Chapter 892

"Who is Lao Geda?"

On the western border of Suizhou, atop a great mountain, Wu Tie looked west at the endless towering peaks and asked Zhu Ganglie.

"An old monster."

Zhu Ganglie stroked his scalp, his rough palms and steel‑needle bristles rubbing together, the bristles trembling and humming like a guitar string: "An old monster who knows not how many years he's lived, hard to deal with."

Pausing, Zhu Ganglie said in a deep voice: "On the surface, the Western Demon Nation has only five demon lords… but secretly, there are four immortals who won't die; those four are the true… heart of the Western Demon Nation."

No sooner had Zhu Ganglie finished speaking than a low, strange cry came from the mountains ahead.

Gua—!

Hundreds of mountains silently turned to mud; the vast expanse of mountains ahead, stretching a thousand li, instantly became a murky green swamp. Countless bubbles of all sizes welled up from the swamp's depths, bursting with a constant pop-pop, and strands of thick murky‑green mist rose slowly from the bursting bubbles.

In the high sky, a flock of birds panicked and flew past.

A strand of mist struck the birds, and in the next instant they corroded into pools of sticky green slime that fell from the sky like a light rain upon the swamp.

With a gu-gu sound, a huge bulge rose in the swamp, massive amounts of silt and poisonous water pouring down from it, accompanied by a dull rumble; after a while Wu Tie could see that the bulge was a gigantic skull.

A toad's head towering a thousand zhang high.

The huge murky‑green toad's head bore red‑black stripes that wove into chaotic, frenzied runes, making one feel nauseated at a glance; a strange power that twists the spirit continually emanated from those runes.

Along the edge of the toad's massive mouth, eighteen huge eyes stood in a row.

At that moment the eighteen scarlet eyes opened, staring fixedly at Wu Tie and Zhu Ganglie; wherever their gaze fell, Wu Tie felt a suffocating, icy, sticky poison madly trying to invade his body.

The Grand Dao Furnace erupted, crimson spark‑fire wrapping his whole body.

A vast expanse of murky‑green toxic smoke burst forth before Wu Tie, the crimson spark‑fire scorching the smoke and emitting a piercing sound.

Zhu Ganglie let out a muffled grunt, and several thumb‑sized murky‑green spots suddenly appeared on his exposed belly.

This old pig was also fierce; he somehow produced a pig‑killing knife and, with a few ga‑cha chops into his own belly, dug out the murky‑green flesh and flung it to the ground at top speed.

A pitch‑black iron nail rake flew from Zhu Ganglie's sleeve, hovering above his head and emitting wave‑like black currents that enveloped him entirely.

Murky‑green toxic mist sprang from the void, constantly scouring Zhu Ganglie's iron nail rake.

The green mist and black currents clashed violently, emitting a thunder‑like dull roar; from the void came a low gua— cry, and each call made Zhu Ganglie's entire bulk of fat shudder violently.

After dozens of such echoes, blood‑water began to seep from Zhu Ganglie's seven orifices.

"Lao Geda, don't bully people too much!" Zhu Ganglie roared angrily.

The thousand‑zhang‑sized toad's head twitched slightly, the vast swamp heaved, and a colossal toad covered in countless large and small poison‑gland lumps slowly rose from the marsh.

A rolling murky‑green toxic cloud revealed an old man a little over three feet tall, with a round belly, bald head, and countless tiny bumps, appearing before Wu Tie and Zhu Ganglie.

He stared expressionlessly at Wu Tie and Zhu Ganglie, his right hand lightly grasping at the swamp.

With a harsh ga‑zhi sound, two huge avian skeletons with wingspans over ten thousand zhang, drenched in toxic water, slowly rose from the swamp.

The two avian skeletons were nothing but jagged white bones, corroded by the poison into a mottled ruin; only their heads retained some flesh, with dim demonic fire faintly flickering in their eye sockets.

"Youming, Wandu! Lao Geda… you!" Zhu Ganglie widened his eyes and shrieked.

Overwhelmed with shock, Zhu Ganglie let out a furious ao‑ao like a wild boar kicked in the rear.

"Traitors, all deserve to die." Lao Geda gave a grim, cold smile, seized a bone from the Wandu Zhenzun skeleton, snapped it off, and stuffed it into his mouth to chew with a ka‑ba, ka‑ba sound.

After two bites, Lao Geda seemed to think the marrow had been completely corroded, spat out the mouthful of bone fragments, then slowly pointed at Wu Tie: "Humans and demons cannot coexist… anyone who tries to break this rule, whether human or demon, must die."

"Demons are born to eat humans."

"Humans are born to be eaten."

