Chapter 209 - 208: Mutual Destruction

Like watching the moon's reflection in water, waves of light rippled before him, making everything seem illusory.

The old man's figure was immense. He wore wide, black robes that revealed a gaunt face. His eyes were devoid of any light, and his ten pale fingers were forming a Technique.

He projected his image over the Array, and the pressure on Chen Qingyang's Conscious Fish instantly doubled. It felt as if its Qi Mechanism was completely under the man's control; it struggled several times but could not break free.

'The difference between their realms is truly immense!'

As the saying goes, overcome hardness with softness and neutralize force with gentleness. Chen Qingyang didn't fight him head-on. Instead, he contracted his Qi Mechanism with all his might, and sure enough, the feeling of being frozen in place lessened considerably.

'To escape this Array, I'd have to shake his pursuit, but that's easier said than done in here.' So, he stopped trying to flee. Instead, the Conscious Fish shot straight toward the trapped Daoist Sect disciples.

The barrier of light trapping them was suddenly like nothing at all, easily penetrated by the Conscious Fish. It then casually possessed one of them, and its Qi Mechanism instantly vanished. The old man outside could no longer find any trace of it.

This old man was none other than Senior Brother Liang. He had remained still, waiting for Chen Qingyang to reveal himself again, and he had almost succeeded.

Senior Brother Liang's gaze swept over the group from the Daoist Sect one by one, a look of confusion on his face. He began to speak, his voice rolling like thunder and carrying great power within the Array. "I am willing to let one of you go. All they have to do is answer a single question for me."

COUGH COUGH! Someone from the Tai Xu Dao Sect coughed, but no one responded.

Senior Brother Liang continued, "My question is simple. Who was it that just used that ability, and what kind of ability was it? Just tell me, and I will let that person go."

'Listening through the Conscious Fish, Chen Qingyang understood. The enemy actually thought he was a Magical Artifact.'

COUGH COUGH… It was the same person from before.

Clad in a Daoist Robe, the slightly chubby man had a broad, wrinkled forehead and a full head of graying hair. His expression was tinged with mockery. "No need for these tricks. We junior brothers and sisters were schemed against by you today. It is our fate to die here. In the future, someone will avenge us."

Though his tone was weak, his expression was resolute.

"That's right, Senior Brother!"

"We will never associate with Demons..."

"The great Tai Xu Sect has no cowards who cling to life and fear death!"

...

The crowd behind him echoed his sentiment. When it came to dealing with the Demon Sect, at least, the disciples of the Tai Xu Sect shared a common hatred for the enemy.

Senior Brother Liang was quite patient. He waited for their passionate outburst to fade before speaking coolly, "Then I'll ask a different question. Besides the nine of you, are there any other Daoist Sect disciples in the Yong Kingdom?"

As his voice fell, there was still no reply, only a few angry curses.

But Senior Brother Liang seemed to have anticipated this and paid it no mind. "I understand. My Holy Sect has always acted decisively and shown no mercy to our enemies, so you don't dare believe that I would let you go. However..."

At this point, he gave a mocking smile. "Whoever is willing to answer my question, I can accept them into our sect on my master's behalf. They will become my junior brother, and their life will be spared. Are any of you willing?"

'When Chen Qingyang heard this, he knew there was going to be trouble. He often used this tactic himself—forcing others to choose between life and death. How could he not understand the power of those words?'

After Senior Brother Liang finished speaking, the clearing fell deathly silent. This was no silent protest; rather, the minds of the fellow disciples were already stirring.

'From Chen Qingyang's understanding of the Tai Xu Sect disciples, the Dao they pursued wasn't the Dao of the Tai Xu Sect, but the Dao that could lead to long life and an immortal realm.'

'In this situation, be it Demon or Dao, whoever could grant them long life was the Great Dao.'

The old Daoist who had spoken up earlier also understood the power of those words, and a look of anxiety crossed his face. "Junior brothers and sisters, you must not believe this Demon's nonsense! They are masters of bewitching people's hearts. How could they possibly let us go?"

"Before we came, I already sent a message to Xuanwei Master! If we just hold on a little longer, the Master will surely come to save us..."

But at this moment, such words seemed pale and powerless.

"Haha..." Senior Brother Liang burst out laughing. "Truly rotten wood. You might believe that, but your junior brothers and sisters may not. My Holy Sect has always been meticulous. Rest assured, your Xuanwei Master is facing the same fate right now. How could he possibly have the mind to worry about you?"

'Chen Qingyang knew that once their psychological defenses were broken, the Demon Sect's Senior Brother Liang's next demand would be for them to kill each other. At that point, they would have no will to resist.'

'He had to cause a distraction now. Out of caution, he could not reveal his true self, even as a last resort.' He immediately urged the Conscious Fish toward the light barrier trapping the nine Daoist Sect disciples.

Fortunately, Senior Brother Liang's attention wasn't on the finer details of the Array, so he didn't notice this subtle movement. The other Demon Sect disciples were all focusing their energy on the Inscriptionless Jade Stele, and the Conscious Fish began to merge with the light barrier.

'After all, this wasn't the Sumeru Illusion Realm, nor was it the work of a Golden Core True Monarch, so the fusion process was quite fast.'

As they say, even a cornered beast will fight back. Senior Brother Liang was in no hurry, especially seeing that some of them were wavering. He began to lecture them on a grand principle. "My Holy Sect has a saying: all techniques under heaven are a form of theft. Whether it is you or I, the techniques we cultivate are all just about stealing nature's spiritual energy, its fortune, and even the power of Earth Deities."

