The atmosphere inside the main hall stiffened instantly.
Bai Ze quietly stepped forward half a step, feather fan lightly waving in his hand, looking casual, but actually locking onto Xuan Qing's surrounding aura.
Several Demon Saints also secretly circulated their magic power, and the formations inside the Demon Court's main hall circulated faintly.
Xuan Qing, however, acted as if he did not notice, only staring at Tai Yi.
Tai Yi suddenly laughed, his laughter echoing in the hall, slightly diluting the tense atmosphere.
"Good! Daoist Xuan Qing is a man of straightforward words!" Tai Yi clapped his hands. "Those three Lingbao, this Emperor agrees!"
"Your Majesty!" Bai Ze could not help speaking out.
Tai Yi raised a hand to stop him, and continued to Xuan Qing, "However, empty words carry no weight."
"The Witch Clan is powerful, and the Ancestral Witches are formidable, especially that Thirteen Ancestral Witches Chen Tian, who is unfathomable and even holds the God-Slaying Spear."
"If you wish to obtain the Lingbao, Daoist, you must perform great merits in battle sufficient to convince the masses."
"That is only natural." Xuan Qing said coldly, "Since I have entered the Demon Court, I will contribute. I will definitely kill Chen Tian!"
"Good!" Tai Yi stood up from his throne and said in a clear voice, "Starting today, Daoist Xuan Qing shall be the Azure Emperor of my Demon Court, with a status equal to the Demon Master, exempt from bowing to the Emperor, and permitted to establish a separate hall."
His gaze swept over the demons in the hall, "Demon Master Kunpeng will arrive soon, and by then my Demon Court will have five Quasi-Saints! Powerful though the Witch Clan may be, what are they worth worrying about!"
"The Heavenly Emperor is wise!" The demons below the hall perked up and shouted in unison.
Having an extra powerful reinforcement was always a good thing.
Xuan Qing nodded slightly, considering the arrangement accepted.
He did not care about any position, as long as the Demon Court could help him deal with the Witch Clan and help him take back the three Lingbao transformed from his "wives", that was enough.
"Since that is the case, I shall stay in the Demon Court temporarily." Xuan Qing turned around, his cyan Dao robe fluttering. "When the Witch Clan attacks, or when it is time to set out on an expedition, just summon me."
Before his voice faded, he had already transformed into a streak of cyan Sword Light, flying straight out of the hall, obviously to find a quiet place to settle down.
The hall quieted down.
Bai Ze said with deep worry, "Your Majesty, this person is like a double-edged sword. Used well he can injure the enemy, but used poorly he might hurt oneself."
Tai Yi sat back on his throne. The bold smile on his face faded, and a flash of sharp insight crossed his eyes.
"No matter." He said indifferently, "Precisely because he is a sharp sword, he must be used. As for those three Lingbao..."
He paused, looking toward the direction of Buzhou Mountain, the corners of his mouth curving into a cold arc.
"After the Witch-Demon war, if he still has the life to take them, what harm is there in giving them to him? If he loses his life..."
The rest of the words, he did not speak out loud.
But how could Bai Ze not understand Tai Yi's meaning.
"Bai Ze."
"This subject is here."
"Step up contact with the various Demon Clans. Once Kunpeng arrives, it will be the time for my Demon Court to dispatch troops to Buzhou Mountain!"
While Tai Yi was busy dispatching troops against the Witch Clan, East Prince Gong was not idle either.
After establishing the Immortal Court, he used the system to find the islands of Yingzhou and Fangzhang.
The spiritual Qi on the two immortal islands was abundant, attracting quite a few rogue cultivators to join.
As the Immortal Court grew stronger, his system would reward him again, and he would use the rewards to develop the Immortal Court.
Through this cycle, the overall strength of the Immortal Court was not too far behind the Demon Court.
East Prince Gong had also broken through to the mid-stage Quasi-Saint realm.
However, he had slain two corpses, so in a one-on-one fight he was certainly stronger than Tai Yi.
Yet throughout the entire Immortal Court, apart from him, there was not a second Quasi-Saint.
