Dark clouds covered the mountains for hundreds of miles.
Countless purple snake-like electric flames stirred up whirlwinds between heaven and earth.
Rumble...
On a cliff with thousands of holes like an ant's nest, a seven-sided watchtower stood like a needle at the top of the mountain.
Wearing a long black robe, Gu Mingxin walked along a stone path with cliffs on both sides, toward the tower at the top.
The left sleeve of her robe was empty, swaying slightly as she walked while her left arm was hung around her neck by a black leather strap. Half of her face was wrapped in a brown, blood-stained bandage.
After leaving Jiang Mojiao's place, she went to look for some fellow demonic cultivators. She wanted to find a safe place to recuperate, then return to the Eastern Region as soon as possible and report the matter of the Northern Region to the Elders.
However, who would have thought that Ye Anping had already exposed the location of almost all the demonic cultivators in the Cold Country ?
Three Deification stage cultivators led by the Imperial Advisor of the Cold Country brought nearly seventeen Nascent Soul cultivators from the Snow Guard with hundreds of Core Formation and Foundation Building stage immortal cultivators to set up a dragnet against them.
Originally, the six demonic cultivation sects had only sent Core Formation and Foundation Building stage disciples into the Northern Region . As long as they didn't expose their positions, they would be able to annoy the Cold Country to death by fighting guerrilla warfare. However, once their positions were exposed, they would be like fish on a sticky board and could only wait to be slaughtered by the Snow Guards .
While fleeing the Northern Region , she also ran into a cultivator of the Deification stage from the Cold Country .
At that time, she was lucky. In the process of escaping, she met several other Core Formation demonic cultivators.
Those people helped her lure away that Deification cultivator and most of the Snow Guards who were chasing her.
If not for that, she would have been forever separated from her Ye Anping.
Almost all of her injuries were caused while trying to escape from the Northern Region .
Hoo hoo...
The cold wind from outside the mountain blew across Gu Mingxin's frosted face, fluttering her black hair.
Gu Mingxin seemed to have sensed something, and she suddenly stopped climbing the path. She slowly lifted her gaze which was looking down at the ground and glanced at the corner of the path ahead.
At the corner of the mountain road stood a hexagonal pavilion leaning against the cliff. A man in the black uniform of the Heavenly Demon Sect was sitting on a stone bench in the pavilion.
The man looked like a twenty-year-old youth. His body was well-proportioned, and there was purple eyeshadow under his eyebrows, giving a feeling of Yin excess and Yang lacking.
---He Jiming, the youngest son of the Great Elder of the Heavenly Demon Sect, was at the middle stage of Core Formation like Gu Mingxin, but he was nearly forty years older than her.
Sensing that Gu Mingxin had arrived, He Jiming reached out and picked up the wine pot on the stone table, filled an empty wine glass with blood-colored liquid, and handed it to her. "Sister Gu, your trip to the Northern Region has been hard. It's freezing there. I heard that you're back, so I specially prepared a hundred-year-old deer blood that was squeezed this morning. How about a cup to warm your body?"
Gu Mingxin had no expression on her face and did not answer. She glanced at him and continued to head toward the top of the mountain.
However, just as she walked past the pavilion, He Jiming stood up and was behind her in an instant. He patted her shoulder. "Hey? Sister Gu, are you in a hurry?"
Gu Mingxin glanced back with a hint of murderous intent in her red eyes.
"..."
"Alright, alright. Sister, don't be angry. It's not good for your recovery." He Jiming conceded and hurriedly took two steps back while holding the glass full of deer blood. "But... I have also heard about that matter in the Northern Region ..."
Gu Mingxin still didn't speak.
"..."
"I heard that someone revealed their identity and provoked the enemy, causing a lot of trouble. There were bounties all over the Northern Region black market. Eventually, the Cold Country followed these clues and eliminated all the disciples sent by the six demonic sects."
"What are you trying to say?"
"Hey~ It's not that I want to say it, but it's all over the sect now." He Jiming smirked. "Sister Gu secretly accepted bribes from the Cold Country and deliberately exposed this matter..."
"..."
After saying this, He Jiming waited for two breaths before raising his eyebrows in surprise. "Eh? Sister Gu, you won't refute?"
