Chapter 43: The Celestial Master Exterminates Evil
Chapter 43: The Celestial Master Exterminates Evil
How many demonic villains are there in the world?
Anyone who dares to ask this question will surely be mocked.
Because the number of demonic villains is simply uncountable.
Even the Ten Thousand Demon Sect, as the leader of the demonic path, controls only a fraction of them. Including the lower-ranking eighth and ninth pin demons, their numbers barely reach ten thousand.
But the number of demonic villains wreaking havoc throughout the land is far greater, easily surpassing a million.
After all, the path to becoming a demonic villain is just too easy.
And the benefits are immense.
For an ordinary person to reach the ninth pin and become a cultivator, one would have to endure rigorous training in the bitter cold of winter and the scorching heat of summer, investing countless effort and time. And even then, success is not guaranteed.
However, by simply cultivating a demonic art and consuming the essence and blood of dozens of people, one can smoothly enter the ninth pin realm.
Admittedly, while it is easy to get started with demonic arts, achieving greatness or advancing to the upper three pins is far more difficult than with orthodox cultivation methods.
Yet, without relying on demonic arts, many would not even reach the lower three pins, let alone the upper ones.
Furthermore, demonic villains act without restraint, unbound by rules and regulations. Killing comes as easily as eating or drinking to them, which only adds to their allure for many.
In recent decades, the rise of the Ten Thousand Demon Sect has particularly tied down the orthodox sects, allowing demonic villains to run rampant throughout the land.
In the past, there would often be orthodox cultivators descending from their mountains to exterminate demons and protect the righteous path. But now, those powerful cultivators are locked in battles with the Ten Thousand Demon Sect.
The demonic villains entrenched in various places are like beasts unleashed from their chains, becoming even more ruthless in their actions.
However, their reign of terror is about to end.
For the Celestial Master of Dragon-Tiger Mountain has descended to purge the world of their evil.
Ten Thousand Demon Sect's Headquarters After the battle at Dragon-Tiger Mountain, the Sect Master of the Ten Thousand Demon Sect perished, along with eight out of the nine Vice Sect Masters who had reached the Heavenly Phenomenon realm. The sole surviving Vice Sect Master had been fortunate to be on a distant mission at the time, and his expertise in survival techniques had helped him narrowly escape with his life.
Even so, he was terrified. While fleeing for his life, he had caught a glimpse of the Ten Thousand Demon Sect's headquarters turned into a mountain of corpses and a sea of blood. Such a horrifying sight had nearly shattered his demonic heart.
"Vice Sect Master, what do we do now?"
"The Sect Master is dead, and so are the other Vice Sect Masters."
"Are... are we still staying here?"
A demon left behind at the headquarters asked, his voice trembling.
"Where else can we go if we don't stay here?"
"This is the headquarters, filled with hidden mechanisms. Hiding here is our safest option."
The Vice Sect Master took a moment to calm himself and replied firmly.
From the very beginning of its rise, the Ten Thousand Demon Sect had anticipated the possibility of a decisive battle with the orthodox sects ending in defeat. Thus, they had prepared their headquarters as their last line of defense.
Dozens of mechanism masters had been employed to set up intricate traps within the Ten Thousand Demon Sect's headquarters. Even a group of Heavenly Phenomenon realm cultivators would not dare to rush in recklessly, for a single misstep could result in severe injuries.
It was precisely because of this that the Vice Sect Master chose to retreat to the headquarters. He also ordered the remaining demons to activate all the mechanisms.
Suddenly, at that moment.
Screams echoed from outside.
At the same time, terrifying tremors shook the entire headquarters.
"No!!!"
"Who are you?"
"Why are you killing us?"
Despairing howls echoed from within the headquarters, only to be abruptly silenced.
A figure clad in a Daoist robe walked in.
It was Lin Yuan.
"Celestial Master..."
The Vice Sect Master forced a bitter smile.
He had expected that the mechanisms in the headquarters might not be able to stop the Celestial Master of Dragon-Tiger Mountain. But he had never imagined it would be so swift. The intricate traps that the Ten Thousand Demon Sect had once relied on as their backup were utterly ineffective against the Celestial Master, lasting less than half an incense stick's worth of time.
"Celestial Master, if I choose to submit to you, to the Celestial Master's Mansion, will I be allowed to live?"
The Vice Sect Master, unwilling to give up, asked in a low voice.
After all, he was a Heavenly Phenomenon realm cultivator; surely he would be of some use?
"No need."
Lin Yuan shook his head slightly and turned to leave.
The Vice Sect Master, seated in the main seat, suddenly felt a red line appear on his forehead. Beside him, the other demon's eyes glazed over, and he collapsed.
Great Yu Dynasty Capital City
A man clad in a blood-red robe, his face etched with fear, fled to the gates of the imperial palace.
"My name is Ouyang Ye, and I am a personal disciple of the Sect Master of the Ten Thousand Demon Sect. I know the method to quickly cultivate Heavenly Phenomenon realm experts. The nine Heavenly Phenomenon realm cultivators of the Ten Thousand Demon Sect were all created using this method."
Ouyang Ye, the man in the blood-red robe, directed his gaze towards the imperial palace and projected his voice with his true qi.
