Moonfall Gorge, on the bank of the Blood River in the Eastern Region.n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om
Whoosh-whoosh--
In the uneven mountain gorges, human-operated blowers emitted bursts of dragon breath, delivering demonic energy to the giant alchemy furnace in the center that was suspended in the air by iron cables.
The sound was so loud that it could be heard clearly beyond the canyon.
In a tower on the top of a mountain outside the canyon, seven outer disciples of the Heavenly Demon Sect sat around an iron pot hanging on a stove, stewing the bones of monsters they had just hunted in the forest.
Clink clink...
"Come on! Senior brother, I'll toast you a glass."
"You're too polite..."
There was a steady stream of glasses clinking.
"Come to think of it, have you seen the Young Master He who came to our place a few days ago?"
"What about him?"
"That bloody demonic aura is scary. I've been fasting for a year, and when he walked past me, I was so scared that I peed."
"Isn't that exaggerated? But I've heard that Young Master He led hundreds of disciples from the Heavenly Demon Sect and destroyed the Dark North Sect a few days ago. Is this true or false?"
"It's hard to say whether it's true or not, but Young Master He coming to our place is not a good thing."
"What do you mean?"
"Look, the Heavenly Demon Sect is short of manpower to stop the immortals from the northwest and south. The Great Elder sent Young Master He to our Moonfall Gorge at this time, which means that the immortals are preparing to attack us here."
Hearing this, one of them waved his hand and retorted, "No matter how on a roll the immortals are now, they can't attack the Moonfall Gorge. There are no spiritual veins here, no resources, and it is not an important pass. We only have a blood pill furnace... Why would the immortals want to attack the Moonfall Gorge?"
"Then, why did the Great Elder send Young Master He here?"
Everyone was silenced by this question.
At this time, a "ding ding" sound of iron bells came into the tower.
Because everyone was silent, the sound was clearly heard.
Ding ding ding...
Ding ding ding—
"Bells?"
One of them stood up and walked toward the window, following the source of the sound.
However, just after he stood up,
Swish—
A silver light flashed across his neck.
A disciple of the Heavenly Demon Sect who had just called him "brother" suddenly had a sword in his hand. The remaining five people were stunned. They stared at the man in disbelief.
"Hey! What are you doing?!"
"You kid... ah—!"
But the answer was the bloody sword blade.
Swish—
After a few sword flashes, only one of the seven Heavenly Demon Sect disciples who had gathered together to drink and eat meat was left standing.
"Heh..."
The man sneered at the corpses of his fellow disciples, then threw the sword aside as he walked to the window, pulled the bolt, and stepped back ten steps before cupping his hands.
The next moment, two men and two women, four people, flipped into the watchtower through the window.
Ye Anping glanced at the six decapitated disciples of the Heavenly Demon Sect and then looked at the man who bowed to him and did not speak.
A Core Formation-stage demonic cultivator with a ghost mask who came in with Ye Anping and the other two took out a bag of spirit stones from his storage bag, took a step forward, and threw it into the hands of the demonic sect disciple, coldly saying, "It's the agreed reward."
"Thank you... I'll leave now."
The demonic sect disciple weighed the bag of spirit stones in his hand, nodded with a sly smile, and then turned around, ready to go down the stairs and leave the tower.
However, the moment he turned around, the Core Formation-stage demonic cultivator who was traveling with Ye Anping suddenly drew his sword and cut him in half from the center of his brow to his balls.
Swish—
She hurried back to the cold spring and used spiritual power to fish up a scroll with a cloth as the base.
He Qingjiao looked at the person on the scroll, and her eyes slowly drooped. Her cold expression melted by half, revealing 50% gentleness and 50% killing intent. Her eyes gradually became ferocious as she muttered, "Sister Gu, where are you now?"
The blind maid stopped and called out in confusion. "Young Master He?"
He Qingjiao quickly suppressed her female voice, nodded, and responded. "Hmm..."
Following the little maid who was leading her, she made her way up the trestle on the rock wall, and in a short while, she arrived in front of the door of a five-story pavilion.
He Qingjiao did not knock on the door to announce herself but simply pushed the door and entered. She glanced around and saw a Nascent Soul Elder from the Heavenly Demon Sect and a few Core Formation-stage disciples gathered around a map, seeming to discuss strategies to deal with the enemy.
