Chapter 1542: Straight to the Attack

Once Niu Youdao finished coaxing Yin'er like a child and she moved off to busy herself with eating, Yun Ji came closer and lowered her voice. "Relying on her to intercept Wu Chang still feels unreliable to me. What if, when the time comes, she doesn't attack Wu Chang and instead helps Wu Chang deal with us too?"

Yuan Cong and the others did not know the real circumstances, so hearing that the Holy Rakshasa was present had put them considerably more at ease. Yun Ji, however, had personally seen what Yin'er was like when she lost all recognition of friend and foe. One Wu Chang was already difficult enough. Add the Holy Rakshasa, and wouldn't they simply be courting death?

She could tell there was an element of Niu Youdao using the Holy Rakshasa to mislead Yuan Cong and the others. To put it nicely, he was using her to bolster their courage.

Niu Youdao replied quietly, "So long as the plan goes smoothly, Yin'er probably won't need to act. The real reason I brought her is simply so Wu Chang can see that the Holy Rakshasa is here. Think about it. Which gives him more confidence: ambushing an unsuspecting Yin'er, or facing the Holy Rakshasa head-on?"

Yun Ji considered this and understood.

The purpose of bringing Yin'er had never been to make Yin'er fight. It was to make Wu Chang wary. Only by forcing Wu Chang to keep his promise could their side withdraw smoothly.

Put another way, Niu Youdao did not trust Wu Chang's promise either.

Niu Youdao continued, "Only if we have something to rely on will Wu Chang feel more at ease about us."

Yun Ji nodded.

Niu Youdao added, "Make absolutely sure the food prepared for Yin'er here is checked carefully."

Yun Ji gave a small grunt. "Don't worry. We'll inspect it carefully."

At noon the next day, two figures descended from the sky and landed together on the mountaintop.

Lan Daolin and Du Wuxu had arrived.

Hei Shi appeared and hurried forward, cupping his hands. "Greetings, Sacred Venerables."

Lan Daolin swept his gaze around and asked heavily, "Where is Wu Chang?"

A window in a nearby pavilion opened. Wu Chang's upper body appeared within it. "Come in." Then he turned and disappeared from view.

Lan Daolin and Du Wuxu exchanged a glance and flashed away, shooting through the window one after another.

The pavilion was empty. They saw only Wu Chang's back slowly sinking from view at the stairway leading down.

Neither knew where he intended to take them. Du Wuxu called heavily, "Where are we going? Where is the Holy Rakshasa?"

The reason Wu Chang had summoned them here was that he claimed to have found traces of the Holy Rakshasa.

But almost as soon as the words left Du Wuxu's mouth, both men sensed something wrong.

The sky seemed to darken abruptly. There were fluctuations of spiritual power.

They snapped their heads around and saw black mist already boiling beyond the window.

The Boundless Demon Domain?

Both were shocked. They shot upward together.

Boom!

The roof exploded as the two blasted through it.

Wood splinters flew everywhere, but by the time they emerged they discovered that they were already inside a pitch-black space.

Below the pavilion, Wu Chang continued walking slowly down the stairs. Black clouds were already surging beneath his feet, his long hair moving without wind as he rode those clouds like a man cleaving through wind and waves.

Suddenly he flung both arms wide.

Boom!

Vast spiritual power swept outward. The pavilion exploded apart, fragments flying in every direction, while Wu Chang himself rose within the roiling black mist with his arms spread.

Just as he had said before, his Boundless Demon Domain had to be unleashed in a rootless place. Once it connected with the ground, the earth beneath the trapped targets would become an opening through which they could escape underground.

Outside the mountaintop pavilion, Hei Shi had watched Lan Daolin and Du Wuxu enter through the window with his own eyes. He now watched black fog surge up from below and rapidly swallow the entire building.

Explosions followed one after another. Splinters blasted outward. Hei Shi swept his sleeves repeatedly to knock them aside.

When he looked again, the rolling black cloud was expanding and rising lightly into the air, blotting out the sunlight overhead.

Hei Shi hardly knew what to say.

