Volume 1 Volume 6 Chapter 124

Volume 6 Chapter 124: Gathering at Black Emperor Cliff (Part 5)

In a land a thousand miles west of "Ronghua Mountain," Xu Qingfan finally managed to escape from Jin Qinghan. Without hesitation, he quickly found a hidden spot, not even having time to set up protective barriers, and sat down on the ground. He focused intensely on merging with the "Holy Spirit Buddhist Relic," combining its power to resist the "Demon Orb."

At this moment, the "Demon Orb" had already assimilated more than half of Xu Qingfan, and the demonic energy inside him was immense. Neither the life and death energies controlled by Xu Qingfan nor the power of the "Holy Spirit Buddhist Relic" could compete with it.

Even more terrifying was that the endless Demon Thought contained within the "Demon Orb" was continuously eroding Xu Qingfan’s mind. Even though Xu Qingfan’s willpower had reached its limit, he could only hold on to the last bit of clarity, struggling against dark thoughts of killing, rage, pride, and destruction, like a small boat in a furious sea, ready to capsize at any moment.

Essentially, based on Xu Qingfan’s understanding, although the powers contained in the "Demon Orb" and the "Holy Spirit Buddhist Relic" were similar, being assimilated by the "Demon Orb" wouldn’t mean that merging with the "Holy Spirit Buddhist Relic" would cancel out its influence on him. The first one to completely assimilate with Xu Qingfan would have its power and nature rooted in his body, and the other would need several times the strength to disperse or negate that influence.

In other words, if the situation continued like this, Xu Qingfan would eventually be completely assimilated by the "Demon Orb" and become a demon. Even if he integrated the "Holy Spirit Buddhist Relic" later, he would only be a slightly more awake demon who could use positive powers, which would be essentially no different from an ordinary demon.

However, although Xu Qingfan was desperately trying to assimilate the "Holy Spirit Buddhist Relic" in every possible way, the demonic energy in his body was gaining the upper hand, and his body’s nature was gradually shifting towards the dark path. As he tried to merge with the "Holy Spirit Buddhist Relic" again, he despairingly discovered that under these circumstances, the speed of assimilation was greatly slowed, now only half of what it was before.

If this situation continued, by the time the "Demon Orb" completely merged with Xu Qingfan, the level of his fusion with the "Holy Spirit Buddhist Relic" would be just slightly over half.

Even though he knew this, Xu Qingfan had no other way. He could only intensify the assimilation of the "Holy Spirit Buddhist Relic" on one hand while combining its power to resist the Demon Thought controlling his mind. On the other hand, he worked harder on the "Formula of Life and Death," using the life and death energies to assimilate the powers of both holy artifacts, hoping that at a crucial moment, his own strength could influence the outcome.

Besides that, Xu Qingfan could only watch helplessly as the "Demon Orb" suppressed the "Holy Spirit Buddhist Relic," gradually assimilating his body and allowing the Demon Thought to invade his mind bit by bit.

In addition, Xu Qingfan was constantly paying attention to the struggle among the "Magic Pearl," the "Holy Spirit Buddhist Relic," and his own power, but he did not notice two very important points.

First, although Xu Qingfan was continuously refining and merging the demonic energy in his body with "Withered qi," and he was doing it relatively smoothly, the amount of "Withered qi" was still much smaller than the demonic energy. As time went on, the demonic energy refined by "Withered qi" had already exceeded several times his own power, yet it gradually took on many characteristics of demonic energy. At this moment, it was more appropriate to call Xu Qingfan’s "Withered qi" the "Qi of Demonic Death."

Compared to the first point, the second point was even more critical. After starting to merge with the "Holy Spirit Buddhist Relic" again, although the joint force of the "Holy Spirit Buddhist Relic" barely resisted the invasion of Demon Thought into his mind, the demonic energy was winning over the righteous one, and there were still some traces of Demon Thought merging with Xu Qingfan’s consciousness. Although it temporarily could not change the control over Xu Qingfan’s mind, it would have far-reaching effects on his future.

Thus, as Xu Qingfan struggled, time kept passing by, and before he knew it, more than ten days had gone by. As time continued, the degree of integration between the "Magic Pearl" and Xu Qingfan had reached more than two-thirds, while the "Holy Spirit Buddhist Relic" had barely reached half of that integration.

Although Xu Qingfan was continually refining the powers of the two holy items, he had probably refined about one-fifth of the total power contained within them. As a result, the two energies of life and death grew stronger in a short time, and with the constant growth of his Nascent Soul, he successfully broke through to the mid-Nascent Soul stage and was quickly advancing to the late Nascent Soul stage. However, he still could not change the situation of the opposing energies within him, as he could only delay the speed at which the "Magic Pearl" controlled Xu Qingfan.

Once the "Magic Pearl" fully merged with Xu Qingfan’s body, the power of the "Holy Spirit Buddhist Relic" would be completely suppressed, and it would only take a moment for Demon Thought to control Xu Qingfan’s mind.

Soon, it seemed that Xu Qingfan was about to be completely controlled by the "Magic Pearl."

…

Meanwhile, under Zhang Xusheng’s lead, the main force of the Righteous Alliance was racing toward the location of the "Black Emperor Cliff." With a large and diverse group, no one noticed that among the four or five thousand Righteous Alliance masters, nine people, including Ting’er and Bai Qingfu, had mysteriously disappeared.

