Chapter 104: Exterminating the Demon

After advancing to the peak of the Qi Refining Stage, Wen Xu’s perception of the wind had improved even further.

Consequently, the malice he perceived was several times stronger than what others felt. This nauseating sensation enveloped almost all his senses. He rarely lost control of himself, but now… Wen Xu could not hold it in.

“Blegh…”

His stomach was completely empty, and the dry heaving only made him feel worse. Moreover, the wind was all-permeating. Even if he blocked his five senses, as long as his spiritual energy came into contact with the wind, he could still perceive the malice in the air.

Is this what a demon is like?

“Wen Xuxu, are you okay? You look terrible…”

Chen Zui walked in holding his saber. Seeing Wen Xu in this state, he immediately supported his other arm. “What’s wrong with him?”

“I… ugh…” The stench carried by the wind grew stronger and stronger, pushing Wen Xu to the absolute limit of his endurance. “I… can still bear it.”

But you look like you’re about to pass out. You don’t look like you can bear it at all, Bian Chunzhou thought. He was actually feeling quite unwell himself, so he could only imagine how miserable Wen Xuxu must be right now.

Were demons really this terrifying? Just smelling their aura from a distance could cause harm to cultivators.

Right then, the flying vessel shook violently once more. The slightly tilted vessel stabilized, and Wen Xu clearly felt the nauseating sensation fade significantly. Although some residue remained in the air, the spiritual array on the vessel was rapidly purifying the air inside the cabin.

“Whew.” Wen Xu took a bottle of Clear Spirit Pills from his storage ring and swallowed two of them, finally feeling a bit better. “That was disgusting.” It was not just disgusting; it triggered a deep, instinctual revulsion, forcing him to recall painful memories from his past. This passive, uncontrolled feeling was undoubtedly the most detestable part.

Was this truly the effect of demonic energy? Wen Xu frowned deeply, his heart skipping a beat. He could not shake a bad premonition.

“Tell me about it. What on earth is…”

When the flying vessel shook violently, Chen Zui had been sparring on the deck with a Golden Core senior brother from the Saber Peak. If the vessel’s grade had not been high enough, he might have fallen off. Since those in the Qi Refining Stage could not fly, it would have been a brush with death.

But Chen Zui had a strong heart and did not even realize how close he had come. Upon learning that a demon had appeared in the city, he had been shoved into the cabin by his Golden Core senior brother, where he managed to catch a few scraps of information. “You guys actually knew someone turned into a demon?”

Bian Chunzhou pointed at Wen Xuxu beside him. “He heard it from the Sect Master.”

“Oh. When the demonic energy swept through just now, Senior Brother said the situation in Sifang City probably isn’t looking good.”

Chen Zui was the only native of the cultivation world among the three, but even he was experiencing this for the first time. “My mother said that unless my cultivation reaches the Soul Transformation Stage, I should run as fast as I can if I ever encounter a demon.”

Understood. Staying put quietly was the greatest help they could offer.

The flying vessel continued to sail smoothly. Elder Zhao Qi of the Discipline Hall was now piloting the vessel back to the sect, while Zheng Jin and Zhi Lianshan took over the escort duty from Sword Venerable Morong. Indeed, Gu Wufang and Sword Venerable Morong had gone to Sifang City to help. As cultivators of the Five Great Sects, they might have ignored it if they had not run into it, but since they had, they could not act like cowards.

Although Zhao Qi, who was only at the mid Nascent Soul Stage, was the strongest cultivator left on the vessel, the vessel Yonglu Mountain used for travel was a high-grade spiritual treasure. Furthermore, Wen Xu carried a protective talisman from a Body Integration Stage expert. Even if some blind fool dared to target Yonglu Mountain, they would surely never return.

While the flying vessel carried the disciples back toward Yonglu Mountain, the massive Sifang City had already become an empty town. Do not misunderstand; it was not that everyone was dead. Rather, the city was equipped with numerous teleportation arrays. The moment the Suitian Sword Sect issued their emergency order, the citizens rushed to the nearest teleportation arrays at top speed. Within a short two shichen^[1], Sifang City was completely evacuated.

