Chapter 841: Niu Youdao Told Us Himself!

Blue sea stretched beneath a clear sky. Far away, an island appeared on the horizon. As a flock of large flying birds approached, they gradually descended and rushed toward it.

These were none other than the cultivators of the various states who had left Tiandu Peak and pursued the Four Seas forces all the way here.

Of the seven states, everyone except Yan and Zhao was present.

They had chased their quarry off the mainland and all the way into the Eastern Sea. Just as they were about to catch up, the whole pack of demons and monsters plunged into the sea and vanished without a trace.

The pursuers from the five states refused to let the matter rest. They began slaughtering their way through the Eastern Sea, clearing one island after another. Any overseas cultivator they encountered was killed. Their intention was obvious: force the Four Seas people to show themselves.

The island ahead was plainly their next target.

Boom!

Columns of seawater suddenly erupted one after another, shooting skyward toward the flock of large flying birds.

The birds shrieked in fright and scattered chaotically. Fortunately, the cultivators riding them were no weaklings. Bursts of spiritual power came slashing down, smashing apart the water columns.

"Aoooh..."

A heaven-shaking roar rolled upward. The sound waves left heads spinning and eardrums aching.

The cultivators could use their arts to resist it, but the screeching flying birds could not endure the sound. The cultivators of the five states immediately released the birds to climb high and flee the area, while they themselves dropped from the sky and glided in broad circles toward the sea.

At the center of their circling formation, a gigantic and savage sea beast surfaced.

Its enormous body resembled an island. Its neck rose like a mountain, and tusks like stone stalagmites lined its blood-red maw as it roared.

It was a colossus of the sea known as the Sea-Overturning Beast!

Water streamed from the monster's head as it rose above the surface. Standing atop that hideous head was a group of people—the very Four Seas cultivators being pursued.

This was the territory of the Great Sage of the Eastern Sea, but after being hunted so relentlessly, it would have been unsafe to split up, especially with five states working together. The Demon King of the Western Sea, Dharma King of the South Sea, Nether Lord of the Northern Sea, and the others were all present as well.

And they were not alone.

All across the sea, enormous fish and strange beasts broke through the waves, each carrying people on their backs.

Several thousand demon cultivators temporarily mobilized from across the Eastern Sea had finally shown themselves. One could say the five states had forced them out.

There had been no choice. The people of the five states had entered Eastern Sea territory and were killing anyone they encountered. If the Great Sage of the Eastern Sea still refused to appear and speak up, what would the people under him think?

The cultivators of the five states showed no fear. One after another, they descended onto the sea, standing atop the waves as they raised their heads toward the group on the savage beast.

"Do not push people too far!" the Great Sage of the Eastern Sea shouted angrily from above, pointing at them. "Don't forget where you are. This is not a place where you can run wild!"

"Ptui! A pack of demons and monsters, and you think you deserve to call yourselves people?" Taishu Feihua spat. Pointing at the other side, he barked, "You want to compete with us in numbers? Do you believe the seven states could join forces, move great numbers of people out to sea, and occupy every island you depend on for survival?"

Bei Xuan, Sect Leader of Xuanbing Sect, gave a cold laugh. "Old Taishu, there are countless islands large and small across the seas. Saying we'd occupy all of them is a little exaggerated. Better to put it this way: blast every small island beneath the waves, destroy the middling ones, then occupy the islands suitable for habitation and drive every last one of them into the sea to grow fish scales!"

The Great Sage of the Eastern Sea roared, "Big words! Try it if you've got the ability!"

Chi Qingli, Sect Leader of the Tiannü Sect, swept out one sleeve and pointed toward Fuhua and the others. "Enough nonsense! Hand over the people who killed disciples of my Tiannü Sect! And use Niu Youdao's three hundred million gold coins as compensation. Do those two things, and we can let bygones be bygones!"

