The scene fell into silence.
Yun Ze turned to look at Xiu Yun, tilting his head. Though he didn't speak, the gesture alone conveyed his confusion.
He had thought this fellow was thoroughly prepared, capable of ending the demonic infant with a single arrow!
And the result was... this?
It hadn't even touched the demonic infant!
"Don't look at me, I'm just support."
Xiu Yun lowered his bow and arrow, looking into the distance. "Hey! Aren't you coming out yet!"
In the next instant...
A figure flashed before everyone's eyes, streaking directly towards the demonic infant and throwing a punch!
Boom!
A spiritual explosion erupted in the air!
Yun Ze, shielding Ji Xiu in his arms, was blown off the high platform by the spiritual energy!
Not just him, but all the cultivators on the high platform, including Xiu Yun and Su Ling, were shaken off by the spiritual explosion.
When the explosion dissipated, Yun Ze looked up at the sky.
That person seemed to be... Xiu Hao?
The eldest son of the Demon Cave Master, the top-ranked cultivator on the Nascent Soul Heavenly Rankings!
He had come too?
The Demon Cave was currently busy fighting the Xiu family. It was one thing for the second son to come to the Southeast Heaven, but why did the eldest son show up?
Yun Ze was filled with questions. As he turned to Xiu Yun, the latter spoke first.
"Now is not the time to discuss these matters. I will find an opportunity later to tell you everything from beginning to end."
Xiu Yun said, his gaze fixed on Xiu Hao and the demonic infant. "While we have the chance, why not watch the battle between two Nascent Soul cultivators? It might even benefit your cultivation."
"...Alright."
If Xiu Yun didn't want to say, Yun Ze couldn't pry it out of him.
He could only look up at the sky, watching the two figures fly back and forth.
It was less a battle between Nascent Soul cultivators and more Xiu Hao's one-sided domination.
The opponent was merely in the early Nascent Soul stage, and even with the consciousness of an ancient true demon attached, they had only just broken through to Nascent Soul.
Xiu Hao, on the other hand, was at the peak of Nascent Soul, just one step away from the Nascent Soul stage. Dealing with an early Nascent Soul cultivator was child's play.
However... it seemed he intended to capture the opponent alive. Every punch he threw was not meant to kill but to wear down and injure.
"Mortal!"
The demonic infant also noticed this.
It flung a ball of purple mist forward, entangling Xiu Hao while slightly retreating. "You dare to offend my sacred might!"
"Sacred might?"
Xiu Hao punched through the purple mist and shook his head at the demonic infant. "My lord, times have changed. The mortal world will no longer bow to you!
You should stop dreaming your spring and autumn dreams!"
As soon as he finished speaking, Xiu Hao flashed beside the demonic infant and landed a punch on its head!
With a single blow, the demonic infant did not shatter, but its form became incredibly ethereal, as if severely injured.
It was at this moment that Xiu Hao took out a palm-sized glazed gourd from his spatial ring.
He opened the mouth of the gourd, aimed it at the demonic infant, and said, "Seal!"
"Heh, how dare mere mortal-made objects of yours speak such nonsense... Ugh!"
Before the demonic infant could finish speaking, a purple energy was drawn from it and fell into the glazed gourd.
The purple energy thrashed wildly within the gourd, and occasional roars could be heard.
"What is this thing!"
"Mortal! How dare you defy and rebel!"
"Release me! Quickly release me!"
"So noisy."
Xiu Hao picked at his ear, casually put the Nascent Soul cultivator, now devoid of demonic energy, into his spatial ring, and tossed the glazed gourd from the air. "Xiao Yun, this is for you. I'm heading to the next location."
"Alright."
Xiu Yun steadily caught the gourd, and Xiu Hao vanished into the air with a flash.
As the two Nascent Soul cultivators left the scene, the oppressive aura disappeared. Those cultivators who had been knocked to the ground slowly rose, looking at Xiu Yun with lingering fear.
More accurately, they looked at the glazed gourd in his hand, containing the purple energy.
"You all seem very curious."
Xiu Yun retorted, carrying the glazed gourd as he ascended the high platform again.
He stood on the nine-tiered platform and displayed the glazed gourd before everyone. "Then I shall introduce it to you.
This object is an ancient being, immortal and indestructible from birth, living beneath the Nine Netherworlds, wielding the power of the seven emotions and six desires!
We call them demons! True demons! They are also... the great enemy attempting to destroy our human race!"
Upon hearing this, everyone below was shocked!
They were merely Qi Refining and Foundation Establishment cultivators.
To ordinary mortals, they might be considered immortals, but in the cultivation world, they were the most common of cultivators.
They had never heard of such things.
Ancient beings, immortal and indestructible, beneath the Nine Netherworlds.
These twelve words alone were enough to make their hearts tremble, let alone a great enemy seeking to destroy humanity!
Were these things something they could truly come into contact with?
"I know that for you now, these things are like stars in the sky or the moon's reflection in water, entirely out of reach."
Xiu Yun raised the glazed gourd above his head. "But if you cannot see them, then the cultivators in high positions pretend not to see them!
We, the Demon Cave, have fought these beings on the border of the Nine Netherworlds for nearly a thousand years, with countless cultivators dying!
But what about you cultivators?
