Seeking Justice

The several auras in the distance had yet to reach the mountain.

A point of golden light suddenly descended. In the blink of an eye, it took the shape of Golden Light Divine Lord.

"Fellow Daoist, I've brought the Spiritual Items and Magic Arts. Here, take them!" Spiritual Light shimmered in Golden Light Divine Lord's hand as he started to offer them to Chen Ming.

A flash of azure light passed through Chen Ming's eyes. He saw that the Spiritual Light contained only a few Spiritual Items with scant Spirituality.

"Golden Light Divine Lord, you think you can fob me off with these?" Chen Ming sneered.

Golden Light Divine Lord furrowed his brows. Then, channeling his magic power, he cried, "Fellow Daoist, how can you act like this? That woman has a demon in her possession, steeped in Yin energy. Who knows how many living people it has devoured? How dare you shelter her? Disperse it at once!"

Looking at Golden Light Divine Lord's sanctimonious expression, Chen Ming couldn't help laughing aloud.

"So that's why you arrived so promptly. You were here to put on this little act!"

Chen Ming had barely finished speaking when the several auras in the distance arrived. They had heard Golden Light Divine Lord's shout, infused with magic power.

Three female cultivators approached, their robes fluttering. One was a woman in yellow who looked somewhat older; she was at the Contemplation Realm.

The other two were younger, both wearing pink and at the Qi Gathering Realm.

"Just as we thought—this place is a den of filth and corruption. We've searched for ages, and at last we've found the demon who slaughtered all one hundred and thirty-seven people in the city. So this is where it was hiding!" one of the female cultivators in pink said furiously.

Golden Light Divine Lord sneered at Chen Ming, then stepped back to join the newcomers. "I am Golden Light, and my Daoist temple is not far from here. Might the three ladies be Immortals of the Chayi Sect?"

"Did you come because you sensed a demonic aura here?"

The woman in yellow glanced at Golden Light Divine Lord. Seeing his proper features and pure Incense and Fire, she believed him at once. "I am Xie Yurou of the Chayi Sect. Do you know this man's origins?"

"This Daoist temple was originally the Cultivation Place of Ling Yangzi, a cultivator of the Heretical Path. I don't know what happened afterward, but the man before us, Xuan Mingzi, took his place. I know nothing else."

"I had some dealings with Ling Yangzi before, and later reached an understanding with Xuan Mingzi. I came today to deliver something, only to catch him sheltering a demon. I even tried to talk some sense into him just now!"

Golden Light Divine Lord spoke with righteous conviction, his expression betraying not the slightest flaw.

"If he shelters a demon, then he must be one of its kind!"

"The bloodshed in the city happened under our Chayi Sect's watch. We must see justice done!"

Xie Yurou's expression remained composed as she spoke, but she had her own calculations.

From Golden Light Divine Lord, she had only learned that Chen Ming had no powerful backer—and that he had seized Cuiping Mountain from someone else.

This was a perfect chance to let her two disciples get some practice. They could brand Chen Ming a demon and kill him, then have Golden Light Divine Lord spread the story.

The Chayi Sect's reputation for punishing evil and upholding righteousness would surely benefit.

"Well played, Golden Light Divine Lord! And well played, Chayi Sect!"

"With just a few words, you've made me out to be a demon. Do you really think I'm so easy to bully?" Chen Ming shouted angrily.

"You fiend! Wasn't it this old woman and the demon she brought who committed the Gao Family massacre in the city?"

"And haven't you sheltered them here?"

The two female cultivators in pink glared furiously and shouted.

Golden Light Divine Lord fanned the flames from the side. "Fellow Daoist Xuan Mingzi, perhaps you meant well and didn't know what was happening at the foot of the mountain. But you did shelter the demon. Besides, the Chayi Sect's Immortals are here. Could they possibly be mistaken and wrongfully accuse you?"

"The Chayi Sect is a renowned orthodox sect. Its leader, Fairy Caiyi, studied under a great sect and has reached the Spirit Condensation Realm. She also has seven female cultivators at the Contemplation Realm under her command!"

"With power like that, how could you possibly resist? Hand over the demon at once, then answer to Lady Xie. You might yet keep your life!"

Chen Ming sneered. "If they're really that formidable, all the more reason not to let them live!"

