Witch Splits the Mountain

Jiang Chen roughly calculated the time.

Today was the tenth day on the Heavenly Demon Sect's schedule for attacking the mountain—the day of the attack itself.

It was noon. The blazing sun hung directly overhead.

Jiang Chen was a little surprised.

Despite knowing in advance that the Azure Mist Sect had laid an ambush, the demoness Tian Mingye had gone ahead with the "Witch Splits the Mountain" storyline.

What was more, she had chosen noon to attack, when sunlight flooded the land and the Devil Race's power was at its weakest.

She knew there were tigers on the mountain, yet headed straight for it anyway. Pure, brainless recklessness.

As for the storyline names... Demoness Burns the Mountain, Witch Splits the Mountain. They were pretty good.

Jiang Chen spread out his divine sense.

Once he was sure no one nearby was watching him, he could drop into the Azure Mist Sect and immediately begin watching the main storyline.

Time and space froze in an instant.

At that moment, only Jiang Chen's divine sense could move in the entire world.

It was his third time, but the feeling was still... wondrous.

The view swept through the clouds and looked down from the sky.

The Azure Mist Sect's urgent, piercing bells rang through the clouds like wave after wave of air-raid sirens.

Beneath the clouds, above the mountain-protecting formation, two women in black stood in midair.

Demonic Flame spread beneath their feet, staining the Azure Mist Sect's pale-green formation the color of smoke.

Jiang Chen recognized one of them at a glance: Tian Mingye, sect master of the Heavenly Demon Sect!

Because the view had swooped straight down toward her neckline, which plunged like the Abyss...

Jiang Chen wanted to give the cameraman a bonus drumstick!

The view slowly descended until it faced Tian Mingye head-on, closing in for an extreme close-up.

She wore a tight black robe patterned in purple. Her figure was tall and imposing, voluptuous and alluring.

Her outfit was so revealing that Jiang Chen thought any video of this uploaded online would have to be censored.

Jiang Chen thought he was fairly open-minded, but if Tian Mingye were his wife, he would insist she wear black stockings and a tube top. Otherwise, he would never let her out of the house!

The demoness had four arms. Two were crossed before her chest, giving her an imperious air.

Another rested behind her back, while the last was clenched in a fist before her abdomen. Somehow, that made her look like someone who could be reasoned with.

Jiang Chen had seen the outline of her figure in Liu Ruyan's cave abode, so he had known what to expect.

But now, seeing that face of breathtaking beauty and utter darkness, he suddenly felt a bone-deep...

Sensation of falling.

It was like cultivating the Demi-Immortal Method, when an Abyss formed in his qi sea and his soul sank with it.

Her only hair ornament was a sword thrust through her jet-black bun, leaving her hair nearly loose. A dark-red floral mark adorned her brow, black eye shadow swept upward, and her fiery red lips looked stained with blood. Her features were magnificent, bearing a beauty and arrogance that seemed to transcend humanity.

Her deep, sharp crimson eyes were especially demonic. No one had an aura like that without slaughtering dozens of cities. Even if Masashi Kishimoto himself showed up, he could never redeem her.

Jiang Chen just thought this demoness was almost too beautiful. Her dark allure did nothing to soften her aura; it only deepened the sense of her sins.

She was like a sage who had once believed in the gods with absolute devotion, only to have that faith collapse and fall into the most evil of demons.

Jiang Chen stared for quite a while before realizing another woman stood suspended beside her.

She was a young devil girl with her hair in a Daoist bun, delicate and pretty, apparently fourteen or fifteen. When she grinned, she revealed a terrifying set of teeth.

In her arms she held a Stone-Carved Bell resembling a sundial, which used Demonic Flame instead of a shadow to mark the time.

"Is it exactly noon?"

Tian Mingye asked.

The young devil girl glanced at the Stone-Carved Bell in her arms.

"It is, my lord."

"Has the precise instant of noon arrived?"

"Wait... My lord, this is the moment!"

Jiang Chen was dumbfounded. The demoness had said she would gather her forces to attack the mountain, but she had brought only a timekeeper.

And she was just attacking a mountain. Did she really need to be so punctual that she picked the exact instant of noon?

When the moment arrived, Tian Mingye suddenly brought her clenched right fist to her mouth and cleared her throat twice before speaking.

"I am Tian Mingye, sect master of the Heavenly Demon Sect.

I have come to your sect today not to slaughter or plunder, but to rescue Qu Yang, an elder of Myriad Laws Peak from my sect.

Hand over Qu Yang and the chief culprit who imprisoned him at once, before I change my mind and wipe out your entire sect!"

Jiang Chen was a little surprised. Her voice was imposing and dark, yet she spoke with measured precision and clear logic. She was actually trying to reason with the Azure Mist Sect.

And this Qu Yang, the Heavenly Demon Sect's elder of Myriad Laws Peak—could he be the ancient Old Devil Reverend Guiqi had devoured along with the Jiao Serpent?

Inside the Azure Mist Sect.

The sect master, Luo Qingzhou, was at the Nascent Soul Early Stage. He was a handsome middle-aged man with defiant eyes. Apart from his somewhat sickly complexion, he looked capable of holding his own.

Behind him stood the Golden Core Realm elders, senior stewards, and core disciples of the inner sect, all grim-faced and ready for battle.

"Our sect has never had a grievance with the Heavenly Demon Sect, nor have we heard of any Qu Yang.

I have already informed the Xihe Prefecture authorities. Li Lingzhou, a prison warden of the Daqian Dynasty, is an old friend of mine. She will arrive within the hour.

