Yin Chongyue chuckled lightly and said, “There should be no doubt that it was the Fiends. The Fiends have all sorts of different abilities. There are some who can lure people into dreams. If they do not wake up in the dream, their cultivation base will be devoured and killed thoroughly in their dream. There are also some who are capable of splitting and regrouping and possess immortality in this way. Furthermore, some of them can possess human beings and control their minds. But one thing they have in common is that if they turn into human form, they will not have facial features, and their figure will be indistinct all over. If they wear human skin to disguise themselves, there will be a red line behind their necks. According to the General’s report, these conditions are all consistent with what he saw.”
In fact, Fiends actually appeared a few years ago.
The cultivators who were killed in their dream in the Purple Emperor’s Heavenly Capital were entangled by the Dream Fiend.
The Fiend asked to see Lin Xuanzhi by name. Yan Zhonghua and You Ming also tried to find him, but at that time Lin Xuanzhi happened to be in seclusion, his body was also in a period of weakness, and in the end, there was nothing he could do.
After that, the Fiend fell silent. After all, this news was suppressed by Yan Zhonghua, and he secretly investigated the Fiend’s whereabouts without causing confusion. But now, he probably couldn’t hide it anymore.
Yin Chongyue looked at Jiang Qianjiao and said, “But the last record of Fiends was in the Nine Lands’ Record of Strange Events a few thousand years ago. After the Yan family took over the throne of the Emperor, they ordered all records about Fiends to be burnt. After thousands of years, no one mentioned it again. How does the General know about the Fiends’ characteristics?”
Jiang Qianjiao narrowed his eyes and looked at the gorgeous man in front of him, saying, “My ancestors have been the Xuan family ministers for generations. Even if the Yan family had burnt everything recording the Fiends and killed all the Fiends, does that mean they had silenced all discussions about Fiends? My ancestor was not only the Frontier General, but also the living recorder of Emperor Xuan. We naturally have records about Fiends. So then, this gentleman, how do you know about Fiends?”
Yin Chongyue laughed and said, “Your ancestor who records the affairs of Fiends is Jiang Baiyi?”
Jiang Qianjiao shrunk his pupils and asked, “How can you know my ancestor’s name?”
Yin Chongyue asked, “Is he still alive now?
Jiang Qianjiao was on the alert and stared at Yin Chongyue. “Who are you? Why do you ask for my ancestor as soon as you open your mouth? Even if he is dead or alive, what does that have to do with you?”
Yin Chongyue laughed and said, “Oh, it seems that he is still alive. It’s really not easy. Whether he is alive or dead naturally has nothing to do with me. I just asked casually. Oh, by the way, let’s continue to discuss the Fiends. I think you are still young. Don’t always stray from the topic ah.”
Jiang Qianjiao, “…..”
Who the hell got off the topic first?
As soon as Yin Chongyue’s original teasing expression changed, he suddenly became serious and said, “Fiends never like to act alone. Once they appear, it means they have built up a considerable force already. Moreover, these Fiends are extremely difficult to kill. They can either be attacked with fire or you can directly crush their demonic cores. Otherwise, even if they are cut into pieces, they can still regroup and emerge unscathed.”
The crowd couldn’t help but gasp.
The word “Fiend” was a forbidden word in the mouths of the elder cultivators of the Nine Lands. In the consciousness of these juniors who were only a few dozen years old, this word likely didn’t even exist in their dictionary.
The atmosphere was solemn. Lin Xuanzhi thought for a while then said, “It is not yet certain whether the Fiends have come to Ethereal City, but for the safety of the people in the city and the disciples of the sect, we had better make a patrol as soon as possible, find the Fiend as soon as possible, and keep it out of the city.”
Sword Saint Yuheng nodded, and said, “Since the cultivation level of the Fiend is no less than that of General, it seems that the cultivation of the people we should send to patrol can’t be lower; otherwise, if they were to encounter the Fiend, they would be giving their heads to the Fiend.”
