Chapter 531: The Place of the Yuezhuo

After the great battle ended, the front at Quicksand City was no longer the tense, drawn-bow situation it had been before. Over the following three months, both the Heavenly Demons Alliance and the Holy Demons Alliance withdrew their armies thirty li, and quite a few cultivators left these two alliances once they had exchanged their merit.

For the Ten Thousand Demons Alliance's cultivators who had fought in the battle, every survivor received a substantial reward.

Among them, Xiao Mo, having achieved such distinguished merit on the battlefield and successfully entered the Nascent Soul realm, was promoted to elder according to the Alliance's own rules, regardless of how unwilling the Heavenly Demons Kingdom's ruler Chen Bing may have felt about it inwardly.

Though this title of elder within the Ten Thousand Demons Alliance only meant an increase in formal status, an honorary position with no substantial authority within the Alliance.

Xiao Mo, for his part, had no particular interest in any of that.

He had never had the inclination to involve himself in the tangled affairs of the Ten Thousand Demons Alliance to begin with.

After returning to the city, Xiao Mo continued his quiet days as before, sitting in Word Mirror bookshop reading and tending the storefront.

And precisely because Xiao Mo's reputation had grown so prominent following the battle, the cultivators and ordinary people of Quicksand City all knew that the proprietor of Word Mirror had entered the Nascent Soul realm.

As a result, the batch of cultivation manuals and other texts Xiao Mo had previously annotated were instantly snapped up and sold out.

Several cultivators also frequently hovered around Xiao Mo, hoping eagerly to be taken on as his disciple.

After all, this was the Nascent Soul realm, the standing required to establish one's own sect.

If they could become Xiao Mo's senior disciple, their future would surely be limitless.

Xiao Mo did indeed encounter a few promising candidates, but had no intention of formally taking on any disciples.

He only told them that if they had any questions about their cultivation, they were welcome to come to the bookshop at any time and ask him for guidance.

As for compensation, all he asked was that, whenever they had free time, they help mind the shop.

Because the bookshop's customers had grown so numerous lately that Xiao Mo alone could barely keep up with them.

This was, of course, a request they were all happy to fulfill.

Among them was Zhao Hongfei, who had originally been responsible for receiving Xiao Mo when he first arrived in Quicksand City.

Another month passed, and word spread through Quicksand City that a rift had developed between the Holy Demons Alliance and the Heavenly Demons Alliance.

Xiao Mo, for his part, found this entirely unsurprising.

The relationship between these two alliances had never been particularly solid to begin with, and considerable friction had always existed between them. It was only for the sake of defeating the Ten Thousand Demons Alliance together that those tensions had been set aside, for the time being.

In particular, before the great battle, the Holy Demons Alliance and the Heavenly Demons Alliance had each made whatever concessions they could to the other, with crushing the Ten Thousand Demons Alliance as their shared and overriding priority.

But this time, the combined armies had failed to take Quicksand City, and every old grievance that had been suppressed surged to the surface all at once.

The Holy Demons Alliance suspected that the Heavenly Demons Alliance had deliberately held back its strength, hoping to let the Holy Demons Alliance and the Ten Thousand Demons Alliance fight each other to the death while the Heavenly Demons Alliance reaped the benefits from the sidelines. And the Heavenly Demons Alliance harbored exactly the same suspicion of the Holy Demons Alliance in turn.

By now, the cracks between the two alliances had become entirely visible, and a complete falling out seemed only a matter of time.

Xiao Mo also learned that things were not going well for the Human Alliance either.

A few years before, the human race had elected a chief, a man named Lei Peng.

This Lei Peng ruled with an iron and unilateral hand, regarding not only demons as slaves, but also treating ordinary humans without spiritual roots and cultivators of low cultivation no differently from slaves.

Beyond that, Lei Peng harbored a particular love of slaughter.

Whenever a city fell to Lei Peng, whether human or demon, almost no one was left alive.

He did not even spare children too small to defend themselves.

Lei Peng's conduct was no different from that of a beast, and had long since stirred widespread fury within the human race itself.

But because he had bought the loyalty of a large number of sects and human cultivators at the Golden Core realm and above with promises of profit, he still retained considerable support and was able to keep the situation stable for the time being.

Yet now, more and more human sects and cultivators were leaving the Human Alliance, and quite a few sects had sworn to eliminate Lei Peng as the menace he had become.

As a result, the Human Alliance as it currently stood was unlikely to last very much longer.

Looking at the present situation, it seemed that the Ten Thousand Demons Alliance had gained the upper hand within the Demon Realm. However, after that brutal battle, the Ten Thousand Demons Alliance had also suffered enormous losses, its strength badly depleted, and it could not afford to entertain any further ambitions for now.

For a time, the whole of the Demon Realm seemed to have settled into a sudden quiet, falling into a delicate and unspoken balance but Xiao Mo understood the situation clearly.

