Zanxing (Retranslated)

Chapter 213 - The Demon King’s Seal (2)

Daoist Yueguang was getting old and adhered to the principles of health preservation. His taste was quite similar to that of Shaoyang Zhenren, so the food in the hall was very light, even the candies were sugar-free. This taste was fine for older people, but for children, it was somewhat difficult to bear.

“Junior Brother Mu asked me to thank you. Little Junior Brother, what did you do for him that he even bought cakes to thank you?”

Men Dong grabbed a piece of peanut brittle and stuffed it into his mouth, speaking while eating, “What else? He likes Senior Sister Meng. I helped him pursue Senior Sister Meng, so naturally, he wants to please me.”

“Pursue Senior Sister Meng?” Tian Fangfang was stunned. “Relying on you?”

Men Dong paused his chewing, giving Tian Fangfang a sidelong glance, “If not me, then who? Ask around the entire sect, how many senior brothers and sisters have I personally matched as Dao companions?” He turned around and started walking into the hall, lecturing Tian Fangfang as he went, “You better not underestimate me. Maybe in the future, when you want to pursue a Dao companion, you’ll have to queue up and ask for my help.”

Tian Fangfang was speechless for a moment, following him into the Elysium Hall, casually asking, “So has Junior Brother Mu succeeded now?”

“Not yet,” Men Dong found a long couch in the hall and climbed onto it with ease. There was a teapot on a small table nearby, he didn’t hesitate to pour himself a cup of tea, and also poured a cup for Tian Fangfang. Finally, after taking a sip of tea and swallowing the crumbs in his mouth, he said, “The future husband of the head of our Taiyan Sect must be carefully chosen. Although Mu Cengxiao is young and promising and has a decent temperament, his background is ordinary, his family is common, and he has an unclear relationship with a childhood friend. Although I help him out of sect friendship, the final outcome still depends on him. To be blunt, what kind of man can’t Senior Sister Meng find? If she really wanted to, the entire talent pool of the cultivation world would be at her feet. Senior Brother Mu is quite ordinary and doesn’t have much of a chance.”

Tian Fangfang couldn’t listen anymore. After all, they were fellow disciples in the same hall, and he couldn’t help but defend Mu Cengxiao, “Who says Junior Brother Mu is ordinary? To say the least, when we encountered the Liu Huan Grass in the Sacred Tree Spiritual Domain of the Hidden Treasure Trove, even the great elder couldn’t maintain his chastity under the influence of its fragrance and got fundamentally injured, but Junior Brother Mu managed to withstand it and remained clear-headed at the critical moment. Isn’t that impressive? I dare say, none of those talents in the cultivation world could do that.”

This unique perspective left Men Dong unable to refute for a moment. After a brief pause, he said, “What you say does make sense. He practices at Chu Hong Terrace every day before dawn without fail and is always energetic. After the Liu Huan Grass incident, I checked his spiritual veins and found them quite clear. Nowadays, young people’s health is often lacking… In terms of dual cultivation, perhaps no one can do better than him.”

A mocking voice came from behind the hall, “You are openly discussing such matters in my hall. Do you feel very proud? Do you want me to draw a transmission symbol so that the entire sect can hear your idle talk?”

Gu Baiying emerged from behind the screen.

At this moment, it was still early. He must have just returned from practicing with his spear, as there was a slight sheen of sweat on his forehead. He was dressed in a snow-white outfit and had his hair tied in a ponytail, looking very refreshed.

It was clear that Gu Baiying had heard all of Men Dong and Tian Fangfang’s idle chatter.

Men Dong gave an awkward laugh, “Martial Uncle, we are also thinking about the future of the Taiyan Sect. If Senior Brother Mu really has some secret method for nourishing kidney essence, we should research it and have all the disciples of Taiyan Sect take it. That would benefit the sect’s future development, wouldn’t it?”

“Exactly, exactly,” Tian Fangfang quickly chimed in.

“How do you know his kidney essence is so strong?” A sharp expression appeared on Gu Baiying’s face. “Have you tried it?”

“Do you even need to ask? Both Liu Yunxin and Yang Zanxing are deeply in love with him. Although Senior Sister Meng hasn’t shown any particular affection, she doesn’t seem to dislike him either. It seems that he must be exceptional in dual cultivation,” Men Dong began to babble.

It would have been better if he hadn’t said that. As soon as he did, Gu Baiying snorted and, without thinking, said, “Who says so? I am certainly better at dual cultivation than he is.”

This competitive streak came out of nowhere. Men Dong was still trying to understand it when Tian Fangfang had already laughed and said, “Of course, after all, Martial Uncle, you use a spear.”

“…You are really having a deep conversation.” A voice echoed softly as Zanxing stood at the hall door, with an unusually awkward expression.

Who would have expected to hear such a conversation early in the morning in the Elysium Hall? Truly, you never know what people are really like.

“Yang Zanxing,” a flash of discomfort crossed Gu Baiying’s face. He cleared his throat and spoke calmly, “What brings you here?”

“The Sect Leader and the others have returned,” Zanxing said. “Senior Sister Ziluo asked you to go to the Jinhua Hall.”

Jinhua Hall was livelier today than usual.

Shaoyang Zhenren and his party had finally returned after more than half a month away in the secret realm of the Li’er Country. Their return was quiet and unceremonious, so even Gu Baiying was unaware of it.

However, some of those who went with them had perished.

