The Mysterious Elder

That night, a violent explosion suddenly occurred in the Prison used by the Demon Race to hold defeated and captured Cultivators.

Flames shot into the sky, and the shockwaves that followed swept across the surrounding area with debris such as wood and stones, terrifying the Ordinary People human residents living in the nearby town.

After the explosion, the Demon Race in the city immediately became agitated. The flying Demon Race on the city walls spread their huge Wings, while the Demon Race on the ground ran on all fours. They led some of the surrendered and defected Cultivators toward the location of the explosion.

When the smoke cleared, the roaring Demon Race found the Prison cells empty and the high walls surrounding it smashed.

"... Chase!"

After pausing for a few seconds, the leading Great Demon uttered a single word with some difficulty. Then, it roared and led countless demons and surrendered Cultivators, following the trail left by the escapees.

In the mountains and fields, a group of former sect leaders were fleeing in a sorry state.

"My Glasses! My Glasses are gone!"

"At this point, forget Glasses, Dean, let's run away!"

Qiu Yuxuan, the Dean of the Profound Law Academy, was being pulled along by an Elder from his sect, stumbling forward.

In order to carry out his research, the Dean had practiced many eye-related Divine Ability, which caused his vision to become disordered. Without his Specially Made Glasses, he could no longer see.

To avoid being discovered by the Demon Race with special eyesight, the group dared not fly directly in the sky and could only hide in the mountains and fields, using the vegetation as cover to evade detection.

"I've never been this pathetic in my life."

Ji Lingyun looked at the mud on her bare feet with annoyance and complained.

As the saying goes, fight if you can win, run if you can't; and handle special situations with special measures.

Jueyunzi said, "Besides, where haven't you been this disheveled? Back when you were naked..."

"Shut up!"

Ji Lingyun was enraged and made a move to draw her sword.

"Alright, you two benefactors."

The Jade-Faced Buddha stepped forward to smooth things over.

"Let's not argue at a time like this, Jueyunzi. How far are we from our evacuation point?"

Jueyunzi took out a Compass from his robes, examined it, and then replied, "It's about several dozen miles away. Master and the Yin Ling Sect Master Old Man Shenhao, will be there to meet us."

"That's good."

The Jade-Faced Buddha nodded.

"By the way... why are there a few people missing from the Prison?"

Jueyunzi put the Compass back in his robes and asked as he ran, "Several Executive Elder and disciples of my Azure Nether Sword Sect were also captured. Why haven't we seen them this time?"

"They were transported by the Demon Race to some unknown place."

When this topic was brought up, the Jade-Faced Buddha sighed and said, "Our Heavenly Saint Buddhist Sect also has two Elders..."

He suddenly stopped and looked ahead in surprise.

"What's wrong?"

Seeing his reaction, Jueyunzi, Ji Lingyun, and the others also looked ahead. Then they saw two strange Demon Race with human-like figures but bizarre beast heads and limbs blocking their way.

These Demon Race all possessed very strong auras. Of course, what made them stop was not that the Demon Race had discovered them, nor was it because these two Demon Race were too powerful for them to handle.

What truly made the group stop was the tattered clothing hanging on the two Demon Race.

One was a simple white monk's robe and kasaya, and the other was a long red robe that resembled a Daoist robe.

"Yes, these are monks' robes from my Heavenly Saint Buddhist Sect, and also from the Azure Nether Sword Sect..."

The Jade-Faced Buddha's face stiffened as he murmured.

In that moment of stunned silence, the two Demon Race launched an attack. One spewed out a mouthful of pure Sword Qi, while the other used its bizarre limbs to form various strange Magic Incantation and began chanting scriptures.

Everyone dodged, and then, Jueyunzi paused for less than a second before suddenly drawing his sword, its Sword Qi soaring into the sky.

The Sharp Gold Sword swiftly returned within the space, and he mercilessly wove the Sword Light into a net, enveloping the two Demon Race, before suddenly tightening it.

These two Demon Race, who were only at the Spirit Severing Stage, were cut into pieces by the Sword Light before they could react and fell to the ground.

"Let's go."

After killing the two Demon Race, Jueyunzi sheathed his sword and spoke without turning his head.

"Um."

The Jade-Faced Buddha took a deep breath and, without hesitation, chanted a Buddhist prayer in a low voice. Then, he followed Jueyunzi and the others and began their journey again.

These people all knew what the appearance of these two Demon Race meant; their companions who had been taken away might have met such a pitiful and terrifying end.

But they knew even better what they needed to do most right now.

After traveling about twenty more miles, a dark cloud appeared in the sky, which was a group of flying Demon Race covering the entire horizon. With no other choice, the group had to deviate from their route and hide in the deeper Dense Forest to avoid being discovered by the Demon Race in the sky.

Dodging left and right, Jueyunzi led his large group and gradually found a bamboo forest in the mountains.

Moreover, next to the bamboo grove, there was an old man digging bamboo shoots with a small hoe, with a bamboo basket beside him.

Seeing the group hurrying towards them, the old man put down his hoe, stood up, and asked, "Gentlemen, why are you in such a hurry? Has something important happened?"

"Old benefactor, you are unaware of this."

The kind-hearted Jade-Faced Buddha stopped and advised the old man, "The Ten Lands of Jiuzhou have already been invaded by the Demon Race, and we are currently fleeing from Demon Race. It is far too dangerous for you to be here alone, old benefactor. Why don't you come with us?"

"Demon Race? Oh, I see."

The old man thought for a moment, then put down his small hoe and took out a bundle of Painting from the bamboo basket on his back.

Let me lend you a hand.

"What's the meaning?"

Jueyunzi and the others were taken aback, but the Elderly People did not answer.

He wiped his hands, untied the red rope binding the Painting, and then the Painting unfurled, emitting light that captured the entire group of people within its pages.

After doing all this, the old man put the Painting back into the bamboo basket, then picked up the basket, humming an unknown folk song, and stepped into the depths of the bamboo forest, slowly disappearing from sight.

A moment later, the space suddenly fluctuated, Bai Qiuran stepped out from a crack and arrived in front of the bamboo forest, looking in the direction where the old man had disappeared.

"Spatial Arts, and the use of hiding people within paintings... Wisdom Immortal, did you see it?"

"I saw it."

The Wisdom Immortal hanging from his waist responded, "That is an Immortal Emperor named Red Dust Immortal Elder, but he doesn't seem to have any ill intentions."

"Yeah?"

Bai Qiuran shook her head and looked at the sky on the other side.

"And what about this person over here?"

In the sky, a Demon Race exuding a powerful aura was slowly descending.

Its skin is bluish-green, it has a pair of bat wings on its back, three horns on its head, and a tail that drags behind it like a bone whip, but its limbs are as flexible and slender as a human's.

After the Demon Race, whose height was similar to that of a human, landed on the ground, the entire mountain range trembled slightly. Then, with his arms crossed, he looked up and clearly spoke in human language, ordering, "Continue searching!"