The Demon Ancestor

Now that the mission was considered accomplished, the company decided not to waste any more cannon fodder and immediately arranged for all support teams to withdraw.

Since the team at the scene was almost wiped out and the drone was destroyed by blood and lost its signal, the whereabouts of Chen Sha, the Poison Sword Immortal, could not be confirmed visually and are currently unknown.

However, the scouts remaining in the shadows also observed that the blood-red water flowed upstream, dissolving all the fish and shrimp debris in the river, completely destroying the monster ecosystem around the flooded area, and washing away most of Mount Fashuang. It even washed away the large doghouse built with fur and herbs to guard the entrance of the Fashuang Mountain's dojo on the mountaintop. Finally, it accumulated into a pool of blood in the mountains and stopped moving, no longer coming out to pursue the retreating demons. Perhaps Chen Sha still had a breath left and could be saved.

The intense battle at Fashuang Mountain was over in the time it takes to watch a company introductory video, while the 'Yuzan' at Tianyu Mountain is still holding on.

This guy has transformed countless times now, his body has shrunk to the size of a monkey. He probably realized the mission was over and wanted to transform into a human to escape, but his face and body were filled with Gu poison, and he couldn't neutralize the poison quickly, so he started to develop patches of pink and blue sores that festered. He looked neither human nor ghost, and was running around the mountain with his head in his hands.

Zheng Zetian was about to help this Non-Thing attain rebirth, but both systems reminded him that many experts from the Xuanmen sect were hiding in the clouds, calculating the origin of this monster. So, he rolled his eyes and came up with a plan.

He immediately left the shelter, pretending not to know anything as he walked towards the dormitory, while arranging for 'Yuzan' to cooperate with his performance and run over to deliver his head to him.

Zheng Zetian is now a level 23 employee and the team leader of the Ink Bamboo Mountain business group. How could a cloned temporary worker like 'Yuzan' dare to disobey him? She could only feign madness and humiliation, cooperating with his act—the kind where a silly boy and girl bump into each other around a corner. Then a bolt of lightning strikes from the opposite direction...

"Nine Heavens Responding to the Origin of Thunder, Universal Transformation Heavenly Venerable, Taiyi Heaven-Shaking Divine Thunder--!"

"Aaaaaah--!!"

"Boom!"

Seeing that everyone and the plank Plank Road had been blown to bits, the Xuanmen cultivators were greatly surprised. They all came out to investigate, saying that this demon had just stirred up trouble on the mountain and survived countless tribulations, but how could he be reduced to ashes by a single lightning strike? Was he so easy to kill? Some of the more meticulous ones even went into the water to search, wary of the demon faking his death to escape.

Zheng Zetian didn't talk much with the Xuanmen sect. He only gave a statement to the monks of the Discipline Institute, made use of the 'Yuzan hairpin' to earn another bamboo talisman, and then returned to his dormitory to cultivate.

At the same time, at the bottom of the Tianyu Mountain, in the dark and deep water, a huge fish head suddenly emerged!

Excellent! Lord of the Ink Bamboo Mountain Palace! Great Lord of the Kun!

After eating for fifty years, Kun is now over ten zhang long and has begun to resemble a Kun in appearance.

Unfortunately, by Kun's standards, it is still a child; it can only express itself, not speak.

With its mouth open, a blood-soaked figure in red robes, with one eye and one arm, emerged from the Kun's mouth.

Yes, it was Li Fan and Asha!

Now, using the Kun's teleportation mechanism, Li Fan can hide the Kun at the bottom of the river, evading the company's eyes and ears, and secretly travel quickly between Tianyu Mountain, Lei Marsh, Fashuang Mountain, and other places.

He has now left his Blood God Child clone on Mount Fashuang, under the surveillance of the company's scout satellites, in order to conceal his whereabouts. In fact, he has already secretly rescued Asha and brought her back to pass on his power.

Of course, Asha did take a great risk this time, but what sword immortal goes through tribulations without taking risks? It doesn't matter.

Li Fan patted Kun, indicating that Kun had gotten fatter, then transformed into a blood-stained robe and wrapped it around the almost inhuman Asha. He then vanished into invisibility and silently infiltrated the Starry Sky Sword Tomb at the Tianyu Peak. Li Fan placed his longest-serving disciple in front of the stone tablet and had her use her remaining eye to look at the sword marks on the tablet and comprehend the sword intent within.

"So, have you gained any insights?"

Asha watched for a while, then closed her eyes in frustration.

Li Fan wasn't surprised. Master Xuantian's teaching materials were indeed a bit difficult. For such a large sect as the Beichen Sword Sect to survive until its annihilation was no joke. But it didn't matter!

"Don't be discouraged, Asha, I have a solution. Ta-da! Look what this is!"

Li Fan's voice remained light and cheerful, clearly indicating he genuinely had a solution. He reached into his sleeve and pulled out a plump lobster that looked as if its shell had been peeled off. The lobster had a dark bead on its head, resembling a lobster eye.

Chen Sha, "..."