A savage look appeared on the Demon King of the Western Sea's face, but in the next instant he threw back his head and laughed three times. With one hand on his hip, he pointed at Chi Qingli with the other.

"Fine! I agree. I'll hand them over to you!"

The people around him all turned to look, not expecting him to yield so readily.

Then his tone changed.

"But I only agreed to hand them over to your Tiannü Sect. Make everyone else withdraw. The people and the money go only to your Tiannü Sect. Do you dare agree?"

Chi Qingli choked on the words, then immediately shot back, "The people you killed were not only disciples of my Tiannü Sect. Even if I agreed, the others wouldn't!"

Taishu Feihua cut in, "Don't bully a woman. You can hand them over to me instead!"

What did he mean by that?

Chi Qingli whipped her head around and glared at him.

The Demon King of the Western Sea fired back, "I like women. If I'm giving something to someone, I like giving it to a woman. I've got no interest in a stinking old man like you!"

Taishu Feihua barked, "Enough wagging your tongue! I don't have time to waste on you. I ask only one thing: who killed the people from Jin?"

The Demon King of the Western Sea immediately brightened with amusement. He pointed toward several of the other factions. "Old Taishu, they didn't tell you? Yan, Han, Wei, Qi, and Song joined forces and wiped out Jin's contingent, and you can still run over here hand in hand with them to make trouble for us? So after all that, you actually had no idea!"

It was not only him. The Great Sage of the Eastern Sea and the others immediately realized there was entertainment to be had.

Taishu Feihua spun toward the people beside him and shouted furiously, "Is what he said true?"

Yin Rushu, Sect Leader of Baichuan Valley, replied, "Taishu Feihua, don't listen to his bullshit. It is true that the five of us joined forces and fought Jin, but we only drove them away. There was no annihilation. Everyone here can testify to that!"

The Demon King of the Western Sea roared with laughter. "Five factions joined forces just to drive Jin away? I wager Old Taishu will definitely believe that ghost story of yours!"

Yuwen Yan, Sect Leader of the Tianhuo Sect, said coldly, "Taishu Feihua, that creature is obviously sowing discord. Think about it. Could they really have taken first place on their own? I suspect Jin's people died at their hands."

The Demon King of the Western Sea said, "The five of you joining forces could only drive Jin away, yet the handful of Four Seas people we had at the time supposedly wiped them out? Old Taishu, do you believe that?"

The factions that had jointly attacked Jin were momentarily speechless. It was difficult to admit that at the time they had slaughtered Jin down to barely a hundred people.

When no one answered, the Demon King of the Western Sea immediately pressed on. "Yuwen Yan, you're lying through your teeth. You and I both know that our Four Seas people did ambush some of you, but as for Jin, we never touched them even once from beginning to end."

Yuwen Yan said, "What a joke. If you didn't rob Jin, where did the Spirit Seeds that put you in first place come from?"

The Demon King of the Western Sea replied, "We got them openly and honestly. Two thousand Four Seas people entered the gathering. We gathered most of them ourselves, then robbed four factions afterward. What's wrong with taking first place?"

Yuwen Yan said, "Your Four Seas people were causing trouble from the very beginning. You never seriously gathered Spirit Seeds at all."

At that, the Four Seas side became irritated.

The Demon King of the Western Sea sneered. "Who started causing trouble first is something everyone knows in his own heart. Certain people, for motives they dared not admit, began slaughtering our people right from the start. Were our people supposed to stand there and let themselves be killed?"

Qu Fan, Sect Leader of Blood God Hall, said, "Once a demon opens its mouth, nothing but lies come out. It was plainly your Four Seas people who began ambushing us the moment you entered the Secret Realm, yet with so many witnesses present, you still dare turn around and accuse us!"

"Hey! Make yourself clear. Who exactly is turning around and accusing whom...?"

The two sides hurled accusations back and forth, each refusing to admit anything.

Their verbal battle was fierce, but no one actually attacked. In truth, both sides were wary.

