Chapter 162: Preparing for War

On the second day after the incident with Yu Lei, the Nanxuan Sect began making intensive preparations. The tense atmosphere made even the sect's disciples feel that something unusual was happening. Although they did not know what major event was about to occur, the sect had never been like this for a long time, and even the barrier restrictions that had never been opened were activated after half a month.

During the day, cultivators could freely enter and exit the sect, but once night fell, the entire Nanxuan Sect was protected by a pale cyan barrier of light.

At the same time, the Wuji Sect and the Beixuan Sect also discovered the abnormality of the Nanxuan Sect and sent people to inquire one after another. Zhuge An brushed them off with various excuses; after all, the situation had not yet developed to an unmanageable degree, and everything was merely a conjecture by Nanxuan Laozu. Releasing the news too early would only cause panic among the Four Great Sects.

During this period, Zhang Nuo had been in closed-door cultivation and did not ask about the sect's affairs. After Chunyangzi's analysis, he also felt that something was wrong. With every bit of cultivation gained, the chance of survival would be a little greater.

The 'Red Glow Fire' was indeed a good thing. Although it had only been refined into his body for a short time, it was of huge help to Zhang Nuo. Through the constant tempering of his body by the flames, his physical body was now very formidable.

Although he could not compare to cultivators like Han Liang who had practiced Body Refining Technique from the start, compared to Dharma Cultivators of the same rank, Zhang Nuo's body was countless times stronger.

Three months later, nothing had happened on the Tianjiang Plain. Everything was as usual, and the cultivators of the Four Great Sects were still practicing as they always did.

At this moment, a thousand miles away from the Tianjiang Plain, there stood a mountain peak so high it reached the clouds. This mountain was shrouded in thick black Qi all year round, and gusts of eerie wind blew, making one's hair stand on end!

From the mountainside, scattered buildings could be seen everywhere in a chaotic manner. At the very summit of this mountain, however, stood a deathly silent grand hall. The hall was dozens of zhang high and over a hundred zhang long and wide, with many ancient exotic beasts carved onto its dozens of pitch-black stone pillars.

In the center of the grand hall, a golden chair a zhang high was placed there, looking extremely out of place with the overall color of the hall's exterior. Coiled on top of the chair was a snake. This snake was about a zhang long, pitch-black all over, and its black scales shimmered with a chilling light.

Below it, seven or eight cultivators stood with their hands hanging down. The oldest among them looked to be over a hundred years old, and the youngest was at least forty. Every person's face revealed a look of fear, and they dared not even breathe loudly.

"I never thought I would be able to return here! It has been tens of thousands of years! Everything has changed its appearance!"

The giant black snake flicked its tongue, and a cold light suddenly erupted from its snake eyes.

"Congratulations to the Demon Emperor for returning to the Five Great Demon Mountains!"

The elderly cultivator standing at the very front felt a shiver run through his heart and forced a smile onto his face as he spoke.

"Your Qingnian Demon Mountain is the head of the Five Great Demon Mountains. Now that this Demon Emperor has returned here, you wouldn't be unwelcoming, would you?"

Hearing this, the leading elderly cultivator trembled all over and hurriedly knelt down to say:

"It is truly the honor of our mountain that the Demon Emperor could grace Qingnian Demon Mountain with his presence. How could we juniors have such thoughts!"

"That is for the best! Do not think that just because this Demon Emperor is only a wisp of a divided soul, I have no way to deal with you! Notify the Sect Leaders of the other four Demon Mountains to gather here immediately! I have matters to order them!"

Although the black snake on the seat showed no expression, the tone of its speech was not polite in the slightest. After the leading old man gave his assent, he backed out of the grand hall, and the others immediately followed him out.

As soon as they walked out of the hall door, the old man let out a long breath and reached up to wipe the cold sweat from his forehead, as if he had taken a trip through the gates of hell and returned.

After the group had moved several miles away from the hall, one of the middle-aged male cultivators tentatively asked the old man:

"Sect Leader! What is the background of that big snake?"

"Shh! Keep your voice down! Don't let it hear you!"

Even though they had already walked quite far, the old man still dared not be careless and kept turning his head back to look at the grand hall. This old man was the Sect Leader of Qingnian Demon Mountain, Wang Ji!

Despite being at the Golden Core Late Stage, Wang Ji was extremely wary of the black snake, which left all his subordinates puzzled.

"He is a wisp of a divided soul of the last Demon Emperor of the Five Great Demon Mountains from tens of thousands of years ago! He is currently residing in the body of a black snake!"

"Tens of thousands of years ago?"

Several cultivators immediately gasped. They hadn't even been born tens of thousands of years ago. That a mere wisp of a divided soul of the Demon Emperor could live for so long was simply unbelievable!

"Back then, in order to study 'Yin and Yang Qi', this Demon Emperor specially injected two wisps of his divided soul into the body of a two-headed snake. I never expected that after so many years, while the original body has already fallen, the divided soul residing in the snake's body is still alive!"

A look of disbelief also appeared on Wang Ji's face, but after a moment, he gave a bitter smile and said:

"Let's just do as he says for now! Remember, no one is allowed to provoke him. Don't be fooled by the fact that it's just a wisp of a divided soul; based on my feeling, his cultivation is at least at the Nascent Soul Stage!"

