People of near-demonic intelligence were not unheard of, but they were exceedingly rare in this world. In Feng Ya’s eyes, Lang Jiuchuan also belonged to that category of prodigies — and Tantai Wuji, well, he was indeed a person of extraordinary cleverness who could see ten moves ahead and plan with consummate skill from within his own tent.
Only, he had been somewhat lacking in fortune — he had encountered such a variable as Lang Jiuchuan.
Or perhaps from the very moment he had strayed toward a crooked path, his foundation in the Dao had already begun to crumble. And from that point on, his destiny was fated never to proceed as he had planned — smooth and unhindered, everything falling exactly as he desired.
Lang Jiuchuan looked at the column of light that the imperial seal had unleashed. “This imperial seal truly was cultivated by him into a proper magical artifact. It must have been passed down from generation to generation for this violet-gold auspicious energy to have accumulated — especially during the most prosperous dynasties.”
According to legend, the imperial seal of a human emperor, once transformed into a magical artifact, could communicate with the upper realm and serve as the foundation of a staircase to heaven — which was why it was a critical treasure of the nation.
“This imperial seal is the true key that controls the geographic formation of Eight Trigrams City, and even influences the national fortune of Great Dan…”
Her voice trailed off, and her expression suddenly changed.
“Something is wrong.” Lang Jiuchuan looked at Feng Ya. “This imperial seal is a critical national treasure — and it was also a component of his plan. It has been missing for so long now. With his abilities, it’s impossible that he hasn’t noticed a single thing. Yet he has shown absolutely no reaction whatsoever. Either something has changed and disrupted his calculations, or he is deliberately allowing events to unfold as they are.”
The Azure Dragon Imperial Seal — when the moment he had calculated finally arrived, he could use it to mobilize the nation’s power and activate the Supreme Trigrams Ascension Formation, building a staircase to the heavens to challenge for supremacy. If the attempt to ascend properly failed, it could also assist him in condensing the core of the demon realm. Such a powerful artifact — capable of both offense and defense — was built into his plan in every scenario.
And yet now, this powerful artifact was in Lang Jiuchuan’s hands, which was equivalent to severing another one of his arms and breaking the most critical link in his chain. Upon discovering that the imperial seal had gone missing, how could he possibly not be frantic?
And yet somehow, everything was perfectly calm.
Lang Jiuchuan immediately called Jiangche out from his cultivation inside the Small Nine Pagoda, asking what exactly it had done when it dug up the stone pillar — Tantai Wuji could not possibly have failed to notice.
Jiangche looked at the Azure Dragon Imperial Seal and asked in return: “Wasn’t it you who told me to double back and dig it up? You said there was something beneath that stone pillar.”
It was true — she had said that something should be buried beneath the stone pillar, something that could serve as a magical artifact for the formation’s eye, and had asked Jiangche to excavate it. They had simply not expected it to turn out to be an imperial seal.
“Yes.” Lang Jiuchuan ground her teeth. “But when you were digging, did you not notice anything strange? The old monster showed absolutely no reaction to the seal going missing — otherwise he would have gone berserk.”
Jiangche fell into thought. “As for anything strange — I felt like there was a voice in my mind telling me to keep digging, dig deeper. Does that count?”
“Why didn’t you say so sooner?” Lang Jiuchuan nearly cried out.
“Was it necessary? You had already said there was something down there — I subconsciously just followed your word and didn’t pay it any mind.” Jiangche saw Lang Jiuchuan’s dark expression and felt somewhat guilty. “Thinking back on it now, it does seem like something was off. There was a subconscious urge, but it wasn’t so strong that it would make me that certain about it — it was more like I was under some kind of mental compulsion, just acting on the voice in my head.”
Lang Jiuchuan’s expression shifted through several changes in rapid succession. A flash of insight blazed through her mind. “Something has gone wrong!”
Jiangche looked at her changed expression and sensed something was amiss. Nervously, it asked: “What happened?”
“Back when we rescued the heroic souls of the Fu Family army and excavated the imperial seal, we may have made things worse.” Lang Jiuchuan said in a low voice. “Perhaps Gong Qi was right after all — that Nine Palace Eight Trigrams formation had also been used to suppress a malevolent spirit, right beneath the formation’s eye.”
Jiangche and Feng Ya both felt a chill run through them.
