Chapter 11

Xu Xianqing and the others entered the Demon Domain one after another.

Gu Jingjun was the last to enter. Before leaving, she once again instructed the six people outside, “You must guard the barrier well!”

“Alliance Leader Gu, rest assured. We absolutely will not allow anything to happen to the barrier.”

After Xu Xianqing entered the Demon Domain, the Golden Core around her neck began to circulate.

The others’ faces looked very unpleasant. The valley master of Medicine King Valley was slightly better off. She had spent a long time saving the wounded and dying on the battlefield between immortals and demons, so to some extent, she was used to demonic breath. However, this was the Demon Domain, the place where demonic breath was purest and most concentrated, so her complexion was also somewhat poor.

As for the other two, Elder Mo of Wuding Sect’s face had nearly turned blue-purple. Clenching his fists, he used inner-body voice transmission to tell them, “I will go to the Eastern Domain and seal Dongling. I’ll go on ahead!”

After he left, Xu Xianqing said, “Then I shall go seal the southern lord, Nanyu.”

The valley master of Medicine King Valley pressed her fist against her lips and could not help coughing. Without saying a word, she headed north.

Gu Jingjun began sitting cross-legged. She poured her spiritual power into the barrier, drawing spiritual energy in from [Read on BaiLianTales]the outside. The spiritual energy slowly gathered in her dantian, and then she used an array to transmit it toward the distance in the form of threads.

For spiritual cultivators inside the Demon Domain, there was a suffocating sensation as though they were drowning.

And the spiritual energy drawn in like great rivers and streams, under the corruption of demonic breath, could only retain a threadlike portion.

When Elder Mo felt that the spiritual power in his body was about to dry up and was preparing to take out spiritual replenishing liquid to absorb spiritual energy, the thread of spiritual power chasing after him wound itself around him.

He let out a small breath of relief and continued forward while drawing spiritual energy from it.

At first, he could still use spiritual power to fly. Later, he could only rely on his own cultivation. After that, in order to preserve their strength, they brought out magical artifacts.

Those were magical artifacts jointly developed by the Rogue Cultivators’ Alliance, the Four Great Sects, and the Seven Great Families. They could resist part of the demonic breath and allow one to fly within the Demon Domain, but their speed was very slow, and they had no defensive ability.

The valley master of Medicine King Valley and Elder Mo of Wuding Sect found every step extremely difficult.

Xu Xianqing, on the other hand, relied on the Golden Core on her body and moved through the Demon Domain as though she had entered her own backyard.

This Golden Core was a relic left to her by her deceased wife, and her wife had merely been one of the Demon Lord’s lives. Although this Golden Core was an object of spiritual cultivation, it had been born alongside a member of the Heavenly Demon Race. Not only did it not fear the demonic breath here, it even had a restraining effect on demonic breath.

Wherever Xu Xianqing went, the demonic breath fawningly wrapped around her. But after sensing the Golden Core’s owner rejecting it, the demonic breath cautiously withdrew again, afraid of offending the Golden Core’s owner.

Nanyu was sealed beneath an altar. It was the Demon Race’s own altar. Every lord would, after a period of time, transmit their cultivation to the Demon Lord through the altar.

Even if the Demon Lord did not cultivate, she could still rely on the Demon Race’s offerings to soar straight to the heavens.

But the Demon Lord herself was instead a diligent member of the Heavenly Demon Race. Not only did she cultivate painstakingly on her own, she even opened up a new Dao. She had been only one step away from ascending to godhood and going to the Upper Heaven Realm. Perhaps at that time, the Heavenly Demon Race and the ancient heavenly gods would have begun another life-or-death battle.

When Nanyu was sealed, he had still been using the altar, wanting to send all of his cultivation to the Demon Lord so that the Demon Lord could lead their Demon Race back to the Upper Heaven Realm.

Unfortunately, the Demon Lord had been killed by Xu Xianqing.

Nanyu could no longer sense the Demon Lord’s existence and knew that the Demon Lord had fallen. He immediately cut off his connection to the altar and withdrew his cultivation. Unfortunately, the spiritual cultivators had already lain in ambush here. The array activated, and Nanyu was sealed.

Now, Nanyu was in a sleeping state, but he already possessed partial consciousness. Once the seal failed, Nanyu would awaken completely.

At that time, the scattered Demon Race would welcome a leader. The small-scale friction with spiritual cultivators would ​read the original at bailiantales.com​then once again evolve into war.

The battlefield between immortals and demons would also be reactivated, and that human purgatory akin to a slaughterhouse would once again appear in the world.

Right now, Nanyu’s human form could not be seen. He looked like a moldy seed shrouded by a mass of black fog. Looking closely, one could see that the seed was moving slightly.

Xu Xianqing began using spiritual power to strengthen the outer layer of the seal, locking the demonic breath firmly in place so that the cunning demon would not find an opportunity to escape.

She quickly finished the matter. After reinforcing the seal, Xu Xianqing prepared to return by the original path.

