Chapter 355 - 346: The Beginning of the Turmoil

Chapter 355: Chapter 346: The Beginning of the Turmoil

Fu Juemin calmly looked down at the crowd. The vast Martial Arts Arena was deathly silent, the only sound the sickening crunch of the Demon Horse chewing on flesh and blood.

Suddenly, "BOOM!"

A massive explosion echoed from the distance. A section of the Earth Altar’s grounds caved in, sending rubble flying and dust billowing into the air. Only then did the members of the Lower Five Banners snap out of their daze and shock.

"Young... Young Master Ling!"

The first among the Lower Five Banners to rush forward and speak was the Zhe Banner Lord.

He staggered forward a few steps, the shock and anxiety nearly spilling from his face. Gone was any trace of his previous cunning and composure. Veins bulged on his forehead, and his lips seemed to tremble slightly as he spoke.

"My Demon Lord, how could... could he be... with you?!"

The Zhe Banner Lord couldn’t bring himself to say something like, "Why are you riding my Demon Lord like a horse?" He couldn’t be bothered with decorum at this point, his heart filled with inexplicable terror and shock. He was desperate to understand what was happening.

Fu Juemin looked down at him from his high perch and spoke in a level voice, "The traitors from the Banner-cutting Alliance blew up the Array’s core, ruining the Grand Sacrifice. The Earth Palace is in chaos, and all the Demon Officials have escaped the Array.

Your Demon Lord was down there eating other families’ Demon Officials. If I hadn’t run into him..."

He paused, narrowing his eyes. His voice was unhurried, yet laced with a chilling coldness. "Do you have any idea how much trouble the Zhe Banner Mo Family was about to cause?"

"What?!"

The Zhe Banner Lord stood frozen, unable to process what he’d heard. His mouth opened and closed, then opened again, as if a bucket of cold water had been dumped over his head.

The expressions of the other members of the Lower Five Banners changed as they heard Fu Juemin’s words. Some exchanged uncertain glances, while others subconsciously looked toward the Earth Palace.

Before they could voice their doubts—

"BOOM!"

Another massive explosion shook the ground. Not far from the Martial Arts Arena, the earth split open, forming a giant hole.

A giant eagle with a hundred-foot wingspan burst from the hole, beating its wings to create a fierce gale. It soared into the sky and vanished over the horizon in the blink of an eye.

"That’s... my family’s Demon Lord!"

The Cyan Banner Lord collapsed into his chair, his face deathly pale and his words becoming incoherent.

Explosions and crashes sounded one after another, each closer than the last, shaking the ground more and more violently. Only now did the crowd finally take Fu Juemin’s words—"chaos in the Earth Palace"—seriously, and panic began to set in.

Amidst the chaos, Fu Juemin calmly bent down and leaned close to his mount’s ear, his lips moving as if whispering something to the Demon Horse.

Then, he dismounted, casually patted the Demon Horse on its hind leg, and tossed a single sentence over his shoulder before turning to walk away without a backward glance.

"I’m leaving your Demon Lord here. Remember to take him back yourselves."

Before the people from the Lower Five Banners could react, the Black-Scaled Demon Horse—now free from Fu Juemin’s suppression—threw its head back and roared. With a vicious glint in its eyes, it charged straight toward them.

Seeing the Demon Horse charge, the Zhe Banner Lord ran faster than anyone.

Others might not have known, but he knew his own Demon Lord’s temperament best—fierce, bloodthirsty, and belligerent. Once it went berserk, no one could restrain it! 𝑓𝑟ℯℴ𝓂

It would even eat other Demons, let alone humans! The Zhe Banner had tried to tame it for decades, but it remained unbroken.

In the blink of an eye, the Black-Scaled Demon Horse plunged into the crowd, seized a person in its jaws, and began to chew. Instantly, the ground was spattered with blood, and screams echoed without end.

The scene devolved into utter chaos.

Fu Juemin walked toward his own Spirit Banner, his pace unhurried, as if the events unfolding behind him were of no concern.

The Nine Banners Patriarchs under his command hurried to greet him.

Mu Feng and the others watched the scene behind Fu Juemin—the Zhe Banner Family’s Tributor Demon Horse rampaging, turning the Lower Five Banners’ position into a bloodbath. Their eyelids twitched uncontrollably, and the looks they gave Fu Juemin grew even more reverent.

"Greetings, Spirit Lord."

Someone couldn’t help but ask, "Begging your pardon, Spirit Lord, but is the news true? That the Grand Sacrifice was ruined and the Earth Palace is in chaos?"

"Could it possibly be false?"

Fu Juemin flicked the dust from his sleeve and replied coolly.

He had fought the Zhe Banner Family’s Senior Third Grade Black-Scaled Demon Horse in the Earth Palace. He’d just landed a few heavy blows when the Earth Palace began to collapse, before he could even finish the job himself.

The Array shattered, and the horde of Demons was unleashed.

Fearing he’d be buried alive, Fu Juemin had simply forced the temporarily subdued Black-Scaled Demon Horse to become his mount. He changed into the spare clothes Mu Feng had prepared for him and rode the Black-Scaled Demon Horse out first.

Before coming out, he had used [Yao Ling] to scout the situation outside, listening in on both the Heaven and Earth Altars. He happened to overhear the thin-braided stout man humiliating his subordinate, which led to the scene that just unfolded.

