Volcanic Age

His mind went blank for a moment before snapping back to reality.

All sorts of questions flooded his thoughts, vying for answers.

Why?

He never could have expected this.

Tang Mingren was the Black Shadow Division. While few knew about it, those who did always suspected the division first.

There was no way that the Dark Heavens Association would choose someone so conspicuous as Avaricious Wolf. Even the smallest suspicion would severely limit his movements.

Moreover, how could someone as intelligent as Blessed Existence make such an obvious move?

That was why he had assumed that this suspicion was a trick to divert attention. This wasn't a guess, either. This was conviction.

Nangong Weiwu and Zhuge Xiang had thought the same.

Tang Mingren didn't laugh or show any anger. Just like when Zhou Xuchuan had first seen him, he spoke in an emotionless voice, his expression slightly weary.

"When it comes to strategy, nothing is easier than doing what the enemy assumes you won’t. That's why I did it."

"…!"

He had been caught off guard.

Blessed Existence had read him perfectly.

He had believed the Association wouldn’t make a move so obvious it could get them caught. That belief—so rooted in common sense—had blinded him.

However, it was because of that confidence that he had lost.

"He truly is a scary person," Tang Mingren said, approaching with calm steps.

Although Zhou Xuchuan wanted to move his body, he couldn't. He didn't know what sort of poison he had been poisoned with, but the detoxification wasn't easy.

He tried to circulate his qi according to the sutra of the Green Eyes Ten Thousand Poisons Art, but his detoxification efforts couldn't keep up with the spread of poison.

"How many people can play chess with the world in their palm?"

He had lost.

"His thoroughness is beyond comprehension. It's truly terrifying."

Although he had always been on guard, he had still lost.

"If it were up to me, I would have watched you for twelve hours and made you vomit every bit of information you have on how you learned about our association." ṜΆꞐÒΒĚṩ

This was Zhou Xuchuan's first defeat, and it was a crushing one.

"However, they said it was too dangerous and opposed it."

Tang Mingren stopped in front of him, placing a finger lightly on Zhou Xuchuan’s chest, which was pounding like an angry bull.

"Honestly, it's not that I don't desire your body. The Thousand Poisons Immunity is rare after all. If I think about the Association, it would still be more beneficial to capture you alive than to kill you."

Zhou Xuchuan knew too much about the Dark Heavens Association, and Tang Mingren wanted to know exactly how much the swordsman had uncovered.

"Moreover, if you think about who is most responsible for the plan he has made so far, he truly is an incredible person. He probably hates you more than anyone else, yet he insists on separating personal feelings from duty. He believes you're too dangerous to keep alive, so he still chose to have you killed."

Tang Mingren softly pushed Zhou Xuchuan's chest with his finger.

Swish.

It seemed as if an extremely poisonous qi was flowing out from his fingertips.

It was colorless and odorless, yet, it was clear that it was poison.

The fabric where his finger touched rippled briefly before disintegrating into ash.

It didn’t stop there.

Zhou Xuchuan's skin under his shirt turned ashen before quickly beginning to rot.

The ribs protecting Zhou Xuchuan's chest appeared for a brief moment before disintegrating into ash, finally exposing his heart.

"I'm sorry that I spoke for so long. And now…"

Squelch.

Tang Mingren thrust his hand forward. The tip of his finger pierced through Zhou Xuchuan’s heart and emerged from his back.

"Go well."

"U… ugh…!"

Zhou Xuchuan let out a deep breath and fell backward.

Blessed Existence…

Zhou Xuchuan saw the wisdom of the faceless Dark Heavens Association in the departing figure of Avaricious Wolf. In his fading consciousness, he remembered the poison master smiling.

"Now, then, let's behead…"

Even though Zhou Xuchuan's heart may have been crushed, he still wanted to cut off his head to be safe.

The thoroughness was terrifying.

Tang Mingren picked up Zhou Xuchuan's sword. He didn't forget to pick it up with his sleeve so that he wouldn't leave any fingerprints behind.

Then, the moment everything was about to end—woosh!

A shadow swept over from behind.

Tang Mingren was surprised and swung Tai'e behind him. However, he only cut through the air.

"You dare!"

Feeling irritated, he turned back to where he had been facing.

As expected, Zhou Xuchuan, who had been lying on the ground, was gone. When he turned his gaze, he saw the swordsman lying limp across a woman's shoulders.

"...who are you?"

Even at a glance, she was an extraordinary beauty.

While she may have seemed emotionless, her appearance still attracted the gaze of men. She must not have been a woman of the Righteous Faction, because her attire was extremely suggestive.

