Book 11 37: Setting Off
Sword Immortal Hua Yan’s Immortal Awareness was absolutely unable to sense even the faintest presence of the enemy, so there were only two possibilities. The first, was that the enemy’s martial capabilities were above his. The second, was that the enemy had already left the search radius of his Immortal Awareness.
Given Hua Yan’s capabilities at that point of time, his search radius was still very broad, and it was very hard to escape the radius of his Immortal Awareness simply by Teleporting once. That was why it definitely wasn’t Teleportation, but rather...... it should be a technique that Golden Immortal experts could perform, the Large Transfer.
If it was said that the capabilities exceeded his, then the only people were Man Gan and Lan Feng.
“What a fast speed, did he perform the Large Transfer huh?”
Sword Immortal Hua Yan mumbled in a low voice. He swept his icy cold gaze through the four directions once, his eyes rested especially long on the transformed mist of blood which was once Reverend Ming Liang. “Disguising his voice as Sword Immortal Lan Feng’s, doesn’t he know that the Sword Energy of a Sword Immortal is very hard to imitate huh? This style of murder is obviously a Blood Devil’s technique. Similarly, the techniques of the Blood Devil’s Modao are also very hard to mimic.”
“Even if I do not believe that it was you, Du Zhong Jun, who did that, the truth cannot make me believe otherwise.”
Sword Immortal Hua Yan could feel a sense of rage rising from within his heart.
“Unless you still believe that Wu Kong Xue was murdered by me. Was that why you killed Ming Liang as an act of revenge?” A furious voice continuously echoed within Sword Immortal Hua Yan’s mind.
“Looks like this matter needs to be settled, otherwise it will be bad if you are to pull my leg from behind after we enter Ni Yang’s Realm.” Sword Immortal Hua Yan had already made a decision in his mind.
No matter if it was a misunderstanding or something else, that matter needed to be resolved before entering Ni Yang’s Realm.
Reverend Ming Shan, Reverend Chi Yang and the other two people all looked at Hua Yan, awaiting his order.
“The four of you listen. Stay at Shangtian Palace. I will now make a trip to the Yinyue mountains,” said Sword Immortal Hua Yan indifferently.
“Yes,” answered the four Reverends respectfully.
Sword Immortal Hua Yan’s figure began to fade. It then completely disappeared from Qingxu Mountain.
*****
“Pity, pity. Initially, during the time when I made the Sword Immortal Puppet kill Wu Kong Xue using a Sword Immortal’s technique, I had only pierced an extremely small hole through his Yuanying. His Yuanying did not suffer any damage and could still be used for refinement. However, this time when I used the Finest Grade Devil Equipment ‘Blood Moon’ and attacked, the Blood Devil Modao energy that was forced out from ‘Blood Moon’ instead decomposed even Reverend Ming Liang’s Yuanying. It really is such a waste.”
Within Qingyu Immortal Mansion, Qin Yu spoke and intentionally sighed alone.
Hou Fei, Hei Yu, as well as Shi Xin and his two brothers all looked at Qin Yu in a strange manner from one side.
“Big Brother, you killed others, stole their Finest Grade Immortal Equipment, then groaned and sighed only because you did not manage to get a Yuanying. You really are......” Hou Fei did not have the words to continue.
“Big Brother is just far too happy.”
The Qin Yu who was earlier pretending to lament immediately vanished. He burst out in laughter and said, “Still, Xiao Hei understands me. Now that I have killed Reverend Ming Liang, the two perpetrators of the capital’s blood case have already been executed, and a piece of sickness within my heart has been removed. Soon, we will get to see whether Sword Immortal Hua Yan and Blood Devil Du Zhong Jun will take any action.”
“There is an eight or nine out of ten chance that they will not take any real action,” said Hou Fei as he snickered.
Hei Yu also nodded in agreement.
Qin Yu took in a deep breath, then slowly breathed out, “Who cares huh. Whether the two of them really battle it out is only a side dish. What we need to prepare now is for the main dish.”
“What main dish?” Hou Fei was puzzled.
Hei Yu smiled as he looked at Hou Fei, and said, “Monkey, you might not know this, but it is obviously the matter concerning entry into Ni Yang’s Realm.”
