"It's me."
The man in white… no, it was Xiu Yun in disguise.
He didn't deny it. After sizing up Yun Ze, he smiled and threw a punch at him, "You brat, you kept us in the dark for so long! How did you get out back then?"
"I..."
Yun Ze scratched his head in frustration.
He never expected to meet Xiu Yun here!
There was no way around it. Cang Jian's move was too obvious in front of Xiu Yun.
The spatial fluctuations could fool others, but they couldn't fool the Xiu family.
As soon as he made a move, it would be impossible to hide.
"Enough, now is not the time to talk about this."
The woman in the bamboo hat spoke softly and casually handed Yun Ze a pill, "Take this when you have a chance, it will break the seal."
Yun Ze took the pill, but his brow furrowed even tighter.
The fact that they had this prepared meant that Xiu Yun and the other person knew exactly what Gong Yu Shan was planning from the very beginning!
But they didn't inform the Immortal Mansion beforehand, choosing instead to throw themselves into the scheme. There must be some hidden secret.
Just as he was about to speak, a black shadow soared into the sky, and the eighth-level high platform trembled instantly!
It turned out that the burly man had jumped up from the first-level high platform!
"Reporting to the Chief Priest."
The burly man cupped his hands towards Gong Yu Shan, "One hundred and eight Qi Refining spirit sacrifices have been harvested. Shall we proceed to the next step?"
Gong Yu Shan still had his eyes closed, then he calmly raised his hand.
Instantly!
One hundred and eight crimson stars appeared above everyone's heads!
These were all condensed from the flesh and blood of those Qi Refining cultivators.
Gong Yu Shan glanced up at the sky, his entire being immersed in it, a faint smile on his lips as he spread his arms as if to embrace the sky.
"Continue! Continue!"
"Yes."
The burly man responded and then stood beside Xue Mei.
Xue Mei snapped her fingers, and twelve blood flowers instantly burst at the edge of the formation!
Yun Ze glanced from afar and his brow immediately furrowed.
This time, the ones who died were… Foundation Establishment cultivators!
And they were all Foundation Establishment cultivators found from elsewhere.
This made it even stranger.
Judging from the burly man's words, they killed people to use their flesh and blood as sacrifices.
Since they wanted flesh and blood, why didn't they kill them, the Foundation Establishment cultivators representing their sects at the Ascension Assembly, and instead go to the trouble of finding others?
Did they have some other purpose?
"Reporting to the Chief Priest, twelve Foundation Establishment spirit sacrifices have been harvested."
"Good! Very good!"
Gong Yu Shan looked at the spots where the twelve Foundation Establishment cultivators had died and softly called out, "Come! All of you!"
With a soft call, twelve 'stars' of even deeper color flew towards the sky, precisely adorning the one hundred and eight stars!
Yun Ze looked up at the sky, feeling increasingly uneasy.
Fear always stemmed from the unknown!
He turned to look at the woman in the bamboo hat and Xiu Yun, only to find them also looking up at the sky, yet still not making any move.
When exactly were these two going to keep him in the dark!
"Core Formation! Come!"
Gong Yu Shan's almost frenzied voice rang out again!
Wait! Core Formation!? Could it be…
Yun Ze was stunned by what he heard.
When he looked down at Xue Mei and the burly man, he was instantly dumbfounded.
The two of them simultaneously knelt on both knees, their hands raised above their heads, then lowered their heads and shouted in unison!
"Welcome, True Demon's return!"
As soon as the words fell, their flesh and blood began to rot and dissipate!
In just a few breaths, these two late-stage Core Formation existences instantly turned into two pools of flesh and blood, and the nascent cores in their respective qi seas slowly floated up!
They were late-stage Core Formation!
They died just like that? And they died willingly?
The True Demon's return?
Wait! These lunatics wouldn't be thinking of…
A possibility suddenly flashed in Yun Ze's mind.
He turned to look at Xiu Yun, wanting to ask, but found him looking up at the sky, as if waiting for something.
The next moment.
The flesh and blood of three people, including Gong Li, turned into dark red stars, adorning the sky!
"Welcome the True Demon!"
Gong Yu Shan, standing on the ninth-level high platform, also shouted!
Then, he swallowed all three nascent cores into his abdomen, and his aura instantly surged!
Late-stage Golden Core, peak Golden Core, perfect Golden Core!
Only a thin line away from Nascent Soul!
But it was in this thin line…
Bang!
Gong Yu Shan's physical body instantly exploded!
Only a Golden Core containing three mysterious patterns remained, floating in the air.
That pool of flesh and blood turned into a light purple 'star' and slowly ascended into the sky!
As the last star settled into place, all the previous stars trembled incessantly, as if awaiting the arrival of some entity.
One hundred and eight Qi Refining cultivators, twelve Foundation Establishment cultivators, three Core Formation cultivators, and… a peak Golden Core cultivator on the verge of breaking through to Nascent Soul!
With the flesh and blood of these existences as sacrifices, what would they summon?
"Alright, it's our turn next."
Xiu Yun's voice sounded calmly.
