86: Chapter 87 The Secret of the Ancient Demonic Sect

Just as Zheng Quan spoke those six words—Six Hells Slaying Heaven Demon Venerable.

Silence. A deathly silence.

All the Holy Court Cultivators in Langya Prefecture froze, the nine songs seals on the backs of their hands dissolving into specks of light.

Any being who heard those words felt their memories blur, unable to recall anything.

Time Prison · Imprisoned Thoughts.

Gao Sheng, holding his sword, seemed to have time paused for him, remaining motionless in the air.

Black chains Shattering the Void arrived, firmly locking the True Monarchs and Demon Kings in place.

"With a few words, you have revealed my identity. If not for the fact that my Divine Ability remains, Cangwu Prefecture, Langya Prefecture, and Feiguan Prefecture would likely have become lands of death."

"Or perhaps that was your intention all along—to harm the trillions of living beings in these three prefectures?"

Six Hells Demon Venerable's crimson eyes shifted, scanning the True Monarchs and Demon Kings whose time he had paused.

He stared at the wretched Zheng Quan on the ground, his gaze piercing through the mist covering Zheng Quan's face to see his true appearance.

Six Hells Demon Venerable's expression turned strange.

"After my fall, has the later Mountain and Sea finally established the path of Reincarnation?"

Zheng Quan's body shook, a chill running down his spine.

He hurriedly knelt on the ground, as quiet as a cicada in winter.

"That is correct! Since the Holy Court began its rule, the Three Lives Wangchuan Immortal Lord established the Naihe Bridge. Any Mountain and Sea being who fell in that great war can be reborn through Reincarnation!"

Realizing his true identity had been exposed, Zheng Quan kowtowed repeatedly, his voice filled with terror and humility.

"This lowly Cultivator Zheng Quan used the Sect's Heavenly Demon Divine Ability to deceive the then-immature Naihe Bridge, taking a shortcut to become a Wangchuan Reincarnation traveler and was reborn eight thousand years ago."

Hearing this, Six Hells Demon Venerable stroked his chin, seemingly deep in thought.

"So it was you. I have an impression."

He suddenly understood something and recognized the person before him.

"But Zheng Quan, you have truly grown old. Clearly, the last time we met, you were still the Sect's rising star in the Dao of Formations, high-spirited and incredibly arrogant, even daring to challenge the Prodigies of the Dayan Array Sect."

[Writing up to here, I hope readers will remember our domain 𝟙𝟘𝟙𝕜𝕜𝕤.𝕔𝕠𝕞]

"How is it that you are now hiding your head and showing your tail, turning into this state?"

The mist on Zheng Quan's face dissipated, revealing his original appearance—a white-haired, white-bearded old man.

Hearing this, Zheng Quan remained silent for a long time.

"Lord Demon Venerable, this Disciple was merely testing your Excellency just now. To have offended your presence, I deserve ten thousand deaths!"

"I never imagined that you would return to the Mountain and Sea in the body of a mere low-level Cultivator."

Zheng Quan kowtowed again, but this time, his tone was more composed.

"If the Sect learns of this, they will surely come to welcome your return!"

Seeing the change in Zheng Quan's attitude, Six Hells Demon Venerable smiled slightly.

"As expected, having experienced the world, you have become much more clever."

"With just a casual remark of mine, you caught a flaw and realized my current state is merely the manifestation of a remnant thought, with not even one-ten-thousandth of my memories remaining."

"Thus, you subconsciously hoped I would overlook the fact that for you to cross the Naihe Bridge and successfully undergo Reincarnation, you must have betrayed the Sect and become a running dog for the Holy Court."

As those words fell, Zheng Quan's pupils shook violently, and he buried his head even lower.

Even with fragmented memories, he could deduce things from current Karma traces and trace back to ancient events. Truly a terrifying fellow.

"The matters of ancient times... this Disciple was also helpless."

"That Xuanhuang Emperor Lord was overbearing and unreasonable. Anyone from the twenty-one Sects who emerged would be restricted; otherwise, they would only end up with their Soul Flying Away and Spirit Scattering, killed as an example to others."

"Many fellow Disciples, like me, joined the Holy Court and were forced into Reincarnation, but they also kept a trick up their sleeves, not washing away their past life's Karma and memories. They still harbor resentment toward the Xuanhuang Emperor Lord to this day."

"Now that you have returned, Lord, with your strength, as long as you extend an olive branch to the Immortal Lineages and give the call, there will naturally be lineages that follow you."

Zheng Quan carefully explained the pros and cons to Six Hells Demon Venerable.

Meanwhile, at the Langya Prefecture Demon Suppression Department.

"It's over! It really is that person! We're finished!"

The person from the demon Sect hiding in the shadows went completely mad.

Beside him, Chief Yun was calm and composed, quietly sipping his tea.

"Zheng Quan, you actually dared to say it out loud?"

"We'll be killed... we'll definitely be killed..."

"Chief Yun! I will not be staying!"

He turned into a streak of light and dispersed, vanishing into a rift in the Void Realm.

Poof!

Inside the spatial rift, a nine-fingered demon hand grabbed him ruthlessly, plucking him out of the chaotic Void Realm.

"Give the call? Follow me?"

The sky-towering Yin Mo Dharma Image held that demon Sect member in its palm like a mustard seed.

