A black shadow appeared and a chilly wind blew by, He Mu suddenly felt that his blood froze inch by inch. The Primordial Spirit had trouble thinking, and everything in front of it was covered in yellow-brown ice, even the air flow seemed to have frozen. The vision in his mind was an illusion, as if he was falling into the Legendary Nine Secluded Undergrounds, surrounded by shadows of ghosts, and a big army was ready to attack.
If it wasn't for the Celestial Sword using the Five Elements to cover him with the dazzling mixture of red, yellow, white, and black colors, He Mu believed that he would have long turned into an ice sculpture, blown into ash by the chilly wind.
As though heaven and earth had become the Ghost Land of the Nine Nether, a smell of death pervaded the air. The Hei Jia Demon next to Qi Zhengyan took a step forward, his right hand clenched into a fist as he stared at the black shadow.
Were these the Thousand Year-old Ghosts that were summoned from the depths of the Nine Levels of Underground?
There were also yellow-brown frosts on his black colored Hei Jia. It wasn't easy for him, as even though he was quite conscious, but there was still a distance of hundreds of millions of universes from its peak level of recovery.
Boo hoo!
The sound of ghosts crying was everywhere as a wave of cold-like horrifying power washed by. Qi Zhengyan's face was impassive, a Red Stream was all over his body, and on his head floated two bright golden stars.
One was Equality and the other was Self-strengthening.
Equality had just appeared, and the terrifying aura of the Thousand Year-old Ghosts had suddenly been cut off. Qi Zhengyan's strength grew stronger, so the two sides were now on par. The Self-strengthening star was giving out a red light, like the flourishing and vitality of Asahi, it swept back and forth, causing the many shadows of ghosts to pause right where they were, as if they had their own minds with the intent to endeavour.
"Is death an eternal slumber? The Red Stream had swept away all the ghosts!" Qi Zhengyan snorted and swung his fist, calming the Devil's Claws as if they had succumbed to him.
The red light glowed on the face of his fist, and as if the shadows of the ghosts had been summoned by it, together they turned their weapons around and raised their flags, dashing toward the direction of the Thousand Year-old Ghosts.
Boom!
The Yin aura emerged, and the black mist danced chaotically. The shadows were punched into pieces and turned into a cloud of black mist as it tried to reform back.
At this moment, He Mu saw that the Five Colors Divine Sword in his hand was flying upward by itself. As if it had come from the outside world, it drew a halo in the air, constraining the Yin and Yang, but it suddenly turned a bit chaotic.
The black mist sank into the halo and disappeared without a trace.
The surrounding ice melted away, and only the eerie atmosphere remained as everything went back to normal.
He Mu turned around, his heart hammering against his chest. He was worried about the demon's wrath, so he thought if he purposely hid the aura of the ghosts' shadows, then the demon could not use the Restrictive Spell.
"No one knows how much time the Thousand Year-old Ghost Emperor had spent meditating in the Nine Levels of Underground, not to mention that it has this mysterious ability to possess a person's body. If it can't find bodies to possess, then it'll consume its own energy when it annihilates the things around it, and it could even reincarnate back to the Nine Levels of Underground," the Hei Jia Demon suddenly piped up.
Qi Zhengyan nodded slightly, "They are the old followers summoned by the Demonic Monarch."
He was concise and did not say more. Then, he turned to He Mu and calmly said, "Even the Celestial Swords could not stop the possessed controlled by the Ghost Emperor, but they could, if they revealed their full power."
"Thanks for your advice," He Mu immediately breathed a sigh of relief.
At that moment, they then realized that the face of the Demon Emperor was quite familiar, as if they had seen it before.
Sure enough, it was a disciple of Huan Hua.
Qi Zhengyan took the letter and unfolded it to have a look, "I have no problem with sharing my art with the Righteous Martial Artists, but they have to promise to not stop those who are interested from coming to the Southern Wasteland."
"The younger generation will pass the message to their mentors, but the mentors once said that with peerless magic, who would ask for more? So the Righteous Martial Artists have no reason to stop those losers who had already been filtered out," said He Mu honestly.
"Very well," Qi Zhengyan looked like he did not have much to say, so he ordered his Hei Jia Demon to prepare the Orifices-Point Activation Stage and the Exterior Section of his Peerless Art. It was the essence of many arts, and it did not interfere with the direction of future sublimation. As for the Dharmakaya Section, Qi Zhengyan himself had only recently been promoted. Although there were inheritance and insight from the Demonic Lord, it still wasn't an easy task for one to promote and improve themselves.
As he watched He Mu put away the Celestial Parting Sword and the section of his art, the Hei Jia Demon frowned and asked, "Demonic Lord, the righteous really don't know their place. I can't believe they actually have the guts to come to your front door and ask for your Divine Skill!"
