“How is this possible?”
Hua Rusong’s emotions were somewhat shaken. The golden abacus in his hand rattled a few times as a look of doubt surfaced on his face.
“If such a pill truly exists, why hasn't my Qingjing Sect received any word of it?”
After all, his Qingjing Sect had influence spanning across the Four Provinces, with intelligence networks reaching everywhere. Aside from Deity Transformation experts, they even had several Mahayana Ancestors in seclusion, making them the undisputed leader of the righteous path.
Yet ever since their current Sect Master was wounded by Sky Demons in the Wuwang Sea, the sect’s alchemists had wracked their brains without ever developing an antidote.
Sky Demon poison was unlike ordinary mineral or herbal poisons. Once contracted, it acted like barbed wild weeds, clinging tightly to one's spiritual power and devouring a cultivator’s purple mansion.
Accumulated over years and months, it could never be stripped away.
This poison was eerie to the extreme; even Gu Yini, who was exceptionally skilled in alchemy, had failed to formulate a method to neutralize it.
Its inner nature was unknown, and its origin was a mystery.
Dai Tianwen, the Sect Master of this generation of the Qingjing Sect, had already resolved to die, planning to force a breakthrough to the Deity Transformation stage in hopes of grasping a slim sliver of survival.
Of course, there were also desperate measures like martial release and reincarnation, or soul-snatching to return to life, but those were final resorts when pushed to a dead end.
Everyone who had witnessed the dreadfulness of the Sky Demon poison speculated that only legendary Heavenly Yuan pills or heavenly treasures like the Peaches of Immortality and Ginseng Fruit could resolve it.
Otherwise, not even a Daluo Golden Immortal descending in person could save them.
“Old moneybags, what an odd question. Could it be that all the alchemists under the heavens have pledged allegiance to your Qingjing Sect?”
Gu Yini covered her lips with a chuckle.
“I have already tested this pill. Although its grade is low, just as the Sea Market Master said, it can indeed purge the Sky Demon poison from a cultivator’s body—”
She opened her hand, revealing an ordinary-looking pill completely devoid of pill veins in her palm.
Gongshu He’s gaze flickered slightly.
Yun Tianming and Heaven-Cripple Monk exchanged a glance.
Mo Zhaoming merely lowered his head to sip tea, remaining unmoved.
Unable to contain his impatience, Hua Rusong waved his hand, and the pill flew into his palm.
Paying no heed to anything else, he hastily swallowed it, closed his eyes to sense it for a moment, and then exclaimed in utter astonishment:
“Just who refined this pill? It can actually purge the Black Mist Poison from the dantian?!”
Three hundred years ago, he had also attempted to explore the Wuwang Sea. A trace of Black Mist Poison had lingered in his body ever since, clinging like a maggot on bone and resisting all attempts to eradicate it.
That wisp of black mist stubbornly mingled with his spiritual energy, like a tiny pebble tossed into the vast sea.
Though minor, it still caused some hindrance.
—As for why he had yet to step into the Deity Transformation stage, it likely had something to do with this matter.
Yet with a single pill swallowed, the usually hidden black mist showed faint signs of shifting.
It really worked!
However, a single Detoxification Pill was merely a drop in the bucket for him.
Seeing Hua Rusong “test the poison with his own body,” the expressions of those around him varied, each harboring their own thoughts.
The aquatic clan had virtually no alchemists, yet now they could quietly produce a pill that purged the Black Mist Poison—
In life, one always had to prepare for the worst-case scenario.
Could the aquatic clan have colluded with the Sky Demons, laying a trap for them to fall into?
Thinking back carefully, from the Dragon Girl falling into the sea to the present Four Directions Assembly and the Sky Demons coming ashore, everything seemed steeped in strangeness.
First, Ao Mingzhu had sought to join forces with Zongfang of the Wuwei Sect to slay High-level Sky Demons, only to be schemed against by Ao Run of the Dragon Clan, who colluded with foreign enemies to make her plunge into the Wuwang Sea.
In the Wuwang Sea, where not even a goose feather could float, the Dragon Girl had returned completely intact to the Sea Market. And just so conveniently, she produced a pill capable of stripping away the Black Mist Poison from cultivators...
If this was a conspiracy, the sheer cunning of the mastermind behind it was truly chilling to the bone.
Various conspiracies and schemes flashed through their minds, but observing Ao Mingzhu’s reaction, they quickly tossed those thoughts aside.
Though the Dragon Clan was cunning and Ao Mingzhu herself was known for her unrestrained ways, unlike other dragons who only indulged in pleasure, she had painstakingly managed the Sea Market for hundreds of years and had long been locked in a fight to the death with the Sky Demons.
