Please Come Down from the Mountain, Young Master

The burly man was named Zuo Qiu, and he was in quite a good mood. He had only just arrived, yet already there were rewards to reap. Back at the main altar, such opportunities would never have fallen to him.

He sat on a large rock, watching the people below bustle about. His Ghost Head Broadsword lay beside him, a roast chicken in his left hand and a jar of wine in his right. The bloody smell in the cave only made the meat seem more fragrant and the wine sweeter.

An incense stick's worth of time passed. An altar had been set up in the Underground Stone Cave, and a pool one zhang wide had been dug before it.

The Crimson Dragon Cult Leader, Si Zhiyu, personally carved the Altar Formation Pattern into the ground with his longsword.

After watching for a while, Zuo Qiu tossed his chicken and wine aside, stepped forward, and kicked Si Zhiyu out of the way. He cursed, "What the hell are you carving? No wonder the righteous and evil factions joined forces to wipe you out. This formation opens the Demon Realm Passage and lets demonic qi leak out, but all it releases are a few demonic beasts and savage creatures. What use is that to me? An altar—do you even know what an altar is? It's for making offerings to a Mighty Figure of the Demon Realm, borrowing their power to refine demonic qi into a Demon Pill."

The Crimson Dragon Cult Leader forcibly suppressed his anger and offered an ingratiating smile. "This is the formation passed down in our cult."

"Useless. Get out of the way. I'll do it myself."

"This old man is slow-witted. Please, Venerable."

Still cursing, Zuo Qiu reached out and grasped at the air. The long Dao Coin flew into his hand, and amid a series of scraping sounds, he soon carved out the formation.

Si Zhiyu watched intently, committing the formation to memory.

"Pour all the blood in!"

At his command, several large barrels of blood were emptied into the pool. The reek of blood filled the entire cave.

A Red Dragon-Headed Statue with a human body was placed on the altar table.

Several Jade Stones were set into the Array Base, and true qi was injected. The Array Formation instantly activated.

The Blood Pool churned as though it were boiling. Clouds of red mist rose, coiling around the Red Dragon-Headed Statue and pouring into it.

In an instant, the red statue blazed with light. Red beams shone from its eyes, falling directly upon the Demon Realm Seal here.

The seal that barred the two realms like an iron gate was instantly pierced by that mysterious power.

Billowing demonic qi flowed along the two red beams into this realm, gathering before the statue into a vortex and gradually condensing.

Joy appeared on Zuo Qiu's face. The sight before him told him it had worked.

An incense stick's worth of time passed, and every drop of blood in the Blood Pool vanished.

Zuo Qiu looked at the round black pill condensing before the statue and frowned slightly. Suddenly, the Ghost Head Saber resting on his shoulder flashed.

Guan Zhao, the Northern Heavenly King and one of the Crimson Dragon Cult's Eight Heavenly Kings, was an expert at the true martial eighth layer. He had only enough time to feel his heart clench. Before he could even react, his head flew from his shoulders.

Blood spurted from his body and swiftly poured into the red statue.

The Origin Pill condensed from demonic qi immediately shone with white light, its pitch-black color gradually fading.

Only then did the other Crimson Dragon Cult members nearby realize what had happened. They hastily retreated several steps and drew their weapons.

Anger flashed across the Crimson Dragon Cult Leader Si Zhiyu's face and vanished. Then he said gravely, "Do not panic, everyone. Guan Zhao was an agent of the Imperial Court who had been hiding among us for years. Today, the Venerable merely purged a traitor from our ranks."

Zuo Qiu grinned brazenly. "Relax. You're useful to me, so I won't kill you without reason. It was just a little short of the proper heat. Without that, all our efforts to make this Sacred Demon Pill would have gone to waste."

The blood energy vanished completely, and the red statue returned to normal. All the demonic qi had gathered into the Restoration Pill as well.

The Restoration Pill revealed its true appearance. Faint black and white lights intertwined, flowing slowly across its surface. One glance was enough to tell it was extraordinary.

Zuo Qiu drew it into his hand. A trace of greed flashed through his eyes, but in the end, he placed it inside a jade gourd the size of a fist.

Only then did he speak again. "This place won't be usable for the next few years. Are there any other places in the Great Qian Kingdom with Demon Realm Seals like this?"

