บท 32: Task
In the Imperial Capital of Western Wen, inside a mansion, five grim figures stood around a table.
"Song Laohu, are you sure we did the right thing?" The patriarch of the Chu family, Chu Hua, couldn't help but voice out his concerns.
Song Laohu looked at Chu Hua with stooped shoulders, clearly disheatened by the death of his family members, especially his precious son Song Longwei. He looked outside the window, into the bustling Imperial Capital and couldn't help but sigh.
'Longwei... I'm sorry.. We had to abandon you, otherwise the bloodline of the Song family would end in the vile headquarters of the Immortal Devil Sect.'
One of the five Rank 1 Qi Experts looked at Song Laohu and grumbled.
"Old Song, my family's losses were far too severe! Although we annihilated all their Qi Trainees, and even killed six of their Rank 1 Qi Experts, that doesn't make up for our losses."
The red-haired patriarch ignored him. 'My Qi Artifact [The Bronze Lamp] was not amongst the bodies of the outer-sect disciples nor the six cultivators we killed. My subordinates told me that it was a Level 1 Qi Trainee who annihilated that village, and according to the energy levels in the Desolate Astral Forest, the one who killed Dongfang was also a Level 1 Qi Trainee.. All Level 1 Qi Trainees in the outer-sect courtyard died, which means either a Qi Expert acted against my grandson, or the culprit made a breakthrough and became a Level 2 Qi Trainee.. Only two of the Immortal Devil Sect's Level 2 Qi Trainees survived, it is possible that the culprit is one of them.'
Cultivators who has achieved Qi Ascension possess unfathomable levels of intelligence, Song Laohu thought about the situation rationally and came up with two possibilities regarding the culprit who slayed his grandson and took his Qi Artifact [The Bronze Lamp].
One is a Qi Expert, accompanied by a Level 1 Qi Trainee, slayed his grandson and took his treasure while his Qi Trainee killed Dongfang. This explains the absence of his grandson's aura and the fight between the Qi Trainee and Dongfang.
The other possibility is that a Level 1 Qi Trainee somehow managed to kill both Dongfang and Song Jianyi, he either killed Song Jianyi in a remote place and hid the evidence, or used a treasure to wipe out any traces of Song Jianyi, keeping only Dongfang's traces because he could not use his treasure once again.
If a Level 1 Qi Trainee was able to kill both Dongfang and Song Jianyi, then he must be a supremely-talented Qi Trainee who is on the verge of making a breakthrough, upon arriving at the sect he must've broken through to the second level.
These are the two most feasible possibilities Song Laohu can think of with the clues at his disposal, to him, it is totally possible that a passing expert took notice of Song Jianyi's treasure and slayed him on the way, keeping Dongfang alive. And Dongfang accidentally stumled upon an Immortal Devil Sect cultivator, resulting in death.
However, why would the expert kill Song Jianyi and keep Dongfang alive?
'I memorized both of your faces, and the moment either one of you leave the sect I will chase you down to the end of the earth.' Song Laohu thought to himself.
Meanwhile, in the imperial palace of Western Wen, Emperor Wen was pacing back and forth frantically, he was a powerful Qi Cultivator but in front of the behemoth that is the Immortal Devil Sect, even he can't help but feel nervous and pressured.
"What should I do? What should I do? The forces of the Immortal Devil Sect are making their way into my Imperial Capital. Fuck, I knew offending these bastards is a bad idea but alas, my hand was forced!"
The destruction of the Immortal Devil Sect's outer-sect courtyard was a giant slap to the face, plus the cultivators and disciples of the sect were a bunch of madman, they delighted in massacre and slaughter, now that they have an excuse to slaughter an entire mortal empire, they would naturally annihilate every single person, not even sparing the mortals.
"These scoundrels and miscreants are destroying MY WESTERN WEN EMPIRE! They flattened Green Lotus City, slaughtered everyone in Zhoumay and Quanhou city, and now they are setting fire to the entirety of Xinyuan city!"
The Green Lotus City was not only a military sect served to protect the empire from the Su Dynasty's attacks, it was also an important hub for merchants to engage in trade, it's importance is second to the Imperial Capital of Western Wen!
