Chapter 681: In This World, Background Matters More Than Evidence

Had Shen Yi relied on his original methods, attempting to cover Lady Qinghua's side would inevitably have caused him to neglect the three prefectures he garrisoned, including Jianyang.

But after successfully plucking the Great Void Dao Fruit and advancing to the Realm of Divine Soaring in the Great Void, the vast and boundless Shenzhou continent suddenly seemed no longer so expansive.

Moreover, the Eight Extremes Valley was not far from Xishan Prefecture to begin with.

It was actually possible to barely manage both sides.

He could even travel while digesting the demon longevity years that Lady Qinghua had earned.

A full three hundred tribulation years of demon longevity poured in, raising Shen Yi's Dragon-Tiger Dao Fruit to a terrifying level of over four hundred and sixty tribulation years, and also causing the Puti Sect's True Scripture to give rise to many profound variations.

Now, he could use these five Taiyi Demon Immortals to verify these profound variations.

"..."

Shen Yi's sudden appearance clearly exceeded the expectations of the Five Sages of Qingyun; only after investigating through various means did they learn that the guardian of Jiming Town had suddenly been replaced.

Although trapped within the Eight Extremes Valley all along, these old demons were not ignorant of worldly affairs.

It was easy to deduce that this Immortal General had obviously failed in a struggle within the Heavenly Court, been exiled here, and was even meant to have his life taken by the hands of the demons.

It was very likely that after slaying this Immortal, no one in the heavens would investigate.

Such a good opportunity—if missed, would it not be a regret for a lifetime?

The previous conversation between this Immortal General and his subordinates had also confirmed the Five Sages of Qingyun's suspicions.

It was just that they had not expected that this Immortal General, having suffered a loss in the heavens and ended up in such a plight, could still summon aid in the mortal world.

"Brother Huai, are you alright?"

The old Poplar demon looked warily toward the front; this young cultivator of unknown origin, setting aside other techniques, possessed a strength that was truly terrifying to hear of.

"I was just careless and took a slight loss."

The Locust demon lifted its mountain-like body from the ground, causing the earth to tremble once more; while speaking these words, it secretly hid a locust branch behind its back.

The five wounds on that locust branch, pierced through by Shen Yi's fingertips, were negligible compared to its massive demon body.

But only the Locust demon knew clearly in its heart how terrifying the Jin Guang that surged into its body after its bark was broken had been; until this very moment, it still raged and collided violently within it.

Its seemingly intact body actually required all its strength just to stand, and its entire demon power was used to intercept that Jin Guang, daring not to be careless even by a fraction.

In short, the opponent had rendered it temporarily unable to fight with a single move.

Yet the Locust demon still had to force itself to stand firm.

Today's opportunity must not be missed.

Moreover, if several companions lost their courage and planned to retreat back into the Eight Extremes Valley, then it would inevitably become the one abandoned.

"Heh."

The old man stepping on the purple bamboo suddenly crushed the gourd in his hand: "The affairs of the Immortal Court, you mere mortal dare to meddle in? What background do you have, daring to stand before us!"

Accompanying these words, the purple bamboo that had been accumulating power for a long time shot out again.

Compared to the probing strike last time, this time it was clearly a serious engagement; ten thousand miles of purple clouds roared upward, and vast sword light rained down like a deluge, then gathered in the long sky, condensing into dense purple bamboos, all rushing toward that figure in black robes!

Crack! Crack!

The sharp purple bamboos, like immortal swords thrust out, landed on Shen Yi's body with perfect accuracy.

Then they shattered inch by inch, as if an egg striking a stone; unable even to break his skin, they crumbled and burst apart in succession.

The Bamboo Sage's face changed slightly; it, which loved to hang the word "background" on its lips, vaguely guessed something from this scene.

As the sword light extinguished, a single translucent purple bamboo quickly tried to retract.

"..."

Shen Yi raised his eyes slightly, casually waved his palm, pressed his index and middle fingers together, and then flicked them against the purple bamboo.