He shifted his hand seal. The mist surrounding the Daoist temple suddenly surged into a frenzy, turning in an instant into Poisonous Smoke that rushed toward Golden Light Divine Lord and the three female cultivators of the Chayi Sect.

"Xuan Mingzi, you've lost your temper because you've been found out!"

Golden Light Divine Lord manifested his Dharma Body, which radiated beams of golden light and kept the Poisonous Smoke at bay.

On the other side, Xie Yurou circulated her magic power. Her yellow robes gave off a faint glow, shielding her and both disciples at once.

"Another cultivator of the Heretical Path. How dare you run wild in front of me!" Xie Yurou shouted coldly.

Her fingers danced, tracing out profound rays of light that gradually dissolved the Poisonous Smoke Chen Ming had released.

"Absorb!"

Chen Ming suddenly brought out the Spirit Devouring Jar. The Red Spirit Worm inside split its jaws wide, releasing an invisible force of suction.

The force targeted Divine Souls!

Golden Light Divine Lord and Xie Yurou felt stabbing pain in their Divine Souls, as though they were about to be wrenched from their bodies. They hurriedly circulated their magic power to resist, reined in their Spiritual Senses, and steadied their Divine Souls.

The two female cultivators at the Qi Gathering Realm, however, couldn't withstand it. They hadn't formed Divine Souls, and their Three Souls and Seven Spirits were immediately pulled free of their bodies.

Seeing this, Xie Yurou was startled. Without a thought for her own safety, she brought out a Yellow Light Flying Shuttle and sent it flying toward Chen Ming.

Chen Ming heard the Flying Shuttle tear through the air. Azure light flashed in his eyes, and two streams of Azure Wood Life and Death Gas shot out to block it!

That brief reprieve was enough for Xie Yurou to chant a spell and drive her disciples' Three Souls and Seven Spirits back into their bodies.

But their souls had left their bodies and already been tainted by the Poisonous Smoke.

As soon as the Poisonous Smoke followed their souls back inside, it flared to life.

The two female cultivators were only at the Qi Gathering Realm. They had no way to withstand it. Their faces began to rot first, and the rot spread from there.

"Ahh!"

The two let out bloodcurdling screams.

"You vile demon! Such vicious methods!"

"How dare you do this to disciples of my Chayi Sect!"

Xie Yurou hurriedly circulated her magic power, severing her two disciples' sense of pain as she treated them.

But Chen Ming's Poisonous Smoke had been refined from a blend of the poison of the Hundred Thousand Eight Thousand Insects. It was no easy thing to neutralize.

Seeing Chen Ming's methods, Golden Light Divine Lord knew things had taken a bad turn.

He wasn't within his own Divine Domain, so many of his methods were difficult to use. If things continued like this and Chen Ming had a chance to turn his attention to him, his Dharma Body might well be damaged in the ensuing fight.

Golden Light Divine Lord furrowed his brows and came up with a plan.

He let out a scream. "Aah! Xuan Mingzi, what a vicious trick!"

After shouting, Golden Light Divine Lord kept retreating, as if Chen Ming's Poisonous Smoke had driven him into a miserable retreat.

Suddenly, he screamed again, then turned into a streak of golden light and fled.

Golden Light Divine Lord's performance left Chen Ming momentarily stunned. Then he realized the man was putting on an act to make his escape.

Chen Ming couldn't possibly let him go. He chanted a spell toward the Spirit Devouring Jar.

At Chen Ming's command, the Red Spirit Worm inside the jar flashed the petal-shaped mark between its brows and set the jar moving on its own. A pair of Illusory Wings sprouted from the jar, and it chased after Golden Light Divine Lord!

"You fiend! You demon! Your methods are vile—how dare you!"

Xie Yurou didn't know whether she had failed to see through Golden Light Divine Lord's act or had been fooled by his performance. Either way, she was still berating Chen Ming.

Chen Ming found it amusing. If all the Chayi Sect's little fairies were like this, he wondered how the sect had survived until now without being wiped out!

"You want justice—but who gave this old woman and her daughter justice?"

"What kind of justice is it that you speak of?"

"The Chayi Sect isn't anywhere near here. How did you learn what happened in the city, and who led you here?" Chen Ming asked coldly.