Chapter 237 - 235: Old Acquaintance from the Ten Thousand Demon Sect

Chapter 237: Chapter 235: Old Acquaintance from the Ten Thousand Demon Sect

Yang Lianzhenjia looked at Nihachu, a hint of disdain flashing in his eyes.

This Nihachu was of humble birth. The Hu Yan Tribe had only grown to its current size thanks to the Hachal and Lin Khanate aggressively annexing other small tribes on the Grassland.

This, in turn, led some smaller tribes and homeless Grassland People to seek refuge with the Hu Yan Tribe, allowing it to swell to its present strength.

’This brute’s strength is decent enough, but his vision is far too narrow and his mind too simple,’ Yang Lianzhenjia thought. ’If I hadn’t been planning his strategies, the Hu Yan Tribe would have likely fallen apart long ago.’

"Chief, do not underestimate the Central Plains. This land is filled with countless prodigies and rising stars. Even if we’ve managed to take advantage of the current turmoil, don’t think for a moment we can occupy it for long."

"Think of how powerful the Golden Horde once was. Yet, after the founding of the Great Xia Court, they were shattered and scattered. It took the Grassland hundreds of years to recover."

"Our current unstoppable advance is due to two things: one, the element of surprise, and two, the experts from the Ten Thousand Demon Sect that I called for."

"Zhenwu Hall, which controls Ning Province, is one of the Seven Alliances of the World. Their Grand Commandant, Chao Hongtu, also possesses the Divine Soldier, the ’Divine King’s Array-Breaking Technique’."

"Right now, we are only raiding the borders of Ning Province, so we haven’t yet pushed the Grand Commandant to the point of using his Divine Soldier to kill us."

"But once we occupy too much of the White Tiger Hall’s territory in Western Ning Province, the full might of Zhenwu Hall will be more than our Hu Yan Tribe can handle."

"Furthermore, I estimate that Zhenwu Hall’s reinforcements are about to arrive."

"So, we can raid for two more days at most. Then we must retreat back to the Grassland."

Nihachu, however, was reluctant to leave. "My tribesmen have fought valiantly these past few days. It would be a shame to turn back with so little plunder, wouldn’t it?"

"Master, just one more day. The experts from the Ten Thousand Demon Sect are still here, so one more day won’t make a difference."

Yang Lianzhenjia frowned. ’This brute is truly insatiable.’

’If the tribe he had previously served hadn’t grown fearful of the Hachal and Lin Khanate’s power and stopped retaining his services, he would never have chosen Nihachu.’

"Fine. Three days, then. We must withdraw to the Grassland within three days."

Yang Lianzhenjia added, "Oh, and tell them not to forget to find virgin girls born in a yin-aspected hour and virgin boys born in a yang-aspected hour while they are raiding. I require them as Furnace Cauldrons for my cultivation."

"Rest assured, Master. I’ve already given the order. The Hu Yan Tribe has plundered a great deal of supplies and treasures this time. We certainly won’t be short on what you require."

Yang Lianzhenjia nodded, walked out of the main tent, and called over a personal guard assigned to him by Nihachu.

"Go send a message to Yin Kuang of the Ten Thousand Demon Sect. Tell him the Hu Yan Tribe is preparing to withdraw in three days."

After the guard left, Yang Lianzhenjia rubbed his temples, feeling a headache coming on.

’That fellow Nihachu is insatiably greedy, and the people from the Ten Thousand Demon Sect are also beyond my control.’

He was acquainted with an Elder from the Ten Thousand Demon Sect, so he had asked them to send a few experts to help hold the line.

He hadn’t expected them to send a group of the Ten Thousand Demon Sect’s young prodigies.

These little Demons were completely lawless and wouldn’t listen to his commands at all. They had immediately gone and killed a good number of Zhenwu Hall’s Inspectors and Guardian Envoys.

While their methods were swift, his original plan had been to slowly chip away at the enemy’s territory, not to startle Zhenwu Hall’s headquarters right from the outset.

