Chapter 252: Ruling the World (21)

Jiuyou raised his eyes, his gaze slowly sweeping over the Nascent Soul cultivators of the Demonic Path lining both sides of the grand hall.

Utterly unfamiliar faces met his eyes. His gaze drifted past them before settling on a white-haired old man. The man wore white robes embroidered with golden clouds and cranes, yet deep within his eyes lingered a faint, blood-red spiritual light, his aura cold and sustained.

Sensing Jiuyou's gaze fall upon him, the old man's heart jolted. He hurriedly bowed in deep respect.

An imperceptible trace of reminiscence flickered in the depths of Jiuyou's eyes.

His name was Xie Yunqing, and Jiuyou still vaguely remembered him. Their first meeting had been eight or nine hundred years ago. Back then, the man had been merely at the Late Golden Core stage. The years had flowed by in the blink of an eye. Now, he had already cultivated to the Middle Nascent Soul Stage, standing firmly at the apex of the Heavenly Abyss Sea. He was truly worthy of being the inheritor of the Blood Sea lineage.

Jiuyou gave a faint nod and withdrew his gaze.

Among the more than sixty mighty Nascent Soul figures in the hall, apart from Xie Yunqing, with whom he shared a faint connection from the past, everyone else was a complete stranger.

Nearly a thousand years had passed since the era when he actively roamed the world. The Nascent Soul cultivators of his generation, or the one just after, had all long since passed away into the Abyss of Return, fading into the long river of time.

The blue seas had turned into mulberry fields, and the ways of the world had changed.

Those standing before him now were all rising stars who had emerged over the past millennium. Among them were rootless rogue cultivators who had forcefully carved out their Great Dao through personal fortune, as well as prominent sect and clan cultivators backed by grand lineages. Each had their own origins and foundations.

As Jiuyou withdrew his gaze, Xiao Yi stepped forward. Standing in the center of the grand hall, his voice steady and commanding, he solemnly recited Jiuyou's identity and origins before all the higher-ups of the Demonic Path.

The people in the hall instantly straightened their postures, listening with rapt attention as a complex mix of emotions churned in their hearts.

When Xiao Yi finished speaking, everyone understood that Jiuyou's return meant he would briefly oversee the Demonic Path Alliance.

For a time, the minds of everyone in the hall were in turmoil, harboring both immense anticipation and deep wariness.

With a mighty Deity Transformation figure presiding over them, the Demonic Path Alliance's intimidating power would reign supreme across the entire Heavenly Abyss Sea and the Lingchuan Territory. Their future momentum was bound to surge. However, the presence of a transcendent top-tier expert also kept everyone constantly on edge, not daring to overstep the slightest boundary.

Next, Xiao Yi announced the rules Jiuyou had set.

Jiuyou would not interfere with the internal sect disputes, conflicts of interest, or daily trivialities of the Demonic Path Alliance. All matters of the alliance, large and small, would still be fully managed by Xiao Yi. The old order would remain completely unchanged, and there was no need to report cumbersome chores to bother him.

With such a mighty figure secretly holding the line, the Demonic Path Alliance's foundation had skyrocketed, ensuring they would only grow stronger in the future.

But the sole iron law was that during Jiuyou's stay, the entire alliance, from top to bottom, must obey his orders without the slightest defiance.

Upon hearing this, the hearts of all the Nascent Soul cultivators in the hall completely settled.

Given the supreme might of a Deity Transformation venerable, even if he directly took complete control of the Demonic Path Alliance, they could only bow their heads and obey; no one would dare harbor the slightest dissent.

Now that he was stepping back from daily affairs and only requiring obedience during times of war, it was already an enormous leeway and grace. Everyone cast aside their reservations and bowed in compliance.

This high-level meeting concerning the future landscape of the entire Demonic Path Alliance soon drew to a close.

The moment the meeting ended, a top-priority secret order blanketing the entire alliance was issued from the Emberless Ancestral Soul Grand Hall, cascading down to all Demonic Path branch factions, sects, and strongholds.

Mustering the full strength of the Demonic Path Alliance, they were to thoroughly investigate and search for the mysterious demonic cultivator who had crossed over from Ganzhou and successively assassinated four Middle Nascent Soul Stage cultivators in the Heavenly Abyss Sea. They had to track his movements and lock down his hiding place, dead or alive.