She walked alone through the Demon Domain. In the current Demon Domain, most demons were sleeping. Because the Demon Lord did not exist, sleeping was the best way to preserve energy.

Unless the Demon Lord returned, or a high-ranking demon came to awaken them, only demonic beasts were still active here.

Xu Xianqing sensed the silence around her. She could walk very well through the demonic breath as a spiritual cultivator, which was why she had suggested that she come alone to reinforce the Demon Race’s seals.

Unfortunately, Alliance Leader Gu had rejected it.

Gu Jingjun sensed spiritual power fluctuations outside the barrier. Her heart suddenly felt that something was wrong, so she used the spiritual power she had previously condensed into threads to send a signal, urging Elder Mo of Wuding Sect and the valley master of Medicine King Valley to withdraw quickly.

Just as Gu Jingjun was about to send Xu Xianqing a signal, a figure faintly emerged within the black fog.

Gu Jingjun assumed a defensive stance. The figure walked out of the black fog. “It’s me.”

“That fast?” Gu Jingjun was astonished. “Guard this place. I’m going to search for Elder Mo. Something may have happened outside. I sent them a signal just now, but only the valley master responded to me. Things may not be going smoothly on Elder Mo’s side.”

Gu Jingjun prepared to hand the spiritual energy source connected to her body over to Xu Xianqing.

But Xu Xianqing stopped her. “I should go instead.”

Xu Xianqing pressed her down and placed several supreme-grade spirit stones beside her. “I am not affected by the demonic breath here. It is more suitable for me to go.”

Time waited for no one, so Xu Xianqing did not argue with her further. She headed straight toward the Eastern Domain.

After Xu Xianqing left, about fifteen minutes passed before the valley master of Medicine King Valley walked out of the black fog.

Her face was deathly pale, her lips were black, and her eyes were bloodshot.

Gu Jingjun hurriedly transferred a portion of the spiritual energy source to her. The valley master of Medicine King Valley sat cross-legged, drew spiritual energy from the spiritual energy source, and forced the demonic breath out of her body.

Then she took some pills. “Many thanks.”

“It is my duty. No need for thanks.” Gu Jingjun’s complexion was also somewhat poor. She had already begun extracting spiritual power from within her own body to operate the barrier, hoping to temporarily keep that crack open. Otherwise, all of them would be trapped here.

“Valley Master Leng, this place is not suitable for a long stay. You should leave as soon as possible,” Gu Jingjun urged her.

Valley Master Leng stood up. “The demonic breath here is much denser than it was ten thousand years ago. Where are Elder Mo and Sect Leader Xu?”

“Something may have happened on Elder Mo’s side. Sect Leader Xu has already gone to search for him. Valley Master Leng, you should still leave quickly.” Gu Jingjun found time to take some spiritual replenishing liquid again. “The barrier is closing. Something has likely happened outside as well.”

Valley Master Leng’s eyes darkened indistinctly, and she spoke in a hoarse voice. “Before coming here, I arranged for disciples from the valley to receive us a hundred li away. If something has truly happened outside, I can have them hurry over to support us.”

“Then I will trouble Valley Master to go out and stabilize the overall situation.”

Leng Canqing, however, forcefully seized the spiritual [unauthorized copy]energy source from Gu Jingjun and bound it to herself.

Under Gu Jingjun’s stunned gaze, she took out the valley master token and shoved it into Gu Jingjun’s hand. “Medicine King Valley will obey this token and can be mobilized by it. Medicine King Valley can be without its valley master, but the Rogue Cultivators’ Alliance absolutely cannot lose Alliance Leader Gu. I hope Alliance Leader will not linger. Please go out as soon as possible and preside over the situation.”

“Valley Master Leng!” Gu Jingjun’s eyes turned wet. Before she could say anything, Leng Canqing struck her away with one palm.

Just as Gu Jingjun was about to leave through the crack in the barrier, she swiftly took off her storage ring, erased her mark from it, and threw it beside Leng Canqing.

The instant Gu Jingjun went out, the only remaining crack in the barrier closed.

From then on, the Demon Realm and the spiritual cultivation world were once again completely divided.

Outside, everything had already fallen into chaos.

Gu Jingjun did not even have time, in that brief moment, to analyze who exactly had been the instigator behind closing the Demon Realm’s seal.

“Alliance Leader Gu!”

Gu Jingjun heard someone calling her and turned to look. It was one of Wuding ​stolen content​Sect’s young masters.

“Alliance Leader Gu, why are you the only one who came out? Where is our Elder Mo?” The young master of Wuding Sect held a magical artifact and approached her step by step, his face filled with killing intent.

Gu Jingjun was about to explain when the sect leader of Lianhua Sect transmitted her voice from afar.

“Alliance Leader Gu, Wuding Sect colluded with demonic cultivators and forcibly closed the crack!” Lianhua Sect was an all-female cultivator sect. Its overall strength was not especially powerful, but it mainly cultivated mental arts and talismans, making it very troublesome in battle.

Gu Jingjun heard her voice transmission. The instant Wuding Sect’s young master came over, she used her magical artifact, the Canghai Flute, to block him and knocked Wuding Sect’s young master back.

