Big Bog
“You can have him carry out any order, including having him continue cultivating to defeat higher ranked ultimate immortals. You can also use him to raise your sect’s standing if you fancy. In short, he’s pretty much a puppet,” Mu Yu notified, strolling out of the chamber.
Mu Yu killed Chu Kuang for messing with Qiao Xue; however, he just cast his perfected version of Divine Soul Formation on the others he recently put through the wringer so that he did not sabotage Xiang Nan.
“Sir, please wait!” By the time Daoist Wen Yang had processed everything and called out, Mu Yu had already disappeared. He subsequently mustered up his courage to face his wicked disciple, scolding, “This is your comeuppance! Kowtow to all of the elders and apologise!”
“Yes, Master.”
Huai Li went and did as he was told, even showing sincerity.
I can’t believe this is happening, thought Daoist Wen Yang.
Daoist Wen Yang manifested a sword and swung it toward Huai Li’s neck, only to stop less than an inch away. He inwardly said, I gave you the name Huai Li in hopes you would always be courteous to people, but you did the complete opposite. I’ll have you help the sect flourish as repentance!
***
“I was going to kill them to collect bloodlust energy for you, but they’re still useful. I’ll kill Shadow Syndicate and Ghost Gate members to increase bloodlust energy for you,” Mu Yu explained, roasting a pork thigh over a flame on a mountain.
“There’s no rush,” replied Qiao Xue, bringing her eyes on the twinkling silver lights back down.
Technically, Mu Yu should’ve been in rank thirty on Ultimate Immortals Ranking after spending the last month scouting and routing Xiang Nan’s minions. Howbeit, his official ranking had yet to change.
Telling apart fiends and human cultivators was not too difficult. Anecdotally speaking, the fiend-possessed cultivators were more prone to violent tendencies, threw their weight onto weaker cultivators and had a penchant for humiliating those immediately around them. Due to the aforementioned factors, larger sects, where stronger cultivators were more likely to be present, had less trouble than smaller sects – similar to Night Darkness Sect. After all, nobody could rein them in if they were the strongest.
The chances of fiends starting to act up could be minimised if Xiang Nan was in contact with them. Nonetheless, he cut off all ties to them once he turned them. Sikong Qiwen never ran wild precisely because Xiang Nan was in direct contact with him.
“If only they knew where Xiang Nan was. I really want to know if he’s safe,” shared Mu Yu.
“How long can you control them using Divine Soul Formation? Also, does your control take precedence or does Xiang Nan’s control over them overpower yours?”
“His is naturally stronger than mine since I can’t erase the mind of the fiend soul within. All I do is manipulate their memory. He can break my control if he wants.”
“If he doesn’t keep them in line, Third Heaven Palace will smell something fishy soon enough. Isn’t he unnecessarily increasing his chances of failure?”
“Given he took control of almost a hundred thousand cultivators, I doubt all of them are just as incorrigible. Moreover, there’s a slim chance all of them are ranked. I don’t think he’d miss what you noted; I think he has other designs in mind. As for what they might be, I’m in the fog.”
“Let’s set out for Green Dragon Kingdom tomorrow morning.”
The two needed to fly west a whopping two days even at their speed to reach Green Dragon Kingdom, the relocated residence of the fiend race after suffering defeat at humanity’s hands. The place was desolate marsh where dangerous beasts and insects roamed, thereby keeping out Spirit Severing Realm and below threats.
“I’m not sure how to feel about this marsh. Fiend corpse skeletons and red mist whisking across the burbling surface isn’t my cup of tea, but the fiends should come in handy for me,” Mu Yu verbalised.
“Unless you follow a specific route, you’ll never located Green Dragon Kingdom even if you scour the entire marsh; it’s the same as locating the island Ocean Archfiend was on. Nothing around should be used as a marker, so follow me closely,” instructed Qiao Xue, descending onto a reed.
“Do you live in caverns or something?”
“Yes and no. You’ll find out,” answered Qiao Xue, leading Mu Yu along a winding path. “The fiend beasts we come across are the guardians of the outer perimeter. Level seven fiend beasts guard the deeper interior. The things you see here may appear to be the same thing you’d come across in any mash; however, only fiends can pick up their unique qi to navigate. I deliberately leave behind water to act as markers.”
“I guess I’ll leave my mark on the plants, then.”
“Whether or not fiend beasts can evolve into fiends is pretty much in their blood. Don’t estimate high-level fiend beasts, though, because they have brawn that compensates for their lack of brains.”
Qiao Xue greeted a level seven swordtooth seven star tiger with fangs two metres long and explained the purpose of Mu Yu’s visit to get approval for further passage.
“How much longer is it going to take? It’s nearly been a day since we’ve entered the marsh, and I’m barely able to see within four to five square metres thanks to your Water Spirit.”
“We should arrive by dawn. When I say it’s located in a secluded place, I mean it.” Qiao Xue abruptly pulled over. “How about we take a short break?”
“Yes please,” begged Xiaoshuai. “I’m dying.”
“You’ve just been hitching a ride!” Mu Yu remonstrated, flicking Xiaoshuai’s head.
“Let’s rest for an hour up ahead. We’re going to have to cross a big crevice, where Grandpa Green Dragon cast a formation that’s impossible to leap or fly over. Bridges will spawn to cross the crevice every four hours and last for fifteen minutes, so we can rest until then.”
They ended up taking a breaking under a tree located an hour up ahead. When they were ready, they headed to the crevice, and Qiao Xue showed Mu Yu the crevice ten metres wide that forbade any light shining through.
“This resembles No-Man’s Cemetery,” Mu Yu commented.
“We all heed Grandpa Green Dragon’s warning to not fall down there. From what I’ve heard, the split stretches across the entire bog. The other side of this split is considered Green Dragon Kingdom. Consider the slip a defence line, I guess?”
“What is the populace like?”
“Mm… Grandpa Green Dragon is really nice to me, but he’s really prideful and straightforward. Put it this way: he’s never shown he liked Long Xingyun. To the contrary, he values the dragons with less purity in their blood more than those with higher purity.”
“I also hate bootleg dragons. I don’t care about other fiends, having said that. At the very least, they aren’t bootleg wyrms or dragons,” the dragon vine chimed in.
“Oh, shut up, bragger. You’re an earthworm.”
“You want to start?”
“He sounds like a reasonable m-, fiend to me,” opined Mu Yu.
“He doesn’t actually handle any of the kingdom’s business; the four major dragon factions work together to tackle any issues. In case you forgot, the four major dragon factions are the North Shore Abyss’ Jade Wyrms, Forest Black Tigerdragons, Purple Lightning Winged Dragons and Demon Spirit Dragon Pythons.”
“Long Xingyun is a Demon Spirit Dragon Python race member?”
“He’s the son of North Shore Abyss’ Jade Wyrms faction’s king, and his mother is from Demon Spirit Dragon Pythons faction, which is why those two factions are allies, while the other two are independent factions. The remaining dragons are those who don’t carry any true dragon blood. I guess you could say the hierarchy system works as in humanity’s case.”
“Which faction are you with?”
“Me? Freedom faction, obviously. I don’t possess the blood of a true dragon. Sure, we’re weaker than the four major factions. Even so, we don’t have to fight. It’s not as if we’d ever be chosen to succeed the throne. It’s so much better not having to be paranoid about everyone and being able to be yourself.”
“Fair game.”
Swish!
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