"Where's Yuanzhen?" Outside the Carefree Valley, Reverend Yuanmu asked.
A Core Formation cultivator guarding the big tree at the entrance of the Carefree Valley reported, "Head Seat Martial Uncle, Martial Uncle Yuanzhen said he's keeping watch inside. If Head Seat Martial Uncle arrives, just send him a message."
Reverend Yuanmu's brows furrowed deeply.
This person said he wanted to contact Yuanzhen, but in fact, he'd already sent a Summoning Talisman to Yuanzhen the moment he arrived, but Yuanzhen didn't receive it.
The current situation was really strange.
"Senior Martial Brother Yuanmu."
Another middle-stage cultivator with a big beard came forward and asked, "Junior Martial Brother Yuanzhen couldn't have been involved, right?"
"He can't be."
Reverend Yuanmu's brows sank. "It's just letting him keep watch. It's not like it's something difficult to do. Could it be that he can't even do this?"
Hearing the displeasure in Reverend Yuanmu's tone, the big bearded cultivator didn't say anything else. He just asked, "Then what do we do next?
Go in directly? "
Reverend Yuanmu was also conflicted over this problem. After thinking for a while, he slowly said, "Yuanzhen has always been reliable in his work. It's impossible for him to disappear for no reason."
The big bearded cultivator understood the meaning behind his words. "Senior Martial Brother suspects that someone has trapped Junior Martial Brother Yuanzhen?"
Reverend Yuanmu nodded. "Yuanzhen must have encountered a problem that's hard to solve.
There were three of them, but they actually disappeared without a trace — someone must have been targeting them. Perhaps, it's targeting us! "
"It can't be, right?" The big bearded cultivator said, "Who would be so daring?
Seizing treasures is one thing, but if they deliberately killed our sect's cultivators, aren't they afraid of angering Jiuyan Sect? "
Reverend Yuanmu obviously wasn't so optimistic. He said, "Senior Martial Brother Iron Face has passed away, but in these few decades, I've also been injured. Who knows, there might be someone who thinks the chance to turn things around has come."
The big bearded cultivator knew what Reverend Yuanmu said made sense, so he asked, "Since Senior Martial Brother Yuanzhen thinks something has happened to him, should we go find him first, or save Junior Martial Brother Ling first?"
Spiritual Master Yuan Mu's brows furrowed, clearly very troubled. "Let's save Yuan Zhen first. That kid has always had good fortune, he shouldn't die for the time being."
The brat he was referring to was Ling Yunhe. Big Beard thought for a while and said, "Senior Martial Brother Yuan Mu, Yuan Zhen has three people and he doesn't have anything that people covet. Even if he's trapped for a while, his life shouldn't be in danger. On the other hand, Junior Martial Brother Ling … These days, all the Nascent Soul cultivators of the major sects have come out and are rushing over here. I'm afraid that Junior Martial Brother Ling won't be able to hold on for long. We can't afford to lose the Spirit Restraining Pearl. Now that he claims to have inherited the Black Tortoise's legacy, shouldn't we go over earlier?"
Reverend Yuan Mu snorted coldly and said, "Why did you save him earlier?
He was becoming more and more outrageous!
He clearly knew that those people had great enmity with the sect, but he still chose to associate with them. It was one thing for him to associate with them, but when there was news of the Black Tortoise, he didn't inform the sect and instead chose to travel with them!
Does he even care about the sect? "
"Don't be angry, Senior Martial Brother," Big Beard hurriedly persuaded. "Junior Martial Brother Ling is young, it's inevitable that he'll feel unhappy after suffering some setbacks. He doesn't have the guts to ignore the sect. The Ling family is relying on him to support it now!"
Reverend Yuan Mu calmed down a little and said, "I know this too. Suddenly falling from the sky, he'll definitely feel disappointed.
But he's not living up to expectations, so what can we do?
