Demon Shadows Spread Westward, Luohou Takes Notice of Guixu

The west.

Deep within the Demon Realm.

The heavens and earth here were completely different from the rest of the Primordial World.

Black mountain ranges pierced the gloomy sky like countless thorns.

Dark red demonic qi poured from the cracks in the earth.

Countless demon shadows wandered through the valleys, letting out low growls.

This was the foundation of the Demon Cult.

It was also where Luohou gathered killing intent, resentment, and demonic qi.

When Youdu's remnant soul fled back to the Demon Realm, barely half a demon shadow remained.

His Taiyi Demon Body had been shattered in Guixu.

More than half of the demonic baleful energy he had accumulated over the years had also been devoured by Sea Devourer.

Even the Demon Shadow Talisman bestowed by Luohou had cracked beneath the illumination of the Book of Cause and Effect.

This was an extremely devastating loss for him.

Deep within the Demon Realm, atop a black altar.

Youdu knelt on the ground, his figure illusory and unstable.

Above the altar hung a pitch-black spear.

The God-Slaying Spear had yet to fully emerge, yet it already exuded an incomparably terrifying aura of slaughter.

At the end of the altar, a figure sat cross-legged atop a black lotus.

Black hair cascaded down.

His eyes were deep.

The demonic qi around him was like a bottomless abyss without end.

He was the Demon Ancestor, Luohou.

Luohou did not look at Youdu.

He merely spoke indifferently.

"Defeated?"

Youdu lowered his head further.

"This subordinate was incompetent."

"Within Guixu are the Book of Cause and Effect, the Black Tortoise Sea-Calming Pearl, Dragon-Suppressing Pass, and the remnant soul of a ferocious beast that has been subdued."

"This subordinate had already stirred the academy's inner demons and nearly made Han Jue and Ao Lie fight."

"But the Mysterious Abyss Emperor broke the inner demons with a single turtle cry."

Luohou's gaze shifted slightly.

"A turtle cry?"

Youdu immediately said, "That sound was extremely strange."

"It was unlike any ordinary calming technique. It was more like it came from the source of Guixu itself."

"The inner demons of everyone in the academy were almost instantly suppressed."

"Afterward, Ao Lie of the Dragon Clan, Feng Li of the Frost Phoenix, Lin Yue of the Water Qilin, and Han Jue of Ice Scale joined forces and actually formed a Three-Clan Guardian Formation."

"This subordinate released demonic baleful energy, intending to pollute the Northern Darkness Sea."

"But that ferocious beast remnant soul, Sea Devourer, used the power of the Book of Cause and Effect to devour the demonic baleful energy instead, advancing into the Guixu Sea-Calming Beast Spirit."

Luohou finally looked at Youdu.

"Dragon, phoenix, and qilin can form a formation together in Guixu?"

Youdu gritted his teeth.

"This subordinate saw it with his own eyes."

"Though their coordination is still crude, it has already taken shape."

"If they continue to grow, they may become Guixu's true power to guard the realm in the future."

Luohou lightly tapped the black lotus with his fingers.

Countless currents of demonic qi rose and fell throughout the Demon Realm.

The dragon, phoenix, and qilin clans should have slaughtered one another until rivers of blood flowed.

The deeper the enmity between the three clans, the fiercer the cataclysm.

The fiercer the cataclysm, the more the demonic path flourished.

Yet Guixu was doing something contrary to the greater trend of the demonic path.

It was taking in those fleeing the cataclysm.

It was suppressing old grudges.

It was allowing branches of the three clans to coexist in one place.

More importantly, it had actually caused the younger generation of the three clans to begin forming formations together.

This was dangerous.

Not dangerous to the current dominance of the three clans.

But dangerous to the demonic path.

A trace of interest appeared in Luohou's eyes.

"Mysterious Abyss Emperor."

"Northern Sea Guixu."

"Quite interesting."

Youdu said quietly, "Demon Ancestor, should we send someone to destroy Guixu?"

Luohou said indifferently, "What is the hurry?"

"The dragon, phoenix, and qilin clans have not yet slaughtered one another to the bitter end."

"Since Guixu wishes to avoid the cataclysm, let it keep taking them in."

"The more it takes in, the heavier its karma."

"The heavier its karma, the better it will look when demonic flames burn in the future."

Youdu's heart jolted.

"The Demon Ancestor is wise."

Luohou raised a hand, and a strand of demonic light fell into Youdu's remnant soul.

Youdu's shattered demon shadow swiftly stabilized.

"Continue watching the Northern Sea."

"Do not force your way in yet."

"I want to know exactly how many living beings that Black Tortoise intends to protect."

Youdu kowtowed.

"This subordinate obeys the Demon Ancestor's decree."

Luohou raised his eyes and looked toward the north of the Primordial World.

Across an endless distance, he seemed to see a stretch of murky black water.

Within the black water was the faint, indistinct shadow of a Black Tortoise.

But that shadow was extremely faint.

It was obscured by something that deceived the heavens.

Even Luohou could only see its outline.

A cold smile appeared at the corner of Luohou's mouth.

"A sanctuary from the cataclysm?"

"Amid the cataclysm, who permitted you to avoid it?"

At the same time.

The east of the Primordial World.

Atop an unnamed immortal mountain.

A lean Daoist slowly opened his eyes.

He wore a gray-white Daoist robe, and his aura was plain and natural.

He looked utterly ordinary, yet he seemed fused with the great Dao of heaven and earth.

