Chapter 174: Approaching

Ever since Zhang Nuo entered the room, he had not come out once; the tightly shut door seemed as if it had been sealed by ice!

Meanwhile, inside a cave on Qingnian Demon Mountain, nearly a thousand male Foundation Establishment Stage cultivators were being held captive. These cultivators were of various ages, and each stood quietly in a row. In their eyes, no expression could be seen; they simply stood there in a daze.

Two cultivators from Qingnian Demon Mountain were guarding the cave entrance. At this moment, a black rainbow flew over. After the light faded, an old man and a black snake about a zhang long were revealed.

The old man was none other than Wang Ji, the Sect Leader of Qingnian Demon Mountain, and the black snake was the parasitic host of the Demon Emperor! The man and the snake walked slowly to the cave entrance. The two demonic cultivators guarding the cave bowed respectfully the moment they saw the Sect Leader!

However, Wang Ji did not even look at them and walked straight into the cave with the black snake. As soon as they entered the cave, the black snake's head rose high, its pair of sinister snake eyes scanning the cultivators inside the cave without pause.

"Why are there only a thousand or so?"

Judging by the snake's tone, it seemed extremely dissatisfied. Upon hearing this, Wang Ji's aged face turned pale with fright.

"Too many Foundation Establishment Stage cultivators have gone missing recently, and many disciples from various sects dare not come out, so the progress of the captures has slowed down! But please rest assured, Great Demon Emperor! We will complete it as soon as possible!"

Fearing that the black snake might be dissatisfied, Wang Ji explained repeatedly.

"Hmph! Hurry up! If it really doesn't work, just use force. What's the big deal about wiping out a few measly small sects!"

The snake said dismissively, its body slithering past the bodies of the many cultivators. These cultivators, captured by the Five Great Demon Mountains, turned a blind eye to the snake and Wang Ji. Even when the snake slithered past their feet, they did not show the slightest hint of fear.

"I didn't expect your Restriction to be so useful for trapping these Foundation Establishment Stage cultivators. You must not let them run away! Otherwise, hehe... you know the methods of this Demon Emperor!"

Watching the black snake's sinister, cold sneer, Wang Ji broke out in a cold sweat and repeatedly said that such a thing would not happen! With his cultivation, he was confident that without external force, the cultivators themselves could not undo the Restrictions he had placed on them.

Seeing so many cultivators, the black snake also felt a surge of excitement; in the near future, these would be its physical body. At the thought of being able to rebuild its physical body, the Demon Emperor's soul fragment, parasitic within the black snake, suddenly let out a piercing screech that echoed endlessly throughout the cave!

Within a region spanning tens of thousands of miles around the Five Great Demon Mountains, the number of appearances by demonic cultivators increased, and news of Foundation Establishment Stage disciples going missing spread from every sect.

For a time, the various sects were in a state of panic. Some Foundation Establishment Stage cultivators would not even step out of their gates, fearing they would be captured by unknown cultivators.

In the blink of an eye, a year passed. On this day, Wang Ji sat in his room with a bitter face, and sitting beside him was Gui Xiao, the Sect Leader of Kunhua Demon Mountain.

"Sigh! So much time has passed, and we are still short a few hundred people for the task of three thousand cultivators. Now the Demon Emperor is already somewhat dissatisfied. If this continues, the fate of us few will be worrisome!"

Wang Ji sighed and shook his head slightly as he spoke.

"We are all in the same boat. Although I have sent out all the disciples on the mountain, the number of people captured these past few days has become fewer and fewer. Some sects have even begun to suspect our Five Great Demon Mountains."

Gui Xiao's expression was no better than Wang Ji's.

"The Demon Emperor is urging us more and more urgently now! We must think of a way!"

"What does Fellow Daoist Wang mean by this? Could it be that you want to..."

A few glints of light flashed in Gui Xiao's melancholy eyes.

"That's right! Just as you said, many sects in the outside world are already suspecting our Five Great Demon Mountains. Why don't we strike together and wipe out a few small sects? Perhaps we can find some useful cultivators among them!"

Wang Ji's words were very decisive; it seemed he had long since prepared himself!

"If we do this, won't our Five Great Demon Mountains become the target of public outrage! If these sects really join forces to attack us, we don't have much chance of winning!"

After a moment of thought, Gui Xiao voiced his concerns!

"Things have reached this point, there is nothing to be afraid of! We have already committed this act; even if we stop, the major sects will not let us go. It would be better to burn our bridges and help the Demon Emperor complete his physical body sooner! When that time comes, with the Demon Emperor here, who would we have to fear?"

"Fellow Daoist Wang, I have always had a question!"

Gui Xiao suddenly lowered his voice and whispered. Wang Ji's expression changed slightly, and he nodded with a solemn look.

"What realm will the Demon Emperor's cultivation reach after rebuilding his physical body?"

Although he knew the former Demon Emperor's Demonic Arts were heaven-defying, the current Demon Emperor was only a soul fragment. Even if he rebuilt his physical body, his cultivation could not be exactly the same as before.

"This is just my guess, but he should be able to reach the Nascent Soul Late Stage!"

Wang Ji did not dare to be too certain and spoke only after a moment of hesitation.