The burden of Jiuyan Sect is too heavy. I don't have the guts to hand it over to someone who does things too casually. "
Big Beard was a little disapproving. "In Junior Martial Brother's opinion, it's still too early to say this. Historically, the First Seats' cultivation has always been at the late Nascent Soul level. Junior Martial Brother Ling hasn't formed his Nascent Soul for long, so it's hard to say whether he has the fated chance to reach the late Nascent Soul level. If there's really a day when he reaches the late Nascent Soul level, even if Senior Martial Brother doesn't like it, we can only hand it over to him."
Reverend Yuan Mu knew that what he said was true. He sighed and said, "Let's look for Yuanzhen first. There's something strange about this matter. I keep feeling that there's a conspiracy. If we don't find Yuanzhen, we can't calm down.
As for that Ling Yunhe kid … Hmph, the Spirit Restraining Pearl can only recognize someone who practices the Ice and Fire Technique as its master, so there's nothing to be afraid of. "
Seeing that he had made up his mind, Big Beard didn't say anything else. "Yes, Senior Martial Brother."
He sighed inwardly. This Senior Martial Brother of his had always been suspicious and serious. Once he became suspicious, it was like a thorn in his heart. If he didn't find Yuanzhen, he wouldn't be able to get rid of his worries.
However, the moment he said this, it was clear that he had made up his mind to give up on Ling Yunhe if they didn't make it in time. After all, Ling Yunhe had lost his identity as the successor. Ling Yunhe alone wasn't as important as Yuanzhen and the other two.
Thinking of Ling Shiyu, who had always been on good terms with him, Big Beard sighed inwardly. Without Ling Yunhe, the Ling family would really decline.
* * *
Nan Guitian and Daoist Ru Yi were flying. After a while, they stopped at the end of a stone path. They looked surprised.
"What's going on?" Nan Guitian looked at the densely packed rocks in front of him and frowned.
Daoist Ru Yi went forward to take a look. His face darkened. "The road is blocked."
The two of them looked at each other and didn't say anything.
This was the small path that Yue Ying Demon Monarch had brought them here. It was said that when Starfall City was searching for demonic mines, they accidentally discovered a strange aura and spent many years digging it out.
Without this secret path, it would be difficult for them to enter. They had seen with their own eyes how terrifying the Black Water Formation was.
Now that this path was blocked, they used their divine senses and realized that it was completely blocked. Even Nascent Soul cultivators like them couldn't clear it.
"How could this be?"
After thinking for a while, Nan Guitian asked, "Daoist Ru Yi, in your opinion, who exactly is blocking this path?
What's their intention? "
Daoist Ru Yi thought for a while and said, "Since they've blocked the path, it means that they don't want us to go out or that they don't want anyone else to come in.
It's easy to explain why they don't want anyone else to come in. It's just that more and more people have come and the competition is getting harder.
But if they don't want us to go out … "
Seeing that Daoist Ru Yi didn't say anything, Nan Guitian asked, "So what if they don't want us to go out?"
After a long while, Daoist Ru Yi sighed. "They must be harboring evil intentions."
Nan Guitian narrowed his eyes. "What do you mean?"
Daoist Ru Yi said, "Why do we have to go out?
Apart from the ownership of the treasures, there's also … "
Nan Guitian pondered for a while and said in shock, "Run for our lives!"
Daoist Ru Yi nodded solemnly.
The two of them fell silent again. After a long while, Nan Guitian said, "Perhaps they're trying to prevent those people from escaping?"
Daoist Ru Yi smiled bitterly. "Brother Nan, when did you learn to deceive yourself?"
Nan Guitian smiled bitterly as well. "That's right. I shouldn't have deceived myself. There are so many of us. How can they escape so easily?
There's no need for them to use such a method.
It's just that I can't believe that someone would be so generous. "He was glad that the people from the Dawning Pill Sect and the Five Elements Valley hadn't arrived yet.
