Chapter 530: I Don't Need the Sect Master's Robes to Be a Demon Catcher

Chapter 530: I Don't Need the Sect Master's Robes to Be a Demon Catcher

[Slaying Bai Yujing Haoyue Frost Tiger, total lifespan of 386,000 years, remaining lifespan of 233,000 years, absorption completed]



[Remaining demon lifespan: 570,000 years]



The three old demons had unremarkable lifespans, and the two tomb-guarding tiger demons were nothing to speak of. Fortunately, the young tiger demon, despite being a disappointment in terms of temperament, had excellent talent.

Shen Yi did not linger and quickly left the dark red waters with Yulan and Youchang.

He wasn't sure if that dragon consort was still watching him.

Even with Youchang, who was most likely a town stone comparable to Wucheng's demon, it would be difficult to sense the prying eyes of a Unity Realm demon.

"Huh."

Shen Yi felt the wind by his ears and looked down at the exquisite water lotus in his palm, falling into a pensive silence.

In theory, this amount of demon lifespan should be enough for him to climb to the next milestone on Nameless Mountain.

After all, that mountain belonged to someone else, and although Yan Chongzhang seemed to be inviting him to view the mountain the last time they parted, he was not yet a true sect master, so who knew if the Moving Mountain Sect would suddenly change their minds.

The longer it was delayed, the more likely things would change.

But for now, Shen Yi suddenly didn't feel like going there, and the reason for this was this water lotus, as well as the matter of guarding the tomb mentioned by the tiger demons earlier.

He still remembered that the Black-backed Flood Dragon guard had mentioned that it was a life-prolonging object, and the tiger demon was going to take it into the tomb... To prolong the life of the dead?

Of the five agonies of life—birth, old age, sickness, and death—very few could overcome the fourth agony.

Shen Yi didn't believe that the Unity Realm giants were unable to see the fourth city; those who could become the masters of immortal sects must have been extraordinary in their youth and surely couldn't be much worse than Su Hongxiu.

Since this Heavenly Sword Sect disciple could see the Open Imperial City, these sect masters should also be able to see it. But according to the pearl left by the Qin sect master in his mind, most sect masters eventually stopped at the sickness agony and began to wait for their heirs to unite with the Way.

To comprehend life and death seemed like four simple words, but it was actually not that easy.

Even monks who meditated and cultivated their hearts couldn't do it, let alone demons and monsters who only needed to eat and drink to grow stronger by relying on their bloodlines.

At least since coming to Xihong, Shen Yi had slain many powerful demons, and so far, not a single one had given him even the slightest hope of overcoming the death agony.

If nothing unexpected happened, it would probably be difficult to encounter such a demon in the future as well.

"This is an opportunity."

Shen Yi shook his head and carefully put away the water lotus.

If he waited too long and something amiss was discovered in that so-called tomb, the difficulty of infiltrating it later would increase tenfold.

After all, the Haoyue Frost Tiger clan was a force to be reckoned with, with a Unity Realm demon comparable to their might, and perhaps even more than one.

Everything else could be put on hold for now in the face of this matter.

With this in mind, Shen Yi hesitated no longer and directly condensed a grayish-white town stone statue.

As for the candidate for the demon soul, he did not skimp on the demon's lifespan and chose the older of the two tomb-guarding tiger demons.

This time, just the demon's origin alone consumed a full thirty-two pills!

The corpses of the six tiger demons were completely absorbed into the town stone.

In an instant, a Haoyue Frost Tiger town stone statue with power slightly weaker than Youchang opened its terrifying eyes.

"I pay my respects to my master!"

This tomb-guarding white tiger was the one who had died under Youchang's palm earlier.

It nervously scanned the few people in front of it. Perhaps the demon snake was the strongest in terms of strength, but the one wearing the ink-colored shirt was undoubtedly the most dangerous.

"Where is the tomb, and who is buried there?" Shen Yi asked concisely, wasting no words.

This was the first time the tomb-guarding white tiger had heard its master speak, and the directness of the question, without any unnecessary words, made the tiger's feelings complicated.

Although it spent most of its time guarding the tomb, it had been in Xihong for many years and considered itself well-versed in the ways of the world, yet it had never encountered such a ruthless and emotionless demon force.

