Though his words spoke of “Senior Shen with the Purple Star Sword” and politely called him “Senior,” there was actually no politeness to be heard in his words.

There was clearly a grudge!

Jian Chou hadn’t known before, but after returning from the Extreme Domain and seeing the ancestor in the Pervasive Mirror beneath Yashan, she had gained a clear understanding of the old grievances between Yashan and Kunwu, so she naturally knew what kind of person this Shen Jiuhan was and what despicable acts he had committed!

Eleven cycles ago, a conflict erupted between the cultivators of Nineteen Continents and the ghost cultivators of the Extreme Domain over control of reincarnation, resulting in a battle that swept across the entire realm. At that time, Shen Jiuhan and True Person Hengxu were called the “Twin Stars of Kunwu” by the world—both were remarkable figures who amazed everyone and were renowned throughout their era.

Who would have thought that during the war, Shen Jiuhan would actually launch a sneak attack on Qu Zhengfeng from behind!

Yashan and Kunwu had always been comrades fighting side by side—who could react in time to such a sudden attack? Not only was Shen Jiuhan senior to Qu Zhengfeng in generation, but his cultivation was also higher at the time. Qu Zhengfeng was no match for him and suffered greatly. Though he managed to escape death and preserve his life, Yu Shanxing, who had been fighting alongside him, ultimately died from severe injuries because they couldn’t seek justice from Kunwu, leading to his betrayal of Yashan.

Today, Qu Zhengfeng had also betrayed Yashan.

Even the sixth-generation Yu Shanxing stood in this Lanyue Hall wearing Yu Shanxing’s robes from back then.

He didn’t mention a single word about the old grievances between Yashan and Kunwu, as if he truly had no connection to Yashan anymore. But just the presence of Yu Shanxing the Sixth and himself standing here was enough to make all those in Kunwu who knew of these old grievances feel suppressed and apprehensive! Not to mention that he had so casually brought up the title “Purple Star Sword” again!

Even True Person Hengxu, who had weathered many storms, couldn’t help but show a slight change in expression when he heard Qu Zhengfeng mention those three words “Purple Star Sword.”

The smile that usually graced his face disappeared for an instant.

But in the very next moment, he had already returned to normal. He didn’t pursue what might have been disrespectful in Qu Zhengfeng’s words, only saying calmly: “Junior Brother Shen has been in closed-door cultivation for many years with no news of emerging yet. I trouble Young Friend Qu to be concerned.”

Earlier he had called him “Sword Emperor,” but now he said “Young Friend Qu”—there was something different hidden in this, which everyone could hear.

For a moment, they couldn’t help but worry.

The Nineteen Continents had many cultivators, and the grudges between various sects and schools were extremely complex. Gathering together like this sounded like a grand occasion, but setting aside mutual prejudices and conflicts wasn’t such an easy thing.

Just a few days ago when they first arrived at the star sea, there had been conflicts between Yashan and Tongling Pavilion, not to mention the deliberately arranged accommodations by Jiexing Mountain Manor, which had made relations between all sects tense.

Now Qu Zhengfeng was directly at odds with Kunwu’s True Person Hengxu!

No matter how you looked at it, undercurrents were surging—it didn’t seem like things would end well.

But everyone knew that now was not the time for disputes to erupt. No matter what grudges existed now, everything had to be suppressed before the great matter at hand.

True Person Hengxu knew this, and Qu Zhengfeng naturally knew it too.

So after this exchange of words between the two, neither took it any further.

Hearing this, Qu Zhengfeng laughed noncommittally and said nothing more. He walked directly toward the long table specifically set up for the council in Lanyue Hall and sat down on the left side of the head position without the slightest courtesy.

Medicine King Yi Ming Xiansheng also followed and sat on the right side of the head position.

Seeing this scene, the representatives from the many other sects of Nineteen Continents all cursed in their hearts, “His guts are really fucking big.” After all, a strong dragon doesn’t suppress a local snake, and it wasn’t good to argue with him about seating arrangements. Moreover, if they really ended up fighting with the Extreme Domain later, Mingri Xinghai would be extremely important and they would need to rely on him, so none of them spoke up and endured it.

Everyone took their seats.

No matter how large Lanyue Hall was, space was limited, not to mention there was only this one long table in the hall. From head to tail, it could seat only about twenty people, so those qualified to sit were all leaders of their respective sides.

Looking around at this moment, it could be called truly震撼.