"No matter who it is, we only have two choices."
Daoist Ru Yi had already considered the consequences. "The first choice is to go back immediately and ask them to temporarily stop fighting and join forces to kill our way out. The second choice is to join the other side."
Before Nan Guitian could say anything, a clear applause rang out in the quiet belly of the mountain.
Clap!
Clap!
Pa!
Along with the voice, the Moon Shadow Demon King approached them silently. He stood not far away from them and said, "My two friends are indeed smart people. I wonder what your choice will be?"
Hearing the sound, the two of them had already turned around. When they saw the Moon Shadow Demon Monarch approaching them, they could not help but be astonished.
Was this old ghost already so terrifying?
However, they were all old monsters who had lived for hundreds or even thousands of years. With a flash in their minds, they recovered.
Under such circumstances, what else could they not guess?
"Fellow Daoist Lunar Shadow."
Daoist Ru Yi said in a deep voice, "So you didn't plan so much for some cultivation technique at all!"
"No."
The Moon Shadow Demon Lord said, "At first, I did it for that junior's cultivation technique. But I didn't expect that the junior could actually call those few helpers over. My efforts were all for naught!
I knew that they would definitely come here, so I suddenly had an idea. This is a really good place! "
Nan Guitian stared at him and asked, "Even if you only thought about it later, you must've wanted to kill him a long time ago, right?"
"What good would it do you if you killed us?
You're a Demonic Cultivator, and you've only occupied one city. Even if you want to unify the Demon Territory, you don't have to kill us all. "
The Moon Shadow Demon Lord smiled gently. "Fellow Daoist Nan, you seem to think that unifying the Demon Territory is very easy?"
Nan Guitian did not speak.
The Moon Shadow Demon Lord continued, "Putting aside how troublesome that old witch Ye Shuang is, the current situation is that the Dao Cultivators have been strong for too long. Even if we unify the Demon Territory, we can't restore the glory days when the Demon Supremacy was still alive!"
"So, fellow Daoist Lunar Shadow wants to be the second Demon Supremacy."
Daoist Ru Yi was expressionless as he said slowly, "If you kill all of us here, the Daoist, Buddhist, and Confucian sects will not be able to recover from this setback. Even fellow Daoist Ye Shuang, who is the only Demonic Cultivator who can resist you, will not be able to escape. Then, you can unify the Demon Territory and even dominate Yunzhong."
Thinking of this, he frowned slightly. "That's not right. This is not something that you can do alone. You must have helpers, right?"
"Of course."
The eyes on the Moon Shadow Demon Lord's blurry face flickered. "Fellow Daoist Ru Yi, you think too highly of me. I do want to be the second Demon Supremacy, but I'm not arrogant enough to want to dominate Yunzhong." How could it be easy to kill so many Nascent Soul cultivators?
As long as he could kill those whom he had never dealt with, it would be enough. He only wanted to create a huge Demon Territory that had never been seen since ancient times. He did not want to become the master of Yunzhong.
He knew himself very well. When the Demon Supremacy was still alive, Fu Yao Zi and the other three Sages had suppressed him, let alone him.
"Then," Nan Guitian sighed. "Fellow Daoist Lunar Shadow, how do you plan to deal with us?"
The Moon Shadow Demon Lord stared at them for a long time and said, "It's not difficult to kill the two of you, but that would be too much of a pity.
Just like what you said just now, I'll give you two choices. Defeat me and escape, or join us. "
He used the word 'we', not 'me'.
"So, have you decided?" Nan Guitian and Daoist Ru Yi seemed to see a confident smile on that blurry face.
The two of them looked at each other and said in unison, "We'll join you."
"Good!" The Moon Shadow Demon Lord really smiled this time. As he turned around, he said, "Follow me."
The next moment, he stopped in his tracks.
A purple-clothed person came out from a corner. She was also silent.
She sighed and said, "Yue Ying, so this is your plan."