117: Ten years, planning to hunt

The majestic mountain gate of the Taiyi Sect in southern Jizhou.

A Void Realm crack slowly opened from a hundred zhang high in the sky.

Xiao Zhuo, clad in a dark cloak, stepped out, his robes fluttering in the wind.

His vast Divine Sense had already swept over a hundred-li radius, every blade of grass and speck of dust appearing in minute detail.

Xiao Zhuo's brows furrowed slightly; Immortal Master Azure Heaven's aura was not within his Perception range.

Instead, Xiao Shaoyou was in Taiji Hall, discussing matters with a group of Divine Sea Realm and Myriad Manifestations Realm experts.

Inside the grand hall, Xiao Shaoyou's body suddenly trembled, and he abruptly looked up at the sky.

The next moment, a streak of light shot out from Taiji Hall, and a robust figure, enveloped in Sword Qi, landed in mid-air.

Seeing Xiao Zhuo standing in the sky, Xiao Shaoyou's face immediately broke into a brilliant smile, and he quickly approached: "Brother Zhuo, I knew you wouldn't be in trouble! Everyone outside was saying you perished with the Blood Ancestor! But I didn't believe it!"

At this moment, the fatty appeared much more mature, and his physique had become tall and upright; if not for his unchanged round face, Xiao Zhuo would hardly have recognized him by his appearance.

"Although the Blood Ancestor was strong, he was far from my match. I merely had some insights and entered seclusion for a period!" Xiao Zhuo smiled slightly, patted his shoulder, and the two slowly descended towards Taiji Hall. "But you! In ten years, you've already become a Half-step Shattering Realm?"

Xiao Zhuo had already sensed that the former fatty had now comprehended a few strands of the Law of the Sword, and a Breakthrough to the Shattering Realm was not far off.

Xiao Shaoyou rubbed his thumb across the tip of his nose: "Currently, the top Prodigy on the Human Race's Prodigy List is none other than I!"

As he spoke, the two had already landed at the entrance of Taiji Hall.

The two Myriad Manifestations Realm and seven Divine Sea Realm cultivators who had just been discussing inside were now also at the entrance. Seeing Xiao Zhuo, their eyes showed surprise, and after a moment, someone took the lead and bowed: "Greetings, Thunder Celestial Venerable!"

Xiao Zhuo waved his hand, signaling them to dispense with the formalities, not at all concerned with these rising stars of the Human Race.

Xiao Shaoyou then said: "You all may withdraw! Just maintain the defenses!"

"Yes, Young Sect Head."

Upon hearing this, everyone clasped their fists and retreated.

"Defenses?" Xiao Zhuo's eyes showed a hint of confusion, "The demons haven't been purged yet?"

In his opinion, since he had dealt with the Blood Ancestor, there should be no one among the demons who could stop the two Shattered Realm (Cultivation Class) experts of the Human Race. Otherwise, he would not have felt at ease Cultivating in seclusion in the inner Taishi Space.

However, it seemed there had been many changes.

"This is a long story!" Xiao Shaoyou sighed, plopping down on the white jade threshold of Taiji Hall's entrance, making the jade pendant at his waist jingle.

Xiao Zhuo sat down beside him, his dark cloak spreading out like an ink-black pool: "Elaborate."

So Xiao Shaoyou began to tell Xiao Zhuo about the changes that had occurred over the past ten years.

Only then did Xiao Zhuo learn that a new ninth-realm demon had appeared among the demons—Silver Fox Zi Ji.

Although this demon only controlled thirty percent of the Law, it was the extremely troublesome Space Law.

The Space Law provided first-rate life-saving abilities; even Immortal Master Azure Heaven and Prince Hong working together could not capture him.

Over the years, Immortal Master Azure Heaven had set up the Eight Desolations Space Lock Formation, intending to kill him by confining space, but he still broke through the restriction and escaped.

Because of the existence of this elusive ninth-realm demon, both sides had to agree that those above the ninth-realm should not act arbitrarily.

This also led to a situation where two major forces in the Yuan Realm were in a standoff.

The Human Race occupied Jing, Ji, Yu, Yan, and Qing five regions, while the demons occupied Liang, Bing, You, Huang, and Man five regions.

They had fought for seven or eight years, until both sides found it difficult to continue, and in the last two years, battles had become extremely rare, almost defaulting to peaceful coexistence.

But everyone knew that demons would always be demons; the current peace was merely an illusion. Once the demons produced a second Ancestor-level existence, the war would begin again.

However, currently, both sides were hesitant to act, fearing that the opposing ninth-realm would launch a surprise attack on their own side, and that it would lead to the mutual destruction of both races.

