Chapter 708: Great Demon 71

Tan You was unbothered. "Forget about them. All they can do now is watch me leave them behind, and the further I get, the harder it will be for them to catch up."

"When an enemy is too powerful, it’s hard for them to persevere. They can only curse me in secret. But what good will that do? It’s not like I’ll lose a piece of flesh over it."

Bai Ze chuckled. "True. In the end, it will just be a case of impotent rage on their part."

Old Niu had been watching the progress of the Sha Crystal tally on the high platform while keeping half an ear on Tan You’s conversation. Hearing this, he couldn’t help but laugh. "In any case, Ahzhao isn’t one to pay them any mind."

"Seriously, this endless cycle of revenge is so annoying."

Tan You narrowed her eyes. "To be honest, I’m all for the idea of pulling up the weeds by the roots. But we’re not that bloodthirsty. We’ll deal with them if and when they actually show up at our door."

"Civilized people ought to do civilized things, after all."

Peacock and the other Great Demons chuckled softly. Sometimes they couldn’t comprehend Tan You’s thoughts, but they respected her. If she were really in trouble, it wasn’t as if they would just stand by and do nothing.

On the high platform, the Human Clan’s totals had been calculated. The Buddhist Sect was currently ranked first. Next was the Demon Clan’s turn, and countless eyes fell upon Tan You.

’Years ago, Jin Yao entered the great inter-clan competition and took first place outright, dominating the prodigies of every other clan for hundreds of thousands of years, giving them no chance to overcome him. Now, this Little Snake Empress... her cultivation isn’t as high as Jin Yao’s was back then. Could she replicate his legendary glory?’

Just as everyone was watching with bated breath, the Peacock Clan, Fox Clan, Dragon Clan, and all the others had their totals announced. The only one left was Tan You. She slowly walked to the table in the very center.

The Immortal Monarch standing behind the table was very stern. "Pour the Sha Crystals here."

He spoke while pointing to a jade basin on the table. No matter how people tried to glamorize it, they couldn’t change the fact that it was just a basin. Of course, it wasn’t *just* a basin. It was quite intelligent. Pour the Sha Crystals in, and it would tally the count in an instant, saving the Immortal Monarchs from having to count them by hand.

Tan You glanced at the jade basin before her, then thought about the number of Sha Crystals the Buddhist Sect had just turned in. She simply raised an eyebrow. ’The Buddhist Sect collected nearly twenty thousand Sha Crystals, but this basin still looks like it’s not even close to full.’

’My Sha Crystal count is a little bit more than twenty thousand. It should be able to hold all of them, right?’

’Besides, the Immortal Monarch told me to do it. If this jade basin breaks, it won’t be my fault.’ Having prepared herself with this line of reasoning, Tan You hovered her right hand over the basin. The next second, Sha Crystals began to pour out of her bracelet in a continuous stream.

The Sha Crystals cascaded down like a flood, and soon the numbers on the jade basin began to jump rapidly. The onlookers couldn’t blink as fast as the numbers were changing, yet no one was willing to blink at all.

The Immortal Monarch behind the table couldn’t help but widen his eyes slightly. When he saw the count surpass twenty thousand, he marveled internally. ’As expected of the Golden Ring Snake Clan. Even for a Little Snake Empress who has only just reached the level of a Third Grade Immortal Monarch, her combat prowess is still terrifyingly strong.’

Just as his mind was racing, Tan You suddenly stopped. He was taken aback. "Is that all?"

Tan You put on an innocent expression, her gaze dropping to the red glow on the jade basin. "Is it broken? It’s glowing red."

The Immortal Monarch froze for a moment, then hastily transferred the Sha Crystals from the jade basin into another storage container. He had to repeat this process three times before he finally finished tallying all of Tan You’s Sha Crystals.

The moment the number was revealed, the entire plaza erupted in an uproar. "Nearly three hundred thousand Sha Crystals! How did she do that?"