"I don't care."
"Sister Gu is really a lone wolf. As a disciple of Lord Yan, she doesn't eat immortals' meat, nor does she keep male lovers. Apart from the Heavenly Demonic Heart Sutra , she lives like an immortal cultivator. Sister doesn't care what others say, but I don't know if the Patriarch won't care that his personal disciple is a snitch..."
Gu Mingxin closed her eyes and took a deep breath before interrupting him. "If Master thinks I'm guilty, I'm willing to be punished. There's no need for you, a useless trash, to nag."
"Ooh... Sister can..."
Gu Mingxin did not give him a chance to speak, as she narrowed her eyes and cut him off again. "Don't forget. Five years ago, you were in the early stage of Core Formation when you fought to the death with me as I was in the middle stage of Foundation Building . You knelt on the ground and begged me not to kill you. All the disciples of the Heavenly Demon Sect witnessed it. Don't forget how Elder He pleaded for you in front of the Patriarch."
"..."
"..."
Silence---
More silence.
And then...
Boom boom---
In the dark clouds above, a purple lightning snake lit up the entire mountain.
Almost instantly, He Jiming took out his sword from his storage bag. However, the tip of a blood-colored sword had already entered between his slightly opened lips and pressed against his tongue.
He Jiming's eyes widened in disbelief as he watched Gu Mingxin, whose left hand was hanging on her chest, stick the sword into his mouth in a split second.
---She was so badly injured, how could she...
Gu Mingxin's expression did not change at all. Her eyes were calm as if she was looking at a wild dog that bared its teeth at her. The blood-colored spiritual sword in her right hand did not move at all, not even slightly.
"Disciples of the Heavenly Demon Sect speak with their sword, not with their mouth."
As her voice fell.
Swish---
"Eh ah--!"
The sword blade cut the left side of He Jiming's face.
A wine glass filled with deer blood and half of his tongue, in a stream of blood, flew out along the sword's cut before falling into the abyss below the mountain path.
He Jiming took two steps back, covering the split left side of his face and glaring at Gu Mingxin with hatred like a hungry wolf.
However, Gu Ming Xin casually flung away the tainted blood on her sword before retracting it into her soul realm. Then, she turned around and continued walking along the stone stairs to the summit. "My master will make his own decision regarding my affairs. Just because the master can lecture me doesn't mean you can do the same."
"..."
Her voice gradually dissipated in the wind as Gu Mingxin turned the corner ahead, her back disappearing into the distance.
Drops of blood dripped from the gap between He Jiming's palm and face, leaving black marks on his python leather boots.
He Jiming stood there for a long time until a buzzing sound reached his ears.
A red-haired old man dressed in a black robe flew up from the abyss below the road with a freshly cut tongue and stopped in front of He Jiming.
Although the red-haired old man looked calm, his tone was full of anger. "Unfilial son, kneel down!!"
"Ahhh..." He Jiming was so scared that his knees bent. He immediately knelt, cupped his hands, and lowered his head, pointing in the direction Gu Mingxin left. "Ahhh... Ahhh..."
"Look at you!"
The red-haired old man stretched out his hand like a claw and directly drew He Jiming over. Glaring, he clamped his neck, stuffed the tongue back into his mouth, and then let him land on his feet.
"Go home and stop embarrassing yourself here!"
"Woo..."
Although He Jiming was unwilling, he did not dare to say anything more. He accepted the order and cupped his hands, then turned into a red light before flying toward one of the mountains of the Heavenly Demon Sect.
The red-haired old man took a deep breath and turned to look at the Heavenly Demon Palace above. He then followed after Gu Mingxin on foot.
...
In the square in front of the seven-sided tower, several disciples of the Heavenly Demon Sect wearing black masks and holding standard iron spears, stood on both sides of the carpet like sculptures.
Gu Ming Xin nodded slightly and shouted, "Disciple Gu Mingxin, greets Master!!!"
Then, she stepped onto the blood-red carpet and headed toward the double doors of the tower.
In fact, after hearing He Jiming's words, Gu Mingxin might appear calm on the outside, but she was actually very afraid.
After returning from the Imperial Sect fiasco a few years ago, Master did not say anything to her. After listening to her story, he simply began to investigate the matter of the spies in the Heavenly Demon Sect.