He saw that purple bamboo suddenly tremble, and then its long body connecting heaven and earth, like the bowstring of a full moon, suddenly bent.

It convulsed with all its might, trying to digest the surging and vast force within it, yet the translucent bamboo surface, like glass, tore open as if it were cloth.

"Pfft!"

The Bamboo Sage flew backward, spitting a mouthful of blood; its figure became insubstantial and slowly vanished into the air.

The Willow Great Demon did not attend to that figure, but instead raised numerous willow branches, forcibly binding the remaining purple bamboo so that it would not be completely torn apart.

Yet the other's intermittent whispers echoed in its ears.

"Golden Body... subduing demons..."

There existed in the world a group of beings who crossed the Tribulation with their physical bodies, shaping a Golden Body, and using the Puti Sect's True Scripture to suppress myriad demons and evil.

Their methods were naturally suited to countering demons.

"Trap him!"

The Willow Sage instantly understood where the problem lay; whether it was Brother Huai or Brother Bamboo, they were all fighting the opponent in the manner used against Qi Refiners, but the opponent was not... this slender youth, his background was that of a Luo Han of the Puti Sect!

Countless willow branches were flung out, and the fragrant sweet dew poured down again, like a torrential rain falling, transforming into a water curtain ten thousand zhang high.

Even a Golden Body that had endured tribulations, if it tried to walk out of this water curtain, would have its fruit position eroded and its Golden Body rot!

However, in the Willow Sage's angrily glaring eyes, it watched helplessly as Shen Yi walked toward it; at the very moment he approached the water curtain, the other person suddenly vanished.

When he reappeared, he was already standing outside the water curtain, before it.

"Brother, save me!"

A towering wave surged in the Willow Sage's heart, its face full of disbelief, but its body instinctively cried out for help.

The response was Shen Yi's heavy boot kicking toward it!

A tiny body kicked against the tree demon as large as a mountain; this willow tree that blocked the sun and sky cracked with a "crack" at its waist, and more than half its body crashed down to the ground.

The mountain collapsed!

As for the other two brothers in the Willow Sage's mouth, the Pine and Poplar Sages, they had sensed something amiss the instant Shen Yi stepped out of the water curtain and had withdrawn early.

Seeing this, the two demons simultaneously turned back and returned, intending to flee toward the depths of the Eight Extremes Valley!

Shen Yi glanced sideways at the two demons, but his figure vanished once more.

Just when everyone thought he would appear behind the two demons, two fissures suddenly split open in the pitch-black canopy of heaven.

Winds and clouds swept through, thunder rumbling long and loud.

From within the two thousand-zhang fissures, a massive, resplendent golden palm slowly emerged. The lines on its palm were clear, looking nothing at all like something condensed from the spiritual energy of heaven and earth. With its five fingers slightly spread, it covered half the firmament.

The great golden palm, carrying a vast and overwhelming might, took one demon in each hand — like snatching up little chicks — and, under the terrified gaze of the remaining two tree demons, suddenly clenched them into its grasp.

Crack! Crack! Crack!

Rough, thick bark flew like snowflakes. The sturdy tree-trunks, squeezed by the five fingers, gradually began to deform, until sap like blood plasma was squeezed out.

The tree demons' low roars were like the wailing of wild beasts, steeped in the taste of despair. Before the golden light flowing between those enormous fingers, every ounce of their cultivation was brutally suppressed.

Until two nearly crushed, mangled bodies hurtled across the long sky and came flying back.

Everyone stared at the tree demons.

Only the great scholar-tree demon, which had been regulating its breath all along, suddenly felt a chill rise up from within its body.

It turned its head in terror, only to see that the Shen Yi who had vanished earlier had, at some unknown moment, already come to stand behind it with his hands at his sides, a Buddhist seal hovering in each of Bai Xi's palms.

The sound of dragons singing and tigers roaring poured into its ears. Shen Yi, expressionless, raised both palms and slammed them violently onto its body.

