When Chen Ye heard the words "enforce justice on Heaven's behalf," he decisively praised himself: "I knew I was right."
This formation was drawing in a lot of spiritual energy from Heaven and Earth. It was making quite a commotion.
And there were plenty of dead people here. The resentment soaring into the sky had been roused by Chen Ye and now blazed like a torch.
Mo Ci had reminded him more than once that he couldn't kill people to cultivate on a large scale. This wasn't the era when that Demon Venerable had all the say.
Back when demons were everywhere, killing people to cultivate was perfectly normal. One demon would massacre a village, another would raise an entire city like livestock. Human lives were cheap as dogs, and the result was that more and more demons were driven into existence.
Only after they'd killed so many that there weren't enough mortals left did the Demon Venerables finally issue orders, telling the lesser demons to rein themselves in a little.
Back then, demons greeted each other like this.
"How many have you killed?"
"Several hundred, I guess."
"What about yesterday?"
What soaring resentment? Back then, one glance with a Spirit Eye would show resentment everywhere under Heaven.
Those days were gone for good.
Whenever demons made even the slightest commotion, it was like splashing ink across a sheet of white paper. You could see it clearly from hundreds of miles away, so of course it would draw the attention of other cultivators.
But the Fenxiang Sect?
It seemed to be one of the five great orthodox sects. Rumor had it that it was the most eclectic of the prestigious orthodox sects, and was especially skilled at alchemy.
Judging by the fact that this man's magical treasure was an alchemy furnace, the rumors seemed true.
Since he was from a prestigious orthodox sect, Chen Ye didn't want to fall out with him. He was just about to explain himself, but the newcomer didn't give him a chance to speak.
A burst of blazing flame shot out of the bronze pill furnace, flying toward Chen Ye like a long serpent.
Chen Ye reached into his storage bag, and two Call Wind Talismans appeared in his hand.
He'd prepared quite a few of these talismans to deal with Jiang Shiyue. He just hadn't expected them to come in handy even after Jiang Shiyue was dead.
However, Chen Ye wasn't going to use the two talismans to blow away that fiery serpent.
Before he knew how his opponent's spell worked, he had to be careful not to choose a countermeasure blindly. If the wind failed to scatter the fiery serpent, he'd be the one in trouble.
So Chen Ye used the two talismans on himself.
Chen Ye lightly tapped his toes against the ground, and the two Call Wind Talismans burst in his palm. The violent gust propelled him backward through the air for three zhang, barely dodging the scarlet fiery serpent spewing from the bronze pill furnace. The flames grazed his hem and scorched a charred streak several zhang long into the ground. The stench of sulfur and burnt bone ash immediately filled the air.
"Hm? That's it?"
Chen Ye looked at the marks left by the fiery serpent, somewhat surprised. It was far weaker than he'd expected.
It wasn't very nimble, didn't explode, and wasn't so hot it could set everything ablaze in an instant... Wasn't this just ordinary fire?
Chen Ye figured he could do this too. It just wouldn't be as convenient. Was this really all a Fenxiang Sect disciple could do?
Perhaps he'd unconsciously taken Su Chunyi as the standard for disciples of the great sects. And after recently taking down two cultivators in the Tongxuan Realm, Chen Ye's judgment of the average cultivator's combat ability had become seriously skewed.
Wei Changsheng, however, didn't see it that way.
He thought he'd forced this little demon into a panicked retreat with his very first attack.
The fire might have been ordinary, but it would still leave a cultivator who hadn't tempered his body with gangsha burned black and blistered. The agony of being scorched by flames was enough to make anyone lose the ability to fight back.
One look at Chen Ye, his body shimmering with spiritual light, told Wei Changsheng that he had only just entered the Qi Sea Realm and hadn't even finished tempering his body with spiritual energy. How could he possibly be a match for Wei Changsheng?
His first attack missed, so Wei Changsheng urged on his magical treasure again. Another fiery serpent shot out, this time curving around to slam into Chen Ye's waist.
But Chen Ye didn't use the same trick again. Instead, he sent out a Call Wind Talisman. A gust of wind blew the fiery serpent off course.
"So it really is just ordinary fire."
Whether the man was underestimating him or merely pretending to be weak, Chen Ye decided it was time to strike back.
At Chen Ye's command, the Green-Faced Evil Ghost swung the chain in its hand toward Wei Changsheng.
The rust-covered hook flew faster than the fiery serpent. It showed no mercy, seeming to go straight for Wei Changsheng's heart.
Wei Changsheng sneered in disdain. How could a body tempered by gangsha fear a mere iron hook?
