Chapter 83 The massacre of Hezizhou: He was the only remaining true demon in the world. ...
I spent a sleepless night.
Lou Yan felt like he had become a very strange wolf.
She clearly hated Heng Qichun, yet she couldn't help but stick to him; she clearly knew that Heng Qichun was the one who killed her in her previous life, yet she couldn't stop thinking about the days and nights on Mount Nüqi.
Human emotions are too complex; he neither understood them nor bothered to think about them. He simply felt a frantic urge to lick Heng Qichun's flesh.
So much so that while Heng Qichun was fast asleep, he greedily opened his mouth and bit Heng Qichun's little finger.
Another incident occurred the next day.
Just as dawn broke, a disciple of the Medicine Sect went out to buy supplies and rescued a young couple who were being chased by demons.
He took the couple, along with the herbs they had gathered, back to the inn where they were staying. In less than a quarter of an hour, the young couple turned into two blood-red ribbons, strangling thirteen people, including the disciples of the Medicine Sect.
They are two silk spirits that are on the verge of being corrupted by demonic energy.
Fu Yusheng fought a fierce battle with the silk spirit downstairs for three hundred rounds, but was finally rescued by two pairs of scissors thrown down from upstairs by Heng Qichun.
The scissors, imbued with spiritual power, cut the two pieces of silk into tens of thousands of pieces, and the silk spirit's primordial soul quickly turned into dust.
Afterwards, Fu Yusheng breathed a long sigh of relief, squatted on the floor of the inn, and picked up the remnants of the silk spirit piece by piece, putting them all into a new spirit-locking bag.
He added with lingering fear, "They absorbed the spiritual power of those thirteen disciples. If there had been one more, they probably would have successfully fallen into demonic possession."
One sentence sent a chill down everyone's spine.
Heng Qichun and Nan Yushan exchanged a glance, their eyes filled with the concern befitting a superior. "Bajiao Town is adjacent to Nüqi Mountain and is located on the border of the Nine Provinces. The spiritual energy here is scarce, yet even silk has become a kind of spirit. One can imagine the chaos in the Nine Provinces."
After speaking, Nan Yushan suddenly raised his hand and caught a floating spiritual spell in mid-air.
He probed the spirit's aura, carefully read the words in the incantation, and then suddenly opened his eyes.
"It's a message from Elder Hengyang of Hezizhou," Nanyushan said in a deep voice. "In the territory of Hezizhou, a harpoon fish has successfully become a demon."
—Come quickly.
The elder from Hengyang said.
Bajiao Town was too remote, and by the time the group from the Eighteen Realms flew to Hezizhou on their swords, it was already evening.
Within the Nine Provinces, the wind and snow were indeed slightly less intense, but the accumulated thick snow still covered the entire sect, creating a vast expanse of white, like a long, perpetually desolate winter river.
The immortal realm was already in ruins. Along the way up the mountain, they encountered several disciples of Hezizhou who were fleeing in panic. Lou Yan grabbed their arms and dragged them up the mountain.
"If they turn around and run away when things go wrong, what's the difference between them and those wolves who abandon their wives and children when disaster strikes?" Lou Yan said.
No one bothered with his inappropriate analogy. People were in a state of panic, and even though they had made ample preparations, they were still taken aback when they arrived at the sect.
The entire household was desolate.
Countless celestial buildings collapsed, leaving only ruins and broken wells amidst the remaining snow. Demonic energy swirled, and disciples who had fought against evil spirits and died were lying in various positions, their corpses covering the entire celestial mountain.
Looking around, there wasn't a single living person to be found.
Lou Yan suddenly released the few junior disciples who wanted to escape.
A murmur arose behind them; the disciples of the Eighteen Realms could hardly believe the scene before them.
"How could this be..."
"Hezi Island is the largest immortal sect in the cultivation world!"
"Could it be that even with the combined strength of the entire Hezizhou sect, they still cannot fight against that demon?"
"Then we..."
So what do we do?
In just a few days, several sects in the cultivation world fought against the demons. Xiaoyao Mountain was wiped out, and Piaomiao Sect was disbanded. However, Hezizhou, the largest sect in the cultivation world, is the backbone of the immortal and human realms.
No one expected Hezizhou to fall into this state.
Nan Yushan stared at the scene before him for a long time before finally managing to utter, "We're too late."
Without any instructions, the disciples spontaneously began cleaning up the scene, carefully collecting the bodies of the Hezizhou disciples, eliminating any remaining demonic energy, and attempting to restore the broken eaves.
