"Boom—!"
Before anyone arrived, the sound came first.
Lu Nantian, Sect Master of Zhenwu Sect, was still some distance away, yet his palm strike had already descended. He unleashed a Buddhist technique—the Great Sun Tathagata Palm. In an instant, golden radiance flooded the sky, dispersing the hazy gray fog.
Boom!
The Green Bull Demon Lord staggered as the palm force struck him head-on.
"Hmph!"
A cold reprimand rang out.
Chu Yaoyao, leader of the Goddess Sect, arrived next. Her slender white feet stepped lightly through the air, lotus flowers blooming beneath each step. With a lift of her hand, countless lotus petals descended, suppressing everything below.
Each petal contained terrifying power—enough to annihilate worlds. Even peak Human Emperor cultivators would find it hard to resist.
"The demon clan is already crippled. It should never reappear in the Eastern Region," said the Tianji Sect Master. Dressed in a blue-and-white Daoist robe, he waved his whisk lightly. Thousands of strands transformed into sharp sword qi, slashing downward.
The next moment, Qin Yu, Sect Master of the Immortal Sect, arrived as well.
His gaze was icy.
His killing intent, however, was not only aimed at the demon—but also faintly brushed past Xiao Rongyu. The Immortal Sect had deep grudges with Donglin Sect. Under normal circumstances, he would never help her. But when facing the demon clan, all personal hatred had to be set aside.
A domineering golden spear erupted with boundless sharpness and pierced forward.
"Tsk."
The Jiang family head, who had just arrived, narrowed his eyes and muttered, "In close combat, Sect Master Qin is truly terrifying. Ordinary cultivators couldn't possibly withstand such spear intent."
Even so—
He still joined the suppression.
Rumble!
Dong! Dong! Dong!
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Clang—!
Tsk!
The Green Bull Demon Lord was completely dumbfounded.
Just moments ago, he had been filled with greed and excitement when he saw that delicate girl in red, certain she couldn't escape his grasp. Even after being sealed for hundreds of years and weakened to the extreme, he had still sneered when she forcefully ascended to the peak of the Human Emperor Realm and slashed outward.
Who could have expected—
One figure after another descended in overwhelming dominance.
No explanations.
Only killing.
Puff!
When the first person arrived, the demon lord hadn't even taken it seriously. In his eyes, a peak Human Emperor was still insignificant—nothing more than a dead end.
But then—
The second arrived.
The third.
The fourth.
In the blink of an eye—
Eight figures stood before him.
Xiao Rongyu, once the weakest among them, had used a forbidden technique to forcibly reach the peak of the Ninth Human Emperor Realm. Now, nine peak Human Emperor experts surrounded the Scripture Pavilion.
Absurd.
The Green Bull Demon Lord was truly confused.
Had something earth-shattering happened in the Eastern Region during his centuries of seclusion?
Back then, a Ninth Realm Human Emperor was enough to dominate a Holy Land and stand at the pinnacle of the region. Now, they were appearing in groups.
Swish! Swish! Swish!
The eight figures retreated slightly, their expressions solemn.
Just moments earlier, they had unleashed continuous killing moves. Any one of them could severely wound or even kill a Half-Saint. Yet the demon before them had merely coughed up blood and suffered light injuries.
That alone was enough to chill them.
"Green Bull Demon Lord," Xiao Rongyu revealed his identity.
The pupils of the leaders from the major forces shrank.
They remembered.
This was the demon who had once sacrificed cities with blood, committing unforgivable sins in the Eastern Region. Back then, even saints had joined forces to kill him. No one had expected he would survive and hide here.
Fear surged—followed by fury.
But more than that, there was relief.
If they hadn't arrived early at the Yin Ruins, broken in alongside the younger generation, and provided him with blood nourishment, then not only would countless geniuses have perished, the Eastern Region might have descended into chaos once again.
"He's very weak. He can be killed," said the Nangong clan head coldly.
They wouldn't dare provoke a peak Green Bull Demon Lord—but this remnant? A mere shadow wrapped in skin?
Why fear it?
"Kill!"
Xiao Rongyu slashed with her sword.
Brilliant sword qi transformed into a blazing phoenix, carrying scorching flames. The Green Bull Demon Lord let out a pained roar. Compared to the others, her attack posed the greatest threat—the fire seemed capable of burning him into nothingness.
"Jie jie jie jie!"
"Just you lot?"
"You think you can kill me?!"
Thick black mist surged outward, engulfing everything. The demon lord's figure vanished within it. No matter how injured he was, his nature would never allow him to show weakness.
"Suppress and kill!"
"Kill!"
In an instant—
Eight peak experts struck together.
Boom!
The Scripture Pavilion sank ten feet into the ground in a single breath, the earth collapsing under the pressure. Fortunately, this was the ancient capital of the Yin Dynasty. Even buried for centuries, its formations still endured, preventing catastrophic destruction.
At the same time, everyone was grateful the pavilion itself was protected by formations. Though it sank inch by inch, battered like a lone boat in raging waves, it remained standing.
…
…
"Mm?"
"Ah!"
Across the Yin Ruins, countless young geniuses sensed the terrifying commotion and rushed toward it.
"What an intense battle!"
"Hiss—so many powerful figures?"
"Is that the Donglin Sect Master?" one genius exclaimed, staring at the woman in red. Sword in her right hand, seals in her left, her cultivation rivaled that of the other sect masters.
"So strong… She hid it so deeply!"
"The one with that graceful figure and lotus flowers blooming beneath her feet must be Chu Yaoyao of the Goddess Sect. Those feet—absolutely stunning!"
Swish!
Jiang Jue of the Jiang family arrived as well, his heart pounding.
"All six sect masters… and the heads of the two ancient families… Are they fighting over a treasure?"
The Saintess of the Goddess Sect also arrived. Her eyes were filled with worry for her master—and burning desire. Her gaze locked onto the Scripture Pavilion. She knew the source of the chaos lay there, but the terrifying waves radiating outward made her heart tremble.
A Venerable Realm aura.
Anyone who touched it would die.
She didn't dare approach.
Swish—
Silently.
A figure slipped closer, unnoticed, and entered the Scripture Pavilion.
Ye Chen's face twisted in pain as he gritted his teeth.
"It hurts… Even with your protection, it feels like my body is being torn apart!"
An old, sinister voice echoed from within him.
"The rulers of the Eastern Region are all fighting here. They must have encountered something extraordinary. Either the Great Phoenix Sutra, or the State-Suppressing Sword of the Yin Dynasty."
"But neither of those should be enough to cause this."
"I suspect… it's that thing."
"What?!"
Ye Chen shuddered violently, pupils contracting.
He vaguely understood.
"Master… are you talking about the reason the Yin Dynasty was destroyed?"
"Yes."
Ye Chen's breathing grew rapid.
Before entering, his master had told him that the Yin Dynasty might have hidden something so extraordinary that even saints couldn't keep it—something that led to its annihilation.
If that were true…
Inside the ring, a weak soul shrouded in demonic energy sneered when it saw Ye Chen's greedy, feverish expression.
A toad lusting after swan flesh.
Even if you truly obtained it—
are you worthy of touching it?