The young man wore a purple-gold robe underneath and a crimson-black cloak over it. He was quite handsome, but his face was frighteningly pale. He didn't look like a living person, but rather like a living dead person who had been buried for three days and then dug out.
This person was clearly the leader of the Heart-Eroding Stronghold cultivators. The two Devil Cultivator he had just killed had mentioned the words "Young Master," which made Chen Shuangbai dare not use his spiritual sense to investigate the other party, lest he alert them.
Not only himself, Chen Shuangbai also sent a telepathic message to Zhao Shiyong, saying, "If I'm not mistaken, this should be the young envoy of the Evil Bone Lineage of the Heart-Eroding Stronghold, but I don't know exactly who it is."
Despite being suppressed by the other three sword immortal sects, Heart-Eroding Stronghold, as the only major Devil Cultivator sect in the Jing Kingdom, still lived a very comfortable life.
But the Demonic Sect is the Demonic Sect; harboring filth and corruption is just their specialty.
They are ruthless to outsiders, but even more ruthless to themselves.
Apart from the master of Heart-Eroding Stronghold, each of the remaining four halls has an envoy, and the person who inherits the positions of the four demon envoys of the east, west, south, and north is qualified to be called "Young Envoy" by those below.
There are usually around three junior envoys who compete with each other, and in the end, the one with the most ruthless and merciless methods wins the position of the next demon envoy.
Those who grow up in such an environment, akin to raising poisonous insects, could never be mediocre.
He had to be on high alert.
After listening to his explanation, Zhao Shiyong's face showed a hint of seriousness. He stared at the pale young man for several moments, seemingly having a plan in mind.
"Or..."
Just then, the Evil Ghost tokens they wore suddenly vibrated and a voice came from them, telling them to go down and meet up.
"What to do?"
Chen Shuangbai transmitted her voice, her expression slightly grave, "If we get too close, we'll definitely be discovered."
Because Devil Cultivator practice Devil Cultivation Method, they always exude a Blood Qi or black aura. If one wants to impersonate Devil Cultivator, one must at least possess Secret Method in this area, but neither Chen Shuangbai nor Zhao Shiyong have any.
The reason they haven't been discovered yet is because there's a distance between them. If they got closer, the other party would immediately detect something with a scan of their spiritual sense.
Because Zhao Shiyong practiced fire magic, he was often rather irritable. Upon seeing this scene, he made a decision in his mind.
"There's no room for negotiation between righteous cultivators and Devil Cultivator, so how about this..."
After hearing his idea, Chen Shuangbai did not immediately agree. Instead, she pondered it for a moment before finally saying that she could.
Using their attire as cover, the two leaned closer.
From any perspective, the sheer size of this place is truly astonishing.
As they approached, Chen Shuangbai looked at the enormous central stone pillar before him and marveled at the ingenuity of nature. At the same time, the cultivators from the Heart-Eroding Stronghold scattered around jumped over from all directions.
Upon landing atop the central stone pillar, both Chen Shuangbai and Zhao Shiyong frowned slightly.
A cold and disgusting aura lingered around them, making the two cultivators feel somewhat uncomfortable.
Chen Shuangbai silently looked around and saw that there were piles of white bones at the six corners of the central stone pillar, with a black flag stuck on it. The flag had a skull pattern, creating an inexplicably cold atmosphere.
The two dared not get too close, stopping at the edge of a jagged stone pillar about thirty feet from the Heart-Eroding cultivators on the lake shore. From here, they could clearly see the small island in the middle of the lake and the situation on the shore, and they were backed by the stone forest, so if things went wrong, they would have something to cover themselves.
The pale-faced young envoy stood with his hands behind his back by the lake, paying little attention to the subordinates who were gradually gathering behind him. The two Devil Cultivator beside him, who resembled left and right protectors, were floating with crimson-black magic Law Power. With the help of the array, they blew away the mushroom powder that had been shaken off by the mushrooms, or introduced it into the water.
Now that they were a little closer, Chen Shuangbai didn't use her spiritual sense to probe the young envoy, but she still sensed a vast spiritual energy emanating from him that far exceeded her current level.
"At least the Ninth Layer of Qi Refining..."
Zhao Shiyong nodded solemnly.
He is currently at the Eighth Layer of Qi Refining. With his trump cards, he can fight against a Qi Great Perfection of Qi Refining cultivator who is a Rogue Cultivator cultivator, and even kill him despite his injuries.
But the person in front of us also comes from a prominent family, so that's a different story.
The problem is that there are two Devil Cultivator at the Late Qi Refining Stage by the side of this Evil Bone Young Master. Considering that Devil Cultivator are always unpredictable and difficult to deal with, if he cannot kill them in one blow, he will probably be dragged into a protracted war of attrition.
At this moment, the giant mushroom seemed to have expended a lot of energy due to its fierce counterattack. The expansion of its cap had slightly contracted, and the gushing waterfall of seven-colored venom had become a little slower, but it still shrouded a large area of water between the island and the lake shore in a hazy poisonous mist.
Chen Shuangbai glanced at it from afar and thought to herself that such a large mushroom must have developed some intelligence and become a demon.
Such demons are born with the habit of guarding treasures, and the treasures Zhao Shiyong mentioned are most likely guarded by this Mushroom Demon.
The Heart-Eroding cultivators did not launch another rash attack. Instead, under the command of the Left and Right Protectors, they used the power of the demonic array to further deplete the Mushroom Demon's power, gradually forcing back the elusive poisonous mist.
This is the natural difference between demons and human cultivators.
People who cultivate wisdom are adept at using external resources to achieve their goals.
Even if demons gain sentience and take on demonic forms, their thoughts and ideas are still limited. Furthermore, they cannot stand alone, and they will probably be overrun and killed by the Devil Cultivator cultivators of Heart-Eroding Stronghold before long.
"Did you notice anything unusual just now?"
The junior envoy did not turn around; his voice was calm, yet carried an undeniable authority that clearly reached the ears of every subordinate present.
Several subordinates mentioned some things, but none of them were major issues.
Chen Shuangbai disguised her voice and said a few words briefly. Fortunately, the young envoy only nodded slightly and did not turn his head to look at her, only saying "I understand".
The pale-faced young envoy's lifeless eyes remained fixed on the enormous mushroom cap, faintly visible in the poisonous fog in the center of the lake, as if he were calculating something.
A moment later, he slowly turned around, his pale face, almost inhuman, looked even more eerie in the dim light of the cave.
His gaze swept casually over the dozen or so subordinates gathered on the central stone pillar platform. Every Heart-Eroding cultivator whose gaze fell upon him involuntarily lowered their head slightly, not daring to look directly at him.
Chen Shuangbai and Zhao Shiyong mingled at the back of the crowd, and like the others, they lowered their heads slightly to avoid being noticed.
" Hei Sha, let's proceed to the next step," he said.
Beside the young envoy, the broad-shouldered Devil Cultivator gruffly replied, "Understood, young master," then stepped forward and looked at the Devil Cultivator. "Each of you form ranks and await the young master's command. Then activate the formation to completely suppress the Mushroom Demon's poisonous mist!"
"If this is done well, the young master will reward you!"
"Yes!"
Many of the Heart-Eroding Devil Cultivator responded and walked towards the six array flags.