Grand General Summon Thunder brought his subordinates along as they flew for the entire journey.
"Grand General, up ahead is Mt. Blue Granny." The three avian demons led the way. However, they felt somewhat apprehensive. After all, General Crab had just been easily killed by this same cultivator.
"Alright, the three of you are dismissed," commanded Grand General Summon Thunder with a frown.
"Yes, yes, yes."
The three avian demons quickly departed.
"Look at how frightened the three of them are." The two demon generals laughed as well. One of them carried a saber by his waist and had fur on his face. He warned, "Grand General, if that cultivator could easily kill Brother Crab, he might very well be a Connate True Core cultivator. We must not let our guard down."
"What's there to be afraid of? Grand General cultivations in the 'Wind and Thunder Mystic Arts.' Most Connate True Cores will not even be his match." flattered another shrimp-headed demon general.
In response, Grand General Summon Thunder said, "There shouldn't be any powerful cultivators in Qian Prefecture that dare to oppose our Yellow Wyrm Lake. However, that cultivator did kill General Crab. He probably has a powerful backer. General Hunt, tell me what the cultivator looks like. Is he anyone famous?"
"Alright." The demon general with the saber nodded.
He immediately looked into the direction of Mt. Blue Granny. His eyes flashed as they suffused a dark yellow light.
"I see him. He's sitting cross-legged in a wooden hut. He's dressed in black and looks very young." General Hunt frowned and said puzzled, "There are only so many Connate True Core realm cultivators in Qian Prefecture. And only five are that young. He doesn't resemble any of them. As for him being a Connate Golden Core cultivator? That's even more impossible. All the Connate Golden Core cultivators in Qian Prefecture are famous. I know all of them."
"You do not know him?" Grand General Summon Thunder was perplexed.
Qin Yun had grown in fame too quickly.
Since he was trapped in the immortal abode for a long period of time, only cultivators from the Jiang Prefecture's cultivation world had actually seen him. As for the Qian Prefecture? Only top factions had obtained an accurate projection of Qin Yun. Typical fiendish demons would not have obtained one. Even obtaining a portrait would’ve been quite an impressive feat. Grand General Summon Thunder and company were entrenched in Qian Prefecture so there was no need for them to seek out a portrait of a newly promoted and powerful cultivator from the Jiang Prefecture.
"He's either a Qian Prefecture cultivator that has recently made a breakthrough or he is from another prefecture," said General Hunt.
…
As Grand General Summon Thunder and company were hiding five kilometers away and guessing at Qin Yun's identity, Qin Yun had already noticed the trio.
With his Intrinsic Flying Sword, he could easily release his psyche fifteen kilometers out.
"Grand General Summon Thunder? Is that him?" Qin Yun sat cross-legged in a wooden hut when he suddenly knitted his brows. "Another powerful aura! It's fast. My guess is that it’s a Connate Golden Core fiendish demon."
A terrifying aura was rushing over maniacally.
It entered a fifteen-kilometer radius and continued to rapidly approach.
"Ever since I left Grand Dominance, I had a feeling that I was being watched. Even when I arrived in Qian Prefecture's Jia'an County, I was still being watched… Have you finally arrived?" Qin Yun turned serious. As for Grand General Summon Thunder and his generals, Qin Yun did not mind them for they were trivial. Since they had entered a fifteen-kilometer radius, he could destroy them as he pleased.
"Boom!"
A faint boom suddenly sounded out. It came from the distant horizon and was a deep sound that left one's heart trembling.
"What sound is that?" Grand General Summon Thunder and his two demon generals were astonished. For some baffling reason, they shuddered.
"Grand General, look." General Hunter pointed towards the distant horizon.
A huge black gust of wind had appeared on the horizon.
The black wind howled, and it was as though a dark cloud had descended upon the mountain. The surrounding temperature began to drop.
"Qin Yun!" An angry bellow boomed.
The entire sky darkened.
Although part of the sun had peeked out from the east, the surroundings of Mt. Blue Granny darkened completely. The entire mountain was enveloped by invisible energy as black clouds stirred and black winds howled.
"Hand over your treasures and you can still live!" The darkened sky rumbled with a thundering voice.
"Do you have what it takes?"
Qin Yun stood up and walked out the wooden hut as he sneered at the sky.
The young demoness turned pale from fright. As there was an endless amount of suppression permeating the world around them, she was horrified.
"Don't be afraid." Qin Yun looked at the young demoness.
"Okay." She nodded immediately.
"How thickheaded you are! Then die!" A massive hooved claw suddenly descended from the dark sky. It was dark gray in color and looked heavy. It was as though it came crashing down with all the might of the world.
Qin Yun stood there and waved his hand.
A sword beam shot out like a roaring bolt of lightning or a tidal wave that surged towards the attacking claw.
"Roar—"
The sword beam surged forward and clashed with the massive claw. The gigantic claw trembled before retracting rapidly. A massive beast that resembled a hound descended from a high altitude. It had four hooves and its eyes had three concentric pupils. Its ears were standing up and it had a unique pair of yellow brows.