The tomb-guarding white tiger dared not hesitate and replied, "I reply to my master, the tomb is at the edge of Xihong, where the moonlight is most dense. Buried within is the clan leader's only daughter. When the young miss was still in her mother's womb, there was a fierce battle that almost took both their lives. In the end, the mistress perished, and the clan leader used his divine powers to forcefully retain a wisp of the young miss's soul."

At this point, a hint of wariness flashed in the tiger's eyes as it continued, "He also borrowed a life-prolonging lotus from the Eastern Dragon Palace, and with that, he prolonged her life... for ten thousand years."

"I didn't expect your clan leader to be so sentimental." Youchang raised an eyebrow. He was never one to remain silent, and it was only because he had been bullied by Wu Jun in the Northern Palace that he had been so well-behaved. Now that he finally had the opportunity to get out and about, he couldn't contain his excitement.

In the clan of the Earth You Mang... No, it should be said that in most demonic clans, it was rare to see such a deep father-daughter bond.

After all, the lifespan of demons was too long, and apart from a handful of clans, most demons left offspring all over the place, so many that even they couldn't keep track. Only the offspring with the rarest bloodlines and the highest talent were considered the legitimate lineage.

The Dragon Palace was a prime example of this.

Almost every Dragon Palace had numerous descendants, but in the end, only about a dozen or so were recognized as true dragons.

Moreover, to go to such lengths for a "stillborn" infant was an even greater cost.

"... "

Yulan averted her gaze, neither agreeing nor disagreeing with Youchang's statement.

The tomb-guarding white tiger also smiled awkwardly.

"Is there a Unity Realm demon guarding it?" Shen Yi's thoughts were similar to Yulan's. Rather than calling it a deep father-daughter bond, he found the whole situation somewhat disturbing.

However, with his own treasure land in jeopardy, he didn't have the time to sympathize with a demon's plight.

Upon hearing this, Yulan's heart skipped a beat.

Of everyone present, she had followed her master the longest and understood him the best...

"Lead the way," came Shen Yi's voice.

As expected, Yulan heard that familiar voice giving the order.

A look of resignation appeared on her alluring face.

She had thought that her plan to escape the Heavenly Sword Sect and attempt to kill Su Hongxiu with the help of the South Dragon Palace was already crazy enough, but compared to her master, it was like a novice meeting an expert.

When her master felt a sense of crisis, such as being stimulated by the strength of the Dragon Consort, he would truly seize any opportunity, no matter how slight, to improve himself.

However, Yulan still didn't quite understand. If the grand formation of the tomb was truly capable of restraining a Unity Realm expert, wouldn't it be overwhelmingly powerful against those below the Unity Realm?

With just their small group, rushing into the tomb would be akin to seeking death.

How did her master plan to deal with this?

In contrast, the tomb-guarding white tiger seemed to have a vague fear of Shen Yi due to the earlier incident and didn't offer any advice. Instead, it obediently led the way forward.

Shen Yi didn't bother to explain and continued striding forward with his sword, taking out two beast hide scrolls from his ring.

These were left behind by the two tomb-guarding tiger demons after they were absorbed by the town stone. He had thought they were secret techniques or cultivation methods and hadn't had time to examine them carefully due to the urgency of their escape. It was only after hearing the tiger demon's explanation that he realized they were actually part of the formation's diagram.

The two tiger demons held completely different formation diagrams, and they seemed to have no connection at all.

From this detail, one could see just how cautious the leader of the Haoyue Frost Tiger clan was, even going so far as to guard against traitors.

However... this was actually a good thing for him.

Shen Yi slowly scanned the beast hide scrolls, and soon, a new line of text appeared on the panel.

[Unity Realm. Treasure Moon Soul-Trapping Grand Formation (Incomplete): Uninitiated]



Since all the tomb-guarding tiger demons held a part of this grand formation, it meant that communication between them was inevitable if they wanted to activate it.

As for seeking out demons and attempting assassinations, it was something he was already very familiar with.

As for formations, he also had a basic understanding.

With this in mind, Shen Yi closed his eyes, directly infusing the remaining demon lifespan into this formation.

...

West Hong, Treasure Moon Tomb.

In West Hong, where waters occupied nearly 80% of the area, finding a vast and beautiful place, and within it, a place where the moonlight was most intense, to build a majestic tomb, while also deterring the demons, monsters, and cultivators who lusted after this place, required not only extremely strong power but also a great deal of effort.

