Chapter 294: Breaking the Stalemate

“Another Demonic Beast?”

Chu Jing asked in surprise, his gaze falling upon the Black Fiend Demon Monkey. He suddenly felt that the arrival of this Monkey Demon was a conspiracy.

It seemed like it was attacking the Qingxiao Sect, but was it actually here to gather intelligence?

“Can you control this Demonic Qi?” Chu Jing asked.

Cloud Color did not answer. She raised her right hand and injected her own Origin Qi into the Black Fiend Demon Monkey’s body.

The Heart-Devouring Bees on the Black Fiend Demon Monkey’s body squirmed frantically, creating a terrifying sight. Enduring the excruciating pain of being devoured, he remained silent, his single exposed eye fixed intently on Cloud Color.

Boom!

A powerful burst of Demonic Qi erupted from the Black Fiend Demon Monkey’s body, not only dispersing the Heart-Devouring Bees but also shaking off Cloud Color’s Origin Qi, forcing her and Chu Jing to retreat.

As the Heart-Devouring Bees scattered, the Black Fiend Demon Monkey revealed its true Demon Form. It was covered in blood, with ghastly white bones protruding in many places, making it terrifying.

Surrounded by Demonic Qi, half of the Black Fiend Demon Monkey’s face revealed bone, and its mouth was reduced to only teeth. He squeezed out a smile and said chillingly, “I didn’t expect you to discover even this. Your eyes seem extraordinary. Before long, you will be kneeling on the ground, begging me to kill you. But I won’t kill you. I will torment you slowly…”

Before he could finish speaking, a large number of Heart-Devouring Bees swarmed up again, covering him once more.

The Demonic Qi around his body began to spread, drilling into the walls.

“This is bad! Kill him quickly!” Chu Jing said in a deep voice.

Cloud Color immediately recalled the Heart-Devouring Bees, then raised her right hand, held two fingers upright before her mouth, and exhaled vast Azure Flames, quickly engulfing the Black Fiend Demon Monkey.

Within the fierce flames, the Black Fiend Demon Monkey continued to laugh, laughing wildly… Under the moonlight, inside a dilapidated temple.

Stone Difference Immortal, the Temple Master of Wenxian Temple, stepped over the threshold and entered the main hall. Several black figures simultaneously turned to look at him, but his expression remained unchanged.

Stone Difference Immortal walked up to a Buddhist statue. Following his gaze, a giant Centipede was perched on the statue’s left shoulder. The Centipede’s body wrapped around the statue’s neck, looking horrifying and vicious. Its body was pitch black, resembling a venomous creature, inspiring awe and fear.

“May I ask why the Great King summoned me?” Stone Difference Immortal asked.

In the darkness on both sides of him, terrifying figures were moving, all different in shape, exuding an evil aura.

The Centipede Spirit on the statue’s shoulder raised its head. Staring at Stone Difference Immortal, it said, “It’s time to move.”

Its voice was hoarse, like that of a middle-aged man.

Hearing this, Stone Difference Immortal was stunned for a moment. He frowned and asked, “Does the Great King fully understand the Qingxiao Sect now?”

“The Qingxiao Sect has no powerful backing,” the Centipede Spirit replied.

Hearing this, Stone Difference Immortal narrowed his eyes.

A cold female voice came from the darkness: “Great King, please give the command. How should we proceed?”

The Centipede Spirit’s body began to move. It slowly propped itself up, rising like a Black Python, casting a shadow over Stone Difference Immortal.

“First, let the Qingxiao Sect fall into panic. The Nine Immortals Cult will move first. At the end of the year, this King will personally go to the Qingxiao Sect.”

The Centipede Spirit’s voice echoed inside the temple, and a strange light flickered in Stone Difference Immortal’s eyes.

Rumble—

A sudden thunderclap sounded outside the temple. Lightning flashed, making Stone Difference Immortal’s shadow sway… Winter snow drifted down, signaling the imminent arrival of deep winter.

