Chapter 61: A Common Stance

Several disciples from Tianji Peak carried array-setting materials with them. After entering the Sealing Demon Realm, these materials hadn’t been used yet, and now they came in handy. Under their guidance, over a hundred inner disciples worked together efficiently to set up the array. However, as soon as Mu Yun assigned positions to some of them, everyone felt the entire world suddenly darken. Looking up, they saw that the light of the Sealing Star in the distance was completely obscured by dark clouds. No—those weren’t clouds at all; it was the heavenly demon army that had arrived in overwhelming numbers, stretching as far as the eye could see. Mu Yun shouted loudly, “Hurry! Everyone take their positions and get ready for battle. I’m about to activate the array!” The over a hundred inner disciples rushed into the array and took their assigned positions according to Mu Yun’s prior instructions, completing the final preparations. As inner disciples of Tianxuan Sect, they were all highly skilled, and in such a critical moment, none made mistakes out of panic. Everyone stood solemnly, ready for battle. Of course, only Su Che remained idle, forced to stay inside the teleportation array. At this point, the teleportation array was also covered by the earth-based defense array set up by Mu Yun and the others, making it the safest place for now. Whoosh… A strong wind blew, raising dust as hundreds of thousands of heavenly demons approached. Dark clouds rolled by, accompanied by eerie howls. Only by witnessing it firsthand could one understand the terrifying force of hundreds of thousands of demons pressing down. “Tianji Rock Formation, activate!” With a sharp cry, Mu Yun activated the only top-grade spirit talisman. Earthly spiritual energy immediately surged to the most critical center of the formation where she stood. Boom! A brownish light flashed, enveloping all the disciples of Tianxuan Sect. The immense power of the earth was drawn forth by the Rock Formation, vaguely forming an illusion of a massive mountain that hovered above their heads. The Tianji Rock Formation used earth energy to create a formidable barrier of mountains, thick and impenetrable. An array of this scale could hardly be completed even by a cultivator at the Foundation Establishment stage with a single strike; it required the combined efforts of many. The strength of a hundred people converged into one, forming a large array. As soon as the array was activated, the heavenly demon army swarmed around it like dark clouds covering the earth, enclosing the Tianji Rock Formation. “Disciples of Tianxuan Sect, prepare to die!”

The demonic sounds reverberated like thunder, and the terrifying waves of sound stirred up sand and dust on the ground. It was unknown how many demons had to roar in unison to create such immense force. The disciples of Tianxuan Sect, protected by the formation and their own vital energy, were not afraid of such sound attacks. Only Su Che, with his low cultivation level, was shaken to the point of dizziness and nearly fell to the ground. Fortunately, a warm current from the Immortal Prison protected his head, counteracting the demonic sounds and allowing him to avoid a humiliating fall. Su Che knew that it was Lao He who had sent vital energy to help him, and he sighed inwardly, “My cultivation level is too low; I’m so weak!” “It’s okay, master,” Lao He comforted him. “The worst among these people are at the later stages of Qi Cultivation. You can’t compare to them yet. But it won’t take long for you to catch up. Besides, within the same level of early Qi Cultivation, you have no rivals.” “That’s good too. Having something to compare against helps me more clearly understand my shortcomings, so I won’t become complacent just because I’ve achieved a little success,” Su Che reflected. At that moment, over a hundred giant figures descended from the sky. A few inner sect disciples exclaimed in shock, “Demon generals! So many of them!” The 108 Demon Generals appeared simultaneously, each transforming into a giant several zhang tall. In mid-air, one of the Demon Generals roared down at them, “Disciples of Tianxuan Sect, do you realize your crimes?” The disciples were stunned. “Crimes? What crimes? Even the extraterrestrial demons would ask such a thing. What other beings in this world could be more wicked than them?” Though they thought so, they still hoped to communicate with these Demon Generals to buy time and find out why they had sent such a large force, causing an unprecedented upheaval in the Seal of Demons Realm. Yu Qing spoke on behalf of everyone, using his vital energy to respond through the formation, “It has been our tradition for over two thousand years to send disciples to the Seal of Demons Realm for training. We don’t understand what crimes you’re referring to.” “Normal training isn’t bad,” the Demon General began to reason. “You disciples of Tianxuan Sect use us to hone your combat skills, and we’re willing to amuse ourselves by playing with you to pass the dull days. It’s quite a game. But these past few days, some of you have used special methods to devour the true demon spirits of many of our people. This is outright extermination, outright plunder—something absolutely intolerable!”