"As far as I know, there are five others besides this one. One is inside the Lingxu Sect, one is in the waters of the Qi River in South Goose Path, and one is in Taiwu Mountain at the easternmost edge of Great Qian. The other two are near the royal capital. One is at the Demon Suppression Division's headquarters, and the other is beneath North Spring Mountain."

"Which is closest?"

"The waters of the Qi River in South Goose Path, followed by the Lingxu Sect."

"Better leave the Lingxu Sect alone. There's more to them than meets the eye."

"Then only the ones near the royal capital remain."

An excited red gleam appeared in Zuo Qiu's eyes. "Then we'll go to South Goose Path first, and afterward take a look at the Great Qian Kingdom's royal capital. I'm quite interested in that Gu Yuanqing, too. A sacrifice of a Grandmaster's blood would improve the Sacred Demon Pill's quality another notch."

"Your Majesty, everyone at the Demon Suppression Division's residence in Shuntian Prefecture has been killed—over a thousand people, including Commander Pang Shishan. All their blood was drained. The perpetrators' whereabouts are unknown, but judging by the traces of sacrifice left in the Underground Cave, it must have been the Crimson Dragon Cult's work. Strangely, however, there was nothing wrong with the seal, nor were there any traces of demonic qi at the scene."

"Your Majesty, Commander Qi Tinghua and two thousand officers and soldiers of the Demon Suppression Division all fell in battle at its residence in South Goose Path. The scene was identical to that in Shuntian Prefecture. The Heavenly Policy Mansion has found traces of the Crimson Dragon Cult, but none of those sent to probe them returned alive."

"Your Majesty, Lord Tong, the South Goose Path Governor, led troops to encircle and destroy the Crimson Dragon Cult members, but tragically fell in battle. Thirty thousand soldiers gave their lives for the nation! Someone in the Crimson Dragon Cult is beyond grandmaster. Judging by their direction, they appear to be heading for the royal capital."

As the stream of bad news continued, Li Haotian could no longer contain himself. He roared in fury, "Beyond grandmaster—beyond grandmaster again? How did someone like that suddenly appear in the Crimson Dragon Cult? I don't care what methods you use. Within three days, you must find out who this person is!"

"We obey Your Majesty's decree!"

Only after everyone had withdrawn did the room fall quiet.

Then Xu Lianying slowly spoke. "Your Majesty, I'm afraid this may prove troublesome."

Li Haotian snorted coldly. "Troublesome? If that man truly believes his cultivation beyond grandmaster allows him to disregard the Great Qian Kingdom's imperial law and come and go freely in our royal capital, then he has miscalculated."

"Your Majesty, do you intend to..."

"Indeed. To be safe, old companion, go and invite Uncle Prince Qing here."

Such a great disturbance naturally could not be concealed. Before long, all of Great Qian was abuzz.

The Crimson Dragon Cult, once like rats scurrying through the streets while everyone cried out to beat them, had suddenly appeared in broad daylight and killed tens of thousands of Imperial Court officers and soldiers.

"Have you heard? The Spirit Ape Sword Sect was wiped out by the Crimson Dragon Cult. Not a single disciple escaped, and their residence was razed to the ground."

"This time, both the martial world and the Imperial Court are in serious trouble. I hear that along the road from South Goose Path to the royal capital, many sects that once took part in the campaign against the Crimson Dragon Cult have fled overnight."

"I heard the Imperial Court has already sent people to invite all the major sects to gather in the royal capital and face the enemy together."

"The Crimson Dragon Cult slaughters innocents and brings chaos to the world. They've always been the common enemy of righteous and evil alike. I'm afraid we're in for another bitter battle."

The Crimson Dragon Cult's boundless wickedness was deeply etched into people's hearts. Back then, hundreds of li of land had been reduced to a Demon Abyss. Panic gripped the royal capital, and many people could not help fleeing to escape the danger for the time being.

Even in the mountains, Gu Yuanqing heard the news. Hearing that so many people had been brutally slaughtered, he could not help feeling anger rise within him.

That afternoon, the Deputy Commander of Divine Eagle Guard came up from the foot of the mountain to the entrance of North Spring Mountain Courtyard. Like a golden mountain toppling and a jade pillar falling, he dropped to his knees and said gravely, "Please come down from the mountain, young master, and save our Great Qian from fire and flood!"