Settling the Matter

At their head were five men and three women, their auras unfathomably deep and their demonic power vast.

A Human Race sect master greeted them coolly. "Oh, you finally made it. Fellow Daoist Mo, do take a seat."

The demon woman in pale blue silk robes gave a soft laugh, then flicked her hand, sending an icicle shooting toward the Human Race cultivator.

The icicle exploded in midair, and the atmosphere instantly turned sour.

"We'll be arguing again soon enough anyway. We might as well keep our swords drawn and bows bent from the start, and save ourselves the trouble of playing polite."

Her words stunned everyone present.

After all, this was an important meeting between the leaders of the two races. Such bluntness right from the outset was wholly unexpected.

Seeing that things had taken a bad turn and that their side was in the wrong, a demon woman in a goose-yellow feather robe hurried to smooth things over. She bowed gracefully to everyone around her. "My elder sister Mo Lan speaks her mind without restraint. Please forgive her. Allow me to apologize on her behalf."

Given a way to back down gracefully, the Human Race played along. "Hahaha, Fellow Daoist Mo, your temperament is as sharp as ever. You haven't changed a bit!"

Before those words had faded, Mo Lan's figure flickered, and she appeared in the seat of honor on the right.

She elegantly tossed her loose hair behind her shoulders and said sternly, "Since no one is speaking, I'll get straight to the point. The low-level demon beasts that recently appeared within the Human Race's Divine Land did indeed escape because of negligence on the part of a commander under me. Those wretched beasts were inadvertently allowed to slip out of the restrictions."

Mo Lan swept her gaze over the gathering, a hint of amusement in her eyes.

"Does that explanation satisfy you all?"

A Human Race elder slammed the table and sprang to his feet. "You make it sound so simple, Fellow Daoist Mo! In my opinion, this was no oversight—it was deliberate!"

"Oh? Do you have evidence?"

"Hmph! Wasn't what you just said merely your side of the story?" The elder refused to yield an inch.

Seeing this, Sect Master Xu hurried to mediate. "Please, both of you, calm down! We are all seekers of immortality and the Dao. Why let things grow so tense? Why not first enjoy some spirit fruit and immortal wine, then discuss this calmly?"

Mo Lan sneered and pointed at the food on the table. "Enjoy it? Which of your cultivators' sumptuous spirit feasts doesn't begin with a blade taken to a demon beast? You Human Race often say that even a vicious tiger won't eat its cubs, but are examples of humans eating humans so rare?"

"You!"

Even Sect Master Xu, who always played the peacemaker, flushed with anger. "You simply don't know what's good for you!"

The atmosphere in the hall instantly became one of drawn swords and bent bows. Every Human Race cultivator wore an angry expression, yet all feared Mo Lan's cultivation and dared not lash out lightly.

Mo Lan paid them no mind. She picked up a jade cup and drained its strong liquor in a single gulp.

Then she lazily crossed her legs, looking utterly bored, clearly unwilling to bother with them any further.

Seeing this, the demons hurried to take their seats with placating smiles, trying to ease the tension.

The woman in the yellow feather robe secretly tugged at Mo Lan's sleeve, reminding her not to go too far, but Mo Lan merely gave her an indifferent glance.

As the host of this Immortal Alliance assembly, Xu Mingyuan, the sect master of Haiyanhui, saw that the representatives of the humans, demons, and fiends had all taken their seats, then walked slowly to the center of the hall.

"Fellow Daoists, thus far, two mighty beings with cultivation at least beyond the Spirit Transformation stage have appeared in the Divine Land. More troubling still, both belong to the demon race. I presume our fellow Daoists among the demons have long been well aware of this?"

As Xu Mingyuan spoke, he turned his gaze toward the demons on the right.

Among the demon seats, a man in dark green robes glanced at the expressionless Mo Lan. Seeing that she had no intention of speaking, he stood to reply.

