A treasure that threatens the balance of Heaven and Earth?

Deep in a valley filled with peach blossoms, Master Lu Ya repeatedly examined the message contained in the jade communication talisman in his hand, his brows furrowing deeper as he paced back and forth.

At this moment, Lu Ya was not in his usual appearance as an elderly Daoist. Instead, he appeared as a handsome young Demon King with a spirited demeanor.

This was actually Lu Ya’s second identity that he often used while in hiding—a minor Demon King from a neutral demon faction.

Today, upon suddenly receiving a message from a powerful demon informing him that Heaven’s Court had issued a warrant for his arrest, Lu Ya was not surprised.

It was no secret that Heaven’s Court intended to assert its authority over the demon race. For some unknown reason, the Jade Emperor had already learned of his true background.

Otherwise, he wouldn’t have needed to hide here, enduring the tremendous psychological torment of consorting with demon women daily, putting on an act of debauchery.

For the Crown Prince, filled with ambition, this decadent, dull, and unrestrained lifestyle was truly…

Too painful!

But this time, Heaven Court’s reason for pursuing him was that he possessed a treasure that threatened the balance of Heaven and Earth, which left Lu Ya quite puzzled.

Could his secret treasure, the Seven Arrows of Appointment Book, affect the balance of Heaven and Earth?

Not.

Not to mention the many restrictions on the Seven Arrows of Appointment Book—using it depleted merit and fortune. Even in ancient times, when this magical technique was used by the Demon Court to secretly punish criminal demons, it had never affected the balance of Heaven and Earth…

Though his God-Slaying Flying Knife had recently approached great completion, it was merely a weapon of killing. How could it affect the balance of Heaven and Earth?

Moreover, these four words—”balance of Heaven and Earth”—were truly perplexing to demons.

Now that humans were the protagonists of Heaven and Earth, with Heaven’s Court being the nominal ruler of the Three Realms, and Heaven and Earth not being in opposition, what was this talk of “balance”?

The phrase “balance of Heaven and Earth” appeared most often during the ancient war between the Shamanic and Demon tribes, during their period of truce…

“Could it be a trick to lure me out?”

Lu Ya’s sword-like eyebrows furrowed slightly, two streaks of golden light flashing through his star-like eyes, while his expression grew somewhat gloomy.

Just then, a bronze mirror in the corner trembled slightly.

Lu Ya looked toward the two peach blossom demons kneeling behind the screen, impatiently waving his hand. The two maids rose and withdrew, their graceful figures taking with them a faint fragrance…

Soon, Lu Ya activated the formations throughout the warm chamber.

Lu Ya walked to the bronze mirror, pointing a strand of immortal light into it. Within, the image of an elderly Daoist slowly appeared…

This elderly Daoist wore gray robes and had deer ears and antlers. Upon seeing Lu Ya, he made a Daoist salute, his gentle voice transmitting from the bronze mirror:

“Your Highness, more than ten veteran marshals have come to this old minister inquiring, and I truly don’t know how to respond. If Your Highness… if you truly have a treasure capable of dealing with Heaven’s Court… Perhaps you should be frank with the Demon Kings who have always supported you. This way, you won’t disappoint the hearts of all the old ministers.”

Lu Ya frowned and said: “If I had such a treasure, how could Elder Deer not know?”

The elderly deer demon frowned in contemplation, then said: “Your Highness, if that’s the case, I’m afraid the situation has become troublesome. Heaven’s Court is now led by the East Wood Lord and the Heavenly Water God, while the Jade Emperor and Queen Mother are undergoing trials in the mortal realm… Ah! Could it be that the Heavenly Water God is using this scheme to force our lord to reveal himself? We must not take this lightly!”

East Wood Lord felt somewhat offended.

“Hmph! This matter is already clear as day! This Water God kills our people bullies our demon race while we’re in decline, and now plays such scheming tricks!”

Lu Ya cursed through gritted teeth, waving his sleeve to transform into his usual elderly Daoist appearance used for traveling.

The elderly deer demon in the bronze mirror hurriedly said:

“Your Highness, please endure for now, don’t fall for the Water God’s treacherous plot! We should observe the situation first, to see what tricks he’s playing!”

“Observe the situation? How can we still observe at this point?”

Lu Ya suppressed his anger and replied somewhat helplessly:

“If I remain in hiding, our race’s morale will surely decline. If I appear actively, Heaven’s Court will have found their excuse to formally wage war against us. This Water God has already put me on the hot seat! Moreover, through this matter, he’s revealed my background to everyone, making it impossible for me to continue scheming from the shadows. This warrant appears to boost our race’s prestige, but it’s a bloodless killing move! Elder Deer, please explain the true situation clearly to the elders and our race’s notables. I must do something now to resolve this calamity!”

