Chapter 36: Don’t Kill Me

Long Zhan Tian was in the sect’s headquarters, happily chatting with the eleven elders.
Recently, Qu Yi, who had been missing for nearly three years, sent news to Long Zhan Tian again—he had started assassinating the elders of Zhuang Guangming’s faction. Moreover, it seemed even easier for Qu Yi to kill elders at the upper-level Earth Soul Demon rank; he could kill ten at once, carrying out large-scale massacres among Zhuang Guangming’s elders.
Naturally, Long Zhan Tian shared these updates with the elders, who were very pleased.
“Sect Master, during these three years, Qu Yi must have been in seclusion. I think his cultivation level has definitely improved, making it even easier for him to deal with Zhuang Guangming’s elders.”
“That’s for sure. After his cultivation improved, he used Zhuang Guangming’s elders as test subjects.”
“I really feel sorry for those elders who follow Zhuang Guangming. They can hardly expect to get the benefits Zhuang Guangming promised them, and they also have to worry about their lives every day.”
“Life… fate…”
The elders expressed their thoughts joyfully.
Long Zhan Tian listened calmly as they spoke. Once everyone fell silent, he said, “Elders, if Qu Yi continues killing like this, Zhuang Guangming won’t be able to cope. I think, as he sees our forces taking away his resources one by one, filled with resentment and despair, he will challenge me to a decisive battle.”
The eleven elders stared at Long Zhan Tian in shock, then nodded one after another.
“If Zhuang Guangming wants a decisive battle, let’s agree to it.”
“Right. Zhuang Guangming only has ten upper-level Earth Soul Demon figures, while we have twelve. Why should we fear him?”
“Let’s have that decisive battle! I’ve been waiting for this day for a long time.”
A few more elders spoke up.
Long Zhan Tian smiled and nodded. Just as he was about to speak, he sensed his communication card moving. He immediately took out the card and scanned it with his demonic sense.
“Elders, as I thought. Zhuang Guangming has officially challenged me to a decisive battle. The time is half a year from now, on the Water Continent.”
Long Zhan Tian read out the message on the card.
The eleven elders looked at him in disbelief, then suddenly burst into laughter. What they had just discussed had become reality—quite interesting indeed.
However, the elders quickly calmed down.
“Sect Master, it’s normal for Zhuang Guangming to propose a decisive battle. But setting it for half a year later seems a bit strange,” said Elder Long Chaoning, with a puzzled expression.

The Land of Water is currently divided equally between Long Zhan Tian and Zhuang Guangming, with the decisive battle taking place at the border between their territories. The eleven elders had no doubts about this arrangement.

However, the fact that there was only half a year to prepare for the battle made some of the elders skeptical.

Time passed in a rush during their seclusion—over a decade in just a short while. Half a year seemed even more urgent.

But Elder Long Sheng said with a smile, “Long Chao, Zhuang Guangming must be truly cornered by us, which is why he wants to end this entanglement early by proposing a decisive battle.”

His words sparked some thoughts among the elders.

“That’s right. Zhuang Guangming has proposed a battle—he might be plotting something, but will we just hand over defeat? I suggest that during the battle, we mobilize all 500 million of our disciples to the battle site and launch a full-scale attack to wipe out all of Zhuang Guangming’s disciples,” said Elder Long Yun with a smile.

If all of Zhuang Guangming’s disciples were eliminated, even if he won the battle among the elders, he would have no one left. If he lost the battle and all his disciples died, that would be the best outcome.

“Long Yun is right. We should take advantage of our high morale now and have our disciples launch a full-scale attack. Moreover, I suggest we start attacking right away, aiming to eliminate most of Zhuang Guangming’s disciples within these six months,” said Elder Long Zhi, also smiling.

The eyes of the elders lit up.

Long Zhan Tian immediately said, “Good, that’s an excellent proposal. I’ll issue orders now to move all the disciples from the Land of Sun to the Land of Common, first clearing out Zhuang Guangming’s disciples there, and then marching to the Land of Water to continue pursuing them.”

The eleven elders laughed.

※※※

Qu Yi was currently on a mountain peak in the Land of Common.

“Divine Instrument, it seems I’ve already killed about a hundred elders at the mid-level Earth Soul Demon rank in this assassination mission,” Qu Yi said, laughing as he admired the beautiful scenery in the distance.

After devouring Hong Wu’s Soul Flower, the Core of Life had risen to the upper-level Earth Soul Demon rank, making it extremely easy for it to deal with those elders.

With the Core of Life at its side, who could rival it?

Another hundred elders died at its hands.

“Qu Yi, you don’t need to waste time on elders. Now, go focus on dealing with those upper-level Earth Soul Demon rank elders,” the Divine Instrument spoke softly.

With the Core of Life holding them back and his own body capable of absorbing the essence energy of the five elements, Qu Yi could easily handle those elders as well.