Apparently, the Haoyue Frost Tiger clan possessed such conditions.

As the top demonic force in West Hong, coupled with their willingness to send out powerful clan members, a total of eighteen tomb-guarding tiger demons were stationed here, the weakest of whom could not be dealt with by cultivators at the Three Cities level.

It must be known that while demons did not need to undergo tribulation, their growth to such a level required an incredibly long time, as well as a large number of heavenly treasures and earthly treasures.

The number of such powerful experts, even if it exceeded that of the Immortal Sect, would not have a huge gap.

As for the South Hong Seven, they had six Unity Realm giants sitting in their sect, and among their disciples, those who could open the Three Cities could be counted on one's fingers, with only about twenty or so, including Daozi and elders of Liu Xingshan's level.

The tiger demon clan's terrifying investment in manpower had turned this place into a forbidden zone for all living beings.

"... "

The tiger demon town stone statue became much quieter as it approached the majestic tomb.

It had originally planned to return quietly and scout out the specific situation first.

However, as soon as it stepped into the range of the tomb, its figure paused slightly, and it silently cursed in its heart.

What bad luck!

While it might not be difficult for a Unity Realm giant to keep a wisp of their soul in the mortal realm, if one were to extend that time to a long ten thousand years, it would not only require precious soul-sustaining objects and the nourishment of the heaven, earth, and moon, but the most important thing was actually the concealment of heavenly secrets.

The Treasure Moon Soul-Trapping Grand Formation took on this responsibility.

But as a price, this group of grand formation-controlling demons suffered day and night, and after that wisp of soul devoured so many treasures from the Dragon Palace, it had already grown to a terrifying level, with resentment that reached the heavens. The fact that they could maintain their sanity was already a difficult feat.

Therefore, most of the time, these tomb-guarding tiger demons did not move around randomly, but simply hoped to endure until the time was up and the clan sent someone to replace them.

"It's so boring, I'm just going for a walk. Hurry up and send the things back after you get them."

Another tomb-guarding tiger demon happened to pass by, its tangled fur looking as if it hadn't been groomed for thousands of years, and its cloudy eyes appeared somewhat dull.

It nodded its chin slightly in greeting and then turned to leave.

"Understood."

The tiger demon town stone statue replied calmly and also turned around.

His master's order was to first find out the current locations of these tomb-guarding demons and see if there was a suitable time and route to infiltrate and try to kidnap the young miss.

The tomb-guarding tiger demon slowly turned its head, and its cloudy eyes cleared slightly. "I remember... Didn't you go with someone else? Where is it?"

"... "

The tiger demon town stone statue paused for a moment and said indifferently, "An Tu Xiao offended someone at the Dragon Consort's banquet. I asked it to save its life and it should be back soon."

The two demons were unwilling to listen to An Tu Xiao's many words, not because there were any rules in the tomb, but simply because they didn't want to pay attention. However, taking advantage of getting the medicine, they also took care of some personal matters, which was actually something that the tomb-guarding demons tacitly approved of.

As long as there were no problems with the soul-continuing objects, no one would make a fuss.

After all, it was really hard to endure inside this tomb...

However, this explanation did not dispel the other tiger demon's doubts. Its eyes flickered, and it slowly moved its head closer, sniffing carefully.

The tiger demon town stone statue remained calm and looked back coldly, "What do you mean?"

It didn't think there was anything wrong with its explanation.

"Nothing."

Its companion suddenly smiled, lifting its gaze to meet its eyes, "Don't you think it's strange that you're willing to explain this to me?"

As a tomb-guarding demon, enduring torture day after day, where did this amiable temperament come from?

It seemed like it had experienced some kind of setback.

"Give me the things, I'll deliver them. As for you, just wait here for it to return." Its companion gently placed its sharp claws on the town stone statue's shoulder.

The tiger demon town stone statue slowly clenched its sharp claws. With this new body, it was confident that it could kill its companion within the time it took to burn a stick of incense. However, it would not be able to stop the leakage of its aura and the activation of the entire formation.

Failing the first task given by its master, it felt that it would have no good outcome.

What was even more serious was that this companion of his seemed to have become suspicious, and it was likely that the moment it obtained the water lotus, its companion would suddenly turn hostile.

Just then.

