Stealthily cultivating in the chaotic world of demons and martial artists
Chapter 418 - 416: Higher Realm (Seeking Monthly Ticket)_1

Chapter 418: Chapter 416: Higher Realm (Seeking Monthly Ticket)_1

"What’s going on?"

Nangong Li looked at Fang Xi and then at Huang Yungong. Even as an old demon who had lived for many years, she inevitably felt as if she had fallen into a thick fog.

After all, she could never have imagined that the person who had died at Fang Xi’s hand was not some core disciple of the Seven Deadly Sins Hall but Demon Lord Qi Sha himself!

"Could it be..."

This woman was also extremely clever. She chuckled softly to lighten the mood and was about to chat and fish for information when, not far away, an Escape Light suddenly appeared.

Three streaks of white light flickered and landed on the Seven Treasure Building Boat, revealing three Nascent Soul cultivators dressed as scholars.

The one leading wore a scholar’s headdress and held a crimson book, exuding an air of scholarly elegance. Yet his Cultivation had actually reached the peak of the mid-Nascent Soul stage.

"It’s cultivators from the Righteous Path!"

A look of disgust immediately appeared on Nangong Li’s face: "People from Feng Country’s Sky Pillar Alliance, what are they doing in Jiang Country?"

Through exchanges over this period, Fang Xi had come to learn that within the Southern Wilderness Cultivation Realm, the Demon Path’s power was the greatest in Jiang Country.

While the forces of the Righteous Path gathered near Feng Country, they convened at the ancient Heaven Pillar Mountain to form an organization called the ’Sky Pillar Alliance,’ which was said to be a power not to be underestimated.

"Recently, a great disaster is imminent in the Higher Realm. Regardless of whether it’s the Righteous or Demon Path, both face calamities... It’s understandable that they would join forces. Even if they don’t form an alliance, they would need to agree on a united front."

Fang Xi mused thoughtfully.

"Exactly, that’s the reason," said Bai Yunsou, stroking his beard and smiling as he nodded continually, showing considerable support for the idea.

Nascent Soul elders are a very pragmatic bunch of cultivators.

Even though three Righteous Path cultivators mingled among the old demons and Individual Cultivators, looking somewhat jarring, no one openly showed hostility or called for conflict.

When the three cultivators from the Sky Pillar Alliance had also taken their positions, the Seven Treasure Building Boat suddenly roared.

The grand palace doors opened, and the previously clear voice came forth: "I am Demon Lord Tian Du, and I welcome all of you. Please, come into the ’Pi Yun Palace’ to take a seat."

One after another, the Nascent Soul cultivators entered. Fang Xi looked around and saw a majestic and immense hall with white jade desks lined up on both sides.

In the most prominent position sat a black-robed youth.

He had a face like carved jade and a pair of impressive silver eyebrows, with a red mole between them.

More crucially, the fluctuation of magic power radiating from his body was as deep and unfathomable as the ocean.

’Supreme Elder of the Death Demon Palace—Demon Lord Tian Du, a great Nascent Soul late-stage cultivator!’

As Fang Xi reminded himself of the youth’s identity, he saw that the young-looking Demon Lord had looked over. Their eyes met, and he immediately lowered his gaze, averting eye contact, and found a seat in a corner. He sat down cross-legged and quietly closed his eyes to rest and nurture his spirit.

Half an hour later.

"It seems these are the only fellow cultivators present..."

Demon Lord Tian Du on the high platform muttered and then stood up: "I am deeply grateful for your presence at today’s meeting, Tian Du appreciates the honor... "

Fang Xi abruptly opened his eyes and looked around, getting a sense of the situation: "Thirty-three Nascent Soul elders... among them, many are from other countries and the Righteous Path’s Sky Pillar Alliance. About twenty or so are from Jiang Country?"

"But there’s also a hierarchy of strength among Nascent Soul cultivators. With just Demon Lord Tian Du alone, how many early-stage Nascent Soul elders could he outmatch?"

...

Atop the high platform, Demon Lord Tian Du’s words clearly reached the ears of every Nascent Soul elder: "I will cut to the chase. Our gathering is naturally concerning the ’descent’ matter. Based on the compilation of various reports, our opponents are likely to be— the Ancient Demon Realm!"