"Zheng Quan, the reason your tone changed just now was to imply to me that you are now a high-ranking official of the Holy Court, and that your attainments as a quasi-supreme Formation Great Grandmaster would still be of some use for my future return to the Peak?"

"Truly laughable."

"Since when did I ever need ants like you to follow me?"

With a crack.

Six Hells Demon Venerable crushed that nameless demon Sect member with one hand.

Zheng Quan's face turned pale. The Demon Venerable was indeed not easy to fool.

Even if it was just a tiny, insignificant remnant thought of His.

"Your Excellency possesses vast Divine Abilities, but this humble one's words are truly from the bottom of my heart, without any falsehood."

"Currently, it is the time of the great war between humans and demons in the Mountain and Sea. The Holy Court high-levels of the Three Thousand Prefectures and the Demon Kings and Holy Lords of the Four Seas and Eight Desolations are competing with Divine Abilities from afar. Some things really do not need to trouble your Excellency!"

Zheng Quan's attitude was sincere, his posture humble.

"Very well, I also need a few Demon Slaves to handle mundane affairs. Returning to the Sect would also allow me to focus on Cultivation."

Six Hells Demon Venerable looked at Zheng Quan with a mocking expression.

Hearing this, Zheng Quan's face turned gloomy.

Being refined into a Demon Slave—how was that any different from being dead?

After his last shred of hope vanished, he gritted his teeth and waved his hand. Above his head, a Formation crown composed of thousands of Formation Plates rapidly took shape.

Zheng Quan swallowed the god-approaching pill hidden under his tongue. The aura around him suddenly changed, surging violently.

With the support of the Formation, he actually temporarily reached the Calamity Law Realm!

"A god-approaching pill? Heh, Zheng Quan, it seems you have made up your mind."

A pitch-black remnant sword was pulled out from the Void Realm, and Six Hells Demon Venerable laughed.

"A mantis trying to stop a carriage—is it worth it?"

"It is merely to gamble for a sliver of a chance at life..."

The wrinkles on Zheng Quan's face gradually smoothed out as he reverted to that arrogant Formation Genius.

His water-blue robes fluttered in the wind, dancing with the waves of the vast ocean.

"Disciple Zheng Quan requests the Sect Master's guidance!"

His sharp shout pierced the darkness, echoing through the clouds.

"Come! Six Hells Demon Venerable!"

... "Damn it, are these things really meant for me to hear?"

In a quiet room in Feiguan Prefecture, Shen Moyan's back was already drenched in cold sweat.

He wanted to close the Six Senses Fireflies consciousness sharing with Luo Changting, but found he couldn't turn it off.

Now, that perspective of the Demon Venerable remained constantly in his mind.

"That Demon Venerable certainly knows of my existence, but he hasn't taken me to heart."

What arrogance, to be so confident that every blade of grass and every living soul in the three great prefectures are within his grasp.

The Six Hells Slaying Heaven Demon Venerable, a being who in life was on par with the Nine Songs Wenchang Immortal Lord.

It seems this time, things have truly spiraled out of control.

Shen Moyan instinctively wanted to make a Final Stroke.

The death exemption gold plaque in his hand was emitting a glow, blocking the Divine Abilities of the Six Hells Demon Venerable for Shen Moyan.

"No rush, let's watch a bit longer. That Zheng Quan seems to have a hidden trump card..."

"Return the gold plaque to Jiang Qingshui? Summon the Nine Songs Immortal Lord? No... Langya Prefecture is completely under that Demon Venerable's control."

"If I lose the death exemption gold plaque now, I might also be affected by that Demon Venerable's Divine Ability..."

Shen Moyan pondered the causes and effects, calmly searching for a way to break the deadlock.

Why didn't Six Hells Demon Venerable immediately take control of Luo Changting's body to fight the True Monarchs, but instead only revealed his consciousness after obtaining the dao fruit?

"Remnant thought! Currently, he is only a remnant thought!"

"The connection to the nascent soul dao fruit still exists."

"...The nascent soul dao fruit... that's it!"

"It's the nascent soul dao fruit!"

Shen Moyan suddenly realized.

This is the biggest flaw!

The nascent soul dao fruit hasn't been fully refined; its connection to the All Beings Spirit Refining Grand Array is still there!

As long as I graft the reverse formation plate onto it, then as a remnant thought, the Six Hells Demon Venerable will suffer the backlash of the dao fruit!

"The perspective of the Six Senses Fireflies is still there, which means the body he currently occupies is just Luo Changting's! It hasn't undergone a qualitative change!"

With this thought, Shen Moyan quickly connected his consciousness with the paper figures.

"The paper figures can still move..."

He remotely controlled five Clones, which had already reached the five sensory organs of Kuafu.

Chaoyang Lake, Night Moon Pool, Yin-Yang Earth Cave, Double-Hole Hill.

"Good, the Formation Plates are in place."

"Let's reverse the situation!"

"Open!"

At the same time, in Langya Prefecture, at the dao transmission stele stone rubbing.

Directly beneath the stone rubbing, the figure in mysterious black heavy armor, sitting as still as an eternal rock and covered in the marks of time, trembled.

The Stele Guardian's eyes, which had been tightly shut, suddenly snapped open.