EHRPS CH203

This slap carried ample deterrence.

Especially for the demonic cultivators of the Heaven Slaughtering Sect, it felt as if the star of death had arrived at their doorstep. The two demonic cultivators who were still awake instinctively stifled their breathing, wishing they could turn themselves into air.

How bizarre.

Why did it feel like they were seeing the Demon Lord?

Tu Tianba nodded in satisfaction, then turned his head to glance at Nie Wuhui. His face plainly read a single sentence.

“Don’t worry, I am here.”

The solemn expression on Nie Wuhui’s face softened a fraction the moment his eyes met the youth’s.

At this moment, the sky was just beginning to brighten.

A blue-gray mist floated through the bamboo forest. Cold dew clinging to the tips of the leaves refracted a faint, eerie light, resembling stars lying dormant in the dark.

A ray of heavenly light pierced obliquely through a rift in the eastern clouds, penetrating the sea of bamboo, sliced into countless shards of flowing light by the leaves.

Earlier, when Wei Rong heard that demonic cultivator’s arrogant laughter, she grew even more ashen. Resembling a breathing corpse, she looked utterly wretched.

Leaning against a mottled bamboo joint, she slowly sank to her knees. Her eyes were hollow, but before long, she was snapped back to reality by a crisp slap.

Wei Rong lifted her face. A drop of cold dew fell with a tick, striking her cheek like a tear track.

In the next instant.

Her tears fell like rain.

Following that, through Wei Rong’s narration, the three of them glimpsed the truth behind the annihilation of the Xuanxu Sect.

“I was originally an orphan, adopted and brought back to the Xuanxu Sect by my master…” Wei Rong’s voice was somewhat hoarse. “Under my master’s guidance, I quickly entered the Dao. Everyone praised me as the most talented disciple the Xuanxu Sect had seen in nearly a century.”

As she finished speaking, she revealed a very desolate smile.

“Behind my back, however, they were jealous and resentful of me.”

“In order not to let down my master’s grace of raising me, I cultivated bitterly day and night, wanting to revitalize the Xuanxu Sect and achieve victory in the Immortal Sect Grand Competition…”

Xu Que thought for a moment and said, “If I remember correctly, you were the runner-up in the Immortal Sect Grand Competition three years ago, right?”

Wei Rong nodded and continued, “Who knew that after I returned to the Xuanxu Sect, the master I viewed as a father actually wanted me to marry his biological son and bear him a talented child!”

It was not easy for cultivators to bear children.

For a cultivator at Wei Rong’s realm, having a child would likely sever her path to the Dao, making it difficult for her to make any further progress in the future.

Therefore, Wei Rong was naturally unwilling.

Moreover, she harbored no romantic feelings for this senior martial brother, only the sibling-like bond between fellow disciples.

Her master did not force her.

Wei Rong thus did not take it to heart, maintaining her usual attitude.

However, the turning point occurred when the senior martial brother, humiliated into anger after being rejected by Wei Rong, slipped up and revealed that back then, their master had deliberately left her parents to die just so he could bring her back to the Xuanxu Sect and use her…

The seed of enmity gradually sprouted in Wei Rong’s heart.

Before long, the small sprout grew into a massive tree.

Speaking up to this point, her nails dug deeply into her palms, agonizing and dazed. “I do not know how I could commit such an act that disregards human morality, how I could listen to the words of demonic cultivators and associate with them…”

“Although I truly harbored resentment in my heart, I didn’t hate them enough to slaughter my own sect!”

It was just that whatever was said now was already too late.

Later, Wei Rong detailed the time and location of her contact with the demonic cultivators, as well as the process of pushing the blame for the sect’s annihilation onto Demon Lord Tu Tianba under their instigation.

Hearing this, Tu Tianba’s hands started to itch.

He whipped his head around, glaring at Patriarch Wuxiang, and demanded: “It’s your turn to confess. Why exactly did you frame someone?! Whose rotten idea was it?”

Now that they were the fish on the chopping board, Patriarch Wuxiang smoothly confessed the causes and consequences.

“It was Jin Liuyi’s idea!”

“After the heavenly lightning tribulation, she secretly came to find us, claiming she saw the Demon Lord die in the lightning tribulation with her own eyes, and that she happened to obtain an opportunity…”

Tu Tianba nodded, understanding in his heart.

These demonic cultivators were all driven by profit. It was likely that Jin Liuyi lured them with benefits to make them work for her.

Patriarch Wuxiang added, “Jin Liuyi is indeed vastly different from before. She ordered us to assist that woman in annihilating the Xuanxu Sect, and also wanted to kill that guy from the Ten Thousand Dharmas Sect…”

Tu Tianba asked again, “Then why did you detour to Lingshu Mountain Manor?”