"The Monster World?"

The Nascent Soul cultivators in the hall erupted in surprise: "Could it really be the Ancient Demon Realm?"

"I have once read an ancient book stating that during the primordial times, this Monster World waged a great war with our Mortal World... After that war, the Monster Clan retreated, but unwillingly released the ’Sky Demon Qi’ to contaminate our realm. Since then, monster beasts could awaken their spirit and transform, marking the beginning of the monster lineage in our realm..."

Bai Yunsou stroked his beard and expressed his shock: "I never thought... it would descend once again!"

"It is rumored that in the Monster World, ’Monster cultivators’ dominate. No matter what their origin, as long as they can pass through the Transformation Heavenly Tribulation, they are ’Monster cultivators,’ capable of commanding countless monster beasts..."

Another Nascent Soul old demon with golden scales all over his body exclaimed: "I never thought I’d have to face ’Transformed Great Demons.’ Heh heh... I’ve heard that these great demons are treasures all over, and I would like to see if their bodies can compare to my Golden Demon Body!"

’Such bad luck!’

Fang Xi’s expression darkened, and he cursed his misfortune inwardly.

He was not afraid of facing Nascent Soul humans, but facing Transformed Great Demons was another matter.

Such great demons not only had extremely powerful bodies, comparable to Nascent Soul body cultivators, but they also had long lifespans, innate Divine Skills, and were very difficult to deal with.

Often, a fourth-tier lower grade Transformed Great Demon’s strength would surpass that of an average early-stage Nascent Soul cultivator.

More importantly...

’Transformed Great Demons generally live longer than human Nascent Soul cultivators, and there are many especially long-lived species... If the ones chasing me last time were three Transforming Turtle Demons, even if they were all fourth-tier lower grade, I would have to flee in a dire state...’

...

"This concubine has a question!"

Ruyi Gate’s Supreme Elder, Nangong Li, spoke with a smile.

Though she appeared charming and flirtatious, her mid-Nascent Soul cultivation caused the Cultivators in the hall to fall silent as soon as she spoke, "Please forgive my ignorance, but why must a great war erupt between Cultivators and the Monster Clan after descending to a lower realm? Is there no possibility for reconciliation between the two parties? After all, with our level of cultivation, we should be reluctant to fight to the death over trifles..."

"Nangong has a point, but unfortunately, that’s impossible. The Monster World dreams of contaminating our realm... As for the reason, it likely has to do with the Earth Immortal Realm. As you know, the Earth Immortal Realm also contains humans, demons, monsters, and more, and they have always been in constant conflict..."

Demon Lord Tian Du explained leisurely, "Although the human and monster races have offspring in the Earth Immortal Realm, we, the Descending Immortals from the lower realms, are naturally talented and thus a powerful supplement to them... Hence, we lower realms always fight each other, with the intention of contaminating the other’s realm to sever their Taoist lineages—a plan to undercut their foundations..."

When these words were spoken, many Nascent Soul Cultivators could not help but shudder.

If the Mortal Realm had lost the ancient war, then this realm would have been completely turned into the Monster World, and all those who ascended would have been Transcendent God Monster Cultivators!

The rise of one at the expense of another would also have a profound impact on the situation in the Earth Immortal Realm.

"In fact, cross-realm invasions are quite costly... Moreover, it’s rather difficult for the Earth Immortal Realm to intervene in the affairs of the lower realms, nor are there ways to supervise, while ’Descending to a lower realm’ is a very special and brief opportunity... Our Mortal World has long since ceased to care, only those stubborn fools from the Monster and Demon Clans still cling to it..."

One of the grey-haired old demons cursed.

"Enough!"

With a wave of his hand, Demon Lord Tian Du declared, "I have decided to join forces with the Righteous Path’s Sky Pillar Alliance to resist the disaster brought by the Monster Clan’s descent. This ’Hao Ranzi’ will act as the intermediary for this alliance!"

The Nascent Soul scholar who had appeared earlier stood up and bowed respectfully to everyone present, "Hao Ranzi has seen all of you!"