If someone claimed anyone else in the world was colluding with Sky Demons, they might believe it, but Ao Mingzhu was the least likely candidate.
“Everyone.”
Ao Mingzhu took in all of their reactions. A faint smile flickered in her eyes before she spoke again:
“Sect Master Gu is a grandmaster of the alchemical dao, and True Lord Hua’s cultivation is even above my own. Since you all sincerely wish to join my Sea Market in eradicating the Sky Demons, it would not do for me to practice deception.”
She specifically pointed out Nan Zhi’s reminder:
“Although this pill can strip away the Sky Demon poison within a cultivator’s body, it is not an antidote pill and cannot repair a purple mansion and spirit platform damaged by the black mist. The difference between ‘purging poison’ and ‘curing poison’ might be a single word, but they are worlds apart.”
“This is already astounding enough.”
Gongshu He said calmly with a placid gaze:
“In the past, it was precisely because of this Black Mist Poison that the Sky Demon race was allowed to grow and flourish. Since the Sea Market Master has made a decision and obtained these Detoxification Pills, you presumably intend to formally move against the Wuwang Sea.”
“True Lord Gongshu guessed it?”
Ao Mingzhu’s expression suddenly turned solemn as she cupped her hands toward them:
“Everyone, the Sky Demon race approaches aggressively. In merely three hundred years, they have grown to this extent. I am determined not to let them run rampant any longer.
“The twelve nations of the four directions are where the North Province Heavenly Pillar stands. In ancient times, the God of Fire Zhurong and the God of Water Gonggong broke the Heavenly Pillar, overturning heaven and earth, until our Demon race Saint Nüwa mended the sky with five-colored stones to save the world.
“Right now, the Sky Demons are still relatively weak and in their infancy. If we allow them to truly grow, I fear they will eventually endanger the Heavenly Pillar, bringing about the Great Calamity of heaven and earth once more.
“At that time, not only will our twelve nations of the four directions be in peril, but neither the cultivation world nor the mortal realm will escape this catastrophe.”
The moment those words fell, several people furrowed their brows. Even Mo Zhaoming, who had been drinking tea the whole time, looked up with a hint of surprise in his eyes.
In the unseen fabric of fate, their hearts stirred.
It was as though a very delicate zither string had been softly plucked.
For cultivators, even if their words did not instantly become law, the higher their cultivation, the deeper the resonance behind their words.
Some immortals could even sense heaven and earth, occasionally speaking startling words not of their own volition, but as the Heavenly Dao speaking through their lips.
The Dragon Girl spoke with absolute certainty, as though convinced such a future would inevitably come to pass.
Hua Rusong moved with astounding speed. Spiritual light surged around him as he instantly laid out a formation, his fingers rapidly calculating. His brows twitched and he was about to speak, but suddenly coughed up a heavy mouthful of crimson blood!
Heaven and earth collapsed; demons and monsters ran amok.
Humans were reduced to blood food, barely clinging to life.
Until heaven and earth overturned, and the Four Provinces cracked apart.
With this breakthrough, the visions grew increasingly vivid. Lines of bloody tears streamed from the corners of Hua Rusong's eyes, yet he refused to stop, stubbornly seeking to see the Qingjing Sect’s fate—
The next second, thunder roared across the clear azure sky, lightning flashed wildly, and an overwhelming sense of doom surged in his heart!
Hua Rusong instantly halted his deduction, coughing up yet another mouthful of blood!
...
Everyone in the hall was filled with utter shock.
Gongshu He also knitted her brows tightly.
Hua Rusong cultivated the 《Great Dao Deduction Record》 and could occasionally glimpse a sliver of heavenly secrets, which had helped him evade life-and-death tribulations multiple times.
Seeing him in such a state now, did it not prove that the Dragon Girl’s words were entirely true?
Did that not mean that if left unchecked, the Sky Demons of the Wuwang Sea would sooner or later trigger a world-ending catastrophe?!
“Sea Market Master, cough, cough, cough... Is the person who foretold the Great Calamity to you the very same person who bestowed the Detoxification Pills?”
Blood dripped onto the floor. Hua Rusong’s face grew a few shades paler, and his gaze toward Ao Mingzhu carried a tinge of wariness.
Just a moment ago, when he divined the heavenly secrets and merely glimpsed a fraction of the future, he had suffered severe trauma.
Heavenly secrets must not be leaked.
For a cultivator to learn of the future inherently required paying a tremendous price.
If the Dragon Girl had not already revealed glimpses of the future today, a forced divination would likely have killed him on the spot through heavenly backlash, obliterating his body and Dao.
Yet Ao Mingzhu, who had disclosed all of this, was completely unscathed.
This meant that behind her, there had to be a far higher-level cultivator capable of shouldering this karma and bearing the backlash of heavenly secrets.
