Chapter 765: When the Sky Falls, the Tall Ones Hold It Up

Since the Puti Sect stirred up trouble, Beizhou has been suppressed for a long time.

Third-rank True Persons who had the qualification to open meridians and become ancestors when going to other continents have actually perished one after another; in the past, this was completely unimaginable.

They had yet to find that group of Monks, yet deaths did not stop, and moreover, they were killed by great demons released by their own people.

Under these circumstances, the atmosphere in Beizhou became increasingly tense, with everyone feeling endangered and wary of one another.

Finally, a new rumor completely ignited everyone's emotions!

Qingguang's disciple Sister Youyao intends to strike against Kaiyuan Prefecture.

It must be known that Beizhou is now in a three-way standoff; apart from those smaller cultivation grounds, only three people have the qualification to occupy four prefectures, and they alone have divided up nearly half of Beizhou.

They are Qingguang's disciple Sister Youyao under the Shangqing Sect Leader, Xuanwei's disciple Li Shan under the Taiqing Sect Leader, and Qixian Shangren under the Eastern Pole Great Emperor.

A subtle balance had long formed between the three.

However, after many fellow disciples left Beizhou, Sister Youyao has now taken the initiative, intending to become the first True Person to occupy five prefectures.

Therefore, everyone also began to pay attention to Kaiyuan Prefecture, wanting to know which fellow disciple was so unlucky.

This investigation was no small matter; the moment the title Taixu Danhuang spread, everyone was stunned, and only then remembered the earlier incident of a Nananzhou cultivator fleeing there.

This news was undoubtedly even more shocking than the previous one.

A Nananzhou cultivator had, in complete silence, occupied an entire prefecture as a cultivation ground; even more astonishing was that this person had no master-disciple lineage to date and could not even be counted as a fellow disciple of the Sanxian Sect!

No wonder Sister Youyao was tempted; who could resist this?

They did not care who would ultimately win Kaiyuan Prefecture, since that was already a settled matter; while lamenting why they had not discovered this good thing earlier, what everyone was more curious about was how the other two senior brothers would view this matter?

Just handing over the title of "First Disciple" of the Sanxian Sect?

Amidst the various discussions, Master Yun Miao Zhenren was truly amazed.

He had come to find Sister Youyao, intending to use this opportunity to contribute to this risk-free matter, and also to collect some of the things the other party had previously promised, and to taste the flavor of imperial qi.

He never expected to see a grand spectacle at a single glance that moved him.

He saw Sister Youyao seated atop a high platform, her Bai Xi face beneath the jeweled crown holding a hint of indifference, gazing down calmly.

Under her command, four great demons all wore heavy armor, upon which the Daoist talismans were profound and unfathomable; although Master Yun Miao was not skilled in artifact crafting, his cultivation and seniority were considerable, yet even he could only partially comprehend them, which was enough to show how much effort Sister Youyao had invested in these items.

Besides this, what truly made Master Yun Miao envious was the Bai Lu great demon sitting lazily on the steps in front of those six Liu Liu transformed great demons, picking its teeth slowly with its nails.

It bore a knife scar on its face and wore a yellow cloth short shirt, yet those armored demons dared not make a sound.

"..."

Master Yun Miao Zhenren knew that Qingguang Shibo had two attendants, a Deer and a Crane, and had also heard that the Deer Attendant had an elder brother in the mortal world; he never expected that this elder brother had, unknowingly, cultivated into a realm not weaker than his own, and moreover had been assigned by Shibo to serve Sister Youyao.

In Beizhou, there were indeed some third-rank great demons, but those who had reached the Nine-Nine Transformation and had not yet joined the Sanxian Sect were truly rare.

"What are you here for?" Sister Youyao looked over.

"N-nothing... just looking around."

Master Yun Miao Zhenren forced a smile, feeling somewhat disappointed; with such a powerful spectacle, where would she need him?

Moreover, apart from those present, Sister Youyao's original four prefectures also needed great demons to guard them, indicating that this woman's foundation went beyond this.

In comparison, where had his own master provided such assistance? A certain resentment gradually rose in his heart.

"Go."

Sister Youyao no longer looked at him but turned her gaze to the Bai Lu great demon: "Be quick and efficient."

She would not meddle excessively; matters like breaking cities and seizing lands, the other party had done far too many times; it could be said that to conquer this realm of four prefectures, the Bai Lu had contributed at least half the effort.

"You should trust me to handle things."

The Bai Lu stopped picking its teeth, smiled faintly, and showed no dissatisfaction whatsoever due to the woman's attitude.

If the situation remained deadlocked, he would only be gradually neglected; only by playing a sufficiently important role would he have the chance to help his younger brother shed the title of Attendant and truly enter Qingguang's sect.