After the team flew for over a thousand miles towards "Black Emperor Cliff," the huge "yellow bird," which had been trailing far behind, suddenly turned gracefully. Its speed increased several times as it quickly returned in the direction they had come from. From standing still to turning and then speeding up, the massive figure made such complex movements without a sound, truly deserving of its ancient demon beast title.

Meanwhile, Little Green, who was running on the ground, saw Little Yellow’s actions and immediately followed, returning in the same direction. Its speed was almost as fast as Little Yellow’s.

However, although these two spirit pets left quietly, they were just Earth level low-level demon beasts. Due to their limited strength, they were still noticed by several experts from the Righteous Alliance. Just as these experts prepared to chase after Little Yellow and Little Green, they suddenly heard Mr. Liu’s voice.

"Let them go. Our priority is to deal with the ‘Ming’ organization. Don’t waste time on other matters."

When the Righteous Alliance experts heard Mr. Liu speak, they did not dare to disobey and all agreed. Immortal Zizhen gave a faint glance at Mr. Liu beside him, seemingly unhappy that he issued commands on his behalf, but did not say anything.

In a moment, the main force of the Righteous Alliance vanished over the horizon, and as they quickly approached "Black Emperor Cliff," a tremendous battle was about to begin.

At the same time, as the main force of the Righteous Alliance left, the once empty "Black Glory Valley" suddenly had a wave of space, and Ting’er, Zhang Ningmei, Bai Yu, Dongfang Qingling, Wang Zegang, Tian Zhenling, and Tian Zhenxian appeared.

After appearing, Zhang Ningmei nodded at Ting’er and said, "Little Yellow has brought Little Green to join us, and no one from the Righteous Alliance is pursuing us."

Ting’er silently nodded but looked towards "Ronghua Mountain," clearly not paying attention to Zhang Ningmei’s report; she was only concerned about Xu Qingfan’s safety.

Looking at Ting’er, Zhang Ningmei sighed softly. She had originally planned to discuss how to find Xu Qingfan with Ting’er, but now it seemed she could not rely on her.

Remembering that Xu Qingfan had said Dongfang Qingling might seem quiet but was very clever, Zhang Ningmei turned to Dongfang Qingling to talk. However, she helplessly noticed that Dongfang Qingling was also staring into the distance towards "Ronghua Mountain," her face filled with deep worry, not in a better state than Ting’er.

A bitter smile appeared on Zhang Ningmei’s lips. It was already good that Bai Yu, Tian Zhenxian, and Tian Zhenling weren’t causing trouble. With Ting’er and Dongfang Qingling in such a state, it seemed she could only consult Wang Zegang.

But when Zhang Ningmei turned to Wang Zegang, she saw him with a serious expression, his eyes shining with a sharp light. The powerful presence of a Golden Core Stage expert was slowly spreading as he focused on an empty spot not far away.

Bai Yu, who usually acted freely, was also serious at this moment, keeping a watchful eye on the same spot as Wang Zegang.

"You two friends are very patient, but now we have discovered you. Aren’t you going to show yourselves?"

Wang Zegang’s words woke the others, and they quickly looked towards that spot, where they saw a disturbance in the air, and Bai Qingfu and Lv Qingshang, both with bitter smiles, appeared before everyone.

"Your skills are impressive. I have always been confident in my ability to conceal myself, but I did not expect you to find me so easily. With your level of skill, you must be unmatched in my Righteous Alliance, except for the fourteen masters and a few talented Golden Core Stage experts. However, I have never heard of your name and wonder which sect you belong to and why you are with my apprentices. Please enlighten me."

Lv Qingshang looked at Wang Zegang in surprise for a moment before politely clasping his hands in greeting.

Although many skilled people have emerged in the Righteous Alliance over the years, there are still not many great masters above the Golden Core Stage. There are even fewer top masters like Wang Zegang, who are close to the late stage of the Golden Core Stage. That is why Lv Qingshang is so polite and curious.

On the other side, Bai Qingfu did not speak, but he was very interested in the "Six-eared Macaque" that was sitting on Bai Yu’s shoulder. Given Bai Yu’s cultivation level, it was clear that he could not have discovered the presence of Wang Zegang and the others. It must be the spirit pet’s merit.

"I am Wang Zegang, just an unnamed nobody. Since I stepped into the Golden Core Stage, I have been following Taoist Friend Xu Qingfan’s lead. It is normal for two esteemed disciples of famous sects not to know me. However, why haven’t you two joined the main force of the Righteous Alliance? Instead, you are hiding and secretly observing us. To avoid misunderstanding, please explain."

After examining Lv Qingshang and Bai Qingfu for a moment, Wang Zegang discovered that they could not pose a threat to him given their cultivation levels. He felt somewhat relieved and politely yet firmly asked.

"Uh…"

Concerning Jiuhua’s future, Lv Qingshang could not speak openly. He hesitated and replied to Wang Zegang’s question.

"Speak!"

Just then, Ting’er widened her eyes slightly, and suddenly a sea of black magic flames surged from her. Even Wang Zegang, the most powerful in the arena, was startled when he sensed the energy contained in the black flames. He quietly stepped aside to avoid being accidentally harmed.

Although Lv Qingshang and Bai Qingfu were familiar with each other, Xu Qingfan’s status in the Righteous Alliance was delicate at this moment. Besides a few people nearby, Ting’er trusted no one.

"I am here to help you find Junior Martial Brother Xu Qingfan."

Just when everyone was shocked by Ting’er’s magic flames, the silent Bai Qingfu suddenly smiled and spoke.