Battle of Penglai, Immortal Court Traitor

After Styx took the God Slaying Spear and refined it to a preliminary level of control, he passed the location coordinates to Wu Mo.

Better to leave this place to Wu Mo than keep it himself—it would yield greater value.

As for Styx himself, he shattered a patch of space with Destruction Power and departed.

What followed was a period of major events in the Primordial Wilderness, and he had no intention of missing out.

Sure enough, the moment Styx left the Demon Country, a thunderous roar echoed from the East Sea.

He understood at once—Di Jun and Eastern Emperor Taiyi must be leading troops to attack the Immortal Court.

The Demon Race had suffered heavy losses from the war with the Witch Clan and urgently needed to replenish their strength.

So they set their sights on the Immortal Court, where most of its members were demons. As long as Eastern Duke was eliminated, the Immortal Court would be leaderless, and they could naturally recruit the rest.

Styx returned to the Blood Sea and used a Water Light Mirror to manifest the current situation on Penglai Island in the East Sea.

There, the island's protective formation, the Ten Thousand Immortals Formation, was visibly crumbling under the battering of Eastern Emperor Taiyi's Eastern Emperor Bell.

Eastern Duke roared in fury: "Taiyi, how dare you show such disrespect to I, the Immortal Chief? Are you not afraid the sages will punish your Demon Race?"

Before Taiyi could speak, Fei Lian behind him called out: "Eastern Duke, don't get it wrong. We came here because we don't like you—it has nothing to do with the Demon Race!"

Fei Lian's words were clearly an attempt to sever ties with the Demon Race.

That way, if Hongjun truly did descend punishment over Eastern Duke's matter, they could claim it was the personal act of Eastern Emperor Taiyi and Fei Lian, unrelated to the Demon Race, thus protecting their kind.

They hadn't even brought many troops—only a small portion of the demon followers they'd recently recruited.

Eastern Duke's face darkened. He felt that ever since becoming the Leader of Male Immortals, nothing had gone his way.

Not only were the Witch and Demon Clans pressing down on him, making it hard to act, but earlier, when he'd been sent by Hongjun to kill Styx, he'd ended up losing the Dragon Head Crutch and having his Good Corpse destroyed.

And now, just after returning to Penglai Island without even time to recover from his injuries, he was informed of the Demon Race's invasion.

"All immortals, join I, the Immortal Chief, in reinforcing the Ten Thousand Immortals Formation!"

At this moment, he absolutely could not show weakness, nor could he let Eastern Emperor Taiyi know he was still wounded.

But the crowd on Penglai Island hesitated.

Truth be told, Eastern Duke had ambition, but his ability was indeed lacking.

Most of the people in the Immortal Court had come for the title of Leader of Male Immortals and the spiritual energy of Penglai Island.

And in most cases, Eastern Duke only cared about throwing his weight around as the Leader of Male Immortals—the Immortal Court was far from united.

More importantly, they were genuinely afraid of the Eastern Emperor Bell in Eastern Emperor Taiyi's hands!

Aside from Eastern Duke himself, the strongest in the entire Immortal Court was merely a Zenith Heaven Golden Immortal.

If Eastern Emperor Taiyi, a Quasi-Sage, deployed the Eastern Emperor Bell, wouldn't whoever got hit be dead?

Everyone cherishes their life.

The cultivators on Penglai Island were no different.

Not a single person came to help Eastern Duke—a clear sign of how failed his leadership as Leader of Male Immortals truly was.

Seeing this, Eastern Duke said directly: "Do you think you'll fare any better if Penglai Island falls? If they dare touch I, the Immortal Chief, appointed by the sage himself, then falling into Eastern Emperor Taiyi's hands will mean death for you too!"

The other cultivators exchanged glances. A few wavered and decided to step forward and follow Eastern Duke.

But more still hesitated—or rather, waited for Eastern Emperor Taiyi to state his position.

And sure enough, the next moment, Eastern Emperor Taiyi spoke.