The Suitian Sword Sect’s protection of Sifang City had never been mere lip service. Furthermore, those who turned into demons needed to devour others to grow. Teleporting the citizens and cultivators away was also the most effective way to suppress the demon’s growth.

“Old Gu, didn’t you say you weren’t going to help?”

Gu Wufang shot him a look. “Everyone else is here. How could I be the only one missing?”

It was not just Gu Wufang. Ding Jieyou of the Hehe Sect, Master Yicheng of the Kudu Temple, and all the other Soul Transformation stage cultivators had gathered. This was not because they distrusted the Suitian Sword Sect, but because demons were unpredictable and demanded caution. Even if it turned out to be a false alarm, a false alarm was far better than facing a catastrophe.

Never underestimate any enemy; this was the fundamental reason the Five Great Sects had stood tall for so long.

“Do we know who has succumbed to the demon?”

Tang Ji nodded. “The Soul Transformation elders of our sect have already activated a sword array to trap the demon near Sanluan Street. However, before we could locate him, he had already devoured many cultivators. His cultivation is now approaching the peak of the Soul Transformation stage. To destroy him in one blow, the safest method would be for Meixi Jian, who practices lightning arts, to strike him down with his sword.”

Indeed, lightning arts were the bane of all evil. But since Tang Ji put it that way, Gu Wufang asked, “Is Meixi Jian not at the sect?”

“I have already sent word for him to return immediately.”

This meant he was not here and might not make it back in time; they had to prepare to eliminate the demon themselves. But the cultivation world could not rely solely on Meixi Jian. If they wanted to minimize the damage of slaying the demon, they would need the Demon-Slaying Grand Array.

To slay a demon at the peak of the Soul Transformation stage, the time required to set up the Demon-Slaying Grand Array would naturally be extremely long. While they could kill the possessed host directly, the demonic energy would easily scatter. The primary purpose of the Demon-Slaying Grand Array was to contain and utterly annihilate the demonic energy that would disperse upon the demon’s death. However, Meixi Jian, who practiced lightning arts, could summon heavenly lightning now that he had reached the Soul Transformation stage. As everyone knew, heavenly lightning was the natural enemy of all evil; any contact meant instant death.

As a Buddhist cultivator, Master Yicheng had the strongest perception of demons. “Something is wrong with this demon. His cultivation is rising too quickly.”

“You’re right,” Tang Ji said. “As soon as we detected traces of the demon, I sent disciples into the city. The one who turned is Zhou Zhongling, the head of a family from Nanfeng City in the south. He was recently expelled from his clan, seemingly for offending the Tianji Pavilion. When he succumbed to the demon, he devoured all the cultivators in his traveling party, including his own son. Oh, by the way, his son was Zhou Ji, the one who accused Yonglu Mountain of opening a back door for the Little Martial Uncle in the secret realm.”

Gu Wufang frowned. “Such a coincidence?” Why was the Tianji Pavilion involved in this too?

“I don’t know if it’s a coincidence, but the area he stayed in housed many cultivation clans from other cities. When the incident occurred, he devoured quite a few of them. He seems to harbor an extraordinary hatred for these clans. The few cultivators who managed to escape said he showed a peculiar loathing toward them.”

Demons possessed no rationality, which explained why he had not even spared his own son. Yet, since he came from a cultivation clan himself, why would he harbor such a specific hatred for them?

“How did Zhou Zhongling offend the Tianji Pavilion?”

Time was too short. The only information the Suitian Sword Sect had managed to gather was that Zhou Zhongling had been caught coveting a secret treasure of the Tianji Pavilion, and the Tianji Pavilion had publicly held him to account in the streets.

As a fellow sect master, Gu Wufang immediately sensed something amiss. “There is definitely something fishy about this. But we don’t have time to look into it now. Tang Ji, get to the point.”

