Chapter 427

When Brother Qian Chen exited the Luo Tian world, in the demonic lands tens of thousands of li away,

a massive black skull, as large as a mountain, burned blood-red flames in its eye sockets, moving through the darkness like a demon.

Dark clouds enveloping it churned with a terrifying malevolent aura, as if a hellish demon had burst forth—countless ghostly shadows swirled around it, writhing and howling within the demonic mists, wild yin energy surging violently. Dozens of bizarre demonic shadows darted beside the skull, their horrific malevolence the most ferocious of all.

The skull tore through the darkness and arrived before a ruined shrine.

The skull opened its jaw, and a dark light descended; numerous demonic cultivators and true disciples flew out from its mouth and landed before the ancient shrine.

The shrine was already an ancient ruin—a Dragon God shrine. Before it stood a stone pillar dozens of zhang tall, upon which coiled a blind dragon. The stone dragon's eyes had been gouged out; the massive scars made it impossible to tell whether the eyes had been destroyed after carving or had been carved this way from the start.

The statue was weathered and ancient; a point of light clutched in the dragon's mouth illuminated the entire shrine.

Inside the shrine, several demonic cultivators had already arrived, waiting for the final ghost-skull ship.

A Daoist sat cross-legged beneath the stone pillar, without breath, chest unmoving, face like a corpse, not a trace of living qi remaining—resembling an ancient corpse.

The demonic leaders descending from the ghost-skull ship saw this Daoist; many of them instantly bristled with gooseflesh, their bones chilled, legs trembling uncontrollably.

"Immortal… Immortal Daoist!"

At that moment, the leader of the demonic leaders descending from the ghost-skull ship—a old man who had gouged out his own eyes, his eye sockets now hideous scars—raised his hands.

He spread his palms over the upper half of his face, and two eyes slid into his palms, fixing coldly on the corpse-like Daoist: "Immortal Daoist, did your True Transmission Sect send only you?"

The Immortal Daoist spoke slowly: "The disciples of this generation of the True Transmission Sect failed to sever attachments and transcend emotions, failing to comprehend the Great Dao—I killed them all."

The old man with eyes in his palms sneered: "Your True Transmission Sect is truly a band of madmen. You kill your own disciples—how will you continue your lineage?"

"Do you expect disciples who cannot transcend emotion to inherit the True Transmission Sect?"

The Immortal Daoist sneered: "Would you rather end up like the fools of the Supreme Louguan Sect, wiped out by a single outsider? What good is sheer numbers? If you can produce even one or two true cultivators—like the Supreme Xie Xie Zushi, who merged with the Dao, severed emotion, and turned the Dao's course—even if your sect perished, it would flourish."

"Only the true seed matters; all else may die—even I myself. If you, like the fools of the Supreme Dao, allow worthless fools with no potential for enlightenment to persist, you defile the Dao itself!"

Hearing his cruel words, the blind demonic leaders behind the old man stirred slightly, their gazes toward him growing ever more like that reserved for a pure Yu Jiuyou demon.

"And your Blind Wu Wu Mu Jiao! Ten thousand years ago, when you established your Foundation, you severed the five senses: gouged out your eyes, pierced your ears, cut out your tongue, stripped your skin, burned off your nose… plunged into total sensory deprivation, heart like dead ashes, achieving complete darkness, with a single spark of spiritual light enduring. Finally, you sought life from death—body dead, spirit alive—and forged the Abyssal Demon Body. This ancient method still holds merit."

"You once produced the Dead Ash Demon Lord, a Great Dao seed. But now you've abandoned the near-Dao methods: at initiation, you merely gouge out your eyes, cultivate the Great Black Heaven Art, and by the time you reach the Law-Comprehension realm, you must reforge a blood eye on every part of your body!"

"It's simply…"

"Nonsensical!" the Immortal Daoist sneered. "If I were your ancestor, I'd have eradicated you long ago!"

