Wei Zhongran's voice softened. "Ancestor Yuandu of the Supreme Mystery Teachings exhausted his power, activating the sect-protecting Seventy-Two Heavenly Gates Grand Formation . Only then did he manage to buy some time. At the cost of consuming a massive amount of resources in an instant, he activated the ultra-long-distance teleportation formation, ultimately managing to teleport out most of his sect's mid- and high-level cultivators.
However, he himself only managed to escape with his Nascent Soul . He later brought the remaining cultivators of the Supreme Mystery Teachings to the Ten-Pace Courtyard , as it was the closest location.
Ancestor Yuandu's Nascent Soul is still in seclusion, recuperating from his injuries. He can only search for a suitable new body in the future.
So, as of now, there are four known Spirit Transformation level cultivators from the Demon Clan on the Desolate Moon Continent . Besides the Supreme Mystery Teachings, the remaining three sects still have three Spirit Transformation experts. But Ancestor Yuandu has been severely weakened. There is a significant disparity between our top-tier combat power and the demons'. Alas!"
Wei Zhongran let out a heavy sigh at the end. Although a three-versus-four disparity seemed minimal, at that level, when strengths were comparable, the chance of one killing another in a one-on-one fight was less than twenty percent, not to mention the enemy had an extra top-tier expert of this world.
Li Yan's heart sank. Seeing Li Yan's expression turn grim, Wei Zhongran offered some comfort.
"However, besides the three major sects, the Secret Realm has also sent two Fourth-Rank Demon Kings to lead a large number of demonic beasts to our aid. So, looking at the overall situation, it hasn't reached an irreversible point yet."
A fourth-rank demonic beast was equivalent to a human Nascent Soul cultivator.
"Doesn't the Secret Realm have any Fifth-Rank Demon Emperors?"
Li Yan's heart leaped with joy, but he then asked with doubt. In a war of this scale, the ultimate outcome depended on the strongest combatants. A Fifth-Rank Demon Emperor was the key to deciding the situation. What was the use of Demon Kings coming?
"Alas, a Demon Emperor? Perhaps they exist. I truly do not know about that. In all these years of dealing with the Secret Realm, the strongest cultivators our Four Great Sects have sent in were Nascent Soul seniors, and the ones who have appeared from the Secret Realm have all been Fourth-Rank Demon Kings," Wei Zhongran said, shaking his head.
Then, his next words left Li Yan stunned once more.
"Actually, of the four Demon Marshals who came from the Demon Realm through the South Sea passage this time, three of them should be human cultivators.
Moreover, among that force of ten thousand demon cultivators, more than four hundred are human cultivators. It is said that among these human cultivators, there are as many as twenty with Nascent Soul stage cultivation.
Adding in the Demonic Generals of the same level, their number already far exceeds the total number of Nascent Soul cultivators on our entire Desolate Moon Continent."
"There are human cultivators in the demon army? Master, do human cultivators also exist in the Demon Realm ?" Li Yan asked with a look of disbelief.
"First, these four hundred-plus individuals are indeed human cultivators, and each one has a high cultivation level, their bodies reeking with a murderous aura. They showed not a shred of sympathy when they attacked their fellow humans of the Supreme Mystery Teachings; their slaughter was exceptionally bloody.
No one knows where these cultivators came from. After an investigation by the high-level cultivators of the Four Great Sects, opinions were divided into two camps. One is that these human cultivators live in the Demon Realm and have long been assimilated by the demons, so they came over together, naturally wanting to seize more cultivation resources.
The other opinion, which is the one most high-level cultivators currently endorse, is that these human cultivators may be from other continents—for example, cultivators from a foreign continent that has already been conquered by the demons.
Hmm, as for whether human cultivators exist in the Demon Realm, I have heard a little. A long time ago, a Spirit Transformation ancestor of the Malevolent Spirit Sect , Su Changyang, was traveling the world. By a stroke of bad luck, after passing through a spatial node, he was swept into the Demon Realm.
He later fought a great battle with a Demon Marshal there and ultimately broke back into the chaotic spatial currents, thus escaping the joint pursuit of the three Demon Marshals who came after him.
I once heard your grandmaster say that Ancestor Su Changyang later briefly mentioned this matter in a Jade Slip . He confirmed that human cultivators do exist in the Demon Realm, but their cultivation methods should be primarily demonic arts.
So, for now, although we don't know where this powerful force of human cultivators that has terrified the entire continent came from, based on the information from the Supreme Mystery Teachings, no demonic art aura has been detected on these mysterious human cultivators yet. Therefore, the possibility of them being cultivators from another realm is higher."
Li Yan's heart pounded violently as he listened. For a moment, his mind felt that everything he had heard today was a fantasy.
Although he was unwilling to admit it, the facts forced him to face reality, and he was completely powerless to change any of it. Even if he were a Nascent Soul cultivator now, he would still be helpless.
Including the Demonic Generals, the enemy had around thirty Nascent Soul stage cultivators. How many Nascent Soul cultivators did their Malevolent Spirit Sect have in total? And how many were there on the entire Desolate Moon Continent? The thought alone made a sense of powerlessness rise from the depths of his heart.
As for where those human cultivators came from, Li Yan undoubtedly agreed with the second opinion.
While Li Yan and his master were talking in secret on Windy Cool Mountain, in a spacious grand hall tens of thousands of li away, three figures sat on three chairs in the center.
Compared to the magnificent grand hall, their bodies appeared so small, and the surroundings seemed boundlessly empty.
At this moment, a Buddhist chant echoed through the hall. The voice was calm and gentle, yet it resounded everywhere.
"Amitabha. Fellow Daoist Yuandu, you said you have never seen the immortal arts used by those three Spirit Transformation human cultivators. Can you then confirm that they were not using demonic arts?"