"That's okay," Qi Zhengyan looked beyond the cliff with his hands behind his back. "What I want is a chance for every mortal being, those who are willing to strive for self-improvement, an opportunity for all who are willing to endure hardship to make progress. The thought of taking over the upper-class dynasties had never crossed my mind, and nowadays, those who are talented won't need to travel to the Southern Wasteland through a long distance anymore, they could just practice at their local dynasties. As for the ones who weren't chosen, they still have a chance to go to the Southern Wasteland, which is where we are. Although it's a bit further away, why not do it?"
"Open your eyes, Demonic Lord. It's impossible to do it," sighed the Hei Jia Demon.
Qi Zhengyan smiled, "I'm just worried that the martial artists from the dynasties cannot handle it, exhausting themselves in the process."
"Huh?" the Hei Jia Demon did not understand. He was often disturbed by the means of killing.
"Every martial artist's Orifices-Point Activation Stage and image are trained from our art, the difference between them is really small, so it's bound to change." Qi Zhengyan continued impassively, "However the enticement of the Peerless Art that effectively solved the current crisis had made them indifferent in the long run, and it looks like the martial artists and the inheritance itself still exist. As for how they exist, that's another matter."
"There is a great trend, those who go along with it will be prosperous, but those who go against it will face death." The Hei Jia Demon seemed stunned for a moment, then continued, "Hence, the Demonic Monarch wants to stop this from happening to prevent you, Demonic Lord, from completely subduing the Devil's Claws and be caught in a difficult situation before he wakes up."
"The Demonic Monarch can create a primitive diabolism in the crevice between the Emperor and the Demonic Sage, but he is no better than the wise traditional Evil Demon, who could certainly gain all the wisdom from the teachings of the Wang family from Jiangdong. It is more cautious and considerate, so he will not blindly attack for the time being." Qi Zhengyan walked to the window of the temple with his hands behind his back, "The reason he summoned the old followers was, first, he wanted to test my current strength and confirm the role of the two stars that I had condensed, all of this to prepare for future difficulties; second, to give me a sense of oppression, to let me know that he was watching me, so that I'll lose my way, becoming more eager for success, and have more contradictions with the righteous. Then he'll be making trouble behind the scenes, causing disputes, and reviving the past chaos caused by the Tyrant."
"What a crafty old scoundrel…" The Hei Jia Demon never thought that a simple attack would have such a deep meaning, "Luckily you are rational and see things thoroughly."
Qi Zhengyan shook his head and said, "He will never understand the path that I seek, so no matter how hypothetical it is, it will still go wrong. It is not easy to collect my thoughts, but his mental influence on me is also hard to achieve."
"However, sooner or later we will also be at war with the righteous, and the longer it is delayed, the better."
"Sooner or later we will be at war?" the Hei Jia Demon was astounded. Haven't we already sent out the Peerless Divine Skill? Then we should be at peace with the righteous!
He was better at fighting and killing nastily, his emotions were often affected by this aspect, but he was dull when analyzing things like a situation.
This was a common problem with the Evil Demons of Nine Levels of Underground, only a few could get rid of the shackles on this aspect.
Qi Zhengyan showed no change in his expression, and he calmly said, "For greedy people, the more they receive, the more they want. If they are blindly given a concession, then they will push their luck until they get their hands on the art, and after gaining more confidence, surely they will think of other ways to go about it again. Only when we fight against each other and not fear the fight itself, that we can get along with each other well."
"Over the past, there has never been a unilateral concession from either side in exchange for a truly friendly relationship."
"So, we have to make early preparations."
---
Over time, the fire in the furnace of the Golden Crow Sect had always been burning bright as each Myriad World Knowledge Ball contributed their parts in refining success.
Fang Huayin was always working hard, helping with the refinement. Under the intense training, the process of refining treasures of heaven and earth had also been greatly accelerated. After a few more days, all of the items will be completed.
Above the sea of clouds, the gorgeous ship with several decks of the Night Emperor were quietly drifting. Yunyue was reporting the news she had received, "My prince, the materials given by a disciple of the Jade Palace are of extremely high quality, but the things refined from it are very inexplicable, and their functions are still unknown, as if they do not have much use. According to an acquaintance's judgment, we are only afraid of auxiliary parts, and the core of the items are not in the hands of outsiders, as it will be completed by itself in the Jade Palace."
The eyes of the Night Emperor were full of love for life. He said with a smile, "This really intrigues me. Well, let the acquaintance write down the refining details of some of the items. We will send out the materials and allow him to send back the imitations of one or two. The prince will examine himself and determine what the Jade Palace is going to refine, then we will make arrangements."
"Send a message to the Luo Sect, let them send a strong person to intercept the works of the Jade Palace disciples. It would be best if they could get a hold of all the items, then we wouldn't have to show our appearance directly. The influence of the Primitive Emperor is getting stronger, so it's best not to offend him out in the open."