431: Chapter 431 Since you don't like calling me "brother"...

In mid-air, Ji Wujiu stared at the demonic shadow in the distance, then at Ji Mitai not far away, his eyes splitting with rage.

"Ji Mitai! Have you gone mad?!" He roared, channeling his spiritual power, ready to strike at Ji Mitai.

However, before his palm wind could reach, a massive force struck him hard in the back! "Pfft—" Ji Wujiu spat out a mouthful of blood and stumbled forward.

He turned his head, unable to believe it. It was Ji Yuanqing, his own clan uncle. Although they had indeed had conflicts in the past, ever since he became the Grand Elder and Clan Chief, they had let bygones be bygones over a drink.

Ji Yuanqing slowly withdrew his palm and flew toward Ji Mitai.

"Clan Uncle, you... how could you..." Ji Wujiu's lips trembled. Ji Yuanqing sneered and did not answer.

Ji Mitai stood with his hands behind his back, looking down at Ji Wujiu, a scarlet glint flickering in his eyes: "Grand Elder, a wise man submits to circumstances. Originally, if you had just handed over the Formation hub, perhaps you wouldn't have had to die."

"Even without the Formation hub, as long as I destroy enough Formation nodes, I can still make the Grand Array temporarily ineffective. But you made me waste so much effort—you are dead."

Ji Wujiu scanned his surroundings, only to see that the Elders close to Ji Mitai had all stood on Ji Mitai's side. He finally understood that what Ji Mitai was plotting was not the position of Grand Elder at all!

"Boom—" A loud noise echoed across the sky above the White Rock Holy Land as Ji Wujiu watched with his own eyes the Protective Sect Array shatter.

He suddenly "woke up," or rather, realized something. He suddenly knelt on the ground, facing the direction of the Yan Gang Demon Ancestor, and said loudly, "I, Ji Wujiu of the Ji Family, am willing to submit to the Demon Ancestor..."

The other two Supreme Elders, Ji Yuanlang and his companion, also hurriedly knelt down: "I can too... I can too..."

"You...!" The few Elders of the Ji Faction who had not betrayed them cursed in anger, but they were surrounded by the traitors, some injured, some restrained. The traitors' eyes were filled with eagerness to claim credit; how could they care about camaraderie?

On the other side, Shen Yunjie looked at the traitorous Elders of the Ji Family and the shattered Protective Sect Array, without asking why. This was an obvious matter. She had no time to question it now.

"Second Junior Sister, Third Junior Sister." She turned to Cen Xi and Jiang Shiyu, her voice steady, "Quick, you two take people and retreat to defend the White Rock Holy Mountain. That is the last barrier of the White Rock Holy Land."

"Then what about you, Senior Sister?" Shen Yunjie looked at the demonic shadow descending from the sky and said, "Someone has to cover the retreat, don't they?"

"Senior Sister, I, we also..." Jiang Shiyu, however, grabbed Cen Xi and headed back.

Shen Yunjie looked at Chi Wanhe and the others, just about to tell them to retreat as well, after all, the people of the Moonshadow Sect could not be lost here. "Fellow Daoist Chi, you should also—"

Before she could finish, Chi Wanhe put away the Sound Transmission Talisman in her hand and smiled, "What? Letting us leave too? That won't be necessary. This Demon Ancestor... happens to be good practice for us?"

Shen Yunjie was stunned. What? Demon Ancestor? Practice? How did these two words combine together? Not only was she stunned, but the Elders and Disciples retreating nearby were also stunned.

The Ji Faction Elders who were fleeing in panic even stopped their steps, unable to help but look back to see which ignorant little girl dared to speak such big words. Oh, it was those few Personal Disciples of Supreme Moonshadow.

We admit that you are indeed very powerful, capable of defeating our Grand Elder of the Tribulation Transcendence Stage, but how dare you challenge a Demon Ancestor equivalent to the Mahayana Stage? What a huge joke!

"Heh, practice? Truly courting death!" "The people of the Moonshadow Sect probably haven't seen a real Demon Ancestor, have they?" "You won't even have time to cry later!"

Jeers came from all directions, but Chi Wanhe turned a deaf ear, simply exchanging a glance with Qin Zhaoxue, Du Yuqing, Lu Changning, and Lin Xiwei. Just at this moment...

"Heh, just based on you five ants who are only at the Devil Emperor (Void Tempering) level?" The figure of the Yan Gang Demon Ancestor appeared beside Ji Mitai, looking down at this group of White Rock Holy Land high-level officials and Chi Wanhe and the others.

In the Ten Thousand Miasma Demon Forest, at the edge of the Forbidden Abyss. Ling Hao's mouth twitched, and he took a deep breath, deciding not to argue with these little things. Being able to call him Brother was progress; as for the prefix... never mind, let them be.

"Since you don't like calling me 'Brother', then in the future, I'll make you call me 'Daddy'!" He withdrew his gaze and landed it on the three Demon Ancestors behind the three little ones.

