430: End of Chapter 430

Daoist Lord Lihuo took the Oath Seal, looked it over, and raised his hand, letting it dissipate between heaven and earth. Then, he said calmly, "Agreed!"

Buzz!

As his voice fell, the red clouds filling the sky behind Daoist Lord Lihuo poured down toward Demon Saint Xuanyu. He chuckled softly:

"Senior Xuanyu, the general trend is unstoppable. If you are sensible, how about following Peach Blossom and joining the Beast Taming Sect as well?"

"You have been at the Early Soul Transformation stage for thousands of years. Do you still harbor delusions of Immortal Ascension?"

"Becoming a Spirit Beast of my Beast Taming Sect might mean less freedom, but at least you can survive. It is not a bad deal!"

Demon Saint Xuanyu's Dharma Image had a slight advantage when facing Daoist Lord Lihuo alone, but now with Peach Blossom Demon Lord, a Half-step Demon Saint, present, he was at a disadvantage fighting two against one.

Sizzle, sizzle, sizzle~

The dense, gloomy aura was first scattered by Peach Blossom Demon Lord's branches and then incinerated by the red clouds pouring from Daoist Lord Lihuo. The color of his Dharma Image gradually dimmed; continuing like this posed the risk of being completely worn away.

“Good, good, good!!”

His sinister gaze swept over Peach Blossom Demon Lord, and his cold, damp, hoarse, and unpleasant voice rang out once more:

"Peach Blossom, This Seat shall remember you. I hope you do not regret this!"

With that, his wings flapped slightly, and the black torrent filling the sky receded, turning into a streak of black light that vanished from sight.

When Demon Saint Xuanyu realized that Peach Blossom Demon Lord was not attempting a Breakthrough but was instead refining a secret treasure, he suspected she had the intention of seeking refuge with the Beast Taming Sect.

Thus, even though he was stronger, he immediately proposed sharing the spoils half-and-half with Daoist Lord Lihuo.

He hadn't expected Peach Blossom Demon Lord to truly give up her Soul Transformation Opportunity to join the Beast Taming Sect.

Living ignobly like this, he didn't know whether to call her foolish or clever.

After Demon Saint Xuanyu's Dharma Image retreated, Peach Blossom Demon Lord's true form began to shrink. The pitch-black giant tree first absorbed the vast sea of blood and then melted into a black and red light that merged into her body.

She opened her palm, and strands of Blood Fiend Qi surged out. A beating heart emerged; an extremely dense Blood Fiend Qi pulsed with its throbbing, accompanied by the faint shrieks of vengeful spirits.

The essence of the blood fiend tree heart was actually the blood fiend of billions of vengeful spirits of living beings who died on the battlefield, making it the most evil of the Evil Path.

If this thing were brought out in the Central State Dao Court, one would be charged as an Evil Cultivator at the very least, but here in the Southern Border, it was of no consequence.

"This is the blood fiend tree heart. Please accept it, Dao Monarch!" Peach Blossom Demon Lord released her hand, and the blood fiend tree heart flew toward Daoist Lord Lihuo's Dharma Image.

"Good stuff!"

Holding the blood fiend tree heart, Daoist Lord Lihuo's fiery pupils shone brightly. He found that this blood fiend was extremely compatible with the Path of Lihuo he cultivated; the blood fiend could be directly burned, enhancing his comprehension of the Great Dao of Fire.

'In that case...'

A thought occurred to Daoist Lord Lihuo. The blood fiend tree heart was refined from the living beings of the battlefield, and the long war between the Beast Taming Sect and the Endless Demon Court had only just begun—the blood fiend of living beings was almost infinite!

The current blood fiend tree heart barely reached the threshold of the fifth rank. Could it absorb more flesh and souls of living beings to truly reach the fifth rank, or even Medium Grade or High Grade of the fifth rank?

It was war! People were bound to die. This was merely recycling waste and could not be considered the Evil Path!

"Buzz!"

The crimson fire Origin surged into the blood fiend tree heart, and dense Law Dao runes appeared, followed by a faint purple glow.

The heart is Lihuo, Lihuo is the heart's fire; it breaks evil and burns yin, refines karma with fire, and turns fire into merit... Daoist Lord Lihuo was overjoyed. This object was not only compatible with the Laws he mastered but also gave him new insights into the Great Dao of Fire, yielding a bountiful harvest.