He no longer needed to pretend. He casually drew his crimson longbow from his spatial ring, aimed at the Golden Core in the sky, "I don't know if this arrow will be effective. If it misses, Su Ling, you take this guy to the next stage."
So the woman in the bamboo hat was indeed Su Ling.
Not only was she skilled in disguise, but she also wore a bamboo hat. How afraid was she of being recognized!
"Understood," Su Ling replied quickly.
Although Yun Ze had a guess, he still wasn't sure, "You… you want to slay a demon?"
"You know?"
Xiu Yun drew his bow and nocked an arrow. Hearing Yun Ze speak, he was surprised.
But it was only for a moment. His gaze returned to normal as he aimed at the Golden Core again, "That's right, it must have been that person who told you.
Unfortunately, too few people know about this.
Although the truth is cruel, it is now time to let the world see this truth!"
As expected!
Even though he had received Xiu Yun's affirmative answer, Yun Ze was still confused.
Slaying a demon…
Although Xiu Yun and Su Ling's strength was not enough to stop Gong Yu Shan's plan, if he wanted to, he could have summoned the power of the surrounding demon caves.
But from Su Ling's actions of giving him the token earlier, it was clear they hadn't planned this before.
They didn't want to kill the demon in its cradle.
Instead, they wanted to wait for the demon to emerge, and then slay it!
Yun Ze's brow furrowed. He couldn't care about so much, and he didn't know why Xiu Yun was doing this.
He only knew one thing now!
Ji Xiu was still lying on that ninth-level high platform!
Yun Ze dared not hesitate. He quickly swallowed the pill Su Ling had given him!
Then, he no longer concealed his spatial power and used a spatial leap to appear beside Ji Xiu.
Just as he was about to take him away, the blood-red stars in the sky… exploded!
Boom!
With a buzzing sound, the formation was instantly shattered!
Crimson covered the entire Chengtian Royal City!
This scene happened too quickly!
Before Yun Ze could react, countless thunderous sounds erupted all around.
Were those… sounds of the earth cracking?
Yun Ze glanced down from the high platform, and his entire body froze.
Countless citizens of the Royal City were looking up at the sky.
Their eyes were blank, like soulless puppets.
As if controlled, their knees bent unconsciously, and they knelt directly on the ground, raising their hands above their heads and kowtowing towards the ground!
First kowtow, head broken!
Second kowtow, bones cracked!
Third kowtow, red and white matter flowed from their skulls, and their souls returned to the Yellow Springs!
Yun Ze was stunned.
These three kowtows had killed at least nearly a hundred thousand citizens!
The entire Chengtian Royal City was probably empty!
"Hurry up and go!"
Xiu Yun's voice rang out. Yun Ze quickly came back to his senses and, without hesitation, brought Ji Xiu to their side with a spatial shift.
And in the next instant… the crimson in the sky coalesced into a single strand of red light that drilled into the ground!
"It's finally coming."
Xiu Yun's voice held a trace of excitement.
But in Yun Ze's eyes, there was a hint of fear.
If all of this was within his plan, then the citizens of Chengtian Royal City were likely included in his calculations.
That was nearly a hundred thousand people!
Yun Ze's brow furrowed, but he knew this was not the time to talk about it.
He followed Xiu Yun's gaze to the Golden Core, faintly seeing the minute patterns on it.
This Golden Core seemed to be on the verge of shattering.
Whoosh~
A strange wind blew.
The ground no longer trembled, and the surroundings fell into a deathly silence.
This feeling was like being watched by some high and mighty existence, causing one to suppress their heartbeat and breathing.
A wisp of dark purple rose with the wind.
It slowly drifted out from the ground, blowing over the kneeling corpses, sweeping past the ninth-level high platform, brushing past everyone, and finally landing on the Golden Core.
With a mere touch.
Crack~
The Golden Core shattered!
A misty light instantly burst forth!
The light was piercing, and Yun Ze instinctively closed his eyes.
When he opened them again, the Golden Core was gone. Only a half-transparent, closed-eyed infant, half purple and half red, remained.
Nascent Soul!
No!
It should be a Demonic Infant!
Using a peak Golden Core as the main body, supplemented by three nascent cores, and with the blood and flesh of Qi Refining, Foundation Establishment, Core Formation, and Golden Core cultivators as guides, sacrificing a hundred thousand lives to summon the spirit of an ancient True Demon to inhabit the Nascent Soul.
This undertaking… was far too grand!
A vast pressure instantly descended!
Those still alive on the high platform were instantly crushed to the ground!
Only Xiu Yun, with his bow drawn, Su Ling in her bamboo hat, and Yun Ze, with his brow furrowed in silence, remained standing.
These three were protected by powerful treasures, otherwise, they would likely have been no different from the others, lying on the ground like lambs waiting to be slaughtered.
"It's here!"
Xiu Yun's eyes were filled with excitement.
As he uttered two words, he completely released the bowstring he had been holding loosely.
A wisp of dark purple shot towards the Demonic Infant!
But before the arrow could fall, the Demonic Infant looked at all beings, a slight smile on its lips, and the wisp of dark purple silently vanished.
"The mortal realm is still as barbaric as ever."