Emperor Wen even stationed a Rank 2 Qi Expert to stand guard and lord over the city, alongside many Rank 1 Qi Experts to govern it and make sure the law is kept in order.
On the other hand, each of Zhoumay, Quanhou and Xinyuan are cities whose population in the millions! As a result of the Immortal Devil Sect's attack, millions of mortals are dying, resulting in unprecedented losses for Western Wen.
Knock, knock!
"Enter!"
An eunuch entered the room, he bowed towards the emperor and said in an extremely subservient manner.
"Your majesty, the River Society sent an envoy, he is right outside the door and is waiting for your permission." The eunuch informed.
When Emperor Wen heard the news, he wore a look of joy as he hurriedly said.
"Let him in, let him in!"
The River Society is a superpower in the Divine Star Continent, it ranks amongst the top ten most powerful sects and is famed for upholding the law and delivering justices. It is one of the leaders of the righteous-path and it is the arch-enemy of the Immortal Devil Sect.
A blonde man wearing Daoist robes entered the room, despite being middle-aged, he was handsome and had a certain transcendent aura to him.
"Elder Dihejiao, I'm honored to have you in my palace." Emperor Wen recognized the envoy.
"Haha, we meet again, Emperor Wen. Last time we met was when you visited my River Society, am I right?"
Elder Dihejiao was one of the twelve elders of the River Society, he is a powerful water-path Rank 3 Qi Expert who is known for his benevolence and righteousness, a lot of people are in good terms with him.
"Yes, that's right. Come, come, take a seat!" Emperor Wen beckoned to Elder Dihejiao to sit. Both sat down on a table filled with immortal fruit and wine.
"I've heard the Immortal Devil Sect are slaughtering the countless mortals of your Western Wen, this is truly a disheartening matter, and the River Society would like to aid you in driving away these bunch of devils and demons." Elder Dihejiao cut straight into the matter without engaging in small talk.
"Indeed, my Western Wen found out that the Immortal Devil Sect were using my Green Lotus City as a recruitment ground for their disciples, obviously I would not permit these devils and demons to infect and corrode my younger generations with their vile doctrines and teachings, so I shoo'ed them away, alas, we did not expect such a fierce counterattack." Emperor Wen sighed.
Elder Dihejiao looked at him for a moment before saying. "Was your Western Wen behind the attack on their outer-sect courtyard?"
The news of the devastating attack on the Immortal Devil Sect's outer-sect courtyard spread to the corners of the Divine Star Continent in less than a day, it caught many sects and powerhouses by surprise, because a force capable of bypassing the Immortal Devil Sect's defenses and protective formations is definitely not a force to be underestimated.
Because the Immortal Devil Sect engaged in many vile actions, the Divine Star Continent's righteous-path forces had enough, and tried to assault and infiltrate their headquarters many times!
The River Society tried, the Nine Mountains Immortal sect tried and the Harmonious Gate sect tried, yet none of them succeeded! Just from this alone one can see how hard it is to infiltrate their defenses and protective formation.
If Western Wen possesses the capabilities and technology to infiltrate their defenses, then the various powers of the Divine Star Continent would have to re-evaluate their strength and try to befriend them.
Emperor Wen smiled bitterly as he looked at Elder Dihejiao. "Unfortunately, my Western Wen was not behind the attack on the Immortal Devil Sect's headquarters, or else we wouldn't have to worry about their experts wreaking havoc in my empire."
Hearing the emperor's response, Elder Dihejiao was disappointed. "Then do you have any idea about who is behind the attack?"
The emperor shook his head in denial.
"Unfortunate." Elder Dihejiao lamented.
If they were to recruit a figure who is capable of breaching a sect's defenses, then that sect or powerhouse will definitely be amongst the top five of the entirety of the Divine Star Continent!
Alas, the Song family's patriarch was not an ordinary cultivator, he has many treasures on him such as the [Solarfire Dust] and [Heavenlock Space Cage], his background is mysterious and his master, although unknown, must defintely be an extraordinary figure.