Deity Transformation, Body Integration, Mahayana... or had they already become a True Immortal?
At this thought, a cold sweat broke out across Hua Rusong’s back.
...
Deity Transformation cultivators were practically invincible beings in the mortal realm.
Seeing Hua Rusong spewing blood, the faces of the others changed as well, their eyes turning toward the Dragon Girl one after another.
Ao Mingzhu was internally surprised, and seeing Hua Rusong suffer backlash from his divination only deepened her admiration for Nan Zhi.
Just what realm of cultivation does Master possess?!
A Deity Transformation cultivator merely divined a fraction and was backlashed to such an extent?
Yet Master, who deduced the Great Calamity of heaven and earth, suffered no backlash at all?
As expected of a Witch powerhouse whose cultivation is unfathomable and resonates with heaven and earth.
Yet she did not reveal the slightest hint on her face, merely nodding slightly, which served as an indirect answer to Hua Rusong’s question.
“...Indeed, I—cough, cough—this old man did not guess wrongly.”
With bloody tears trickling from both eyes as the backlash washed over him, Hua Rusong had no choice but to temporarily seal his eyes before wiping away the blood from his lips:
“Merely hearing the Sea Market Master’s words and lightly divining a bit upon a sudden realization not only brought down backlash upon me, but even provoked heavenly thunder as a warning. The senior who bestowed the pills possesses a cultivation that is truly unfathomable.”
In this way, everything made sense.
Why Ao Mingzhu could escape from the black mist.
Why she clearly knew the three sects' intentions yet went with the flow, borrowing their strength to purge the Sky Demons along the coasts of the twelve nations of the four directions.
As for the figure behind the scenes who provided the Detoxification Pills...
A powerhouse from the other Three Provinces?
An immortal with heaven-reaching means?
Or an enfeoffed god of the Heavenly Court who had not appeared for ages?
In any case, it definitely could not be a Sky Demon.
Yun Tianming curled his lip. That dog—even his way of addressing himself changed.
Everyone present was shrewd to the bone; hearing Hua Rusong change how he addressed himself, they immediately understood he must have seen something in his divination just now.
What Ao Mingzhu said was highly likely to become reality.
In almost an instant, they exchanged glances and reached a consensus.
Regardless of what the person behind Ao Mingzhu intended, exterminating the Sky Demons after this Four Directions Assembly was now set in stone.
No one understood the principle that if the lips are gone, the teeth will be cold better than the people of the Three Sects.
“If the world-ending calamity is real, we must report it to the elders in our sect, and after verification, send warnings to our fellow sects across the four directions. In this Four Directions Assembly, the two of us and our participating disciples will certainly offer full assistance.”
Gongshu He supported Hua Rusong with one hand to keep him from collapsing and losing composure, while tapping her waist with the other. A streak of sword light shot out from a tattered scabbard and soared into the azure clouds.
Heaven-Cripple Monk and Yun Tianming were not to be outdone; using their own methods, they sent messages back to their respective sects right in front of Ao Mingzhu.
Within their sects, there were elders capable of divining heavenly secrets and reading celestial phenomena.
Verifying the truth was merely a matter of time.
But having reached this point, no one believed this matter to be false.
“The Sky Demons must be eradicated.”
Leaning languidly against her giant clam chair, a cold glint flashed in Gu Yini’s eyes as her coquettish expression was replaced by razor-sharp resolve:
“If we allow the Sky Demon race to grow today, it will be no different from rearing a tiger that will cause trouble later. Sooner or later, it will turn against us and bring us ruin.”
—Even before today, Ao Mingzhu had already proposed cooperating with the Hehuan Sect.
Gu Yini had agreed half-heartedly, waiting to observe the attitudes of the other two sects today.
Seeing Hua Rusong’s miserable state now, and considering that unseen powerhouse behind the Dragon Girl, she did not need to think twice before reaching a decision.
If she previously held the thought of sitting on the mountain to watch tigers fight, that stance had completely shifted now.
She could not let the Hehuan Sect be destroyed in her hands, nor could she leave a world-ending catastrophe to future generations.
The Sky Demons had to be eradicated.
“It is only right.”
Heaven-Cripple Monk rubbed his head with his intact hand. Beside him, Yun Tianming nodded and brushed nonexistent dust from his robes:
“This matter is of great significance. I have already sent a message back to the sect and told that brat Zongfang to head back as well. Though he is somewhat unruly, when it comes to major affairs, he knows what's important.”
...
It was truly just as Master had anticipated.
Although the Three Sects had occasional friction and eyed the twelve nations of the four directions covetously, they would not sit idly by in the face of a world-ending Sky Demon threat.