"I heard Jin Zhao’s mastery of the Array Dao is unparalleled. Do you think she used an Array?"

"But that’s Evil Qi. Are Arrays even effective against it?"

"Why wouldn’t they be? Otherwise, how could the Buddhist Sect have gathered so many Sha Crystals?"

Tan You let them guess. She wasn’t about to tell them that the vast majority of these Sha Crystals had been gathered by Jin Yan.

The Immortal Monarchs in charge of the tally were also a bit dazed, but they pulled themselves together and announced the results: "In this great inter-clan competition, the Golden Ring Snake Clan’s Little Snake Empress, Jin Zhao, takes the top spot! The Buddhist Sect is second..."

Hearing this result, smiles spread across the faces of Jin Yuan and the other Golden Ring Snakes. Now, following in Jin Yao’s footsteps, the Golden Ring Snake Clan had finally managed to seize a share of destiny for themselves.

They wondered what sort of changes this would bring to the clan.

Peacock and the other Great Demons truly couldn’t hold back their joy. After Tan You was declared the winner, smiles blossomed on all their faces. With Tan You taking first place, she would now be famous in the Ninth Heaven, and they would finally have their own territory there again.

Although their respective clans treated them well, they were ascenders, after all, not born and raised there. It was inevitable that they felt a little alienated within their clans.

But being with Tan You, living as neighbors with their old companions once more... it felt as if nothing had changed from their time in the lower realm. How could this not leave these demons thrilled?

Tan You casually draped an arm over Bai Ze’s shoulder. To her right was a female cultivator in black robes who was linking arms with her. "My Lord," she said, "let’s go back."

This black-robed female cultivator was, of course, that Half-demon fox woman from the past. She had ascended even earlier than Little Mouse. In fact, most of those former Half-demons had already ascended to the Immortal Realm.

After all, they had all fused with the blood essence of Great Demons, so their cultivation speed was much faster than Little Mouse’s. Little Mouse, in particular, was squishy and fragile. She was currently just laying low in the lower realm, clinging to Little Bai Ze’s coattails and waiting for him to carry her along when he ascended.

Tan You let the Great Demons surround her. "Let’s go! Back to our own turf!"

Seeing the Great Demons flocking around Tan You, Jin Yan’s little legs fidgeted as he tried to stick close to her side. Jin Yao picked him up by the collar. "You can be as clingy as you want once we’re back on clan territory. I have no objection. But not right now."

Jin Yan hung from Jin Yao’s arm like a little kitten. "Oh, Fifth Grand-Uncle, what’s Mommy’s clan territory like?"

Jin Yao replied, "It hasn’t been built yet. Let her plan it herself after we get back."

Jin Yan immediately grew excited. "I can help Mommy! Fifth Grand-Uncle, I want to go see Mommy’s Demon Market..."

Jin Yao said, "Not possible. Immortal Monarchs of the Ninth Heaven cannot go to the Cultivation World. You’ll just have to be a good boy and stay here in the Ninth Heaven. Besides, as for the demons in your mommy’s Demon Market, if they have the ambition, they will ascend on their own."

Jin Yan asked, "So I’m just supposed to sit around and wait for them?"

"That’s not quite the right phrase to use," Tan You said, walking over just in time to hear him. She raised an eyebrow. "Come on, let’s go back."

Jin Yuan stood up and clapped Tan You firmly on the shoulder. "Ahzhao, you did an excellent job."

Tan You just smiled, her eyes narrowing. "I’ve been in the Ninth Heaven for a while now, and I’ve been under everyone’s care. Why be so formal? It feels so distant."

"Alright, no more formalities." Jin Yuan laughed heartily. "Let’s go back."

As he spoke, he walked to Tan You’s side. The Great Demons from the former Demon Market tactfully made way for these old ancestors. ’Upper Gods! They had never even seen the Upper Gods of their own clans, and now they were standing face-to-face with Ahzhao’s ancestors?’