"Everyone except Eastern Duke—if you swear allegiance to my Demon Race, you shall not be killed!"

They had come to Penglai Island to absorb the Immortal Court's strength and replenish the Demon Race—there was no need to kill everyone.

At these words, the crowd on Penglai Island erupted in commotion.

To them, joining the Demon Race or the Immortal Court made little difference—who they served was all the same.

Moreover, the Demon Race's influence in the Primordial Wilderness was steadily expanding; the prospects of joining them far outweighed staying in the Immortal Court.

So immediately, a Zenith Heaven Golden Immortal shouted: "I surrender!"

Eastern Duke's eyes nearly split with rage—because not only had this Zenith Heaven Golden Immortal surrendered, he even struck from within the island's grand formation, attacking the Ten Thousand Immortals Formation from the inside.

Eastern Duke attacked him at once. Eastern Emperor Taiyi seized the opportunity, hammering the formation with even greater force.

Ignoring Eastern Duke's pursuit, the Zenith Heaven Golden Immortal continued shouting: "Brothers, this Eastern Duke has always looked down on everyone. Do you really want to keep following him? We risk our lives for him, and what does he give us? He won't even grant us a single Innate Spiritual Treasure to sever our corpses! But the Demon Emperor and his peers help their Demon Gods sever corpses with all their might—do I need to spell out which side is better?"

Hearing this, the crowd on Penglai Island wavered even further.

A smirk curled at the corner of Eastern Emperor Taiyi's mouth.

How could Eastern Duke not see now that this Zenith Heaven Golden Immortal was likely a spy the Demon Race had planted beside him to turn his people against him!

But at this point, he couldn't afford to dwell on it.

The truth was, it wasn't that he didn't want to reward his subordinates with spiritual treasures—he was simply too poor himself.

His only two treasures were the Dragon Head Crutch and the Pure Yang Purple Fire Sword.

One was bestowed by Hongjun, the other his companion spiritual treasure.

Each one was significant beyond measure and could not be given away. Worse still, the Dragon Head Crutch had already been snatched by Styx.

But although Eastern Duke understood this in his heart, others did not.

In their eyes, Eastern Duke had indeed shown a bit of pettiness.

At times like this, wavering morale was the most deadly, so Eastern Duke struck ruthlessly, prepared to take the life of this Zenith Heaven Golden Immortal outright.

"Since you dare betray me, then die!"

Even with his cultivation damaged, he was still a genuine Quasi-Sage—not something a Zenith Heaven Golden Immortal could withstand.

Yet just as he raised the Pure Yang Purple Fire Sword and was about to land the blow, a massive golden bell suddenly materialized, blazing with golden light, halting Eastern Duke in his tracks!

The bell's recoil force injured Eastern Duke's hand, and the Pure Yang Purple Fire Sword clattered to the ground.

It was Eastern Emperor Taiyi!

And Eastern Duke's last resort, the Ten Thousand Immortals Formation, had already shattered under the relentless assault of the Eastern Emperor Bell.

"Eastern Emperor Taiyi!"

Eastern Duke spat through gritted teeth: "Do you truly mean to wipe me out?"

Eastern Emperor Taiyi did not reply. Instead, he hurled the Eastern Emperor Bell straight at Eastern Duke.

Eastern Duke naturally did not wish to die, so he hastily raised the Pure Yang Purple Fire Sword to block.

But the moment it met the Eastern Emperor Bell, he realized just how vast the gap between himself and Eastern Emperor Taiyi truly was!

"Your cultivation has broken through again!"

Eastern Duke was stunned.

He had assumed that both he and Eastern Emperor Taiyi were at the early Quasi-Sage stage, meaning Taiyi would not find it easy to take him down.

But now, he could clearly feel that Eastern Emperor Taiyi's attack had surpassed the scope of early Quasi-Sage.

With that, he abandoned all thought of a direct confrontation and turned to flee.