His high-end combat power fell far short of the Demon Court's.
Carrying the Top-grade Innate Spiritual Treasures rewarded by the system, East Prince Gong went directly to the Daoist sanctuary of Fuxi and Nuwa at Buzhou Mountain.
Fuxi and Nuwa were discussing the Dao.
Upon sensing East Prince Gong's aura, although they felt internal doubt, they still stepped out to greet him.
"Do you have urgent business, Daoist, coming to our sanctuary?" Fuxi's gaze was calm, as if he had known for a long time that East Prince Gong would come looking for them.
After the second lecture at Zixiao Palace, he and Nuwa had also slain one corpse, successfully advancing to the Quasi-Saint realm.
Although the current East Prince Gong was a mid-stage Quasi-Saint and had slain two corpses, if the two of them wanted to leave, the other party certainly could not stop them.
"This seat has come to invite the two of you to join my Immortal Court." East Prince Gong said indifferently.
Before Fuxi could speak, he took out two Top-grade Innate Spiritual Treasures.
"If you Daoists can join my Immortal Court, these two Lingbao shall be bestowed upon the two of you."
Fuxi and Nuwa exchanged glances, but did not respond to East Prince Gong immediately.
The two Top-grade Lingbao were undoubtedly precious.
However, the Immortal Court and the Demon Court were now antagonistic; if they joined the Immortal Court, they would inevitably make an enemy of Tai Yi.
What was more, that Little White Dragon in their cave dwelling, who had deduced the grand trend of the Prehistoric World, had said that the fate of the Immortal Court was doomed to destruction.
If they joined the Immortal Court, wasn't that just throwing themselves into a pit of fire?
"Daoist, allow me to discuss this with my brother." After saying this, without giving Fuxi time to react, Nuwa pulled him and flew straight into the cave dwelling.
East Prince Gong did not mind waiting a moment; two Top-grade Innate Spiritual Treasures—he did not believe the two could resist the temptation.
Inside the cave dwelling, a formation isolating the outside world quietly circulated.
Nuwa waved her hand to set up a restriction, the gentle smile on her face already gone, replaced by a calm insight into worldly affairs.
Fuxi furrowed his brows slightly, the phantom of the Eight Trigrams Array Diagram appearing and disappearing around him.
"Brother, he really came." Nuwa's voice carried a trace of hard-to-detect solemnity.
"Expected." Fuxi nodded. "Although his Immortal Court gathers some rogue cultivators and its momentum is rising, it lacks top-tier Great Powers with deep foundations who can stand alone."
"The Three Pure Ones avoid the world in Kunlun, Minghe sits upon the Blood Sea, Zhenyuanzi and Hong Yun are inseparable, and Kunpeng has already entered the Demon Court..."
"My brother and sister, I fear, are the targets he finds easiest to recruit and most worth recruiting."
"Two Top-grade Innate Spiritual Treasures... quite a generous gesture indeed." Nuwa's fingertips brushed past her sleeve, where the Qi of creation faintly circulated, and she looked at Fuxi.
"What is Brother's meaning?"
Fuxi did not answer immediately, his gaze casting toward the depths of the cave dwelling.
There was a clear spring there, beside whose springhead lay a little dragon of pure silvery-white from head to toe, with crystal-clear small horns growing upon its head.
That little dragon was only several zhang in length, its aura somewhat unstable, and a deep, abstruse Karma was coiled around its body, yet its pair of dragon eyes were exceptionally lively.
This Little White Dragon was one they had encountered at the end of the Dragon-Phoenix Tribulation.
At that time, the Karma borne by the Three Clans was already difficult to suppress, and quite a few within the Dragon Clan had been driven mad by the Karma.
Had the Little White Dragon not been saved by the two of them, I'm afraid it would have met a deranged end as well.
"Let us first listen to what Little White has to say." Fuxi said slowly, "Ever since he informed us of the grand trend of the Prehistoric World, his predictions have rarely been wrong."
Nuwa nodded and softly called out, "Little White, come here."