Qin Yu nodded and said, “Correct. Currently, the side of the Loose Immortals, the side of the Loose Devils, as well as the Dragon Clan all have pieces of the Sundering The Heavens Diagrams. They will no longer waste any more time. Why did the Emissaries of the Ascendant Realms descend? Wasn’t it still just to enter Ni Yang’s Realm? If there was nothing obstructing them, they would proceed to Ni Yang’s Realm as soon as possible. From what I see, even though I had intentionally interfered with their plans, they will still proceed towards Ni Yang’s Realm in the near future.”
“Mmm, reasonable,” said Hou Fei as he nodded.
Qin Yu suddenly looked at Shi Xin and his two brothers. “Shi Xin, after a period of time, all of you will first return to the Qianlong Continent and go to where my Royal Father is. Fei Fei, I and the others will first go to Ni Yang’s Realm, and we will look for all of you after we have exited from that place. Of course, there is no need to be anxious now.”
“Yes,” Shi Xin and his two brothers immediately replied.
*****
Within Blood Devil Hall.
With his back straight and upright like a long sword, Hua Yan stood at the center of the great hall within Blood Devil Hall.
“Du Zhong Jun, I have an important matter to discuss with you.” Hua Yan’s voice was as calm as usual, and it reverberated within Blood Devil Hall. Meanwhile, at that moment, there was absolutely no one within Blood Devil Great Hall except for Hua Yan alone.
In a secret chamber within Blood Devil Hall.
“Hua Yan?”
Blood Devil Du Zhong Jun was puzzled, “Why did he come? I didn’t even find trouble for him regarding Wu Kong Xue’s death, but instead, he came to find trouble for me. No matter what, entering Ni Yang’s Realm is the most important thing, I should still meet him once.”
Du Zhong Jun’s figure disappeared in mid-air from the secret chamber.
“Haha– So it is Hua Yan.” Someone’s figure was seen appearing out of mid-air, sitting upon the great throne. Blood Devil Du Zhong was dressed in a blood-red robe, looking at Hua Yan with a smile on his face. At the same time, with a wave of his hand, a Restrictive Spell appeared at the circumference of the entire great hall, which prevented outsiders from listening to the conversations within.
Hua Yan looked at Blood Devil Du Zhong Jun. “Du Zhong Jun, my subordinate Reverend Ming Liang was just murdered by someone.”
“Ming Liang is dead?” The smile on Blood Devil Du Zhong Jun’s face immediately disappeared.
Blood Devil Du Zhong Jun’s first thought was ‘This Hua Yan came looking for trouble’. His second thought was ‘I did not kill Ming Liang, so who killed Ming Liang? This is a conspiracy’. Within mere moments, Blood Devil had already felt that it was a conspiracy.
“Correct, Ming Liang is dead. Moreover, that person’s voice was identical to Lan Feng’s,” voiced Hua Yan. “However, Lan Feng is a Sword Immortal, but that method of murder was instead a special technique which belonged to the Blood Devil Modao. After Ming Liang was struck once, his entire person decomposed until it finally transformed into a blood mist.”
Blood Devil Du Zhong Jun’s facial expression stiffened, then immediately began to smile, “Hua Yan, don’t tell me that you are suspecting me huh?”
Hua Yan nodded and said, “I am suspecting you. That is because the Blood Devil Modao‘s special methods of killing definitely requires practising the ‘Blood Devil Modao‘ in order to possess the special energies that can create such an effect. So tell me, if it isn’t you, who else can it be?”
Blood Devil Du Zhong Jun frowned.
However, within mere moments, a slight hint of ruthlessness appeared within Blood Devil Du Zhong Jun’s eyes. “All right, I understand. Hua Yan, do you know that during that time when Wu Kong Xue was previously killed by a mysterious person, the Finest Grade Devil Equipment ‘Blood Moon’ which I had once bestowed to him had also been taken by that person.”
“Blood Moon?” Hua Yan had also heard of that piece of Devil Equipment’s prestigious name.
“Correct, Blood Moon. This is a piece of Devil Equipment that is suitable for martial experts practising the Blood Devil Modao. After being in the possession of an unknown number of generations of Blood Devil Modao martial experts, Blood Moon naturally possessed a frightening amount of Blood Devil Modao energy. I think — That mysterious person must definitely have forced out the energy from Blood Moon, and killed Reverend Ming Liang with it.” Blood Devil Du Zhong Jun could still be considered calm.