The Demon Realm ahead was very likely to splinter into countless factions large and small, descending into a chaotic scramble of every faction fighting independently against every other.

And throughout all of this fighting that had brought the Demon Realm to its current state, that old man with the limping leg, Gui Ning, had never once come forward to mediate between the warring factions, nor had he shown himself even once from beginning to end, as though he had simply vanished into thin air.

After the war ended, Xiao Mo also wrote a short letter to Tushan Jingci, reporting that he was safe.

In truth, during these years in Quicksand City, Xiao Mo had written to Jingci at regular intervals.

Only, in those letters, Xiao Mo had never once mentioned that he was being deliberately targeted, nor had he ever spoken of the life-and-death dangers he had faced.

What Xiao Mo wrote in his letters was always news of safety and good fortune and Tushan Jingci's letters to Xiao Mo came even more frequently.

The young girl's letters mostly recorded the small, everyday matters of her life.

Things like the frustrations of handling Tushan's affairs.

The dullness and tedium of cultivation or, that she had recently made a few new close friends.

Xiao Mo and Tushan Jingci seemed to share the same disposition in this respect.

Neither said a word about their own difficulties or troubles, each reporting only the good and never the bad to the other.

In the blink of an eye, another half a month passed.

Xiao Mo heard that the Ten Thousand Demons Alliance intended to go and negotiate with the Holy Demons Alliance and the Heavenly Demons Alliance, to discuss jointly dealing with the human race and then dividing the Demon Realm into three.

The negotiations were set to take place at Jiuyou Mountain, with all three factions agreeing that each could send only a single Ascension-realm cultivator.

For the Ten Thousand Demons Alliance, naturally Elder Hongxia would attend but Xiao Mo did not believe these negotiations were likely to produce any meaningful result.

In his view, all three parties were simply harboring their own private intentions.

As expected, ten days later word came that the negotiations between the three demon alliances had formally broken down.

None of the three was satisfied with the terms put forward by the others, and not one of them was willing to give an inch.

In the end, the three Ascension-realm cultivators came directly to blows, fighting so fiercely that the sky and earth darkened, and the entire Jiuyou Mountain was leveled to flat ground but it was precisely amid this chaotic battle that the three of them, Tushan Hongxia included, unexpectedly discovered an ancient ruin.

Unfortunately, this ruin was sealed firmly shut by an ancient seal, and none of the three could find a way inside but even so, even from outside that seal, they could clearly sense an overwhelming bloodline pressure seeping out from deep within the ruin, an aura that unsettled the heart profoundly.

The three of them, Tushan Hongxia among them, immediately called a temporary truce and instead joined forces to investigate the origins of this ruin.

Another ten days passed, and Tushan Hongxia returned to Quicksand City.

The very first thing she did upon returning to the city was to publish an announcement concerning the ruin.

Xiao Mo thus came to learn the following clearly.

It turned out that the ruin beneath Jiuyou Mountain was the resting place of some ancient and powerful being from the distant past.

This being's cultivation level was estimated to be at least at the Ascension realm, and possibly even reached the legendary, long-lost third realm and according to the laws governing this hidden realm that the three of them had detected, the ruin would open of its own accord one month from now.

At that time, every cultivator of the Middle Three Realms from all three demon alliances would be permitted to enter freely, and whatever fortune they found within would be theirs to claim.

The moment this announcement was made public, every cultivator of the Middle Three Realms throughout Quicksand City was eager beyond measure.

This was, after all, the resting place of an Ascension-realm demon of immense power. Within it must surely lie the lifetime legacy and treasured relics of that great being.

Even gaining the smallest fraction of it would be an extraordinary fortune.

In Xiao Mo's view, this hidden realm was almost certainly genuine but he did not believe for a moment that the three demon alliances would be so generous as to simply throw open such a magnificent hidden realm for nothing.

Xiao Mo privately suspected that something suspicious was almost certainly hidden within this realm.

The day after the announcement was made, Xiao Mo was summoned to the city lord's manor.

"My respects to Elder Hongxia." Before Tushan Hongxia, Xiao Mo bowed with outward respect.

"Ha ha ha, Xiao Mo, there is no need to be so formal." Tushan Hongxia walked forward with a warm laugh and personally reached out to help him up.

She looked Xiao Mo over carefully, nodding with satisfaction as she spoke. "Mm, very good, very good. Worthy indeed of being someone the Holy Woman thinks highly of. Not only outstanding in bearing, but your natural gifts are remarkable as well. Breaking through to the Nascent Soul realm in the middle of battle, Xiao Mo, you have certainly made quite a name for yourself."

"The Elder is too generous." Xiao Mo lowered his eyes modestly, his tone respectful. "I was simply fortunate to enter the Nascent Soul realm."

