Are There Only Demonesses Left in the Cultivation Realm?

The Nether Palace, surrounded by countless behemoths.

Silence reigned.

Xiao Qingfeng stood by his throne, silently awaiting the end of the third day.

Suddenly, he opened his eyes.

The aura of "Yu" was on the move.

Not only that, but all three people from the courtyard were moving. The man was hurrying out of the city, while the two women were heading toward West City.

’Courting death?’

Xiao Qingfeng narrowed his eyes.

His gaze focused on the man. He couldn’t understand why Yu would come out. He could have lived two more days by staying in the courtyard. Now that he was out in the open, Xiao Qingfeng could kill him directly.

’No matter. No need to overthink it.’

Xiao Qingfeng rose at once. The winds of the Netherworld howled and shuddered behind him, carrying an apocalyptic aura.

He picked up the Sun and Moon Gnomon and, in an instant, left the Imperial Palace, heading for the place where he had sensed Yu’s presence.

Now that he controlled most of the Netherworld, he could appear anywhere at will.

’Hm?’

Things were not going as smoothly as he had expected. Those Spirits of the Netherworld that had mysteriously vanished—the ones that made the numbers not add up—were now appearing one after another, blocking his path.

One, ten, a hundred—they shrieked, tangling together and coalescing into a massive, twisted, pitch-black shadow that barred his way.

Xiao Qingfeng stopped, his gaze falling indifferently on the writhing shadow as if looking at a swarm of ants.

"How convenient," he said coldly. "Saves me the trouble of hunting you down."

He made no superfluous movements, merely waving the Sun and Moon Gnomon in his hand.

BOOM!

The devastating explosion did not strike from without but erupted from within the massive dark shadow. Shards of pitch-black Spirit Bodies were torn apart by an unseen force, bursting outward in a spray accompanied by countless piercing shrieks.

The Spirits struggled, scattering in all directions. With ravenous, man-eating maws, they charged at Xiao Qingfeng one by one.

Xiao Qingfeng’s gaze swept over the twisted faces in the dark mass. He recognized some of them. That Horned Spirit, for instance—he remembered it. In the cold fog of the Netherworld, this Spirit had knelt beside him numerous times, praying with a trembling, pious voice for the Nether Monarch’s return.

But he was the Nether Monarch now, and those Spirits were no longer his comrades.

The Sun and Moon Gnomon turned slightly in his hand, and a continuous sound, like the hissing of bursting bubbles, filled the air.

One after another, the Spirits, including the Horned Spirit, instantly dissipated under the power of a Half-Step Yao Guang, leaving not even a trace behind.

Xiao Qingfeng was not in a hurry. In his eyes, his opponent was no different from an ant, merely at the Fourth or Fifth Realm... ’Why is he so weak?’

He finally sensed that something was wrong.

Yu had come to the Netherworld long before him. He had become a Transformed Life, one of the Netherworld Spirits, and had obtained their memories.

When Yu had left the Netherworld, he had already reached the Sixth Realm. Otherwise, he couldn’t have walked the path of death. But so many years had passed. Now that he had returned, how could he possibly be at the Fifth Realm?

Based on the timeline of the Netherworld’s opening, Yu’s first entry was over 1,700 years ago. Only a cultivator at the Sixth Realm Kai Yang should have such a long lifespan.

So why was the person nearby at such a low Realm?

Xiao Qingfeng immediately realized he might have been tricked. He activated his authority once more, and black Spirit Fish poured out, making the already gloomy sky of the Netherworld even more oppressive.

The other two people were fleeing in a different direction.

’No.’

’Something is even more wrong.’

The other two were also at similarly low Realms.

’What in the world is going on!?’

Xiao Qingfeng frowned.

But perhaps things weren’t that complicated. It didn’t matter why this "Yu" had regressed to his current Realm, nor did it matter which of the three was the real Yu.

He just had to kill them all.

His Dark Spirits poured out in a swarm. Gigantic creatures from a primordial era emerged from the Nether Palace, their world-blotting wings obscuring the entire sky. This host of Spirits, which he himself had transformed, flew straight toward the location of the two women.

Xiao Qingfeng turned back and continued to watch the "Yu" not far away.

He hesitated no longer. With a single step that crossed a world, he instantly pursued "Yu" out of the Netherworld.

Outside the massive city, the ancient Stone Bridge remained unaffected by the Nether River. It stood dilapidated and decayed, as if it existed outside of the present and the past.

