Witch Splits the Mountain

Jiang Chen roughly calculated the time.

Today was the tenth day on the Heavenly Demon Sect's timetable for attacking the mountain—the day of the assault.

It was noon, with the blazing sun directly overhead.

Jiang Chen was somewhat surprised.

Although she had known beforehand that the Azure Mist Sect had laid an ambush, the demoness Tian Mingye had still resolutely initiated the "Witch Splits the Mountain" storyline.

Moreover, she had chosen noon for the assault, when sunlight flooded the land and demonic power was at its weakest.

Knowing there were tigers on the mountain, yet charging straight toward them—truly the height of brainless recklessness.

As for the storyline names... Demoness Burns the Mountain, Witch Splits the Mountain. Not bad.

Jiang Chen spread out his divine sense.

After confirming that no one nearby was watching him, he could airdrop into the Azure Mist Sect and immediately begin watching the main storyline.

Time and space instantly froze.

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

This was the third time, yet the feeling... was still quite wondrous.

The scene passed through the clouds and looked down from the sky.

In his ears, the Azure Mist Sect's urgent, shrill bells rang through the heavens like waves of air-raid sirens.

Below the clouds and above the mountain-protecting formation, two women in black stood suspended in the air.

The Demonic Flame continuously spreading beneath their feet dyed the Azure Mist Sect's pale-green mountain-protecting formation a smoky hue.

Jiang Chen recognized one of them at a glance. She was Tian Mingye, the Heavenly Demon Sect's sect master!

Because the storyline's camera had zoomed right in beneath her Abyss-like neckline...

Jiang Chen wanted to give the cameraman an extra drumstick!

The camera slowly descended until it faced Tian Mingye head-on at eye level, giving her an extreme close-up.

She wore a tight black robe patterned with purple designs. Her figure was tall and imposing, lush and seductive.

Her outfit was so revealing that Jiang Chen felt it would need censoring if this footage were uploaded online.

Jiang Chen thought that he was fairly broad-minded, but if Tian Mingye were his wife, he would absolutely make her wear thigh-high stockings and a tube top. Otherwise, he would never let her leave the house!

The witch had four arms. Two were crossed over her chest, radiating sheer dominance.

One arm rested behind her back, while another hand was clenched before her abdomen, making her seem like someone willing to reason things out.

Jiang Chen had seen the outline of the witch's figure in Liu Ruyan's cave abode, so he had been prepared for it.

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

Sensation of falling.

It was like when he cultivated the Demi-Immortal Method, when an Abyss formed within his sea of qi and his soul sank into it.

A single swordpin pierced her jet-black hair bun, leaving her hair almost loose. A dark-red floral mark was carved between her brows, black eyeshadow swept upward, and her flame-red lips looked stained with blood. Her features were grand and commanding, carrying a beauty and pride that seemed to stand above humanity itself.

Especially those deep, sharp crimson eyes. Her demonic aura was so intense that she would not have possessed such presence without slaughtering dozens of cities. Even Masashi Kishimoto himself could never whitewash her.

Still, Jiang Chen felt that this demoness was simply too beautiful. Her dark, gorgeous appearance did not diminish her aura in the slightest; instead, it deepened her sense of sin.

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

Jiang Chen stared for quite some time before realizing there was another female figure floating beside the demoness.

She was a young demon girl with a Daoist bun, delicate and pretty, appearing to be 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, using Demonic Flame instead of a shadow to tell the time.

"Is it noon yet?"

Tian Mingye asked.

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

"It is, Exalted One."

"Has it reached the exact instant of noon?"

"Wait... Exalted One, it is this very moment!"

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

And she was merely attacking a mountain. Did she really need to be so punctual? Did she have to strike at the exact stroke of noon?

Once the time arrived, Tian Mingye suddenly raised her clenched right fist before her mouth and coughed twice before beginning her speech.

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

I have come to your sect today not to massacre and plunder it, but to rescue Qu Yang, the Myriad Laws Elder of my sect.

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

Jiang Chen was somewhat surprised. This woman's voice was lofty and dark, yet her manner of speech was orderly and logical. She was actually trying to reason with the Azure Mist Sect.

And this Myriad Laws Elder Qu Yang of the Heavenly Demon Sect—could he be that decrepit old demon who had been devoured by Reverend Guiqi along with the flood serpent?

Inside the Azure Mist Sect.

The sect master, Luo Qingzhou, was an Early Nascent Soul Realm cultivator. He was a handsome middle-aged man with unyielding eyes. Aside from looking somewhat kidney-deficient, he could still hold his own.

Behind the sect master stood Golden Core Realm elders, high-ranking stewards, and core inner-sect disciples, all wearing grave expressions as they stood ready for battle.

"Our sect has never held any grudge against the Heavenly Demon Sect, nor have we heard of anyone named Qu Yang.

I have already informed the Xihe Prefecture authorities of this matter. Li Lingzhou, the Daqian Dynasty's Prison Suppression Envoy, is an old friend of mine and will arrive at our sect within an hour.

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

Rarely did Luo Qingzhou straighten his frail body. Standing with his hands behind his back, he raised his head toward the sky and spoke thus.

A Daqian Dynasty Prison Suppression Envoy...