除开上首作为主人家的曲正风与药王一命先生，下头依次排下来，是中域昆吾首座横虚真人，崖山长老扶道山人、掌门郑邀，北域阴宗掌宗玄月仙姬，阳宗掌宗乾元子，西海禅宗无垢方丈、一尘和尚，雪域旧密空行母央金，中域左三千封魔剑派掌门章远岱、龙门长老庞典、通灵阁阁主陆松、五夷宗宗主忘忧道人、白月谷谷主染霜大师，南域东南蛮荒潼关驿大司马沈腰，西南世家魏家家主魏榭。

Most of these people, Jian Chou recognized.

She stood casually behind Elder Fudao Shanren and Sect Leader Zheng Yao along with Bi Yan, Xihe, and the other elders, observing these important figures in the hall.

Those she knew needn’t be mentioned—she had some understanding of most she’d met before. But those she didn’t know and hadn’t seen before drew much more of Jian Chou’s attention.

The Central Domain’s Left Three Thousand had many sects, so they had sent the most people.

She already knew Zhang Yuandai, Pang Dian, and Lu Song and had even dealt with them before, but she wasn’t very familiar with Baiyue Valley’s Valley Master Ranshuang Dashi and Wuyi Sect’s Sect Master Wangyou Daoren—she was seeing the latter for the first time. She knew even less about the Wei family head Wei Xie from the Southwestern aristocratic families of the Southern Domain.

Master Ranshuang had been cultivating for many years and was actually of the same generation as Fudao Shanren and others. Her cultivation talent wasn’t top-tier, but she was extremely clever with an exquisite mind. She sat right next to Longmen Elder Pang Dian, wearing snow-white Daoist robes with a completely benevolent expression between her brows, looking very approachable.

Lu Xiangleng’s temperament should have inherited quite a bit from her.

However, for today’s major occasion of the star sea council, she hadn’t brought Lu Xiangleng along. Standing behind her was only an elder that Jian Chou didn’t recognize.

It seemed that when Lu Xiangleng had sheltered Xia Houshe during his defection from Fengmo Sword Sect, it had already displeased Fengmo Sword Sect. If she appeared here now, no matter what kind of noble character she had, in Fengmo Sword Sect’s eyes she would probably look like a thorn, so it was better not to come.

Wuyi Sect’s Sect Master Wangyou Daoren didn’t look particularly extraordinary—ordinary appearance, ordinary Daoist robes, ordinary cultivation level. There was no sign that he was the sect master of a sect that could produce such an oddity as Young Master Ruhua.

Sitting somewhat behind him was Xin family head Xin Zhao.

The Southern Domain had always been chaotic territory. The Southeastern Wilderness was overrun with demons, while the Southwest didn’t favor sects but established itself through aristocratic families. The Qin, Wei, and Xin families formed a tripod, occupying the Southwest. Ordinary forces found them hard to shake, and their relationships with each other were quite good.

Xin family head Xin Zhao was the choice pushed forward by the three families after consultation to participate in the council.

Jian Chou examined this person and saw that though he wore embroidered brocade robes and had quite handsome and open features, she found his expression somewhat familiar, so she looked a bit longer unintentionally.

Unexpectedly, this Xin family head had cultivation comparable to Jian Chou’s and immediately noticed her gaze. He turned to look at her. At first there was nothing, but after seeing her appearance and position, he paused slightly, then actually smiled at her and nodded slightly in acknowledgment.

In an instant, a flash of inspiration crossed Jian Chou’s mind.

This Xin family head didn’t seem remarkable when not smiling, but when he smiled, he actually reminded her of that friend from the past who always loved eating melons—Xiao Jin. There was some resemblance between their features.

But she clearly remembered that Xiao Jin was the young master of the Jin family, which wasn’t among the three great families of the Southwestern aristocratic families. How could he resemble this Xin family head?

Jian Chou felt somewhat puzzled, but this wasn’t the time to think about it further.

Because after everyone had taken their seats, this council of great importance had begun.

As the host, Qu Zhengfeng naturally spoke first: “The past two days have been complicated here in the star sea. Though I knew all of you had come from afar, I was unable to welcome you from a distance. I hope you can first forgive Qu’s breach of etiquette. Before today’s council, I have already spoken with Yi Ming Xiansheng and Cangji Sanren. Senior Cangji will undergo his eighth tribulation and doesn’t wish to participate in the disputes of Nineteen Continents anymore. Yi Ming Xiansheng rarely concerns himself with worldly matters and isn’t good with words, so today Qu’s opinions represent the star sea’s opinions. I hope everyone understands this first.”

