Chapter 731: Do One's Best

"A letter has arrived from the mountains."

A streak of light suddenly swept into the courtyard, interrupting Shen Yi's thoughts.

Ye Lan landed steadily, her face showing a hint of urgency: "It says there is news from Beizhou; several heads of the immortal sects are to gather to discuss urgent matters. The peak masters feel the matter is too grave for them to handle alone and have asked you to return as soon as possible."

"..."

Before the words had fully faded, Monk Zhikong's expression changed drastically.

Even though he was merely a small acolyte within the Puti Sect, he knew that Beizhou was the place where the Sanqing Sect's founder preached the Dharma; one could say that was the true sacred ground where the majority of the Sanxian Sect's followers dwelled and cultivated.

Now that the gaze of the Sanxian Sect has fallen upon Da Nanzhou, they will inevitably notice the matter of Shenxu Laozu's demise.

Thinking of this, he instinctively looked to the side.

Monk Zhikong had seen many people who could cause trouble, but someone who simultaneously provoked the Puti Sect, the Sanxian Sect, and that group of demons, with each matter being life-threatening, and all of them coincidentally happening at once, was something he had never seen.

Even a person with the steadiest mind would likely think it would be easier to simply cut their own throat.

However, Shen Yi merely listened quietly, fell into deep thought, and showed no great panic in his expression.

The two dared not speak to interrupt, so they could only sigh in their hearts: the introverted young man from back then had now become even more unflappable in his conduct, his performance even surpassing that of the General of Southern Pacification who had held high office for many years.

"Understood." Shen Yi slowly stood up.

"Are we returning now?" Ye Lan stepped forward quickly.

As a titled General, she was sufficiently competent.

Even when General Yan's family split apart back then, the risks she took far exceeded the imperial qi rewards she received, and with Shenxu Mountain as a fallback route, Ye Lan had never thought of leaving.

But everything must be judged according to the situation.

Now, the situation of the Shen Dynasty clearly could not be turned around by one person's strength; in such circumstances, she suddenly did not want Shen Yi to continue muddling through in that swamp of mud.

The other party had already done enough.

What is more urgent now is to first deal with the elders of the Sanxian Sect from Beizhou, bluff through the matter of "betraying the master and destroying the ancestors," and only after securing one's life can other matters be discussed.

"You... owe the imperial court nothing."

Ye Lan recalled the day Monk Zhikong delivered the secret letter to General Yan, the unconscious reactions of those people, hesitated for a moment, and then seriously raised her eyes.

Upon hearing these words, even Zhikong, who cared for all living beings, looked over with a complex expression.

If the matter cannot be accomplished, keeping a useful body is the better choice.

"When did I ever say I owed them anything?"

Under the gaze of the two, Shen Yi let out a silent smile.

"Then..."

Ye Lan took a deep breath, but saw the young man before her take out a jade slip, casually record his aura into it, and hand it over: "Send the message first; there isn't enough time."

The content in the jade slip was very simple; it was the same one received by the Thousand-Footed Black Dragon brothers.

As for whether it was true or false, that was left for the others to distinguish for themselves.

Although Shen Yi possessed the cultivation of both an Immortal Venerable and a Bodhisattva, he was not truly a god or Buddha, merely a cultivator, and could not cover every single detail.

He did not even mention the matter of Shenxu Mountain.

After a brief moment of stunned silence, Ye Lan and Monk Zhikong could only watch as this slender young man pushed open the door and entered the room.

There were no grand, heroic words, only a casually described smile, yet it contained a desperate, life-risking posture that not even the entire gathering of the Zhan Yao Si could muster, leaving no retreat whatsoever!

"Lord Shen... is more worthy of that lotus throne than the many monks within Nan Xumi."

Monk Zhikong pressed his palms together, murmured to himself, and then respectfully bowed before the tightly closed door.

And inside the room.

Shen Yi sat quietly on the edge of the bed, and a six-winged flying insect buzzed out.

His state of mind was not as steady as it appeared on the surface.

