Inside Zangfeng Prefecture.
After Chen Kuang departed, the remaining group confronted Huangfu Yan.
Huangfu Yan swept his gaze over them coldly, then smiled and said, "The collaboration I mentioned earlier still stands. I imagine you've managed to hide in Yang for so long because you all understand the principle of knowing when to yield to preserve yourselves."
"You wouldn't abandon such a good opportunity just for the sake of a stranger you've only just met."
Yu Xiangsi quietly clenched her fists but could only sigh inwardly.
They had indeed not known Chen Kuang for long, so short, in fact, that they didn't even know which of his names was his real one, or whether he was even human or a demon.
But they also couldn't claim, against their conscience, that Chen Kuang was just a completely unrelated stranger.
When all was said and done, it was thanks to Chen Kuang that they were able to establish contact with the Department of Shennong, and it was thanks to the Department of Shennong's intervention that Zangfeng Prefecture could be influenced, allowing the court to pacify this rebellion.
Now, Huangfu Yan's actions were an obvious case of burning the bridge after crossing it, killing the donkey once the grinding was done.
Compared to Wang Yangbo, who simply acted like a straightforward petty villain, his superior was much better at playing the role of a hypocrite.
He would honor promises he'd already spoken aloud, but anything he hadn't said, that was a different matter.
After all, he had never actually said he was cooperating with Chen Kuang, only that he was cooperating with the Mountain-Sea Alliance and the Martial Saint Pavilion.
Yu Xiangsi held nothing but disdain for Huangfu Yan's actions.
But she also understood that within the Yang Kingdom, they, these demon folk, could only survive in the cracks.
This rare opportunity, one that could allow the Mountain-Sea Alliance to protect most of the demon race, was far more important than the life of a single "stranger"...
What's more, once Chen Kuang died, that person from the Martial Saint Pavilion would probably also wake up to the fact that it was all just a deception.
They might even become hostile, and in such a situation, offending the Department of Shennong would be even less advisable.
But unexpectedly, her own alliance leader, who Yu Xiangsi had assumed would immediately nod in agreement, fell silent.
Kui's silence made the atmosphere subtly shift.
Huangfu Yan put away his smile, his voice turning cold: "What? Could it be that Alliance Leader Kui is moved by some sentiment of solidarity among demonfolk?"
"That would be a huge misunderstanding. He's not a demon at all, but a true born human who used some unknown secret method to turn himself into a demon."
"Alliance Leader Kui, don't lose your composure over a human who pretends to be a demon and spouts nonsense."
Meanwhile, Cang Xing, who had hurried over sensing something amiss, grew furious upon hearing this:
"Huangfu Yan, you despicable old bastard! Your Yang Kingdom's Saint disrespected Lord Martial Saint first, then you hounded and slandered our Martial Saint Pavilion's people afterward, do you people truly intend to go to war with us?! Outrageous!"
Huangfu Yan burst into laughter: "So there's another real idiot!"
Cang Xing glared fiercely and struck with a palm. Huangfu Yan immediately controlled his puppet to retreat, shouting:
"You actually believe that so-called 'Martial Saint descent' nonsense? Look closely, that dark-skinned brat is nothing but an ordinary person whose meridians have all been destroyed!"
"What do you think the deal I made with him was?"
"It was to serve as a witness that spiritual energy was sealed in Zangfeng Prefecture, to fool you, you idiot! That 'Martial Saint' business is entirely fake, and you still don't get it? Moron!"
"If he truly had the Martial Saint backing him, why would he have to flee in such a sorry state? Use your damn brain!"
Cang Xing's palm halted midair, his expression uncertain as he looked at Huangfu Yan: "Is that true?"
"..."
Huangfu Yan was nearly laughing in rage.
These brain-dead muscle heads, besides that cunning and devious Wen Hongsheng, was there anyone among them with a working brain at all?
Or perhaps it was precisely because only Wen Hongsheng had a brain that he was the Pavilion Master?
Cang Xing withdrew his palm and looked around. Only now did he find it odd, where was Mo Xuren?
Since the chaos of the previous battle, Mo Xuren had seemingly vanished.
He had naturally assumed that with these small fries, there was no need for lord Martial Saint to take action. But now that Huangfu Yan said this... could it be that he ran away early on?
I've been tricked?
Cang Xing's face twisted, turning green one moment and red the next.
Huangfu Yan snorted coldly and turned back to the Mountain-Sea Alliance's leader.
"So it seems Master Cang has finally come to his senses. Then what of Alliance Leader Kui?"
Kui finally spoke:
"He's lying, I knew it from the start. The first time I laid eyes on him, I knew he wasn't a demon."
"Even though his aura is flawless... he just doesn't seem like a demon."
"I've seen many demons in this world, no matter their cultivation, whether they live hidden among humans or reclusive in the mountains, the look in their eyes when they gaze upon humans is always different."
