Chapter 367: The One Who Once Served as Envoy to the Snow Realm

Although over a thousand years have dulled the demon race’s understanding of the Nine Provinces, they have heard since childhood of the land’s divine wonders.

Ancient scrolls once spoke of the Nine Provinces as rich in heavenly splendor, where spiritual treasures frequently appeared.

So though they did not know what it was, they were certain it was of utmost importance.

Most crucially, it seemed to have originated from the oldest ancestral land of the human race.

Tianyao Chao Cang held a long spear stained with He Long’s blood, his entire aura surging relentlessly, brimming with murderous intent.

“Hand over this object.”

He Ye helped He Long, who still clung to the immortal spirit despite his injuries, and said: “I’ve heard that the Demon Prince claims life in the Snow Realm is harsh, and that entering the Nine Provinces was a last resort—he only desires Yunzhou, seemingly wishing to avoid further war. Yet your actions suggest otherwise.”

Xuan Yao Ye Tuo, following behind Chao Cang, spoke up: “The spiritual treasures of the Nine Provinces are ownerless, not exclusively owned by your human race.”

“But Zhongzhou is our human territory.”

“Is it?”

As he spoke, He Ye retreated with He Long.

Meanwhile, the ancestral elders of the various clans began advancing, braving the thick demonic qi, positioning themselves sideways to shield He Long behind them.

The previously tense relations among the various clans instantly eased due to this sudden turn, even subtly aligning their formations.

No one believed He Ye’s earlier claim that he intended to hand the object over to the Immortal Sect.

But one thing he said was true, for all of them.

This object had leaked from the sacred land of the ancient sages—a place tied to the ancestral temple of the human race and the origin of the Dao itself. Such an immortal spirit must never fall into the hands of outsiders.

Especially over the past thousand years, the demon race has resented Heaven’s choice, and their intent to replace it has been exposed since the war began.

As for He Ye’s earlier question, everyone knew it was merely a casual sarcasm.

The demon race had already allied with the barbarian tribe to invade the Nine Provinces—where was peace to be found? It was merely a difference between soft knives and hard knives.

The harsh environment of the Snow Realm had restricted the demon race’s population growth, so they only sought to appear weak because Yunzhou was sufficient for their migration. But once they settled in Yunzhou, escaped the harsh conditions, and were no longer bound by scarce resources, their numbers would inevitably swell.

Which meant that one day in the future, they would inevitably spark war again over living space.

Thus, they had been enemies from the start; no one believed they could be driven away with a few words.

BOOM!!

Suddenly, Xuan Yao Ye Tuo, unwilling to waste words, gripped a massive hammer and slammed it down, shattering the stagnant atmosphere.

In an instant, full-scale battle erupted.

Amidst the churning winds, Zuoqiu Jingyun rolled back his sleeves and charged forward, slashing his long blade to create a roaring barrier of qi that clashed violently with the hammer.

Instantly, he felt a terrifying force crushing his iron blade into trembling, his arm bones cracking faintly—he immediately cast a spell, summoning crushing gravity to press down.

But the next instant, the demon general Ye Tuo vanished from his spot.

It was an extreme, blinding speed—in the blink of an eye, the hammer crashed down from the left.

Seeing the danger, Zuoqiu Jingyun did not panic but clenched his fist tightly.

With a thunderous roar, a purple lightning spell plummeted from above, striking Ye Tuo with blinding white light that instantly engulfed him.

The cultivation level of the Xuan Yao demon race lies between Yingtian and Wujiang, similar to the barbarians’ Soldier-King realm—this was intelligence brought back three years ago by the Great Xia envoy to the Snow Realm.

But they cannot comprehend the Dao; their combat power comes entirely from their own bodies, akin to the human race’s body-cultivation lineage.

To human Dao cultivators, this method of fighting solely through speed and strength is the lowest tier—naturally, they felt no fear.

But the next instant, Zuoqiu Jingyun suddenly saw the hammer crash down again, flattening the entire sea of lightning.

Behind the light, a monstrous demon form revealed an even more overwhelming aura.

BOOM!!!

Zuoqiu Jingyun was blasted backward, his feet gouging a deep furrow in the ground as his blood qi surged chaotically.

At that moment, other demon generals surged forward, engaging the humans in battle.

“This place is too dangerous to stay—find an opening and leave immediately!”

“Brother You, we entrust the immortal spirit to you.”

He Ye roared, hurling the immortal spirit toward Xiang Yufusheng.