Clad in a black robe, "Yu" was rushing toward the bridge outside the city.

’Is there something on that bridge?’

Just like Lu Changyuan, Xiao Qingfeng didn’t believe the Nether Monarch had abandoned her kingdom. He was convinced she was simply trapped and unable to return.

The Nether Monarch had most likely left behind some of her authority within her domain.

The Spirits didn’t know where it was, and Xiao Qingfeng hadn’t found it despite his long search.

’But Yu... knows?!’

’That bridge?’

The bridge was outside West City; Mei Zhaozhao had crossed it to enter the city. Since the bridge was not inside the Netherworld, and the Spirits never left the Netherworld, Xiao Qingfeng—who had become a Spirit himself—indeed had no strong impression of it.

Xiao Qingfeng couldn’t help but recall certain rumors he had heard many years ago during his Cultivation.

Bridges are the link between humanity and death. By crossing a bridge, one could summon back the dead.

’Is Yu trying to summon back the Nether Monarch?’

Xiao Qingfeng’s heart pounded. This was indeed the most likely possibility.

He snapped his head up. A star seemed to be twinkling from outside the Netherworld, piercing through the void to manifest in the Netherworld’s sky.

The Nether Monarch’s Dao had never truly departed; it had always existed within the Netherworld. Xiao Qingfeng was well aware of this. But the Monarch’s Dao had been ownerless until now. Why would it suddenly tremble?

"Ridiculous! Do you take me for a mere decoration!?"

’The Stone Bridge!!!’

Xiao Qingfeng instantly came to his senses. He twisted the Sun and Moon Gnomon with all possible speed, and his Law erupted in a frenzy.

The unstoppable power of a Half-Step Yao Guang arrived in an instant.

This was the power from the very apex of this Cultivation Realm’s Dao, the power to light a Dao Star in the sky. A colossal force, seemingly capable of turning the entire Netherworld upside down and suffused with an unparalleled aura of death, shattered its restraints and shot forward in a straight line.

THUD.

The sound was soft, yet it echoed throughout the entire Nether River.

Xiao Qingfeng cultivated the Transformation Dao. This Dao was not unparalleled in offense, nor could it perform feats like Ancestor Red Simurgh’s Illusion Moon Dao, which was capable of Refining Void into Reality. It simply possessed extremely potent means of resurrection. But he was, after all, a Half-Step Yao Guang. His Magic was not something a Fifth Realm cultivator could withstand.

"Yu’s" black robe whipped and snapped in the gale. His body was frozen mid-air by an immense, invisible force. It wasn’t that he didn’t want to move, but that the space around him had been completely solidified.

So all he could do was watch as the blood-red arc representing Yao Guang’s Power rushed toward him.

Pain immediately washed over him. He was like a crow shot out of the sky. The Stone Bridge was just ahead, but he couldn’t reach it in time.

A short distance became an insurmountable chasm.

"Yu" finally fell, crashing onto the cold, shattered ground of the Netherworld. His aura was like a candle flickering in the wind, so faint it was as if it had never existed.

The Buddha said: become a stone bridge, endure five hundred years of wind, five hundred years of sun, and five hundred years of rain, and the scholar might get a chance to meet the woman who sells tofu.

Yet the scholar drowned while clinging to the stone bridge.

The Nether Monarch said: five hundred years of wind, five hundred years of sun, and five hundred years of rain, and I will eventually return.

The scholar died on the stone bridge. Death is the Nether Monarch’s Dao, and the bridge is the link between life and death.

Xiao Qingfeng was now certain his guess was correct. Yu was trying to summon the Nether Monarch from the Stone Bridge. That was why her Dao was flashing in the sky, and why the unaccounted-for Spirits had answered its call to stop him.

"You’ve underestimated me."

Xiao Qingfeng stood hovering in the sky. A Bone Blade suddenly appeared in his hand.

He would take Yu’s head, kill the Crown Prince, and complete the final step in his total usurpation of the Netherworld.

"Hm?"

Xiao Qingfeng suddenly let out a cold laugh. He extended his hand, and Yu’s body was slowly lifted into the air. But he didn’t rush to cut off Yu’s head. Instead, he channeled power into the Sun and Moon Gnomon once more.

The ancient Stone Bridge exploded with a deafening blast.

"No matter what tricks you have, the Nether Monarch is never coming back."