He didn't claim credit, because if he did so, many powers would get greedy and go for him, a Rank 1 Qi Expert who is capable of breaching the defenses of the Immortal Devil Sect must definitely have many treasures.
The Immortal Devil Sect did not announce his identity either because that would be a big face loss, a bunch of Rank 1 and Rank 2 Qi Experts ran amok in their courtyard? Slaughtering their disciples while the elders and leaders of the sect stayed helpless and watched this group of weaklings without being able to do anything?
All the major powers and powerhouses of the Divine Star Continent would laugh at them, and maybe some will even deploy their forces to attack their headquarters, thinking the Immortal Devil Sect became weaker and easier to push around.
"Hmm I see, my River Society will deploy six of their elders and one Qi Lord to stand alongside your empire against the Immortal Devil Sect. Nominally the Immortal Devil Sect only has one Rank 4 Qi Expert, Demonfire, however their hidden forces are far too terrifying, I hope we do not agitate them by killing too many of their experts."
Emperor Wen nodded, if Demonfire was only the Rank 4 Qi Expert of the Immortal Devil Sect, then Emperor Wen wouldn't be too worried because he too was a Rank 4 Qi Expert, he just had to figure out a way to deal with their elders and other disciples.
However, the Immortal Devil Sect's true strength lay in their hidden experts and forces, when these experts emerge, they would be able to shake even the Heavens, they are a force to be reckoned with.
When the River Sociey and the Harmonious Gate Sect invaded, the Immortal Devil Sect simply relied on their protective formations and their experts to defend, making the invaders helpless.
However, when the Nine Mountains Immortal Sect invaded, the sect had to use their hidden forces to defend. Two of their Dao-Reserves were deployed, giving the Nine Mountains Immortal sect a run for it's money, even chasing them all the way to their headquarters.
It was an event that shook the entirety of the Divine Star Continent, and that evenet happened thousands of years ago, who knows how many experts the Immortal Devil Sect accumulated so far?
Hearing that the River Society will deploy one Rank 4 Qi Expert, alongside six Rank 3 Qi Experts, Emperor Wen was naturally elated.
"Thank you, Elder Dihejiao, thank you! Without your River Society's aid I would be helpless!"
One Rank 4 Qi Expert and six Rank 3 Qi Experts is almost 50% of the River Society's strength, it must be stated that the River Society only has twelve Rank 3 Qi Experts, they were the twelve elders, while they only have two Rank 4 Qi Experts.
Although that's the amount of power they claim to have in the force, their roots are not as deep as the Immortal Devil Sect or the Nine Mountains Immortal Sect, so there must be a limit to how many hidden Qi Experts they have, at most they have one more Rank 4 Qi Expert and definitely one Rank 5 Qi Expert, or else they wouldn't quality to rank amongst the top ten forces of the Divine Star Continent, or the nominal leader of the righteous-path.
"However, we will not interfere with your affairs with the Su Dynasty, we will only drive away the Immortal Devil Sect's forces!" Elder Dihejiao informed.
"Of course."
In the Tang mountain range, Blitzsword was heading in the direction of the Immortal Devil Sect, he can sense the cause of the River of Fate's turbulence, and couldn't help but give rise to some questions.
"Is it that old monster? Impossible, although he's strong, he shouldn't be able to cause such a tremendous change to the world."
When Blitzsword entered the territory of the Immortal Devil Sect, a figure emerged from the Forbidden Graveyard and appeared right in front of him, it was an emaciated old man whose white hair reached his foot, he had a pale complexion and his eyes were blurry, yet he radiated power that surpassed that of Demonfire and Emperor Wen.
"Paragon Blitzsword, I advise you to turn around and return from whence you came." The old man from the Immortal Devil Sect spoke.
Blitzsword was pretty surprised when the old man appeared out of nowhere in front of him, he took couple steps back midair and grabbed the hilt of his broadsword.
"Who are you?" Blitzsword asked warily, almost all the major powers and Paragons of the Divine Star Continent were known by the public, plus Blitzsword could be considered a social figure who got many friends and knows a lot of people, yet he does not recognize this old man in front of him.