The Light Sword Saint also very much agreed, “It is better to resolve this kind of thing as soon as possible and feel at ease. Today, among the six Sword Saints of Sword God Hall, only I, Yuheng, and the Grand Hall Master are still in the Hall. Two of the other three are in seclusion, and one is wandering outside, I’m afraid that he won’t be able to return in a short time. However, there are quite a few inner hall disciples. It’s time for them to come out and gain experience. As for the allocation of personnel, we will trouble the Second Hall Master to decide. Do you all have any objections?”
Others naturally had no objections. After all, the Sword God Hall was recognized as the most powerful among the three Halls, and Lin Xuanzhi was a Hall Master who actually took care of the Hall’s affairs. They were happy to throw all the work to him.
Lin Xuanzhi nodded slightly and said, “All the inner hall disciples who have reached Profound Realm’s Separated Spirit Stage have to take turns to patrol the city and change batches every twelve hours. They will be led by the nine Hall elders and commanded by the three Sword Saints.”
He turned to look at the four deans, and said, “Among the four deans, only Dean Wan and Dean Mei are magic cultivators. Although the two deans don’t use swords, their strength is still amazing. I’m afraid I will have to bother the two deans to join the patrol with some qualified disciples from the courtyards.”
Wan Miantang said, “Naturally. The sect’s matter is Wan Miantang’s matter.”
Mei Shangchen also nodded and said, “The responsibility lies with us.”
Wan Miantang carried a zither with him all year-round. His music could make people excited and the sound could be intriguing and bewitching, turning into a sharp edge. It could break the enemy’s body and spirit, which was very powerful.
Mei Shangchen was an array and talisman dual cultivator, combining talisman strategy with illusion arrays. His large array could control the whole city, when it was a small array, it would not let go of even an ant.
Myriad Dao Academy’s mountain protection array was reinforced by him single-handedly. So far, even though it had experienced several tsunamis and many demon attacks, it still stood firm and was as stable as before. Naturally, his strength was unquestionable.
The four gentlemen — Cai Lan Dong Li of Pill Limit Hall — also made plans to support them from the rear. Mr. Li could multitask while refining. He could refine hundreds of pills at a time.
Mr. Dong said with high spirits, “The Alchemist Division will naturally provide all-round assistance.”
Lan Luoying also laughed and said, “Mr. Dong, you only need to sit at the gate of the city to refine your pills. I’m sure that the thing will be blown up to death as soon as it appears.”
Blue veins appeared on Mr. Dong’s forehead. “Shut your mouth.”
Everyone knows that Mr. Dong likes to try to create new kinds of pills the most, but he always blows up the furnace accidentally. Once, he blew up the whole mountain, but fortunately, there were no casualties. However, it was mentioned later that many disciples who were almost affected could not help but feel scared.
Lan Luoying’s jokes made the heavy atmosphere ease somewhat.
Jiang Qianjiao spoke, “Since you have made arrangements here, I will leave first. There are a lot of affairs in Jade Ocean City, and this General has to search for other Fiend appearances.”
Yin Chongyue sneered, and said, “You don’t need to search anymore. In ten years’ time, the Fiends will have spread across the entire Nine Lands.”
Jiang Qianjiao’s expression shrank, and the solemn color in his eyes became thicker.
Originally, he wanted to discuss whether to report the Fiends to the leaders of the Nine Lands. Now it seemed that the Fiends were not as simple as they thought before. He was afraid that it must be reported immediately, and he must garner the attention of the entire Nine Lands.
Jiang Qianjiao did not stay, he cupped his hands and said, “Farewell.”
After Jiang Qianjiao left with his subordinates, Lin Xuanzhi said, “We must not let the Fiends sneak into the sect to ensure the safety of the students. This is the top priority.”
Wan Miantang nodded. “During this period, the sect will seal its doors and no disciples will be allowed to enter or leave the mountain at will. Steward Ruan, you should draw up a notice immediately and inform all the disciples. Let us be vigilant.”
Steward Ruan hesitated for a moment and asked, “Should we tell the disciples the real reason?”