The moment Shen Yi received this news, he had been communicating with Shenxu Laozu via his divine soul, seeing if the other party could, using his body of the Zhen Stone and borrowing the methods of the Shenxu Dao Fruit, barely bluff their way through.

However, the answer received was negative.

If someone truly came from Beizhou, it would inevitably be a Jin Xian of the Slain Hunyuan realm, a top-tier giant transcending the two worlds.

To deceive the eyes of such an existence is a completely different concept from deceiving the Southern Emperor.

After having a clear understanding in his heart, Shen Yi instead calmed himself down.

Just as he said earlier, there was no time.

On such a huge matter as conquering Da Nanzhou, the Southern Emperor actually gave the Demon Venerables a mere half-month to react, only issuing the command abruptly as the date approached.

If one counts the time required for travel, it would completely eliminate the possibility of these Demon Venerables leaking secrets.

And the command received by the Thousand-Footed Black Dragon brothers... was again Songfeng Prefecture, this old place where the three demon families had suffered great losses.

As for who the companions were and exactly how many were sent, that could only be known upon arriving at the destination.

The Southern Emperor's maneuver caused Shen Yi's most commonly used methods to lose their effect entirely.

With a mere half-month, let alone returning to bluff a Jin Xian of the Slain Hunyuan realm, even rushing back to Shenxu Mountain would be too late.

In that case, it was better not to think about it and focus on doing the task at hand well.

As for the matter of preserving one's life mentioned by Ye Lan and the others...

Shen Yi silently looked out the window; long before leaving Nan Xumi and planning to head to the Eight Extremities Valley, he had actually already made his decision.

He indeed owed the Shen Dynasty nothing.

But to ask him, who had so painstakingly gradually sent the common people of Hongze to Shenzhou, this legendary earthly paradise...

Among them were Senior Xuan Qing, several sect masters including Yu Nanhong, and the Banshan Shen Zongzhu, those willing to risk their lives to accompany him in his madness, as well as old friends like Jiang Qiulan, Nie Jun, and Li Qingfeng who had accompanied him since the blessed land of Nanyang.

Currently, they were all scattered throughout the various regions of the Shen Dynasty.

Under such circumstances, to ask Shen Yi to watch helplessly as this paradise was destroyed again.

This was something he should not be able to do.

Do your best.

Dananzhou, Songfeng Fucheng.

"Half a month?!"

Lady Lady Feng Xi stepped forward and took the jade slip.

"Half a month was the news before I arrived... counting the days, there should be only four hours left."

Ye Lan's face was so calm it seemed abnormal; she respectfully stepped back two paces. After leaving Jianyang, though she had been running day and night without rest, her heart had quietly become tied to that desolate courtyard.

That young man, who had avenged his sect's blood feud with the Thousand Calamities Golden Pill, now vaguely seemed poised to be buried alongside the Divine Dynasty.

Every time she thought of this, Ye Lan would recall their first meeting at the Earth God Temple in Jianyang Prefecture; if only back then she had used the young man's overly brutal and fierce methods while dealing with the disciple of Master Qingmei from the Jade Dragon Sect who was intercepting rain with a treasure, to pin him down in the position of Demon Slayer.

To play the villain once, making him resent the Divine Dynasty.

Perhaps then today's events would not have happened.

"..."

Lady Lady Feng Xi had no energy left to notice the strangeness on Ye Lan; her red lips trembled slightly as she turned back.

Inside the hall were Yang Mingli and Yan Lanting.

Fortunately, after their last discussion, the two had not yet had time to leave this place.

Now there was no need to gather personnel again.

But with just the three of them, could they really stop a full eight Demon Venerables?

"Is it news sent by General Nanyang again?"

Perhaps the previous incident had dealt too great a blow to Yang Mingli; at this moment, he looked much calmer.

After receiving Lady Lady Feng Xi's affirmative response.

This old man, whose whole body radiated a sense of twilight, slightly adjusted his robe hem, then stood up: "His news has never been wrong; since that is so, let us set out."