"If that is the case, our efforts are still worth it!"

Gui Xiao let out a long breath. Nascent Soul Late Stage cultivation could be considered an invincible existence in the vicinity of the Five Great Demon Mountains.

"Things have come to this, do we have any way back? How does Fellow Daoist Gui Xiao feel about the idea I just mentioned?"

"Since that is the case, my Kunhua Demon Mountain will go all out with Qingnian Demon Mountain!"

Gui Xiao finally made up his mind, clapped his hands heavily, and looked at Wang Ji with a firm gaze!

One night a month later, sounds of shouting and killing came from a cultivation sect in the Daliang Kingdom. The Sect Leader of this sect was only at the Golden Core Initial Stage. Standing before him were two people: Wang Ji of Qingnian Demon Mountain and Gui Xiao of Kunhua Demon Mountain.

The two glanced at each other, and pure Demonic Qi surged from within their bodies. With just one joint strike, they killed the Sect Leader of this sect. Afterward, they conducted a search throughout the sect. Half an hour later, more than forty Foundation Establishment Stage cultivators were captured together.

With the two great Demon Mountains joining forces, how could this mere small cultivation sect be their match? Wang Ji looked at these captured Foundation Establishment Stage cultivators, a trace of triumph appearing on his face.

Then, he flipped his hand, and an object like an Array Disk appeared in his palm. He looked at it with concern, and a moment later, he reached out and pointed at several of the forty-plus captured cultivators. Immediately, the Qingnian Demon Mountain disciples behind Wang Ji rushed up and seized the few people he had pointed out.

"What about the rest of the people?"

Seeing that the useful cultivators had been taken away, Gui Xiao asked Wang Ji with a slight frown.

"Kill them!"

With these two extremely cold words, almost everyone among the remaining cultivators turned pale, but they had no chance to resist at all. Screams rang out across the entire sky, and in the blink of an eye, a cultivation sect in the Daliang Kingdom was wiped off the map!

Such things would happen every month or half a month. The sects that were wiped out were all small-scale sects; the Five Great Demon Mountains did not dare to easily provoke the overly large sects!

Now that the Demon Emperor's physical body had not yet been rebuilt, they could not afford to make a blunder where they would lose more than they gained! After more than a year of raiding small cultivation sects, the collection of the Five Great Demon Mountains was not small; they were only short of three hundred more people to reach the number of three thousand.

Looking at the number of cultivators in the cave, a smile finally appeared on Wang Ji's face. As long as they captured three hundred more cultivators, their task would be completed!

Inside the Nanxuan Sect, Zhuge An and his daughter sat in a room, both of them looking somewhat downcast.

"Recently, more and more cultivators have been flooding into the Tianjiang Plain from other regions, especially Loose Cultivators!"

Zhuge Qing said thoughtfully, her gaze sweeping toward her father!

"I have known about this for a long time, but I heard that the Five Great Demon Mountains have joined forces and wiped out several small cultivation sects in their vicinity, not leaving a single survivor. It seems they have begun their move!"

With a face full of worry, Zhuge An feared that one day, it would be the Nanxuan Sect's turn.

"I have heard that too, but the sects they wiped out were all small ones; they haven't dared to provoke the larger sects. They must still be worrying about the cultivators needed for the Demon Emperor to rebuild his physical body!"

Analyzing the current situation, the young girl said slowly.

"If they continue like this, one day they will gather enough people!"

"I am worried about that too. Why don't we strike first and quickly contact the cultivation sects around the Tianjiang Plain to form a united front? That way, we might be able to curb the Five Great Demon Mountains!"

Zhuge Qing's proposal was very insightful; after hearing it, Zhuge An nodded repeatedly, though persuading those small cultivation sects would be fine, but as for the larger sects, it would require some effort.

"Relying on Father alone to come forward for this matter probably won't work; why not go and beg Nanxuan Laozu to write letters to a few of the large sects? I believe they wouldn't dare refuse to give Nanxuan Laozu face!"

In a flash of inspiration, the young girl thought of this method, and Zhuge An agreed immediately; the two discussed the details further before splitting up to act.

In a short span of half a year, many cultivation sects around Tianjiang Plain united to form an Anti-Demon Allied Army; as long as one sect met with trouble, the other sects would immediately go to assist. This caused the plans of the Five Great Demon Mountains to be constrained!

"Bam!"

An angry sound of a table being slapped came; Wang Ji's face was so angry it had lost all color. Originally, according to his plan, he would soon have gathered the cultivators needed to rebuild the Demon Emperor's physical body, but the appearance of the "Anti-Demon Allied Army" caused his plan to fail for a time; in the recent few sneak attacks, they had all failed, and they had also lost quite a few disciples.

Beside Wang Ji sat Fu Ling of Wushuang Sacred Demon Mountain and Gui Xiao of Kunhua Demon Mountain; these two also had gloomy faces, watching as a plan that was about to succeed turned into a bubble in the blink of an eye!

"Who united them together?"

Fu Ling gritted her teeth, squeezing a few words out from between them.

"It is said that Nanxuan Laozu in the Nanxuan Sect sent letters to those cultivation sects, and only then did they join hands!"

Wang Ji, his anger still not abated, slapped the table again and said.