"You are quite skilled after all." The eyes of the monstrous beast in the sky flashed.
"Whew! Whew!"
Two golden beams of light shot out from his pupils as they streaked across the sky like lightning. They almost instantly reached Mt. Blue Granny.
"Phew." The Cyclic Sword Flash instantly appeared, producing a barrier that blocked the two golden beams. Space began to distort with grinding noises but the two golden beams failed to penetrate Qin Yun's Cyclic Sword Flash barrier.
"As expected of an ancient mutated Kṣitigarbha Hound. Despite being at an ordinary realm, your moves possess so much might," said Qin Yun. "However, Patriarch Tenebrous Aspect, you can’t do a thing to me with this tiny bit of skill."
"What?"
"Patriarch Tenebrous Aspect? Kṣitigarbha Hound?"
Five kilometers away, Grand General Summon Thunder and his two generals were dumbfounded.
The hooved claw that descended from the dark sky had dumbfounded them. But now, Qin Yun had withstood the terrifying attack and said the name of his opponent. It left the three demons shuddering.
"Patriarch Tenebrous Aspect is in no way inferior to our Flood Dragon King!" Grand General Summon Thunder was alarmed.
"He's Qin Yun? The only famous cultivator in the world with the name Qin Yun is that one from Jiang Prefecture's Grand Dominance. But isn't he only an Azure-token Inspector Heavenly Ambassador? Why is he able to defend against Patriarch Tenebrous Aspect so easily?" General Hunt was alarmed as well.
"We were almost about to fight him?" General Shrimp felt his heart palpitate. "That flying sword's might was in no way inferior to Patriarch Tenebrous Aspect's claw swipe. If his flying sword came at us, we would have been finished."
"Don't move. None of us move. They might not have discovered us yet." Grand General Summon Thunder was feeling extremely anxious.
"Let's hope they haven't discovered us." General Hunt was full of unease. General Shrimp did not even dare utter a word.
Existences at that level were famous throughout the world. They were only hegemons of a small area, so why would they dare make a sound?
"Junior, don't be overly arrogant." Patriarch Tenebrous Aspect bellowed while standing in midair. Typical fiendish demons would maintain a humanoid form so they could use the most of their combat strength. However, there were some ancient mutants or demons with special characteristics, such as dragons, who could draw out their strongest powers in their true forms. The ancient mutated Kṣitigarbha Hound was one such demon.
Patriarch Tenebrous Aspect's massive body floated in midair as he suddenly opened his mouth.
"Hu! Hu! Hu!"
Black cold wind with rich bloodlust aura hurtled forward like countless blades. Even the towering trees in the vicinity were diced up into pieces.
Qin Yun gently shook his head and, with a single thought, commanded his Intrinsic Flying Sword to produce the Heavenly Cycle. It transformed into a sword flash barrier that covered more than half of Mt. Blue Granny's peak! "Boom!" The black winds that seemed to be capable of cutting through iron like mud were powerless against the sword flash barrier. However, many of the surrounding boulders and trees were ground to dust, scattering across the world.
When the black winds came to a halt, a tiny portion of Mt. Blue Granny was gone, ground into nothingness.
"What, how is he this strong?" High in the sky, Patriarch Tenebrous Aspect was alarmed. "The Kṣitigarbha Wind Bloodlust I have been cultivating for a thousand years actually does nothing against his flying sword."
How could he know?
Qin Yun had yet to use the power of his Paramount realm. He was afraid, afraid that he would scare off Temple Lord Ruyi. Back when Qin Yun was trapped in the immortal abode, Temple Lord Ruyi had attempted to kidnap the members of the Qin family. Qin Yun naturally wanted him dead. He was waiting for Temple Lord Ruyi to come out before using his most powerful sword art on him.
Although Temple Lord Ruyi was great at life-preservation methods, he was extremely arrogant. He had once escaped from the Paramount realm existence, Reverend Barefeet.
However, Qin Yun was a Connate Paramount realm sword immortal! In terms of pursuit, his flying sword was much more powerful than Reverend Barefeet’s. He did not believe that Temple Lord Ruyi would be able to escape from his sword.
"This is the Kṣitigarbha Wind Bloodlust? Qin Yun asked as he looked at the flying Patriarch Tenebrous Aspect. His voice resounded through the heaven and earth. "It's pretty powerful but it's useless against me. Also, you three, it's time to show yourselves after watching for so long."
"It's time to show yourselves after watching for so long?"
Five kilometers away, Grand General Summon Thunder, General Hunt, and General Shrimp went pale from shock. Their legs turned limp.
"Grand General, he wants us to show ourselves." General Shrimp's voice was already trembling.
"Show ourselves?" Grand General Summon Thunder gulped. "Since he has asked us to show ourselves, it's best we do not resist. We—"
"Hahaha… Fellow Daoist Qin, how impressive."
"To think you can see through our concealment arts."
"Impressive."
The words were accompanied with boisterous laughter from three parties.
Three terrifying auras surged as three great fiendish demons appeared out of thin air.