But this was the second time...
She would most likely get a scolding, and if anyone else came to add fuel to the fire, it was not impossible that her master would beat her to death in a fit of anger...
To be honest, Gu Mingxin really wanted to kill He Jiming earlier to vent her anger.
But when she was about to do it, Xue'e reminded her through voice transmission. "He Buqun, that old geezer is watching from below. Mingxin, don't be impulsive. You have already made a mistake, better go up and see your father's attitude first. If his attitude is okay, you can chop him off later to vent your anger."
Therefore, she only cut He Jiming's tongue.
If she made a mistake now, she would really die...
---Father is scary. He is the kind of person who is more terrifying the calmer his voice is.
Gu Mingxin was not afraid of anything except her adoptive father.
Although the blood-red carpet in front of the Heavenly Demon Palace was only about thirty feet long, the closer she got to the door, the slower the time seemed to pass.
In this short thirty feet, she seemed to have walked dozens of miles. When she arrived at the door of the Palace, she was already exhausted physically and mentally.
Boom boom--
Rumble--
The doors of the palace, which weighed a thousand pounds, slowly opened to both sides, revealing a middle-aged man with half of his face covered by a white mask. The shadow of the door split into two on his face.
---Gu Yan, leader of the Heavenly Demon Sect, Void Returning stage, honorific title: Supreme Lord of Hell.
Gu Mingxin knelt on one knee and lowered her head in front of Gu Yan. "Disciple Mingxin greets Master."
"Hmm..."
Gu Yan stepped over the threshold and gently patted Gu Mingxin's shoulder. The two of them twisted instantly and then shrank into a dot, disappearing from the palace gates.
Gu Mingxin felt dizzy as if she had fallen asleep, and when she woke up, they had already arrived at a cave.
"Tell me about the Northern Region ."
"Well..." Gu Mingxin came back to her senses when she heard this. She looked at Gu Yan, who was already sitting on the stone chair, and replied, "I went to the Northern Region with Brother Wu and Sister Lu, but suddenly someone issued a high-value bounty warrant, and we were hunted down along the way..."
"Continue."
"After that, I received the summoning order from the Magical Poison Sect's Grand Master and rushed over. As a result, I was ambushed by the Snow Guards of Heavenly Wind City , and also met the Black Star Sect disciples that I met in the Central Region last time."
"Hmm..."
"One of them is called Yu Die. That person has the bloodline of the Holy Emperor."
"Dead?"
"Ah... no." Gu Mingxin's eyes flickered. "The reason why I couldn't kill her was mainly because there was another person... That person behind her..."
Gu Yan frowned and interrupted bluntly, "Mingxin, there is no such thing as three times."
"Yes... but Master, please listen to me."
"..."
"The Liang Xiaoliu that I mentioned last time is actually named Ye Anping. I asked around when I came back and found out that he seems to be the Young Master of the Hundred Lotus Sect. He must have a demonic cultivator on the inside. He was the one who revealed my and others' locations to the Cold Country in this incident."
Gu Yan slightly raised his eyebrows. "Ye Anping? Hundred Lotus Sect?"
"Yes..." Gu Mingxin took a deep breath and mustered her courage to say, "Master, can you lend me some disciples? I want to detour from the Southern Region to the Western Region and go to the Hundred Lotus Sect..."
Gu Yan glanced at the map of the Western Region hanging in the corner of the room and saw the ant-sized words " Hundred Lotus Sect" next to the three large words " Black Star Sect."
Then, he interrupted again "Is this your pretext?"
"No... Master, that person is really..."
"How many people do you want to borrow?"
"I asked around, and the Hundred Lotus Sect's leader is only at the middle stage of Core Formation . If you could give me three Nascent Soul seniors..."
"So, you want to send three Nascent Soul Elders of Heavenly Demon Sect to Red Moon Matriarch as a token of your loyalty?"
Gu Mingxin's eyes widened when she heard this, and she prostrated again, explaining urgently. "Ah... I have no intention of betraying Master."
"Then tell me, how are you going to bring three Nascent Soul demonic cultivators to the Western Region ? Lei Wanjun and Feng Chang are guarding the eastern and western borders. As long as you step into the Western Region , Black Star Sect will know immediately. Besides, do you think that old woman's Stargazing Art is something you can disregard?"