Everyone naturally had no objections.

This situation was entirely predictable.

Though Mingri Xinghai had many strong cultivators, few could match Qu Zhengfeng in combat power. Though Cangji Sanren was formidable, he had always been someone who only wanted to ascend to the Xu Immortal Realm and didn’t want to deal with other matters. Though Medicine King Yi Ming Xiansheng had high status, his cultivation wasn’t sufficient—in such occasions, he could only let Qu Zhengfeng take the lead.

Qu Zhengfeng could guess that everyone would have no objections, so after finishing his opening words, he only paused briefly before continuing: “Years ago, True Person Hengxu had already negotiated with me about Extreme Domain matters. The Six Paths of Reincarnation are of great importance—the longer we delay, the more likely complications will arise. Gathering here today, I, Qu Zhengfeng, am merely a host. Naturally, True Person understands the Extreme Domain’s yin-yang matters better, so please speak, True Person.”

“Young Friend is too kind.”

Hengxu’s face showed no particular expression. He sat steadily across from Fudao Shanren and considered for a moment before speaking.

“Fellow Daoists present today should all understand the Yin-Yang Realm battle from eleven cycles ago, so I need not elaborate here. The conflict between our Nineteen Continents cultivators and the Extreme Domain ghost cultivators arose from competition over reincarnation rights. After that war, Lord Qin Guang and others jointly set up the Shitian Creation Array, sealing the ghost gates between the Extreme Domain and Nineteen Continents, also cutting off the opportunity for our cultivators to enter reincarnation after death. In the blink of an eye, over six hundred years have passed. Two days ago, the ghost gate at Eastern Extreme Peach Forest showed abnormal activity again—you should all have heard about this. The Extreme Domain’s desire to destroy our Nineteen Continents never dies, and they control reincarnation. If we don’t prepare early, I fear we’ll be hard-pressed to escape calamity.”

That battle eleven cycles ago was truly too tragic.

The vast boundless sky of Nineteen Continents was dyed red with blood. Countless cultivators lost their lives in this battle, and from then on, their souls scattered and vanished between heaven and earth.

Thinking of those times, everyone fell silent.

Recalling past events, Western Sea Chanzong’s Abbot Wugou sighed deeply and chanted a Buddha’s name: “Amitabha, we monks have all heard of this matter and know that the Snow Region has been completely sealed off from the outside world for over twenty years—they must be secretly plotting something. Our Chanzong is ashamed. For eleven cycles, we have enjoyed reincarnation until twenty years ago when we were excluded for participating in the conflict between old and new esoteric Buddhism. But we have secretly discovered much news about the Extreme Domain that might be useful to everyone—hopefully it can be of some help.”

During the Yin-Yang Realm battle, Buddhism was also a faction that stabbed in the back, secretly colluding with the Extreme Domain. Afterward, they naturally retained their transcendent qualification to enjoy reincarnation and could even send Buddhist disciples to the Extreme Domain for training.

However, Chanzong was different from the Esoteric School after all.

Back then, the Esoteric School was powerful and was the one leading this matter. Even if Chanzong wanted to stop it, they were powerless. Later, due to various ideological differences, they split into the current Chan and Esoteric sects during the northern migration, separated by the Yin-Yang sects on land and the vast Western Sea by water—they completely lost contact.

The cultivation world was never simply black and white, not to mention that Western Sea Chanzong was also a massive entity that performed many good deeds. Even with this past that couldn’t be clearly explained, few people bothered to calculate against them.

But this didn’t include Lu Song, who was famous for his straightforwardness.

After Abbot Wugou placed the jade slip recording the Extreme Domain situation on the long table, he looked over and snorted coldly: “Your Chanzong has peacefully enjoyed six hundred years of reincarnation, building up your sect to look proper. Now seeing that war with the Extreme Domain is about to break out, you bring out these things—you’re not ashamed at all!”

After a night, the terrible mark on Lu Song’s neck had disappeared, and his severed arm had grown back. He looked no different from usual, just with a darker face and fouler temper than before.

When he said this, it was extremely mocking and not polite at all.

The three masters of Chanzong were also renowned.