The simple two words "set out" seemed to contain another flavor.

Yan Lanting smiled helplessly and stood up as well; the two had been fighting for most of their lives, but at this moment, their thoughts were surprisingly aligned.

Regardless of which method they chose to assist the Divine Dynasty and save Dananzhou.

Ultimately, having consumed so many years of the human world's imperial qi, in the end, they ought to nourish this human world in return.

The three Southern Pacification Generals, without agreement, did not ask about Shen Yi's news.

Perhaps they all harbored thoughts similar to Ye Lan's in their hearts.

If a sliver of life could be left, that would actually be quite good.

If they asked and found the other party was also in mortal danger, that would be what made one die with eyes unsealed.

"I am going too."

Just then, a clear voice sounded behind the several people.

They turned back in confusion to look.

They saw Ye Lan extend her palm; red threads wound between her fingers, hanging a yellow, bright jade tablet.

"Even this object, he left for you."

Yan Lanting raised his eyebrow tips; a rare smile appeared on his old face.

In the next moment, several figures instantly swept across the sky, rising as long rainbows; their thick auras shocked Songfeng Fucheng!

The world knows there are powerful ones stationed in Da Nanzhou, protecting the Divine Dynasty.

But due to the Demon Slayer Bureau's once unseen and unseeable nature, these existences comparable to Bodhisattva Immortal Venerables were all nameless figures.

Now that they revealed their auras, it was also a side declaration to the world, showing how critical the situation in Da Nanzhou had become.

Apart from Songfeng Fucheng, the government office offices in surrounding prefectural cities gradually felt the existence of this sky-piercing momentum; court officials darkened their faces, immediately put down their tasks, hurriedly rushed, and grasped similarly yellow, bright seals.

One city passed it to the next.

Before long, more than half of Da Nanzhou, a full dozen prefectures' imperial qi all became surging and vast, converging toward Songfeng Fucheng.

Just one jade slip from Shen Yi could make so many prefectural cities empty, completely abandoning their defenses.

This was enough to show to what degree the Demon Slayer Bureau trusted this General Nanyang.

For cultivators who had ascended to the third-rank, a hundred years was but a snap of the fingers, but these short four hours gave the several Southern Pacification Generals a feeling of days passing like years.

The daylight gradually dimmed; the night came like a mouth ready to devour people, a black, pressing mass that crushed the bright lamps within Songfeng Fucheng.

Even those with the boldest hearts were now as well-behaved as young children, curling their bodies into cold quilts, tightly closing their eyes; only the footsteps of soldiers crossing the street remained by their ears, not knowing if, upon opening their eyes again, they could still see the sun of the next day.

Great Luo Immortal Venerables could see through this night, but could not capture the aura of someone reaching the same realm in the deep night.

Therefore, even figures like Yan Lanting and Yang Mingli, at this moment, strangely felt the same unease as ordinary commoners.

They stared fixedly at the horizon, refusing to miss the slightest anomaly.

Tianyan Siji covered the city wall.

Until from a place of unknown distance, a rumbling thunder suddenly sounded.

That was the breathing of a giant object.

The two old men's eyes instantly turned cold; Lady Lady Feng Xi narrowed her eyes slightly and took out that piece of Mount Wutong wood.

Behind the three people, Ye Lan slowly drew her long sword; her white teeth had already bitten through her lips, the corner of her mouth a bloody red that stabbed the eyes.

Shen Yi had given her the strength to stand before Bodhisattva Immortal Venerables.

Correspondingly, she must produce the courage that matched this strength.

With the realm of Fifth-Rank Taiyi Immortal, she drew her sword toward the Demon Venerable!

That heavy breathing even rolled up the vast imperial qi; in the next moment, demon qi redder than the corner of Ye Lan's mouth shot skyward, tearing through the imperial qi like a heavenly pillar.

"One."

Yan Lanting murmured under his breath, and as his voice spread out, a second blood-red pillar of heaven followed, then a third… and then it stopped abruptly!

"Only three came?"