This old man was clearly a Rank 5 Qi Expert, just like him, yet it's his first time seeing him, plus his appearance or aura is not amongst the records of the publicly known Rank 5 Qi Experts.
"This is your last warning, Paragon Blitzsword." The man from the Immortal Devil Sect acted as if he did not even heard Blitzsword, he warned one last time.
Blitzsword sighed as he felt a bit of fear regarding the Immortal Devil Sect, with his Rank 5 cultivation base, he can act as he pleases in the Divine Star Continent, even the headquarters of the top ten sects do not pose that much danger to him, but the headquarters of the Immortal Devil Sect is unfathomable, they have far too many Dao-Reserves and hidden experts. He thought it would be easy to infiltrate the sect and figure out the cause of the River of Fate's turbulence, but alas, he was stopped in the Tang mountain range.
On top of that, Blitzsword could sense many powerful experts on par with him, scanning him with their divine sense, clearly the major powers who stand behind the Immortal Devil Sect does not want him to proceed any further.
"Tsk. Damn it." With that, Blitzsword turned around and went back.
'Their reserves are as deep as the Nine Mountains Immortal Sect's.'
Deep in the Forbidden Graveyard of the Immortal Devil Sect, couple figures were seated around a table, each one of them was an old man with white hair who emanated an ancient aura.
"Just when patriarch instructed us to not let any Paragon near our headquarters, this Blitzsword showed up, I wonder why?" The old man with long white hair said.
"Although I don't know what exactly it is, I feel as if something changed in the world a month ago, the patriach's cultivation base is unfathomable, he must know what happened or else he wouldn't wake up from his slumber." A two-horned old man said, he reeked of baleful energy and sin, to the level where one could see with the naked eye a bloody aura swirling around him. The amount of people this two-horned man killed is unfathomable.
"The whispers of fate are telling me that a tribulation would befall this continent, we must be very careful." A wizened man with one arm added.
"Something big is going to happen, otherwise the patriarch wouldn't wake us up for no reason at all." Another man said.
"Maybe we should inform our forces to withdraw to the main sect in case something happens?" The two-horned devil suggested, "If a tribulation swoops this continent, these children will not survive, in fact, I feel as though even we won't have it easy."
"Many of us may die this time." The one-armed man said.
A six-armed, three-eyed fiend snorted, "Hmph, even those old geezers of the Nine Mountains Immortal sect can't do anything to us, I want to see what kind of tribulation will be able to affect us!"
In the Immortal Devil Sect, outer-sect courtyard.
Ximen Wei walked towards the site designated to him by the mission, it was a ruined pagoda that had burnt marks all over the place. Although the remains of [Solarfire Dust] was cleaned up long ago by the sect's specialists and experts, Ximen Wei can still feel some heat coming off from the ruins.
"I need to wait for my senior apprentice brothers from the inner-sect courtyard to arrive."
After the time it takes an incense stick to burn, three figures wearing casual robes arrived, Ximen Wei got up from his feet and greeted his senior disciples.
"Greetings, fellow senior apprentice brothers."
Two of the newcomers paid Ximen Wei no heed, the remaining one looked at him and said, "You are?"
Ximen Wei grabbed his flyer that he got from the mission's board and showed it, "I'm Ximen Wei, a 4th Heaven outer-sect disciple who has been assigned to help you repair the protective formation core."
"You have 4th Heaven talent?" The man said nonchalantly.
"Yes." As to further confirm his introduction, Ximen Wei showed him his identification talisman.
"Good, in the future you'll certainly become an inner-sect disciple, come with us, since you're too weak, you'll merely hand the miscalleanous tasks while we will take care of the important parts." The inner-sect disciple waved his hand, indicating for Ximen Wei to follow him into the ruins of the pagoda.
"Let me make some introductions, this is Freakmount, he's an earth-path expert and possesses profound insights into the Dao of Formations." The disciple pointed towards a skinny middle-aged man who had thick-eyebrows.