Thousands of years ago, the immortal sects joined forces to capture the Demon Lord of the Nine Netherworld. Afterwards, the entire cultivation world was turned into scorched earth. It was the hands of the lowest-ranking disciples who painstakingly dug open the broken walls, collected the remains of their fellow cultivators, and then gradually restored the cultivation world.
Lou Yan disliked doing such chores, so he paced back and forth among the blood-soaked corpses, trying to find clues in the remaining demonic aura.
Unlike his fellow disciples, he had actually seen such scenes before.
In his previous life, he was the ruler of the Nine Netherworld, commanding all the demons under heaven, and even coveted the God Realm. He led his demons to raze Crane Island to the ground.
Countless divine beasts had their necks bitten off by the white tiger he rode, and the elders of Hezizhou resisted to the death, offering themselves as sacrifices before the divine path.
Lou Yan paused, his gaze sweeping over the intercontinental border covered in thick ice, and looking towards the distant, insurmountable mountain range.
The divine path to the realm of the gods is there.
How ridiculous...
Since ancient times, immortals have always been the enemy of demons, and gods have always been the enemy of monsters. Now, with the rise of the demon race and the chaos caused by demons, even the most powerful immortal sects in the cultivation world are suffering greatly.
But the barrier set up by the gods was right there.
A thousand years have passed, blocking the path of evil spirits to covet the divine realm, and also severing the eyes of the gods that peer into the suffering of humankind.
Crane Island, the guardian of the sacred path, has become a sea of blood.
But the gods turn a blind eye.
In the midst of grief, a spiritual force suddenly spread outwards, quietly touching Lou Yan's waist on the wind.
Lou Yan thought there were still evil spirits on the mountain who had not yet left, so he immediately raised his hand and made a hand seal.
"who!"
He was met with a faint groan.
Lou Yan paused, extinguished the incantation he had been forming, bent down and pushed aside the pile of brutally murdered Hezizhou disciples at his feet, his eyes widening instantly.
There were two enormous clam shells there!
He immediately thought of Xi Niang and her father, who had been brought back by Elder Hengyang in Huatan Town. The clam spirits needed to transform back into their original forms to cultivate again, and they should be in this cold pool.
Lou Yan guessed at some possibility that they had leaped onto the water's surface. His brow twitched twice, and he decisively raised his hand to form a hand seal. After a blinding flash of light, the clam shell slightly opened, revealing the shadow of a young boy.
Lou Yan withdrew his spiritual power and soon met a pair of strangely familiar eyes.
It is refreshing and clean.
With eyes full of blood and tears.
The young man before me was curled up on the ground in a sorry state, his crane-patterned robe completely soaked in blood, the exposed parts covered in bloodstains, as if he had suffered a serious injury.
Lou Yan slapped her forehead, relieved that she still remembered him, "Nan Xu?"
Long time no see.
He almost forgot that the boy who killed the night watchman in Huatan Town and was taken away by his master to repent was none other than He Zizhou's disciple.
If Xi Niang and her father hadn't protected him with a clam shell, he would probably have become a lost soul on this sacred mountain.
It is evident that even among demons, there are those who know how to repay kindness.
Upon hearing the sound, Nan Xu struggled to get up, but as soon as he moved his fingers, countless black demonic energies enveloped him from his fingertips.
wrong.
Lou Yan tentatively extended his finger and, sure enough, saw the black energy climb up his fingertip and burrow into his body. He immediately withdrew his hand and hurriedly severed all connection with the black energy.
Because that's ghostly energy.
Lou Yan stood there, stunned.
Only those with demonic bones can attract ghostly energy to enter their bodies on its own. Even those evil spirits who are now madly falling into the demonic path do not have demonic bones.
He is the only remaining true demon in the world.
Even so, with his shallow cultivation and weak spiritual power, the demonic bones on his body did not truly play a role.
In other words, even he wasn't that good at absorbing ghost energy.
How did Nanxu manage to do that?
Lou Yan watched helplessly as the ghostly energy he had blocked from his body spontaneously found Nan Xu's fingers, then climbed up like vines, and gradually invaded his body through his exposed wounds.
Then Lou Yan quickly made a hand seal, setting up a barrier between the ghostly energy and Nan Xu.
When he met Nan Xu's gaze as he made the hand seals, he felt a little guilty for some reason, so he decided to play the good guy to the end and reached out to help the other person up.