Abbot Wugou ranked last among the three masters. He usually handled mundane affairs within the Buddhist temple and also managed the strictly disciplined Precept Hall. He wasn’t very flexible and was overly meticulous by nature. His earlier words came from genuine good intentions—how could he have expected to be confronted by Lu Song?

At this moment, he was stunned, frowned, and was about to argue with Lu Song.

But Monk Yichen sitting beside him reacted faster, first pressing Abbot Wugou down with his hand, then putting his palms together. His kind, slightly plump face showed eyes full of laughter, without any sign of anger at all. He said to Lu Song: “Pavilion Master Lu, this is being attached to appearances. First, the right to reincarnation should belong to all cultivators of Nineteen Continents. Second, these years Chanzong has been maintaining false harmony with the Extreme Domain for peaceful coexistence in order to accumulate strength for today. As the saying goes, ‘use the enemy’s spear to attack the enemy’s shield’—borrowing the enemy’s strength to oppose the enemy, isn’t this wisdom?”

“…”

“…”

“…”

The entire hall fell silent. Lu Song was even more dumbfounded and couldn’t speak. Even Jian Chou standing behind Fudao Shanren couldn’t help but twitch at the corner of her mouth!

Truly worthy of being the head of Chanzong’s three masters!

His cultivation wasn’t high, but his heart was strong!

Put nicely, it was “borrowing the enemy’s strength to oppose the enemy.” Put bluntly, it was “first secretly borrowing the enemy’s convenience to survive and develop strength, then wait for the opportunity to kill the foolish enemy in one stroke.” This could only be done with not just a strong heart, but also thick skin and the ability to go all out!

Obviously, Monk Yichen not only had a strong heart and thick skin, but had always been able to go all out.

After saying this, his expression didn’t change at all. He still smiled and gestured for everyone to look at the jade slip first: “Those who achieve great things don’t worry about small details. The cause is important, and the result is also important. Business is urgent—please everyone first look at the situation in the Extreme Domain before making decisions.”

Lu Song was so angry he choked, but thinking about it, he felt Monk Yichen’s words weren’t without reason. Thinking it over, he let it go and joined everyone else in simultaneously extending their spiritual consciousness toward the jade slip to examine the intelligence Chanzong had collected.

Jian Chou was no exception.

Though she had already been to the Extreme Domain, it was only for a brief period, so her understanding wasn’t deep enough. She wanted to know if Chanzong might have different information. But Fu Chaosheng standing beside her didn’t move—he just glanced once, then looked away, instead watching Xie Buchen who happened to be standing directly across from him across the long table, and also Qu Zhengfeng at the head position who similarly hadn’t moved.

Xie Buchen was a perceptive person and naturally noticed this anomaly, but he had never had any interaction with Fu Chaosheng and didn’t know him, so he didn’t know why the other was looking at him.

Qu Zhengfeng was different.

From the moment he entered Lanyue Hall, he had been consciously or unconsciously paying attention to Fu Chaosheng—first because of his relationship with that little junior sister, and second because of his mysterious origins and unfathomable strength. So the moment Fu Chaosheng turned to look at him, he had already noticed.

The atmosphere had a strange subtlety.

Fu Chaosheng felt that looking at these two men didn’t really have any special meaning—it was just because he knew the Xie Buchen across from him had a life-and-death grudge with Jian Chou, and Qu Zhengfeng at the head position had an even more complex relationship with Jian Chou as both enemy and friend. He hadn’t expected these two to notice him.

More importantly, their gazes were somewhat off.

Raising his eyebrows slightly, Fu Chaosheng pondered for a while but couldn’t figure out why, so he simply stopped caring.

Just then, everyone had finished examining the jade slip.

The information on Chanzong’s jade slip wasn’t actually much. After all, they weren’t the Esoteric School, which had better relations with the Extreme Domain. Even borrowing the opportunity of sending disciples to reincarnation training to collect intelligence, they couldn’t access very core information. But just these revealed things had already made everyone frown.

From the overall power distribution of the Extreme Domain, to the Eight Directions Yama Halls, Ten Great Ghost Clans, Eighteen Layers of Hell, and the respective strengths of the Seventy-two Cities, to the situation of the Esoteric School that was deeply involved with the Extreme Domain—everything was worrying. Even Hengxu, Fudao, and others who were already mentally prepared showed solemn expressions after reading it.

The hall was quiet for a moment.

After a while, True Person Hengxu sighed: “In just eleven cycles, the Extreme Domain’s forces have already expanded to this extent—truly terrifying!”

