Stranger Danger

Chapter 1077: Sages Arrive

There were tainted demonic qi mixed within the spiritual qi.

The white clouds were hiding a darkened sky.

A mixture of energies permanently existed within the wind.

And the tall mountains hid a dark, evil energy underneath.

The Nine Nethers Demonic Qi to be exact.

Not only that, the world appeared to be thriving and overflowing with life, but in reality it was full of rot, decay, and death.

Ye Qing could clearly sense that this entire realm was slowly dying.

It was a polluted world, a decaying world, a world that was slowly but surely walking toward demise.

“It really does have something to do with the Nine Nethers!”

Ye Qing reached out and broke a branch from a nearby tree. The branch looked perfectly intact on the outside, but it was really withered and dead on the inside. Not only that, he could sense thick Nine Nethers Demonic Qi within the decay.

His assumption was right after all. The calamity that struck the Kunlun Ruins definitely had something to do with the Nine Nethers.

Ye Qing wasn’t too worried though. The Nine Nethers Demonic Qi was scary because it was one of, if not the most corruptive elements in the world. Capable of corrupting anything and anyone, it possessed the power to tempt it all to damnation. @@novelbin@@

However, he was immune to all evils because he was protected by the Profound Yellow Mother Qi, and the Nine Nethers Demonic Qi definitely counted as a form of evil. On top of that, he also practiced the “Paranirmitavaśavartin Heavenly Demon Sutra”. Founded in the natural desires of humanity, the demonic intent it generated was fundamentally different from the Nine Nethers Demonic Qi, but surprisingly compatible in the sense that they were birds of a feather. Therefore, not only did he feel neither incongruous nor uncomfortable in this tainted world, he actually felt like a fish who had returned to the sea.

“If that is the case, then maybe...”

Suddenly, an idea flashed inside Ye Qing’s head. He immediately withdrew his profound light and summoned a pair of demonic lotuses behind his pupils. At the same time, his eyes darkened until they were pools of blackness, and his aura grew increasingly dark and evil until it resembled the Nine Nethers Demon from earlier.

He was using his demonic thought to conceal his energies and vitality. It was to avoid the many dangers he could not have avoided as your average flesh-and-blood being.

Since the Kunlun Ruins were corrupted by Nine Nethers Demonic Qi, the creatures in it must have suffered the same corruption. Therefore, there must be more dark beings like the Nine Nethers Demon he encountered earlier.

A living creature was like a delicious meal to any Nine Nethers Demon, and considering his Profound Yellow Mother Qi and titanic levels of vigor, Ye Qing reckoned that he was the most delicious of them all. He was going to draw everyone and everything like a lighthouse in the darkest night and garner himself unnecessary danger and trouble if he just waltzed inside as he was.

That was why he chose to conceal his vitality and disguise himself as a Nine Nethers Demon using his demonic thought. When in Rome, do as the Romans do.

“Now then, where is Yi Pin?”

After observing his surroundings for a bit and detecting no danger, Ye Qing produced the Annon Sutra and asked for Yi Pin’s location.

This time though, the Annon Sutra refused to answer.

Ye Qing wasn’t surprised though. He had long since gotten used to the Annon Sutra capitulating and playing dead whenever it was at a particularly dangerous location, near a particularly powerful presence, or both.

“The dumb method it is!”

Ye Qing produced a stack of paper dolls and tossed it into the air.

About the size of a human hand, the paper dolls were cut out of yellow talismans and brought to life using his Cutting People Into Paper Magia. Imbued with a wisp of his demonic thought, they possessed a certain level of sentience and could be used to spy, search, and explore certain dangerous locations or objects.

The next moment, the paper dolls floated in the air and gave Ye Qing a bow. Then, they spread out in every direction and disappeared in just the blink of an eye.

Thanks to the paper dolls, his demonic thought was spreading out like a spider web, and his surroundings were rapidly being imprinted into his headspace.

......

Unbeknownst to Ye Qing, a group of uninvited guests had also arrived at this realm while he was searching for Yi Pin.