The delicately carved little boy raised his head:
"In the end, we are still aberrations."
"After being treated like aberrations for so many years, suddenly pretending to be 'human'... well, maybe, it's still better to remain an aberration."
Huangfu Yan's face darkened: "You'd better think carefully. I will only give you this opportunity once."
Kui replied, "A fleeting peace may merely be the drugged arrow used during a beast's capture."
Huangfu Yan sneered: "You don't even want that fleeting peace."
He swept his gaze over the other demonfolk: "If I were your subordinate, and saw such a foolish alliance leader, I'd be filled with resentment."
"You misunderstand... the 'peace' I speak of, is yours."
Kui said calmly: "The only Saint in Yang has now been suppressed by your own hand. The nation's destiny has suffered greatly. With only your Department of Shennong left, how many people still fear you now?"
"After tonight, who knows how many forces that once suffered under the Department of Shennong will come to carve a piece off for themselves."
"To suffer such a loss to deal with one, Huangfu Yan, did you really think this through before acting?"
Huangfu Yan laughed loudly: "Just the Department of Shennong? You dare to say that? Even before the Saint intervened, did the Department of Shennong ever put you demon freaks in its eyes?"
"Not to mention the court's hundred-thousand-strong army..."
Kui suddenly paused and then, thoughtfully, pointed off into the distance:
"Is that your hundred thousand strong army? Looks like..."
He tilted his head slightly, finally revealing a faint trace of childishness in his expression, eyes filled with subtle meaning:
"It's gone."
Huangfu Yan's first instinct was that this Mountain-Sea Alliance leader was trying to trick them and flee. But in the next moment, he felt a terrifying, almost hair-raising pressure surge in from behind.
It felt as though a line of sharp blades was hacking at his back, making his hairs stand on end!
Huangfu Yan jerked around, and saw a nightmare.
There wasn't a hundred thousand soldiers there, of course.
But there had been sixty thousand.
This had been Huangfu Yan's greatest confidence, even without a Saint, just this four-army force should be more than enough to intercept a severely wounded Chen Kuang.
Everyone else had thought so too, otherwise, the earlier standoff wouldn't have been so tense.
But the truth had completely exceeded everyone's expectations.
Those sixty thousand troops, men and horses alike, along with all the structures aboveground in the surrounding area... in the very instant Huangfu Yan turned around, were pulled backwards and sucked into a chaotic, formless rift.
Vanished.
In just a single instant, nothing remained.
It was as if the scene before them was merely a painting that could be arbitrarily smeared by another, someone had taken offense to this part and casually splashed a thick stroke of black across it.
Sixty thousand soldiers, directly evaporated on the spot!
Huangfu Yan's entire body went cold.
That was... a Dao Domain!
That was definitely the Dao Domain of a Saint, there could be no other explanation!
Because the scene before them had completely distorted the very laws of space and time. Only within a Saint's Dao Domain could such a phenomenon be realized.
And its scope was absurdly vast. If this had been within the Profound Realm, even enveloping a single city would have been its limit.
Yet the military formation of these sixty thousand troops stretched far and wide, having circled around the entire border of Zangfeng Prefecture to provide reinforcement, they had long crossed through multiple city regions.
And yet, in just a split second, the entire army vanished.
In the face of a Dao Domain, formations, cultivation, all of it was as insignificant as dust.
Just like how, if not for the National Destiny, had a Saint truly acted previously, the entirety of Zangfeng Prefecture would have been annihilated in an instant.
The current spectacle could only be explained by the hand of a Saint.
But... how could there still be a Saint intervening?
Who else was capable of making a move?
Huangfu Yan could not comprehend anything anymore.
But someone immediately did:
"It must be... The Martial Saint! That's right!"
Cang Xing's expression instantly turned fervent, as if he had found the backbone he desperately needed. The awkwardness from earlier was completely swept away, replaced with incomparable conviction:
"It was the Martial Saint who acted!"
Cang Xing nodded repeatedly and shouted, "I knew it! It had to be the Martial Saint! Heh, how could I have possibly misjudged? Some people merely want to sow discord and invert black and white, those are the truly ignorant and pitiful ones!"
His disciples from Mei Sect immediately echoed in agreement.
Cang Xing's gaze turned sharp as he stared at Huangfu Yan: "Well, well, you old scoundrel. As expected, you had nothing good in mind, spouting lies without end!"
"Not only did you slander the Martial Saint Pavilion, you even tried to make me doubt and betray the Martial Saint himself. Your heart truly deserves death!"
Having been so viciously backstabbed, Huangfu Yan took a deep breath. "And how exactly do you know the one who acted was that black brat?"
Cang Xing retorted, "Who else could it be? Tell me, at this time, in this place, who else could have made a move?!"
"..."
Huangfu Yan was speechless.
How the hell would he know where another Saint suddenly popped out from?!
This vast Cangyuan realm spanned millions upon millions of miles!