Since the bridge was the link to the Nether Monarch, he decided to just blow it up. With the link severed, even if Yu had some other trick up his sleeve, like performing a ritual on the bridge, it would be useless now.

And now, Xiao Qingfeng felt a thrill of excitement he hadn’t experienced in a long time. His plan, hundreds of years in the making, was finally about to succeed.

He could, of course, just crush Yu to death, but that wouldn’t be perfect.

For a proper usurpation, one must behead the Crown Prince. Only then could the new king’s authority be established. He raised the Bone Blade, Yu’s body bound before him.

A terrifying, pathological smile spread across his face.

"Four hundred years of planning... It’s finally coming to fruition. I can... achieve the Dao!!!"

The Nether Monarch’s star in the sky seemed to fall silent, its light fading. In its place, a red, illusory star appeared.

The Transformation Dao!

"The old king belongs to the dustbin of history!"

Xiao Qingfeng swung the Bone Blade, but his heart suddenly lurched. With a startled cry, he violently threw himself to the side.

A single Silver Needle shot out from within Yu’s robes, grazing past his ear before quickly coalescing into an illusory figure.

Yu’s black robe slowly fell away in the wind, revealing long silver hair that shone like a sliver of light in the darkness.

Blood trickled from the corner of Su Youwan’s mouth. "Master, your disciple is incompetent. I must rely on you."

Su Youwan, the head disciple of the Compassionate Palace. Her master was not the Master Compassionate, but another terrifyingly Great Power who had long resided there. As that being’s sole Direct Disciple, Su Youwan had not only inherited her master’s legacy but had also been given one of her master’s own Silver Needles for safekeeping.

It was precisely because of this needle that Su Youwan had told Lu Changyuan she was confident she would be safe on this trip.

The needle transformed into an illusory figure. Countless needles appeared in the figure’s hand, then slowly condensed into a long, slender spear.

The illusory figure’s voice was even colder than Su Youwan’s. She looked at Xiao Qingfeng and said scornfully, "How audacious."

The needle struck.

The sky of the Netherworld seemed to light up. This place was supposed to have no sun or moon, but at this moment, a bone-chillingly cold moon appeared in the sky.

The black-and-white sun in the sky served as the Netherworld’s sun and moon. But now, with the appearance of this clear radiance, it was as if a sun and moon shared the sky. Moreover, though this new moon was on foreign ground, summoned by a mere illusory figure, its light seemed to eclipse that of the Netherworld’s own sun.

No one knew just how powerful the owner of this illusion was; this was but a glimpse of the leopard’s spots.

Su Youwan softly recited, "Sixteen Bright Moon Flower Needles, to embroider the dying stars and split the river of clouds."

Xiao Qingfeng’s shrill, incredulous voice pierced the firmament. "The Sixteen Bright Moon Flower Needles of the Sun and Moon Palace! Who in the world are you!?"

Before his words had faded, the needle arrived.

Under the moon’s clear light, Xiao Qingfeng’s body was utterly obliterated.

But Su Youwan’s expression did not relax. She stared intently at the spot where Xiao Qingfeng had vanished.

SIZZLE.

Something ignited. Shattered pieces of a dark shadow slowly converged. From the void, Xiao Qingfeng squirmed and condensed, slowly re-forming.

He stared at Su Youwan with venomous hatred.

"You don’t have a second needle."

Her silver hair was stained with blood, but Su Youwan’s tone was light, as if she were smiling. "You can’t be sure. But even without a second needle, it was enough."

’Enough?’

’What was enough?’

Only then did Xiao Qingfeng notice that the person before him no longer held the status of "Yu."

’The Life Exchange Technique!’

’A technique of the Destined Celestial Dao!’

A smile spread across Su Youwan’s face, the widest she had shown. "The scholar drowned on the stone bridge, and the bridge is the link between life and death. But... the Nether Monarch was never dead to begin with."

In the distance, a pillar of light shot into the sky.

Clutching his chest, Xiao Qingfeng whipped his head around. ’The aura of Yu... is between East City and West City?’

’Dammit.’

’I’ve been tricked!’

He had taken a hit from that entity’s Sixteen Bright Moon Flower Needles. Though not dead, he was injured. Now he was wary of acting rashly.

Since the young woman before him was not Yu, there was no need to gamble on whether she had a second needle.

So, with a cold snort, Xiao Qingfeng shot into the sky and fled.

Su Youwan grunted in pain and whispered, "This is all Youwan can do."