Chapter 294: Impending Storm

A stunned look appeared on her face as she took in the scenes before her.

She quickly helped Ning Chigong up from the ground as she asked in an alarmed voice, "What happened?"

"It was the Hatred Demon, Gao Yi," Ning Chigong spat through gritted teeth. "He suddenly came in here and went on a killing spree!"

Zhang Fengyun could hear more commotion ringing out deeper in the courtyard, and she hurriedly asked, "Is he still here?"

Ning Chigong nodded in response.

"O' Profound Origin Dao Lord, please bless me with your protection."

Once again, Zhang Fengyun activated the Indestructibility, Mountain Moving, and Qi Sea Talismans within her body, and a suit of armor formed by golden light encased her entire body from head to toe.

She resembled a golden war goddess statue as she rushed toward the direction that the commotion was coming from.

Elsewhere in the residence, Gao Yi had just snapped the neck of a wealthy merchant when the wall behind him abruptly exploded.

Zhang Fengyun rushed out of the smoke and rubble, then punched Gao Yi in the head, scattering his body into black sludge.

"Gao Yi!" Zhang Fengyun yelled in a furious voice. "I'm going to make sure this is where you die today, even if it costs me my own life!"

Gao Yi had already been turned into a living corpse by Chu Qiguang, so he didn't even react to Zhang Fengyun's words and was only fighting on instinct.

While Gao Yi and Zhang Fengyun were locked in battle, Chu Qiguang hurriedly rushed into the residence, feigning a look of concern as he asked, "Are you alright, Deputy Ning? I've already sent people to call for reinforcements, and they should be arriving soon."

"We're dealing with Gao Yi, one of the five scourges of the Tribulation Religion!" Ning Chigong said in a cold voice. "The average soldier wouldn't be able to do anything to him, no matter how many of them come here. If he wants to get away, then even Zhang Fengyun most likely won't be able to stop him."

All of a sudden, the sounds of battle in the distance suddenly stopped.

Chu Qiguang and Ning Chigong hurriedly rushed onto the scene to find Gao Yi laying on the ground with his head split open.

Zhang Fengyun was standing next to him, looking very surprised and confused.

Just now, she had managed to land a punch onto Gao Yi's head, and he had somehow failed to react in time, with her fist landing before he was able to disintegrate into sludge.

It seemed that he had had an inexplicable lapse in concentration in the heat of battle, and that had led to his demise.

However, what everyone on the scene failed to notice was that a puddle of black sludge was slowly taking shape beneath Gao Yi's body before seeping into the earth.

The black sludge traveled through the air, arriving beneath Chu Qiguang's feet before crawling its way up his robe.

As one of the five scourges of the Tribulation Religion, Gao Yi's abilities came from the demon planted into his body.

Originally, Chu Qiguang was only able to use the Demon Refinement Technique to control the demon in his body and disable his ability, but now that Gao Yi was a living corpse, Chu Qiguang was able to control both him and the demon in his body.

Zhang Fengyun has killed Gao Yi, I have claimed his demon, and both Liu Yao and Ning Chigong are both about to be under my control as well. Things didn't quite go according to plan, but the outcome is even better than I originally planned!

As to be expected with an incident of this level of severity, news quickly began to spread through the entire Shu Province.

***

Hibiscus Brocade Manor City, Demon Vanquishing Department Thousand Man Commander Office.

"Gao Yi attacked a martial gathering held by Ning Chigong?" Song Baoyi exclaimed as he read the report that he had just been presented.

The most surprising revelation of all on the report was the news that Gao Yi had been killed by Zhang Fengyun, and this piece of news, in particular, immediately evoked within him a sense of foreboding.

He called upon his deputy, Han Jueyong, to discuss this matter.

"Not long after Chu Qiguang went to the Ba Manor, there was that demonic tainting incident that led to the deaths of hundreds of fiends, and now, we have Gao Yi attacking the Ning Manor before being killed by Zhang Fengyun," Song Baoyi mused. "These are both extremely unexpected events, and they both came about not long after Chu Qiguang took up the post of hundred man commander. Could it be that he has something to do with all of this? Is the Fiend Assassin Faction plotting something through him?"

Han Jueyong had just finished reading the report, and he immediately shook his head in response.

"There's no way a fourth state martial artist like Chu Qiguang could've possibly orchestrated any of this. The main problem that we should focus on right now is what do we do from here? There's no way the Tribulation Religion is just going to accept Gao Yi's death without any retaliation. I think we should report this matter directly to Master Bai."

Of course, Han Jueyong was referring to the Dao Comprehension state martial god of the Hunter Hand Faction, Bai Shihe.

"Is that really necessary?" Song Baoyi asked. "Right now, Master Bai is currently rectifying the Sumeru Strength Scripture, and I've heard he's a very important point in the process."

"Regardless, Master Bai must be informed," Han Jueyong insisted. "Not only is Gao Yi's death all but certain to incur the wrath of the Tribulation Religion, this incident has something to do with the Heavenly Master Religion as well, so this is a perfect opportunity for us to join forces with the Heavenly Master Religion against a common enemy.

“Even if we don't do anything, the entire Ba Manor is soon going to become a battlefield between the Tribulation Religion and the Heavenly Master Religion, and the Heavenly Master Religion has no Dao Comprehension state cultivators in the Shu Province."

***

Sure enough, on the third day after Gao Yi's death, news of his demise reached the Tribulation Religion, creating a massive stir.

Large numbers of the Tribulation Religion's followers began to gather and call for retribution, and widespread conflicts erupted between the followers of the Tribulation Religion and the Heavenly Master Religion.

The other four scourges hurriedly made their way to the Tribulation Religion headquarters, which was situated in the Black Water Manor to the northwest of the Shu Province.

The Black Water Manor was nestled in the mountains, far out of reach of the imperial court, and it had always been a savage and lawless region.

The Tribulation Religion was the dominant religion in the Black Water Manor, and almost all of its residents were followers of the Tribulation Religion.

News of Gao Yi's demise had the entire Black Water Manor calling for vengeance, and everyone was ranting and raving about attacking the Heavenly Master Religion's Daoist temples and killing all of their followers.

The tallest mountain in the Black Water Manor was called Nine Saints Mountain, and it was home to the Tribulation Religion headquarters.

At this moment, three men and a woman were kneeling outside a seemingly bottomless cave with fearful looks on their faces.

The cave was known by the locals as the Infernal Earth Cave, and no one knew exactly how deep it was, nor where it led to.

Apparently, the internal structure of the cave was extremely complex, and no one who had entered the cave without permission had ever returned alive.

"Gao Yi can't just die in vain," a voice declared from deep within the cave. "I want the head of that little Daoist nun from the Heavenly Master Religion, and even more importantly, the demon in Gao Yi's body must be recovered. Bring the demon back to me."

"What if the Demon Vanquishing Department gets involved?" the woman kneeling outside asked.

"Kill whoever gets in your way!"