"All major Void Signs in various places have already been discovered, and we will defend our cities with the power of Arrays... It shouldn’t be a problem to hold out for decades or even a hundred years. Once the Descending period ends, even if there are Monster Clan remnants left, they will be trees without roots, and the materials on their bodies will be rare Spiritual Objects..." Tian Du explained slowly.

"I have a doubt."

Fang Xi remained seated, suddenly speaking up, "Does the Demon Lord have so much confidence? What if a Transcending Turtle Demon were to arrive right at the start, what then?"

"It seems you are unaware of the intricacies of Descending..."

Tian Du raised a silver eyebrow and smiled, "At the very start of the Descending, the Void Passage can hardly support the travel of Transcendent God Monster Sovereigns... Even if they were to descend in the later stage, they would be suppressed by the force of our Mortal World’s realm, hindering the full recovery of their strength... Besides, such Monster Sovereigns wouldn’t come to our remote Southern Wilderness; beyond the Southern Wilderness Cultivation Realm, there is a much larger Cultivation World, where the Void Signs are only more severe!"

’Alright then... It seems like there truly aren’t any Transcending cultivators in the Southern Wilderness...’

Fang Xi did not speak further, feeling inexplicably relieved.

"All right, does anyone else have any questions? If not... I will announce the beginning of the covenant." Demon Lord Tian Du swept his gaze over the crowd. "After the covenant, we shall issue a ’Cease War Order,’ with all Nascent Soul forces respecting the current territorial divisions, and no further conflicts shall arise until the Descending period ends!"

"When the Descending occurs, we must aid each other and obey commands... I am well aware that regardless of contracts or oaths, with our means, there’s always a way around them. So I only need a promise from you all, then if anyone breaks this promise, I will enforce the law along with the Sky Pillar Alliance’s Supreme Elder and personally execute the transgressor!"

At the utterance of his last sentence, Demon Lord Tian Du’s aura was murderously resolute.

With his late Nascent Soul strength, he could capture and kill any of the Nascent Soul old monsters present—apart from one who was an exceptional case.

So all the Nascent Soul Cultivators were solemn.

Next, Tian Du began to assign tasks; even the older demons who were called out, albeit reluctantly, agreed on the surface.

Even the three Individual Cultivators, like Huang Yungong, who were given the duty of guarding a city and monitoring nearby Void Passages, only grumbled a bit before accepting their tasks.

Of course, all present were crafty veterans. When they encountered unreasonable demands, they argued fiercely on the strength of their arguments.

To this, Demon Lord Tian Du either used his power to intimidate or transmitted a few sentences via Divine Consciousness Transmission, and those old demons actually gave in.

Overall, things proceeded smoothly.

This person’s reputation as Jiang Country’s number one Cultivator was indeed not unearned!

"Mr. Yun Jiezi... Only you came from Yuan Country’s Nascent Soul Cultivators?"

Suddenly, Demon Lord Tian Du looked at Fang Xi with a mocking smile on his lips.

"Indeed..."

Fang Xi stood up and replied, "If the Demon Lord has any orders, let me convey them. I’m sure they won’t have any objections..."

Unlike Demon Lord Qi Sha, whose Soul Lamp had been extinguished, those three Nascent Souls were only trapped, not killed, so their Soul Lamps and life tokens would at most dim slightly, but this wouldn’t lead their sects and disciples to complete despair...

"In Yuan Country, the Void Signs that have appeared are few and small in scale and, even if they form Void Passages, it will likely lead to low-level Monster beasts at most, causing only a beast tide... It could be used as a place for the rearguard. This has already been managed by Seven Deadly Sins Hall. Kong Sang..."

Demon Lord Tian Du looked over at Empty Mulberry Old Demon and smiled, "Why not relinquish the channels of Seven Deadly Sins Hall, and we share Yuan Country together, how about it?"

"Whatever the Demon Lord commands."

Empty Mulberry Old Demon, clenching his teeth, stood up to reply.

As soon as these words were spoken, Nangong Li and the other Nascent Soul elders were incredibly surprised: ’Has Empty Mulberry Old Demon gone mad? Or has Old Demon Qi Sha changed his disposition? No, could it be...’

Nangong Li’s eyes, filled with speculation, sparkled as she looked towards Fang Xi...