"..."
Gu Mingxin was speechless.
In fact, on the way back, she actually asked Xue'e to help her check on the Immortal Matriarch.
According to what was written in the Heavenly Demonic Scroll , as long as she was in the position of the "stargazing" in the Black Star Sect, everything in the Western Region was laid out in front of her like a chessboard.
She could see the whole situation from the perspective of a chess player, and know everyone's movements through the art of star-reading.
All conspiracies would be known to her the moment they were laid. Even a scheme hidden in plain sight, she'd detect it early and crack it.
The only thing missing from the scroll was the word "invincible" engraved on the face of the Immortal Matriarch.
Gu Mingxin had never seen the Stargazing Art .
She didn't believe that there weren't any flaws in this technique. There wasn't an absolutely perfect technique in this world.
Xue'e said that the Matriarch's art was only effective within the territory of the Western Region . Outside of the Western Region , she couldn't calculate accurately. This was a weakness.
However, even if this was a weakness, there was still no way to deal with it.
Therefore, Gu Mingxin felt that there must be something that the Immortal Matriarch was afraid of, but she hid it very well and so far no one knew about it, so the owner of the Heavenly Demonic Scroll did not record it.
"I feel that Immortal Matriarch's Stargazing Art is definitely not flawless. There must be something..."
"Like what?"
"I... I don't know yet."
Gu Yan narrowed his eyes slightly. "Mingxin, what do you think I've been looking for the past thousand years?"
"...The flaws in her Stargazing Art ?"
"Heh..." Gu Yan laughed. "That crone stays in Black Star Sect all day and doesn't come out. How could she expose herself? Stargazing Art can reveal the secrets of heaven, but that old woman is definitely not at the level of being able to see through these secrets. What I am looking for is the Heavenly Demonic Scroll ."
"..."
In all the time Gu Mingxin had followed her master, this was the first time she heard about this.
When she was young, Xue'e had always been chattering in her ear, warning her not to tell anyone about the Heavenly Demonic Scroll and her existence, not even Gu Yan. Because she had always been dependent on Xue'e before she was adopted by Gu Yan, she had listened to her words and did not say anything.
At this time, Xue'e in Gu Mingxin's soul realm once again reminded her. "Mingxin, I'll remind you again, don't tell anyone!"
Gu Mingxin pretended to be confused and asked in a small voice, "Heavenly... Demonic Scroll...?"
"..."
"...Master, what is recorded in the Heavenly Demonic Scroll ?"
Gu Yan looked at Gu Mingxin's puzzled expression and narrowed his eyes as he answered, "It's rumored that the Heavenly Demonic Scroll records everything in the world. It should also record the things that the old woman doesn't want others to know, such as the things she sees in the Stargazing Art that make her afraid..."
Gu Mingxin thought about the things written in the demonic scroll about the Immortal Matriarch...
--- "In the year 10293 of the Gray Sun Calendar, the Immortal Red Moon of theBlack StarSect ruined the previous moon and made a new one."
--- "In the year 10312 of the Gray Sun Calendar, Immortal Red Moon secretly went to blow up theBright StarSect's Dragon Cave in theSouthern Region. All the dragon dung accumulated for thousands of years spread intoBright Star River, and the feces floodedGolden MountainandBright Star Mountain. The entireBright StarSect temporarily relocated to theSouthern Mountain, three hundred miles away. The sect Patriarch, Zu Yuan, set up a reward of one million spirit stones in the four regions to capture the person who blew up the Dragon Cave."
--- "In the 12th year of the Immortal Calendar, the leader of theAwarenessSect gave Immortal Red Moon a piece of ill-fitting clothes as a birthday gift. Immortal Red Moon gave the group of bald monks five hundred wild boars in return. The leader of theAwarenessSect asked the disciples to bury them one by one in the bone mound outside the sect, and also erected a monument for each wild boar..."
--- "In the 49th year of the Immortal Calendar, theBright StarSect moved back toBright Star Mountain. The dragon dung was cleaned up, but the reward was still there. I really wanted to go and report it to get the reward. But I am a demonic cultivator, so I can't go."