“Your Highness… How wise you are!”

Elder Deer exclaimed, suddenly growing somewhat emotional. He raised his sleeve to wipe his eyes, sighing:

“If the late emperor could see Your Highness’s current composure and strategic thinking, he would surely be immensely gratified. This old minister is ashamed that I cannot help Your Highness resolve your worries, and must watch you face such circumstances!”

“Say no more, Elder Deer.”

Lu Ya again suppressed his anger, swallowing the rebuke that had reached his lips, struggling to maintain a pleasant expression.

He offered a few more words of encouragement to the Deer Demon King before erasing the Dao resonance from the bronze mirror.

“Hmph!”

These old ministers had fled faster than anyone when the Demon Court fell, and now they cried more happily than anyone when trouble arose!

They never produced any strategies or decisions that could impress him!

Back then, their demon race had gathered all spirits, their power overwhelming. Even in the later stages of the Great War between Shamans and Demons, they held an absolute advantage due to the Ancestral Shamans’ internal injuries and conflict between water and fire!

Yet it was these mediocre ministers occupying high positions, contributing nothing to the Demon Court’s operation, who dragged down the entire Demon Court’s functioning, allowing humans to take advantage!

Most ironically, those who survived the Great War between Shamans and Demons were these old hands…

After cursing inwardly for a while, Lu Ya swept away this resentment.

He naturally knew that now he must still rely on these old ministers to have any chance of the Demon Court’s resurgence…

He shouldered the God-Slaying Flying Knife, took out the cloth bundle from his bosom to examine it for a while, then carefully put it away.

Lu Ya took a gentle breath, his figure transforming into a wisp of green smoke, disappearing from the peach blossom valley.

Finally, he could temporarily leave this place of suffering.

He had been severely wounded by the Water God’s Great Spirit Explosion at Mount Yusheng and had been here recovering ever since.

It was thanks to a lotus seed given by the Western Teaching that helped replenish his depleted vital energy and helped him break through to a new realm…

‘Water God, don’t force this poor Daoist.’

…

Meanwhile, on Golden Turtle Island.

Ao Yi, who hadn’t returned to the island to cultivate for a long time, was currently soaking in his cave dwelling on Golden Turtle Island—that treasure pool.

Ao Yi transformed into a dragon body over a hundred feet long, leisurely stretching his body in the pool water;

Incidentally, following his Sect Leader Brother’s instructions, he observed the lively “gathering” of immortals and gods in the distance, noting down the situation here to report back to his Sect Leader Brother later.

Golden Turtle Island was quite bustling today, all because of the arrival of a black leopard demon with unremarkable cultivation.

When the black leopard first tried to land on the island, he was stopped by the patrolling immortals and almost cut down with a sword;

But the black leopard immediately called out the Daoist titles of dozens of Celestial and Golden Immortals on the island, and even excitedly reported his previous life’s name “Yuan Ze,” causing all the immortals on the island to be shocked and quickly gather around.

Since its development, due to Sect Leader Tongxuan’s illustrious reputation and the fearsome name of the Four Demon-Slaying Swords, practitioners who could enter cultivation grounds like Golden Turtle Island and Penglai Island were rarely killed by outside Daos;

Even if most couldn’t cultivate to achieve the Golden Immortality of long life, they could still die naturally, living freely for one lifetime.

Old Daoist Yuan Ze was considered a rather rare accident during the Severing Sect’s “Ten Thousand Immortals Coming to Court” era…

Back then, Old Daoist Yuan Ze was controlled by demons of unknown origin and led a large group of demons to siege the Human Teaching’s Immortal Sect, Du Xian Gate, intending to disrupt the Three Teachings’ Source Flow Conference. As a result, he was killed on the spot by a cold snort from the tight-lipped True Person Du E.

Later, Yuan Ze’s primordial spirit was sent to the underworld by Severing Sect immortals. Using the Severing Sect’s influence, they pulled some strings, arranging a good fate for his reincarnation…

Unfortunately, because Old Daoist Yuan Ze said before his reincarnation, “Don’t worry, what could go wrong walking from the Bridge of Helplessness to the Wheel of Reincarnation,” he completely jinxed his good fate, ultimately mistakenly entering the animal realm, being born as a black leopard, achieving nothing notable in cultivation until now.

Today, the black leopard came to Golden Turtle Island to visit old friends, alarming most of the Severing Sect immortals on the island, who rushed over to observe—them, to express their concern.