The blind old man laughed coldly: "Our new method was approved by the Dead Ash Xie Xie Zushi. But your True Transmission Sect—claiming to be the Supreme's true heir—who doesn't know you're the 'false doctrine' the Supreme Dao expelled?"

"You're 'heretical nonsense,' branded a demonic sect for twisting the Supreme Xie Xie Zushi's teachings. Your own ancestor was personally cast out by the Supreme Dao Xie Xie Zushi…"

"The Xie Xie Zushi of Severing Emotion received the Supreme's true law. The Dao Xie Xie Zushi feared he'd be harmed by disciples practicing false methods, so he feigned expulsion."

"This was the Supreme Dao Xie Xie Zushi's test—and his protection… The Dao Xie Xie Zushi later severed the Dao-Dust Pearl and merged with the Dao—proof enough." The Immortal Daoist spoke without emotion, cold as the Dao itself.

"The seven emotions and six desires—all postnatal attachments—are 'Dao-Dust.' Hence, the Supreme Louguan Sect reveres the 'Supreme Dao-Dust Pearl' as their sacred heirloom. We discard it like worn-out shoes. To them, Dao-Dust is treasure, and True Transmission is false. Clearly, the Supreme Dao has long strayed from the Supreme Xie Xie Zushi's true intent."

"Only by severing emotion and casting all this aside can one truly approach the Dao. Thus, the Supreme Dao is false. We are the True Transmission!" the Immortal Daoist declared coldly.

"Amitabha, my Buddha kills all!" laughed a faceless demon monk. "True Transmission Sect and Blind Wu Wu Mu Jiao—both demonic sects. Now that our Nine Demon Sects gather here, it is to join in this grand undertaking."

"A thousand years ago, we discovered the Yu Jiuyou Demon Lord here, borrowed his power to enter the Yu Jiuyou Demon Heaven, and witnessed the ultimate truth of the demonic Dao—all for today! The Master Sima clan has agreed to ally with us—we shall reopen the Demon Heaven, make the people of the Central Lands worship the Demon Lord, sink into the Demon Heaven, and aid the Demon Lord's escape!"

"This is our ten-thousand-year plan for demonic flourishing—we must unite as one!"

"The faceless demon monk of the Mind Buddha Sect!" the Immortal Daoist sneered; even though he had turned demonic, he still despised Buddhist sects.

The Formless Demon Monk merely chuckled: "The world is a great sea of suffering. Free the Demon Lord soon—let him slay all beings, and all may swiftly enter the Pure Land. My Buddha is compassionate!"

The Blind Wu Wu Mu Jiao's old man bowed reverently before the Candle Dragon statue beneath the stone pillar.

Soon, the nine demonic sects plotting the Jin Ling Cave Heaven had all arrived.

The old demon lord of the Yu Jiuyou Sect stood within the shrine, gazing at the point of light in the Candle Dragon's mouth. His eyes swept over the demonic cultivators: "... Ghost Wail Sect, True Transmission Sect, Mind Buddha Temple, Blind Wu Wu Mu Jiao, Unchanging Sect, Corpse-Driving Clan… and the Southern Jin imperial house, the Master Sima clan!"

He paused briefly on a pale, beardless, effeminate eunuch—also practicing the demonic Heaven-Body attainment method, a force of the Southern Jin within the demonic sects.

"You've sent quite a few!"

"Each with hidden agendas—expecting unity among them is pure fantasy…"

"But who else can we turn to? The Demon Lord in the endless darkness of this land without sun is our Yu Jiuyou Sect's primordial ancestor!"

"Our Yu Jiuyou Sect has corrupted all beings, devoured countless realms. All ancient gods and demons, Dao Lords and Divine Sovereigns who fell into the Yu Jiuyou and became Demon Lords—they are all our ancestors, embodying the will of the Yu Jiuyou Demon Realm. Had it not been for that blood-sea crowd… our Yu Jiuyou Sect would have ruled alone long ago!"

