Old Man Hongjun's cry of "Class is starting!" still buzzed through every nook and cranny of the Primordial World and Three Realms.
Lingxiao Treasure Hall.
Di Jun's handsome face was so dark it looked ready to drip ink as he stared fixedly at the River Diagram and Luo Script before him.
The glowing point representing the Witch Clan Destiny was dazzlingly bright, as if it had been pumped full of stimulants!
What made his liver tremble even more was that the point was tightly entangled with Buzhou Mountain's destiny, like a stubborn plaster—and like a scorching branding iron pressed against the Demon Emperor's heart!
"Hiss—!"
Di Jun sucked in a cold breath through his teeth, feeling even his back molars ache.
Taiyi paced anxiously beside him like an ant on a hot pan, Solar True Fire blazing over his head. His footsteps made the floor creak.
"Big Brother! Patriarch Hongjun has already spoken! This is a once-in-a-millennium opportunity! We need to build up our strength and crush Buzhou Mountain in one wave while those barbarians are distracted by the sermon, displaying the might of our Demon Clan!"
Taiyi's booming voice made even the hall's beams tremble.
"Shut up!"
Di Jun growled, "The sermon is indeed an opportunity. But it is also a fog of uncertainty!"
"As long as that mess at Buzhou Mountain remains unclear, this Emperor cannot rest easy!"
He had mulled over the so-called "evil ritual" intelligence Ying Zhao, that coward, had brought back hundreds of times. The more he considered it, the more wrong it felt.
When had those iron-brained Witch Clan meatheads ever become so cultured that they could play schemes?
And they had even concocted some bizarre grand plot involving Great God Pangu, all mystical and deliberately cryptic?
What nonsense!
"That brat called Xuanzheng..." Di Jun ground his back teeth and said word by word, "He is definitely not as honest and simple as he looks! That kid is rotten to the core!"
The old demon Kunpeng promptly played along, speaking in a sinister tone.
"Your Majesty is wise. The Witch Clan's movements this time are indeed strange in every way. They do not fit their usual style of 'if you refuse to submit, fight; if you fight, fight to the death' at all."
"Hmph! The more they put on this mystical act, the more it proves there is a huge problem at Buzhou Mountain!"
Di Jun slammed a hand onto the armrest of his throne with a bang, making the gems embedded within it hum.
"This Emperor wants to see exactly what medicine these barbarians are selling!"
A cold glint flashed through his eyes, brimming with killing intent.
"Pass on this Emperor's decree!"
"All Demon Clan divisions, get your spirits up! Openly, put on a show of actively preparing for battle. Say we are going to Zixiao Palace to seize seats and hear the Dao, select elite forces, and make the spectacle as grand as possible!"
"Secretly, drill the combined battle formations designed to deal with the Witch Clan's Great Witches and Ancestral Witches until they drop! Damn it, the next time we meet them, we will make sure they understand why flowers are so red!"
"As for the Witch Slaying Sword..." A savage curve appeared on Di Jun's lips, making him look like a ferocious beast ready to hunt. "Gather all the refining materials for this Emperor first! Once the time is right, we will give those Witch Clan barbarians a vicious blow!"
Taiyi's blood boiled as he listened, but the thought that they could not directly fight the Witch Clan yet left him dissatisfied. "Big Brother, are we really letting those barbarians off so easily?"
"Letting them off?" Di Jun sneered.
He cast Kunpeng a sidelong glance. "Demon Master, I will leave the next little show to you. Remember, make it more 'lively.'"
A knowing, sinister smile appeared on Kunpeng's face. "Rest assured, Your Majesty. This subject guarantees they will receive one 'surprise' after another."
Before long, encrypted Demon Clan "feather-letter messages" flew from Lingxiao Treasure Hall to every corner of the Primordial Continent.
Rogue cultivator demons and second-rate clans that usually depended on the Demon Clan for survival, or had some "historical grievances" with the Witch Clan, all received cordial greetings and cooperation Invitation Letters from the "Demon Clan Heavenly Court Delivering Warmth Office."
Outside Buzhou Mountain, within the million-li buffer zone.
At this moment, the place had practically become a grand stage for certain "demons and monsters."
A "tour group" made up of dozens of wolf demons was sneaking forward under the lead of their alpha, the Black Wind Wolf King.
The Black Wind Wolf King clutched a token shrouded in Demonic Energy, one "kindly sponsored" by the Demon Court.