She wore black, but her clothes were so thin they barely covered her. A tattoo faintly glowed ominously, visible on her exposed skin.

The strange shapes and characters mixed into the skin gave off a very strange feeling.

"Demon Cult…?"

At a glance, she seemed to be using a sorcery art of the Demonic Path.

In fact, her aura also seemed similar to those cultists.

"...!"

Thud!

However, his questioning didn't last long. Before he could figure out her identity, the girl threw herself off the cliff.

Hurriedly following to the edge, he saw her disappearing under the water.

"Why didn't you stop her… whatever."

Tang Mingren tried to say something to Hong Gao but decided not to.

The back that had seemed as though it could hold all of Mount Tai suddenly looked small.

Have you gone crazy from being possessed by your delusions, Hong Gao? Or have you fallen into cultivation deviation and fallen into your heart demons?

It was unknown when the promising star of Shaolin, Hundred Paces Fist Monk, had become so crazy.

It could have been jealousy of Mount Hua or Zhou Xuchuan. Or, perhaps, he had lost his mind due to his feud with his master.

Regardless of what happened, he was one of the pillars of Shaolin. To think he had taken down his own master.

Who would fill in the new empty seat of the Eight Empyrean Overlords?

The Divine Monk was old. Even if he hadn't killed him, Hong Gao would have easily gotten the abbot position anyway.

No matter how hard Tang Mingren tried, he couldn't understand.

What could have been so important that he would kill his own master? Was it really about the honor and power of the Shaolin Temple? Was he afraid of its decline, of its eventual downfall? Just because he couldn't control his anger at that moment… he truly is an apostate who broke his precepts.

Tang Mingren shook his head.

It's hard to consider him a monk anymore. Is this what they call a Mara in Buddhism?

With pure disgust, he cast one last glance at Hong Gao before looking toward the cliff where Zhou Xuchuan had fallen.

I carved out his heart. Moreover, just in case his heart was in a different place than normal, I even opened up his chest and checked it myself, making a hole through it. On top of that, I even poisoned him using the Extreme Formless Poison, so even if Hua Tuo were to come back alive and treat him, he wouldn't be able to survive.

Although someone may have carried Zhou Xuchuan away, the swordsman had still fallen down that steep cliff.

The currents here were strong and violent, the terrain treacherous, making it difficult for one to survive even if they had fallen in good health. Not even the pirates of the Eighteen Stockades of the Red Forest would come near this place.

"Now, let's start making our way back," Tang Mingren called out to Hong Gao.

"Abbot of the Shaolin Temple."

***

The murim was in an uproar.

Shocking news was delivered to the Central Plains right before the Great War of Good and Demonic began.

"It's not the Eight Empyrean Overlords anymore, it's the Seven!"

The Divine Monk had died.

No, to be precise, he was killed.

"Just what the hell happened?"

The stories coming out of the mouths of the people gathered in the various inns were more about the Divine Monk of the Shaolin Temple than the affairs of Xinjiang or Qinghai.

"The Divine Monk fell into the Demon Cult's trap."

"I'll buy the drinks, so speak quickly!"

"Did you hear about the Great Demon Head Fang Fotong, the Demon Cult's Southern Yang Guardian, coming to the Central Plains to reflect on his past misdeeds?"

"I did, but was that really true? I heard that the Demon Cult had sent the Western Domination Guardian and the Wind Demon Squadron to execute the apostate… wasn't that regarding the Great Demon Head? Still, it's hard to believe."

"You're right. It was all a complete lie. The Western Domination Guardian and the Wind Demon Squadron were just pieces of a larger trap."

"Just what the hell happened there?"

"The former Shaolin abbot, Divine Monk, after much thought, chose to show mercy to Fang Fotong, who was asking for forgiveness."

"Didn't you just say it was a lie?"

"That's right! It was a lie! Although the Divine Monk protected him with good intentions, that Great Demon Head stabbed him in the back the moment he let his guard down!"

"What?! What a bastard!"

Those who heard the rumors about the Divine Monk were furious.

As the Shaolin Temple's abbot, Hui Mian had been more diligent in providing blessings than anyone else.

In the past, he had been respected for forgiving sinners, spreading Buddhism, and showing mercy.

Yes, his martial arts were incredible enough to be called divine, but he was truly Divine because of his actions. Even though the Shaolin Temple was weak recently, there was still no one among the Central Plains who looked down on the Divine Monk.

The Buddhists shed tears and praised him after hearing the end of the Divine Monk, who tried to protect the Great Demon Head until the very end.

Meanwhile, Fang Fotong’s notoriety skyrocketed, reaching a level comparable to the Cult Leader of the Demon Cult.