--- "In the 271st year of the Immortal Calendar, I ran into a woman at the southern border of theCentral Region. She looked about 20 years old. She looked at me, and I immediately had a bad feeling and ran away. Later, I thought that she might be the Immortal Matriarch of theBlack StarSect."
--- "Year 523 of the Immortal Calendar. Revision! Immortal Red Moon should be an old woman about sixty years old. She is quite short and her eyes are sort of white. She seemed to have an eye disease."
...
There was no definite answer as to what she looked like, it was all just a bunch of nonsense...
Although part of it was indeed "unknown"...
Gu Mingxin was silent for a while, then asked, "How can I find that Heavenly Demonic Scroll ?"
Gu Yan stared into her eyes and asked slowly, "Mingxin, don't you know?"
"This is the first time I've heard you talk about this..."
"..."
Gu Yan stared at Gu Mingxin for a long time without saying anything.
For a moment, the whole room was so quiet that it seemed as if time had stopped.
Gu Mingxin's heart beat faster and faster under the passage of time and the pressure of his eyes.
Thump... thump...
What would happen if I told Master? Master has been teaching me carefully since I was young. Although he is my adoptive father, he is better than my own flesh and blood. But Xue'e...
Xue'e's voice came from the soul realm again. "Mingxin, don't even think about it! Listen to me, you and I share the same fate, no matter who harms you, I will not harm you. Let me tell you a story. There was a mountain in the past, and there was a recluse on the mountain..."
Although the ethereal voice was a little disorderly, it greatly attracted Gu Mingxin's attention at this moment and eased her mind.
"Master?"
Gu Yan closed his eyes slightly and waved his sleeve. A dark gust of wind suddenly appeared in the room. After the black wind dissipated, the red-haired old man appeared beside Gu Mingxin.
Looking at the red-haired old man, Gu Yan narrowed his eyes. "He Buqun...what's the matter?"
"Greetings, Supreme Lord."
He Buqun cupped his hands, glared at Gu Mingxin, and then answered solemnly. "Rumors spread in the sect that Miss Gu secretly communicated with the immortals, which caused the operation in the Northern Region to fail. So I thought, since the Old Ghost led the Ghost Spirit Sect to besiege the Great Wall, why not let Miss Gu make up for her mistakes and wash away this stigma? I wonder what my Lord thinks of my suggestion?"
Hearing this, Gu Mingxin gnashed her teeth and glared back.
This old fox seemed to be trying to help her wash away the stigma, but in reality, Gu Mingxin had a feeling that as long as she followed him to the Great Wall, not only would this stigma not be washed away, but it would turn even worse.
Back then, when she had beaten He Jiming almost to death, he, as his father, had to swallow his hatred. On the one hand, he felt resentful toward her for ruining his expectations, and on the other hand, he felt that she had not given him face.
Gu Mingxin quickly said, "Master, I don't think..."
But Gu Yan raised his hand to interrupt her with narrowed eyes. "He Buqun... Why do you, an old man, interfere in the grudges between the youngsters? I saw what happened on the mountainside just now. If the person whose tongue was cut was Mingxin, I would not intervene for her. I have watched you fight your way up from a Foundation Building cultivator to the position of the Great Elder. What? Have you forgotten the rules of the demonic sects?!"
"I wouldn't dare! I was only considering Young Miss Gu and Supreme Lord's reputation..."
"Heh..." Gu Yan sneered. "Mingxin, three times is the limit."
"Yes, master."
Gu Yan rubbed his fingers, thinking for a while. "Mingxin, ask the Fu girl from Prison Hall to accompany you to the Great Wall."
Gu Mingxin breathed a sigh of relief and cupped her hands. "...Understood."
He Buqun, who was standing by, had nothing to say when he heard this. He bowed. "Then, I'll take my leave!"
After receiving Gu Yan's nod, He Buqun's figure turned into a ball of red light and disappeared.
Gu Mingxin cupped her hands again. "Master, regarding that Ye Anping that I mentioned earlier, I'm afraid he has accomplices in the other five sects..."
"Yes, I believe you." Gu Yan nodded. "I'll pass this on to the other sects... Is there anything else you want to say?"
"There is nothing else. I will take my leave."
"Hmm..."