"Boss, are we... are we really going to listen to those bird-brains from the Demon Court and provoke those Witch Clan meatheads? I heard they can blow up a mountain with one punch..." A little wolf demon trembled so badly that his legs cramped.
Smack!
The Black Wind Wolf King slapped the back of the little demon's head, making stars burst across his vision.
"Coward! Idiot! Is His Majesty the Demon Emperor's command something a little nobody like you can question? Tired of living?"
"Besides, Lord Demon Master said we only need to stir up some trouble around the outskirts, spread some rumors, pass along some messages. He did not tell us to clash head-on with those Witch Clan brutes. What the hell are you afraid of?"
The Black Wind Wolf King stuck out his tongue and licked his sharp fangs, greed and lechery glimmering in his eyes.
"Hehe, I heard that because the Witch Clan has been messing around near Buzhou Mountain, plenty of newly formed spirit-root veins have emerged... If we can grab one or two amid the chaos, we brothers will not have to worry about cultivation resources for the rest of our lives!"
Elsewhere, several gaudily colored flower spirits poked their heads out from the grass around the Witch Clan construction site like thieves. They muttered in low voices, but their words carried remarkably far.
"Oh my, have you heard? The Witch Clan is far too overbearing! They want to swallow the entire Buzhou Spirit Mountain for themselves. They are cutting off the path to survival for little flowers and grass like us!"
"Exactly! I even heard the Witch Clan is doing some shameful evil art inside the mountain, drawing out ancient underground baleful energy. They might suffer Heavenly Punishment! Once Buzhou Mountain explodes, we are all finished together!"
Those strange, insinuating remarks spread like a plague with legs among the scheming creatures around Buzhou Mountain.
Some especially reckless and fearless spirits even relied on their few tricks for stealth and concealment to secretly infiltrate the outskirts of the Witch Clan's temporary fortifications under the cover of night. They wanted to uncover some exclusive, explosive intelligence, or cause a little damage for credit and rewards from the Demon Court.
At Buzhou Mountain's summit, inside a stone house hastily built from giant boulders and ferocious beast bones.
Xuanzheng sprawled on a fur-covered couch, holding a cup of "happy water" squeezed from Innate Spiritual Fruit. Through the [Script Mirror], he watched the free show outside with great interest.
Every act performed by those clowns was displayed on the mirror's surface in perfect clarity, without missing a single frame.
Houtu had arrived at his side at some point. Watching the little demons and monsters leap about inside the mirror, she furrowed her delicate brows in displeasure.
"Thirteenth Brother, these flies sent by the Demon Clan are buzzing everywhere. They are quite an eyesore. Should your sister go and swat them to death?"
Sister Houtu was always so gentle.
"Ah, Sister, do not be angry, do not be angry." Xuanzheng waved his hand, wearing an "honest and simple" smile. Yet no matter how one looked at it, that smile resembled a weasel paying a New Year's visit to a chicken.
"They are merely appetizers, nothing worth mentioning. Di Jun's real main course is still warming in the kitchen!"
But inwardly, he quietly calculated.
These "extras" who had delivered themselves to his doorstep might have exaggerated acting skills, but they could still be put to use as waste utilization!
Bzzz—!
The ancient [Karma Scale] in his left palm trembled lightly, its beam swaying slightly.
[ Ding! Absorbed a trace of 'karma of provocative self-destruction': 0.03 strands! ] [ Ding! Absorbed a trace of 'karma of rumors misleading the masses': 0.05 strands! ] [ Ding! Absorbed a trace of 'preparatory failure karma of trying to steal a chicken and losing the rice instead': 0.01 strands! ]
The corner of Xuanzheng's mouth curled up.
"Tsk, they are all tiny scraps of karma, and poor-quality ones at that, but even mosquitoes are meat! Little by little, it adds up. Better than nothing!"
He took a slurp of happy water, feeling refreshed.
"Let them jump around for a few days first. The more joyfully they make trouble, the better." Looking utterly unconcerned, Xuanzheng said to Houtu, "It will be the perfect chance for this director to see what other cards Di Jun has hidden up his sleeve."
"And while we are at it, we will let all those spectators among the hundred races of the Primordial World open their eyes wide and see who the real destabilizing factor is, and who is the shit-stirrer that wants the world in chaos!"
At this moment, in Lingxiao Treasure Hall of the Demon Clan Heavenly Court.
The Black Wind Wolf King led several of his sharpest confidants as they presented their "treasure" to Di Jun and Kunpeng with fawning expressions.
