Chapter 32: Controlling the Hundred Demons Mountain Region

Elder Xuan Gu returned to his cultivation level at the early stage of leaving the body, though he had not yet fully regained his peak condition. Naturally, he began to hunt down cultivators of evil magic, absorbing the essence from their bones to fully restore his physical cultivation.

At this time, Qu Yi and Elder Xuan Gu arrived at a mountain peak outside East Black City. To the east of the Hundred Demons Mountain Region lay two cities: East Black City and East Bone City. The rulers of both cities were body-cultivators. To further enhance Elder Xuan Gu’s cultivation, Qu Yi decided to kill all the city rulers so that Elder Xuan Gu could advance to the middle stage of leaving the body. After all, at present, Elder Xuan Gu was the strongest force under Qu Yi’s command.

In the future, Qu Yi did not want to go out and take risks himself—his strength was not yet sufficient, and he did not want to use the Jade Sword to kill people. If he were exposed, Qu Yi could imagine being pursued by the cultivation world. Therefore, he needed to improve Elder Xuan Gu’s cultivation so that he could handle certain tasks in the future.

“Xuan Gu, East Black City and East Bone City should theoretically be under the control of your Black Bone Sect. But now, to help you improve your strength quickly, we can’t worry about that,” Qu Yi said with a faint smile atop the mountain.

“Hmph. Hei Man and Gu Heng are just pawns of our Black Bone Sect. We support them merely to monitor the Hundred Demons Mountain Region. It doesn’t matter if we kill them; our sect won’t intervene,” Elder Xuan Gu replied with a cold laugh, his sinister spirit showing no mercy.

Qu Yi smiled and then entered the Dimensional Sphere with Elder Xuan Gu. The Artifact God controlled the sphere, carrying them into East Black City, to the city ruler’s mansion, and stopping in Hei Man’s training room.

Hei Man, with his hairy, muscular chest exposed, was holding a beast bone in both hands, absorbing its essence to strengthen his body. As soon as the Dimensional Sphere stopped, Qu Yi and Elder Xuan Gu jumped out and launched a sudden attack.

Elder Xuan Gu used the Jade Turtle Relic to summon a giant turtle, which immediately suppressed Hei Man. Hei Man didn’t even have time to react—the attack by Elder Xuan Gu and Qu Yi was too sudden, leaving him unable to use his true energy for an attack. With no choice, he focused all his true energy on defense, struggling to hold back the attack.

Qu Yi smiled slightly and swung his Jade Sword. A streak of light rushed into Hei Man’s body.

“Ah!”

Hei Man’s scream almost collapsed the entire city ruler’s mansion. Of course, after that agonized cry, Hei Man fell to the ground in utter despair.

Xuan Gu Shangren sneered, then immediately placed both hands on Hei Man’s body, reversing his vital energy to absorb all of his essence. After finishing, he smiled at Qu Yi through his narrowed eyes.
“Let’s go!” Qu Yi said softly.
Immediately, Qu Yi and Xuan Gu Shangren teleported away.
In Dong Hei City, the cultivators resting there sensed that something had happened in the city lord’s mansion in a short time. However, by the time they reacted and tried to go to the mansion, Qu Yi and Xuan Gu Shangren had already left.
Hei Man, the city lord of Dong Hei City, died suddenly, yet no one knew who the killer was.
…
Qu Yi and Xuan Gu Shangren arrived at a mountain outside Dong Gu City.
“Xuan Gu, after refining Hei Man, to what level has your strength reached?” Qu Yi asked with a smile.
“I’ve returned to the peak stage of the early Outward Emergence phase. I estimate that by refining other city lords, I can break through to the middle stage of Outward Emergence,” Xuan Gu replied joyfully.
Qu Yi nodded and then gazed at Dong Gu City, saying with a smile, “Then speed things up so you can reach the middle stage of Outward Emergence as soon as possible.”
This was because Qu Yi felt that the plans of the demon cultivators were about to explode, and by then, the South Demon Continent and the North Immortal Continent would be in chaos. All the powerful figures would emerge, and even with his Jade Sword, Qu Yi would find it difficult to navigate such chaos. Thus, he needed to create a master like Xuan Gu Shangren so that he could reap benefits in secret.
Soon, Qu Yi and Xuan Gu Shangren entered the Dimensional Sphere, which was then controlled by the Artifact God to fly into Dong Gu City.
Gu Heng, the city lord of Dong Gu City, was also a body-cultivator who had reached the early stage of Outward Emergence. He had previously roamed the Hundred Demons Mountain Range, killing his way forward with brute force. Whether it was those at the Golden Core stage or the Nascent Soul stage, no matter how much stronger they were, Gu Heng would fight them head-on. Thanks to this fierce fighting spirit, he advanced rapidly and settled in Dong Gu City after reaching the early stage of Outward Emergence.
At that moment, Gu Heng, with his upper body exposed, was sitting inside a black cauldron, with a pale blue flame inside.
It was the most difficult Fire Refinement technique!
The Dimensional Sphere floated beside the black cauldron and then stopped.
Qu Yi and Xuan Gu Shangren suddenly emerged and attacked without hesitation.
Xuan Gu Shangren once again activated the Jade Turtle Relic. The giant jade turtle formed, reaching ten meters in size, and immediately overturned the black cauldron before pressing down on Gu Heng.