If they had followed his original plan, they could have first encroached upon a portion of the borderlands, consolidated their gains, and then launched a major offensive on the Ning Province Prefecture City, which was Zhenwu Hall’s territory.

It wouldn’t have become like this, where they had alerted the enemy and were now forced to end the raid prematurely.

At this moment, in a cave over a hundred miles from the main camp, dozens of young disciples from the Ten Thousand Demon Sect sat cross-legged.

The youngest of these disciples were in their early twenties, while the oldest were only in their thirties. All were prodigious figures of the Ten Thousand Demon Sect’s younger generation.

A man in his forties with a pale, beardless, and effeminate face stood before them, his hands clasped behind his back.

He was Yin Kuang, a Steward of the Ten Thousand Demon Sect, responsible for leading these disciples on a trial in Ning Province.

"We’ve received a message from the Hu Yan Tribe. They are withdrawing in three days."

"According to Elder Ning’s previous instructions, each of you must have something to show for your efforts."

"Otherwise, you can explain yourselves to Elder Ning when we return to the Ten Thousand Demon Sect."

A handsome young man in the crowd, a constant smile on his face, spoke up. "Oh, come on. Why leave? I haven’t had enough fun yet."

"The Guardian Envoy in that small city a few days ago had some skill. He even gathered several surrounding Jianghu Forces to besiege me."

"I dragged it out with them for a whole day, hunted them all down, and chopped their heads off one by one. You should have seen the survivors at the end, wailing and begging for mercy. It was so much fun."

"Oh, right. I brought all their heads back with me. My Qiankun Bag is full, so Steward Yin, could you carry them back for me?"

The young Martial Artist pointed to a corner of the cave, where a hundred heads were piled up like a small hill.

Yin Kuang’s mouth twitched. "Xu Tianhong, stop messing around. You’re already ranked in the top twenty of the Hidden Dragon Rankings. You shouldn’t have even come on this trial in the first place. Leave the opportunities for the others and go back to the Ten Thousand Demon Sect when the time comes."

"You’ve caused too big of a commotion in the Central Plains Martial Arts. Your mother has already told you to keep a low profile for a while."

Yang Lianzhenjia had a prior relationship with the Ten Thousand Demon Sect’s Elder Ning, who, on a whim, had sent this batch of young disciples for a trial.

However, most of the disciples sent had only ever honed their skills within the Ten Thousand Demon Sect and had not yet ventured into the Jianghu.

In truth, the rules of the Ten Thousand Demon Sect were cruel and strict. Its disciples fought and killed each other even while cultivating within the Sect, so they had all seen their share of bloodshed.

But internal strife was one thing; they still needed to be thrown into the Jianghu to acclimate to the slaughter of the outside world. That was why Elder Ning had conveniently tossed them over here.

And that "Demon-Drinking Saber," Xu Tianhong, was the current number one of the Ten Thousand Demon Sect’s younger generation, ranked twelfth on the Hidden Dragon Rankings.

He was also the illegitimate son of Xuan Hong, the Wuxiang Hall’s Head of the Vajra Prajna Temple, and Xu Baiwei, the Ten Thousand Demon Sect Elder known as the "White-haired Witch."

Previously, Xu Tianhong had been roaming the Central Plains Martial Arts, but he was so audacious that he killed many Martial Artists from major Daoist and Buddhist Sects. The uproar he caused was so great that Xu Baiwei had been forced to drag him back to the Ten Thousand Demon Sect to lay low for a while.

But Xu Tianhong couldn’t sit still, so he took this opportunity to tag along and join the "fun."

The Ning Province Martial Arts only had Zhenwu Hall, making it less dangerous than the Central Plains Martial Arts, so Xu Baiwei hadn’t stopped him.

At this moment, Xu Tianhong was toying with a human head in his hands. A slender trace of Sword Aura emanated from his fingertips, slowly stripping the flesh from the head and carving it into a skull.

