Chapter 46

“There’s definitely demonic energy here!” Lei Xing’s expression was grim. His strength made it easy to distinguish the nature of the aura. Upon hearing this, Lei Jiu’s guard went up immediately. “Let’s go! I want to see which suicidal demon dared to infiltrate Luoxian Sect.” Without hesitation, Lei Xing stepped forward and entered the barren mountain through a concealed entrance, with Lei Jiu following closely behind.

As they stepped into the cavern, their vision blurred, and the next moment, they found themselves standing above a vast blood lake that stretched endlessly in all directions. The sky was a dull, murky gray, as if they had stepped into a realm of eternal death and solitude.

“A maze formation!” Lei Jiu’s eyes narrowed. The presence of a maze meant the enemy had come prepared, but he sneered inwardly. “A mere maze formation dares to act up before me?” His eyes flashed with lightning as he opened his mouth and roared, “Thunder, come!”

Boom! Boom! Boom! A deep, muffled thunder echoed from within his body, as though heavenly punishment was gestating inside him. Bolts of lightning erupted from his body, crackling and slithering outward like electric snakes. Shrill screams echoed around them as the blood lake dissolved into nothingness.

“Trying to run?” Lei Jiu acted swiftly. “Thunder Chains!” Four silver chains, crackling with lightning, shot from his hands and lashed toward the fleeing demon spies. But just as the chains tightened, the captured demons chose to self-destruct, leaving behind only pools of blood. “Typical demonic behavior,” Lei Jiu muttered, retracting the chains and turning to his father.

Lei Xing remained silent, his eyes locked on a stone platform in the center of the cavern—an ancient teleportation array, clearly out of place. “An ancient teleportation array?” Han Luo, watching through the ancient bronze mirror from afar, recognized it immediately. These arrays were long obsolete due to their high spiritual stone consumption and the risk of instability during transmission. However, their unpredictable destinations made them difficult to trace.

“Father, let me destroy it!” Lei Jiu’s palm crackled with lightning, ready to obliterate the array, but Lei Xing raised a hand. “Wait.” His gaze darkened. “This is a two-way teleportation array,” he muttered. “It can be used to enter the demon’s stronghold.”

Lei Xing’s mind was racing. The sudden appearance of the Demon Race had puzzled everyone, and this was a rare lead. How could he pass up such an opportunity?

“Father, no! What if they’ve set a trap on the other side?” Lei Jiu voiced his concerns. Even though his father was a late-stage Core Formation cultivator, they were dealing with demons—beings whose methods defied common sense.

“Fear not,” Lei Xing said with resolve. “For the sake of Luoxian Sect and the Eastern Region, I will lead the charge.” He inserted a few spiritual stones into the array, preparing to activate it.

“Wait, brother!” Several voices echoed as Yunyangzi and the other four peak masters arrived, including Wudao, Han Luo’s master. “I’ll go with you,” Yunyangzi said, stepping forward. “Count me in,” Yun Qianren added, but Yunyangzi stopped him. “No.” He turned to Yunding and the others. “Once we leave, destroy the teleportation array immediately. Until we return, no one is allowed to leave the mountain.”

“Understood!” The four peak masters nodded in unison. With that, Yunyangzi and Lei Xing stepped into the teleportation array. Moments after their departure, Yunding and the others obliterated the array.

Far away, in a barren mountain…

Mo Jiu was indulging himself with a beautiful woman when he suddenly shivered. A split second later, he vanished.

“Filthy beast, where do you think you’re going?” Lei Xing’s furious roar echoed like divine thunder, shaking the entire mountain.

Mo Jiu sensed Lei Xing’s terrifying power and knew escape was impossible. “Run!” he roared, and with a loud explosion, he self-destructed, transforming into a cloud of blood mist. But within that mist—

Swish!

A streak of blood light, faster than lightning, shot toward the horizon and disappeared.

“Blood escape by burning life force…” Lei Xing muttered, his body crackling with lightning as he prepared to pursue.

“Leave him to me. You clean up this place,” Yunyangzi said calmly, stepping onto a cloud. His movements seemed slow, yet in an instant, he vanished beyond the horizon.

Lei Xing glanced at the shivering demon slaves below and raised his palm. Boom! Thunder rumbled as dark clouds gathered overhead. “Ten Thousand Thunder Judgment.”

Boom! Boom! Boom! Silver lightning dragons descended from the heavens, reducing the entire mountain to ashes.

Back on Luoxian Mountain…

Han Luo couldn’t sit still. He had no idea if Yunyangzi and Lei Xing would succeed in killing Mo Jiu. Though Mo Jiu wasn’t extremely powerful, he was from the royal lineage of the True Demon Clan, known for possessing bizarre life-saving techniques. If he escaped, tracking him down again would be nearly impossible.

Fortunately, he didn’t have to wait long.

The next day.

Lei Xing returned.