After observing for two hours, Ao Yi’s dragon head resting on the pool’s edge slowly retracted, his dragon body sinking to the pool’s bottom;

Then he used his divine statue to spread his divine consciousness, sending a communication request to Li Changshou’s main divine statue.

Soon, the human and dragon met in a dream.

Ao Yi carefully described the current lively situation on Golden Turtle Island, while Li Changshou listened attentively, quickly becoming somewhat emotional…

The Severing Sect was truly united enough!

Although the Severing Sect immortals immediately sealed the black leopard’s mouth with Dao techniques when he landed on the island, they stuffed his arms with piles upon piles of precious materials, pills, spirit stones, and magical techniques…

Those practitioners who had deep friendships with the black leopard in the past even dragged the speechless black leopard to various feasts.

They watched his mouth being sealed, watched him accept the benefits, watched his eyes fill with tears.

“Sect Leader Brother,” Ao Yi asked puzzledly, “why are we watching this black leopard?”

“Don’t underestimate him,” Li Changshou stood with his hands behind his back, smiling, “This fellow is now part of the demon race and has connections with the Severing Sect. Who knows, he might become someone formidable in the future. You just keep watching him on Golden Turtle Island. Once he leaves the island, arrange for a Dragon Tribe elder…”

Thus and so, like this and that.

Li Changshou instructed for a while, with Ao Yi constantly nodding.

Soon, this Dragon Tribe Crown Prince, whose cultivation had recently advanced rapidly, left the dream state and secretly summoned a Dragon Tribe expert to wait near Golden Turtle Island. A minor performance would soon take the stage.

After Golden Turtle Island had been lively for several hours, a white cloud came from the north—it was Hanzhi, who had received the news and hurriedly came from Three Immortals Island.

Seeing the black leopard demon, Hanzhi’s eyes reddened, and she hurriedly called out “Master.”

But the black leopard immediately dodged, standing sideways to Immortal Hanzhi, sighing:

“A different person after reincarnation, this poor Daoist dares not respond much. Seeing the immortal maiden well today, my heart is at peace, and I shall now return to cultivation.”

Hanzhi couldn’t help but pursed her lips and sigh lightly, while the Severing Sect immortals immediately tried to retain the black leopard, asking him to cultivate on the island and rejoin the Severing Sect.

But the black leopard was concerned about his wife, and feeling his cultivation was too weak, he had no face to stay and cultivate on the island. He stubbornly bid farewell and firmly rejected the immortals’ kind offer to escort him back to his cave dwelling.

All these reactions from the black leopard were within Li Changshou’s predictions.

Hanzhi was extremely reluctant to part and followed the black leopard out of Golden Turtle Island, sending him off for several dozen li. Only after being sternly stopped three times by the black leopard did she halt her steps.

“Mas… Fellow Daoist, if you encounter any difficulties, come to the island or seek me at Three Immortals Island…”

“Go back, go back! This poor Daoist now has noble people’s assistance, cultivation is no hindrance!”

The black leopard waved repeatedly, lowered his head, and dove into the seawater, displaying fairly decent escape techniques as he fled northward.

The Severing Sect immortals’ divine consciousness followed the black leopard for a while, seeing him off. Many immortals sighed continually, but for Golden Turtle Island, this was merely a small curious incident.

After the black leopard escaped beyond Golden Turtle Island’s range, Ao Yi also left the treasure pool, flying toward the East Sea Dragon Palace direction, “coincidentally” meeting a Dragon Tribe expert above the black leopard’s head.

That Dragon Tribe expert shouted:

“Second Prince! Second Prince! Finally found you! Heaven’s Court just sent orders to the Dragon Palace, requesting you to immediately dispatch troops to track down the whereabouts of the Demon Court remnant Master Lu Ya!”

The black leopard hiding in the seawater suddenly shuddered, his thoughts becoming scattered:

Master Lu Ya! Benefactor?!

“Is that so?”

Ao Yi said calmly, “I had returned to Golden Turtle Island to visit Master, thinking to reunite with Sisi for a couple of days, didn’t expect such matters to arise. Serving Heaven’s Court isn’t easy… Who exactly is this Lu Ya?”

“He is the Solar Golden Crow, the Demon Race Crown Prince, viewed by the current demon race as their revival leader,” that Dragon Tribe expert answered loudly. “Previously when the demon race wanted to forge the Human-Extermination Sword using Shamanic tribe souls, it was prepared for him.”

“Hmph! This Lu Ya! Failing to recognize heaven’s will! I shall return to Heaven’s Court to lead troops now, you help me deliver a message back to Crystal Palace…”

The conversation between the two dragons gradually drifted away, while the black leopard in the seawater was now extremely shocked, surfacing to show his face, wanting to chase after them but not daring to move.