Dragon-Tiger Mountain-Crushing Seal!

Though it was the same technique, compared to the one in Master Hui Zhen the Monk's hands back then, it had undergone earth-shattering changes.

The Buddhist seals sank into the scholar-tree demon's body. The golden light within it, which it had barely managed to suppress, instantly erupted into chaos once more, intertwining with those seals.

Its gaze gradually grew dull and vacant, and its whole body trembling, it looked out beyond Cock-Crow Mountain.

Its terrifying frame actually took on a somewhat staggering air.

One step, two steps…

Before it could reach Cock-Crow Mountain, a thunderous roar suddenly exploded within its body. Its bark split open with a rustling sound, and blinding golden light spilled from the cracks, as if a great sun were hidden inside it.

The great scholar-tree demon crashed to the ground, in the form of broken wood and withered branches, announcing the end of this magical contest.

Shen Yi swept a calm glance over the five demons, with even an air of a leisurely stroll, as though he hadn't yet exerted his full strength.

The most difficult arts in the world belonged to none other than the Sanxian Sect and the Puti Sect.

Among them, fifth-rank great arts were each divided into seventy-two grades.

Whether the Grand Void Dao Fruit or the Dragon-Tiger Fruit Position, both ranked among the very best — the cream of the cream.

Things like these, he had cultivated two of them simultaneously.

With the two combined, he had finally reached a realm that ordinary cultivators could no longer comprehend.

Take, for example, the heavenly soldiers and generals still present.

You Yunshan included — at this moment, he too squeezed his eyes shut hard.

He had just now seemed to see an Luo Han, yet whether it was the means of tearing open the firmament or crossing the water curtain, those were clearly the signature techniques of Divine Void Mountain.

Was this the foundation of an Immortal Sect's Peak Master…? Simply not on the same level as an ordinary fifth-rank cultivator.

You Yunshan even had a feeling that even if his own general held a sub-fifth-rank immortal seal and was at full strength, in the hands of this Peak Master Shen, he probably wouldn't last thirty exchanges.

Cultivators of the same realm being stronger than immortal cultivators was already unreasonable — let alone this kind of crushing superiority.

Just then, everyone suddenly noticed that General Qianqing had actually moved.

He took out his immortal seal once more, and with its tremendous immortal power, swiftly reaped the lives of the Five Sages of Qingyun.

And toward this act, that Peak Master Shen actually showed not the slightest displeasure.

"Hiss."

You Yunshan's heart skipped a beat. Who said General Qianqing was an ascetic cultivator?

Based on the scene before his eyes, the other's background probably exceeded that of most fifth-rank immortal cultivators!

Having one's sect elders accumulate merit on one's behalf — that was a treatment reserved only for the sect's true-disciple successors.

Having the backing of Divine Void Mountain, yet still being able to keep such a low profile, left You Yunshan full of admiration — and he couldn't help but glance over at Shi Yong in the distance.

Could it really be that he had matters he didn't wish others to discover, and wasn't truly keeping a low profile — and that was why he acted this way?

"Hiss-hah-hah—"

Watching helplessly as the five great demon kings were thus executed, wild joy surged in Shi Yong's eyes, and he actually burst into uncontrollable laughter.

After waiting so long, after enduring so many grievances.

His great future was finally about to arrive!

What damned Merit Immortal — now that your background is exposed, let's see what you have to say for yourself!

His wild, arrogant expression fell into the eyes of the many heavenly soldiers who still had lingering fear. Though everyone was dissatisfied to the extreme, at this moment not a single one dared to involve themselves in the matter.

After all, everyone knew that however hateful Shi Yong might be, the other party very likely truly represented the intentions of the Great General Qingluan.

Otherwise, how to explain the matter of all of them being reassigned to Eight Extremities Valley?

"Senior! Shen Qianbei!"

Shi Yong, grinning ferociously, ground his teeth and growled in a low voice: "This time too, you just happened to be passing by?!"