If one counted back over five thousand years, the number of Saints that had appeared wouldn't exceed the fingers on two hands. Since when did it seem like they were growing like cabbages, popping up at random?
Cang Xing sneered coldly, fully convinced of the flawlessness of his logic: "Got nothing to say now, do you?"
"You old wretch! You and your Department of Shennong, and your Yang Kingdom, just wait for the vengeance of the Martial Saint Pavilion! You will personally experience the meaning behind the name 'Martial Saint Pavilion.'"
Huangfu Yan's expression twitched, and he still wanted to speak.
But Cang Xing felt he had been humiliated enough by this man's deceit. In a flash, his figure moved forward, continuing the palm strike he had been preparing earlier!
"Boom!"
This puppet body of Huangfu Yan's possessed limited cultivation. It had been reanimated after death, and to begin with, it could not last long.
Now, struck squarely by Cang Xing's full-force palm, it was sent flying instantly, then began to explode in midair from the point of impact, shattering into fragments!
Flesh and blood scattered.
Cang Xing let out a vicious exhale of breath, then waved his hand: "Let's go! We go welcome the Martial Saint!"
The disciples shouted in unison: "Yes!"
Then they all charged toward that vast expanse of wilderness.
They left the rest of the gathered demons behind, all exchanging glances with each other, momentarily speechless.
This scheming hypocrite Huangfu Yan just so happened to have encountered a brainless brute... truly a case of "a scholar meets a soldier, reason is of no use."
Yu Xiangsi hesitated. "Could it really have been the Martial Saint who acted?"
Kui shook his head. "How could that be... that guy is Chen Kuang. How could the Martial Saint possibly support him? But this was undoubtedly the work of a Saint, this is not a realm we have any means of touching."
Yu Xiangsi fell silent.
She had heard of the name "Chen Kuang," and the rumors surrounding it. She knew just how much trouble this person carried with him.
What she thought of first, however, was Liu Qingcheng, who had been left behind in the Golden Phoenix Pavilion.
Now that Chen Kuang had gone this far, returning to the Yang Kingdom would be nearly impossible. It was truly a case of "the falling flower longs for love, but the flowing water has no heart."
Kui said, "But he was right about one thing, this is an opportunity for our Mountain-Sea Alliance. That is why I choose to reject compromise with the Department of Shennong."
The nearby Xiangliu said, "What does the Alliance Master intend? We shall follow without hesitation."
Kui narrowed his eyes. "From today on, summon all demons within the Alliance. Occupy Zangfeng Prefecture. Attack Yong'an Prefecture. Stir the populace into rebellion. Seize control of the Yong'an Prefectural Governor and do the same across all the other prefectures."
Yu Xiangsi said, "But... the Department of Shennong is sure to intervene. After so many years, their accumulated prestige, I'm afraid the people trust them more than they trust us."
Kui suddenly raised his hand, palm up. In it lay a slip of paper.
"This is the location of the chests of official silver hidden by Wu Man. It was left behind when Chen Kuang's earthen avatar collapsed earlier."
"The world already believes that the official silver was stolen by demons. These unopened chests, still sealed with the court's wax stamps, will be ironclad proof of the Yang Kingdom's utter disregard for human life."
"As long as we can incite one Yong'an Prefecture, the surrounding regions also suffering from flood disasters will surely respond. At that point, this matter will no longer be just between us and the Department of Shennong."
"It will be a matter for all of Yang Kingdom."
Kui narrowed his eyes and said, "The Yang Kingdom has more princes with exceptional contributions than just Wen Chai... if Wen Chai wants to be emperor, do you think the others won't?"
All the yao immediately understood. Their Alliance Master intended to use this opportunity to internally fracture and collapse the Yang Kingdom from within!
In the depths of their hearts, everyone present seemed to sense a profound realization... the skies of the Yang Kingdom were truly about to change.
And the Yang Kingdom's National Destiny, was it consumed by that emperor, or was it because this nation was indeed destined for extinction?
Only the Heavenly Dao might know.
Having given his commands, Kui's elders each departed with their respective followers.
Only Yu Xiangsi remained behind. She couldn't help but ask, "Alliance Master, just now... those words didn't sound like something you would say."
Kui raised a brow. "Then who do you think they sounded like?"
Yu Xiangsi answered honestly: "Chen Kuang."
Kui immediately burst into laughter, thoroughly amused. "Was it that obvious?"
Yu Xiangsi nodded.
Though they had only spent a short time together, that familiar style, it was as if Chen Kuang were speaking right in front of them.
Kui flicked the paper slip in his hand and tossed it to Yu Xiangsi. "He wrote that. He must have prepared it long beforehand."
Yu Xiangsi caught it. At a glance, she saw a completely unfamiliar handwriting.
But the characters were upright and neatly written, which didn't quite match the style of someone like Chen Kuang.
At the top, a single, chilling line was written, full of murderous intent:
"Those who covet my fate, annihilate their nation."