“What is the True Demon Spirit? Humans and demons are different; we’ve lived long enough—how could we possibly devour the extraterrestrial demons? It’s pure nonsense!” Yu Qing and the others were utterly astonished and didn’t understand its words at all.

At this moment, only Su Che and Lao He realized what was going on: “So that’s how it is. Those lower-level demons were captured by us and thrown into the Immortal Prison, completely cut off from the Demon Sealing Realm—essentially, they disappeared forever… This disaster was indeed caused by us!”

The demon general also knew that these inner sect disciples weren’t yet qualified to know the true secrets of the Demon Sealing Realm. They didn’t understand the principle that true spirits never perish, nor do demons die.

So, the demon general roared again, “One of you must understand my words. It is this person who has brought about this disaster. From now on, unless this person steps forward and admits to everything they’ve done, all of you will die here!”

Now, Yu Qing and the others finally understood. No matter what secrets lay behind this, someone must have done something that the extraterrestrial demons couldn’t tolerate, thus triggering this crisis.

Inside the Rock Formation, all the inner sect disciples looked at each other, suspecting one another, yet feeling that none of them seemed likely…

“Who is it? Who caused this trouble? Step forward quickly before dragging everyone down with you!” someone shouted, scanning the surroundings.

“Why are you shouting?” someone immediately rebuked him. “Just because you have a loud voice doesn’t mean it’s not you!”

“Nonsense!” the first person snapped, his face turning red. “Ge Qing, you always look for trouble whenever you get the chance. What’s your intention?”

The young man named Ge Qing laughed heartily. “At a time like this, I’d rather not bother you. It’s your own stupidity that gets you believing the words of those extraterrestrial demons. Regardless of whether that troublemaker exists or not, even if they hand him over, do you really think the demon army will spare us? Use your brain and think carefully.”

The first person was left speechless, finally realizing that indeed, when it came to the most despicable, cruel, and untrustworthy creatures in the world, the extraterrestrial demons were undoubtedly the worst, and whatever they said was utterly untrustworthy.

“Ge Qing is right,” Yu Qing nodded. “The words of demons can’t be trusted—that’s one thing. More importantly, the extraterrestrial demons are enemies of all living things. Killing them in any way is justified. We must not hand over those who kill demons for this reason. To do so would mean betraying our own kind out of fear of death—we wouldn’t deserve to stay on the path of immortality.”

“That’s right,” Mu Yun, who was in charge of the defense, also sent a message to everyone, saying, “Who among us hasn’t killed a Heavenly Demon? Even though the methods may differ, we’ve always regarded eliminating demons and upholding justice as our duty and honor… Anyone who suggests compromising with the Heavenly Demons will be the first to be despised by me, Mu Yun.”
On this matter, even Hua Lu from Tianlu Peak agreed: “Yes, compromising with the Heavenly Demons—I’m afraid I won’t be able to overcome my own inner demons during the tribulation later on.”
“Right, no compromise!”
“How can we take the words of those demon brats seriously?”
“I suggest we don’t reject them outright. It’s best to use this situation to buy time, delaying things until the elders from our sect come to rescue us.”
The other inner disciples also agreed, with some offering even wiser suggestions.
Hearing these opinions, Su Che breathed a slight sigh of relief. It wasn’t out of fear of being exposed, but rather out of guilt—after all, it was because of him that they had been dragged into this.
“Master, I think you really don’t need to blame yourself,” Lao He comforted him. “Your senior brother Yu Qing is right—any method of eliminating the Heavenly Demons is correct. Eliminating demons and upholding justice is the responsibility of righteous cultivators.”
“It has nothing to do with me,” Su Che admitted frankly. “Everything I’ve done is just to improve my strength. It’s natural to feel guilty for dragging them into this. Lao He, don’t worry about me. I can understand these principles on my own.”
“That’s good then.”
Lao He scratched his head and chuckled, thinking to himself: The master’s mood is the most important. I really don’t care about the lives of those others. What does it matter if they all die… No! It would be a shame if they all died. It would be best to capture everyone in the world and turn them into free laborers for the master…