At these words—

Lady Qinghua, who had just finished cleaning up the demons' corpses for her master, slowly turned her head, her gaze cold and menacing as she looked over.

The heavenly soldiers and generals all fell silent, standing rather at a loss on the spot. After all, although in their hearts they sided with the senior who had saved their lives, and with General Qianqing, they were ultimately under the jurisdiction of my lord Qingluan.

At this moment, everyone could only silently look at that slender figure hovering in the air.

"Mm?"

Shen Yi turned his head calmly and cast his gaze toward Cock-Crow Mountain.

He glanced at Shi Yong, slightly raising an eyebrow: "This seat happened to be passing through this place and took action to subdue the demons."

"Shen Qianbei, do you take me for a fool? Such words might fool a three-year-old child, hahaha, you all—"

Shi Yong burst into a shrill laugh, his face growing even more savage: "Do you think I would believe it?"

Faced with such words, Shen Yi merely let out a soft sigh and said lightly, "Whether you believe it or not, does it matter?"

Hearing this, the smile on Shi Yong's face suddenly froze. The undisguised contempt in the other's eyes made his lips twitch for a long while, then he suddenly roared at the top of his voice, "Even General Qingluan won't believe it!"

As that loud shout echoed.

Shen Yi suddenly laughed, slowly drawing back his gaze: "Whether he believes it or not, also doesn't matter."

In his still-calm tone, a hint of looking-down-on-all-others finally showed through. And only now did everyone suddenly realize that the man before them was one of the eight most outstanding disciples under Great Luo Immortal Sovereign Shenxu Laozu.

The other party was the Peak Lord of Dan Peak of Shenxu Mountain!

Shen Yi lightly brushed his sleeve and said softly, "Whoever's unconvinced, tell them to come find me."

"..."

Shi Yong was breathing heavily, his face dark red, and suddenly realized something.

Namely that this Lord Shen Feng, in terms of status within the sect, was a senior of the same level as Martial Aunt Qingluan.

As for the fourth-rank Immortal General official post, the other party wasn't a member of the Immortal Court in the first place, so that Immortal rank couldn't be used to suppress Shen Yi either!

Immediately after, Shen Yi's next words made his entire face turn from red to white, drained of all color.

"As for you, you probably won't get the chance."

As Shen Yi's words fell, Lady Qinghua suddenly raised her palm, channeling immortal power to pin Shi Yong firmly down on Cock-Crow Mountain.

"Retreating from the battlefield, spreading demonic words to confuse the public, bewitching the army's morale."

"Three crimes combined in punishment — seize him and send him to the Demon-Slaying Platform!"

Lady Qinghua gave the order, and a host of heavenly soldiers and generals swarmed forward at once, taking out Immortal-Binding Ropes and binding the desperately struggling Shi Yong up tightly like a live pig.

Youyun Mountain stomped a foot onto Shi Yong's face, pressing him into the ground: "Dare to move again and I'll cut you down with one slash right now!"

Having said that, his expression somewhat complicated, he quietly glanced toward General Qianqing.

Judging by Lord Shen Feng's manner just now, where did it look like he had a guilty conscience? Their own general truly had backing, and was truly low-key!

As for now... even a clay figure has three parts of fire to it.

Both were prestigious seniors within the immortal sect — who would let themselves be bullied by the other?

Don't look at how General Qingluan held an Immortal Seal and her cultivation was much higher than Lord Shen Feng's — when it came to matters like this, what really mattered was whose master doted on them more.

Great Luo Immortal Sovereign's lineage — whether you're an Immortal General or a loose cultivator, who's right and who's wrong, in the end isn't it still up to the two Great Luo Laozu to decide?

Even though Lord Shen Feng had tried hard to conceal it, judging by the domineering air revealed in those few words of his just now, he was absolutely a true disciple greatly favored within the immortal sect — the kind of pampered scion who had never been bullied even a little since childhood.

He wasn't afraid of tearing faces anyway.

Now it all depended on whether General Qingluan dared to.

(End of this chapter)