Chapter 515: How Dare You Deceive This Venerable One
Chapter 515: How Dare You Deceive This Venerable One!
The mysterious figure’s words struck like a tribulation lightning bolt from a clear sky.
The Jade Dew Sect had been eradicated forty years ago, with not a single soul spared from top to bottom. How could a mysterious powerhouse suddenly emerge from its ashes?
Although his exact realm was obscured, the suffocating spiritual resonance radiating from him was absolutely terrifying.
Mo Yin cried out in his mind, “Didn’t you claim the Jade Dew Sect was wiped out?”
Hui Jiuming replied with absolute certainty, “Indeed, it was.”
Mo Yin cursed inwardly, “Right my ass! Then how do you explain this monster standing right in front of us?”
Hui Jiuming was rendered utterly speechless. “This…”
Ten millennia ago, the true reason behind his sudden disappearance was intricately tied to the Abyss.
One day, he had suddenly discovered eerie black lotuses sprouting in his vicinity, one after another.Anything that brushed against their petals would plunge into eternal stasis.
Initially, their growth was sluggish, blooming at a rate of only one per day.
But later, for reasons entirely unknown to the heavens, their numbers began to multiply exponentially.
Seeing the situation spiraling toward disaster, Hui Jiuming had no choice but to intervene and forcibly sever their roots.
The result… he had vastly underestimated the apocalyptic horror of those black lotuses.
The instant he made contact, his thousand-zhang demonic coil was paralyzed. Left with no alternative, he decisively abandoned his flesh, fleeing as a bare soul.
Tragically, he fled directly into a catastrophic war between the human and demon races-a devastating clash between supreme powerhouses.
Merely the sweeping shockwaves of their elemental fury nearly shattered his soul, plunging him into absolute darkness.
After drifting in a chaotic stupor for an unknown eternity, Hui Jiuming awakened to find that while his mortal coil was gone, his soul bore the enigmatic mark of the Abyss.
At first, its purpose was a mystery. Only later did he glean the truth: he could directly commune with the Abyss, sensing the profound relics hidden within its depths.
Furthermore, by burning a portion of his spiritual strength, he could forcibly manifest those treasures into the mortal realm.
Employing this method, Hui Jiuming would extract items and then fall into deep slumber to recover. Thus, another incalculable epoch flowed by.
Finally, his divine sense fully stabilized.
Upon sweeping his surroundings, he was shocked to discover that over ten thousand years had ground to dust. And entirely by accident, he had nurtured the foundations of a Cultivation Sect-the Jade Dew Sect.
Logically speaking, although a minuscule spirit vein snaked beneath the earth here, the ambient Spirit Qi was far too thin to support the founding of a Sect.
Yet inexplicably, several wondrous spirit flora had taken root in this barren soil.
First, the Four Seasons Fruit Tree.
Second, the Jade Dew Spirit Bud.
And occasionally, other enigmatic treasures would manifest from thin air.
The founding Sect Leader of the Jade Dew Sect, Nascent Soul True Lord Li Yulu, sensed the profound karmic weight of this land and established his dominion here.
Over the following millennium, the Sect slowly accumulated its foundations and flourished.
Unfortunately, Li Yulu failed to shatter the bottleneck to the Soul Formation stage. His Dao was extinguished, turning to ash beneath the wrath of his heavenly Tribulation.
In the centuries that followed, the Jade Dew Sect failed to produce another peerless talent. Every successive Sect Leader stalled at the Golden Core stage, their paths severed.
Whispers spread through the Azure Realm that the Jade Dew Sect was cursed by the heavens.
They sat upon a hoard of priceless spirit plants, yet lacked the fangs to guard their wealth.
Ultimately, on a fateful day forty years ago, Hui Jiuming was forced to witness their bloody end.
From top to bottom, not even a stray dog was spared; the entire mountain was put to the sword.
Later, drifting through the winds of fate, his remnant soul was blown into the Central Region, arriving within the borders of the Rust Empire.
By a stroke of karmic chance, he crossed paths with Mo Yin, forging a desperate symbiotic pact.
Hui Jiuming obtained a vessel of flesh.
And Mo Yin’s shattered soul was mended.
Seeing the captive fall silent, Jiang Chen’s brow furrowed.
Without wasting a single breath, he flicked his sleeve.
In the blink of an eye, the water dungeon imprisoning Mo Yin violently contracted.
The space, which had previously offered a modicum of freedom, was crushed into a suffocating coffin.
Mo Yin was completely immobilized, forced to stand rigid as the elemental pressure continued to squeeze inward.
In his desperation, Mo Yin attempted to play the part of Hui Jiuming. His gaze turned ancient and his expression shifted, forcing out a gravelly rumble: “What does Your Eminence seek from…”
Smack!
Jiang Chen ruthlessly backhanded him across the face, his voice dripping with disdain. “Do you take me for a fool?”
Mo Yin’s left cheek swelled instantly, his mortal coil trembling like a leaf in a storm. “I was wrong!”
Jiang Chen’s tone grew glacial. “Last chance, or I scatter your soul to the winds.”