The tiger demon town stone statue felt the sharp claws on its shoulder tighten, and its companion's expression froze.

The companion turned its large body around and saw the blood-stained palm with the white hand, and behind it, the youth in the ink-colored shirt had an exceptionally calm gaze.

As a cultivator, he had boldly intruded into such a dangerous forbidden area, yet his breathing remained steady.

Using the No Life Palm again, the tiger demon companion's eyes turned dull once more.

Behind Shen Yi, Yu Lan and You Chang stood silently. It wasn't that they were unwilling to help, but when they had entered this place, their master's only instruction to them was to completely suppress their auras to avoid attracting the attention of others. They were only allowed to act if the situation became dire and they needed to intercept a fatal strike.

After all, if they made any move, all the tiger demons in the tomb would immediately react.

Shen Yi's face turned slightly pale.

The strength of these tomb-guarding demons was not weak; at the very least, they were not much weaker than Ke Shisan and Wu Jun, the two palace masters. Fighting two of them in succession, even Shen Yi felt a significant amount of exhaustion.

However, Shen Yi's gaze became even more focused.

Just as the tiger demon's body cracked open and the panel with the prompts appeared, the entire tiger demon corpse was sucked into the finger cot.

The whole process was smooth and effortless, as if he had practiced it countless times.

Even the bloody smell didn't have time to spread before it completely disappeared without a trace, as if it had never existed.

"... "

The tiger demon town stone statue looked at the empty space in front of it and suddenly felt a chill down its spine.

Its first instinct was to beg for mercy.

But then, it heard its master's calm voice in its mind, "Continue, don't be nervous."

Causing the tiger demon to fall into a daze.

Its ruthless and vicious master not only did not punish it, but was actually trying to calm its nerves?

Without giving it much time to react.

Shen Yi quietly disappeared from his original spot and reappeared at a new location, one that was both convenient for evacuation and provided a better view of the surroundings.

He quietly leaned against a tree, taking out another new beast hide scroll to read, his demeanor calm and patient.

Occasionally, his gaze would sweep downwards, like a skilled hunter surveying his hunting ground.

Yu Lan and You Chang followed closely behind.

The beautiful woman, Yu Lan, looked at Shen Yi with a hint of complexity in her eyes.

In her impression, her master was ruthless and decisive, but also impulsive, rarely thinking things through, often using a knee-jerk reaction instead.

This was the first time she had seen this other side of him. Aside from his quick decision-making in choosing this location and his backup plan in case the tiger demon town stone statue was exposed, his experience and attention to detail were evident.

Calling him meticulous would not be an exaggeration.

"Hu."

The tiger demon town stone statue soon adjusted its breathing and gradually regained its composure.

It continued to stride forward.

However, with the formation carefully arranged by the clan leader, there were no obvious loopholes.

As they ventured deeper into the Treasure Moon Tomb, the defenses became increasingly stringent, and encountering companions was a normal occurrence.

"Don't hide, go over there and find it."

Just as the tiger demon town stone statue turned around instinctively, it heard its master's voice in its mind again.

It hurried forward and grabbed another companion, "Wait, I have something to ask you."

"Hmm?" The tiger demon turned around, confused, "Why are you looking for me instead of delivering the medicine?"

The tiger demon town stone statue licked its lips, "I want you to look at something."

It pointed behind its companion.

With the blessing of three Daoist weapons surpassing the Hongmeng Heavenly Soldiers, coupled with the perfected spiritual techniques and the Divine Mountain techniques that had reached the Unity Realm, the path to life that Shen Yi personally guarded was enough to make this group of tomb-guarding tiger demons feel desperate.

Soon, another corpse fell into the finger cot.

After consecutively slaying three old and powerful demons, Shen Yi's lips were slightly pale.

He once again merged with the most suitable hiding place in the tomb.

With the experience of two attempts, the tiger demon town stone had obviously adapted a lot. It finally understood why the beautiful woman and the python demon had been so silent when it was surrounded before. There was simply no need for any communication; they just had to follow the orders of their master, and things would turn out smoother than expected.

It seemed as if everything was according to their plan.

As they became more familiar with the process, similar scenes started to unfold repeatedly.

By the time the sixth guardian of the tomb vanished into the Precious Moon Grand Tomb, a few barely noticeable wounds appeared on Shen Yi's body. However, just as he absorbed the blood essence of the demons, he treated himself with the same efficiency, leaving not a single trace for anyone to detect.

