Chapter 1079
Rampant Demonic Calamity
"Two fellow Daoists have traveled thousands of miles to the Azure Sea to help our sect eliminate such a powerful enemy. We should treat you well and fulfill our duty as hosts."
However, since you two fellow Daoists have important matters to attend to, I, Ren, will not insist on keeping you. I will personally attend the celebration held by Ancestor Xuanlei and Fellow Daoist Zixu!
Heng Hua Zhenjun's tone revealed deep regret. He had originally wanted to take this opportunity to get closer to the Song family and the Wanxiang Palace, two forces with immense potential, and ideally establish a long-term and stable communication channel. Unfortunately, things had taken a turn for the worse, so he could only wait until later.
Having been in charge of the Myriad Manifestations Palace for many years, Yi Tianzheng was naturally able to discern the unspoken meaning in the other party's words. He raised his hand and said, "Although the Qingfeng Dao Sect and the Myriad Manifestations Palace are both located on the coast of the East China Sea, the local customs and traditions of the two places are very different, and their resources are even more disparate."
Previously, there was no opportunity for contact. Now that the two factions are fighting side by side against the enemy, it is truly a rare opportunity. In the future, we should communicate more and share our resources.
"That's exactly what I was thinking."
"In that case, after I return to my clan, I will send an elder to discuss the relevant matters with your clan in detail."
“Good.” True Lord Henghua naturally had no reason to refuse.
Song Changsheng watched the two talking without interrupting. Although the Song family had now become a Nascent Soul Immortal Clan, its foundation was still far inferior to that of established Nascent Soul forces such as the Myriad Manifestations Palace and the Qingfeng Dao Sect.
The distance between the southwest and the Azure Cultivation Realm is terrifying enough to suffocate ordinary people, and the communication and transportation methods currently available to the Song family cannot reach it directly.
Without a spatial teleportation passage, it would take a Golden Core cultivator a year to make a round trip. If a caravan were to be formed, even the fastest inter-domain flying boat in the border regions would take several years.
A few years isn't a long time, but such a long sea route has too many uncertainties. It would require at least a late-stage Golden Core cultivator to personally escort the ship. The Song family simply doesn't have that capability right now, so it's best not to get involved.
If the two organizations plan to build a space teleportation tunnel in the future, then we could consider participating.
However, that's at least several decades from now.
"Fellow Daoist Henghua, we shall take our leave now."
"I wish you two fellow Daoists a safe journey." True Monarch Henghua bowed respectfully.
"Farewell!"
After returning the gift, Song Changsheng and Yi Tianzheng tore through space together and left.
After the spatial rift healed, True Monarch Henghua searched around to make sure no one had escaped before turning back to the Azure Sky Cultivation Realm.
The Qingfeng Dao Sect has been suppressed for nearly a century, and now it can finally hold its head high!
After everyone had left, a stunningly beautiful figure dressed in a flowing dark blue fairy dress appeared out of thin air on the turbulent sea.
If Song Changsheng were here, he would be able to recognize the other person's identity as Kong Sang Lingxi, whom he had met once in the central border region.
Looking at the spatial black hole that had not yet fully closed, a trace of sadness appeared in her eyes.
She could sense that the aura of Kongsang Baijue had completely dissipated, just like that of Kongsang Lifeng.
Brothers fighting is a tragedy no matter where it happens.
She could have taken them both away, but in the end, she chose to follow her heart and let them pay the price for their choices.
This was undoubtedly a painful choice, as she lost two more loved ones in this world.
But she did not regret it, because the lives of all living beings should be measured equally.
"Waaaaah..."
The white conch shell was blown, carrying an indescribable sorrow. An invisible force spread with the sound waves, smoothing out the shattered spatial barrier, and the spatial black hole raging on the sea shrank at a visible speed.
In less than the time it takes for an incense stick to burn, the entire sea returned to its usual calm.
The death of Kongsang Baijue marked the end of the great war, shattering the ambitions that had just begun to sprout among the alien races and the remnants of the old era.
However, this is not the end. The demon race and the sea race remain powerful, and the remnants of the old era have not yet revealed their true strength.
This great battle was merely the prelude to a catastrophe...
Song Changsheng and Yi Tianzheng returned to the Great Qian Cultivation World as quickly as possible.
To their surprise, the war in the East China Sea was not over yet, and the sea creatures were still putting up a stubborn resistance.
This shows that the main forces of Wanxiang Palace and the Southeast region have not yet been freed from the war.
In this situation, there was naturally not enough mobile force to contain the spread of the demonic calamity.
Without delay, the two returned to the Palace of Myriad Phenomena as quickly as possible to learn about the specifics of the demonic disaster.
