclusive hermit, carrying a touch of the chivalrous warrior style he greatly admired; how could it be that in such a short time, he had become more and more like a hooligan?

He reached out to accept the stack of array diagrams the other handed over, nodded slightly, and did not engage in excessive small talk before the crowd, to avoid any unexpected incidents.

Besides, this was the Banshan Sect Master, not some greenhorn youth; how to protect oneself should not require others to teach.

After securing the array diagrams, Shen Yi turned and merged into the blue sky, disappearing on the spot.

Leaving only the numerous sect masters staring at each other.

After a brief silence, when they looked at Huang Wenfa again, their gaze inevitably held a bit more reverence.

Being able to mix with such a ruthless person, Sect Master Huang was becoming more and more promising.

Western Hong, Lady Yushan.

Xue Yan stepped on a flying sword, completely ignoring the aquatic demon soldiers filling the mountain, unrestrained in his aura, heading straight for the top hall.

"Senior Zi Xian, this seat has something to ask you!"

When they met previously, even though the Liangdaohuang Sect and the Eastern Dragon Palace were at odds, he had at least addressed her as "senior," but this time he spoke her name directly.

Besides his anxiety, there was another very important reason.

That was, according to what he had just heard, the entire Yue family clan, along with their great elder who protected the clan, had likely all mysteriously lost their lives.

Even in Northern Hong, this would be a major matter requiring intervention from all sides.

Based on the information currently held, at the very least, that dark-robed cultivator could not be separated from this matter, and this person was clearly connected to Senior Zi Xian, appearing to have a deep relationship.

Similarly losing the Star Map of Tanlang, losing it carelessly to an unknown person versus having it snatched away through a scheme by the Eastern Dragon Palace were two completely different concepts.

Xue Yan was now determined to pin this matter on the Eastern Dragon Palace.

These purple-bearded white dragons who had agreed not to meddle in worldly affairs, if they intended to come out again to stir up wind and rain, this would no longer be something a single branch master could participate in; even immortals might personally intervene, making the Star Map of Tanlang a trivial matter.

"..."

Zi Xian walked slowly to the mountain peak, gazing at the figure arriving on a sword. Facing such disrespectful words, she frowned slightly, as if her mind were elsewhere, and did not grow angry. With a touch of impatience, she said:

"If you have something to say, say it. Once you're done, get lost."

"Heh."

Xue Yan let out a cold laugh, landed heavily, and flicked his fingers to recall the flying sword's stream of light: "What happened today can't be brushed aside with a few words from you. Over ten lives of the Yue family — there must be an accounting."

Before his words had faded, Zi Xian's gaze, which had just withdrawn, was cast back. Her exquisite features stiffened slightly: "What did you say?"

The Yue family… was dead?!

For some reason, the very first instant she heard this, a familiar face — Bai Xi's — surfaced in Zi Xian's mind. The thought came instinctively, so much so that she failed to notice the change in her own expression.

Xue Yan watched Zi Xian's face closely, and upon noticing the strangeness, was instantly overjoyed.

There really is a connection!

"This seat tells you — that pretty-boy of yours has brought upon himself a great disaster this time! If you don't wish to invite fire onto yourself, you'd best tell this seat his identity and origins, every last detail, without the slightest omission. Otherwise, my Liangdaohuang Sect coming alongside the Yue family will absolutely not stand by and do nothing!"

Listening to Xue Yan's stern voice.

Zi Xian adjusted her emotions, narrowed her eyes slightly, and looked over quietly: "Are you interrogating this palace?"

Yet Xue Yan feared precisely that Zi Xian would not engage — how could he possibly fear this purple-whiskered white dragon who had been married off to the west of the Hong? When it came to bullying the purple-whiskered white dragon, the Liangdaohuang Sect was the most experienced at it — so-called, the kind are bullied because they're soft.

"So what if I am interrogating you…"

The moment the words were half-spoken, Xue Yan's face suddenly flushed crimson, and he clutched his neck tightly.

His resplendent Daoist robe billowed high; the magical patterns upon it had not even had time to light up before they instantly shattered apart. With a rip, the sleeves and hem turned into a host of ragged strips, and with a boom the man dropped to his knees before Zi Xian.

"I am a branch sect leader of the Liangdaohuang Sect — you dare… you…"

He stared wide-eyed, his gaze slowly sweeping past Zi Xian and landing on the great hall's doorway behind her, which had opened at some unknown moment.

There, upon the throne within the hall, a tall figure lounged at ease — a man propping his cheek with one hand. That face alone gave one an inexplicable air of nobility.

A purple vertical mark sat between his brows, like a third eye.

He gazed quietly at Xue Yan, his voice deep and resonant: "You have so many sect leaders, I can't keep track. One fewer is rather nice."

"Hmph—"

Xue Yan trembled all over, daring to be angry but not to speak.

For the man before him was the Crown Prince of the Eastern Dragon Palace — Zi Yang — a purple-whiskered white dragon at the peak of the Heavenly Realm!

The true master of the Eastern Hong!

Apart from those few at the Dao Realm, he already stood at the very pinnacle of the entire Hongze.

And what was most terrifying was that, if one insisted on being precise, although this one had lived for hundreds of thousands of years, he was in fact still of the younger generation.

(End of chapter)