After disposing of the eighth guardian, Shen Yi suddenly had several huge gashes on his chest.

The Xuan Armor was shattered for the first time.

The Immortal Phoenix Indestructible Sword Body quickly repaired the damage, but he frowned slightly, using his fingertip to wipe away the bloodstains with golden flames, evaporating them without so much as a flicker in his eyes.

In such a demon and monster-infested tomb, it was best not to appear as if he were severely injured.

"... "

Yulan watched silently, suddenly feeling that perhaps her help wasn't needed. With her master's abilities, overcoming the sickness tribulation didn't seem like much of a challenge.

He was ruthless not only to his enemies but also to himself.

This was truly terrifying. With her master's strength, he would be at a disadvantage if he faced more than four tomb-guarding tiger demons at once. Yet, now he was exchanging his severe injuries for the lives of eight powerful demons, one after another, with crisp efficiency.

Anyone who offends such a person would surely be asking for terrible trouble.

At this moment, the group had completely approached the heart of the Precious Moon Grand Tomb.

The tiger demon town stone looked at its master taking out another new beast hide scroll and couldn't help but feel excited, but at the same time, it felt a bit silly. After all, these formations involved the Unity Realm, and it wasn't something one could understand in a short time... especially when its master was also fighting powerful demons while trying to decipher them.

"Continue."

Shen Yi put down the beast hide scroll and glanced at his palm.

In his current weakened state, he might not be able to contain his aura within the No Life Palm anymore.

Thinking of this, he turned his head and said, "You two can make your move now."

Make a move?

Hearing this, the White Tiger Town Stone was suddenly alarmed. "My master, even if it's just half of the grand formation..."

His opponent might not be very familiar with the Precious Moon Soul-Trapping Grand Formation and this grand tomb, which was built with all the might of the Frosthelm White Tiger clan.

Even though only eight tomb-guarding demons remained, if they were to activate the formation with all their might, at least with their current strength, it was likely that not a single one of them would be able to leave this place alive.

Before it could finish speaking, Shen Yi suddenly took out the corpses of the previous tiger demons from the finger cot and turned them into a river of blood that poured into the body of the tiger demon town stone.

The blood essence of all eight members of its clan was fused into its body at this moment.

The thick bloody smell permeated the air.

The tiger demon town stone felt its strength surging wildly, but its face paled, as it couldn't control the spread of its aura at all!

In an instant, the entire tomb seemed to wake up.

One figure after another opened their eyes.

As they revealed their ferocious expressions, the dim tomb, within the rough stone cracks, the gray mist, which was actually contaminated moonlight, suddenly rushed from all directions toward the heart of the tomb.

If the gray mist that the tiger demon town stone had summoned outside the Dragon Consort's banquet was like a stream, then the gray mist in the tomb was like an ocean, thick and viscous like mud.

"Heh... Heh..."

The tiger demon town stone experienced an unprecedented terrifying power within its body, and it should have been proud, but when it saw the surging gray mist, fear filled its eyes.

It couldn't help but roar, "Run away!"

This was something that even Unity Realm cultivators wouldn't dare to ignore! However, its roar received no response.

Yulan glanced at it indifferently, and the flames in her heart suddenly burst forth.

Youchang also rolled up his sleeves, revealing his two slender snake-scaled arms.

"You..." The tiger demon town stone stared at them, and its eyes suddenly shrank as the gray mist surged forward. From the other side of the tomb, an even more ferocious wave of gray mist, like a giant dragon, collided with the first wave!

Boom—

Shen Yi turned his gaze toward the deepest part of the tomb and casually lowered his hand, which had been pinching the finger technique.

Then, he took a step forward, heading in that direction, leaving behind a calm sentence.

"Leave none alive."

"We obey our master's order!" Yulan and Youchang bowed in unison.

The white tiger town stone stood in the middle, possessing the strongest strength in the group, yet feeling out of place.

Recalling its previous shout of "Run away!", it even felt the urge to dig a hole and bury itself.

What just happened? How could its master, with just a few glances at those beast hide scrolls, compete with the tomb-guarding demons who had guarded this place for countless years for control of the Precious Moon Soul-Trapping Grand Formation?

(End of Chapter)

Chapter end