After questioning his master, Wudao, Han Luo learned that Lei Xing had annihilated the demon base, wiping out every last demon except the leader. However, the fact that Mo Jiu had escaped still left Han Luo uneasy. As long as Mo Jiu was alive, he could spawn countless more demons.

“What now?”

Feeling restless, Han Luo lit three sticks of incense and prayed earnestly.
“Dear heavens, if you’re listening, please take Mo Jiu away. Don’t let him harm good people. I’m begging you.”

The following day.

Yunyangzi returned with good news. Mo Jiu had been captured and, to prevent capture, had destroyed his own soul, dying completely.

Finally!

Han Luo’s heart settled—halfway.

Why only halfway? Because they still hadn’t figured out how the demons had infiltrated the Eastern Region.

But for now, Mo Jiu’s death was a huge relief.

To celebrate, Han Luo treated himself.

He slaughtered a pig and prepared a lavish feast. “If it weren’t for my incense offering, Mo Jiu might have escaped!”

Meanwhile, Luoxian Sect organized an “Immortal Fate Event.” On the surface, it was to reward the disciples, but in reality, it was a secret operation to root out any remaining demon spies. Twelve demon spies were eventually captured, and Luoxian Peak formed a special investigation team to monitor all disciples, ensuring no more spies lurked within the sect.

Six months passed.

The demon crisis seemed to be over.

Han Luo finally felt it was safe to leave Luoxian Mountain. His first stop was the location where he had initially sensed demonic energy. This was the only spot in Luoxian Sect that made him feel uneasy. What if the demons had left some hidden tricks there?

To be safe…

Han Luo personally went to the site and set up a Bone-Grinding Array to completely refine the mountain into nothingness. The refinement lasted seven days. Even after the mountain was reduced to flat ground, he wasn’t satisfied.

He set up multiple alarm talismans and concealed traps to ensure that if anything stirred in the next hundred years, he would be notified immediately. To be extra cautious, he erected stone tablets around the site, inscribed with warnings prohibiting anyone from approaching.

Only after all this did Han Luo finally feel at ease.

“Life goes on, but I must remain cautious. No more offending troublesome enemies like the Demon Race…”

However…

In a distant forest, far from Luoxian Sect…

A deer grazed peacefully.

Suddenly—

The deer collapsed without warning, its body withering as though all its blood and flesh had been drained.

“Pfft!”

A hand burst out from the deer’s belly.

“Cough… cough…”

“Damn you, Yunyangzi… destroying my true body… I swear I’ll have my revenge!”

Mo Jiu, looking incredibly weak, emerged from the deer’s corpse.

Though Yunyangzi had destroyed his true body, Mo Jiu had prepared an escape plan—splitting his soul into two halves.

One half had perished, but the other had survived.

His strength was greatly diminished, and recovery would take at least a hundred years, but… survival was all that mattered.

“Yunyangzi…” Mo Jiu’s eyes burned with hatred.

“You think destroying the teleportation array will stop me from entering Luoxian Sect?”

Mo Jiu sneered, producing a small array plate from his palm. “With this array plate, I can enter Luoxian Sect whenever I want.”

But before he could gloat—

Buzz…

The array plate trembled violently, then—

Fwoosh!

It burst into flames, incinerating itself.

“Impossible! Who did this?” Mo Jiu’s expression twisted in rage. He activated the remnants of the array to trace the culprit.

A figure appeared in the image, and when Mo Jiu saw that familiar silhouette, his fury exploded.

“That bastard! I knew it was you!”

His rage shook his entire body, and his hands slammed into the ground, draining all life from the surrounding vegetation.

Meanwhile…

Han Luo, already leaving the area, suddenly felt a chill down his spine.

“Something still feels off…”

He stopped and looked back at the flattened site. “Better to be safe than sorry.”

He returned and set up the Bone-Grinding Array again, obliterating the site five more times before finally leaving.

In the final moments of the burning array plate, Mo Jiu caught a glimpse of Han Luo’s figure.

Though Han Luo had disguised himself, Mo Jiu’s sharp eyes recognized him instantly.

“Bastard… it’s definitely you!”

Mo Jiu’s teeth ground together so hard they nearly shattered.

“All my efforts over the past four or five years—gone. My cultivation—crippled. My life—nearly lost.”

“And it’s all because of him.”

“I swear… I will kill you. If I fail, may I be struck by heavenly thunder, devoured by ten thousand poisons, and condemned to eternal damnation.”

Han Luo had no idea that Mo Jiu was still alive… and that he had become Mo Jiu’s sworn enemy.

After dealing with the ruins, he returned to Luoxian Mountain. Five years had passed since his ten-year plan began. His understanding of formations was now solid, and he only needed to cultivate steadily from here on.

With his cultivation at the seventh level of Qi Refinement, it was time to begin Spirit Tempering. To do that, he needed Spirit Tempering Pills.

Determined to proceed, he headed to the library to study the Dao of Alchemy.