The Human Race was in a predicament. Although the demon side only had an Ancestor-level demon with ordinary combat power, they were unable to deal with him and had to guard against his surprise attacks on Human Race experts, forcing them to watch helplessly as the demons slowly recovered their Origin Qi.

It should be known that before Zi Ji appeared, most of the demon experts had already been slain by Immortal Master Azure Heaven and Prince Hong.

In terms of the number of experts, putting aside the ninth-realm, the Human Race already held a significant advantage in high-level combat power.

Currently, Immortal Master Azure Heaven was stationed in Yuzhou Prefecture, Prince Hong was stationed in Qingzhou, and Xiao Shaoyou, the Young Sect Head of Taiyi Sect who had already comprehended the Law of the Sword, was stationed at the Taiyi Sect mountain gate in Jizhou.

"Even the Taishi Space cannot seal that demon?" Xiao Zhuo's brows furrowed slightly after hearing this.

Xiao Shaoyou shook his head: "The space-time fluctuations are too obvious when Taishi Space is deployed, and Revered Master's Taishi Space is only at Minor Achievement; the deployment speed is too slow. Before the space can be confined, that fox has already escaped."

Xiao Zhuo fell silent upon hearing this. The Space Law was indeed an extremely troublesome Law.

However, he was confident he could kill him.

After all, he had now completely stepped into the Law Power Realm, and his soul infant had even reached the third stage.

His Divine Soul power was more than a hundred times stronger than it was ten years ago.

Now, even an Ancestor-level expert, in front of him, was an existence that could be slain with but a thought.

The only problem was finding him. If he couldn't be found, no matter how strong Xiao Zhuo was, it would be useless.

After thinking for a moment, Xiao Zhuo looked at Xiao Shaoyou and asked: "Do you know where this demon is located?"

"No one knows. This demon doesn't seem to stay in the outside world; he's always elusive." Xiao Shaoyou shook his head helplessly.

Then, Xiao Zhuo suddenly turned his head, his eyes fixed on him, a playful curve on his lips.

Xiao Shaoyou suddenly felt a chill down the back of his neck.

"Don't look at me like that! If you have a way, just say it!" Xiao Shaoyou naturally understood Xiao Zhuo, and seeing his expression, he guessed that he must have thought of a method.

Xiao Zhuo chuckled, placed his left arm on the Young Sect Head's left shoulder, and said with a relaxed tone and a smile: "Fatty! You're a Half-step Shattering Realm now, that demon must really want to get rid of you, right?"

Xiao Shaoyou's spirits lifted. He paid no attention to the content of Xiao Zhuo's words and looked at Xiao Zhuo: "Brother Zhuo, you want to use me as bait to lure that fox out?"

Seeing Xiao Zhuo nod, Xiao Shaoyou's brows furrowed slightly again: "That fox is extremely cautious. Even if you hide in the Void Realm, he can sense you, and I'm afraid he won't show himself."

Xiao Zhuo, however, laughed heartily, and his entire aura instantly vanished. Xiao Shaoyou was startled and looked to his side, only to see Xiao Zhuo still sitting beside him, his gaze looking at him with a hint of teasing.

He immediately understood Xiao Zhuo's meaning.

This clearly meant he was confident in completely deceiving Zi Ji's perception.

If he could make that fox completely unaware of Xiao Zhuo's existence, there was indeed a chance, but he must be confident in a single fatal blow. Otherwise, once Xiao Zhuo was exposed and the fox escaped again, there might never be another chance to catch him.

"Brother Zhuo, are you confident in killing him with one blow?" Xiao Shaoyou scrutinized his brother, who had been missing for ten years, and couldn't help but ask. "If you can't kill him with one blow, I'm afraid that guy will still escape."

"A mere Ancestor-level! As long as he dares to appear! Killing him! It's but a thought!" Xiao Zhuo said decisively, seeing the fatty's interest.

Receiving the answer, Xiao Shaoyou nodded decisively: "Let's do it!"

Thus, the news of Xiao Zhuo's return was suppressed by the fatty's order. Except for the nine people who had just left and the fatty himself, no one in the entire Human Race knew that Xiao Zhuo had returned.

And Xiao Shaoyou once again went to the Qingzhou front line, and informed Prince Hong and Immortal Master Azure Heaven of Xiao Zhuo's return and their plan.

The two Shattered Realm (Cultivation Class) experts both expressed that it was worth a try.

After all, Xiao Zhuo had never disappointed anyone.

Three days later, Taiyi Sect's Young Sect Head Xiao Shaoyou, alone with his sword, single-handedly stormed Liangcheng, the demon main city in Liangzhou.