359: Demon-Slaying Alliance? No, it's a newbie gift pack!

Inside the Immortal Cave, the sunlight was warm, and the years were peaceful.

Lin Fan stretched deeply, his bones letting out a satisfying crack, and his face showed genuine pleasure.

“It's time to enjoy the retired life of a 'Saint of Stealth'.”

He chuckled, feeling more relaxed than ever before.

However, the instant this thought arose.

Buzz—

A communication Jade Slip, which he had tossed into the deepest part of his storage ring and long forgotten until it was covered in dust, began to vibrate violently without warning.

Circles of dazzling bloody light flashed wildly from the Jade Slip, as if weeping for help.

The smile on Lin Fan's face froze.

He puzzledly retrieved the Jade Slip from the corner.

This was... the emergency contact Jade Slip that Fatty Zhang had shamelessly insisted on forcing upon him back when he was still in the Qingyun Sect.

Lin Fan injected a trace of Immortal Power.

Immediately, Fatty Zhang's high-pitched, terrified shriek, sounding like his butt was on fire, exploded from the Jade Slip.

“Boss! Help me!!”

“That Xiao Chen has gone crazy! He heard about your 'deeds' from somewhere and is spreading rumors everywhere, saying you failed your Undergoing Tribulation, fell into the Demonic Path, and have become a peerless Devil Head plaguing the world!”

“He has now gathered a large group of idiotic Prodigies who claim to be righteous, formed some damn 'Demon Slaying Alliance,' and are aggressively heading towards our Qingyun Sect!”

“They said... they want to enforce the Heavenly Dao and cleanse the Sect that produced a Devil Head like you!”

Inside the Immortal Cave, there was a deathly silence.

Lin Fan's expression shifted from leisurely, to astonished, and finally to an indescribably strange look.

Li Hanyue appeared at the cave entrance at some unknown point, and seeing his ever-changing expression, she asked softly.

“What is it?”

Lin Fan looked up, the strangeness on his face turning into a lazy smile, and he casually tossed the still humming Jade Slip aside.

“Nothing much.”

“A few clueless people came to the old home, trying to collect protection money.”

He spoke lightly.

The moment his voice fell, he took a step forward.

There were no spatial cracks, and no spiritual power fluctuations.

His figure simply vanished into thin air beneath the warm sunlight of the Tian Yuan Realm... Qingyun Sect.

In front of the mountain gate, gloom hung heavily, and Killing Intent surged into the sky.

The massive protective Formation light barrier was shaking violently, covered in spiderweb-like cracks, looking as if it would completely shatter in the next moment.

Outside the Formation, dozens of figures floated densely.

They were all gorgeously dressed, possessed powerful Auras, and their eyes were filled with self-righteous justice and fanaticism.

The leader was none other than Xiao Chen.

He held a Decree emitting vast golden light, his face handsome, his expression impassioned, and his voice spread throughout the four fields.

“Qingyun Sect, you have aided the wicked, cultivating a peerless Devil Head like Lin Fan who swallowed the Heavenly Tribulation and defied the Heavenly Dao! Today, we, acting on the command of Heaven, have formed the 'Demon Slaying Alliance' to purge the demonic atmosphere and restore peace to the world!”

“Quickly open the mountain gate and hand over everyone connected to the Devil Head Lin Fan, or today will be the day your Qingyun Sect is annihilated!”

His voice was filled with unquestionable authority.

Inside the protective Formation, the Qingyun Sect Sect Head and the Elders looked pale, struggling to sustain the crumbling Formation.

Fatty Zhang hid at the very back of the crowd, sweating profusely, constantly jumping up and looking around, muttering to himself.

“Boss, if you don't come soon, our home is going to be torn apart!”

Just as the protective Formation's light dimmed to the extreme, right before it was about to shatter completely.

Time seemed to freeze.

A figure appeared out of thin air right in front of Xiao Chen, without any warning.

He yawned lazily, as if he had just woken up, a trace of sleepiness still lingering in the corner of his eyes.

The entire scene fell into dead silence.

Everyone's movements and all sounds ceased abruptly at this moment.

Xiao Chen's righteous reprimand was still frozen on his face, but his pupils instantly contracted to the extreme.

He stared at this face, familiar enough to make him hate it to the bone, as if seeing a ghost in broad daylight.

“You... you...”

He was too horrified to utter a complete sentence.

Lin Fan ignored him.

He merely rubbed his eyes, his slightly bleary gaze casually sweeping over all the members of the “Demon Slaying Alliance” present.

Boom—

There was no sound.

No energy burst forth.

An indescribable pressure, like the entire firmament of the Universe, silently crashed down.

The air instantly became heavier than Ten-Thousand-Year Profound Iron.

Thud.

Thud. Thud.

Those Prodigies who were just now aggressive and claimed to be the embodiment of justice, fell heavily to their knees uncontrollably before they could even let out a grunt.

The protective Magic Treasures on their bodies let out wails before shattering inch by inch.

Their Physical Bodies and their Primordial Spirits were firmly pressed to the ground by an irresistible, incomprehensible great power, unable to move even a single finger.

In the entire area, apart from Lin Fan, only Xiao Chen managed to stand, barely, relying on the light emitted by the “Decree” in his hand.

But his legs were trembling violently, as if he might kneel at any moment.

Lin Fan's gaze finally landed on Xiao Chen.

But in that look, there was no anger, no Killing Intent, only a faint interest, like that of someone who had discovered a strange new toy.

In his field of vision, he saw with unprecedented clarity.

A subtle, almost invisible black thread extended from the crown of Xiao Chen's head, passing through layers of the Void Realm, connecting to an unknown and distant place.

Xiao Chen didn't realize he had become an object of study.

He misinterpreted Lin Fan's gaze as ultimate disdain, and his last shred of self-respect was completely ignited.

“Devil Head! Die!”

He let out a furious, unwilling roar and brought out his final trump card.

It was a pitch-black bead, inscribed with vicious curses capable of slaying a Pseudo-Immortal, an ultimate killing weapon he had obtained from an ancient ruin after narrowly escaping death.

The bead transformed into a black streak of light, carrying an Aura that could tear everything apart, shooting towards Lin Fan.

However.

The black light suddenly stopped when it reached three feet in front of Lin Fan.

Then, under Xiao Chen's disbelieving gaze, that Magic Treasure capable of threatening a Pseudo-Immortal silently disintegrated into the finest powder, like a sand sculpture weathered by the wind.

Lin Fan extended a finger.

He walked slowly forward, and under the gaze of countless individuals filled with terror and despair, he gently touched Xiao Chen's glabella.

His movement was light, containing no power whatsoever.

He leaned close to Xiao Chen's ear and whispered in a voice audible only to the two of them.

“How pitiful.”

“You don't even know you're being used as a string Puppet.”

After speaking, he retracted his finger and also withdrew the Heavenly Might that had suppressed the entire scene.

He turned and walked step by step towards the Qingyun Sect's mountain gate.

Xiao Chen froze in place.

Those two sentences exploded in his mind like the most vicious curse.

String Puppet?

Puppet?

His Divine Thought frantically scanned his body and Soul over and over, yet he couldn't find anything.

Precisely because he couldn't find anything, the chill originating from the depths of his Soul instantly plunged him into an ice cave.

The light in his eyes completely extinguished.

His Dao Heart, which had firmly believed he was the Son of Destiny, emitted a crisp, cracking sound at this moment.