...

A mere ten years might be a rather long period of cultivation for an ordinary Nascent Soul cultivator.

But to a Deity Transformation cultivator like Jiuyou, it was nothing more than a fleeting instant.

Since he had taken command on Endless Island, the situation of three legs of a bronze cauldron standing firm had been instantly shattered. Relying on the invisible deterrence of a Deity Transformation expert, the Demonic Path Alliance's prestige climbed steadily, quickly reviving its peak glory.

Seeing the Demonic Path's momentum rise again to dominate the sea region, the Righteous Path Alliance—which had previously been dividing the courtyard and resisting with ceremony amidst constant friction—revealed fear for the first time, lowering its posture in a rare display of submission. During several territorial standoffs, they actively showed weakness and retreated, even ceding a few fine spirit stone veins to smooth things over.

Meanwhile, the Heaven and Earth Alliance, which had always maintained neutrality, adopted an extremely flattering attitude toward Jiuyou, even sending over various natural treasures.

Not just the Heaven and Earth Alliance, but many descendants of Righteous Path cultivators whose ancestors had participated in the siege against Jiuyou back in the day, forming old grudges, lived in constant panic. One after another, they prepared lavish gifts and rare treasures, rushing to Endless Island to apologize in person, seeking only to erase the old enmity and preserve their sects and families.

All the offered treasures were handled and compiled by Xiao Yi, then fully handed over to Jiuyou.

Jiuyou could not be bothered with these worldly maneuvers and readily accepted the various natural treasures. Facing the crowd of terrified peace envoys, his expression remained impassive as he lightly spat out a single word from beginning to end: "Scram."

Yet to everyone's ears, this single word of expulsion was an immense pardon. For a Deity Transformation Divine Lord not to pursue past sins or initiate a slaughter was already a blessing. The cultivators felt as though they had received a grand amnesty. They continuously kowtowed in gratitude before rising to retreat, scrambling and crawling out of the Demonic Path territory without daring to linger a moment longer.

As the Demonic Path's prestige reached greater heights, Jiuyou's past legends—which had been silent for years—were once again repeatedly extolled by cultivators across the world. The Demonic Path venerable who once roamed freely across the sea region was now one of the extremely few living Deity Transformation figures in this realm, becoming an unreachable myth in the hearts of countless cultivators.

Time flowed on, and in the blink of an eye, four years passed.

Turmoil flared again when another Middle Nascent Soul Stage cultivator of the Demonic Path Alliance was mysteriously murdered.

With the precedent of four previous Nascent Soul falls, the Demonic Path Alliance had long since been heavily guarded. The moment this cultivator met his demise, several nearby Nascent Soul experts on duty instantly coordinated. They locked onto the aura traces right away and launched a pursuit while simultaneously sending messages in all directions for backup, ensuring the killer could not escape at leisure.

The crowd managed to follow the clues to find the source. After two months of effort, they finally traced the general origin.

Nali was a bizarre sea region located two million li beyond the Outer Sea of the Demonic Path Alliance. Since ancient times, this place had been fraught with chaos and endless slaughter among demonic beasts, perennially littered with savagery. In the past, cultivators often came here to slay beasts for cores, train themselves, and hunt for treasure. Thousands of years of piled-up beast bones, soaked blood, and settled baleful aura had accumulated over time, forcefully transforming the area into a forbidden zone coiled with yin energy and monstrous ferocity.

However, the moment all the tracking clues entered this Yin Fiend Forbidden Zone, they were completely severed, leaving no way to trace further.

The group of Nascent Soul cultivators stopped at the perimeter; no one dared to venture deeper.

A killer capable of silently slaying Middle Nascent Soul Stage cultivators in succession possessed absolutely terrifying strength. Furthermore, the baleful aura here was bizarre, and the treacherous terrain hid profound mysteries. With their cultivation levels, plunging in recklessly would be no different from courting death.

Knowing the gravity of the situation, the Demonic Path Alliance did not dare to act rashly. They immediately dispatched a large number of personnel to lay down layers of restrictive grand arrays, completely sealing off and besieging the entire Yin Fiend Sea Region, isolating the inside from the outside so thoroughly that not a drop of water could leak through.

With everything arranged properly, everyone stood guard at their posts, quietly waiting for Jiuyou's descent.