185: Chapter 185 The Attitude of the Lord of Taiyue Mountain

Great Demon Xiong Kuo's body flew straight up from the ground, as if struck by an invisible giant hand.

His ten-foot-tall body tumbled twice in midair and flew backward dozens of feet, crashing into a stone pillar behind him.

"Rumble~"

The stone pillar shattered with a loud bang, burying half of his body in rubble as dust filled the air.

"Pfft~"

A large mouthful of blood welled up in Great Demon Xiong Kuo's mouth and sprayed onto the rubble, a shocking dark red.

Under such terrifying pressure,

three thousand members of the Yao Race lay prostrate on the ground.

Not a single demon dared to move.

Mountain Lord Taiyue withdrew his gaze and looked back at Lady Hua.

He opened his mouth, but just as he was about to speak, two terrifying auras erupted simultaneously behind him.

Deep within Taiyue Mountain, the fog surged as two figures walked out from the mist.

"Boom~"

"Whoosh!~"

The figure on the left was burly, over ten feet tall, and covered in golden patterns that gleamed with a dark golden luster in the mist. He had broad shoulders and a wide back, arms that hung down to his knees, palms as thick as cattail leaf fans, and claws gleaming with a cold light.

His head was long and pointed, his ears stood erect, a black stripe ran down his snout, and his dark brown eyes were filled with rage—it was none other than Jin Kui.

The figure on the right was equally burly. Though half a head shorter, he was broader, like a mountain.

He was covered in short, iron-gray fur that stood on end like steel needles. His arms were even thicker than Jin Kui's, and his fists were like two iron hammers, with thick knuckles and prominent joints.

His eyes were iron-gray with vertical slits for pupils, and he was currently staring at Mountain Lord Taiyue with no less rage than Jin Kui.

"Grandson Xiong, are you alright?"

Tieshan spoke slowly.

Great Demon Xiong Kuo recovered for a moment before speaking, "Grandfather, I am fine."

"Mhm."

Tieshan nodded, then looked toward Mountain Lord Taiyue along with Jin Kui.

Both demons were Late Stage Tier Three, great demons of Taiyue Mountain's inner mountain.

Jin Kui stopped a few dozen feet behind Mountain Lord Taiyue, with Tieshan following behind him. Standing side by side, they released their Late Stage Tier Three auras without reservation, causing the surrounding rubble to tremble slightly under the pressure.

"Mountain Lord."

Tieshan spoke, his voice rough and deep, "Bullying my junior, what is the meaning of this?"

His gaze fell upon Great Demon Xiong Kuo's figure buried in the pile of rubble, and a flash of anger crossed his dark brown eyes.

Mountain Lord Taiyue turned his head, looking at Jin Kui and then at Tieshan, a cold glint flashing in his eyes.

"Do you all wish to defy my orders as well?"

The Peak Tier Three aura of Mountain Lord Taiyue surged from his body. At this moment, the demons were heavily suppressed by the Taiyue Mountain Restriction, and none of them had any ability to resist.

"Mountain Lord."

"We do not wish to defy your orders. We only want to ask one thing: why?"

"This Taiyue Mountain belongs to our Yao Race. For three hundred years, those Human Race Cultivators have slaughtered our kin, stolen our Spirit Medicine, skinned our hides, and eaten our flesh. What Madam Hua did today is exactly what is in all of our hearts! Mountain Lord... why do you still stop her?"

Mountain Lord Taiyue looked at Tieshan and remained silent.

The coldness in his cloudy, old eyes grew deeper and deeper, like a midwinter lake frozen three feet deep.

Mountain Lord Taiyue stared at Tieshan, silent for a long time.

Then, he smiled.

"Why?" He repeated Tieshan's words, his voice raspy and deep. "You ask me why?"

He took a step forward. His hunched figure seemed even smaller in the mist, but the coldness in his cloudy, old eyes grew even more intense.