The overwhelmed Grand Elder of the Myriad Manifestations Palace, Master Cangyuan, was immediately relieved upon learning of the two's return and rushed to the main hall with relevant information.
"Greetings, Palace Master and True Lord Zixu."
"Uncle-Master, there's no need for such formalities. What's the situation in the borderlands right now? Has the Nascent Soul of Ancestor Dragon Elephant been properly taken care of? Have you been able to contact Ancestor Xuan Lei?" Yi Tianzheng cut to the chase, throwing out a series of questions.
"The nascent soul of the Dragon Elephant Ancestor has been placed in the Dragon Transformation Pool. It only needs some time to recover before we can begin to reshape his physical body."
Upon hearing this, Yi Tianzheng felt somewhat relieved.
Compared to their achievements in this battle, their losses were minimal. It was just a pity that they only managed to destroy the physical bodies of three demon lords, failing to completely annihilate them, which was somewhat regrettable.
"There is still no news of Ancestor Xuanlei and the Supreme Elder, and Shi Nian and the Crimson Owl Demon Lord have not yet determined a winner."
"If you don't come back soon, my old bones won't be able to hold up in this situation," Master Cangyuan said with a wry smile.
Song Changsheng couldn't help but ask with some surprise, "The Crimson Owl Demon Lord was no match for Fellow Daoist Ji in the previous battle, so why is there still no winner this time?"
Before the war, Ji Shinian was left to guard the border to prevent any unforeseen circumstances, but he never expected to be held back by his former defeated enemy.
Otherwise, a mere demonic calamity could be wiped out with a snap of the fingers.
Master Cangyuan sighed and said, "According to the news that came back from that year, the Red Owl has obtained some kind of opportunity and its cultivation has greatly improved. Neither side can do anything to the other."
Originally, after the main battlefield was decided, Red Owl was already preparing to retreat, but unexpectedly, the demonic calamity broke out, causing him to change his mind, and Shi Nian was now tightly entangled.
"It's understandable that the Red Owl stayed, but why are those sea creatures still resisting?" Yi Tianzheng asked, puzzled.
The sea race army is composed of sea creatures and low-intelligence sea monsters; it is vast in number and complex in composition.
They were all forcibly conscripted. They seemed to have a great force, but in reality, they were just a bunch of rabble who could only fight when things were going well.
Logically speaking, the group should have collapsed after Kongsang Lifeng and the others were defeated.
"After Kongsang Lifeng and others were defeated, the six sea tribe armies did indeed show signs of collapse and disintegration under our offensive, but before long, several of them regained their footing."
According to our investigation, all of this is because of a merman named Kongsang Qian, who is the eldest son of Kongsang Lifeng, a fourth-tier top-grade merman, and has a very high reputation in the sea race army.
After Kongsang Lifeng was killed, he became the supreme commander of the sea tribe army.
This person is extremely ruthless. He divided his army into countless small groups, each led by a demon king or a great demon, and they scattered to attack in all directions, waging guerrilla warfare against us.
In recent days, many of the surrounding islands have been attacked.
The East Sea is now a huge quagmire, with cultivators from all walks of life in the southeast trapped and unable to extricate themselves. The elders' council has analyzed that Kong Sangqian is very likely aware of the existence of the demonic calamity. "What exactly is this demonic calamity? It couldn't have just appeared out of thin air, could it? Have you found out its source?" Yi Tianzheng frowned.
There are no powerful demonic cultivators in the borderlands, but there are on the other side of the Tianshan Mountains. The demonic Nascent Soul cultivator who attacked the Hundred Cauldrons Pavilion is still missing.
If the other party manages to reach the border regions, then things will get complicated.
"The demonic calamity was discovered by Elder Song, and it should have nothing to do with the demonic Nascent Soul cultivators that appeared in the previous Five Academies Grand Competition. According to the investigation, it is related to these two people."
As he spoke, Master Cangyuan waved his sleeve, and two portrait paintings appeared before the two of them.
"The one on the left is named Shen Qing, and the one on the right is named Chen Jie. Both of them come from the Rakshasa Hall of the cultivation world in Lu Kingdom."
According to the investigation by the Song family, the two were only Foundation Establishment cultivators who were imprisoned in the dungeon before the war for violating the rules.
After the Rakshasa Hall was destroyed, the two men disappeared without a trace.
All the information currently available about the demonic disaster points to these two individuals as its source.
The root cause of this rapidly spreading demonic calamity is a highly corrosive demonic energy. It takes no more than the time it takes for a Foundation Establishment cultivator to become possessed by a demon after coming into contact with it.
Because cultivators lose their minds after becoming possessed by demons, they become puppets who can only execute simple commands and kill based on instinct. Therefore, we call these people demon slaves.