The Great Yu Dynasty was the unified empire of the current world, possessing immense strength. And it was Ouyang Ye's only hope for survival at this moment.
"I can reveal this method to your Great Yu Dynasty, but I have one request: protect me and keep that Celestial Master at bay."
Ouyang Ye's expression turned pleading as he finished speaking.
He believed that the method to cultivate Heavenly Phenomenon realm experts would be irresistible to the Great Yu Dynasty. After all, Heavenly Phenomenon realm cultivators were priceless treasures to any dynasty, even if the price to obtain them was steep.
After a long while, the palace gates opened.
An elderly man with a stooped back emerged.
This elderly man exuded a profound aura, clearly a Heavenly Phenomenon realm cultivator himself.
"You may leave."
"The Celestial Master is invincible in this world. Those he wishes to kill, those demons he wishes to purge, are beyond our aid.
The hunchbacked old man shook his head slightly.
As if sensing something, he immediately turned and walked out the door.
The next moment, the palace gates slammed shut.
"Can't help me?"
"You don't even want the method to cultivate Heavenly Phenomenon realm experts?"
The man in the blood-red robe, Ouyang Ye, fell silent.
"Is there truly no one in this world who can save me?" Ouyang Ye's hopes crumbled.
Just then, a sword light flashed behind him, and he collapsed, all vitality leaving his body.
"At least he knew when to give up," Lin Yuan remarked as he glanced up at the Great Yu Palace before turning to leave.
In the far northern icy plains, before a palace crafted from ice crystals, a figure clad in black knelt.
"Six thousand years ago, my Primitive Demon Sect stood together with your Northern Origin Sect."
"I am willing to reveal the secrets of the Primitive Demon Sect, I only ask to be spared," the black-robed figure pleaded, knowing that the lord of the Ice Palace in the depths could hear him.
Among the heavens, only the Northern Origin Sect could somewhat restrain the Celestial Master.
"You wish to live?" came a deep voice from within the Ice Palace, where a dignified man with golden eyes sat. His expression was unreadable.
"I also want to live," the dignified man sighed.
"Lord of the Northern Origin, will you just watch as my Primitive Demon Sect perishes once more?"
Receiving no response, the black-robed figure raised his head in despair.
At that moment, Lin Yuan appeared beside him.
"Lord of the Northern Origin?" Lin Yuan was slightly surprised as he gazed at the ice palace.
From the records of the Celestial Master's Mansion, he knew of the Northern Origin Sect, a sect with a history as long as the Celestial Master's, but one that kept to the far northern icy plains, away from the affairs of the Central Plains.
"Celestial Master, this demon has nothing to do with my Northern Origin Sect. He came here of his own accord," the dignified man quickly explained, sensing Lin Yuan's gaze.
"I know," Lin Yuan nodded.
His figure disappeared without a sound.
Only when Lin Yuan was truly gone did the lord of the Northern Origin Sect breathe a sigh of relief.
"This generation's Celestial Master exerts too much pressure. He seems far stronger than any of the previous generations," the dignified man thought to himself.
The Northern Origin Sect knew far more about the Celestial Masters than any other orthodox sect.
And it was precisely because of this knowledge that the lord felt the weight of the pressure Lin Yuan brought upon him.
In a desolate desert, dozens of figures fled for their lives.
"Celestial Master, we are but brothers who call ourselves demons. We have no affiliation with the Ten Thousand Demon Sect!"
"When the Ten Thousand Demon Sect besieged Dragon-Tiger Mountain, we knew nothing of it and did not participate!" the leader of the group cried out in desperation, his eyes filled with fear as he looked back at the figure approaching step by step.
"All demons must die," Lin Yuan said, raising his right hand and pressing down lightly. The fleeing figures collapsed, their lives snuffed out.
On a bustling street, a fortune-teller set up his stall by the roadside.
A man with ordinary features approached him.
"Tell me, how long do I have left to live?" the man asked, his eyes red and revealing the tension he had been under.
"You're still young," the fortune-teller said, then his expression changed as he quickly packed up his things and turned to leave without another word.
"Master, why are you so afraid of that man? You won't even divine his future?" a child running alongside the fortune-teller asked.
"You know nothing. That man is doomed, and if we stay too close, we might be implicated as well," the fortune-teller explained as he quickened his pace.
"Implicated?" the child blinked, knowing full well that his master was one of the strongest in the world. Why would he fear implication?
"Because that man is a demon," the fortune-teller said.
"A demon?" The child shrunk back, for who in the world did not know of the calamity that had befallen the demons?
The Celestial Master who descended from Dragon-Tiger Mountain was hunting down demons, and none could escape his wrath.
"Celestial Master..." The fortune-teller suddenly stopped in his tracks.
His heart trembled as he saw a young man in a Daoist robe walking towards them, heading straight for the spot where the ordinary-looking man had stood.
"The Celestial Master is here," the fortune-teller whispered.
In the annals of history, it would be recorded that the thirty-seventh Celestial Master, Zhang Shanfeng, descended from his mountain to purge the demons.
For the next sixty years, the demonic path would vanish from the world, and none would dare call themselves demons.
This event would come to be known as— The Jiazi Demon Purge.
(End of Chapter)
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