Dao Canon Nine

"The Painting Demon King ranked second on the Outstanding Spirit Board. She was a genuine top-tier genius, and it had taken her only four hundred years from the start of cultivation to reach this level." The person in charge, Lou Xiaofei, showed a look of admiration as well.

"She belonged to a branch of the Demon Race known as the Painting Demons. Only because of certain accidents had she split from the main clan and established herself as an independent king."

"What about the last one?"

Lin Xin's gaze turned toward the final corner.

A gloomy man wrapped head to toe in all manner of bandages stood there. He looked as though he had suffered grievous injuries.

At that moment, he was the first to slowly walk toward the enormous White Lantern. He looked no different from an utterly ordinary cultivator.

He gave off neither overpowering spiritual pressure nor any particular air of ferocity.

"This last one was said to have been personally recruited by Second Qing Nu of the Jade Clarity Dao, yet she ultimately failed." Lou Xiaofei's voice sank.

"Even Second Qing Nu personally tried to recruit him?" Old Guan was interested as well. "What is this man's background?"

Lin Xin looked toward Guan Mingyue. Yuan Jing Ancestor had always been calm and taciturn, showing no reaction when the first three were mentioned.

Yet upon hearing that even Second Qing Nu had personally attempted to recruit this man, he actually seemed moved.

"Old Guan, who is stronger, Second Qing Nu or you?"

"Crown Prince Your Highness certainly did not hold back with that question." Guan Mingyue gave a bitter smile. "Though I hate to admit it, what you should be asking is: who is stronger, First Princess Your Highness or Second Qing Nu?"

Lin Xin, Lou Xiaofei, and several Yuan Dou Demon Sect officials behind them were all visibly shaken.

The First Princess, Great Princess Your Highness, was truly the Yuan Dou Demon Sect's second strongest expert. Even among all the elders, few could match her.

For Second Azure Maiden Your Highness to be mentioned in the same breath as the Great Princess, she was indeed at the absolute pinnacle of the Yuan Jing level.

"Then it seems this final person truly has enough strength and confidence to back himself up." Lin Xin's expression turned grave as well.

Lou Xiaofei nodded heavily.

"This man is Zhu Chihuai, ranked first on the Outstanding Spirit Board."

"Zhu Chihuai?"

"Chi as in scarlet, huai as in the locust tree."

"Why does he have a name like that?" Lin Xin asked.

"Because he is a locust tree spirit." Lou Xiaofei explained.

As they spoke, a murky gray glow suddenly lit up around Zhu Chihuai below. Then several competing cultivators were sent flying.

The men staggered about with blood at the corners of their mouths, their faces pale as they glared viciously at Zhu Chihuai. Their lips seemed to be forming words, but they were too far away to hear clearly.

"Looks like a conflict has broken out," Lou Xiaofei explained.

"Various conflicts usually arise during the first trial. No one wants to be the first to enter and test the formation. It seems Zhu Chihuai wants these people to take the lead and scout the way inside. They refused."

Lin Xin looked into the distance. Zhu Chihuai's face was cold and sinister as his lips moved, apparently saying something to those competing cultivators.

There were only eleven competitors in all, every one of them a top expert who could break through into Yuan Jing at any moment.

Yet he was facing three alone and had completely suppressed them.

The two sides remained deadlocked for a while. Zhu Chihuai seemed to use some method, and the cultivators slowly gave in, voluntarily entering the White Lantern. He followed behind them.

This was the first group to enter the White Lantern. Afterward, the Painting Demon King led two people inside. Ouyang Fojiu and Gao Kuo entered the White Lantern at a leisurely pace as well.

Lin Xin waited quietly for a while. Heaven Cloud Path showed no intention of openly displaying the process of breaking the formation, simply letting everyone wait.

Time trickled by.

In the blink of an eye, the sky gradually darkened. Yet nearly everyone present was a cultivator. The few mortals there were royal descendants of exceptionally distinguished status in the secular world, with people providing food and drink. No one was in a hurry.

No one grew restless. Some cultivators simply began regulating their breath in their seats, while others rose and wandered around the venue.

The sky gradually brightened again, and the second day arrived. The White Lantern remained utterly unchanged. A lantern merely three stories high had swallowed eleven top cultivators, all experts close to Yuan Jing, yet after an entire day, not even a bubble had emerged from within.

Soon, the second day passed. Then the third day... the fourth day... the fifth day...

Some cultivators with poorer patience had already begun to grow impatient.

Boom!

A violent tremor suddenly erupted from one corner of the venue, as though something had exploded.

Lin Xin had been sitting cross-legged at the prow of the three organizers' tower ship with his eyes closed, regulating his breath. Mere seconds before the tremor struck, he abruptly opened his eyes and looked in that direction.

Guan Mingyue was faster than him. He had already turned toward that spot.

Thick smoke billowed from a corner of the jade-green plaza. Many Bronze Armor Guards could vaguely be seen rushing over, with even Silver Armor Guards accompanying them.

"What happened?"

Lin Xin asked in a low voice.

"I'm not sure, but it seems they caught some suspicious person." Lou Xiaofei hesitated. "Silver Armor Guards are only deployed at the venue when suspicious individuals are apprehended."