Hongjun.

At this time, Hongjun had yet to become a saint, but he was already one of the most unfathomable beings in the Primordial World.

He had originally been quietly observing the changes in the fortune of the dragon, phoenix, and qilin clans.

But he suddenly sensed an extremely unusual strand of karma in the direction of the Northern Sea.

That place had not actively entered the cataclysm.

Yet it continuously drew in living beings fleeing the cataclysm.

That place showed no ambition to contend for supremacy.

Yet it had gathered the tinder tokens of the dragon, phoenix, and qilin clans.

That place bore no name of the Heavenly Court.

Yet another kind of order had already begun to take shape.

Hongjun's fingertip moved lightly as he attempted a deduction.

A moment later, his brow shifted slightly.

The deduction had been blocked.

A haze of gray Guixu water mist separated his sight.

He could only vaguely see a Black Tortoise sleeping in the Northern Sea.

That Black Tortoise's four legs were like pillars, its shell like land, and its aura was astonishingly ancient.

Hongjun softly said, "Northern Sea Black Tortoise."

"The path of avoiding the cataclysm."

"Interesting indeed."

He did not continue forcing the deduction.

The Dragon-Han Cataclysm had not yet reached its final stage.

Luohou was what he truly needed to watch.

Northern Sea Guixu was merely a variable that had suddenly appeared at the edge of the chessboard.

Hongjun remembered the name.

Then he closed his eyes again.

Guixu.

After the battle at the academy ended, all of Guixu entered a thorough investigation.

Lan Shuang personally presided over it.

The Bureau of Cause and Effect, Calamity-Resolution Hall, Realm Guard, and academy stewards were all mobilized.

Everyone who had recently spread rumors, stirred conflict, or spread panic had to undergo a review by the Book of Cause and Effect.

This time, with the lingering resonance of the Emperor's calming turtle cry, the Book of Cause and Effect's power of illumination improved considerably.

Several hidden agents left behind by Youdu were quickly uncovered.

Among them, two cultivators from minor clans had been lightly contaminated by demonic qi.

There was also a young Dragon Clan descendant affected by a seed of inner demons.

Feng Li personally purified him with Frostflame.

Lin Yue used the power of the earth veins to stabilize his mind.

Ao Lie stood silently to one side.

When that young Dragon Clan descendant awoke, he tearfully apologized to him.

"Your Highness, I truly thought the Phoenix Clan was going to harm me just now."

Ao Lie looked at him and said quietly, "If you are afraid, you can say so."

"If you have doubts, you can go to the Calamity-Resolution Hall."

"Do not hand your heart over to demonic cultivators."

The young Dragon Clan descendant nodded with reddened eyes.

Han Jue glanced at Ao Lie from the side.

"Well said."

Ao Lie said blandly, "You should remember that too."

Han Jue's expression darkened.

"I'm awake now."

Ao Lie sneered.

"The one who nearly stabbed me with a spear had better wake up a few more times."

Han Jue held himself back and ultimately did not retort.

He truly was in the wrong this time.

Seeing that the two could still bicker, Lan Shuang felt somewhat relieved.

Though the academy had suffered a crisis, it had not fallen apart.

Instead, the cooperation between the dragon, phoenix, and qilin clans and the Guixu Guardian Team let the younger generation see a new possibility.

Guixu Academy began adding "Mind-Calming Lessons."

Before cultivating each day, all disciples had to recite the opening passage of the Guixu Stillness Art.

Strive less.

Kill less.

Incur less karma.

Live longer.

In the past, many young disciples had thought these four sentences were overly plain.

Only after experiencing the Youdu upheaval did they understand just how important those four sentences were.

Deep within Guixu.

After listening to Lan Shuang's report, Lu Chen felt heavyhearted.

Luohou had noticed Guixu.

Hongjun might have sensed it vaguely as well.

Those two names were even more troublesome than Ancestral Dragon, Yuanfeng, and Primordial Qilin.

No matter how powerful the rulers of the three clans were, they would ultimately decline during the Dragon-Han Cataclysm.

But Luohou and Hongjun were the ones who would truly shape the Primordial World's future.

Lu Chen had no desire whatsoever to catch their attention.

The system's voice sounded at that moment.

"The demonic path's Youdu has been defeated and driven back."

"Guixu Academy has endured the heart-demon tribulation without its order collapsing."

"The Sea-Swallowing Soul Pearl has advanced into the embryonic form of a sea-calming beast spirit."

"Guixu's younger generation has preliminarily mastered the Three-Clan Guardian Formation."

"Reward: Calamity-Viewing Platform Construction Method."

Lu Chen froze.

The Calamity-Viewing Platform?

He quickly understood its purpose.

Through Guixu's water veins, the Book of Cause and Effect, and the three clans' tokens, it could remotely observe the movements of the cataclysm.

Lu Chen's eyes lit up.

This was good.

He would no longer need to rely on guesswork. He could learn in advance where fighting had broken out, where demonic qi was thickest, and where the Northern Sea might be affected.

If he knew in advance, he could hide in advance.

"Build it."

"It has to be built."

"Even if it kills me, I'm never going out again."

Lu Chen finally felt a little safer.

He did not yet know.

Once the Calamity-Viewing Platform was built, it would let him see the Dragon-Han Cataclysm's true terror more clearly.

It would also allow Luohou, for the first time, to sense that Northern Sea Guixu was watching the cataclysm.