Human Clan Defender

With Zuo Cao's fall,

the few Elders of the Internal Affairs Hall fought desperately.

Soon,

another Elder of Internal Affairs Hall, as his life was about to run out, managed to slay a Demon Evil with all his strength.

"Elder Liu!"

Ruan Weng's face became even more mournful.

Even though he knew what fate awaited them, when those once-familiar faces fell one by one before his eyes, he still felt sorrow.

"Kill!"

Tan Tianji pressed forward relentlessly, his aura soaring, the Qi and Blood throughout his body ignited to the fullest.

The Demon Evil fighting him was already covered in gaping wounds.

"Die!"

Tan Tianji's gaze was icy; surging True Qi and Qi and Blood poured into his sword, the terrifying Sword Qi gathering like a silver serpent flicking its tongue.

He stepped forward.

The long sword slashed down.

But the target was not a Demonfolk, but Elder Ye, who was dealing with the Demonfolk.

Without any warning,

Elder Ye was instantly beheaded by a single sword strike.

As his head tumbled to the ground, his eyes were wide open, as if he couldn't process how he had died.

"Elder Ye!"

Another Elder of Internal Affairs Hall's expression changed drastically.

Seeing this, Ruan Weng's eyes nearly split open with rage: "Tan! Tian! Ji!"

At this moment,

how could he not understand?

Tan Tianji had already defected to the Demon Evil Clan.

He just couldn't fathom what had driven Tan Tianji to betray them for the Demon Evil Clan.

"Why!"

Ruan Weng stared fixedly at Tan Tianji, hoping for an answer from him.

At his words,

Tan Tianji's face was indifferent, the blood dripping from his sword to the ground: "There is no why; every man has his own ambition. What we seek is different, and so we are destined to be enemies."

"Have you forgotten? We once fought side by side, swore to defend the Great Qin!"

"Vows of the past have long since become meaningless."

Tan Tianji's eyelids drooped, his tone devoid of emotion.

Ruan Weng laughed bitterly in his fury: "Fine, fine then. Call me blind for trusting a scoundrel like you, but today even if I die, I'll drag you down with me!"

In that instant,

he no longer harbored any hesitation.

He burned away all the remaining life inside him in a single instant.

In a flash,

Ruan Weng seemed to return to his prime, unleashing the most powerful, domineering punch of his life.

That punch

even caused Tan Tianji's expression to turn grave.

He did not back down; his long sword erupted with sharp Sword Qi, slashing forward.

Boom—

The two forces collided, kicking up endless clouds of dust.

When the dust settled, Ruan Weng was standing motionless, a sword piercing straight through his chest.

Even in death,

anger still burned in his eyes.

The long sword was withdrawn.

Tan Tianji sheathed his sword and was the first to open the gates of the Demon Sealing Tower.

The last Elder of Internal Affairs Hall also met his end under the assault of several Demonfolk.

——

"Tan Tianji!"

Shen Changqing looked toward the now tranquil Demon Sealing Tower and, recalling that furious roar he had heard earlier, wore a look of suspicion and unease.

Even though the two places were quite far apart,

to a Grandmaster's ears, hearing such a shout clearly was nothing difficult.

For a moment,

a flood of thoughts raced through his mind.

As for that voice, Shen Changqing didn't know if it belonged to the Demon Evil side or to the Demon-Subduing Division.

But,

since the other party had called out Tan Tianji's name, it meant Tan Tianji had also entered the fray.

Combining that with the current peace and quiet,

he was left with many doubts.

The calm,

suggested two possibilities:

either the Demon Evil side had prevailed, or the Demon-Subduing Division had prevailed.

If it was the latter, then there was no problem.

But if it was the former,

then things would be very troublesome.

"Brother Shen!"

A familiar voice sounded, and Shen Changqing turned to see Jiang Zuo approaching.

Accompanying Jiang Zuo was Wei Lan.

Upon seeing this,

he didn't wait for the two to speak, but said directly, "Someone invaded the Demon-Subduing Prison. I've already slain all intruders and any Demon Evil who broke free. I'll trouble you both to guard this place; I'm going to the Demon Sealing Tower to check the situation."

As soon as he finished speaking, Shen Changqing tapped his toe and sped off toward the Demon Sealing Tower.

No matter what,

he had to see what was going on.

Jiang Zuo opened his mouth to speak, but Shen Changqing was already gone.

"Just let him be. He has his own plan. We'll just focus on guarding the Demon-Subduing Prison."

Wei Lan shook her head, stopping Jiang Zuo's movement.

Although she hadn't truly seen Shen Changqing take action, she could vaguely sense that his strength far surpassed her own.

Over at the Demon Sealing Tower,

the matter was grave.

With Shen Changqing heading there, it was a good thing.

As for themselves, as long as they could guard the Demon-Subduing Prison, that would be enough.

At her words,

Jiang Zuo abandoned his previous thoughts, shaking his head with a bitter smile: "Brother Shen's progress is stunning. It's hard to imagine that a few years ago, he was just a Probationary Demon Hunter who had just joined the Demon-Subduing Division."

"Steward Jiang knows Demon Hunter Shen very well?"

Wei Lan raised an eyebrow.