Benefactor Lu Ya is in trouble!

“Ah, hoping Benefactor can safely pass through such dangers, great fortune…”

Slap!

The black leopard raised his hand and gave himself a harsh slap, frowning as he looked at his reflection in the seawater.

What, what should be done!?

…

In the Netherworld, outside the mighty pass east of Fengdu City.

Accompanied by a thin mosquito sound and a cool breeze, Master Wenjing, hiding in the darkness, observed the layers of restrictions from afar.

She was just passing by, as today she needed to go to the Blood Sea on “business.”

Having heard that a few days ago, that man and Water God, along with seven other high-level Dao practitioners who made up the numbers, helped Great Virtue Houtu through a crisis, Master Wenjing thought to come here and take a look…

Perhaps she could catch a slight scent of that man’s presence.

Unfortunately, she dared not set foot in Fengdu City, only able to look from afar.

Just as she was about to leave, Master Wenjing let out a light “oh,” attracted by the scene at the end of the pass’s narrow pathway…

What is… this about?

Isn’t the Netherworld only supposed to fetch souls? Why are they preparing coffins?

At the end of the narrow pathway, a group of quite powerful pure-blooded Shamanic tribe members were beating gongs and drums, seemingly rehearsing some performance.

A crude stone coffin was placed on the ground, easily lifted by six Shamanic tribe men onto their shoulders. The six followed behind two war shamans wearing headgear, constantly swaying and walking forward.

After walking barely more than a hundred paces, Ox-Head shouted stop.

“Be joyful! Be happy! With you all looking so stern, as if your relatives died, it’s hard for this Marshal to take you to serve Water God, moo!”

“Everyone should follow the drum’s rhythm,” Horse-Face folded his arms, gently offering some pointers, “We’re delivering a coffin to the demon race to provoke them, this way we can achieve the effect of starting a war with them…”

Thus, the group of shamans began a new round of rehearsal.

“Lift your spirits! Continue practicing! We must ensure everything is perfect, without mistakes, so that in a few days we can go before the two armies to support Water God!”

After speaking, Ox-Head suddenly giggled:

“Horse, what do you say, should we put up a memorial tablet for Master Lu Ya on the stone coffin?”

Horse-Face pondered for a moment, rejecting this idea—after all, if they went to set up a memorial tablet and burn incense, wouldn’t that give the Demon Crown Prince an advantage?

In the distance, Master Wenjing couldn’t help but raise her hand to her forehead.

This…

Somehow, serving Water God alongside them felt slightly shameful…

Shaking her head, Master Wenjing quickly left this place.

The mosquito sound rose again as she went to a secret location in the depths of the Blood Sea, finding her way to a patch of ruins with familiar ease.

Master Wenjing transformed into her usual alluring form, wearing a blood-colored gauze robe, and letting out several coquettish laughs as she walked toward the ruined palace ahead.

Her steps were light and swaying, her smile charming, her beauty overwhelming, but the fierce aura emanating from her made many beings in the palace tremble slightly.

Walking directly to a stone pillar, Master Wenjing leaned against it in a languid pose, letting out two soul-stirring light laughs:

“What didn’t expect the one sent to help you would be this king?”

A voice came from the corner of the great hall:

“Wenjing, you are also a Blood Sea being, having received the Ancestor’s guidance in the past, hope you remember such kindness.”

“Heh,” Master Wenjing squinted and smiled lightly, saying softly: “This king naturally won’t forget such kindness, after all, back then, the Ancestor killed nine-tenths of this king’s children.”

The sound of iron chains being pulled came from the corner of the great hall, as various auras arose, locking onto Master Wenjing.

Master Wenjing seemed completely unaware, gazing at her slender fingers, saying calmly:

“Times have changed, the Ancestor is dead, and this king now has backing. You surely don’t think I’m not killing you because I’m afraid of your heaven-reaching divine power and vast magical abilities? Forget it, there’s nothing worth saying to you all. Where is the Rakshasa woman you’ve chosen?”

An old, weary voice came from the corner:

“Hope Spirit Mountain keeps its promise to return the Yuan Tu Sword to our tribe, to be wielded by our princess.”

As these words fell, a graceful figure emerged from the corner, wearing a silver cloak, her whole body emanating a faint harmonious aura that seemed somewhat out of place in this environment.

Seeing this, Wenjing laughed lightly, speaking mockingly:

“You’re quite willing to pay the price, actually sending out one of the Ancestor’s few bloodline descendants.”

That cloaked young woman removed her hood, revealing a beautiful face and that head of silver-white hair…

She bowed to Wenjing, saying softly: “Iron Fan pays respects to senior.”