Chapter 152

This single sentence revealed a great deal of information. Even though Si Ming wasn't good at analysis, he knew that since there was East Sea Demon King, there must also be three Demon Kings of the West Sea, South Sea, and North Sea. If there were more, there might even be divisions such as the Central Sea, the Central- East Sea Central- West Sea, and the Central- North Sea.

Furthermore, Divine Rank Demon Beast are called Demon General. Judging from the title, Demon King are definitely a rank higher than Demon General. Above the Divine Rank is the Earth Rank, and Earth Rank Demon Beast are powerful beings that hover on the edge of the Void Returning Realm.

The strongest Demon Beast to date was Earth Rank, which caused immense damage and casualties to the Li State. It was only through the personal intervention of the Li Kingdom's Grand Tutor, the only Void Returning expert of the Confucian School Li State, that the beast was finally killed.

As for the Heaven Grade Demon Beast, they only exist in theory. It was only after the scientists of the Li State studied the corpse of that Earth Demon that they reached this conclusion. Some countries did not accept their conclusions and requested to study the corpse together to obtain more accurate data. As expected, the Confucian School solemnly rejected their request.

If Demon King are Earth Rank Demon Beast, it means that the Demon Race has at least four peak Peak Spirit Transformation cultivators, and among them, there might even be one who has reached the Void Returning Realm...

However, Si Ming found the veracity of this conclusion highly questionable. If the Demon Race possessed such strength, even if only one member reached the Void Returning Realm, they should have already established a nation on land and vied for supremacy, instead of cowering in the sea.

Perhaps the Demon King is also Divine Rank Demon Beast, just an outstanding one among Divine Rank Demon Beast, just as there are strong and weak martial artists in the Spirit Transformation Realm.

Or perhaps, there is only the East Sea Demon King, and no one from the other three seas.

Si Ming, too lazy to think about it, directly raised the question, and heard the fox woman say, "Whether there are Demon King in the other three seas, we lower-level demons don't know, after all, they are thousands of miles apart and we don't usually have the chance to meet."

That makes sense when you think about it. Humanity's technology hasn't even developed convenient communication tools like cell phones yet, so it's even less likely for the Demon Race, who have no industrial base. They're not like immortal cultivators who can travel thousands of miles a day with a simple Method Formula. Even if there really were three Demon Kings, they wouldn't have the opportunity to communicate with each other.

"What orders did the East Sea Demon King give you?"

"Only the Demon General knows the specifics. My instructions were to follow Demon General in attacking this place, killing all living beings we see, and destroying the four mountain peaks. Our Demon Race has a strict hierarchy, with higher-ranking Demon Race having absolute dominion over lower-ranking Demon Race. He disdains explaining his orders to us."

Si Ming frowned inwardly. The other party's words were ambiguous, making it impossible to determine whether their true purpose was to rescue or kill Martial Uncle Xiao. It was difficult to distinguish friend from foe.

"Since you belong to the East Sea Demon King, how did you come to the inland?"

"Although Su State has a large population, it's not crowded everywhere. You can always find sparsely populated areas, especially since you all stay at home at night and rarely go out. We traveled here by night."

Murong Qing suddenly said in a solemn tone, "But you all live in the sea, how would you know where there are many people and where there are few on land? If you are not careful on the road and your tracks are discovered, the whole army will be wiped out. The risk of doing so is too great, so there must be someone to help you and guide you to avoid crowded areas. To do this, an ordinary person could never do it..."

Si Ming immediately thought of the term "traitor." Cooperating with the Demon Race was an act of betrayal against one's race. Of course, the possibility that the Demon Race was disguised as humans could not be ruled out.

Xiao Xuan suddenly laughed and said, "Just as I imagined, the higher-ups have indeed become corrupt. Even the Mohist School, which is Foundation people, cannot escape the corruption of power. Once they put on the skin of officials, they are naturally different from ordinary people. And when people are blinded by desire, they can throw away all morality, righteousness, and justice."

He paused, then continued in a murderous tone, "It's time for a purge; we can't let them continue to wreak havoc on this country."

Si Ming didn't pay attention to those words. As an ordinary citizen, he couldn't sympathize with high-ranking officials. Instead, he felt a sense of schadenfreude when he saw them suffer. It was the same in his previous life. Whether it was genuine anti-corruption or targeted anti-corruption, as long as the evidence was conclusive and the other party deserved their punishment, he would still applaud when he saw news of corrupt officials going to jail.

Even though Xiao Xuan spoke with murderous intent, Si Ming remained unmoved. He didn't care about anything that didn't concern him and pretended not to hear it. Besides, if he could really cleanse away some scoundrels, it would undoubtedly be a good thing.

Afterwards, Si Ming asked a few more questions, and the fox woman told him everything she could, but unfortunately, none of them touched on the key information about the Demon Race. Her position in the Demon Race was mid-level; she knew some useful information, but she couldn't get to the core. The real secrets were all in the hands of that Divine Rank Demon General, but unfortunately, he had already been blasted to the point that not even a hair was left.

Finally, Si Ming compiled all the information from the questions and answers, intending to hand it over to his master later. This level of confrontation was beyond his comprehension, and there was no need for him to step on tiptoe and get involved.

Xiao Xuan said, "Now that we've confirmed there are collaborators of the Demon Race within the country, we can't let you take this demonic creature back. Otherwise, she'll most likely be silenced. I want to extract more information from her."