The Heavenly Demon Sect had received news earlier that the Young Miss Xiao of the Black Star Sect had brought about seven hundred Heavenly Cloud Peak disciples and crossed the Blood River, heading straight for the Moonfall Gorge.
He Buqun wanted her to kill Young Miss Xiao and the "Liang Xiaoxue" who was traveling with her, so she rushed over.
When the Nascent Soul-stage Elder saw He Qingjiao enter the room, cold sweat immediately seeped out of his forehead, and he said, "Young Master He, have you rested well these days?"
"Why are you looking for me?"
"Uh..." Elder Yue hesitated for a moment before lifting his sleeve and pointing to a place on the map in front of him. "According to the news sent back by my disciple, six medium-sized immortal ships of the Black Star Sect have already passed through the Singing Mountain and are less than one thousand miles away from the Moonfall Gorge... Therefore, I would like to ask about your plan, Young Master He..."
"Plan? The task I received from the Great Elder is to kill the Young Lady of the Black Star Sect and Liang Xiaoxue who is traveling with her. The rest is not my business, it's yours."
Elder Yue took a deep breath and explained, "...Moonfall Gorge is a place used by the Heavenly Demon Sect to refine pills. There are only six to seven hundred Core Formation-stage disciples in the valley."
"Doesn't the Black Star Sect also have about seven hundred people?"
"But..."
"I'm killing that Young Miss Xiao and Liang Xiaoxue, can't you handle the other Black Star Sect disciples?" He Qingjiao looked up disdainfully, squinting. "Elder Yue, the Heavenly Demon Sect doesn't need useless people. In my opinion, you are no different from a rat."
Elder Yue did not get annoyed. He had heard of He Qingjiao's talent and that he had destroyed the entire Dark North Sect with only a few hundred people.
"Young Master He, when I heard that you would come, I thought you would bring disciples from the Heavenly Demon Inner Sect with you. I didn't expect you to come alone..."
"So?"
"Young Master He, not everyone is like you, able to get beyond their cultivation limits and kill immortals over their level."
When He Qingjiao heard this, she raised her eyebrows and smiled bitterly. "Hehe... yes, not everyone is like me and Sister Gu..."
"Gu..."
Everyone in the sect knew about Gu Mingxin's connection with the immortals. In the past, they addressed her as "Young Miss Gu" or "Senior Sister Gu", but now, everyone kept a distance from her and dared not call her by her sect title or even her name.
After all, when Gu Mingxin communicated with immortals, Patriarch Yu Yan was so angry that he purged the Heavenly Demon Sect again.
Anyone who called Gu Mingxin "Senior Sister" or "Young Miss" after her betrayal, was sent into the alchemy furnace to become nutrients for the new disciples of the Heavenly Demon Sect.
He Qingjiao narrowed her eyes, smiling. "What about Gu?"
"This..." Elder Yue's face was covered with cold sweat. "Young Master He, please don't kill me. I dare not say anything more... Patriarch Yu Yan has already taught us a lesson before."
"He..."
He Qingjiao sneered, seeming to think that Elder Yue was quite boring, but only said, "Take your people out of the valley and face the Black Star Sect head-on."
"Ah?"
"Didn't you just ask me what I plan? This is what I mean..."
Elder Yue wiped the cold sweat from his head. "Young Master He, wouldn't it be better to wait? Maybe the sect will send more Elders or disciples..."
"The Elders and inner disciples of the sect have to stop the three-region immortals crossing the river from the north, south, and southwest, so they are busy. The Young Miss of the Black Star Sect only brought more than seven hundred people. I can handle them alone."
"But..."
"Since you asked me, but you're not doing what I said, why did you ask me?"
"..."
Elder Yue was speechless. He looked at his confidants on both sides who didn't dare to make a sound, hesitated for a while, then gritted his teeth and nodded. "Well, then we'll follow your arrangement, Young Master He. I will gather the disciples in the valley..."
"Heh, that's more like it..." He Qingjiao snorted coldly before turning around to leave.
The moment he stepped out of the bridge and closed the door, several Core Formation-stage disciples who had barely endured the pressure, felt their legs go soft, and they crouched down, holding onto the edge of the table.
"Elder Yue, that bloody aura is too scary..."
"Huh..." Elder Yue exhaled. "I've told you. During the battle, don't get too close to him. Stay as far away as you can. He doesn't distinguish between friend and foe... Anyone who gets in his way, even an old man, will be chopped in half by him..."
"Ah... okay."
"Well, ring the bell to gather the disciples."