I advise you to withdraw at once, lest all the Heavenly Demon Sect has built over the years be brought to justice in a single day!"

For once, Luo Qingzhou straightened his weakened body. Hands clasped behind his back, he raised his head to the sky as he spoke.

A prison warden of the Daqian Dynasty...

Jiang Chen knew a thing or two about them.

The Daqian Dynasty was the feudal government that nominally ruled the Ascending Dragon Continent. Its predecessor was the Dao Alliance, which had united the sects of the realm to slay monsters and eliminate demons. Later, the alliance leader proclaimed himself emperor and brought the continent's 108 prefectures under one rule.

Xihe Prefecture was one of them. A single prefecture covered more land than the entire surface area of Blue Star in Jiang Chen's previous life.

It contained many small, self-governing countries. The Fireburn Kingdom was one of them, roughly the size of Huaxia and roughly equivalent to a county in administrative rank.

Generally speaking, the Daqian Dynasty's authority rarely reached beyond the prefectural level into the small local kingdoms. The Heavenly Demon Sect had abducted dozens of Fireburn Kingdom cities, people and all, without stirring any response from the dynasty.

But the Azure Mist Sect was different.

The Azure Mist Sect had been one of the founding members of the Dao Alliance, once so powerful that none dared challenge it. Only now that it had declined did everyone dare bully it.

Even so, it remained under the Dao Alliance's direct jurisdiction. If the Azure Mist Sect was in danger, the Daqian Dynasty ought to intervene.

Of course, that was only in theory...

Tian Mingye's brow twitched, but she still struggled to restrain herself and reason with him from above.

"I cannot break your sect's mountain-protecting formation quickly, but my Demonic Flame can steadily consume its spiritual power. I can break through before nightfall... As for the Daqian prison warden, how long has your Azure Mist Sect gone without paying its taxes? If you still refuse to open the formation, I will have no choice but to slaughter your sect."

Luo Qingzhou's face stiffened.

How badly has the Demon Sect infiltrated the Azure Mist Sect? Even this demoness knows whether we've paid our taxes.

The elders, stewards, and core disciples inside the sect were all in a panic. They secretly urged him to open the formation's eye.

To their surprise, Luo Qingzhou swept his sleeve and roared:

"Our formation's eye was sealed in advance. Every member of this sect has sworn to live or die with it.

Give up on that idea, demon!

We may not have paid taxes to the dynasty, but we promised Li Lingzhou tens of thousands of spirit stones. How could she not come?"

Jiang Chen had never heard of Li Lingzhou, but did Luo Qingzhou really think it was wise to say that aloud?

The young devil girl immediately crouched to examine the formation. She rose and shook her head.

"The formation's eye has indeed been sealed."

Jiang Chen could tell that the demoness intended to pressure Reverend Guiqi or the sect master into fleeing. She could then coordinate with an ally inside and break the formation as quickly as possible.

Unfortunately for her, while Sect Master Luo Qingzhou looked weak, he had a spine of iron.

Demonic Flame surged around Tian Mingye, her robes snapping in the wind.

"This righteous sect isn't being very reasonable... Keep an eye on the time out here. I'll be back shortly."

"Yes, my lord!"

Tian Mingye drew the Violet Star Demon Sword and drove it into the mountain-protecting formation directly above the formation's eye.

Black flames seeped in, and spiritual power billowed up.

The Violet Star Demon Sword lodged fast in the formation!

In an instant, Tian Mingye transformed into a streak of red-and-black Demonic Flame and slipped through the crack.

Jiang Chen had not expected a formation could be breached like that...

The power of a Heavenly Demon surpassed everyone's imagination!

Sect Master Luo Qingzhou's scalp prickled. He had not expected the Demon Sect to know the location of the formation's eye as well.

Generally, at the same cultivation level, the Devil Race was far stronger in combat than transformed monsters or human cultivators.

Tian Mingye was a combat prodigy even among the Devil Race. In a century of fighting opponents above her level, she had never lost.

The demoness had broken into the sect, but with the formation's eye sealed, no one had a way out. They could only fight.

"Even if the enemy is alone, we must not stand on martial-world etiquette. We should slay this demon together!"

With that, Luo Qingzhou led the elders, stewards, and core disciples in a charge.

The result... In just a dozen or so exchanges, the demoness beat them all to the ground. Two elders died on the spot.

Gravely wounded and coughing blood, Luo Qingzhou could no longer rise. He could only watch helplessly as the demoness ravaged his sect.

Jiang Chen had never imagined that a demoness at the Nascent Soul Early Stage could be practically invincible among Nascent Soul cultivators!

Standing atop the bodies of the two elders, Tian Mingye raised a hand and summoned her sword.

The Violet Star Demon Sword shot free of the formation and flew into her hand.

By then, she had reached the air above and to one side of Myriad Laws Peak.

She gripped the Violet Star Demon Sword, wreathed it in mountain-splitting Demonic Flame, and brought it down on the Scripture Pavilion.

Myriad Laws Peak split in an instant, cleaved in two.

Reverend Guiqi's underground library split with it, sending books scattering through the air.

Tian Mingye plucked a book from the air and flipped through the secret text inside with one hand. She found nothing unusual.

Jiang Chen followed the view and examined it closely too.

Only then did he realize Reverend Guiqi had altered these books. They no longer contained any part of the Demi-Immortal's Book.

Between the two halves of the mountain, books swirled through the air. An elderly, white-haired Daoist sage sat cross-legged in midair and slowly opened his eyes.

"For two thousand years, this old man has slain more monsters and demons than he can count. Must I ask every demon I kill whether he is Qu Yang first?"