Aside from those with a sense of chivalry, those who are truly cultivators and join the battlefield, the majority of immortal sects and cultivation families choose to turn a blind eye!
They would rather their lifespans dwindle, dying in seclusion on their meditation cushions, than join the Nine Netherworlds battlefield and fight for a sliver of hope for humanity's future!"
"Now, we, the Demon Cave, will wait no longer!"
"The truth may be cruel, but we must also present this bloody truth before you! Let you cultivators ask yourselves, what is the purpose of your cultivation!
Is it for longevity?
Or merely for longevity!"
At these words, all was silent.
Not only the cultivators below, but even Yun Ze frowned and stood frozen.
Was this Xiu Yun's goal?
To expose the cruelties that were concealed, to face the most brutal scenes, all to awaken those who slept in high positions.
But the price...
Yun Ze glanced at the over a hundred thousand citizens of Chengtian Royal City, his brow furrowing.
Wasn't it a bit too high?
"Senior!"
A Qi Refining cultivator suddenly spoke.
He looked up at Xiu Yun and asked loudly, "You say you want us to see these truths. Can I then assume that you already knew the plans of those individuals, yet you did not stop them, but allowed all this to happen!
Even if so many people died, you didn't care?"
"Yes, we knew in advance."
Xiu Yun did not evade the question, but directly admitted it.
However, he continued, "But... stopping it in advance, hah, easier said than done!
That was a late-stage Golden Core cultivator! A mad late-stage Golden Core! And an emissary of the Immortal Mansion!
Even if we found a Nascent Soul cultivator, what would be the consequence of acting against them without evidence?"
The person fell silent.
"I'll tell you!"
Xiu Yun continued, "If it were exploited by those with ulterior motives, the Southeast Heaven would become another battlefield between the Immortal Mansion and the Demon Cave, with casualties far exceeding a hundred thousand!
And you are merely pitiful pawns kept in the dark!"
"I know you also want to say that if they were restrained when those individuals made their move, the casualties could have been minimized."
"But at that time, a single Golden Core cultivator's self-detonation could have annihilated all living beings within the formation! Not only would you have died, but I would not have survived either!
To exchange my life for the lives of those mortals outside? I'm sorry, I cannot do that."
"But... what if we were not here?"
Xiu Yun's tone shifted. "The demonic infant would gradually become a true Nascent Soul realm cultivator. Those of you who were spared would either become the first gift for the demonic infant's arrival in this world, devoured alive, or have your consciousness wiped, becoming demon servants.
Some with moderate talent might even become cauldrons, their souls and spirits annihilated after being refined."
"To reveal the truth while saving your lives, and to prevent the entire dynasty from falling after sealing the demonic infant.
This is the limit of what I can do."
"Come."
Xiu Yun looked at everyone and asked again, "Now, do you have anything else you wish to say or ask? You may continue."
Silence descended upon the surroundings.
The subtle murmurs that had been present gradually subsided.
As Xiu Yun said, there were few Great Sages who could achieve what he had.
Seeing that no one spoke, Xiu Yun put the glazed gourd into his spatial ring. "Since that is the case, continue with your Ascension Assembly.
I have only one request for you... Remember!
Remember everything that happened today, remember everything I said, engrave the truth into your minds, and don't forget it!"
With that, Xiu Yun flew from the high platform towards the outskirts of the city, leaving everyone looking at each other in bewilderment.
The Qi Refining cultivators were fine; they truly only needed to remember.
But the Foundation Establishment cultivators representing the major sects in the Ascension Assembly were different. If they remembered, it meant they had to report this matter to their sects.
That would likely be another difficult task.
Everyone didn't even know if they should continue the Ascension Assembly.
Even an emissary of the Immortal Mansion had perished; what was the point of continuing?
They couldn't help but cast their gazes towards Yun Ze, wanting to see his next plan.
As the representative of Tongtian Academy, it wouldn't be impossible for him to preside over the rest of the Ascension Assembly.
"Let's go."
Yun Ze had no intention of continuing now. He looked at Su Ling and asked, "You were going to take me somewhere, weren't you?"
To him, the Ascension Assembly had lost its necessity.
At this moment, he still had questions, and he knew Su Ling was waiting for him here, clearly having questions for him as well.
"Huh? You're not continuing?"
Su Ling asked back with a smile. "I was thinking of waiting for you to take two more disciples before leaving."
"Tongtian Academy always values quality over quantity when accepting disciples. One is enough."
Yun Ze was still holding the unconscious Ji Xiu in his arms.
He glanced at Zi Ji, who was not far away, and shouted, "Zi Ji, aren't you coming over quickly?"
"Coming, coming!"
Zi Ji hurried through the crowd and came to Yun Ze's side.
"That's fine too."
Su Ling replied, stepped onto her flying sword, and cupped her hands to the other Foundation Establishment cultivators. "Fellow Daoists, the Tianxiang Sect will not be participating further in this Ascension Assembly.
We will return to our sect to report this matter. You are free to do as you please."
The outer disciple of the Tianxiang Sect also rushed over and was taken onto Su Ling's flying sword as they flew towards the city's outskirts.
Yun Ze, along with Zi Ji and Ji Xiu, boarded a flying boat and followed them.
What Xiu Yun had just said was likely just a public statement. To understand the current situation, he had to ask himself!