Yang Mingli knit his brow, casting a puzzled look toward his two colleagues.

Even without the Zhan Yao Si's decree, the aura these three great demons were now revealing alone would be enough to sweep away half of Da Nanzhou like rotten wood.

But this was clearly quite a gap from the number mentioned in General Nanyang's secret letter.

But Yang Mingli got no reply—only saw his colleagues' pupils suddenly contract. He instinctively turned his head, and then his expression fell into bewilderment.

He saw the two thick surges of demon power that had first pierced the clouds twist together, like two sky-covering giant dragons, while the last one took the shape of a fierce bird.

What truly shocked the several Pacify-South Generals was that the three surges of demon power had inexplicably entangled with one another.

Twin Dragons Devour the Sparrow!

The night curtain was torn apart, turning into the look of evening clouds, winding on for who knew how many tens of thousands of li.

At the same time, the thunder-like breathing turned into deafening howls and wails; the turbulent aura ravaged the earth like a gale, and even across an unknown distance, the majestic Songfeng Fucheng trembled violently, the imperial aura reinforcing its city walls rapidly beginning to crumble.

Yan Lanting suddenly stamped his right foot, steadying the great city, but showed no intention of leaving it: "Don't fall for it!"

Though he didn't know what these demon sovereigns were up to, they absolutely could not fall for a lure-the-tiger-from-the-mountain ploy.

This brutal magical contest lasted for fully half the night.

It left the several Pacify-South Generals thoroughly muddled. At the final cry of the sparrow, the two demon-power dragons bit the bird-demon's wings in unison, then savagely tore them off!

"Roar!"

Scarlet demon power rained down upon the world, announcing the fall of a demon sovereign.

Then… heaven and earth returned to calm in this eerie fashion.

The two demon-power dragons never appeared again, as if they had simply turned and left.

The dawn light faintly brightened.

It gradually revealed the figures of the few atop the city wall.

Yan Lanting kept his forward-striding stance; Yang Mingli clenched his five fingers; Lady Lady Feng Xi slowly lowered the Mount Wutong wood in her hand.

Ye Lan still gripped the sword hilt, so tightly that her palm had gone numb.

They stared blankly into the distance, even now unable to believe this demon calamity had ended just like that.

"Why… would it be like this?"

Yan Lanting's eyes suddenly turned scarlet as he looked back.

No one answered.

But everyone understood clearly—nowadays in Da Nanzhou, whenever anything strange happened, as long as one thought of General Nanyang, one could usually get eight or nine parts of the truth.

Moreover, the news of the demon horde attacking Songfeng Prefecture had itself been delivered by the other party.

But Yan Lanting's face showed not the slightest joy; instead he roared again, saliva flying in his loss of composure: "Why did only three come?!"

"…" Yang Mingli and Lady Lady Feng Xi's faces went numb, their whole bodies stiff.

If General Nanyang's information was correct, then it proved at least five more demon sovereigns had come to Dananzhou tonight—they simply weren't at Songfeng Prefecture.

Then where were they?

The reason Yan Lanting had lost his composure like this, beyond wondering where the remaining demon sovereigns were, was clearly more about wanting to know where Shen Yi was.

Clatter.

The long sword suddenly fell to the ground.

Under the gaze of the three Pacify-South Generals, Ye Lan stumbled backward, feeling a wave of faintness wash over her mind. Only now did she realize why Shen Yi had wanted her to deliver the letter.

In all of Dananzhou, whether the Zhan Yao Si or court officials, the only one who could track the demons' movements was that one person.

"Jianyang Prefecture…" the moment tears welled from her eyes, the Miss finally went limp all over, leaning against the city wall.

Hearing those three words, Yan Lanting had already shot into the sky, not even a single word, his figure vanishing at the edge of the heavens.

Only Lady Lady Feng Xi and Yang Mingli were left, exchanging a glance.

During the night when the few of them had stood there like fools, Jianyang Prefecture might not have been as peaceful as Songfeng Prefecture.

(End of this chapter)