This Sacred Venerable truly was direct. These were Lan Daolin and Du Wuxu, yet the moment they met he attacked without even bothering to circle around the matter.

Inside the roiling black mist, Lan Daolin and Du Wuxu did not act rashly. They stood back-to-back, alert to every direction.

Both knew exactly what sort of place they were in. This was not the first time they had been trapped inside the Boundless Demon Domain.

They were both shocked and furious. They had not imagined Wu Chang would strike the instant they met. He had truly caught them unprepared.

Neither knew what madness had seized Wu Chang, but this time both sensed faintly that something was wrong.

By all reason, Wu Chang should know perfectly well that the Boundless Demon Domain alone could not do anything to them. For him to knowingly attempt what should not work meant there was almost certainly something else behind it.

Suddenly red light bloomed above and to one side.

Both men whipped their heads around.

The black clouds parted as Wu Chang's colossal dharma manifestation emerged like a heavenly god, vast and majestic.

"Enter... my... Demon Domain! Enter... my... Demon Domain!"

The immense voice rolled through the darkness like a celestial Buddhist chant. It was Wu Chang's voice.

Du Wuxu pointed furiously. "Wu Chang, what are you doing?"

Wu Chang said, "Isn't it obvious? Why ask?"

Lan Daolin said, "This alone can't do anything to us!"

Wu Chang was remarkably candid. He made no attempt to conceal the truth. "I've joined forces with them."

Them?

The two understood at once. He had to mean the people who had stolen the Wuliang Fruit.

Du Wuxu sneered. "You think this rabble, each harboring his own schemes, can do anything?"

Wu Chang said, "Whether they're rabble or not, there's no harm in trying. This time I'd like to see whether the two of you can still escape!"

Lan Daolin and Du Wuxu exchanged a glance.

They had to admit the bastard was right. There really was no harm in trying from Wu Chang's perspective. If he could kill them, he would. If he failed, the two of them still could not do anything to him. Either way, Wu Chang himself had little to lose. Why would he not dare make the attempt?

Wu Chang suddenly turned his head toward the depths of the black clouds, as though he could see through the roiling darkness. "What are you still waiting for?"

Down on the mountaintop, Hei Shi was staring up at the black cloud overhead when a passage suddenly opened through it. Wu Chang appeared suspended in the air, facing him as he barked the order.

"Yes!" Hei Shi cupped his hands, accepted the command, and flashed away.

By now, nearly everyone throughout Qiyun Sect had been alarmed by the extraordinary mass of black cloud hanging over the mountain.

Taishu Feihua and the other senior figures of Qiyun Sect appeared one after another, all looking in the same direction.

Before long, a disciple rushed over and reported urgently, "Sect Leader, the Three Sacred Venerables seem to have fallen out. It looks like they've started fighting."

Fallen out?

Taishu Feihua and the others exchanged looks.

The Three Sacred Venerables had started fighting inside Qiyun Sect?

Which side were they supposed to help?

They did not dare help any side.

Looking again toward the enormous black cloud that even the mountain wind could not disperse, Taishu Feihua murmured, "Is this what the strength of the Nascent Soul Realm looks like?"

Men like them had never witnessed anything so spectacular in battle, nor had they ever seen Wu Chang display this technique. Seeing it for the first time was almost like witnessing a divine miracle.

In a mountain courtyard, Niu Youdao and the others came outside as well. They were relatively close and raised their heads toward the strange spectacle of black cloud covering the mountaintop.

Niu Youdao murmured to himself, "Has it begun?"

Most of them had never seen Wu Chang use a technique like this either. For those seeing it for the first time, the sight was genuinely intimidating.

Kunlin Shu said, "This is Wu Chang's Boundless Demon Domain. I've been inside it before. It looks like an illusion, but it's actually a formation that manipulates empty space. If he refuses to let someone out, anyone who enters is like a man trapped in a boundless sea of fog. You can't fly free."

Yuan Cong asked, "Will Wu Chang cooperate with us the way we agreed?"

Wu Chang had secretly met them beforehand to discuss exactly how the two sides would work together and eliminate the targets one by one.