He feigned concern and asked, "How are you? There's too much 'demonic energy' here; it's seeping into your body through your wounds. Do you feel anything strange?"
Nan Xu's face was pale and he looked very weak. Even with Lou Yan supporting him, he looked like he was about to collapse, so he simply sat down again.
His face was covered in sweat. He readily believed Lou Yan's explanation of "demonic energy," and without a second thought, shook his head and said, "No, I don't seem to feel anything..."
That would be even stranger.
Based on his years of experience, if one can draw ghostly energy into the body, all the meridians in the body will greedily absorb that power, and it is impossible not to feel it at all.
Could it be that there is too little ghostly energy, not enough to fill his dantian and meridians?
Watching Nan Xu hold the two clam spirits in his hands with tears in his eyes, he murmured, "My spiritual power is completely unable to circulate. If it weren't for them protecting me, I'm afraid I would have..."
Lou Yan then wondered if it was because he was protected by Xi Niang under the clam shell that he accidentally became tainted with demonic energy, which was why he was able to attract ghostly energy.
He couldn't think about it any further.
Heng Qichun had already arrived with several disciples and spotted Lou Yan and Nan Xu from afar.
Fu Yusheng was most sensitive to the condition of demons. He immediately noticed that Xi Niang and her father had become extremely weak due to protecting Nan Xu. He decisively put them into the Spirit Locking Bag and then took them back to Lu Duan Sect to heal their wounds.
Nan Xu quickly thanked him. Even though he was so badly injured, he still managed to get up by supporting himself on Lou Yan's arm, and then solemnly bowed to Heng Qichun.
"God..." As soon as he uttered the words, the corners of his blood-stained eyes turned red.
Lou Yan glanced at him in surprise, unable to understand why he was so agitated.
It's just a matter of gratitude for being recognized and appreciated. Back then, in that situation of fleeing from disaster, any cultivator would have helped if they had encountered it.
Besides, Heng Qichun only sent him to Hezizhou, he didn't take him under his wing, so why would he...
Heng Qichun had already helped the child up, used magic to remove the bloodstains from his clothes, and then probed his spirit along the wound on his arm.
Lou Yan immediately tensed up, wanting to see if Heng Qichun could detect any traces of ghostly energy erosion within Nan Xu's body.
However, no.
Heng Qichun withdrew his hand with a calm expression, and then performed several more magic spells to heal Nanxu's injuries. Only when the child's condition improved slightly did he ask, "What exactly happened to Hezizhou? Where is Elder Hengyang?"
Nan Xu stood alone, her eyes red and swollen. Hearing Heng Qichun's question, two more tears rolled down her cheeks.
Lou Yan heard the sorrowful, restrained sobs in his throat and finally realized belatedly that the reason he was so emotional was probably not because of Heng Qichun's kindness in recognizing his talent, but rather...
"In order to save me, my master and my fellow disciples joined forces to form the Returning Void Formation, intending to trap that anglerfish under the divine path."
“But…” Nan Xu paused, a look of lingering fear on his face, “But the anglerfish had already become possessed by a demon, and no amount of immortal power could defeat it. Even under the Guixu Formation, it still managed to dive to the bottom of the lake. My master was afraid that it would escape, so he risked his life to cast the final Ice-Freezing Spell, freezing it underwater…”
He was sobbing uncontrollably by the end.
Those present couldn't help but sigh, followed by a wave of sorrow.
They all knew what the Guixu Formation meant.
That was an ancient formation that had been passed down before the gods set up the barrier. It required the cultivator's core essence to be used as a gamble; if the formation was successful, it could resist demons, and if it failed, the cultivator would perish.
Because the slightest mistake could lead to certain death, few people would set up this formation. The most recent instance was thousands of years ago when demons and monsters wreaked havoc. Under the leadership of Elder Hengyang, the immortals set up the Guixu Formation and captured the demon alive.
Nan Xu just said that the anglerfish escaped from the Guixu Formation, so the formation must have been broken.
So, Elder Hengyang...
Lou Yan suddenly sensed the sorrow in the hearts of those around him.
Elder Hengyang has already died in this battle to defend the Way.
-----------------------
Author's note: Here I need to explain that in Lou Yan's previous life, he had many strange ideas about Heng Qichun, wanting to imprison his master in his demon palace and lick, bite, and ravage him.
But to this day, Lou Yan still doesn't know that it means liking someone; he simply thinks it's the oral stage of animals.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com