Hua Yan slightly nodded.
“I cannot deny that what you have said is very reasonable. However, how can I believe what you had just said?” Hua Yan looked at Blood Devil Du Zhong Jun.
Blood Devil Du Zhong Jun burst out laughing, and said, “Hua Yan, you still do not understand the reason behind this huh? Let me ask you, did you kill Wu Kong Xue?”
“No,” denied Hua Yan.
“Then isn’t that it? You did not kill Wu Kong Xue, but Wu Kong Xue is dead. Unless, I killed him?” Blood Devil Du Zhong Jun smiled and said, “It is not possible for me to kill, but neither did you. There is definitely someone who is intentionally disrupting the situation in the dark.”
Hua Yan glanced at Blood Devil Du Zhong Jun, but still nodded his head at the end.
Although what they had speculated was reasonable, would Blood Devil Du Zhong Jun definitely believe that he, Hua Yan, did not kill Wu Kong Xue?
Similarly, would Hua Yan absolutely believe that Du Zhong Jun did not kill Reverend Ming Liang?
It was only that the day to enter Ni Yang’s Realm was coming soon, which was why they could only believe in each other. Believing in what the other party had said, and believing that there was someone else intentionally sowing discord.
“All right, I will believe you regarding this matter.”
Hua Yan nodded, then promptly turned around and began walking for two steps. Suddenly, Hua Yan turned his head and momentarily looked at one direction before finally shaking his head in puzzlement. After that, Hua Yan’s entire person disappeared into thin air.
“If it wasn’t because of Ni Yang’s Realm, I would have long killed the bunch of you who came questioning me at my front door.” Blood Devil Du Zhong Jun was secretly seething in anger.
*****
“Compared to Du Zhong Jun, the cultivation of this Hua Yan’s soul is still slightly higher by a notch. He could actually vaguely sense my Demon Awareness.”
The sound of a loud laughter resounded within a manor.
There were only three people within that manor — Man Gan, Yu Liang, and Kong Cao!
Yu Liang was the person in control of the wilderness, while Kong Cao was the leader of the three great huge Demons under Yu Liang. Those three people were the selected few of the wilderness Demon Clan to enter Ni Yang’s Realm.
“My Lord, continuously using your Demon Awareness to observe the Yinyue mountains must also be tiring. Ah, why not let us subordinates continue with the surveillance?” Yu Liang asked respectfully.
On that day, Man Gan and his party had appeared to be heading towards the wilderness after leaving Snow Fish Island. However, not long after they left Snow Fish Island, the reality was that Man Gan had quietly brought Yu Liang and Kong Cao back, and arrived at the Tenglong Continent. Then, Man Gan personally used his Demon Awareness to continuously observe the Yinyue mountains in secret.
To use the words of what Man Gan had said — “To believe in a Devil, unless I am an idiot? I will thus observe him like this. The moment he leaves the Yinyue mountains, there is an eight or nine out of ten chance that he will be converging with the other two sides to head towards Ni Yang’s Realm together. As long as I am keeping watch, he can forget about shaking me off.”
There was no need to say that Man Gan’s idea was stupid, but it was instead very useful.
Of course, Man Gan’s level of martial cultivation was profound, and had even reached the peak of a First Tier Demon King. Even though his Demon Awareness had blanketed over the Yinyue mountains, that Blood Devil Du Zhong Jun was instead not in the slightest bit aware.
Although the cultivation of Sword Immortal Hua Yan’s soul was slightly stronger, he had initially not detected anything during the time when he was discussing with Du Zhong Jun. However, as he was about to leave, Hua Yan instead seemed to have sensed something. During that time, it was also only a vague perception, and not definite.
“You? Yu Liang, the moment you use your Demon Awareness, I estimate that Blood Devil Du Zhong Jun will discover you within moments,” said Man Gan as he smiled.
“My Lord, I will not observe Du Zhong Jun. I will only look at Lady Lian Yue and the others. I believe that the side of the Loose Devils will definitely need to mobilise quite a few people, and Lady Lian Yue and the others will naturally also head towards Ni Yang’s Realm. Keeping watch over them is as good as keeping watch over Blood Devil Du Zhong Jun,” replied Yu Liang respectfully.