Chen Sha coughed up blood twice, indicating she couldn't guess.

Li Fan explained, "This is a prototype parasitic system, Devil Embryo born from a beast mother. The one I prepared for you is not only an intelligent assistant, but also a bio-artificial implant. In other words, this demonic eye is a detector used to enhance spiritual perception, and it can detect the seventh-dimensional string."

This equipment can greatly enhance your Divine Sense abilities. You are limited by the genetic lock and cannot comprehend the true essence of swordsmanship, but after equipping this system, I think you will be able to experience the Tai Sha Annihilation Swordsmanship that you could not see or perceive before.

Although there is a slight theoretical risk, don't worry, I've already obtained permission, and I even had a silly guy do the experiment; he's perfectly fine and full of energy."

Seeing Chen Sha's bewildered expression, unsure whether she hadn't understood or agreed, Li Fan didn't hesitate. He cleaved her in two with a sword strike, then inserted the Lobster Eye System into her split skull, rapidly reconnecting the nerves and completing the surgery.

After undergoing surgery on her brain and having a lobster eye implanted, Chen Sha still had one human eye, but the other eye socket was just a black ball. Although her whole body had been stitched up, she stared blankly at the sword-doting stone tablet, not knowing which brain nerve had been damaged.

However, Li Fan was not discouraged. Zheng Zetian had been unconscious for several days, so he would give the system some time to parasitize.

"Li Fan! How is Asha?!"

Xuan Tian was extremely anxious on the other end of the system.

"Surgery complete, currently not dead."

"Hey kid! Why are you in such a hurry to install this on her? Wait until she's enlightened!"

"Sigh, I'm just a clone, doing things on orders, and besides, that other person didn't seem to have any adverse reactions..."

"Can Asha compare to that madman! Hmph, speaking of that guy, you'd better be careful and watch out for him! Don't let him scheme against you!"

Li Fan could only shrug. "Xuan Tian, he's already reincarnated. We're all comrades on the same side now, and I think he's really reliable. In just a few days, he's practically brought the company to its knees. He's very capable."

"Hmph, you've gotten too bold, daring to mess with that madman. Don't say I didn't warn you when he has a fit!"

"Hmm? So what happens when they go crazy?"

"Hmph, let me put it this way, there's a reason why the Luo Sect is called a demonic cult. These things from the past are long gone, and I won't gossip about them with you. I'll just remind you of one more thing."

That madman was a demon ancestor who rose to power in the most brutal era of the Central Plains. So many people followed him, not because he was so kind or righteous. You really expect a madman to repent and start anew? Ha, I think that's highly unlikely."

Li Fan, dressed in blood, had no choice but to comply, as he was merely an avatar who had come to perform emergency surgery on Asha and stabilize her condition. So, he wrapped the blood-covered robe around Asha, transforming it into a blood cocoon, which helped Chen Sha fall into a dream, where she would be reborn as a butterfly.

The next day, Zheng Zetian walked out of the dormitory.

He hurriedly watched the company's promotional video all night, only to find that the gold-inlaid jade communicator had run out of power...

Well, you can't really rely too much on civilian-grade stuff. Although it can recover slowly by sunbathing for a while, just waiting around isn't Zheng Zetian's style. Fortunately, he already knew that there were many company headquarters and warehouses providing funds and equipment near Tianyu Mountain, so finding a place to charge shouldn't be a problem.

So he rode his Tu Lou and, familiar with the route, circled the boat market by the lake again.

But he found that all the pawnshops and clinics were closed. He didn't know if it was due to the failure of last night's operation or if they had been reassigned to hunt down Chen Sha. With no other option, Zheng Zetian went to the pleasure boat to try his luck.

Of course, this is only half a day; the place has just opened, and they won't be doing anything serious until dawn. During the day, these pleasure boats are legitimate restaurants, with music, singing, and dancing performances, mostly practiced by young male courtesans. Only at night do the top courtesans come out to greet distinguished guests.

Zheng Zetian, having been reincarnated before, was quite adept at this. He first instructed the doorman that he had plenty of money and asked him to feed his sheep. Then he ordered a table of vegetarian dishes, placed his gold-inlaid jade pendant on the table, and began to enjoy his morning tea.

Sure enough, it didn't take long for the beautiful proprietress, who was described as a "temporary worker at the company," to come over and chat with the customer, asking if he was satisfied with his meal.

Without him needing to say a word, the shopkeeper had already begun charging the gold-inlaid jade with the jade pendant on his waist as he walked over.

It was rather awkward to leave someone sitting there waiting to charge, so Zheng Zetian invited the shopkeeper to sit down and asked,

"I am a disciple of Ink Bamboo Mountain. Did you hear anything during the commotion last night, innkeeper?"

When superiors come to inspect the work, the manager naturally tells them everything he knows.

"I heard that some major events have occurred on the mountain. It is said that demons from the Nangong attacked the mountain and assassinated many of the guardian masters and Xuanmen students."