Had he not been killed by Hui Mian’s disciple, who was enraged by the loss of his master, the outrage among the people would have been unimaginable.

"Ha… it hadn't been long since the Sect Master of Mount Hua passed away… there's no stopping the bad things that have been happening."

"The Shaolin Temple still has a set successor, so there's no need to worry. The real problem is the Mount Hua Sect."

"To think, the Righteous Faction's—no, the murim's hero would depart like that?!"

Perhaps Mount Hua had enjoyed too much fortune recently, but one calamity after another now seemed to befall them.

The worst of it all was the disappearance of Zhou Xuchuan, the one who had seemingly carried the future of the Righteous Faction murim on his shoulders.

"Could that Zhou Xuchuan really be dead?"

"As hard as it is to believe, it’s true. He was there when the Divine Monk fell. They say he was mortally wounded in a joint attack by the Western Domination Guardian and the Wind Demon Squadron Leader before falling off a cliff."

"Gasp! If it's the Western Domination Guardian and the Wind Demon Squadron Leader… aren't they members of the One Hundred Experts Under Heaven, Unfettered Demons of the Demon Cult? If it's true that they mortally wounded him, then he's not missing. He's dead."

"Yes. It's really a shame."

"If things continue like this, won't the Demonic Path's flag become planted in the Central Plains murim? This is a nightmare. I have to pack my bags."

"I'm worried about what's to come…"

The Evil Valley.

"Hahaha!"

The Evil Valley Sect Master slapped his knee and burst into laughter.

"Bring me some wine! I have to hold a banquet today!"

The news of the deaths of the Divine Monk and the Sword Dragon spread throughout the murim.

Of course, that news reached the Evil Valley as well.

"Although the Heavens took half of the Evil Valley, they have returned everything in spades!"

The Evil Valley Sect Master, who didn't know the truth about the hidden force, the Dark Heavens Association, firmly believed that the Evil Faction was the one who benefited the most from this incident.

"I already hated the fact that those Mount Hua bastards were doing so well. This is perfect. Now that they've lost the Righteous Faction's hero, the people's hearts will turn away from them. After all, people turn away from one another when they can't obtain immediate benefits anymore."

It was just as the Evil Valley Sect Master said.

For the past few years, the gates of Mount Hua Sect had always been lined with visitors. However, that wasn't the case anymore. More than half of those visitors had now disappeared.

There were even those who asked for their offerings to be returned.

"Hmm."

The Evil Valley Sect Master laughed heartily, then suddenly stopped, his expression darkening as a thought crossed his mind.

But there's something that still troubles me.

The easily understood things aside, there were still a few things that were suspicious.

It's not strange that the Southern Yang Guardian's confession was a lie, but those ignorant bastards who laud strength as everything wouldn't have been able to come up with a plan like this.

Of course, the concept of 'Strength' in the Demon Cult also included strategy.

Strength didn't mean physical power, but ability.

However, most of what the Demon Cult called 'ability' was demonic arts that had the side effect of destroying one's sanity and creating a demonic nature within them.

While there were some who didn't succumb to such things, most of those people were ridiculed and eventually killed.

Because of that reality, most who were still sane chose to hide rather than step forward with their ideas.

No matter how much they claim to have let their guard down, it's still troubling that those Righteous bastards suffered defeat at the hands of demonic cultists whose motives remain unclear.

Although it may have been a needless worry, being careful never hurt.

"Prepare to make a request with the Xia Wu Sect."@@novelbin@@

Hefei, the Martial Alliance.

"…"

Nangong Weiwu's expression was not good.

The heavens seemed covered with dark clouds. He couldn't even see a single light in the distance.

"To think this is really happening…"

If the Evil Valley gained a lot, the Martial Alliance lost a lot.

The atmosphere in the Martial Alliance's meeting hall was heavy. All of the leaders had a gloomy look on their faces.

Considering the Demon Cult's invasion was just about to begin, this was truly a disaster.

"The situation is not good."

Not long ago, they had received financial help from Zhou Xuchuan, but it was that very same Martial Alliance that had sent him to the battlefield.

There were now rumors that the Martial Alliance had repaid kindness with betrayal.

"Elder Huang. How is the search going?"

"Not good. We've gotten help from the beggars and even the Righteous Faction forces in Shanxi, but we still haven't found him. The deceased Divine Monk and that bastard have also gone missing."

The bastard he was referring to was the Great Demon Head, Fang Fotong.

"Namu Amitabha…"

Jingren Shitai chanted mantras as if she felt regretful.

Little Chuan…

Nangong Weiwu let out a sigh.