Seeing that in just a few words they had stated their stances, Ao Mingzhu felt greatly reassured. Striking while the iron was hot, she continued:
“Exterminating the Sky Demons of the Wuwang Sea still requires careful long-term planning. For the current Four Directions Assembly, my Sea Market is willing to take out one hundred thousand Blood-Supplementing Pills and one hundred thousand Qi-Supplementing Pills. During the assembly, we will provide an unlimited supply at eighty percent of market price to all cultivators slaying demons.”
As soon as these words left her mouth, the contemplative figures beside her turned their heads in unison—even Hua Rusong, whose eyes were sealed, was no exception.
“One hundred thousand Qi-Supplementing Pills, one hundred thousand Blood-Supplementing Pills?!”
Yun Tianming’s voice dragged out in disbelief, his gaunt face filled with utter astonishment.
He originally thought he had received more than enough shock for one day.
First, a powerhouse of unknown cultivation had developed the Detoxification Pills.
Then came the possibility of a future Sky Demon Calamity erupting, putting the Four Provinces in peril.
And now the Sea Market Master was saying she would bring out a hundred thousand portions of low-tier pills in a single breath?
That was one hundred thousand, not one thousand, nor ten thousand.
For ordinary low-level rogue cultivators, having a bottle of effective hemostatic pills on hand could save their lives during spell battles and demon slaying.
Even for sect disciples, having a few extra bottles of pills might allow them to hold out until sect reinforcements arrived.
One hundred thousand pills—such an appalling figure! As long as Ao Mingzhu dared to release them at an eighty percent price, it would be enough to bring the low-level rogue cultivators of the Sea Market under her banner.
This was an exceedingly massive force.
Although these cultivators’ cultivation was still shallow, who could guarantee they wouldn't form a Golden Core, step into Nascent Soul, and eventually reach Deity Transformation in the future?
Even if it were one in ten thousand, with Ao Mingzhu’s methods, it would be enough to bend this force to her service.
As for the unlimited supply she mentioned, what kind of concept was that?
It wasn't as if selling the pills meant everything was resolved.
If the banner of “unlimited supply” was raised and future supplies failed to keep up, it could backfire catastrophically.
—Unless the powerhouse behind Ao Mingzhu had secretly imprisoned over a thousand high-level alchemists and forced them to refine pills day and night without a moment’s rest, only then could they barely meet the demand of this many cultivators.
Filled with doubt and shock, they felt that the frights of this single day exceeded all the shocks they had endured over a thousand years.
Yet no one spoke up to question her.
“The Sea Market Master’s compassion for the hardships of rogue cultivators is truly admirable.”
Hua Rusong, ever fond of wealth, immediately grew interested and probed:
“What if someone sees a lucrative opportunity, buys up these pills in bulk, and resells them at market price once bought out? Wouldn't the Sea Market Master be making wedding clothes for others?”
The only worry is that they won't buy.
Recalling her Master’s faint sneer in the mirror and the steadily multiplying pills every three days, Ao Mingzhu felt increasingly delighted:
“As long as one can swallow it, I can provide as many pills as requested. I'm not afraid of lacking pills; my only worry is that all the spirit stones of your Three Sects combined won't be enough to buy them all.”
What grandiose words!
Gu Yini glanced over sideways. She initially thought Ao Mingzhu was joking, but observing her expression, it did not seem feigned in the slightest. She smiled and said:
“My Hehuan Sect will reserve thirty thousand portions first. The spirit stones will be delivered shortly.”
“Ah, my Wuwei Sect wants thirty thousand as well. Eighty percent of market price—this is truly taking immense advantage.”
Heaven-Cripple Monk chimed in with a jolly chuckle:
“I wonder if the senior behind the Sea Market Master mentioned how the Detoxification Pills will be handled?”
The gazes of Gongshu He and the others shifted, landing upon the Dragon Girl.
“The Detoxification Pills are not for sale. Only three hundred will be brought out to serve as bonus rewards on the Heaven and Earth Demon Slaying Boards.”
Ao Mingzhu saw how eager they were, and fearing these figures would discard their dignity as Deity Transformation experts to enter the field and snatch Sky Demon kills from Golden Core and Foundation Establishment cultivators, she added:
“Please do not violate the rules of the assembly.”
—If max-level bosses smurfed and went on a slaughtering spree, how could she recruit talented individuals?
If anyone ruined Master’s plans, she would tear them apart with her bare hands!
Only then did Hua Rusong and Yun Tianming pout with dwindling interest, dropping the matter entirely and simply joining the discussion on slaughtering demons.
By the looks of it, had the Dragon Girl not mentioned it, the two of them would have gladly thrown away their face to secretly enter the field and go on a killing spree.
Rate on N.U.