In retaliation, Ink Bamboo Mountain mobilized its armored Armored Soldier overnight to launch a massive attack on Yu Mountain. "I've heard that the Six Armies of Yu Mountain and the Eight Armies of Mozhu Mountain are coming together this time. I suppose they can conquer the hundredth underground level this time?"

Zheng Zetian was stunned. "A hundred layers?? You can dig a hundred layers underground?"

The shopkeeper explained, "Fellow Daoist, you may not know this, but the Yushan Cave is a peculiar Grotto-Heaven Blessed Land. It is said to be a bottomless demon cave, and we don't know what kind of ancient ruin it is. You can't go deep underground; you can only explore down the tunnels and caves. What's strange is that the terrain inside the cave changes at any time, and if you're not careful, you'll find it hard to get out of the mountain."

The Nangong has long regarded this place as a forbidden territory for their family, a den of demons and soldiers, where they have set up countless traps, secret passages, and hidden pits, and even killed all the craftsmen. Now, those remnants of the demons are hiding in the mountains, and the Ink Bamboo Mountain has repeatedly failed to wipe them out.

It's said that they used to be able to descend to the eighty-oddth level, but this time they're probably determined not to leave until they break through the demon's lair.

Oh, Nangong Demon Cave... is it the royal tomb...? Back when Nangong Wubu, all the weapons, armor, gold, and silver treasures were hidden there. Of course, they wouldn't tell him the map to their secret vault.

Zheng Zetian, then took the gold-inlaid jade in his hand and examined it against the system.

As expected, I still don't have permission to query.

It seems the company is hiding something in that hellhole too.

So, wasn't Song Dayou's battle armor damaged when he was ambushed by Nangong during the campaign against Yushan?

Did he find something from some company?

Zheng Zetian felt this was more likely, since Song Dayou hadn't expected to be assassinated, and the company had even mobilized a large force to deal with someone as powerful as Chen Sha. It was very possible that Song Dayou had unknowingly stumbled upon some company secret base.

Moreover, it's likely that the eight demonic disciples weren't actually ambushing, but rather guarding something crucial...

Zheng Zetian rolled his eyes, secretly plotting in his mind.

These Grotto-Heaven Blessed Land are all about fate and destiny. Some people may live deep in the immortal mountains but can't find any connection to the immortals no matter what they do, while others may be walking on the road when a living immortal flies down from the sky to take them as a disciple.

Zheng Zetian estimated that, based on his master-disciple relationship with Song Dayou and his authority as a company employee, he might actually be able to find the clues that Song Dayou discovered in the Yushan Demon Cave.

However, Yushan is the company's stronghold, and even several divisions couldn't take Ink Bamboo Mountain. Going there rashly would likely be difficult to succeed...

"Fellow Daoist, is there anything else you wish to ask?"

Zheng Zetian snapped out of his reverie and casually asked, "Oh, how's things in the Central Plains now?"

The shopkeeper shook his head repeatedly.

"Alas, it's not like that. Apart from a few large sects that have closed themselves off, the small and medium-sized sects in Duizhou and Kun have been basically wiped out by the Divine Sect. Currently, only many sects in Ganzhou are united and are still resolutely resisting."

Now the power of the Divine Cult is growing stronger and stronger. It no longer accepts entire clans of cultivators to join the cult directly. All Nascent Soul Realm cultivators from all Cultivation Family must be registered with the Blood Register and serve as Blood Slave to fight for a hundred years. They must also hand over their eldest sons as hostages and blood puppets for use.

The Xuanmen sect is also cracking down hard, exterminating any who is found to have defected. It's said that some sects, due to strained relations between their main and secondary branches, have used this as an opportunity to claim that the other has defected to the Divine Sect, leading to infighting and even the killing of entire families.

Sigh, even at a time like this, they're still fighting amongst themselves...

Zheng Zetian wasn't surprised at all. That's how the Xuanmen (Daoist sect) works. The conflicts between old men who have been together for hundreds or thousands of years are definitely greater than any demonic sect attacking a mountain.

But that's all.

Zheng Zetian pretended to be nonchalant, took a sip of tea to moisten his throat, and asked,

"I've heard that even remnants of the Luo Sect have appeared?"

The shopkeeper, as expected of someone who works for a company, is truly skilled in his work; I nodded in approval on the spot.

"That's right. In Gen Province, there are always people who rebel under the banner of reincarnated demon gods. Now the Gao family is also in turmoil, with various peasant uprisings and demonic sects causing chaos. Not to mention the Luo Sect, there are even people claiming to be the reincarnation of Ancestor Luo."

Zheng Zetian smiled.

"The reincarnation of Ancestor Luo? I doubt anyone in this world remembers this madman anymore; he doesn't need any famous names."

The shopkeeper sighed.

"However, this self-proclaimed Ancestor Luo is indeed a madman. I heard that they not only destroyed Kongsang Mountain, but also cracked open the heads of the Kongsang Mountain disciples and ate them. I wonder where these demons and monsters came from."

Zheng Zetian put down his teacup without expression.

Wow, these days, there are actually people who remember him...