The people from the five states knew they had not brought many men. The other side had already mobilized in force, and fighting on the enemy's own ground would give them little advantage.

The Four Seas side likewise knew the powers of the seven states were far greater than their own. If they truly provoked all seven states into mobilizing openly, the threats would no longer be empty words.

As the quarrel dragged on, people who had personally participated in the Secret Realm expedition began jumping forward from both sides to accuse one another.

The Four Seas side insisted the various states had entered the Secret Realm intending, for some hidden purpose, to wipe them out.

The people of the states demanded proof.

"Niu Youdao told us himself!"

The moment those words rang out, both sides of the argument somehow fell silent.

Even the Four Seas man who had shouted them quieted down.

Sometimes those caught in the middle of events could not see clearly.

At the time, everyone had been confused by the situation. Now that they had stepped outside the circumstances of the Secret Realm, hearing the matter raised again was unexpectedly sobering.

Fuhua, Lang Jingkong, Hong Gaitian, and Duan Wuchang looked at one another, uncertainty flickering in all four pairs of eyes.

Shouzheng Pavilion Elder Yao Xianding said, "Niu Youdao said it, so you believed him?"

Fuhua replied, "You really were hunting us!"

Yao Xianding said, "Because your people killed ours first!"

Fuhua asked, "Did you see it with your own eyes?"

Yao Xianding replied, "People on our side saw it personally."

Fuhua said, "The moment we entered the Secret Realm, we started killing your people? Do you really think that makes sense?"

The cultivators from several states exchanged suspicious looks.

Thinking back now, Fuhua's words were not without reason.

Even if the Four Seas people had meant to rob Spirit Seeds, why attack right at the beginning, when no one had gathered many Spirit Seeds yet?

It was far too abnormal.

In truth, people had noticed the oddity even inside the Secret Realm.

But those caught in the middle could not see clearly. And under the circumstances at the time, fighting and killing had been inevitable anyway. Once they had an excuse, many had been only too willing to kill and rob.

Now that they had stepped outside that situation and looked back, the matter did indeed appear different.

Fuhua continued, "Where are the people who claimed they saw us kill yours? Did they say exactly who on our side did it? If they did, point them out. Bring both sides here and let them confront each other face-to-face!"

At those words, the Sect Leaders of the various states silently turned their gazes toward the Elders who had presided over their contingents inside the Secret Realm.

Just then, a Golden Wing descended from the sky and landed among the Song group.

After the message arrived, the people from Song's Lingxiao Pavilion, Heaven-Splitting Palace, and Blood God Hall gathered together and murmured among themselves for a moment.

Then, without another word and without even saying farewell to the others, they assembled their people and shot into the air.

Large flying birds swept down to meet them, then carried them away at speed.

Song's three great sects had received an urgent message from home containing two pieces of news.

First, Yan had started a war against Zhao.

Second, Han had launched an offensive against Song.

The frozen wars had broken open again, and Song was once more facing a precarious crisis.

How could Song's three great sects still have the leisure to remain here?

They had to return immediately and take charge.

Song's sudden departure left the Han group visibly uneasy.

Chi Qingli of the Tiannü Sect, Yin Rushu of Baichuan Valley, and Xu Yingguang of Wushang Palace withdrew to one side and quietly conferred.

All three suspected something had changed on the battlefield between their states.

Logically, that should not have been possible. Without their approval, Han should not have launched an offensive rashly, while Song was the weaker side and should not have dared attack first.

They had pursued the Four Seas people all the way from Misty Pavilion and had spent the last several days flying around over the sea. They had no idea Niu Youdao had sent a warning to Han, causing Han's Grand Marshal Jin Jue to decide that while Yan and Zhao were tied down fighting each other and there was no threat from that quarter, this was the right opportunity to finish Song first.

Whatever the truth, the strange behavior of Song's three great sects was enough to put Han's leaders on high alert.

They did not say much more.

The Han group also left without delay.

[End of Chapter 841]