"Reporting to His Majesty the Demon Emperor! Reporting to Lord Demon Master! This... this little demon's luck exploded while patrolling the outskirts, and I found... found this at an abandoned Witch Clan material storage site!"
Several gray, filthy, utterly inconspicuous "lumps of stone" were carefully offered up by a wolf demon with trembling hands.
At first, Di Jun truly paid them no attention, assuming they were more worthless junk.
But when he casually picked one up, its astonishing weight made his brow rise.
Then, upon inspecting it more closely, his expression changed instantly!
This "lump of stone" was extremely heavy in his hand! Its texture was absurdly hard! It far surpassed every divine metal and immortal iron he knew of!
Even stranger, an ancient, desolate yet vibrant power faintly flowed through it!
Kunpeng also picked one up and turned it over before his eyes, secretly channeling demonic power to test it.
The result was that the lump of stone did not move at all. Not even a speck came off it!
"This thing... what exactly is this thing?" Even Kunpeng's eternally gloomy face revealed a rare hint of confusion. He prided himself on having read countless secret tomes of the Primordial World, yet he had never seen or heard of such a peculiar material!
Di Jun's eyes narrowed. He secretly used thirty percent of his finger strength, intending to leave an imprint on the fragment.
The result... damn it! Forget an imprint—there was not even a white mark!
"The Witch Clan... the Witch Clan is actually using this damned stuff for large-scale construction at Buzhou Mountain?!"
"Would that not mean whatever they build will be far sturdier than we ever imagined?!"
Di Jun smashed the fragment heavily onto the jade table before him, producing a dull thud.
The cloud of doubt in his heart grew like a snowball, and an intense sense of unease, like an icy tide, instantly drowned the Dao heart of this Demon Emperor!
What... what exactly were they trying to do?!
Buzhou Mountain, Xuanzheng's private "VIP screening stone house."
The [Script Mirror] thoughtfully broadcast the scene from the Demon Clan Heavenly Court in real time to Xuanzheng, complete with crystal-clear visuals and scrolling comments.
"Oh? So they are this interested in my Pangu Divine Concrete?" Xuanzheng raised a brow, revealing a strange smile that said everything was under control.
This really was an unexpected delight.
Originally, he had merely wanted to patch up Buzhou Mountain, Fix BUG, earn a little Heavenly Dao merit, and improve the meals of his Witch Clan Brothers.
Who would have thought that this "byproduct" could also block up His Majesty the Demon Emperor's heart, leaving him unable to eat or sleep in peace and scratching at his insides with anxiety?
"Di Jun, Di Jun, just keep guessing. Let your imagination run wild." Xuanzheng chuckled. His smile was so punchable that it practically begged to be hit. "Even if you guess right... there is no prize! Nyah nyah nyah!"
He dearly hoped Di Jun would focus all his attention on the formula and uses of this "concrete."
That way, the true "big surprises" and "King's Bomb package" he had prepared afterward could make an unforgettable entrance for the Demon Clan—and even the entire Primordial World—at the most crucial moment!
"Reporting to Lord Thirteenth Ancestral Witch!"
A Great Witch standing three zhang tall, with knotted muscles and a fierce aura, rushed in like a gust of wind, his voice booming.
"The little demon brats outside the mountain are getting more and more outrageous! Relying on their numbers, they seized several newly discovered minor spirit springs and injured several Witch Clan soldier brothers assigned to patrol the perimeter!"
Xuanzheng's smile did not fade in the slightest upon hearing this. Instead, it became even more "kind."
"Oh? Are the injuries serious?" he asked with concern.
"Not really, just flesh wounds. Nothing serious. It is just... just too infuriating! Those little bastards are far too arrogant!" The Great Witch's face turned red with fury as his clenched fists cracked.
"No rush, no rush." Xuanzheng slowly rose to his feet, patted the shoulder of the Great Witch—which was larger than a wok—and spoke earnestly.
"Let them jump around for a few more days. The more happily they cause trouble, the better."
"As it happens, my newly written script still lacks a few substantial victim extras—ones who can cry, make a scene, and preferably cough up a few mouthfuls of blood."
The Great Witch froze upon hearing this. Looking at Xuanzheng's "innocent and harmless" smile, he suddenly felt a chill shoot up his spine and shuddered.
For some reason... Lord Thirteenth Ancestral Witch's smile felt colder than winter's gale-force winds.
Xuanzheng walked to the edge of the stone house and gazed toward the undercurrents stirring beyond Buzhou Mountain. A meaningful curve lifted at the corner of his lips.
"The wind is about to rise."
Before you continue