No matter how high a demon's cultivation, it is still just a demon; if it cannot don the skin of an immortal, it will never be able to hold its head up before these immortal sect disciples.

It swayed as it stood up, carrying those four tall and sturdy figures out of the hall.

With the Bai Lu great demon's departure, this news finally brewed to its peak in Beizhou.

"Senior brother indeed has foresight."

In another place, Huaming uncharacteristically stopped arguing with his senior brother; since Sister Youyao could release the news in advance, she would absolutely not allow failure and would surely exert her full effort.

The other party indeed wanted more than just Tashan.

If they had not withdrawn in time, not only would their lineage have lost face, but if something unexpected happened then, they might not even keep their lives, becoming the second Elder Chi Yun Cave, with nowhere to seek justice.

"But that Nananzhou boy not only did not withdraw but also established his Taixu Zhenjun shrines throughout the entire Kaiyuan Prefecture."

"He still thinks the Sanxian Sect dares not kill people."

Haoming Zhenren sneered: "Rest assured, Sister Youyao this time is definitely coming for his life; this fellow relies on grace to weigh himself heavily, truly thinking that the rotten life of his insect-demon master can protect him forever."

Qingguang Cave does owe the Shenxu lineage, but this is a normal reclamation of a cultivation ground; after all, that place originally belonged to Master Shu Yu; even if something unexpected happened, it could be explained as not being Sister Youyao's intention, but merely that the boy was too stubborn.

"Just watch."

Having said this, Haoming Zhenren closed his eyes.

Greed is like a snake trying to swallow an elephant; that boy's greed and ambition have ultimately brought him death.

Kaiyuan Prefecture, Tashan.

Even though he had already mastered the entire Kaiyuan Prefecture, Shen Yi still habitually stayed here.

But what surprised him somewhat was that shortly after sending off Sister Youyao, another powerful person of similar cultivation arrived.

"Is it still comfortable staying in Beizhou?"

The visitor appeared middle-aged, with black and white hair at his temples; quite familiarly, he gazed out over Kaiyuan Prefecture, then slowly withdrew his gaze and looked at Shen Yi: "I heard you still have no master-disciple lineage; if you are willing, you may call me Zhu Shixiong Qixian."

"..."

Shen Yi raised his eyes slightly; there is no such cheap thing in the world.

"My master's master, the Dongji Emperor, is one of the Five Sovereigns of Heaven and Earth. Though he dwells in the Immortal Court, he belongs to our sect together with the Sanqing Sect Master. If you enter my lineage, it isn't overstepping."

Qixian Shangren wore a smile: "How about it? Think it over?"

Of the three renowned prodigies of Beizhou, tracing back to their roots, the other two each had a Sect Master behind them—only he had an Emperor standing at his back, which inevitably put him at a disadvantage.

Therefore, he had to act with even more patience.

"Speak plainly." Shen Yi shifted his gaze, looking down the cliff.

"You become my junior brother, I look after Kaiyuan Prefecture for you. That's all there is to it."

Qixian Shangren gently stroked the beam of the immortal shrine, saying lightly: "Without a great tree to shield it, these thin timbers and flimsy walls would collapse at the first gust of wind."

"I prefer to look after things myself."

Without the slightest hesitation, Shen Yi politely declined the other.

At this, Qixian Shangren was not surprised. A cultivator who could quietly occupy an entire prefecture—even if his cultivation was a bit low—how could he possibly be someone without ability or ambition?

He raised one finger: "Work for me, and after the tribulation, I'll give you a tenth."

Even if from today onward he kept to himself, no longer seizing an inch of land, only guarding five great prefectures, when all was calculated, the other party would at least get half of Kaiyuan Prefecture—and that was already an immense grace.

"Don't try to bargain with me."

Qixian Shangren reminded him softly: "After all, your life has to be factored in as well."

"If you so much as shake your head, I absolutely won't keep you."

Having said this, he withdrew his hand, clasped it behind his back, and looked over with the confidence of one whose plans were already set.

Anyone with a brain should know that his gracious presence here was the other party's last straw for survival.

"That's fine. Please."

Yet Shen Yi's calm reply left Qixian Shangren briefly stunned, the smile on his face quickly fading.

He looked at the other's slightly extended palm—the words "show the guest out" could not have been clearer.

Qixian Shangren slowly knit his brows, was silent for a long while, then with a faint sigh spread them apart again.

All that breath wasted—and it turned out the man was a fool.

He casually patted the beam and sighed: "Then go ahead and die."

What Qixian Shangren regretted was not the young man before him; he only felt it was a waste to hand the advantage to Youyao for nothing.

His figure dispersed along with his words.