The moment Guo Heng saw Qu Yi and Xuan Gu Shang Ren emerge, he immediately stopped using true fire to temper his body, but it was too late to block the attack from the Jade Turtle. He was forced to be flung out of the Black Cauldron in a chaotic manner. As Guo Heng rolled to the ground, Xuan Gu Shang Ren grabbed the Jade Turtle Relic and smashed it at him. Guo Heng quickly raised his hands to block it; even his extremely hard hands felt like they were about to break apart, yet he still stubbornly held back the attack. “You’re Xuan Gu!” Guo Heng suddenly shouted as he defended himself. “Hmph, you guessed it. It’s a pity you can’t reveal this secret—because you’re about to die now.” Xuan Gu Shang Ren continued to channel his true energy, suppressing Guo Heng while sneering. Guo Heng still used his hands to block the Jade Turtle Relic, refusing to be defeated. By this time, Qu Yi had already drawn the Fulong Sword. Without needing to rely on his true energy, he thrust it at Guo Heng’s back. “Hmph, just at the early Yuan Ying stage, and you still think you can pierce my body with a sword?” Guo Heng sneered, confident in his own physical strength. But the Fulong Sword was a top-grade treasure, one that could only be forged by someone at the Shen Shen stage—how could its sharpness not even pierce the body of someone at the Chu Qiao stage? “Ah!” Guo Heng suddenly let out a pained cry. Fortunately, he reacted quickly. As the Fulong Sword pierced his body, he immediately gathered his true energy to block it from going any deeper. Qu Yi smirked coldly, quickly retracting the Fulong Sword into his body and taking out the Jade Sword instead. “You may die now,” Qu Yi said softly, as the Jade Sword immediately pierced into Guo Heng’s body. While still struggling against Xuan Gu Shang Ren’s pressure and unable to escape, Guo Heng still thought that Qu Yi had just changed swords and could not harm him. Little did he know, the Jade Sword was an extremely sharp weapon—no amount of true energy could withstand its edge. The Jade Sword pierced straight through Guo Heng’s body. “No!” Guo Heng cried out in frustration before his breath stopped, his eyes wide open. Xuan Gu Shang Ren immediately retrieved the Jade Turtle Relic and began to refine Guo Heng’s body. At the same time, the cultivators living in Dong Gu City began to rush toward the city lord’s mansion. Qu Yi quickly put Xuan Gu Shang Ren into the Inch Realm Ball, removed the restrictions from the room, and then teleported away. The cultivators in Dong Gu City, unaware of Qu Yi’s true strength, did not dare to chase after him. Another mystery arose—City Lord Guo Heng of Dong Gu City was dead, but no one knew who the killer was. … Qu Yi flew to a snow-capped peak and stopped there. At that moment, he took out a communication token—it turned out that Wei Yan had already sent him a message.

“The main controller of the Fiend Cultivation Plan has given orders for me to unify the Hundred Demons Mountain Region within three months and await further instructions to carry out the plan.”
Qu Yi immediately understood. It seemed that in three months, the entire Tianfeng Planet would face a fiend cultivation uprising, with numerous battles breaking out everywhere.
“Since there are still three months left, I’ll save some time and use it to thoroughly scan the arrays and further elevate my soul realm. I can leave the battles in the Hundred Demons Mountain Region to Xuan Gu and Wei Yan,” Qu Yi thought to himself.
With that in mind, Qu Yi immediately summoned Xuan Gu out of the Dimensional Sphere and gave him orders.
“Xuan Gu, head to Nanyun City right now and meet up with Wei Yan. Together, take the cultivators and unify the entire Hundred Demons Mountain Region,” Qu Yi said with a smile.
“Yes, master,” Xuan Gu replied without hesitation.
Qu Yi was quite satisfied with Xuan Gu. He hadn’t expected that this leader of the Black Bone Sect would immediately adjust his behavior once in his hands and refrain from any defiance.
“Go ahead. I’ve already informed Wei Yan and passed on your details. All those city lords you killed are now yours alone,” Qu Yi said with a faint smile.
Xuan Gu nodded and instantly teleported away.
After seeing Xuan Gu leave, Qu Yi entered the Dimensional Sphere, ready to devote himself fully to scanning the arrays.
Scanning arrays meant comprehending energy, which in turn meant elevating one’s soul realm. If Qu Yi wanted to rapidly improve his cultivation level, he had to keep raising his soul realm. After all, it was easy for him to obtain a Yuan Ying to break through his cultivation level; the only obstacle was his soul realm.
Naturally, Qu Yi’s top priority now was scanning the arrays.
……
Time passed swiftly, and three months flew by.
During these three months, the Hundred Demons Mountain Region underwent a thorough purge, suffering a great calamity.
The newly emerging force, the Three Tripod Gate, suddenly came to prominence.
Wei Yan and Xuan Gu, along with thousands of cultivators in the later stages of the Yuan Ying phase, as well as three thousand cultivators in the middle and early stages of the Yuan Ying phase, entered Zhongli City, Zhongyang City, Beixue City, Beigǔ City, Xigǔ City, and Xixue City in the Hundred Demons Mountain Region, killing all six city lords.
From then on, the Hundred Demons Mountain Region became the territory of the Three Tripod Gate.
During this campaign, Wei Yan actually reached the early stage of the Outward Emergence phase, while Xuan Gu reached the middle stage of the same phase, giving Qu Yi two subordinates at that level right away.

Qu Yi, on his part, spent three months in seclusion within the tiny realm, focusing entirely on scanning the formation, and his soul realm also advanced to the later stage of Yuan Ying. It can be said that with enough Yuan Ying, Qu Yi can strive to reach the even later stage of Yuan Ying.