“The Artifact God, killing the elders isn’t difficult. The hard part is that they all gather together. With my current strength, if I don’t use the Vast Heaven Sword, fighting one against two is still quite challenging,” Qu Yi said with a smile.
Qu Yi was self-aware after all.
“Idiot, can’t you think of a way to get some of the elders alone?” came the Artifact God’s angry voice.
Qu Yi chuckled confidently and said, “Long Liang, the elder who supports Zhuang Guangming, has a grandson whose cultivation level is only that of a lower-tier Earth Soul Demon. Long Liang will go to guide him whenever he has time. Let’s make Long Liang our first target.”
With that, Qu Yi took off and headed straight for the Water Continent.
Zhuang Guangming had already moved his command post to the Water Continent and built a Hall of Light there as his place for cultivation and meetings.
Therefore, if Qu Yi wanted to kill an elder now, he had to go to the Water Continent.
※※※
Water Continent, Jiaxiu Mountain.
This was a mountain exclusive to one of the core disciples, Wei Yilan. He had this privilege because Wei Yilan was the grandson of Elder Long Liang.
Wei Yilan had always received the best cultivation resources, so his progress had been smooth.
However, after reaching the cultivation level of a lower-tier Earth Soul Demon, more resources didn’t help much anymore; he had to rely on his own understanding to continue cultivating.
At this point, Wei Yilan’s progress slowed down significantly.
So, Elder Long Liang would come from time to time to guide Wei Yilan’s cultivation for his grandson.
Qu Yi had arrived!
As soon as he landed, Qu Yi smiled as he looked at Jiaxiu Mountain, which soared into the clouds, a cold smile on his lips.
Suddenly,
“Qu Yi, that Long Liang is heading here to Jiaxiu Mountain. If you want to deal with him, you can kill Wei Yilan now,” the Artifact God’s divine consciousness transmitted.
With the Artifact God’s divine perception, the entire Water Continent was within his range, so Long Liang’s movements were naturally not hidden from him.
“Good!” Qu Yi replied quickly.
As soon as he spoke, his body vanished into thin air and landed on the top of Jiaxiu Mountain, where there was a Blue Beauty Hall—Wei Yilan’s cultivation site.
When Qu Yi entered the Blue Beauty Hall, it didn’t cause any disturbance in the hall’s magic array, so Wei Yilan, who was cultivating inside, didn’t notice him.
After passing through several twists and turns, Qu Yi arrived at a pitch-black secret room and stopped in front of it.
“Wei Yilan, come out and die!” Qu Yi shouted with laughter as soon as he stood there.

Wei Yilan, who was practicing in the secret chamber, immediately regained consciousness. His handsome and somewhat flirtatious demeanor now showed signs of panic—he hadn’t expected anyone to enter his Blue Beauty Palace without triggering the array’s alarm.
“Who are you? What do you want?” Wei Yilan shouted nervously from inside the chamber, too afraid to come out.
Qu Yi shook his head and had no choice but to draw the Blood Snake Sword, pointing it at the entrance of the chamber.
“You don’t need to know who I am. It’s only your grandfather’s choice to support Zhuang Guangming that puts your life in my hands,” Qu Yi said with a smile.
Wei Yilan quickly understood—it was someone sent by Long Zhan Tian to assassinate him.
“Hmph! Just because you think you can kill me? First, break through my chamber’s array!” At this moment, Wei Yilan calmed down and took out a communication card while speaking.
He was sending a message to his grandfather, Long Liang, asking him to come quickly.
As if he knew, Qu Yi smiled again: “Wei Yilan, it’s useless for you to send messages to your grandfather. By the time he arrives, I’ll already have taken your life.”
Wei Yilan trembled inside the chamber, once again filled with worry, praying that the chamber’s array could stop Qu Yi’s advance.
Suddenly, the Blood Snake Sword in Qu Yi’s hand emitted a golden light. The golden essence transformed into a sharp sword that, like a serpent hunting, directly broke through the chamber’s array.
Indeed, this protective array also had a key focal point. If one didn’t strike this point directly, they would be attacked by the array. But once the focal point was hit, all the other points in the array would become visible.
Guided by the advice of the weapon spirit, Qu Yi quickly broke through the array and entered the chamber, appearing before Wei Yilan.
“Ah…” Wei Yilan stared at Qu Yi in terror as the communication card slipped from his hand.
Seeing Wei Yilan’s expression, Qu Yi smiled, picked up the Blood Snake Sword again, and pointed it at him, his eyes filled with terrifying murderous intent.
“Please… hero, don’t kill me! I’ll satisfy any of your demands!” Wei Yilan begged, hoping for a chance to survive.
Qu Yi laughed, and the Blood Snake Sword suddenly flew out, piercing straight into Wei Yilan’s body.
Wei Yilan summoned a dimensional space filled with wood-elemental demonic energy, but it still couldn’t stop the attack of the Blood Snake Sword.
The Blood Snake Sword was a demonic weapon of the upper-tier Earth Soul Demon class—how could Wei Yilan possibly resist it?

“You… you killed me.” Wei Yilan uttered her last words before her body went limp and she stopped moving.
Qu Yi smiled as he retracted the Blood Snake Sword.
“You killed my grandson; I’ll kill you.”
Suddenly, the voice of the elder Long Liang rang out loudly in the Lan Xiu Hall.