Man Gan gave a slight smile and nodded, “What you said is reasonable.”
“However...... Yu Liang, don’t you forget, although you are only surveying Lady Lian Yue and the others, given Blood Devil Du Zhong Jun’s level of martial cultivation, won’t he definitely discover you? All right, I know that you are loyal, but leave this matter over to me. Although continuously activating my Demon Awareness might be a little tiring, it is still something that I can cope.”
After Man Gan had finished speaking, he silently closed his eyes and began to rest, while his Demon Awareness continued to observe the Yinyue mountain range.
Yu Liang and Kong Cao exchanged looks, but they could only remain guarding at one side helplessly.
*****
Time passed extremely fast, and very soon, the day to converge at Eager Dragon Island came.
In the early morning of that day, the rays of the rising sun was warm, and the entire Yinyue mountains emanated the fresh scent of the earth’s atmosphere. The best experts of the Yinyue mountains — Lady Lian Yue, Wu Hei, and Fire Devil all constantly had excited expressions on their faces.
That was because they had long knew that, that was the day they were leaving for Eager Dragon Island.
To leave for Eager Dragon Island, represented heading towards Ni Yang’s Realm, and heading towards Ni Yang’s Realm, meant that there were countless treasures waiting for them.
When they recalled what Blood Devil Du Zhong Jun had once described regarding the huge amount of treasures within Ni Yang’s Realm, and that it was a shocking amount of wealth, the three Loose Devil experts unintentionally felt their excitement rising.
At the entrance to the Blood Devil Hall.
“The weather today is really not bad.” Blood Devil Du Zhong Jun stood near the entrance of the hall. He faintly smiled while facing the sun, and stretched his waist lazily. Apparently, he was in a very good mood.
“Orh?”
Blood Devil Du Zhong Jun turned over a hand, and retrieved a Transmission Talisman — ‘Brother Du, you had better not forget, we are gathering at Eager Dragon Island today to assemble the three pieces of the Sundering The Heavens Diagrams and obtain the map to Ni Yang’s Realm. After that, there is also the matter of heading towards Ni Yang’s Realm together.’
“Be at ease, how can I possibly forget this matter?”
Blood Devil Du Zhong Jun did a sweep with his Devil Awareness once, then replied to the message. Instead, his mouth was muttering to himself, “This Ao Feng still really knows how to nag.”
Meanwhile, at that moment.
“Fire Devil, Wu Hei, Lian Yue, all of you should be prepared right? Go and gather at the Blood Devil Hall.”
A familiar voice that they had long been expecting reverberated within the minds of Lady Lian Yue and the other two people. Promptly, using their fastest speed possible, Lady Lian Yue and the other two people directly headed towards the Blood Devil Hall.
*****
Within the interior of a manor on the Tenglong Continent.
“They had actually gathered. Are they about to set off?” Man Gan, with his eyes closed, suddenly opened them. There was a fierce glint in his eyes. “Du Zhong Jun, looks like you are really what I had expected. You are prepared to ignore me, and intend to directly leave in secret.”
Man Gan’s Devil Awareness was currently observing each and every movement that Lady Lian Yue, Wu Hei, Fire Devil, as well as Blood Devil Du Zhong Jun were making.
They were currently only gathering, so Man Gan’s anger still did not erupt. If Blood Devil Du Zhong Jun were to really lead his men and leave, then there was really no one who could imagine the kind of things that a crazed Man Gan would be capable of doing.
*****
“Very good. Lian Yue, you should have already arranged the matters regarding the Yinyue mountains right?” Blood Devil Du Zhong Jun asked with a faint smile on his face.
“Everything has already been arranged. My Lord Blood Devil, please be at ease.” There was a smile on Lady Lian Yue’s entire face.
Blood Devil Du Zhong Jun nodded, then gave a look at the three people and said, “Good, from now onwards, the three of you must follow my orders, and do not take any actions without my permission.”
“Yes, My Lord Blood Devil,” replied the three people respectfully.
Blood Devil Du Zhong Jun waved a hand in satisfaction, and said, “Now, we will first go to Eager Dragon Island and converge with the people from the other two sides. Move out!”