Hearing what Yin Kuang said, he chuckled. "I’m already being very low-profile, alright? But Steward Yin, I can give the opportunities to others, that’s fine. The problem is, some people don’t cherish the opportunity."

"So many of our fellow disciples here have achievements to their name, yet someone hasn’t killed a single person."

"With such a soft heart and gentle hand, are you really one of us from the Ten Thousand Demon Sect, or are you a female Bodhisattva from the Buddhist Sect?"

Xu Tianhong’s gaze fell on a woman in her early twenties sitting in a corner, dressed in crimson robes. Her face was beautiful but glacial.

As his voice fell, the head in Xu Tianhong’s hand had been completely carved into a bloody skull. Enveloped in surging Demonic Qi, it shot violently toward the woman.

But the woman merely opened her eyes. A bloody light bloomed in mid-air, instantly pulverizing the skull.

"Xu Tianhong, if you provoke me again, I will kill you!"

The woman’s face was devoid of expression, but her words were utterly chilling. It wasn’t a threat, but a statement of fact.

"Kill me? You think you can?"

Xu Tianhong reacted as if he’d heard a joke, clutching his stomach and laughing. "You want to kill me? But I have a soft spot for beautiful women. I couldn’t bear to kill you. Such a pretty face, such dense Blood Qi... what a waste it would be to just kill you. I’d rather eat you, slowly."

As he said this, there wasn’t the slightest trace of lust on Xu Tianhong’s face. The ’eat’ he spoke of was purely literal.

Seeing an extremely powerful and terrifying bloody Demonic Qi erupt from the woman, Yin Kuang roared, "Enough! Haven’t you two fought enough back at the Ten Thousand Demon Sect? You have to fight out here, too?"

Although Yin Kuang himself hailed from the Demon Dao, he was still at his wit’s end with this bunch of little hellions.

One after another, they were either wildly arrogant and mentally unhinged, or so cold they were impossible to communicate with.

He cursed his bad luck for being assigned to manage these little monsters.

Taking a deep breath, Yin Kuang asked the young woman, "Chu Hongshang, it seems everyone else has some achievements from this outing. Why do you have no battle record to show?"

"I do. I killed a squad from the Hu Yan Tribe," Chu Hongshang replied, her face impassive.

"The Hu Yan Tribe are allies! We were invited here to deal with Zhenwu Hall!"

Yin Kuang was about to lose his mind.

Killing their own allies counted as an achievement?

"Those beasts who only know how to rape and pillage don’t deserve to be called allies. I found them disgusting, so I killed them all."

A sense of powerlessness washed over Yin Kuang. "These Grassland People are used to being poor. What else would they do in the Central Plains besides rape and pillage? Perform good deeds?"

"Just ignore them and act on your own from now on. In any case, you still need to produce some results in these next three days. Otherwise, it will be difficult to answer to Elder Ning when we return."

Among this group of young Ten Thousand Demon Sect disciples, there were two people he absolutely could not afford to offend.

One was Xu Tianhong, and the other was Chu Hongshang.

The mother of one was the "White-haired Witch," Xu Baiwei, and the master of the other was the "Blood-Handed Fairy," Shi Xueyan.

Both of these women were Elders of the Ten Thousand Demon Sect at the Eighth Realm Divine Platform. Furthermore, they had perverse and violent temperaments, making them figures he couldn’t and wouldn’t want to provoke.

In particular, these two women were rivals within the Ten Thousand Demon Sect. Forget arguing—they often came to blows.

If the Sect Leader hadn’t been there to suppress them, it was entirely possible they would have fought to the death.

Because of the enmity of the previous generation, Xu Tianhong and Chu Hongshang also shared a deep-seated hatred for one another.

Yin Kuang didn’t dare say much more to these two. He just gave a few instructions and dismissed everyone to go kill and train as they pleased within Zhenwu Hall’s territory, telling them to reassemble at this spot in three days.