"What Fellow Daoist Xu says is true. Sixteen years ago, our race's Spirit-Sensing Grand Array detected a fluctuation of demonic power indicating cultivation at least at the middle stage of Void Refinement. Its location was within the jurisdiction of the Human Race's Extreme Cold Way."

"More precisely, it was within the Extreme Cold Way's sect grounds. According to the judgment of our flood dragon elders, there is a ninety-nine percent chance that the phenomenon in heaven and earth that year was caused by an ice-attribute demon cultivator. And... very likely one of the Dragon Race!"

Sect Master Xu said gravely, "Thank you for your candor. This information is indeed crucial to us. But there is something I do not understand. Since you knew a higher demon had appeared, why did you still allow low-level demons to invade our two great sects, the Snow-Blowing Region and the Extreme Cold Way, in such numbers?"

The demon representative looked troubled and said with a bitter smile, "This matter... is a source of shame. Most low-level demons are driven by instinct. When they sense the aura of a powerful member of their kind, they naturally feel compelled to go pay homage and seek protection. This is not something our race can fully control."

"But our races established an agreement long ago, strictly forbidding large-scale crossings of our borders. Haven't there been rather too many beast tides over the past century?"

Sect Master Xu's tone sharpened. "How many small Human Race sects have suffered because of those influxes of low-level demons? How many rogue cultivators have perished? Does your race intend to simply stand by and do nothing?"

The demon representative sighed helplessly. "To be frank, migrations of demons on this scale truly are beyond our complete control."

"In any case, I hope your race will not break the rules. For these tens of millions of years, our two races have tacitly allowed our juniors to hunt one another's low-level cultivators and demons for the sake of cultivation. This is necessary to preserve the balance. If that balance is broken, neither side can bear the consequences. I hope your race knows its place!"

Sect Master Xu of Haiyanhui deliberately stressed those final words.

"Of course."

The demon representative also answered solemnly, "We will never intervene in these conflicts between the younger generation."

"Furthermore..." Sect Master Xu changed tack, his expression growing even graver.

"Please speak your mind, Fellow Daoist."

"Our greatest concern is the stability of the world. These two mighty demons have appeared with unfathomable cultivation. If left unchecked, they may threaten the current order."

"This is also a concern for our race. Those two seniors possess cultivation that reaches the heavens. They certainly will not willingly submit to our control, and with our mere early-stage Spirit Transformation cultivation, we would likely struggle to oppose them. If they use their power to forcefully establish a new order, then..."

"Exactly!" Sect Master Xu immediately picked up the thread.

"And I imagine you have all noticed that, after a brief eruption, the auras of those two mighty beings quickly weakened... Thus, we believe that before their strength has fully recovered, we should..."

Sect Master Xu deliberately paused here and swept a meaningful gaze over the gathering, a smile at the corners of his mouth.

Silence filled the hall. Everyone understood what Sect Master Xu meant.

"Therefore, we Human Race are willing to join forces with the demons, devote all our efforts to finding those two mighty demons in hiding, and surround and annihilate them!"

A demon elder could not help speaking up. "But they are, after all, members of our demon race..."

Sect Master Xu cut him off at once. "Heh, you make it sound easy. If those two seniors recover their full cultivation, they could likely kill us and extinguish our Daos with a flick of their fingers! I hope your race will consider this carefully..."

At those words, every demon representative except Mo Lan began discussing the matter heatedly.

After roughly the time it took an incense stick to burn, the discussion gradually subsided.

Finally, the woman in the goose-yellow feather robe rose and solemnly announced their decision.

"After careful deliberation, our race has decided to fully support the Human Race's proposal. The demons will maintain strict surveillance in the Azure Sky Forest and the Overseas Ten Thousand Demons Continent. Once we discover any trace of those two demon cultivators, we will immediately notify the Human Race and convene another assembly to discuss our response!"

Naturally, Mo Chen knew nothing of this. He was still thinking about how to maneuver around the people before him.

"Come, come, my four fellow Daoists. Please join me for some tea..."