After a few breaths, he left his Divine Soul imprint on the blood fiend tree heart, refined it once more with the Lihuo Law, and returned it to Peach Blossom Demon Lord.

"From now on, you are a Spirit Beast of my Lihuo Lineage, and your status will be equal to that of a Branch Academy Head."

A Flame Token was tossed down along with the blood fiend tree heart as he sent a Divine Soul transmission:

"Complete the blood fiend tree heart for me. Once This Seat occupies the Endless Demon Court, I will grant you an Opportunity for a Breakthrough!"

Peach Blossom Demon Lord took the token and the blood fiend tree heart, bowing as she said, "Thank you for your trust, Dao Monarch. This Junior will not fail your trust!"

The situation was better than Peach Blossom Demon Lord had imagined. Her bottom line was simply to preserve her life; with Liu Xuan around, even if the blood fiend tree heart was gone, it was gone.

Daoist Lord Lihuo had returned the blood fiend tree heart to her and even entrusted her with a heavy responsibility. With this status, her troubles in the Beast Taming Sect would be reduced by at least ninety percent in the future.

"Very well!" Daoist Lord Lihuo was very satisfied with Peach Blossom Demon Lord's attitude. "In a while, one of my people will come to see you; she will tell you what to do!"

After Daoist Lord Lihuo finished speaking, his entire being shrank along with the red clouds, finally turning into a crimson bead that fell into the forehead of a Golden Core True Person in the army formation below.

Daoist Lord Lihuo's true body was far away at the Beast Taming Sect's Main Mountain, tens of millions of miles away. He could only manifest his Dharma Image with the help of a supreme treasure carried by this Golden Core True Person within the Cultivator army.

The distance was simply too great. Every second the Dharma Image existed consumed the Divine Soul and the supreme treasure's Origin; it was impossible to remain for long without cause.

"Respectfully seeing off Daoist Lord Lihuo!"

"Respectfully seeing off Daoist Lord Lihuo!"

...Orderly shouts rang out near the Peach Blossom Sect, continuing for nearly fifteen minutes before slowly quieting down.

Zhengqi Tower.

Liu Xuan looked at True Lord Haoran beside him and asked, "Father-in-Law, what should we do now?"

"With your heaven-reaching wisdom and flawless calculations, you must have anticipated this situation, right? What is our next step?"

True Lord Haoran was still in a state of confusion and did not respond to Liu Xuan. After a moment, he turned to look at Liu Xuan and asked:

"You brat, you knew long ago that Peach Blossom Demon Lord would join the Beast Taming Sect, didn't you?"

"Since you knew, why didn't you tell me in advance?!"

Today's changes had completely disrupted all of True Lord Haoran's plans. If he had known some information beforehand, he wouldn't be at such a loss as he was now, without any countermeasures.

Liu Xuan claimed he was forced by Peach Blossom Demon Lord and was part of his family, but in reality, he had concealed such crucial information. What were his intentions?

Thinking of this, True Lord Haoran's expression turned serious, and his gaze toward Liu Xuan grew somewhat cold.

"Father-in-Law, you've misunderstood me!" Liu Xuan quickly defended himself. "How could I possibly know such crucial information?"

"Even taking a step back, even if I had told you a few days ago that Peach Blossom Demon Lord was going to join the Beast Taming Sect, would you have believed me?"

That made sense!

True Lord Haoran lowered his eyes. Even if Liu Xuan really did know something, it was likely just a guess, and it indeed wouldn't have been convenient to say much.

With today's events, even the Dao Monarch's Dharma Image and the Lord of the Demon Court's Demon Saint Dharma Image had appeared. Even if Liu Xuan had heaven-reaching abilities, it was impossible for him to know such news.

"Father-in-Law, now that Peach Blossom Demon Lord has joined the Beast Taming Sect and become a subordinate of Daoist Lord Lihuo, now is not the time to dwell on these small matters. The urgent priority is what we should do."

With Peach Blossom Demon Lord joining them, the war had temporarily ended. The question was, how should the Peach Blossom Sect's territory be divided?

According to the original plan, once Peach Blossom Demon Lord died, the partitioning of the Peach Blossom Sect would have been an internal distribution and coordination issue within the Southern Courtyard of the Beast Taming Sect.

Now, Peach Blossom Demon Lord was alive and well, stronger than them, and had even gained the backing of Daoist Lord Lihuo. After all that effort, they found themselves in a passive position instead.