Inside the Lingxiao Courtyard, Li Qingqiu and Wei Tianxiong were discussing the Sect Protection Great Array.

“According to your requirements, covering the Taikun Mountain Range will take until at least the beginning of next summer,” Wei Tianxiong said with a frown.

Li Qingqiu said, “In any case, the sooner the better.”

Wei Tianxiong nodded and said, “That unkillable Monkey Demon must be related to the Demon Land.”

The Black Fiend Demon Monkey is still inside the Demon Suppression Pagoda. Cloud Color and Chu Jing couldn’t deal with him, and this matter has spread.

An unkillable Demonic Beast was enough to make the Qingxiao Sect Discipless fearful. A tense atmosphere had begun to permeate the Qingxiao Sect, and more and more Disciples realized that the School was facing unknown trouble.

Li Qingqiu said, “I thought of that too. That group of Demonic Beasts is hiding very deeply and cannot be found for now. What do you think we should do?”

Wei Tianxiong replied, “If we can’t find them, then we wait. Their action of sending the Monkey Demon proves that their target is the Qingxiao Sect as a whole. They will eventually come to Qingxiao Mountain. I have two ideas.”

“First, have the entire School retreat and defend the Qingxiao Sect, concentrating our strength. But doing so would put the world in danger.”

“Second, send trustworthy Disciples from the School to guard important strongholds of the School, waiting for these Demonic Beasts to show themselves. This carries risks, as we could easily be defeated one by one.”

Li Qingqiu nodded. Instead of following Wei Tianxiong’s line of thought, he asked, “What do you think they want? It can’t just be to destroy us, can it? Since they became demons, they possess intelligence and ambition.”

Wei Tianxiong frowned and pondered, “Yes, what exactly do they want? This land is already abandoned to the Demon Land. If it were merely to satisfy their appetite, they should have already started massacres. There are many Cultivators scattered outside, but we haven’t heard of such incidents yet.”

Li Qingqiu picked up the teapot and poured himself a cup of tea.

This enemy was different from previous ones—more cunning and hard to track. Even though Li Qingqiu had secretly ordered people to investigate the Nine Provinces Continent, they hadn’t found any trace of the Demonic Beasts.

They could only find followers of the suspicious Nine Immortals Cult, but not their leader.

The two of them pondered separately.

The falling snowflakes grew denser, as if intent on burying everything in the world.

Just then, Xiao Wuqing quickly walked into the courtyard. He came before Li Qingqiu, presented a qingxiao token, and said, “Sect Leader, Elder Shen Yue needs to speak with you.”

Hearing this, Li Qingqiu immediately took the qingxiao token from his hand.

This qingxiao token was different from the ones carried by the Disciples; it was a token responsible for receiving intelligence from the School’s Disciples.

Currently, the qingxiao token cannot receive information from all Disciples’ tokens simultaneously, so the receiving tokens must be gathered together. If someone needs to speak with Li Qingqiu, the token is specially delivered.

Li Qingqiu injected Origin Qi into the qingxiao token and then spoke, asking, “It is I, Li Qingqiu.”

The qingxiao token flashed with a faint light, and soon, Shen Yue’s voice came through:

“Sect Leader, I found that the Nine Immortals Cult might be related to demons. Those Demonic Beasts bewitch people and then use spells to escape, making them hard to track. I am currently following a Small Demon. It looks like it is going to meet some entity. I plan to delve deeper. I am currently in Nanchu Province. The specific location has already been transmitted back via the qingxiao token.”

His voice was calm and carried the sound of wind, indicating he was clearly traveling quickly.

Li Qingqiu said, “Recently, a Spiritual Consciousness Realm Demonic Beast attacked the School. The Nine Immortals Cult might be related to a Yao Race faction. If you pursue them alone, you might be surrounded.”

“No matter. Then I will destroy this Yao Race faction for the School.”

Shen Yue’s tone was casual, conveying absolute confidence.