Lady Rongshuang of the Xiang Ling Sect stood in the hall, her expression stern. Next to her, Pu Tao had an arm that seemed to be injured, wrapped in bandages.

Cultivators have special physiques, and even when injured, they usually don’t need bandages like ordinary people. Seeing Pu Tao bandaged like this could only mean her injury was severe. Besides that, everyone looked weary and haggard, indicating that the journey had been fraught with difficulties.

When Gu Baiying arrived at the hall, this was the scene he witnessed.

“Sect Leader.” He walked to Shaoyang Zhenren, his gaze sweeping over the group, frowning slightly.

“Junior Brother,” Yue Qin said, “you’re here.”

“What happened?” Gu Baiying asked. “There are far fewer people. What transpired?”

Several disciples of the Taiyan Sect had also gone on this trip, but they were not present now.

“The secret realm of the Li’er Kingdom changed, and Mount Wudong almost collapsed,” Yue Qin said. “We found traces of demonic energy in the secret realm and were attacked by the demon clan. The Demon King… has been resurrected.”

Gu Baiying was shocked. “How is that possible?”

Years ago, Gui Diaotang was personally slain by his mother, Fairy Qinghua, and his divine essence was annihilated at the ruins of the Golden Gate. For all these years, the demon clan had been in decline because the Demon King was gone. There was no such thing as resurrection. Death was final, even for demons.

“It’s true,” Pu Tao said. Seeing that Gu Baiying was still skeptical, she gritted her teeth and extended her arm, tearing off the bandage. Her fair arm seemed to have been scorched by something, the flesh twisted and raw. Amid the blood and gore, the faint imprint of a begonia flower could be seen.

“The Demon King’s seal?” Gu Baiying’s expression changed.

Pu Tao retracted her arm and rebandaged the wound, saying angrily, “We were ambushed by the demon spirits in the secret realm. I fought one and got injured… You know that after the Demon King died, the demon clan weakened, and demon spirits couldn’t leave the Demon King’s seal. Only someone who has awakened the Demon King’s power and supplied energy to the entire demon clan can enable demon spirits to imprint the Demon King’s mark… Gui Diaotang has been resurrected!”

Gui Diaotang has been resurrected!

Back then, the Demon King, Gui Diaotang, wreaked havoc across the mortal world. It cost countless lives in the cultivation world to finally slay the Demon King, and many powerful figures perished in the process. The war between humans and demons twenty years ago severely weakened the cultivation world. The new generation had not yet fully matured. If the Demon King is truly resurrected and the demon clan returns, could the cultivation world withstand it again? The prospects were grim.

“Not only that,” Daoist Yueguang said with a worried expression, “recently, many small sects in the cultivation world have been attacked by the demon clan. Some weaker sects have been completely annihilated, with no survivors.” He extended his hand, revealing a stack of glowing letters. The letters flew towards Gu Baiying, who caught and opened them, the words within shocking him.

“These demon clan attacks have been sudden, and the small sects had no chance to defend themselves. No one escaped to spread the news. It wasn’t until many sects were destroyed that the cultivation world became aware of this. Disciples of the Yinfeng Sect were ambushed by demon spirits while training outside, resulting in casualties,” Zhao Maoyi stroked his beard. “If I’m not mistaken, once these small sects are wiped out, it’ll be our turn next.”

First, the small sects, then the larger ones. These demon spirits are well-prepared, slowly devouring the entire cultivation world step by step.

“Fairy Qinghua has already fallen. If Gui Diaotang is resurrected, even if everyone in the cultivation world joins forces, we might not be able to defeat him,” Xuan Lingzi said with a face full of sorrow. “This is going to be a huge problem.”

“The Demon King is dead,” Shaoyang Zhenren, who had been silent until now, suddenly spoke. His expression was calm, as if even such a crisis could not shake him. “The dead cannot be resurrected.”

“But the Demon King’s seal…”

“In the end, we should have eradicated them completely back then,” Rongshuang interjected, coldly staring at Shaoyang Zhenren. “Gui Diaotang is dead, but the Demon Queen Bu Jiang is still alive. It’s possible that she has found a way to inherit the Demon King’s power and is now trying to emulate Gui Diaotang with the demon clan.”

“But hasn’t the Demon Queen Bu Jiang disappeared for many years?” Xuan Lingzi asked, puzzled. “Besides, she isn’t the Demon King. Without the Demon King’s power, after Gui Diaotang’s death, the demon clan had no source of energy, which is why they declined so quickly.”

“Disappearance doesn’t mean death,” Rong Shuang said harshly. “Moreover, the Xiao Yuan Pearl has not been found, most likely it has fallen back into the hands of the demon clan.”

Upon hearing this, everyone couldn’t help but shiver.

The power contained within the Xiao Yuan Pearl was enough to destroy the world. If the Demon King were resurrected and the Xiao Yuan Pearl were added to the mix, it would be a disaster for everyone.

“Pass down the order: from today onwards, no disciple is allowed to leave the mountain,” Shaoyang Zhenren sat high on his seat, his gold-red robe cascading to the ground, intricately patterned. Upon closer inspection, the patterns were not just designs but densely inscribed runes.

The white-haired man’s handsome face remained devoid of emotion as he spoke calmly, “Immediately set up the Dragon Flame Array at the entrance of Mount Gufeng. The demon spirits might test our sect once.”

“The Taiyan Sect is in danger.”