“Cyan Mountain, Black Water, Radiant Tree. This is it! The Kunlun Ruins have to be here!”

On a cliff, a group of a dozen or so people were standing in the sky and overlooking the gigantic Black Water, the towering Cyan Mountain, and the all-encompassing Radiant Tree with sheer joy painting their faces.

Every single person in the group boasted impossibly powerful presences. Even the weakest among them was a Great Truemen.

Four of them were especially conspicuous. They were three men and a woman. The only woman in the group was the Silver Moon Sacred Lord, and one of the men was Jiang Yunlai.

The other two men wore robes of contrasting colors but similar design. The white-robed man possessed a benevolent face. Carrying a halo on his head and wielding a ruyi scepter in his hand, he emitted seemingly infinite cyan light that took the form of countless living beings.

The black-robed man possessed a strict, traditional face. Carrying rainbow-colored smoke above his head and a sword around his waist, he also emitted haloes of light that took the form of countless illusions.

The two men were the temple head of the Shang Qing Temple and Yu Qing Temple of East Kunlun. The white-robed man’s Taoist title was Cyan Radiance, and he was honorably called “Cyan Celestial Superior Celestial”. The black-robed man’s Taoist title was Supreme Origin, and he was known as “Supreme Origin Profound Sovereign”. Both men were Sages.

The group had clearly tracked Ye Qing to this place.

Something was odd, however. Every single one of the Sages looked pretty tired, much less the others. Some people outright collapsed on the ground and fell unconscious the second they came to a stop.

It was understandable. Anyone who chased the sun for a whole day like Ye Qing was going to experience the exact same thing, if not worse.

Frankly, if it wasn’t for the fact that they were accompanied by four Sages, or if the Sages had decided not to lend them a hand from time to time, it was truly unknown if they could make it here at all.

As a result, even the transcendent Sages were running out of energy and deeply exhausted.

That said, their joy and excitement could not be denied even by the mountain of fatigue burdening their bodies.

“In the great barren at the peak of the Cyan Mountain next to the Black Water, there exists a sky-reaching tree called the Radiant Tree...”

Even the calmest, most cool-headed of them all, Cyan Radiance Superior Celestial, looked unfocused for a moment. “This is definitely it. The Kunlun Ruins are here. Once we climb up the Radiant Tree, we’ll be able to enter the Kunlun Ruins immediately.”

“What else are we waiting for? Let’s go.”

The black-robed Supreme Origin Profound Sovereign spoke up in a cold, sharp voice.

Silver Moon Sacred Lord interjected, “Let’s catch a break first. Neither the Cyan Mountain nor the Black Water are easy to overcome, and I am sure there is danger within the Kunlun Ruins as well. We just had a long and arduous journey, and I am sure that we are all drained to a certain extent. The correct course of action here is to rest and recuperate until we’re back to full strength.”

“We shouldn’t have brought so many useless pieces of trash with us. They wasted our time and energy,” The Supreme Origin Profound Sovereign said coldly.

Embarrassment immediately colored the faces of the Half Sages and Great Truemen. These people were either elders and stewards of West Kunlun, or stewards and guest warriors of East Kunlun. To put it simply, they were all bigshots.

No one dared to voice a single complaint, however. It was because the one who rebuked them was none other than the Supreme Origin Profound Sovereign, the man who walked the Way of Killing and wielded the deadliest sacred artifact of West Kunlun, the Demonslaying Sword. He was the Demonslaying Sage whose bloody feats were such that the mere mention of his name terrified both sides of the jianghu.

“There is no need for haste, Profound Sovereign. What is a couple hours of wait when the Kunlun Ruins are right in front of us?”

Jiang Yunlai advised, “Besides, no one knows what danger lies within the Kunlun Ruins. It is better to be safe than sorry!”

“There is no danger greater than the human heart. You’re the ones who should be careful,” Supreme Origin Profound Sovereign said bitingly.

“Watch your mouth, Supreme Origin.”

Silver Moon Sacred Lord expressed her dissatisfaction. “You would never have found the Kunlun Ruins without us.”