The demonic energy on these slaves was already highly corrosive, but based on the information we currently have, we speculate that the demonic energy on these two people is several times stronger than that on these slaves, and they are also fully conscious.
This calamity was organized and planned.
It spread and infiltrated silently at first, so it didn't cause any major disturbances initially.
After the Song family discovered the existence of the demonic calamity, the demonic calamity broke out simultaneously in the nine southwestern realms, with thousands of demonic caves appearing, which could not be contained in a short period of time.
Now, demonic calamities have appeared in various regions of the southwest and central regions, and even the areas surrounding the Great Qian Dynasty have begun to show signs of this.
Although the palace immediately dispatched personnel to extinguish the fire, no one could guarantee that no fish had escaped.
After hearing his account, Song Changsheng and Yi Tianzheng frowned deeply; the situation was far more serious than they had imagined.
In such a short time, it spread from the southwest to the southeast, covering most of the border region. Such speed is simply unheard of.
At this moment, Song Changsheng suddenly thought of a very crucial question: "Elder, does this demonic energy still have a latent nature?"
"This is exactly what I was going to add. It is not only stealthy but also extremely difficult to detect. Only a very few methods can detect it, and the specific timeframe is unknown."
Upon hearing this, Song Changsheng felt a chill run down his spine.
Its strong corrosiveness and rapid spread are nothing to worry about; he and Yi Tianzheng can put it out quickly with a single move.
But these demonic energies are also latent.
There are dozens of cultivation worlds in the border regions, with tens of millions of cultivators and a population of more than 10 billion.
Are we supposed to check them one by one? How long would that take?
But if we don't investigate, one person can corrupt a large area!
Even the richest family can't withstand such devastation.
What is the Elders' Council's opinion?
"We suggest eliminating those stubborn sea creature armies as quickly as possible, freeing up the main force to sweep them from east to west like a comb."
First, contain the spread, then isolate areas in a grid-like manner and screen each area one by one.
Although it requires a huge investment of time, manpower, and resources, it is the safest approach.
Furthermore, we must first find these two people; not only to cut off the source, but perhaps also to find a solution.
Song Changsheng frowned and said, "Then how do you ensure that these cultivators who participate in the extermination of demons are not corrupted by demonic energy?"
The fear is that if the demonic disaster isn't contained, they might become a new source of transmission.
Master Cangyuan nodded and said, "There are ways to guarantee this, and quite a few ways."
The Talisman Hall has a type of talisman that, when used, can form a bubble similar to the protective aura of a Foundation Establishment cultivator. Each talisman can last for an hour, and as long as the bubble shield remains intact, it will not be contaminated by demonic energy.
The Refining Hall also crafted a protective magic artifact that, when worn, could continuously simulate a similar effect.
Whether it's talismans or magical artifacts, the crafting methods are very simple, making them suitable for large-scale dissemination and inexpensive.
The palace is working quickly to produce it, and the relevant methods have been disseminated by designated personnel, with considerable success.
Song Changsheng was once again amazed by the profound resources of the Myriad Manifestations Palace. The fact that they had come up with a solution in such a short time was truly terrifying.
"Then proceed according to the Elders' plan."
After saying that, Yi Tianzheng looked at Song Changsheng and said, "Fellow Daoist Zixu, let's split up and act separately."
I'll go lend Shi Nian a hand and also investigate the whereabouts of Shen Qing and Chen Jie. You deal with those sea creatures and then come back to join us.
"Okay, then I'll go first."
Song Changsheng nodded in agreement, took a step forward, and the scene before him changed rapidly, soon appearing on a turbulent sea.
The sea creature army is said to consist of only six routes, but in reality, it has been divided into countless small groups, scattered haphazardly across a vast battlefront spanning tens of thousands of miles of sea.
Even if he were to take action himself, it wouldn't be a quick solution; he doesn't have that much time to waste right now.
After a little thought, I already had an idea in mind.
To catch the thief, first catch the king. As long as we deal with Nakong Sangqian first, the sea tribe army will fall into chaos again without a leader, and will naturally collapse without a fight.
However, he had no concrete information, so finding Kongsangqian became a major problem.
"The secrets of heaven are now unclear and chaotic, and I don't know if the art of divination can give me the answer."
Song Changsheng murmured softly, his hands under his sleeves rapidly calculating.
Without a specific medium for deduction, relying solely on a name, he had little confidence.
But to his surprise, this simulation actually yielded results, pointing to the southeast direction.
It only took him fifteen minutes, and it went so smoothly that he could hardly believe it.
However, he quickly realized that this was the influence of fate in the dark.
"It seems it was your fate to die, Kongsangqian."
Song Changsheng's eyes turned icy as he tore through space and disappeared...
...(End of this chapter)