The people around the old man nodded. Who would think their life was too long? One by one, they scurried toward their respective Cave Abodes, all intending to stay indoors during this time. But Wang Ji's next words made everyone break out in a cold sweat!

"Don't think that hiding will make everything fine! Hmph! Who do you think he will let off?"

Following the old man's cold snort, he transformed into a black streak of light and flew toward the horizon. The people from before all wore troubled expressions, as if they had eaten bitter gourds, and after glancing at each other, they dispersed.

A few days later, Wang Ji personally made a trip to the other four Demon Mountains and invited the Sect Leaders of the four Demon Mountains to his Qingnian Demon Mountain.

Inside the grand hall, five people stood in a row, four men and one woman among them; they were the current Sect Leaders of the Five Great Demon Sects.

"State your names first! Who is from which Demon Mountain?"

On the seat, the black snake lazily raised its head, its chilling gaze sweeping quickly over the five people. Even though it was just a light sweep, the five of them felt as if the roots of their hair were about to stand on end.

"Junior Du Yuntang, Sect Leader of Xianghuang Demon Mountain, pays respects to the Demon Emperor!"

A man over seventy years old stepped forward slightly and said with a trembling voice. The black snake merely nodded slightly and said nothing.

"Junior Gui Xiao! The person in charge of Kunhua Demon Mountain!"

A man who looked to be in his forties also stated his background.

"Junior Fu Ling! Sect Leader of Wushuang Sacred Demon Mountain!"

At this moment, a clear, ethereal female voice rang out. She appeared to be seventeen or eighteen years old, with black hair reaching her waist and a fair face, much like a newborn baby!

"Junior Wu Xu! Sect Leader of Jinlan Demon Mountain!"

Another middle-aged man in his forties stood out. He was tall and stout, moving forward a small step like a small mountain.

"Could it be that the current Five Great Demon Mountains have fallen to such a degree? That there isn't even a single existence at the Nascent Soul Stage?"

With that one sweep, the black snake saw through the cultivation of the five of them. Apart from Wang Ji's Golden Core Late Stage cultivation, the remaining four were all at the Golden Core Middle Stage.

Listening to the disdainful words from the black snake's mouth, none of the five dared to refute, and all lowered their heads to listen attentively.

"However, this Demon Emperor has returned! You can rest easy. As long as the five of you serve me loyally, I guarantee that within a hundred years, I will produce two to three Nascent Soul Stage existences among you!"

Upon hearing the promise given by the black snake, the hearts of the five people were suddenly filled with joy, especially Wang Ji, who had been stuck at the bottleneck of the Golden Core Late Stage for nearly a hundred years; if he could not achieve a breakthrough, his lifespan would soon be exhausted!

The others were equally greedy for the wonderful prospect of the Nascent Soul Stage, and they almost spoke in unison:

"We are willing to serve the Demon Emperor!"

"Hehe! That is for the best! The first thing I need you to do is to help me find three thousand Foundation Establishment Stage cultivators who are still virgins. I want to use their flesh and blood to rebuild the Demon Emperor's body!"

The cold laughter made the Sect Leaders of the Five Great Demon Mountains feel a chill in their hearts. Although they usually identified as the Demon Sect, compared to the black snake, they were like a small witch meeting a great witch!

After the five exchanged glances, they agreed one after another and then walked out of the grand hall together.

Just after walking a short distance, Fu Ling of Wushuang Sacred Demon Mountain suddenly gave a bewitching smile and said:

"I say, Sect Leader Wang, where did you find this divided soul of the Demon Emperor? Looking at its power, it is definitely above the five of us combined!"

"Sect Leader Fu, please stop mocking me! It wasn't me who found him; this... this was him taking the initiative to find me!"

Wang Ji was like a mute eating coptis—he had bitterness he couldn't speak of; who would provoke such a baleful star for no good reason!

"Everyone, I don't see this as a bad thing. When our Five Great Demon Mountains joined forces to attack the Tianjiang Plain back then, wasn't it for the treasures in this Demon Emperor Tomb? But who would have thought that battle would leave us severely weakened, and we haven't recovered even now. If the Demon Emperor appears himself, it might not be a bad thing for us!"

Wu Xu of the Jinlan Demon Mountain swayed his bulky body, his flesh trembling along with his speech.

"Things have reached this point, so there is no use saying anything else; we should just do as he said!"

Gui Xiao of the Kunhua Demon Mountain finished speaking with an expressionless face and was the first to transform into a black rainbow, disappearing into the distance; seeing this, the other four also helplessly transformed into streaks of light and flew away.

One month later, news spread that Foundation Establishment Cultivators had gone missing within a radius of several thousand miles of the Five Great Demon Mountains, and the number of missing people was extremely large.

Very quickly, this news reached the Tianjiang Plain, and everyone in the Four Great Sects felt endangered, especially the Foundation Establishment Cultivators, who basically dared not go out at night!

When Zhang Nuo heard this news, his expression sank; this was rather strange. On the Tianyuan Continent, Foundation Establishment Cultivators were as numerous as ox hairs, yet in some sects, not a single Foundation Establishment Cultivator had gone missing, while in other sects, three or five, or even eight or ten had disappeared.

"Why is this?"

After a muttered whisper, a malicious laugh suddenly came from the Nine Dragon Sword Case, and Zhang Nuo was stunned, knowing that he perhaps understood the reason behind it.