Jiang Chen knew a little about that as well.

The Daqian Dynasty was the feudal regime that nominally ruled Ascending Dragon Continent. Its predecessor was the Dao Alliance, which had united the sects of the land to slay demons and eradicate evil. Later, the alliance leader proclaimed himself emperor and unified the one hundred and eight prefectures of Ascending Dragon Continent.

Xihe Prefecture was one of them. A single prefecture was larger than the total area of Blue Star from Jiang Chen's previous life.

It contained many autonomous small nations. Fireburn Kingdom was one of them, roughly equal in size to Huaxia and administratively comparable to a commandery or county.

Generally speaking, the Daqian Dynasty's imperial authority only extended to the various prefectures and rarely reached deep into the local small nations. Thus, even after the Heavenly Demon Sect had abducted people and entire cities from dozens of cities in Fireburn Kingdom, the Daqian Dynasty had shown no reaction.

But the Azure Mist Sect was different in status.

The Azure Mist Sect had once been among the founding member sects of the Dao Alliance. It had been unrivaled in its day, though it had now fallen into decline and become prey for all.

Even so, it remained directly under the Dao Alliance's jurisdiction. If the Azure Mist Sect faced disaster, the Daqian Dynasty should rightfully intervene.

Of course, that was only in theory...

Tian Mingye's brows twitched slightly, but she still did her utmost to remain restrained and reason with them condescendingly.

"Though I cannot swiftly break your sect's mountain-protecting formation, I can continuously devour its spiritual power with Demonic Flame. I will break the formation before nightfall... As for the Daqian Dynasty's Prison Suppression Envoy, how long has it been since your Azure Mist Sect paid its sect taxes? If you still refuse to open the formation, I will have no choice but to massacre your sect."

Luo Qingzhou's expression stiffened.

He wondered just how deeply the Azure Mist Sect had been infiltrated by the Demon Sect for even the demoness to know whether they had paid their taxes.

The elders, stewards, and core disciples within the sect were all panic-stricken, secretly urging him to open the formation core.

Unexpectedly, Luo Qingzhou flung his sleeve and angrily declared:

"Our formation core was sealed in advance. Everyone in this sect has sworn to live and die with it.

You demon, abandon that thought!

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

Jiang Chen had never heard of Li Lingzhou, but he still felt that saying such a thing out loud was really not a good idea.

The young demon girl immediately crouched down to inspect the formation carefully. When she rose, she shook her head.

"The formation core has indeed been sealed."

Jiang Chen could tell that the demoness intended to pressure Reverend Guiqi or the sect master into fleeing, then coordinate from within and without to break the formation as quickly as possible.

Unfortunately, she had not expected Luo Qingzhou to have such a frail-looking body but such unyielding bones.

Demonic Flame surged from Tian Mingye, and her robes snapped in the wind.

"This righteous sect is rather unreasonable... Keep track of the time outside. I'll be back shortly."

"Yes, Exalted One!"

Tian Mingye drew the Violet Star Demon Sword and thrust it into the mountain-protecting formation directly above the formation core.

In an instant, black flames seeped in and spiritual power rose.

The Violet Star Demon Sword became lodged in the formation!

In a single moment, Tian Mingye transformed into a streak of red-and-black Demonic Flame and slipped through the gap.

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

The power of the Heavenly Demon exceeded everyone's imagination!

Sect Master Luo Qingzhou felt his scalp go numb. He had not expected even the location of the formation core to be known by the Demon Sect.

Generally speaking, at the same cultivation level, demons possessed combat power far beyond that of shapeshifting beasts and human cultivators.

And Tian Mingye was a combat genius among demons. For a hundred years, she had fought opponents above her level without a single defeat.

Seeing the demoness break into the sect while the formation core remained sealed, everyone had no path of retreat and could only fight.

"Even if the enemy is alone, we need not speak of martial honor. We must join forces and slay this demonic scourge!"

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

The result... after barely a dozen exchanges, they were all beaten to the ground by the demoness. Two elders died on the spot.

Luo Qingzhou was severely wounded and vomited blood. Unable to rise again, he could only watch helplessly as the demoness ravaged the sect.

Jiang Chen had never imagined that a demoness at the Early Nascent Soul Realm could possess combat power practically invincible within the Nascent Soul Realm!

Tian Mingye stepped on the corpses of two elders and raised a hand to summon her demon sword.

The Violet Star Demon Sword, lodged in the great formation, shot into her hand.

At that moment, she had reached the slanted airspace above Myriad Laws Peak.

Holding the Violet Star Demon Sword and coating it in Demonic Flame capable of cleaving mountains, she slashed down toward the Scripture Pavilion.

Myriad Laws Peak instantly split apart, divided into two.

Reverend Guiqi's underground library was likewise split in half, and scattered books flew into the air.

Tian Mingye seized a book from afar and flipped through the manuals inside with one hand, finding nothing unusual.

Jiang Chen also carefully examined it through the camera.

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

Between the two split mountains, books fluttered through the air. A white-haired old man who had attained the Dao sat cross-legged in midair and slowly opened his eyes.

"For two thousand years, I have slain too many demons and eradicated too much evil to count. Must I ask every demonic scourge whether he is Qu Yang before killing him?"