“If conflict breaks out again this time, it will be a hard battle. I fear what our Chanzong understands is only the tip of the iceberg.”

Abbot Wugou remained silent, so it was the somewhat diplomatic Monk Yichen who spoke. He smiled slightly and directed his gaze toward Yashan.

“Recently we’ve heard that Yashan has welcomed an extraordinary friend who once had the fortune to enter the Extreme Domain and penetrate deep into the core of the Eight Directions Yama Halls, familiar with the Extreme Domain’s secrets. I wonder if today we could ask this friend to help us understand the Extreme Domain’s details?”

Everyone’s gazes immediately followed Monk Yichen’s and turned to Fu Chaosheng. Yesterday’s dispute between him and Tongling Pavilion Master Lu Song had already spread throughout the entire star sea. Though people didn’t dare speak openly, privately they all thought this man surnamed Fu acted too demonically. But considering Yashan’s face and having heard that he was quite knowledgeable about Extreme Domain matters and was a key figure, they hadn’t shown it.

Now that even Monk Yichen mentioned it, it suited everyone’s desires.

Who wasn’t curious about this great demon’s origins, abilities, and why Yashan protected him so much?

This matter was unrelated to Kunwu, so True Person Hengxu didn’t speak.

On Yashan’s side, Fudao Shanren exchanged glances with Zheng Yao and was about to turn back to look at Jian Chou and Fu Chaosheng to see if this peculiar-tempered great demon was willing to cooperate.

But unexpectedly, before they could speak, Lu Song confronted them again.

“Perfect—today I want to hear properly what this demon actually knows!” His face was full of indignation, clearly with unresolved anger. His gaze toward Fu Chaosheng was extremely cold. “If you can say something worthwhile, everything’s fine. If you can’t, I’ll settle yesterday’s account! Don’t think that Yashan protecting you, or even if Luye Laozu protects you, that I’ll let this go!”

Jian Chou couldn’t help but frown.

The others in the hall also reacted differently.

But Fu Chaosheng showed no other expression. The moment he heard Lu Song targeting him again, the murderous intent to slap this noisy person to death surged up, but the next moment he remembered what Jian Chou had said before dawn about “Dao” and “technique.” So he calmly raised his eyes to look at Lu Song and said directly: “You’re opposing me because I tore off your arm last night?”

“…”

What the hell!!!

The instant they heard this sentence, everyone was dumbfounded, looking at Fu Chaosheng with heads full of question marks and shock. After a long time, they realized: he was admitting that he was the one who attacked Lu Song?!

For some reason, Jian Chou’s eyelid twitched.

Lu Song especially hadn’t expected that at this moment, Fu Chaosheng, who had originally denied it completely, would casually admit it. His facial expression froze, but the next moment he slammed the table in rage!

“It really was you!”

But Fu Chaosheng ignored his words and simply walked forward from beside Jian Chou, standing right in front of Lu Song, and raised his hand.

In this instant, everyone rose in alarm!

Seeing this action, Lu Song’s scalp exploded even more. The psychological trauma of facing a powerful enemy that night came rushing back, immediately making him assume a defensive posture and shout: “What do you want to do?!”

But no one expected that at this moment, the hand Fu Chaosheng raised didn’t fall toward Lu Song, but grabbed his own other arm!

“Crack!”

With a cleanly terrifying sound, he had already forcefully torn off one of his own arms and placed it directly on the table in front of Lu Song!

Demon blood silver-blue, splashing everywhere;

Demon qi dark black, scattering in all directions.

Fu Chaosheng didn’t even furrow his brow or immediately press his wound. He just looked at the already terrified Lu Song very sincerely: “I’m giving you this arm in compensation. We’re even now.”

I’m giving you this arm in compensation, we’re even now…

Even now…

The words “even now” kept echoing in Lu Song’s mind. Before he could even change his previously furious expression, he had already become a statue of shock, unable to believe what he had seen and heard!

What a terrifying scene!

And what a terrifying demon!

What he did was clearly making peace, what he said was clearly about making peace, but looking at this calm, expressionless manner—no matter how you looked at it, it seemed like intimidation!

Jian Chou suddenly felt dizzy and could barely stand steady.

Shen Jiu beside her reached out to support her arm. Looking at the ephemeral great demon who thought he was looking at Lu Song sincerely, he couldn’t help but sigh sympathetically and advised Jian Chou: “Senior Sister, you must stay strong.”