"Between humans and demons there must be eternal slaughter, eternal war." Lao Geda said gloomily: "Youming, Wandu, you have betrayed our trust; that is why you have become what you are now."

"Of course they won't die; I imagine they've learned from this lesson, and their understanding of our demon saint ancestor's supreme demon law should now be deeply etched… in the future they will surely become qualified demon lords."

The demonic fire in the eye sockets of Youming Pengzun and Wandu Zhenzun flickered unstably, and Wu Tie and Zhu Ganglie could faintly hear the wails issuing from their souls.

Wu Tie and Zhu Ganglie remained silent.

Just then, Lao Geda tilted his head, slowly pointing at Wu Tie and asked: "Just now, I, the old ancestor, sent Heizhen and his few kids to scout ahead and give you a taste… where are those good children?"

Wu Tie said nothing.

Heizhen was stomped to death by Zhu Ganglie, while several other men were beheaded on Huang Xiu's orders and hung outside the trading ground to intimidate the demons.

The few good children Lao Geda spoke of are now dead children.

What could Wu Tie possibly say?

A cold light flashed in his hand; the black sword let out a piercing cry that pierced the clouds and leapt forth. Without waiting for Wu Tie to grasp the hilt, the black sword transformed into an extremely long black blade of light, screaming straight at Lao Geda's head.

Lao Geda gave a cold snort, and a small black banner appeared before him, black clouds swirling over it, revealing countless vague shadows of poisonous snakes and insects.

With a slight shake of the banner, countless streams of black, green, red, and blue toxic gas burst forth, turning into innumerable fanged, clawed poisonous insects that wrapped around the black sword.

The black blade of light darted through the void, swiftly slicing through strands of toxic gas and killing the phantom poisonous insects.

But the poisonous insect phantoms within the banner were endless, accompanied by earth‑shaking screeches; countless phantoms surged forward relentlessly, and despite the black sword's heaven‑topping killing intent, it was forced to a halt, unable to advance even an inch.

"Old ancestor me, I'm actually very low‑key as a person." Lao Geda chuckled gloomily: "I really don't want to boast. But this banner is a true ancient treasure… not the so‑called ancient treasure you youngsters talk about, but the genuine article, the first batch of spiritual treasures naturally born when heaven and earth were first divided."

"The origin of this banner? You wouldn't understand even if I told you. In the primordial era, the Heavenly Court ruled the three realms and held the eight directions. The Heavenly Court had a Plague Department overseeing all pestilence and miasma… this banner is precisely that department's divine artifact."

"Your sword is also extremely fierce. But compared to my treasure, old ancestor me, it still falls short."

Lao Geda chuckled ge‑ge, a strange gloomy light flickering in his eyes, then burst out laughing: "Topple!"

Wu Tie felt a sudden stifling sensation in his chest as a terrifying poisonous power erupted inside him.

Sticky like the rotting sludge in a gutter, foul like fermented, piled‑up rat corpses, the filthy, corrupt poisonous power exploded within him, instantly contaminating every cell.

Wu Tie jerked awake; the black sword and the banner's toxic gas kept clashing, and the deadly poison actually followed the link between the sword and Wu Tie's soul, bypassing the Grand Dao Furnace entirely to invade his body.

Wu Tie let out a muffled grunt; all the Dao patterns related to poison within him lit up at once, his body turning variegated, as if countless poison‑worm bodies had been blended together, becoming mottled, gorgeous yet hideous and eerie.

A huge amount of poisonous power was assimilated and absorbed by Wu Tie's body, transforming into pure, vigorous magical energy that began to accumulate.

Wu Tie drew a deep breath; the twisted, dirty, filthy, sticky sensation within him swiftly faded. He gave Lao Geda a cold look, clasped his hands, and said: "Excellent method… but I, too…"

Before Wu Tie's words had finished, Lao Geda lightly waved his right hand.

Wu Tie's body's residual poison suddenly contracted inward, accompanied by a strange "guwa" sound, and a thumb-sized, multicolored seal condensed out of thin air.

A muffled grunt, his five viscera felt as if soaked in aqua regia, his bones sore and swollen unbearably, Wu Tie only felt the world spin, and from his seven orifices spurted a dark green viscous fluid mixed with scarlet blood.

Wu Tie let out a muffled grunt, then turned and left.

He had indeed comprehended all the Grand Dao principles related to poison within heaven and earth, as well as heterodox ways, but he had only understood them, merely borrowing the corresponding heavenly-earthly Dao's power.

And Lao Geda had already condensed the Grand Dao Seal, fully mastering the power related to poison in heaven and earth.