"Where is the Messenger Black Pigeon?"

Fu Juemin called Mu Feng over to bring him the pigeon for contacting the Profound Banner. "I’m heading to the Celestial Altar," he instructed. "You take our men and head back first. Be ready for my message at any time."

"Yes, sir."

Mu Feng and the others replied respectfully.

The group quickly gathered the Martial Tributors—some heavily wounded, others dead—and prepared to withdraw.

Just before leaving, Mu Tingzhou sidled up to Fu Juemin, his eyes brimming with irrepressible curiosity. He whispered, "Master, what did you... say to that Demon Horse from the Zhe Banner Family just now?"

At his words, the others couldn’t help but prick up their ears.

Many of them had seen the moment before Fu Juemin dismounted, when he had leaned in and whispered a quiet instruction in the ear of the Zhe Banner Family’s Demon Lord.

And right after Fu Juemin gave his instruction, the Zhe Banner Mo Family’s Demon Horse had charged out.

"You want to know?"

Fu Juemin glanced at Mu Tingzhou with a hint of a smile.

"I do."

Mu Tingzhou nodded, looking as if he were dying of curiosity.

"I told it..."

Fu Juemin said nonchalantly, in a flat tone, "To eat its fill, and then remember to come find me."

Everyone was stunned by his words and instinctively glanced toward the Lower Five Banners.

The area had already devolved into a living hell, littered with severed limbs and flowing with rivers of blood. After this catastrophe, it was uncertain how many of the five Banner Lords of the Lower Five Banners would even survive. In the face of a rampaging Senior Third Grade Great Demon, even a Dirt-Loading Martial Artist was no different from ordinary food.

An inexplicable chill rose from the bottom of their hearts, followed swiftly by a profound sense of relief.

’Thank goodness, thank goodness we’re on the Spirit Banner’s side.’

Everyone’s heart was filled with complex emotions. The only exception was Mu Tingzhou. After hearing Fu Juemin’s words, he became inexplicably excited—his cheeks flushed red, and he gestured wildly, as if he shared in the glory of the act.

...

After contacting Helian using the Messenger Black Pigeon, Fu Juemin headed for the Celestial Altar.

He rode alone through one palace gate after another. All along the way, he saw men and horses rushing toward the Earth Altar, presumably to quell the chaos in the Earth Palace.

Unconcerned, Fu Juemin found a shady spot near the Celestial Altar to stop and wait.

Men and horses continuously galloped past him. The entire vast Imperial City had been plunged into turmoil.

’This bunch from the Banner-cutting Alliance... they really came at the perfect time...’

Fu Juemin thought to himself as he gazed at the sky above the distant Imperial Palace, which seemed to have grown even more gloomy and turbid.

’I don’t know if it’s my luck or the Profound Banner Helers’ luck that’s good. All my scheming, and then the Banner-cutting Alliance shows up to cause trouble. It’s the perfect cover for everything I did in the Earth Palace.’

’The Grand Sacrifice failed because the Array’s core was destroyed. The Demon Officials suffered heavy casualties because of the chaos in the Earth Palace, an internal conflict among the Demon Fiends.’

’You ask why there are no bodies for the dead Demon Officials?’

’Naturally, they were eaten by their own kind...’

Just as he was thinking this, a sinister voice suddenly sounded by his ear.

"You’re that Fu Lingjun?!"

Hearing the voice, Fu Lingjun calmly raised his eyes and looked forward.

About seven or eight meters away stood a group of people.

There were a dozen or so of them, all armed and looking aggressive.

The man in the lead, who looked to be in his thirties, had a pale, beardless face and wore a crimson-gold robe. He sat atop a Dirt-Loading Demon Horse, glaring at him with cold, hostile eyes.

Fu Lingjun narrowed his eyes slightly but said nothing.

The red-robed young man sneered at him, his tone frigid. "You’d better pray you don’t fall into my hands. Otherwise... not even Helarut will be able to protect you!"

With that, the red-robed youth yanked hard on his reins, snorted, and yelled, "Let’s go!"

His entourage quickly followed, and they departed with a clamor.

Fu Lingjun watched the red-robed youth’s departing back, blinked, and slowly released the hand that had been resting lightly on the hilt of his Exorcism Saber.

"Who is he?"

Fu Lingjun turned his head toward Helian, who was slowly riding toward him. He tapped his temple with a finger. "Is there something wrong with his head?"

Helian glanced at him, her expression flat. "You don’t know him?

No wonder you dared to kill Tu Yong on the Martial Arts Arena."

"And who is Tu Yong?"

Fu Lingjun frowned, then it clicked. "Oh," he said, realization dawning. "You mean that hired gun the Lower Five Banners brought in? The third-time Dirt-Loading Martial Artist?"

Fu Lingjun shook his head, his tone dismissive. "He killed several of my subordinates first. Besides... I didn’t kill him. He died in the jaws of the Zhe Banner Lord’s Demon Horse..."

"Tu Yong was the commander of the Forbidden Army. He was one of the Manchus, and a noble of the Upper Three Banners..."

Helian sneered in refutation. "How can your backwater Martial Artists compare to him? Ten of their lives aren’t worth one of his!"

...