As it flew through the air, Zhao Tianji, who had been watching it intently, suddenly stomped the ground and shot forward ten zhang, causing Yufusheng’s face to darken—he instantly leapt up and clutched the immortal spirit tightly.

Seeing this, Zhao Tianji sneered, while Yufusheng’s expression turned grim.

They all knew deep down that this sudden alliance was merely a desperate response to the demon race—their mutual rivalry had only been suppressed, never paused.

But now was not the time to settle scores; the urgent task was to get it to safety.

The task was not difficult, for the human numbers were vast, easily holding off the demon race.

Yet the time allotted to him was extremely tight.

For among the demon generals here were some with power rivaling Wujiang—they could easily break through the encirclement and pursue.

After securing the immortal spirit, Yufusheng did not hesitate—he turned and fled northwest.

Seeing this, Zhao Wuji and the Jiao family’s ancestral elder exchanged glances, then abandoned their current positions, surging forward with spiritual energy to follow.

They did not attempt to seize it, but maintained a protective stance; Yufusheng had no words to say.

But what they did not expect was that before they could fly beyond the cliff, a pair of heavy iron fists crashed down from the hilltop.

These were not human fists—they were enormous, covered in thick hair, shaking the very void with each impact.

“Danger! Ambush!”

With a roar, Yufusheng, clutching the immortal spirit, trembled in his eyes and immediately summoned a beam of immortal light to strike out.

His reaction was swift enough, yet the immortal light was shattered instantly—followed by a crushing force like mountains collapsing and earth splitting, hurling him violently into the valley with a THUD.

Zhao Wuji and the Jiao family’s ancestral elder fared no better—their focus had been on the immortal spirit, and when they turned back, two thick, pitch-black arrows shot toward them with terrifying force. They instantly raised both palms to block, and a metallic clang rang through the night.

Their palms burned with searing pain, blood spurting from where the arrowheads met their palms; the immense force of the arrows sent them flying backward, smashing through ancient tree roots and gouging a deep trench in the earth.

Moments later, the three looked up in horror—on the hilltop stood several towering, muscular figures with blue faces and fangs.

The barbarian tribe had arrived too!

This sudden turn shocked every clan hidden in the forest, and even those clans arriving from afar froze in place.

Meanwhile, a disciple of the Heavenly Book Academy’s Office stood outside the gate, his face turning pale at the sight.

The Heavenly Book Academy was the nearest Immortal Sect; at dawn, they had been ordered to investigate—and never imagined they would witness this.

The sacred ground had cracked, the immortal spirit had appeared, the barbarian and demon clans had laid ambushes—everything had deviated wildly from their expectations.

“Leave a few to watch this place—the rest, return to Shengjing at once and request aid from the Academy!”

“Yes!”

Under the dark night, half the disciples of the Office turned and fled swiftly, while the rest stared unblinkingly through gaps in the forest toward the forest’s depths.

There, as the barbarian tribe appeared, the clans within the valley were surrounded.

Beneath a blazing slash of blade-light, a demon-transformed general charged through the air—Qiu family’s ancestral elder blocked desperately, his body wreathed in myriad spells as he swung his iron club in a fierce counterstrike.

But in that fleeting moment, he felt the surging qi within the demon general, his arm trembling violently with pain.

THUD—the Qiu family’s ancestral elder was struck square in the chest by a punch, blood spurting from his mouth.

But the deadliest threat was the iron spear—the one held by the Tianyao general.

“WHIRR!!!”

As the spear trembled violently, its gleaming blade shook the void, and Tianyao Chao Cang struck—his spear shaft slashed across the valley like a snow dragon.

Zuoqiu Jingyun and He Ye both surrounded themselves with spells, gripping countless beams of immortal light, joining forces to block this strike—the famed “Splitting River Slash”—their gritted teeth instantly bleeding from the pressure.

But what stunned them most was the demon general’s speed.

For before they could even react after absorbing the blow, the iron spear whipped back like a stormwind, then thrust forward with overwhelming murderous intent—pressing upon them until their eyes bulged in terror.

He Ye’s surrounding spells shattered instantly in the cold gleam, his mind spinning wildly.

But the worst was Zuoqiu Jingyun—he was the target. His surrounding spells were pierced clean through; as blood sprayed through the air, he was blasted a hundred zhang away.

“Brother Jingyun!”

“It’s over…”

Seeing Zuoqiu Jingyun bleeding through the sky, the ancestral elders of the Sheng and Liu clans all felt their Dao hearts shatter.

In truth, the power among the major clans of Zhongzhou had always been balanced—not by coincidence, but through a thousand years of evolution and struggle, forcing their strengths into equilibrium.