"And this is Dreadnought, a fiend-path expert who is also quite proficient at the Dao of Formations." Dreadnought was a tall young man whose hair color was exceptionally black, in fact it was true black, Ximen Wei found it to be quite prominent because although there was tons of people who had black hair, this young man's hair was blacker than black itself.
"I'm Gu Fu, a fiend-path expert who goes by the Daoist title Venomheart." Gu Fu introduced himself, Venomheart was an ordinary looking young man who seemed unexceptional, if you put him in a crowd, he wouldn't stand out at all, but in the reality he was a terrifying fiend-path Rank 1 Qi Expert.
Anybody who embarks on the path of fiends and devils will have to slaughter and massacre tons of people to grow stronger, when Ximen Wei gained the legacy of the White Bones Devil, Bai Gu Jing, he found out that by killing mortals and cultivators, he would grow stronger, in fact, by slaughtering that village and killing that Level 1 Qi Trainee, he opened his seventh Extraordinary Meridians despite being a Level 1 Qi Trainee.
To become a fiend-path Rank 1 Qi Expert, the amount of people one will have to kill is unimaginable. People who are able to shed their humanity and embark on a path of slaughter are simply tooterrifying!
Not anyone is capable of doing that, even Ximen Wei questioned his ethics and morals after slaughtering that village, but because of the utter despair he felt when he reincarnated here, and because these people are of the Qi World, not Ximen Wei's homeland Earth, he didn't care that much.
Freakmount stood in the center of the ruins and pulled out a Jade Talisman, he sent his qi in the talisman and activated it with his powers.
Rumble!
An altar emerged from the ground, pushing aside all the rubble and rocks on it's way, the altar was surprisingly made of wood, and it emanated no power at all. It had some burnt marks here and there but overall, it looked good, at least visually.
"Hmm, just some burns, no serious damage." Freakmount inspected, on top of the altar there was a jade pearl embedded, it shone with a dim light and there was a large crack that almost threatened to split it in half.
Seeing the state of the pearl, Freakmount and the others frowned.
"Looks like it needs a replacement." Dreadnought said.
"Yes, we will need to replace the jade pearl, fix the damage done to the altar by the [Solarfire Dust], rebuild the pagoda and inscribe it with runes." Venomheart summarized.
Ximen Wei stood to the side, listening to the others speak. 'So that's what under each and every single one of those four-story pagodas, these wooden altars that carry these jade pearls are supposed to be the 'formation cores'?' Naturally, Ximen Wei was pretty curious to this field of formations, he was new to the cultivation world, and wanted to absorb as much knowledge as he can.
He had a faint feeling that the Dao of Formations would prove to be very useful to returning back to his home.
"I'll go get the replacement." Dreadnought said as he transformed into a prismatic beam that headed towards the main headquarters of the sect.
"I'll fix the damage done to the altar, Freakmount, you're an earth-path expert and therefore, rebuilding the pagoda is naturally the most suitable task to you." Venomheart said.
"No problem." Freakmount replied, he looked towards Ximen Wei as he said, "Ximen Wei right? After I rebuild the pagoda, you shall help me inscribe the walls with these protective runes."
Freakmount handed Ximen Wei a scroll, after unfurling it and reading what's on it, Ximen Wei couldn't understand any of the writings. 'This is gibberish!' He thought to himself.
"On that paper scroll are the protective runes for the training area and the treasures area, make sure to have them memorized by the time I finish."
Each four-story pagoda in the Immortal Devil Sect had a reception area in the first floor, a treasures area where the various manuals and Qi Artifacts are kept in the second floor, a training area in the third floor and an entertainment area in the fourth floor.
The treasures area and training areas are the most heavily protected parts in the four-story pagodas, the runes inscribed there are supposed to resonate with each other, forming mini-formations that serve as an alarm system, a protection system that supposedly block any attacks below the power of Rank 1 Qi Experts, etc...
The mini-formations resonate with the altar and jade pearl underneath the pagoda to serve as one of the formation cores of the entire Immortal Devil Sect's protective formation.
'I need to learn what these symbols mean.' A flicker of light shone across Ximen Wei's eyes as he looked down at the unfurled scroll.
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