Left with no alternative, Hui Jiuming forcibly seized control of the vessel. Ethereal black lotuses bloomed within Mo Yin’s pupils, and a visceral spiritual pressure bled into the air, turning it abyssal cold. “What does the esteemed one wish?”
Jiang Chen stood with his hands clasped behind his back, exuding the heavy, ancient weight of an immortal monarch looking down upon a trapped insect. “First, I demand to know who destroyed the Jade Dew Sect.
“Second, from where did you unearth these rare spirit plants?”
Hui Jiuming intended to shake his head, but found his stolen vessel ruthlessly pinned by the water dungeon. He was forced to answer through gritted teeth. “I do not know their exact identities. I only know their strength was overwhelming, and they struck with the aid of a traitor from within.”
Although the zenith of the Jade Dew Sect forty years ago was merely a late-stage Golden Core cultivator, annihilating them overnight should have been a monumental task.
After all, their Grand Mountain-Defending Array possessed the profound foundations to weather a siege for several days.
Yet, the enemy had colluded with a viper inside the gates, launching a fatal ambush at the most critical juncture.
Jiang Chen’s eyes narrowed into slits. “Who was this traitor?”
Hui Jiuming drew in a ragged breath. “The Sect Leader of that generation. If my memory serves, his name was Qiao Baiyang!”
Jiang Chen was momentarily taken aback. “It was actually him?”
Hui Jiuming caught the shift in his tone. “You know of him?”
Jiang Chen curled his lip in a cynical sneer. “Just a stray mutt I put down by the roadside.”
Hui Jiuming’s heart seized with shock and suspicion. “Judging by your tone…”
Jiang Chen saw no need to hide the truth, stating plainly, “I crushed Qiao Baiyang to death beneath my heel.”
Upon hearing this, Hui Jiuming felt a shiver of primal fear run down his spine. “A late-stage Golden Core expert… trampled to death?”
Jiang Chen ignored his terror and pressed on. “Do you possess no other clues?”
Hui Jiuming replied helplessly, “The assailants all wore masks. I could neither see their faces nor discern their origins.”
Jiang Chen’s thoughts stirred. With a flick of his wrist, he produced the mask he had looted from Wu Lao’s corpse. “Was it a visage like this?”
Hui Jiuming scrutinized the mask, his ancient eyes widening. “Yes! It was exactly that design!”
Thus, the veil over the tragedy was finally lifted: the executioners of the Jade Dew Sect were none other than the Yellow Springs Alliance, acting long before their attempt to sever the imperial dragon vein.
As for the karmic motives driving their slaughter, that remained shrouded in mist.
Regardless, Qiao Baiyang had subsequently defected to the Yellow Springs Alliance, serving as one of their shadowed pawns.
Initially, Hui Jiuming had harbored deep suspicions toward this enigmatic interrogator, for his vast memories held not a single trace of this man’s existence.
Yet, as the interrogation unfolded, not only did this monster know of Qiao Baiyang, but he casually produced the very masks worn by the sect’s butchers.
Every piece of the puzzle aligned flawlessly, instilling a creeping, paralyzing dread within the ancient demon’s heart.
Having gleaned the truth of the past, Jiang Chen waved his hand dismissively. “Enough of that history. It is time you answered my second question.”
Hui Jiuming spouted the alibi he had fabricated long ago. “I am the sole survivor of the sect. I salvaged a portion of the Jade Dew Sect’s foundational resources and fled. However, because my physical body was irreparably shattered, I was forced to form a symbiotic bond with this boy.”
Jiang Chen’s lips curled into a mocking smirk. “The Jade Dew Sect was rooted in the Eastern Region, while the Rust Empire lies in the Central Region. You certainly fled quite the distance!”
Hui Jiuming was once again choked on his own words. “…”
Jiang Chen’s gaze turned razor-sharp, his voice booming like heavenly thunder. “Vile demon, I can see through your facade at a single glance. You are no human!”
What manner of mortal possessed eyes blooming with black lotuses?
It was a glaring, otherworldly anomaly.
Ergo, the entity squatting within the boy was unequivocally a demon.
Hui Jiuming frantically attempted to patch his lie. “I… I am but a humble spirit snake raised by the Jade Dew Sect.”
Jiang Chen’s aura flared with oppressive majesty. “I am a true inheritor of the Jade Dew Sect! Do you take me for a fool who knows nothing of the realms and strengths of our own guardian beasts?
How dare you deceive this Venerable One!”
Instantly, the heavens answered his fury; deafening thunder rumbled as gale-force winds began to howl.
Across the darkened firmament, countless crimson lightning snakes crisscrossed in a terrifying display of elemental fury.
Sand flew and boulders rolled, the ambient Spirit Qi boiling as if seeking to grind the very earth to dust.
Faced with such an apocalyptic manifestation of power, Hui Jiuming’s soul trembled in abject terror. “Soul Formation Venerable One, spare my life! I confess, I am no spirit snake of the Jade Dew Sect! I am a ten-thousand-year-old Demon Emperor of the demon race-Hui Jiuming!”