"……"

The peak of Tashan once again held only a single lonely figure. As the sun set behind Xishan, the clouds at the horizon shifted from vivid to dim, straight into a thick, suffocating ink-black, swallowing the entire firmament like a tide.

Within Kaiyuan Prefecture, firelight gradually began to glow.

The good days of late had given the former refugees past eating, drinking, and the necessities of life, finally other pastimes. Even simple acts like dropping by to chat let them gradually take on a more human appearance, no longer penned livestock.

As the saying goes, when the sky falls, the tall ones hold it up.

At this moment, within all of Kaiyuan Prefecture, Shen Yi stood with his hands at his sides, at the highest point beneath the pitch-black night.

A pair of deep eyes reflected scattered points of firelight.

He drew in a deep breath and caught that familiar whiff of demon taint drifting in the air. The scent made the points of light in his pupils gather into a single wavering flame, carrying a searing heat to burn away all the filth in the world.

Shen Yi lowered his head, looking at the token Shenxu Laozu had sent back, lying in his palm.

He casually tucked it into his thumb ring.

It's still early days—whether it can hold or not, one has to try to find out.

"Move."

Following that brief command, a meatball-like figure swiftly surged into the night.

……

"I've never seen a dao-ground like this."

A great demon clad in talisman armor stepped slowly into Kaiyuan Prefecture. It glanced ahead with a hint of surprise, but only for an instant—then it rolled its neck and began to stretch its body, preparing to reveal its terrifying true form.

"Pulling these little tricks, fighting over a moment of incense and offerings—useless as hell."

But the moment its snort of laughter left its mouth, before its arms could even come down, its pupils abruptly contracted.

It saw a mass of rotten flesh suddenly slam into the ground three feet in front of it.

"What the hell is that!"

The great demon instinctively threw a punch, but before the fist landed, tentacles burst out from the mass of rotten flesh first, slamming heavily into its talisman armor.

Though the scene looked absurd, the great demon couldn't laugh at all. That vast, ocean-like force surged through its entire body even through the armor; the runes on the plates lit up in unison, reducing the impact by nearly ninety percent.

Yet the great demon still felt its insides churn like overturning rivers and seas, and it vomited a mouthful of essence blood on the spot.

What terrified it even more was that, with the aftershock still unabated, dozens more tentacles burst out from the rotten flesh at the same time.

"Wait…"

Amid its cry of alarm, those tentacles had already come crashing down like a raging storm.

The continuous blows shattered its talisman armor piece by piece.

The great demon crossed its arms to guard its vital points; its ferocious face was already filled with terror as the surging force rapidly tore at its demon body.

With such terrifying strength, yet it could not recognize the other's identity at all, and could only let out a piercing shriek: "By whose order have you come!"

The Southern Sovereign said nothing. Two tentacles swept out left and right, cleanly smashing this beast's head to pieces.

Then it sprang up and hurried toward the next spot.

With Shenxu Laozu pointing out the directions for it, within the vast Kaiyuan Prefecture, these great demons that had come raiding by night had nowhere to hide.

Boom!

It dropped from the sky, slamming the demon that had just revealed its true form flat onto the ground.

Once again, the scene was identical to the one before.

A simple, brutal blast tore through the talisman armor on its body, followed by a slaughter without the slightest surprise.

Until a heavy hoof came crashing down on it.

The Southern Emperor tumbled away off guard, then transformed midair into a towering indigo figure, swelling once more into a flesh-mountain that blotted out the sky.

"So you're his support?"

From the shadows, a figure in a yellow short shirt paced out, watching the flesh-mountain on the horizon with keen interest.

The scar on Bai Lu's face twitched lightly, marking its excitement.

The deeper the opponent's foundation, the greater one's own merit.

Not knowing the identity of this flesh-mountain, it was probably from the south.

Bai Lu reached out a palm, slowly clenching its five fingers, cruelty surging in its eyes: "Counting you in, that's about enough."

His younger brother, hearing this news, would surely be thrilled.

Both being great demons who had reached the Ninety-Nine Transformations, the Southern Emperor showed signs of decline the moment they exchanged blows—clearly no match for Bai Lu.

But it hung in the sky, not a trace of wariness on its face, and instead smiled: "You've got it backwards."

"Hmm?" Bai Lu raised an eyebrow.

"He is my support." The Southern Emperor looked toward the space behind it.

Bai Lu followed the other's gaze and turned its head indifferently.

Not far off, a white shirt swayed as a youth stood quietly. He was in the middle of a massive rift, as if heaven and earth had split open a gap, from which thick grey mist spilled out, exuding an inescapable aura of deathly stillness.

Under Bai Lu's gaze, Shen Yi beckoned lightly:

"Come."

(End of chapter)