“It was clearly all of you conspiring to harm our Wuding Sect’s Second Elder! And now you’re turning around to frame Wuding Sect!” The young master spoke in anger. “Alliance Leader! Lianhua Sect colluded with Qingfeng Sect and tried to close the barrier in order to trap Sect Leader Xu and our Wuding Sect’s Elder Mo to death!”

The sect leader of Lianhua Sect snapped, “You little bastard! Bullshit! My Lianhua Sect is clean and innocent. On what grounds do you slander us? Disciples, kill!”

For a moment, Gu Jingjun only felt that her head had become enormous.

The Four Great Sects had long been at odds with one another and held deep grudges, but she had not expected them to dare cause chaos over such a major matter.

Before coming, Gu Jingjun had naturally arranged for people from the Rogue Cultivators’ Alliance to wait outside. Because a crack had previously appeared in the barrier, demonic breath from inside had been spilling outward. Anyone below the Soul ​Read on BaiLianTales​Transformation stage who came here would have their Dao heart affected and their body contaminated by the small amount of demonic breath that had escaped.

Now that the barrier was closed, the demonic breath that had previously seeped out was gradually dispersing. Gu Jingjun sent a voice transmission, ordering those disciples to come.

The Rogue Cultivators’ Alliance’s guard team arrived and brought the disciples of Lianhua Sect and Wuding Sect under control.

She also seized the opportunity to use Valley Master Leng’s token and transfer the people of Medicine King Valley over.

Very soon, the several factions outside that had fallen into chaos were all suppressed.

“Now that the barrier has closed, Sect Leader Xu, Valley Master Leng, and Elder Mo are all trapped in the Demon Domain. Everyone present bears unavoidable responsibility. Take them all away!” Gu Jingjun ordered.

The young master of Wuding Sect stepped forward. “Wait! Four people entered together. According to the plan, Sect Leader Xu, Valley Master Leng, and our Elder Mo went to reinforce the seals. Alliance Leader Gu was left to guard the inner barrier. Why is it that now, the three of them are trapped, while Alliance Leader Gu has retreated completely unharmed? If you want to judge us, Alliance Leader Gu must first give us an explanation! Otherwise, how can we possibly accept this? Among the Four Great Sects, only our Elder Mo has been trapped! We need an explanation!”

The sect leader of Lianhua Sect was so angry that she nearly crushed her teeth.

“Alliance Leader Gu, we were maintaining the barrier outside when this boy suddenly left his position and attacked us. After that, at the slightest disagreement, he summoned every disciple of his sect here! He was clearly the one who caused trouble first, which led to the barrier closing ahead of time. Yet now he’s turning around and blaming others!”

The young master of Wuding Sect was even angrier than she was. “Yes! This young master did indeed make a move. But that was because this young master noticed that there was a problem with your array. Not only was it over-extracting the cultivation from our bodies, but the barrier also failed to stabilize and instead became turbulent. If we had not stopped, I’m afraid the barrier would have completely collapsed. At that time, without the barrier, all the demons inside would have escaped. What then?!”

Gu Jingjun looked toward the people from Linghe Sect and Qingfeng Sect. “What about you two? You were also guarding outside. What exactly was the situation at the time?”

The sect leader of Linghe Sect was a demon cultivator. Their first-generation sect leader had been a spiritual crane, while the current sect leader was a black crow. His face was dark, his eyes were fierce, and even his tone was unpleasant.

“While this seat was protecting the operation, they suddenly started fighting. The barrier became unstable, and this seat had no choice but to increase my efforts to maintain it. Now, I have already overdrawn my foundation. At this moment, I hope Alliance Leader will investigate the truth as soon as possible and give us an explanation.”

He coughed twice, and blood overflowed from the corner of his lips. “I wonder which medical cultivator can first treat this seat.”

His injuries were too severe. Even speaking was difficult for him now.

The people of Medicine King Valley hurriedly came and brought him aside for treatment.

The Grand Elder of Qingfeng Sect seemed rather fine, but he said nothing useful. “It was too chaotic at the time. This old man knows nothing.”

“Absurd. Truly absurd.” A chill ran through Gu Jingjun’s heart. “I will investigate this matter thoroughly.”

The immediate priority was to open the barrier and let the people inside come out.

But the barrier had only just closed, and there was no way to open it again immediately. They had to wait until the next Night of Yin Void and forcibly tear open the barrier.

Gu Jingjun calculated with her fingers. Fortunately, the next Night of Yin Void would be one month later.

Inside the storage ring she left behind, there were still two extracted purple-gold spirit mines. Purple-gold spirit mines were similar to spiritual veins, except spiritual veins required spirit stones to extract spiritual energy, while spirit mines could be used directly, making them far more convenient.

They should be able to last one month.

Right now, she was grateful that Xu Xianqing was also inside. At the very least, she had that special Golden Core to protect herself. Perhaps inside, she would also be able to find a way to save Valley Master Leng and Elder Mo.