Xuan Ji, Yin Lan, and Fei Yan stood side by side, their expressions now completely different from before. The cold hostility in Xuan Ji's vertical pupils had faded, Yin Lan's tiger ears drooped slightly, and a faint look of apology appeared on Fei Yan's face.

"Lord Supreme Moonshadow." Xuan Ji stepped forward, "We didn't trust you before and were quite offensive. We hope you will forgive us."

Yin Lan also spoke in a muffled voice: "I, Yin Lan, speak bluntly. The things I said to scold you before... I take them back. You saved the children of my Nether Tiger Clan, and your strength is there for all to see. I am convinced."

Fei Yan sighed softly and said gently, "Lord Supreme repays grievances with kindness. We are endlessly grateful." Mo Shuang, who was following behind the three Demon Ancestors, also bowed respectfully.

In this battle, the three Demon Ancestors witnessed Ling Hao's true strength. A Mahayana Stage Level 5 cultivator killing a Mahayana Stage Level 8 Clone, and a Dao of Formations at Perfection breaking a Grade 9 Grand Array. With such strength, there was simply no need to use any schemes or tricks.

Furthermore, he had saved the three little ones and killed the Right Venerable of the Niding Alliance and the traitor right in front of them. The Yao Race respects strength, so this trust naturally fell into place.

Ling Hao waved his hand and smiled, "It's good that you can trust me." Ling Hao planned that if they still didn't trust him, he would just have to make them submit willingly.

Exchanging a glance with Yue Xinlan, Ling Hao looked up at the rock cauldron suspended above the Forbidden Abyss. The blue-gray cauldron silhouette was as towering as a mountain, with eight sub-cauldrons rotating around it, faintly revealing a precarious fragility.

From the black hole beneath the cauldron, muffled roars came continuously, as if something was struggling and roaring. Since trust had been established, what needed to be done next was...

"There is a problem with the suppression of the rock cauldron." Ling Hao withdrew his gaze and swept it across Xuan Ji and the other two, as well as Yue Xinlan, "What is the specific aspect? Is it the lack of control from the 'White Rock Cauldron Control Art'?"

Yue Xinlan nodded, then shook her head: "In the current situation, it indeed requires a Mahayana Stage cultivator to cooperate with the 'White Rock Cauldron Control Art' to influence the rock cauldron; the higher the Realm, the better. But this only treats the symptoms, not the root cause..." She looked at the three Demon Ancestors, hesitating to speak.

Xuan Ji sighed, her purple hair fluttering slightly in the erosion qi: "Can Sect Master Ling see our current state?" Ling Hao's gaze swept over the three Demon Ancestors, and he saw through their connection with the rock cauldron at a glance: "Connected and fused with the rock cauldron."

Xuan Ji nodded and looked at Yue Xinlan: "That's right. This is one of the requirements of the alliance agreement made with your Human Race back then. To break through to the Mahayana Stage, the three of us forcibly borrowed the power of the White Rock Province's ley lines, causing the ley lines to shatter. After the main root of the Fallen Immortal Ancient Banyan appeared, we had to suppress it."

"Because the ley lines were shattered, the rock cauldron's suppression lacked a source of power. Supreme Baiyan came to us and had the three of us fuse with the rock cauldron, cooperating with the Eight-Cauldron Demon-Suppressing Array set up by the joint efforts of the two races, along with the outer Hunyuan World-Suppressing Grand Array, to barely suppress the main root."

Yue Xinlan added from the side, "Back then, I negotiated an alliance agreement with the three clans: the Yao Race would assist in suppressing the main root, and the Human Race would never step into the depths of the Demon Forest. If the suppression failed, I would need to protect the continuation of the three clans' descendants. But later, because of the Niding Alliance and these traitors in the Holy Land..." She glanced at the direction where Ji Xuanming had fallen and did not continue.

Ling Hao nodded slightly; some of this information he had heard just now, and some he knew now. Fei Yan sighed, her enchanting face full of exhaustion: "The Hunyuan World-Suppressing Grand Array has already been destroyed. Now that the three of us have dropped in Realm, the array is dilapidated, and the power of the Seal is deteriorating day by day. Even if we want to rebuild the array, it would require massive resources and a considerable amount of time."

"So, do we need to re-arrange the Formation? That should be easy, right?" Fei Yan smiled bitterly, "Half a year. The Seal only has half a year left. This Hunyuan World-Suppressing Grand Array was set up by the joint efforts of both races."

"Rebuilding the Grand Array, collecting resources, carving the Formation patterns—the most troublesome part is carving the Formation patterns. For a Grade 9 top-tier Grand Array that serves as the main Seal, carving the Formation patterns and casting the Formation Flags is the most time-consuming part. It will take at least a year or more. It's too late."

Yue Xinlan was silent. Everyone was silent. Only in the black hole beneath the Forbidden Abyss did the sound of the main root struggling continue to come, muffled and oppressive, like a countdown to death.