"There is no need for such modesty in front of me." Tushan Hongxia smiled, then shifted the subject. "Can you guess why I have called you here today?"

"This one would guess," Xiao Mo paused, then answered evenly, "that it concerns the hidden realm?"

"Exactly!"

A serious light flashed in Tushan Hongxia's eyes, her tone growing weighty.

"To speak frankly with you, when the three of us first discovered this hidden realm, we were utterly stunned. So much so that even in the midst of our fierce fighting, all three of us stopped without any prior agreement."

"Setting aside whether this hidden realm contains ancient cultivation methods that could carry someone into the legendary third realm, simply from the aura seeping out through the cracks in the seal, I am certain that whatever demon core lies hidden within is at least of the Ascension-realm caliber."

"Unfortunately, this hidden realm only permits cultivators of the Middle Three Realms to enter. This tremendous opportunity, I am afraid, is one these old bones of mine cannot lay claim to."

"But Xiao Mo, for you, this is without question a rare and precious opportunity that comes once in a thousand years."

"I ask the senior to explain clearly." Xiao Mo gave another respectful bow.

"Regarding the relationship between yourself and the Holy Woman, the Grand Elder has long since told me everything plainly. The Grand Elder's intention is quite clear, she hopes you will earn sufficient merit on the battlefield, so that when the time comes for you to marry the Holy Woman, it will silence all the idle talk against you."

Tushan Hongxia looked at Xiao Mo with an intensely earnest gaze, her eyes full of anticipation.

"And now, this is precisely the opportunity heaven has granted you. If you can obtain even a single demon core or spirit essence from within that hidden realm, that alone would be a tremendous achievement."

"I intend to send you into the hidden realm, with Chen Jue, Xin Xiao'er, and two other Nascent Soul elders of the Ten Thousand Demons Alliance to assist you. What do you think?"

"Senior, the relationship between Chen Jue and myself is, I am afraid, not particularly good." Xiao Mo shook his head with resignation, a note of bitterness in his tone.

"I know."

Tushan Hongxia gave Xiao Mo's shoulder a gentle pat, her tone soothing and warm.

"But Chen Jue is, after all, the prince of the Heavenly Demons Kingdom, and the Heavenly Demons Kingdom is an exceptionally important ally to our Ten Thousand Demons Alliance. And beyond that, you will one day be Tushan's son-in-law. If the two of you could use this opportunity to fight side by side and reconcile, would that not benefit you both?"

"What do you say? Will you give this old woman of mine some small face in the matter?"

Xiao Mo thought it over for a moment, and in the end gave a nod, his tone carrying a measure of concession. "Since the senior has put it this way, I am naturally willing to put aside our differences with Chen Jue."

"Good." Tushan Hongxia gave a satisfied nod.

"Then it is settled. Go back and prepare yourself properly. You may set out in two days' time. You will gather at the designated location."

"Yes." Xiao Mo took his leave. "I will withdraw now."

"Go on, go on." Tushan Hongxia waved a hand, watching Xiao Mo's departure with a smile but the moment Xiao Mo's figure disappeared beyond the great hall, the smile on Tushan Hongxia's face slowly faded, replaced by a cold and lethal intensity.

"You heard everything I just said to Xiao Mo, did you not?" Tushan Hongxia spoke into the empty hall, her tone carrying a chill.

Before the words had even fully settled, Chen Jue emerged from the shadows and stood respectfully before Tushan Hongxia, bowing at the waist. "Yes, senior. I heard every word clearly."

Chen Jue raised his head, the corner of his mouth curving upward, undisguised mockery flashing in his eyes. "And he still wants to reconcile with me? A mere human, does he think he is worthy?"

"The hidden realm exists as its own separate world, and will remain open for only ten short days." Tushan Hongxia glanced at Chen Jue without responding to his remark. "If Xiao Mo dies inside there, no one will ever know what actually happened. So that place is the perfect site for a killing."

She turned, drew a faintly glowing dharma treasure from her sleeve, and held it out solemnly to Chen Jue.

"This is my own life-bound dharma treasure, ranked as a half-immortal weapon. I have already infused it with my own spiritual energy, and combined with this talisman I have drawn with my own hand, it will be enough to let you activate it once."

She raised her gaze and looked directly at Chen Jue. "Make absolutely certain to use this opportunity to kill Xiao Mo within the hidden realm. Do you understand?"

"This one understands! The senior need not worry!" Chen Jue accepted the dharma treasure and the talisman with both hands, nodding with grave seriousness, a vicious gleam passing through his eyes.

Tushan Hongxia gave a small nod, her tone growing deeper still. "Tushan's Holy Woman ceremony will be held very soon."

She paused, her gaze settling on Chen Jue with deep meaning. "Once Xiao Mo is dead, your wedding to Jingci will follow shortly after the ceremony."

"Your Highness."

Her voice was not loud, but every word landed with full weight.

"Do not let me down."