Niu Youdao said, "Whether he cooperates or not, remember what Kunlin Shu just said. He's been inside and has experience. Whatever happens, don't let yourselves become separated. If something changes, Kunlin Shu will break the formation and lead everyone out."

At that moment, Hei Shi flashed over and cupped his hands toward the group. "Everyone, Lan Daolin and Du Wuxu have already been trapped inside Sacred Venerable's Boundless Demon Domain. Begin!"

Niu Youdao suddenly lifted a hand and pointed toward the mountaintop.

Hei Shi looked back and saw a group of Misty Pavilion personnel rushing toward it. He gave a cold laugh. "Lan Daolin's and Du Wuxu's people. They want to show loyalty and protect their masters. They overestimate themselves." He looked back at Niu Youdao's group. "Don't tell me you can't even dispose of them."

Niu Youdao said, "They can't stop us, but we don't want interference."

Hei Shi urged them, "Just go. I'll bring people over to assist. Stop wasting time. Sacred Venerable can't maintain the Boundless Demon Domain indefinitely either. Move!"

Niu Youdao looked back.

Yin'er stood beneath the eaves with a bulging satchel slung diagonally across her body, a chicken leg in one hand as she gnawed on it. Like a curious child, she stared at the strange cloud hanging in the sky, puzzled, perhaps feeling some faint sense of familiarity.

Niu Youdao flashed over and caught Yin'er by the arm. He looked from one side to the other at the group and gave the order.

"Go!"

Yun Ji immediately seized Yuan Gang by the arm.

The entire group shot away, racing toward the mountaintop.

For an instant, Hei Shi looked slightly suspicious.

Why did the man supposedly responsible only for communication seem to be the one giving all the orders?

There was no point thinking about that now. Whether this man was truly the one giving orders did not matter at present. What mattered was that these people were willing to act. Everything else could wait until later.

Hei Shi flashed away as well to summon Tianmo Sacred Land's personnel.

Atop the mountain, the people of Tianlan Sacred Land and Wuxu Sacred Land had gathered and were staring up at the sky.

They had arrived, but none dared actually take action.

Given their strength, they truly did not believe they were qualified to interfere in a battle of this level. Recklessly involving themselves would be suicide.

But they could not simply do nothing either, so all they could do was put on a show from below.

Suddenly another group rushed in.

It was Yuan Cong and the others.

They crashed into the gathered men like tigers among a flock of sheep and immediately began slaughtering without mercy.

How could those people stop them?

They quickly broke and fled, which conveniently gave them a reason for failing to support their Sacred Venerables.

The senior figures of Qiyun Sect had hurried closer to see what was happening. After witnessing the exchange with their own eyes, they were all secretly alarmed.

They could tell Yuan Cong and the others were no ordinary people. This appeared to be an entire group of Nascent Soul cultivators.

A group of Nascent Soul cultivators wearing Misty Pavilion uniforms had actually infiltrated Qiyun Sect and hidden among Misty Pavilion's own personnel.

They had managed to conceal themselves inside Misty Pavilion without being discovered. No one would believe this had happened without someone on the inside arranging it beforehand.

The Three Sacred Venerables had suddenly turned on one another, and now a group of Nascent Soul cultivators had appeared.

Taishu Feihua and the others realized this could not possibly be some sudden accident. This was a premeditated operation.

If these people wanted to kill one another, that was plainly beyond anything Qiyun Sect could interfere with.

They had no desire to interfere either.

They only hoped the disaster would not spread onto their own heads.

After driving away the insignificant obstruction, Niu Youdao and the others gathered atop the mountain and stared upward at the rolling black cloud.

Some faces were taut. Others concealed nervousness and unease.

Faced with something like this, it would have been false to claim none of them were afraid.

Yin'er alone kept chewing whatever was in her mouth, still wearing the same expression of pure curiosity.

Everything happening before her seemed no more than passing scenery.

Even the bloodshed and deaths just moments ago failed to stir the slightest unusual reaction from her, as though none of it had anything to do with her.

[End of Chapter 1542]