Esteemed Yao Guang was a little worried, and said, “We better not, we don’t know how many disciples of the Divine Clans are within our sect. Some of them probably understand those things better than us. I can’t guarantee the whole sect won’t be in a panic.”
But Lin Xuanzhi said, “The disciples have a right to know. Sealing off the sect is a big deal. If we can’t give a convincing answer, the disciples will be even more nervous and speculate.”
“I agree with Huarong.” Yin Chongyue nodded and touched his chin and said, “Those little cubs are extremely imaginative. If we don’t tell them the truth, perhaps they might speculate things like the Nine Lands are about to collapse or that the Divine Clans are about to fight; it is better to let them know.”
“Okay.” The four deans also agreed.
Wan Miantang said, “Then Steward Ruan, you should make the matter of the Fiends public. I believe that our Myriad Dao Academy’s disciples are people who can withstand big waves.”
Steward Ruan nodded and said, “Okay, then I will issue an announcement now.”
At this moment, a handsome and elegant young man in a Confucian robe walked in. Seeing so many people, he couldn’t help showing a stunned look and asked, “What’s the matter? The sect is breaking up? The sky is about to fall? What are you all doing standing around here?”
The blue veins leaped out on Esteemed Yao Guang’s forehead. The hand holding the sword forcibly resisted drawing it out. “Hall Master, what exactly were you doing these days? Can’t you show up on time when it concerns critical matters?”
The one who came was the Sword Saint Tianshu, Sword God Hall’s Grand Hall Master, who had never once taken care of official Hall affairs and had highly recommended Huarong Sword Immortal as the Second Hall Master.
Sword Saint Tianshu blinked his eyes to express his innocence and waved the Confucian fan. “Little Yao Guang, you have misunderstood me. I have been entrusted by Little Huarong recently. That’s why I was soaking in the library to find a sword script. I had a hard time figuring out where I put that sword manual and just now, I finally remembered where I placed it when I received your transmission. I was afraid that I would forget that location in a blink of an eye, so I had to look for the sword manual first. When I found it, I hurried over. Look at the sweat on my head.” He pointed to his smooth forehead.
Esteemed Yao Guang rolled his eyes and didn’t want to pay attention to him again.
Sword Saint Tianshu shrugged helplessly at Lin Xuanzhi.
Lin Xuanzhi said nonchalantly, “It is true that I asked the Hall Master to find the sword manual. I ask the Esteemed Yao Guang for forgiveness.”
After Esteemed Yao Guang heard this, the expression on his face became more relaxed and he said, “You don’t need to speak for him. It’s not like this is the first time he’s been unreliable. I really don’t know why he can become the Hall Master.”
Tianshu was also not angry. He continued and said with a smile, “You’d better tell me what happened here.”
Wan Miantang said, “Others go and make arrangements first, let me tell Esteemed Tianshu about the rest.”
Hearing the words, City Lord Qin looked at Wan Miantang and said, “I still have something to tell you.”
Wan Miantang swept a glance across City Lord Qin lightly. His voice was neither rushed nor calm, “I have nothing to say to City Lord Qin, please help yourself out.”
City Lord Qin said, “It only takes a moment, and I won’t bother you for too long.”
Wan Miantang said, “Do you not understand human words?”
Seeing Wan Miantang’s anger, Sword Saint Tianshu immediately made peace and said, “Back when you two were in the sect, you were still very close friends with your zither and sword combination. Your closeness was the envy of others, even if there were some misunderstandings later, you should not forget the old feelings, why turn against each other and become enemies?”
Things were still fine when he didn’t bring this up. But as soon as he mentioned the past, Wan Miantang’s eyes went cold, but his lips were raised, and he looked sharply at City Lord Qin, and said, “Zither and sword combination? What’s that? If the Hall Master is getting old and forgets things easily, he should take some pills to nourish his brain, and not be fooling around here.”
After he finished talking, Wan Miantang flung his sleeves and left, and he gave them even less face than Esteemed Yao Guang did.
———
Zaki: Uh-oh another dogblood love story with WMT and QJS?
