With the means of the Supreme Taoist, killing him would probably not be much more difficult than crushing an ant.
With a thunderous crash, Bai Zhao’s knees hit the ground, and in a panic, he repeatedly said to Shen Yuan:
"The foolish little demon has been ignorant and has offended the Venerable Taoist time and again, please forgive my transgressions!"
Shen Yuan spoke with a hint of deep meaning:
"Demon Saint Bai Ze seems to have been living quite well these years, almost becoming the guardian deity of this city."
Bai Zhao grimly responded, "The Venerable Taoist is jesting. I have only lived in this city for some time and developed a bit of fondness, thus I helped them guard the city temporarily.
These Hell specters are powerful, and as a weak demon, I can only rely on the Venerable Taoist’s intervention."
Looking at Bai Zhao’s mournful expression, Shen Yuan said with irritation:
"Alright, get up. I did not come to Ying Island to look for you this time."
Upon hearing this, Bai Zhao’s face brightened with joy, and he quickly stood up from the ground, his manner still showing a certain deference:
"Whatever the Taoist wishes to do, this little demon will surely offer full support."
Shen Yuan found it difficult to reconcile Bai Zhao’s current appearance with that of the Demon Saint Bai Ze from ten thousand years ago.
"As one of the top ten Demon Saints, Demon Saint Bai Ze was once a powerful being who stepped into the Immortal Realm. What resemblance do you have now to a Demon Saint?"
Upon hearing this, Bai Zhao replied with a pained expression:
"The Venerable Taoist may not be aware, but Demon Saint Bai Ze was once known as the most intelligent of all Demon Saints, possessing countless heritages dating from the birth of the monster tribe.
Ten thousand years ago, Demon Saint Bai Ze nearly perished in a catastrophe, and in the face of impending death, wished to use rebirth magic to reincarnate after ten thousand years.
I am not privy to the details, but upon the awakening of my memory, it was after the Spirit Energy Tidal Surge.
The rebirth magic of Demon Saint Bai Ze went awry, and as a bloodline reincarnation, I only obtained Natural Divine Power, the birth sign spirit treasure Destiny Selection Compass, and part of the divination ability, but all the heritages since the birth of the monster tribe were lost."
"I once investigated stealthily and learned from some old creatures of the Demons’ Realm that the reincarnation of Bai Ze was interfered with by other Demon Saints. They attempted to strip away the heritage memories of Demon Saint Bai Ze but ultimately failed.
The lost heritage memories fell from the bloodline and ultimately revived alongside the Spirit Energy Tidal Surge in a low-tier little demon."
"Possessing a vast sea of heritage memories but no bloodline made it impossible for that little demon to use these memories for cultivation, only able to maintain a feeble body.
I leveraged the slight connection from Demon Saint Bai Ze’s reincarnation and, after several searches, finally confirmed that the little demon with the heritage memories is related to you.
After some information spread, some in the Demons’ Realm also viewed that little demon as the reincarnated embodiment of Demon Saint Bai Ze because, in their eyes, Demon Saint Bai Ze signifies the wisdom of the monster tribe, unrelated to bloodline power."
With Bai Zhao’s narrative, Shen Yuan finally understood the problem that had been troubling Bai Xue.
Why Bai Xue was unable to grow and practice cultivation, why there were two demons claiming to be the reincarnation of a Demon Saint, all these tied back to the heritage memories in Bai Xue’s mind.
"Interesting!"
Shen Yuan chuckled lightly, unconcerned by the precious monster tribe heritage memories in Bai Xue’s mind.
As precious as Bai Xue’s heritage memories might be to the entire monster tribe, they were utterly insignificant to Shen Yuan.
He had killed several Demon Saints of the monster tribe; why would he care about these bits of heritage information?
Moreover, with his own deterrence in place, those from the monster tribe wouldn’t dare target Bai Xue’s heritage memories anymore.
He could find a way to sort out Bai Xue’s memories later on, allowing Bai Xue to formally embark on the path of cultivation.
Casting a glance at the respectfully behaved Bai Zhao, it was clear that he had grasped Shen Yuan’s concern for Bai Xue and voluntarily revealed these secrets to demonstrate his own value.
After all, his life or death hung on a single thought from Shen Yuan.
Without paying too much attention to Bai Zhao’s craftiness, Shen Yuan surveyed the surroundings of Luliang City.
Shen Yuan had slain tens of thousands of Hell specters on the battlefield and even severed one of the nodes of Hell’s invasion, effectively ending the ghostly disaster in this area.
