Chapter 237 - 199 Gaze

The Demon Master began to chant incantations, his fingers rapidly forming seals.

Soon, the mysterious aura on the altar gradually faded, and the secrets of heaven restored. At this moment, the Demon Master unveiled what was concealed from destiny.

In doing so, Heaven and Earth would be able to detect the appearance of an enemy of all living beings at once, and naturally, Heavenly Punishment would descend upon the world.

However, this meant that the consciousness of the Demon Emperor would also be affected, and this attempt at revival was doomed to fail.

"Get on with it," the Demon Emperor said indifferently, seemingly unconcerned about the fate that was about to befall him.

Under the guidance of the Demon Master, the originally clear sky instantly became shrouded with dark clouds, and a terrifying aura of destruction filled the valley.

All living beings sensed this breath of annihilation, trembling on the ground, a fear arising from the depths of their souls.

Seeing this, the Nine-headed Insect’s face also showed a look of fear as he yelled, "Are you willing to give up on revival?"

"Don’t you want to take revenge on the Jade Emperor?"

"Are you willing to watch the traitor who destroyed the Demon Court escape justice?"

He roared continuously, seemingly trying to shake the resolve of the Demon Emperor, for only then might he release his restraint and allow himself a glimmer of hope for survival.

Yet the Demon Emperor didn’t say a word, still restraining his body, utterly indifferent to the impending destruction of the Heavenly Tribulation.

In that moment, the air seemed to become stagnant. Only the sound of a terrifying thunder pealed across all beings, and a white bolt of lightning fell from the sky, striking the Nine-headed Insect squarely.

The creature, who had been wildly howling just moments before, let out a piercing scream of anguish.

This kind of heavenly thunder specifically targeted demons like him, not only possessing the power to destroy the body but also inflicting greater damage on the soul.

Within the consciousness space of the Nine-headed Insect, the white heavenly thunder passed through the physical barriers and into the consciousness space, instantly laying waste to it.

The intense pain was unbearable for the newly emerged Demon Head, yet the Demon Emperor remained standing amidst the white lightning, as if the thunderbolts meant nothing to him.

This bolt of lightning seemed to sound the charge for the Heavenly Punishment. Countless white lightning bolts fell from the sky, striking furiously at the Nine-headed Insect as it writhed on the ground.

The air was filled with a terrifying aura of destruction, and even the Demon Master felt a sense of fear rising within himself.

As the lightning struck, the Nine-headed Insect’s body could no longer hold up. Although he had acquired part of the Demon Emperor’s power, he wasn’t the Demon Emperor himself, and the Demon Emperor’s consciousness controlled him, unable to wield that power.

He could only watch as he was continuously bombarded by lightning, quickly his body began to disintegrate into ashes. Before dying, the Demon Head looked at the Demon Master with an incredulous gaze.

He muttered to himself, "Why?"

He didn’t understand why the Demon Emperor made such a choice, which was akin to suicide. Knowing that after such an attack by Heavenly Punishment, the Demon Emperor’s consciousness would be too weakened to support a second resurrection, in other words, the Demon Emperor would be utterly obliterated.

With such questions and unwillingness, he met his ultimate death.

The Demon Master let out a soft sigh, looking around to see that this valley had been utterly destroyed by the Heavenly Punishment. The air was filled with the breath of destruction, yet he could clearly feel that beneath this land, scorched by thunder, a vigorous life force was burgeoning.

Thunder was both destruction and rebirth.

He slowly walked up to the ritual altar, an altar from an age unknown, that had survived such a terrifying Heavenly Punishment unscathed, its runes around it only slightly dimmed.

At this moment, the Demon Head had turned to a pile of ashes, with only the Demon Clan’s war banner still standing atop the altar.

The Demon Master slowly approached the banner, bent down, and, with a hunch, gathered the ashes. This was the child he had once raised, who, no matter what, deserved a place of rest,

Perhaps the place where he grew up as a child would be suitable, where he would build a tomb and erect a monument.

Then he took down the large banner slowly, touched it gently with his now aged hands for a moment, before carefully folding it and holding it close to his chest.

The Demon Master left, taking with him a sense of desolation and disappointment as he departed from this place, his back seeming even more bent, at this moment he truly resembled an aged man on the brink of his end.

In one last glance back at the valley, completely ruined by the Heavenly Punishment, he sighed softly and slowly disappeared between Heaven and Earth.

Within the Lingxiao Treasured Palace, the Divine Exorcist Great Saint sensed the departure of the Demon Master, his face revealing a puzzled expression as he murmured to himself, "The Demon Emperor is really dead, why is the Demon Master reacting this way?"

He had envisioned all kinds of reactions from the Demon Master, but never did he expect him to act like this, almost with a sense of resignation, as if he had lifted a great weight off his heart.

"I can sense that the Demon Emperor’s will has completely vanished," the Jade Emperor said in a grave voice.

"Even if he has a contingency plan, his resurrection like this must have significant flaws. It’s likely he won’t regain his strength for quite some time."

"But I still can’t help feeling uneasy!"

"Don’t worry, I will have the Celestial River Naval Forces remain stationed in Luzhou in the North, awaiting changes. It’s time for us to shift our focus. The Buddhist Sect’s influence is growing ever longer, and if we don’t contain them soon, they might start challenging us," the authoritative voice of the Jade Emperor echoed.

The Divine Exorcist Great Saint fell silent, knowing that what the Jade Emperor was saying was true. As time passed, the Buddhist Sect’s power continued to grow, and as a religion, they inherently possessed a strong capability to expand. In the past, the Buddhist Sect had very strict requirements for its teachings, and not just anyone could join.

But since Maitreya began to rise, the Buddhist Sect had changed its old ways and started expanding aggressively, absorbing countless monsters and powerful cultivators.

In a short amount of time, the Buddhist Sect had grown into a colossus, its rate of growth astonishing.

And with the quest for faith inevitably came conflict with the Heavenly Court. In the past, both sides seemed to coexist peacefully, but with the progress of the Journey to the West and the pilgrimage of the Tang Monk, the Buddhist Sect inevitably extended its reach into the territory of the Heavenly Court.

However, the Jade Emperor once owed a karmic debt to the Buddhist Sect and could not obstruct the matters of the Journey to the West, but that did not mean he was oblivious to the Buddhist Sect’s power.

"The Buddhist Sect is not easy to deal with!" The Divine Exorcist Great Saint finally sighed after some time.

You never realize until you take account, and upon doing so, it’s startling. Compared to the former Demon Court, Mount Ling’s strength is even more formidable, with more experts and countless tricks at its disposal.

And the capability of the Tathagata Buddha was unfathomable, being enemies with such a being was unimaginable.