Lin Xin glanced that way, seized by an odd intuition that the matter might somehow be connected to him.

Screee!

Amid a piercing cry, a streak of black demonic qi shot into the sky. In midair, it transformed into a colossal skull that opened its jaws in silent laughter.

"This is our sect's emergency signal?" Lou Xiaofei froze.

Lin Xin was stunned as well. He seemed to think of something, then immediately reacted.

"It's one of ours. Something happened! Let's go take a look!"

He sprang to his feet and flew in that direction. Lou Xiaofei hurriedly turned and called several people to follow. Guan Mingyue, however, remained where he was without moving in the slightest. He did not even open his eyes, as if he had not noticed the disturbance.

By the time Lin Xin and the others reached the site of the explosion, a group of cultivators had already gathered around it, all there to watch the excitement.

Seeing the organizers arrive, they all automatically made way.

As Lin Xin entered the crowd, the faces of the several people surrounded at its center immediately fell into his sight.

"I already told you! We didn't cause that explosion. A man in black suddenly attacked us just now, and we were forced to fight back. We're injured now—why won't you believe us?"

Wang Peng explained helplessly to the two Silver Armor Guards.

From time to time, he shielded Rong Yan, Qiu Ling, Xiao Yu, and the others behind him.

But the two Silver Armor Guards wore obvious looks of mockery and did not believe a word he said.

"Enough. If all you intended to do was fire a Signal Flare, then now that you have fired it, hurry up and come with us."

The other Silver Armor Guard was even less polite.

"If you keep wasting time here, don't blame us for being rude."

"We should never have wasted time arguing with them. We should've just seized them and been done with it." A Bronze Armor Guard said indignantly. "Cousin, this fellow injured me. He dared attack the security guards directly—he must be a spy!"

"I'm a fucking spy, your whole family is spies!" Qiu Ling could not stop herself from cursing from behind Wang Peng. "I'm a spy? Which of your damned eyes saw this lady do anything a spy would do?"

"Your crude behavior alone proves you are not cultivators who came to attend the Dao Canon!" The Bronze Armor Guard sneered. "Cousin, why waste words on her? Throw her into the Absolute Prison for ten days or so. Let's see whether this bitch still dares be so stubborn!"

This Bronze Armor Guard had always swaggered arrogantly within the guard ranks. Even ordinary Silver Armor Guards usually found it inconvenient to provoke him. Yet today, these outsiders had actually angered him. It clearly did not look like a misunderstanding—their grudge ran deep.

"Take them away," one Silver Armor Guard said blandly. Though he did not know the full story, he knew his cousin's lustful nature. Looking at the breathtakingly beautiful little jade fox hiding at the back of the group, he knew perfectly well which side was in the right.

This sort of thing had not happened only once or twice.

What worried him was that the signal they had just released seemed to belong to the Immortal Fiend Alliance. He needed to settle and define the matter quickly, lest something fishy arise on that side. Once it was labeled, even if trouble came later, it could easily be suppressed.

The Immortal Fiend Alliance had been especially arrogant lately. This was a good chance to knock them down a peg as well.

The guards contained personnel from each of the three major organizations, so factions naturally stood everywhere, and internal strife was severe. This Silver Armor Guard belonged to the Wei Family.

The Wei Family represented one of Heaven Cloud Path's top powers. Heaven Cloud Path had already been dissatisfied after failing to secure the position of chief organizer this time, allowing the Immortal Fiend Alliance's Golden Armor Elder to seize the post. The entire Wei Family had been swallowing its anger.

And now, seeing that these troublemakers had used an Immortal Fiend Alliance signal, his anger flared even more.

"Take them away."

As his words fell, several Bronze Armor Guards simultaneously raised their hands and scattered a fine net woven from bronze threads. At the same time, two others held red and blue spike-like shuttle-shaped artifacts and lightly shone them upon the bronze net.

Hiss...

Just as Wang Peng and the others were about to make a move, the net vanished into thin air, and they immediately lost sight of their target.

"What is going on?!"

Qiu Ling hurriedly asked. That net had given her a bad feeling.

"Careful!"

Rong Yan abruptly grabbed her arm and yanked her backward, pulling her an entire step away.

Hiss...

A huge red net suddenly appeared where she had been standing. The bronze threads were burned crimson, and it fiercely descended upon the four of them!

"Cousin, do not hurt that little jade fox!" the Wei-surnamed Bronze Armor Guard hurriedly transmitted.

"What about the others?" the Silver Armor Guard asked helplessly.

"The other three—kill the man. As for the women, heh heh, leave them behind for us to play with as we please! Once they're branded as spies and sent into the Absolute Prison, even a Yuan Jing Ancestor won't be able to drag them out alive!"

The Wei-surnamed Bronze Armor Guard sneered and touched his back, where a distinct, unusual wound lay. It was an injury left behind after that man had caught him making a transaction and they had fought.

Wei Tiancheng had once run rampant even on Dao Canon Snow Mountain, with no one daring to provoke him. Yet he had unexpectedly been injured by an unknown nobody.

What was more, that man had witnessed the transaction. If he was not killed quickly, it might breed endless complications.

With that thought, he gave his cousin a look and swiftly made a hand gesture.