Still, he wasn't so arrogant as to take a demonic spell head-on with his bare body. Wei Changsheng slapped the Five Immortals Furnace beneath him and shifted sideways, using the pill furnace to block the Green-Faced Evil Ghost's hook.
In Wei Changsheng's eyes, the most it could do was jolt the furnace. The Five Immortals Furnace wasn't an ordinary magical treasure; even in the Fenxiang Sect, it ranked among the finest.
A furnace used for alchemy had to be durable above all else.
Wei Changsheng had complete confidence in the Five Immortals Furnace's toughness. Even Su Chunyi's sword might not damage his magical treasure. A mere spell from someone in the Qi Sea Realm...
When the hook struck the Five Immortals Furnace, Wei Changsheng's confident smile froze instantly.
There was no impact, just as he'd expected. There wasn't even a sound.
The hook simply passed through the Five Immortals Furnace and appeared right in front of Wei Changsheng.
Wei Changsheng thought the hook was an illusion, but the metallic tang and stench of decay rushing toward him were all too real.
It was already too late to dodge.
Wei Changsheng's pupils contracted. He instinctively leaned back, but the hook still pierced his shoulder blade.
Wei Changsheng had thought it would pass right through him too, but he felt a sharp pain in his shoulder. The hook had struck him solidly.
His body had been tempered by gangsha and should have been as tough as steel, impervious to ordinary blades. Yet the hook sank easily into his bone and yanked him down from the Five Immortals Furnace.
The agony left Wei Changsheng unable to think.
He could swear to Heaven that the pain was like what he'd endured when tempering his body with gangsha. No, it was even worse—far more terrifying.
Wei Changsheng forgot all about his dignity. He rolled on the ground, howling in pain.
But the more he rolled, the tighter the chains around him became. They were clearly illusory, yet they locked Wei Changsheng in place until he couldn't move at all.
With no one controlling it, the Five Immortals Furnace crashed down, smashing a huge pit into the ground.
But it really was sturdy. It didn't look warped at all, and there didn't even seem to be a scratch on it.
Chen Ye looked at Wei Changsheng rolling on the ground, his brow furrowing.
The iron hook and chains' power depended on the target's sins. Chen Ye was only a little demon who'd taken a punch to the chest. How could this disciple of a prestigious orthodox sect be rolling on the ground in agony?
Who was the real demon here?
Could this kid be an impostor?
Chen Ye didn't care what Wei Changsheng was yelling about. He waved the Ten Thousand Soul Banner, sending the resentful souls rushing forward to strip him bare.
But he hadn't expected even the ferocious, violent resentful souls to hesitate in front of the Green-Faced Evil Ghost. Even Yang Chongguang, a veteran who'd once fought bloody battles on the battlefield, didn't dare approach.
Yang Chongguang even said outright, "Benefactor, your divine ability is terrifying. My legs have gone weak. I can't move."
Chen Ye hadn't expected the evil ghost formed by this secret technique to have the power to cow resentful souls. He had no choice but to put away the Ten Thousand Soul Banner and run over to the man himself.
But after that delay, the pain Wei Changsheng was suffering had eased considerably. He could just barely move again.
Chen Ye hurriedly controlled the Green-Faced Evil Ghost and used its chains to wrap the kid up several more times.
Then Wei Changsheng howled even louder.
Chen Ye smiled. "Don't blame me, fellow Daoist. I'm only protecting myself."
"Damn demon!" Wei Changsheng roared at the top of his lungs. "I'll kill you!"
Chen Ye smiled and reached out toward him.
"What are you doing?!"
Unable to move, Wei Changsheng could only watch helplessly as Chen Ye removed his storage bag.
"You dare steal the treasures of the Fenxiang Sect?!"
Wei Changsheng struggled with all his might, but the chains held him firmly in place. He couldn't even shift his body.
Chen Ye explained, "Don't blame me, fellow Daoist. You never know what treasures a cultivator might pull out of their storage bag. I'm protecting myself, that's all."
After saying that, Chen Ye removed the jade pendant from Wei Changsheng's waist.
"This jade pendant is full of wood-element spiritual energy. Trigram Dui above, Kun below—the Marsh over Earth, Gathering. It might summon wooden spikes to pierce right through me, so I'll hold on to it for you."
Wei Changsheng shouted, "Nonsense! It's for self-defense..."
But Chen Ye wasn't listening. He took Wei Changsheng's hairpin too.
"Made of darkwood. Nice—ah, no, a dangerous magical treasure."
"These clothes of yours are made of fire-rat cloth and heavenly silkworm silk. They're impervious to water and fire... Hmm, they might also wrap someone up inside and turn them to pus in a short while. I'll put them away for you first."
Before you continue