But due to the erosion caused by the large number of Hell specters descending upon the mortal realm, the lands surrounding Luliang City had already become dilapidated.
The erosion from the dark Hell invaded the mortal world; Hell’s tributary washed over the land, almost turning this place into an environment resembling the land of the Yin World.
The few remaining crops in the fields were being drained of their vitality by the land of the Yin World, gradually withering, and the plants that covered the hills and plains were also heading towards the end of their life, with only a few Spirit Plants managing to survive.
Even if Shen Yuan slaughtered all the Hell specters, this erosion was still intensifying continuously; unless a great effort was expended to drive out the dark Hell erosion permeating the earth and revive the land, it was only a matter of time before this region would be thoroughly transformed into the soil of Hell.
"What a ruthless method!"
Shen Yuan’s pupils trembled slightly as he asked Bai Zhao:
"How much do you know about these Hell specters, and what exactly is the current situation in Ying Island?"
Bai Zhao pondered her words and replied softly:
"When I first arrived at Ying Island, there were already signs of nightly parades of a hundred specters. To deal with this, Ying Island sent envoys to Great Xia to seek the Mount Tai Lord’s Decree to order the specters and quell the unrest.
However, it seemed the envoys got entangled in a conflict involving the Imperial Family, and in the end, they were executed by Emperor Xia.
Since then, the Hell specters have become increasingly rampant, Ying Island’s original power structure collapsed, replaced by the gradually reviving Ying Island Divine Pantheon along with the Yin-Yang Masters, Samurai, and other cultivators."
"At first, the Ying Island Divine Pantheon was able to suppress the Hell specters, but five years ago, as the world further revived, Hell’s tributary fully emerged in this world.
A vast number of specters emerged from Hell’s tributary and invaded the mortal world, causing a horrifying slaughter, to the point where Ying Island’s Divine Pantheon could no longer withstand it, and many not yet fully resurrected local deities perished.
Just when things were at their most critical, four High Gods from Great Xia appeared in Pingan Capital and killed several powerful Hell spirits and demons, barely stabilizing the mortal world, but Ying Island was still inevitably sliding towards Hell."
Shen Yuan’s expression shifted slightly; those four High Gods must have been Bull Head and a few other supernatural beings who had supported Ying Island years ago.
It was also fortunate that Bull Head arrived in time; otherwise, the plans of the kingdom of Hell might have already succeeded.
As Bai Zhao spoke, a look of lingering fear appeared on his face.
"Originally, there were three large cities with a population of over a million each around Luliang City, but as the Hell specters gradually invaded, these cities fell to ruins one after the other, and a large number of civilians fled to Luliang City, making it the last line of defense in this territory.
If it weren’t for the Venerable Taoist’s intervention, Luliang City might have become history by now. With one more territory falling to the Hell specters, the decline in humanity’s fate would have accelerated Ying Island’s fall into Hell."
Having said this, Bai Zhao couldn’t help but ask:
"Did the Taoist come to Ying Island to deal with the problem of the Hell specters?"
Shen Yuan smiled slightly, "What if I did?"
"The Taoist’s nobility is beyond our reach!"
Although Bai Zhao said this, deep down, he didn’t believe Shen Yuan would travel tens of thousands of miles to Ying Island just for its Hell specters.
Shen Yuan’s Divine Skills may be powerful, but the situation with Ying Island’s Hell specters was already severe. Even the Lord of the Gods Path from above the Immortal Realm of Ying Island could not reverse the situation — what could Shen Yuan do?
Even though he thought this, Bai Zhao dared not show any sign of it on his face.
"I have been staying in Luliang City for these years, and I am not well-informed about the specifics of the outside world, so I’m afraid I won’t be able to help the Taoist.
Inside Luliang City, there are still surviving miko at the shrine, who should be more aware of the affairs of Ying Island’s Divine System and Pingan Capital. I would ask that the Venerable Taoist move to the city."
Shen Yuan nodded lightly, and with a single step, he traversed dozens of miles, bringing the two of them inside Luliang City.
The surviving cultivators in the city saw this and came forward in preparation to pay their respects to Shen Yuan and the other.
But at that moment, the crowd parted way, revealing a beautiful miko dressed in red and white garments and wearing a celestial crown.
"Greetings to the Chief Priest!"
The miko’s gaze fixed on Shen Yuan, her eyes a tangle of doubt, shock, and joy.
In the end, the miko slowly knelt down before Shen Yuan, her forehead touching the ground, her melodious voice filled with devotion.
"Noro Mai, of the Amaterasu Grand Shrine, pays respect to the great Father of All Gods!"

Comments

Loading...