Making an inappropriate analogy, Wu Tie is like a wealthy local tyrant who summoned a batch of yamen runners to help him throw his weight around, but the yamen chief suddenly appeared, holding a seal and issuing orders, and these runners immediately changed sides.

Given Wu Tie's now incredibly strong physique, Lao Geda merely gave him a light strike, and Wu Tie was poisoned to the point of five strains and seven injuries; aside from his extraordinarily sturdy skeleton, his flesh and blood almost completely collapsed.

The Grand Dao furnace suddenly overturned, rolling flames roaring as they enveloped Wu Tie's body in a frenzied forging.

Within Wu Tie's body, that tiny Poison Seal, like a bone-eating maggot, was embedded in his chest, continually emitting a dim green light, madly destroying and eroding his body.

Wu Tie opened his mouth and gulped down the rolling flames, continuously counteracting the terrifying poison power emitted by the Poison Seal.

Lao Geda gave a strange laugh, rubbed his hands, and was about to unleash a move to deal Wu Tie another heavy blow.

Suddenly, several figures flashed past Wu Tie's side, accompanied by mournful cries and laughter; Lao Geda's body shuddered, and instantly large patches of poisonous lumps on his head burst open, his body staggering backward several steps.

Moreover, a white bone relic the size of a human head rose into the air, emitting pale Chan light that illuminated the void. The swampy ground beneath Lao Geda's feet gave out a low "caka" sound, quickly being covered by large expanses of fine white bone fragments.

Lao Geda's whole body spewed out large expanses of dark green demonic light, violently colliding with that white Chan light.

A muffled bang, Lao Geda was shaken back three steps.

Immediately, strands of eerie deathly qi condensed into three large Ghost Head Seals, which howled down upon Lao Geda's head.

Lao Geda let out a strange cry, a "guwa" sound, and a large amount of toxic blood surged from his head, splashing heavily onto the three seals; the three Ghost Head Seals emitted a piercing "chi-chi" sound, and large amounts of toxic smoke continually spewed out.

Before Lao Geda could catch his breath from these successive blows, Zhu Ganglie let out a mighty roar; the bristles on his body simultaneously detached and flew out, each bristle transforming into a fat, strong wild boar with growing tusks, which lowered its head and slammed hard into Lao Geda.

Upon striking Lao Geda, these boars formed from bristles were corroded by the poisonous qi into a lump of filthy blood that fell down.

However, the impact force of these boars was truly astonishing; each collision made Lao Geda lose his footing and stumble backward a step. In this way, Lao Geda, frustrated and defeated, was knocked back dozens of li by Zhu Ganglie.

Lao Geda took a deep breath, about to counterattack, when a burly crocodile-headed humanoid figure flashed by; he grabbed the skeletons of Youming Peng Zun and Wan Du Zhen Zun and dragged them fleeing wildly toward Huizhou.

Lao Geda finally roared in anger: "Long Mai E Zun, are you also betraying the demon clan and colluding with humanity?"

Long Mai E Zun's deep voice echoed through the clouds: "I just want to live a good life… whoever gives me a good life, I'll listen to them."

After a pause, Long Mai E Zun sneered: "Don't think I don't know how those demon sovereigns before us died. Even they could become sacrifices for you four old fogeys… heh heh!"

Zhu Ganglie muttered a curse: "Idiot… can this be exposed? Can it be made clear? This is tearing faces apart!"

Lao Geda's body suddenly stiffened; the gloomy light in his eyes swirled as he took a deep look at Zhu Ganglie: "Ah, you guys…"

Behind Lao Geda, the figure of the Canghai Daoren suddenly appeared.

He casually waved his hand, and 108 spirit pearls shot out with a howl, silently traversing the void, suddenly appearing above Lao Geda's head.

The Canghai Divine Pearl fell down, accompanied by a terrifying impact sound; Lao Geda let out a miserable howl, being smashed headfirst to the ground by the Canghai Divine Pearl, his skull emitting a dull bone-breaking sound.

Sovereign-level old monsters merely have mastered the Grand Dao principles to a higher realm; compared to the peak of ordinary divine realm beings, their bodies are indeed strong, but not excessively so.

The Canghai Divine Pearl is extraordinarily heavy; when it comes crashing down, even Lao Geda is left with five strains and seven injuries, continuously spewing dark green viscous fluid from his mouth.

"You all are courting death!"

Lao Geda, frustrated and defeated, let out a long howl to the heavens; from the black banner before him continuously spewed rolling toxic qi, instantly enveloping the mountains within a million-li radius.

"The wind is tight, pull… the old fogey is going all out… watch out, those three old fogeys might also jump out."

Zhu Ganglie suddenly shouted loudly.