Patriarch Wuxiang paused, saying nothing.

Tu Tianba immediately raised his arm high, fingers pressed together, making a preparatory motion to deliver a slap.

Patriarch Wuxiang’s cultivation was not low, and his temperament was perverse. For some unknown reason, when facing this low-level cultivator, he dared not show the slightest arrogance. Instead, he wanted nothing more than to flee.

Unfortunately, he could not move an inch at this moment.

Patriarch Wuxiang said, “…We heard that the various sects of the righteous path are gathering at the Guiqing Sect to discuss the siege of Tu Tianba. The Manor Lord of Lingshu Mountain Manor has already set off, so we wanted to come here to try our luck.”

As for what kind of luck?

Lingshu Mountain Manor was famous for artifact forging, and being an ancient sect, its foundation was naturally profound, storing many high-tier magical artifacts.

Tu Tianba let out a cold snort.

“So you came here to act as petty thieves?”

Having said that, he turned back to ask Nie Wuhui,

“Do you have anything else you want to ask?”

Nie Wuhui put away the shadow-recording stone and shook his head slightly.

The next moment.

With two crisp slaps, Tu Tianba knocked these two demonic cultivators out cold in quick succession.

If not for needing to keep a few witnesses alive, Tu Tianba truly wanted to slap them hard, slapping them until they reincarnated and turned over a new leaf.

However, Tu Tianba had no physical body. His soul had fused with the Soul-Refining Cauldron, so his slaps acted directly upon the soul.

When Patriarch Wuxiang and the others woke up to find their cultivation ruined in an instant, they might feel that death was preferable to life.

On the other side.

Having finished confessing the causes and consequences, Wei Rong murmured with a heart as dead as ashes, “I indulged the evil thoughts in my heart and committed such atrocities. Kill me, I deserve it…”

Nie Wuhui took a step forward, saying softly, “If I am not mistaken, the mastermind behind the scenes planted inner demons in many disciples during the Immortal Sect Grand Competition three years ago. This move both struck a blow against the righteous path and served to manipulate them into pointing their spears at Tu Tianba.”

“What has already happened cannot be changed, but you can come with us to the Guiqing Sect to foil the mastermind’s schemes.”

Wei Rong naturally agreed.

Xu Que was not idle either. He made several copies of the shadow-recording stone and transmitted a message to the Sect Master of the Ten Thousand Dharmas Sect.

The morning mist dispersed, and the daylight was bright.

The three set off once again on the journey to the Guiqing Sect.

The Guiqing Sect was quite far away.

Even for Tu Tianba, it would require two days of focused flying to arrive.

Fortunately, Xu Que had already transmitted the shadow-recording stone to his Sect Master located at the Guiqing Sect. The righteous sects would likely harbor suspicions and temporarily refrain from taking rash actions.

Tu Tianba’s eyes darted around, and he walked toward Xu Que.

Under his explicit hints (specifically, forcefully shoving another flying artifact into Xu Que’s hands while staring at him with a sinister gaze)…

Xu Que volunteered to share a ride with the three demonic cultivators and Wei Rong.

Thus, only he and Nie Wuhui remained on the flying boat.

Tu Tianba felt he was truly exceedingly brilliant.

Meanwhile, Nie Wuhui stood off to the side. His gaze brushed past the speechlessness on Xu Que’s face, then silently looked away.

After setting off.

Tu Tianba fluently pulled out the bearskin blanket, wrapped his arms around Nie Wuhui, and tumbled onto it together. He unconsciously let out a very comfortable, soft groan.

Silence reigned for a moment.

Tu Tianba suddenly spoke up.

“…That’s good.”

Nie Wuhui didn’t hear clearly and asked back, “What?”

Tu Tianba turned on his side, forcefully sliding one of his arms beneath Nie Wuhui’s neck as a pillow. With his other hand, he played with a lock of the man’s long hair and repeated:

“It’s a good thing you didn’t meet a bad master who would make you marry someone else and bear children.”

Tu Tianba fell silent for a moment, then asked again:

“Are the people at the Guiqing Sect good to you? Dammit, you look so good, will they be jealous of you? Do they speak ill of you behind your back?”

The more Tu Tianba spoke, the more anxious he grew, completely forgetting how, when they first met, he had inwardly cursed the man as a bullshit Immortal Lord while coveting his tall, handsome body in every possible way.

Nie Wuhui said nothing, nor could he find the words to speak.

He was not a clumsy speaker, yet at this moment, he didn’t know how to express the emotions in his heart. He could only lean into Tu Tianba’s embrace and offer him a faint smile.

High in the sky, the wind howled.

The sunlight spilled down unhindered.

The lock of hair Tu Tianba was toying with between his fingers was dyed a light gold by the morning light, its tips casting fragmented shadows over the bridge of his nose.