Xiao Wuqing felt a surge of emotion upon hearing this. Coming from Shen Yue, he truly believed it. Considering the School’s past troubles, Shen Yue’s performance had always been outstanding, with virtually no failures.

Moreover, Shen Yue had defeated a Spiritual Consciousness Realm Ghost before reaching the Spiritual Consciousness Realm himself. Now, he would only be stronger.

Li Qingqiu couldn’t help but laugh after hearing this, but he still cautioned, “In any case, you must be careful. Don’t fall.”

“Even if I die, I’ll die in a duel against you. That’s all for now, I need to catch up.”

Shen Yue dropped these words and cut off his Origin Qi. The qingxiao token in Li Qingqiu’s hand stopped flashing.

Wei Tianxiong sighed with emotion, “This Shen Yue is excellent. In fact, he can be considered a Genius, and an extraordinary Genius at that.”

Li Qingqiu handed the qingxiao token to Xiao Wuqing and then said, “Yes, in my eyes, he has always been a Genius.”

He waved his hand, signaling Xiao Wuqing to withdraw.

Xiao Wuqing immediately bowed, then turned and left.

Wei Tianxiong laughed and said, “Now it seems there is a third option, which is to wait and see. Perhaps the Geniuses in the School can break the stalemate.”

Li Qingqiu sent out more people than just Shen Yue.

Wei Tianxiong’s words were also Li Qingqiu’s current plan. He felt that Shen Yue, Zhao Zhen, and Ji Ya might become the key to breaking the stalemate.

That Yao Race faction was clearly wary of the Qingxiao Sect. In this situation, even if the three of them were besieged, they wouldn’t be instantly killed.

As long as a battle erupted, Li Qingqiu could arrive in a short time.

Li Qingqiu looked at Wei Tianxiong and said, “You must also be ready for battle.”

Wei Tianxiong said confidently, “Don’t worry. As long as they come, I will let them know how formidable I am. I am only inferior to you; other Spiritual Consciousness Realm opponents are nothing in my eyes.”

Wei Tianxiong was also Li Qingqiu’s trump card; currently, no one knew his true Cultivation Level.

Over the years, Wei Tianxiong had been recuperating, and his strength was much greater than when he had just broken the seal… At dusk, in Zhongtian Province, Zhengyang Imperial City.

Ji Ya accompanied Liu Jing as they strolled around the Imperial Palace. The two exchanged greetings and chatted cheerfully. Liu Jing did not put on the airs of the Son of Heaven; he maintained his original sincerity and respected the Qingxiao Sect.

“Your Majesty, you mentioned that the palace is haunted. What exactly happened?” Ji Ya steered the conversation toward business.

The smile vanished from Liu Jing’s face. He frowned and said, “Every night when I sleep, I hear footsteps, and after being woken up, I smell a strange fragrance. Besides me, no one else in the palace has experienced this. The Empress and the Concubines who came from the Qingxiao Sect searched the Imperial Palace thoroughly but found nothing abnormal. That’s why I thought it was haunted; only Evil Spirits are invisible and untouchable.”

Ji Ya pressed, “Has this continued to happen recently?”

“Yes, and that strange fragrance is getting stronger,” Liu Jing said, a look of fear on his face as he spoke of the matter.

Ji Ya thought for a moment and said, “Your Majesty, how about letting me watch over your Sleeping Quarters tonight?”

Liu Jing happily said, “That would be excellent.”

After the two agreed, they talked about other things.

Liu Jing had already sent five children to the Qingxiao Sect to cultivate immortality, so he was very interested in matters within the Qingxiao Sect.

Ji Ya did not mention the Black Fiend Demon Monkey, lest Liu Jing become more worried.

The sky gradually darkened.

Ji Ya stood on the eaves of a palace. He took out sheets of Talismans, pasted them onto the eaves, and then Cast a Spell. His figure actually became transparent.

After casting the spell, Ji Ya sat down cross-legged and began to wait patiently.