"Tieshan, how many years have you lived? Three hundred? Five hundred? You have stayed in Taiyue Mountain for so long, yet you still do not see clearly?"

He pointed his finger toward the Human Race camps at the foot of the mountain, and further away toward Long City and Shanhe County City.

"How many Golden Cores do those humans have? How many Nascent Souls? How many years has the Dachuan Dynasty been established? How many years of Legacy do the immortal sects have? Do you know? Have you ever thought about it?"

His voice rose a few notches.

"Why does Taiyue Mountain still exist? Why are you all still alive?"

"It is not because you are strong, but because the Human Race does not need you dead right now!"

"They keep Taiyue Mountain around to serve as a trial ground for their younger Disciples, to give their Qi Refinement Stage and Foundation Establishment Stage Cultivators a place to practice! It is to let their Disciples know what slaughter is, and what life and death mean!"

He turned his finger back, pointing at Jin Kui, pointing at Tieshan, and pointing at the three thousand members of the Yao Race prostrate on the ground.

"Do you think that if Madam Hua kills these Human Race Cultivators today, Taiyue Mountain will be free? Do you think that by killing a few Golden Cores and a few thousand Qi Refining Cultivators, the Human Race will be afraid? That they will let Taiyue Mountain go?"

His voice grew cold.

"They will not."

"They will send more people, stronger Golden Cores, and even Nascent Souls."

"They will turn Taiyue Mountain upside down, hunt you down one by one, and slaughter you all. When that time comes, Taiyue Mountain will cease to exist, and so will you."

He paused, taking a deep breath.

"I am stopping you not for the sake of the Human Race, but to keep you alive."

"Staying alive is more important than anything else. Dignity? Freedom? Think about those things only when you actually have a life to live."

Jin Kui gritted his teeth, his fists clenching so hard they popped, but he did not speak.

Tieshan lowered his head, his iron-gray eyes filled with struggle. His lips trembled, but no words came out.

Mountain Lord Taiyue withdrew his gaze from them and let it fall upon Lady Hua.

"Madam Hua, if you withdraw your Divine Ability, I can act as though today's events never happened."

"As for those Human Race Cultivators, I will have someone escort them down the mountain."

"For the dead, we compensate. For the injured, we heal. The rules of Taiyue Mountain remain as they were."

Lady Hua looked at him, her pale green eyes devoid of any emotion.

"The rules remain as they were?"

Her voice was very soft, as if asking, yet also as if stating a fact.

"As they were."

Mountain Lord Taiyue nodded. "We have lived like this for three hundred years, and we can continue to live like this in the future."

Lady Hua did not speak further.

She lowered her head, looking at the glowing "Chuan" character pattern on her chest, feeling her Demon Power continue to recede, and watching the flowers still in bloom beneath her feet. She remained silent for a long time.

Then she raised her head and looked at Mountain Lord Taiyue.

"Mountain Lord, have you ever thought that after three hundred years, the Yao Race of Taiyue Mountain no longer wishes to live this way?"

To this,

Mountain Lord Taiyue exhaled a long breath.

"Will you, or will you not, withdraw your Divine Ability?"

Lady Hua looked at him, her pale green eyes devoid of any emotion.

"Do you think I will?"

Mountain Lord Taiyue's expression darkened completely.

"Obstinate fool!"

Before his voice could fade, he raised his right hand.

His withered fingers drew a circle in the air, and a grayish-white spiritual light surged from his fingertips, condensing into the character "Chuan" in his palm. The three parallel vertical lines emanated a strange fluctuation of Spiritual Qi.

Then, he suddenly thrust his palm forward, and the grayish-white light surged toward Lady Hua like a tidal wave.

"Boom!"

At this moment, Jin Kui moved.

A golden figure flashed, blocking the path in front of Lady Hua. His ten-foot-tall body stood like a wall as the golden patterns lit up. Clenching his fists, which were coated in a thick layer of dark golden light, he met the grayish-white light head-on.