“You didn’t sense any malevolent spirit energy at the time?” Feng Ya frowned.
Lang Jiuchuan’s expression turned bitter. She shook her head. “At that point I had only just returned to the living world — my physical body was broken and battered, my divine soul incomplete. My own power was greatly diminished. For an ordinary malevolent spirit I might have been able to sense at least a trace of its energy — but what if it was something of immense power?”
Her start in this world had not been perfect. She had not entered it at full strength. She had stumbled and struggled every step of the way to reach where she was today.
“Or perhaps it was a demonic fiend.” Feng Ya suddenly added: “They say that after the void was slaughtered, the demonic tome he forged went missing with no trace of where it went — so how exactly did it end up in Tantai Wuji’s hands? Tantai Wuji lived for a thousand years. In the battle to slaughter the demons, if he participated, could he have secretly held something back — even going so far as to suppress the demon’s soul and remains? Suppose that figure — the void — was truly suppressed beneath that stone pillar. To escape, someone would need to move the national treasure away. He used demonic energy to compel Jiangche into digging up the imperial seal, and then concealed all traces of it. Even Tantai Wuji might not have been able to detect it.”
“Tantai Wuji also possesses the blood-soul lamp and the demonic tome… Your speculation is most likely correct, within eight or nine parts out of ten. This is terrible — the demonic path has also been quietly waiting for its opportunity. The moment Tantai Wuji uses the blood-soul lamp and fully enters the demonic path, that will be the perfect time for it to strike back and continuously corrupt Tantai Wuji. If the two of them were to merge into one…” Lang Jiuchuan curled her fingers inward, her expression heavy and grave. “We must go to Eight Trigrams City at once.”
A madman paired with a madman — the two merging as one would not mean the birth of a demon. It would mean the true rebirth of the demonic path itself.
The two immediately exited the Void Realm. They had not yet had time to enter the Yin Path when A’Piao suddenly came rushing over. In an urgent voice, she reported: “An eight-hundred-li emergency dispatch has arrived in the capital, saying that Eight Trigrams City has been breached by foreign tribal forces, who have massacred the city. That area has already become a battlefield.”
Lang Jiuchuan’s heart went cold. Her expression froze over. Without a moment’s hesitation, she entered the Yin Path.
Feng Ya followed immediately on her heels.
This news very quickly spread to the homes of every influential official. Everyone felt a chill seize their hearts. Foreign tribes breaching the pass and slaughtering an entire city — without any warning. Was this heaven’s order collapsing of its own accord, or was this done by human hands?
How could this have happened so fast?
The lanterns and lights within Wu Jing began to flicker on one by one, as officials hurried toward the palace in a continuous stream. They were going to be kept very busy from here on.
What was most troubling was this: aside from Eight Trigrams City, small-scale civil conflicts had erupted at other border areas and even within the passes — and with a frightening uniformity, as though driven mad, people were attacking their own comrades and civilians with no regard for their own losses.
The age of chaos had begun.
Every monk and Daoist who could be mobilized was set into motion — cutting down the wicked and exorcising demons to stabilize the nation, to protect all under heaven.
And at the pass of Eight Trigrams City, beacon fires raged in all directions and a sea of blood spread across the land. Resentful souls screamed in agony. A black, tar-like demonic energy — condensed from yin resentment, death energy, and dark malevolence — surged upward from within the city, rising to blot the heavens, accompanied by the dying wails and curses of countless living beings. These cries quickly became swallowed up by the demonic energy, causing it to solidify into a physical substance that spread outward like a plague.
When Lang Jiuchuan and Feng Ya arrived to find Eight Trigrams City already a city of the dead, surrounded by boundless demonic energy, their entire auras turned frigid and their eyes went bloodshot. Their expressions were those of people who had reached the limit of their rage.
“Scoundrels!” Lang Jiuchuan’s entire body trembled. She flickered across the distance in an instant, coming to stand at the very spot where the stone pillar had once been.
The stone pillar had long since been shattered into pieces, broken open into a massive cavity — as though something had forced its way out from deep beneath the earth, rampaging through every living creature without restraint.
The transformation of the world into demonic territory — its beginning was already visible before their eyes.
“Tantai Wuji — you deserve to die!” Lang Jiuchuan stood upright, her eyes filled with self-reproach and guilt. The demonic energy surged toward her from all sides, seeking to assimilate her and merge her into itself.