Tu Tianba raised his upper body slightly, clearly seeing Nie Wuhui’s gently curving eyes. The color of his pupils was lighter than usual, like an ice spring thawing in early spring, so clear it could reflect the trails of drifting clouds.

The outer corners of his eyes drooped slightly, carrying a touch of compassion, yet his brow bones were quite high, slanting sharply into his temples, forcefully bending that softness into a solemn, upright aura.

Tu Tianba met his gaze for a moment, then his eyes drifted lower.

Nie Wuhui’s lip color was very pale. The smile hovering at the corners of his mouth was like a silver fish occasionally leaping from a deep pool, sending ripples expanding across his heart.

Tu Tianba unconsciously let go of that lock of hair. The pad of his finger gently rubbed the man’s lower lip, making its color rich, vibrant, and inviting.

“I like it when you smile at me.”

Tu Tianba couldn’t resist lowering his head, his lips and tongue meeting Nie Wuhui’s as he mumbled the rest of his sentence,

“…When you smile, my heart goes soft.”

Nie Wuhui gently closed his eyes, his lips parting slightly, allowing the youth’s tongue to step into his territory, his features filled with total willingness.

“I am the same,” he said softly.

·

Guiqing Sect, Main Hall.

Over twenty people sat in the hall. The middle-aged man seated at the head was naturally the Sect Leader of the Guiqing Sect, Gu Fengji. The others were sect leaders or elders from various sects.

In addition, there were a few young disciples standing behind their respective sect leaders or elders.

Gu Chen was one of them.

He stood behind Gu Fengji, listening to the crowd discuss the frequent corruption of sect disciples in recent years, as well as the annihilation of the Xuanxu Sect.

The spearhead pointed directly at the Heaven Slaughtering Sect, or rather, Demon Lord Tu Tianba.

The elder from the Wondrous Immortal Sect who had come to the Guiqing Sect for the discussion was named Yao Lan. Possessing a fiery temper, she slammed the table and said indignantly:

“Tu Tianba tried to force his way into my Wondrous Immortal Sect three hundred years ago. Fortunately, the mountain protection grand array stopped him, though a corner of it was shattered, and an immortal master from the Ten Thousand Dharmas Sect had to come to repair it…”

“I don’t know what wicked mental method he cultivated, but his cultivation is unfathomable. He is truly difficult to deal with!”

As she finished, another person echoed, “I originally thought he died under the heavenly lightning. I never expected he would hide among the righteous path to stir up trouble…”

At this time, the Manor Lord of Lingshu Mountain Manor looked toward Gu Fengji at the head seat and asked, “Sect Leader Gu, Immortal Lord Wuhui has been in seclusion for three hundred years. I wonder if he can emerge to join us in eradicating demons to defend the Dao?”

Hearing this, Gu Chen’s heart stirred.

Gu Fengji pondered and said, “Before entering seclusion, Elder Nie specifically instructed me that unless it was a major event that shook the sect or this world, he must not be disturbed lightly…”

Suddenly, the Sect Master of the Ten Thousand Dharmas Sect received a message from Xu Que.

In the message, Xu Que stated that he had been attacked by demonic cultivators at the Xuanxu Sect and was currently with Immortal Lord Wuhui and his Dao Companion. They would arrive at the Guiqing Sect in about two days.

The message included that shadow-recording stone.

The Sect Master of the Ten Thousand Dharmas Sect looked confused.

Wasn’t Immortal Lord Wuhui in seclusion?

And what was this about a Dao Companion?

Subsequently, seeing Xu Que repeatedly emphasize that the audio and visuals within the shadow-recording stone were the most crucial part of this incident, he activated the stone in the hall to watch it with everyone.

Everyone watched intently. No one noticed Gu Chen’s abnormal demeanor. His mind was reeling, completely filled with the Ten Thousand Dharmas Sect Master’s phrase, ‘Immortal Lord Wuhui and his Dao Companion…’.

Gu Chen raised his eyes, looking at the shadow-recording stone’s projection in the hall.

In the projection.

The white-robed man stood amidst the bamboo forest.

The morning mist had not yet faded. The mountain breeze caught the man’s wide sleeves patterned with flowing clouds resting at his sides, yet his robes remained pristine. The morning light outlined his jade-carved silhouette.

But then a black-clad youth leaned close, grabbing and wrinkling his sleeve, shattering that awe-inspiring, inviolable immortal aura around the man.

Gu Chen clearly saw that on the man’s fair wrist bone was tied a slightly faded red string, faintly visible amidst the fluttering white robes.

Distracted and reeling, Gu Chen still sharp-eyedly noticed that on the youth’s wrist, a matching red string was also tied.

He opened his mouth, calling out silently,

“…Master.”