“The point is, I suspect his transformation was no accident. I believe he was implanted with a Demon Seed.”

Everything had happened too quickly, without any warning. It happened right during the Five Sects Conference, right next to the quarters of the clan cultivators, and right after he had offended the Tianji Pavilion. The alignment of these events seemed too precisely calculated. And of course, the most suspicious part of all was that Zhou Zhongling was simply too ordinary.

Historically, all those who fell into demonhood were geniuses of heaven and earth, blessed by the world’s spiritual grace. Even if they were pure evil, they lacked nothing in talent, fate, intellect, and comprehension. Only then could they become demons, and only then would the entire cultivation world treat them with such extreme caution.

But based on the current information, which of these did Zhou Zhongling fit? To put it bluntly, the standard starting point for past demons had to be someone like Yonglu Mountain’s Little Grand-Uncle Master.

But if he really had been implanted with a Demon Seed, it meant that… in some unknown corner of the Hengze Continent, a demon had revived or been born. This was far more terrifying than Zhou Zhongling turning into a demon on his own.

“Stop doubting. Let’s prepare for the worst-case scenario. It even chose a time when your Meixi Jian was away from the sect. I never believe in so many coincidences in the cultivation world.”

Tang Ji thought, I don’t believe it either. So he, too, had prepared for the worst.

Master Yicheng pressed his palms together as a storm brewed. “Amitabha. Time waits for no one. Everyone, let us eliminate the demon as soon as possible.”

They would face whatever storm came next when the time came, but the demon before them had to be slain.

The Suitian Sword Sect set up the array with great speed. By the time dusk fell, the Demon-Slaying Grand Array was complete. Setting aside the massive amount of spirit stones and treasures invested, just trapping the demonized cultivator had already exhausted two groups of Soul Transformation Sovereigns to the point of collapse.

Why didn’t the Suitian Sword Sect deploy cultivators of the Body Integration Stage and Tribulation Transcendence Stage? It was not because the sect was stingy. Rather, unless a world-ending catastrophe was at hand, the Body Integration Divine Venerables and Tribulation Transcendence Ancestors shared a consensus not to interfere in mortal affairs. The reason was simply that their actions caused too much collateral damage. A Body Integration Divine Venerable fighting a peak Soul Transformation demon sounded like they were aiming to destroy Sifang City directly.

Of course, if the demonized cultivator were comparable to the Body Integration Stage, Tang Ji wouldn’t even need to ask. Divine Venerable Wushan would be the first to charge down the mountain to fight. Heaven knew how long it had been since he had enjoyed a satisfying battle after advancing to Body Integration. Even that dragon’s claws were probably not as sharp as they used to be.

Even so, since he had not yet entered seclusion, he kept a constant eye on the mountain below. If the Soul Transformation cultivators could not hold their ground, the Suitian Sword Sect would step in to handle the fallout.

Once the Demon-Slaying Grand Array was formed, all the Soul Transformation cultivators present stopped holding back. Even though the demon had grown a meter taller and sprouted fangs, no matter how powerful it was, it could not withstand the lethal blows of so many Soul Transformation cultivators.

With a loud bang, the demonized cultivator’s body instantly disintegrated in mid-air. The Demon-Slaying Grand Array activated rapidly, completely obliterating every trace of its aura, flesh, blood, and demonic mist.

Everyone had already retreated from the Demon-Slaying Grand Array. The array was now empty, save for a dark red blood mist swirling and thrashing violently, as if making a final struggle.

Setting everything else aside, this scene could actually be described as… strangely beautiful. Watching the last trace of blood mist get swallowed by the Demon-Slaying Grand Array, Gu Wufang’s anxious heart finally settled.

With this, it appeared the Demon Seed had been destroyed.

“This is bad. The Demon Seed on him isn’t complete!” Tang Ji looked at the fragmented, mostly missing Demon Seed inside the Demon-Slaying Grand Array, cursing a thousand times in his heart. “Quick, go investigate! Find out exactly how many people he has been in contact with from start to finish!”