"This land without sun is where the ancient Zhong Mountain shattered and its god, Zhuyin, perished. His primordial spirit transformed within the Yu Jiuyou and now seeks rebirth. Today, the Central Lands have no Dao Lords. When the Candle Dragon Demon Lord reawakens and the Yu Jiuyou Demon Heaven descends, it will drag the Earth Immortal Realm into the Yu Jiuyou! Our sect shall reign supreme!"

"So lending aid to those Master Sima fools is no great sacrifice."

"The Demon Lord's rebirth is a ten-thousand-year plan. Today, using his power to help the Master Sima clan's spirit achieve a Nascent Soul and fall into the demonic Dao is part of the plan."

"They wish to use our demonic power; we, in turn, use them—on the condition of helping Master Sima Yan achieve a Nascent Soul, we gain their covert support to erect the Demon Lord's golden statue, gather divine incense, and return the Demon Lord's soul. Then we disguise the strange Yu Jiuyou Demon Heaven as a relic of the Qin Dynasty to collect the souls of all beings and offer them in sacrifice to the Demon Lord."

"Once the Demon Lord regains even a fraction of his soul, our Yu Jiuyou Sect shall be invincible in the Central Lands!"

The old demon lord's heart surged with excitement as he sneered at the Master Sima emissary.

Master Sima Shi still thinks he can discard the demonic sects after using them—but can he so easily wash his hands of us? The demonic sects have endured for hundreds of millions of years; the Yu Jiuyou Demon Realm coexists with all worlds. The Master Sima clan, mere ants, have enjoyed power for only a few years—and now they dare to play the demonic and Daoist sects against each other?

After Master Sima Yan falls into the demonic Dao and achieves a Nascent Soul, does he truly believe he can escape us?

He is destined to be controlled by the Demon Lord, becoming a puppet. Then, from within and without, we strike—summon several Nascent Soul Heavenly Demons from our Yu Jiuyou Sect, eliminate Master Sima Shi, and Southern Jin becomes our puppet state, allowing us to harness a nation's power to restore the Demon Lord!

"With the Jin Ling Cave Heaven now opening, Xiao Xie An has personally led a team inside—he's grown wary of the alliance between the Master Sima clan and our demonic sects," the old demon lord said slowly.

The leaders of the various sects nodded. The Blind Wu Wu Mu Jiao's old man laughed loudly: "But no matter how clever the Daoist sects are, they'll never guess that a Demon Lord of ours lies hidden within this cave heaven."

"Compared to them, Xiao Xie An and his kind are mere ants. They may breathe freely by day, but when darkness falls, they still believe the Candle Dragon's flame protects them. When the Demon Lord extinguishes that sacred flame, we shall move freely through the dark by his power—while they become ants between our fingers. Not even Xiao Xie An himself."

"Even if all three Heavenly Masters of the Dao Academy and Wang Dao of the Wang clan arrived—what then?"

The Yu Jiuyou Sect's old demon lord said: "Master Sima Wu Yue has sent word—the orthodox sects have been sent by the Dao Academy to the Starfall Sky, twenty thousand li to the northwest, where they've discovered a new floating mountain."

"The Daoists' scheming only delays their doom. The tide is entirely in our hands. We shall seize these Southern Jin aristocratic families—mere junior disciples of fringe sects—and use them as hostages to pressure the immortal clans, ensuring our grand plan succeeds!"

"It's a shame we've helped that Master Sima Yan!" chuckled an old demon of the Unchanging Sect. "We've spent our last coin to help him achieve a Nascent Soul."

His tone dripped with bitterness—among the old demons present, who didn't harbor some envy?

How long had each of them hovered at the threshold of the Immortal Demon realm? Why should a worthless waste, crippled by a single guangling san from a junior disciple named Ji Kang, gain such fortune?

"Enough. Now, perform the sacrifice to the Demon Lord—ask him to reveal the movements of the orthodox sects and show us the path to that floating mountain!"

The Yu Jiuyou Sect's old demon lord roared, silencing the murmurs of envy among the demonic leaders.