"The only difference lies in the method of taking. The mountains, rivers, sun, and moon, or the Netherworld—they are all part of the world. Therefore, whether you cultivate the techniques of my Holy Sect or the arts of your Daoist Sect, the Great Dao is fundamentally the same."

"...So there is no need to be so rigid. Still less should you throw away your lives for such trivial, meaningless matters."

'They seemed like light, casual words, but Chen Qingyang knew they carried immense weight. After spending so long in a Daoist Sect, it was inevitable that one would develop a certain Daoist pride, a sense of self-importance, and a disdain for the Demon Sect...'

'But once these words were taken to heart, all that resolve could be cast aside, providing a reasonable excuse for one's own fall.'

Finally, someone asked Senior Brother Liang, "You make it sound so good, so why are you doing this to us today?"

Senior Brother Liang glanced at him, already understanding the situation. "Alas, human shortsightedness has been the same since ancient times. There should be no conflict between our Sects. If you let go of your prejudice today and call me Senior Brother, we can bury the hatchet. What do you say?"

The nine Daoist Sect disciples were now each harboring their own ulterior motives. The man who had asked the question was especially tempted by these words. "Then... urgh..."

He had just opened his mouth when a low grunt escaped his throat. He looked down to see a large patch of red spreading across his chest. A Flying Sword had pierced through him, extinguishing all the life within his body.

"Senior Brother... you..."

He turned his head stiffly, his gaze meeting that of the old Daoist from his sect.

The old man's face was now fierce and ruthless. He spoke, word by word, "I said that the reinforcements sent by Xuanwei Master will arrive at any moment. Anyone who dares to betray the Sect now will be killed without mercy."

A chill ran through the hearts of the remaining seven, but they didn't dare to resist. They could only pour all their True Power into their Magical Treasures and continue to fight against the Array.

'As for how to survive, they could only take it one step at a time.'

COUGH COUGH... The old Daoist coughed again. It seemed that last strike had consumed a great deal of his energy; he was even coughing up blood.

Watching this farce, Senior Brother Liang remained calm. "What a move. You claim to be compassionate, claim to follow the Tai Xu Dao, but when you strike, you're not the least bit softer than my Holy Sect. I'm impressed, truly impressed!"

"Now that you're one person short, resisting my Array will be even harder. Today, I will perform a Refinement on all of you and turn you into a pool of blood!"

Senior Brother Liang activated another technique within the Array. His figure reappeared in the blood-red mist, looking almost identical to when he had tried to capture Chen Qingyang.

The entire Array was fully activated. The blood-colored mist swirled toward the center, its hue growing ever deeper. Although Chen Qingyang couldn't feel it himself, he saw the people inside trembling, their faces ashen, and knew the experience must be agonizing.

The old Daoist, in particular, was severely drained. He spat out another mouthful of blood. "COUGH COUGH..."

If even their leader was in such a state, the rest were even more terrified.

Senior Brother Liang also took a deep breath, his own face turning extremely pale. "You all saw that. He's a spent force. He can't manage another Flying Sword attack like that one. My offer still stands. Whoever is willing to answer my question can become my junior brother... or junior sister, of course!"

"I..." Amid the hesitation, someone spoke up. Before, it was a man; this time, it was a woman.

"This junior sister, I see that at such a young age you already have an Essence Condensation Third Realm Cultivation. If I recommend you to my master to study our Holy Sect's Cultivation Techniques, your future will surely be limitless!"

"Junior Sister Huang, don't! You mustn't fall for the Demon Sect's treacherous plot..." The old Daoist's words only served to expose his own weakness. Had this been earlier, he probably would have already struck.

The woman turned back. "Senior Brother, I... I don't want to die like this... I think he's right. What's the difference between any of the Daos in this world? Do you really think someone is coming to save us?"

Now that she had even said such things, the old Daoist's face was simply ashen, and he was too weak to do anything more.

"I... I'm willing too..."

'There was only one chance to live. If he could betray the Sect, why couldn't they?' Immediately, another person spoke up.

Immediately after, the scene descended into complete chaos.

"Hehe..." Just as Senior Brother Liang was laughing smugly, a sudden scream came from behind him. His gaze pierced through the layers of blood mist, and he saw another of his junior brothers at the Essence Condensation Second Realm fall dead.

In a single day, three of his junior brothers and sisters at the Essence Condensation Second Realm had been killed. Not one survived. The Array, connected to them, fluctuated as a result.

Seeing this, Senior Brother Liang could no longer be bothered with the people in the light barrier. He turned and rushed out. Junior Brother Situ stood by the corpse and said in a low voice, "Such powerful Fire Attribute True Qi. The state of death is identical to the previous two. Senior Brother Liang, this isn't some Magical Artifact at all! There is truly someone from the Daoist Sect working against us from the shadows. The most urgent task is to eliminate this person first!"

Chen Qingyang had been able to succeed with a single strike precisely because the Demon Sect members thought they had him trapped, letting their guard down and giving him an opportunity.

The Conscious Fish hid itself in the mountain valley. Twenty li away, small golden words floated before Chen Qingyang's eyes. Killing four people in a row had earned him over ten thousand Immortal Seedlings.

[Danxia Nourishing Truth Sword Manual: (4035/24000)]

[Available Immortal Seedlings: 10319]

'Without hesitation, he added them all to the Sword Manual. In an instant, his Qi Mechanism strengthened several times over.'

One... two... three... four...

There were thirteen Demon Sect disciples left. Although it would be tricky, he was confident he could wear them down slowly.