"But I've already explained everything. I didn't mean to hide anything; I genuinely didn't know anything. Taking me back won't do any good."

The fox-woman begged for mercy, revealing a vulnerable appearance that easily evoked a man's protective instincts.

"Whether you've truly confessed or not isn't up to you to decide. Besides, I'm only keeping you around because you're valuable. Once you're no longer valuable, do you think you can survive? Or do you think I'd let you go?"

Startled by Xiao Xuan's glare, the fox woman shrank back, her unconscious seductive demeanor vanishing.

Murong Qing disagreed with Xiao Xuan taking the fox girl away, but she knew that even if she disagreed, it would be useless, and she couldn't stop him, so she saved her breath.

"As I said before, we should repay kindness with kindness. I'll set aside my gratitude to my younger sister for now, but you two juniors have contributed a lot in this battle, and as your elder, I can't turn a blind eye. Besides, you two are my third brother and younger sister's apprentices, so consider these two items as my greeting gifts as your elders."

As Xiao Xuan spoke, he took out two ice crystals.

He handed the larger piece to Si Ming, saying, "During my years imprisoned in the mountains, to avoid wasting my skills, I honed my cultivation by refining meteorites from outer space beneath the mountain. Eventually, I refined some nuclear essences. These essences possess powerful energy, functioning similarly to a nuclear reactor. I sealed them inside with ice crystals from the mountain's inner wall, isolating them from nuclear radiation. You can continue cultivating the * Supreme Plain Decay True Scripture * by absorbing its radiation energy, saving you the trouble of traveling a long way here to cultivate in the future."

Xiao Xuan didn't give the smaller piece to Murong Qing, but instead placed it on the blade of the Moon God's Tear, saying, "This piece is a thousand-year-old mysterious ice, an unexpected gain when I was refining a meteorite from outer space. It might be related to the snow-capped mountain beneath our feet. Your Moon God's Tear is said to be a divine weapon with yin and cold attributes, but it's primarily yin in nature; the coldness is merely incidental and can't freeze people. Now I'm incorporating this piece of thousand-year-old mysterious ice into the sword to enhance its coldness."

He immediately activated his power, his Essence Blood surging within him, as if he had a nuclear battery inside. The enormous radiation concentrated in his palm, and a green light shone on the millennia-old ice, quickly melting it. Even the surface of the Moon God's Tear showed signs of melting and became blurred.

Logically, ice melting into water should mean an increase in temperature. However, when the millennia-old ice melted, it released a large amount of cold air, chilling people to the bone. Si Ming and Murong Qing, who were standing nearby, could not withstand it and quickly took a few steps back. Xiao Xuan's body was also covered with a layer of snow-white frost, but his movements were not affected.

The juice of the millennia-old ice was poured onto the surface of the Moon God's Tear, forming a mercury-like coating. Xiao Xuan kneaded the sword with both hands, and with his finger strength, he was more powerful than a craftsman wielding a hammer. He quickly fused the two together, completing the tempering process.

"Alright, it's finished. Like Junior Nephew Si, you can use this sword to cultivate the 'Glacier Divine Art' from now on."

Although Murong Qing had opinions about Xiao Xuan, she was a person of principle and would not judge things based on personal relationships. She thanked him and took the enhanced Moon God's Tear from Xiao Xuan. As soon as she held it, she felt a needle-like chill flowing into her body through her meridians. She quickly circulated the "Glacier Divine Art" to absorb it.

"Alright, I've done everything I needed to do, it's time for me to leave," Xiao Xuan said sincerely to Ling Huanxi. "Little sister, I look forward to the day we meet again."

Ling Huanxi said, "On the contrary, I hope that day never comes, otherwise, we might not still be siblings."

"Ha, you're still as kind as ever, unwilling to face the painful truth. Perhaps this desolate, snow-covered plain is the most suitable place for you."

Xiao Xuan waved his hand, picked up the fox spirit, and turned to disappear into the white snowstorm.

After a long while, Ling Huanxi sighed softly, turned to Si Ming and Murong Qing, and said, "My duties are fulfilled. It's time for me to go back. What about you two?"

She still had many external injuries, but her internal injuries had been stabilized with Xiao Xuan's help. The physical qualities of a Nascent Spirit Transformation were extraordinary. For them, no matter how severe the external injuries were, they were secondary, unless they were missing an arm or a leg. What was truly troublesome were the residual internal energy and Martial Dao Will, especially the latter. It did not contribute much to the lethality; it was used to wear down a person's spirit and will, and it was extremely difficult to remove.

Ling Huanxi lost to her opponent because she used ordinary moves, so she only suffered temporary but serious external injuries. With the self-healing ability of Spirit Transformation cultivator, she could stabilize her injuries quickly after taking some time to adjust her breathing. To inflict real serious damage on them, she would have to use her ultimate move.

Murong Qing calculated the time and said with a hint of anxiety, "School is about to start, and if we don't go back soon, we'll miss the first week—luckily, we're going from high school to high school, so we have more summer vacation time than other students."

Si Ming stroked his chin, pondering, "I feel like I've forgotten something... I can't remember. Oh well, it's probably nothing important. Let's hurry back; booking train tickets home will take quite a bit of work."

"Sunlight Beast! My Mohist School Profound Armor, ahhhhhh!"

On the train, Si Ming clutched his bald head and wailed.