Jiang Zuo laughed: "Steward Wei jests. Whenever such a figure appears in the Demon Hunting Court, how could someone in my position not know them? Brother Shen is the most talented one since our Huang Department's Demon Hunting Court was founded.

Whether there will be a future talent to match him, that's uncertain."

There is always someone stronger, and a heaven beyond every heaven.

Jiang Zuo always believed this before.

But after truly witnessing Shen Changqing's talent, he started to doubt it a little.

Could anyone really rival such overwhelming talent?

To be honest,

Jiang Zuo didn't quite believe it.

Hearing the explanation, Wei Lan nodded lightly: "Steward Jiang is right."

——

"Demon Sealing Tower!"

As he entered the tower, Tan Tianji didn't waste any time and headed straight for the Eighth Layer.

When he arrived at the Eighth Layer,

Wang Mubai seemed to have already predicted his arrival. There was no smile on his face anymore, only utter indifference.

"You're here!"

"My respects, sir!"

Tan Tianji bowed slightly.

Wang Mubai shifted a little; blood seeped from where the Demon Sealing Nail had been driven into him.

"Where is Dongfang Zhao?"

"Dongfang Town, Dongfang Zhao is currently being held off by the Eternal Alliance Master. Otherwise, I would have had no chance to sneak into the Demon Sealing Tower to rescue you, sir."

Tan Tianji replied truthfully.

At that,

Wang Mubai's expression didn't change: "The Eternal Alliance Master can't hold off Dongfang Zhao for long. That one has already made a new breakthrough. Remove my seal now—Dongfang Zhao will arrive before long."

"What!"

Tan Tianji's heart shook.

Wang Mubai's words greatly surprised him.

But,

the person before him was a powerful Demon Evil. Any words spoken would certainly not be a lie.

Thinking this,

Tan Tianji dared not delay, and immediately began removing the seal.

——

"The Demon Sealing Tower has been breached!"

Arriving in front of the Demon Sealing Tower and seeing the corpses on the ground, Shen Changqing's expression changed.

Scanning the area, he didn't see Tan Tianji's body.

And thinking of the voice he'd heard earlier,

now Shen Changqing could basically confirm that Tan Tianji had most likely betrayed the Demon-Subduing Division.

Looking again at the open tower entrance, his expression turned uneasy.

"The entrance to the Demon Sealing Tower is open. They're definitely planning to release the demon evils inside. I hope I'm not too late, or it'll be trouble!"

Without further thought,

Shen Changqing strode directly into the Demon Sealing Tower.

Since he was already here,

he had no way to convince himself not to take a look inside.

Besides,

with the strength he had now, even if a Demon Evil did break loose, escaping shouldn't be too much of a problem.

That is,

as long as an overwhelming Demon Evil didn't break free.

Otherwise,

Shen Changqing felt he'd most likely be dead meat.

It was his second time entering the Demon Sealing Tower.

He was already very familiar with the way.

As soon as he reached the second floor, he saw several Demonfolk working to break the seals inside.

Fortunately,

the seal laid by the Demon Sealing Hall was powerful, and it wouldn't be so easy for these Demonfolk to break through.

"Someone's coming!"

"Quick, kill him!"

At the sight of Shen Changqing, the Demonfolk's eyes filled with killing intent.

There were no words exchanged.

The Demonfolk attacked at once, charging at Shen Changqing.

The commotion was not small; they dared not waste time in case more Demon-Subduing Division experts arrived.

Seeing the Demonfolk attack,

Shen Changqing placed his right hand on the hilt at his waist. His thumb flicked forward, half-drawing the blade.

In an instant,

astonishing Sword Qi burst forth.

The not-so-bright Demon Sealing Tower was suddenly lit up by the light of the blade.

Immediately after,

he charged forward, his right hand sliding along the scabbard to grip the hilt, then yanked it free with force.

Swoosh—

The blade was drawn perfectly.

That one strike, stored for so long, exploded with sky-shattering force the moment the blade was drawn.

The leading late-stage Grandmaster Demonfolk, faced with this earth-shaking slash, was stunned to the core.

Before he could react,

the Lengyue Blade had already swept through his body.

At the same time,

Shen Changqing passed by him, continuing to cut down the remaining Demonfolk.

After just a few breaths,

blood traced a thin line over the Demonfolk's neck. The line rapidly widened, and his head tumbled from his neck.

Kill!

Shen Changqing's heart was cold as ice.

To him, the Demonfolk before his eyes were no different from corpses.

Having reached Grandmaster Peak, facing late-stage Grandmasters again wasn't exactly a walk in the park, but posed him no pressure.

This kind of disparity,

was like late Grandmasters facing those at the Innate Limit.

Maybe not a complete steamroll,

but suppressing them wouldn't be too difficult, either.

The Demonfolk had already exhausted themselves in the previous battle, and now facing Shen Changqing, they were even less able to resist.

With one Demonfolk after another falling,

when he reached the last one, all that greeted his eyes was the blazing Sword Light and surging Great Sun–like Qi and Blood Force.

As the blade's light faded,

the Demonfolk stood there like an idiot, his face growing lifeless as he looked at Shen Changqing.

As the light faded from his eyes, he managed to force out a few words:

"Great Sun Furnace!"