Although the voice was plain and simple, revealing a vicissitudinous depth, it was like bathing in a warm spring breeze to the ear, bringing a sense of peace and tranquility, as if it had seen through everything in the world. The speaker was a young monk in simple coarse robes. His features were indescribably handsome, but his handsome appearance was completely at odds with his voice.
As soon as he finished speaking, a blurry ball of light suddenly appeared in the empty space in front of the three. The light was dim, making it impossible to see what was inside. Then, a weak voice came from the ball of light.
"Greetings, Senior Brother Daling and the two junior brothers. Although this humble Daoist did not fight these three head-on, the methods they used to break my Supreme Mystery Teachings' sect-protecting Seventy-Two Heavenly Gates Grand Formation were worlds apart from that of the Demon Marshal. This humble Daoist can still distinguish that much. It was definitely not a demonic art.
But even with my experience traveling several continents, I have never seen these techniques before. They might be cultivators from a secluded sect on some other continent..." At this point, the weak voice seemed to fall into thought and spoke no more.
"Zhantian, what do you think?"
While the young monk was conversing with the ball of light, a domineering voice suddenly rang out. It came from an old man in brocade robes, one of the three seated.
The old man had a head of black hair that shimmered with a dark light, and his face was like gold. His pair of gray eyebrows were like falcons soaring to the sky, shooting straight into his sideburns. At this moment, he turned his head to look at a gentle-looking middle-aged man in a long green robe sitting beside him.
Although the middle-aged man looked like a well-read Confucian scholar, when he raised his eyes to look at the old man in brocade, it seemed as if ten thousand swords were hidden in the depths of his eyes, and the faint sound of whistling swords could be heard. It was as if with a single breath, he could sweep away everything before him.
He glanced at the old man in brocade robes but did not answer. He turned his gaze back to the floating, dim ball of light in front of them and spoke slowly, his voice so calm that not a single ripple could be heard.
"Fellow Daoist Yuandu, we shouldn't have invited you today. This is the time for you to be in seclusion and recuperating. It's just that we currently know very little about these mysterious cultivators.
A while ago, Fellow Daoist Su Changyang and I secretly tried to infiltrate their main camp. However, one of them may have already reached the Late-stage Spirit Transformation. The moment we got within ten thousand li, he discovered us.
Fortunately, my 'Spirit-Communicating Sword Heart' gave a warning, allowing us to avoid a potential ambush and retreat in advance.
Because of this, we have no direction for how to formulate a plan against them. For now, we can only defend step by step, but continuing like this will probably only give our opponents more time to adjust and prepare.
We sent a message to you yesterday and learned that you have recovered slightly, so we had no choice but to invite you here. I wonder if Fellow Daoist Yuandu, without using your magic power, could roughly imitate some of the techniques you saw them use? Perhaps the three of us can discern their origins from it, and maybe we can guess the cause of some things."
A reply quickly came from the dim ball of light. "That is naturally possible. This humble Daoist, of course, only fought them with the help of the sect-protecting Seventy Heavenly Gates formation. Otherwise, I would have likely perished in a single encounter. So, they spent most of their time using techniques to break the formation's restrictions. They didn't really use many other attack methods."
As soon as his voice fell, the dim ball of light roiled and immediately transformed into an old Daoist in his fifties. However, he looked haggard, and his aura flickered between strong and weak, extremely unstable. His figure also switched back and forth between illusory and semi-solid.
Then, he frowned in thought and began to draw a series of chaotic traces in the air with his finger. He would often draw for a finger's length or half a finger's length before stopping to think for a while, then continue, explaining at the same time.
"This is the technique used by the tall, thin old man at the front. His cultivation should be the highest among the four, possibly the Late-stage Spirit Transformation expert that Zhantian sensed. At that time, even that Demon Marshal was quite respectful to him."
"This is another one..." Just like that, the semi-illusory old Daoist spoke as he slowly drew a series of strange traces.
A full half-hour passed before the old Daoist finally stopped. His voice was now even weaker. Although he hadn't used much magic power, the act of recalling an opponent's techniques was also a great drain on the mind, even if what he drew was only a vague approximation.
"Amitabha. Have you two seen anything? This old monk has a feeling..."
The young monk's face had lost its initial warmth and was now unprecedentedly grave. After half an hour, his heart had grown heavy.
Before he could finish, the scholar in green robes spoke, still without a trace of emotion. "Ancient Immortal Art!"
The old man in brocade robes was still frowning in thought. Upon hearing this, his eyes shot open. "No wonder it looked so familiar. It is very similar to an Ancient Immortal Art."
By this time, the old Daoist had returned to being a ball of light. His weak voice came out again.
"So it wasn't just this humble Daoist who had this feeling. I initially thought I had sensed it wrong in my panic.
This kind of immortal art has been extinct on the Desolate Moon Continent for who knows how many ages. This humble Daoist only knows a fragment of it from some ancient texts. When I first found Fellow Daoist Zhantian, I wanted to tell him immediately, but my Nascent Soul was on the verge of collapse, so I couldn't say more."
Zhantian nodded after hearing this. When Yuandu's Nascent Soul had found its way to the Ten-Pace Courtyard, he only had time to say, "The Supreme Mystery Teachings has fallen, the demons come from the south!" before falling unconscious. If Yuandu hadn't immediately administered aid, his Nascent Soul might have collapsed and dissipated shortly after. (TN: The name Yuandu is used for both the person and the one giving aid. This is likely a typo in the original text, referring to Daling as the one who gave aid.)
Zhantian learned the details of the attack on the Supreme Mystery Teachings from the disciples who had escaped with Yuandu.