Human Clan Defender

He tossed the jade box containing the Longevity Fruit to Xun Qu.

Shen Changqing said, "Defender Xun, you must not forget your original promise. I want to see a living Demon Evil within half a year. If you can do this, feel free to consume the Longevity Fruit. But if you can't, please return it."

When it came to something so precious, he simply laid all his cards on the table. The deadline: half a year!

Xun Qu gritted his teeth. "Elder Shen, rest assured. Even if I have to stake my reputation, I will certainly bring you a Demon Evil. I've made this promise, and I won't go back on my word."

"Good." Shen Changqing nodded.

After responding, Xun Qu took out the Longevity Fruit from the jade box and swallowed it.

Having consumed two Longevity Fruits in succession, he had directly added fifteen years to his lifespan. In light of this, Xun Qu was in high spirits. Before consuming the Longevity Fruits, he would have been able to hold on for only a dozen more years at most. After those dozen years, he would have returned to dust. But now, having consumed the Longevity Fruits, his remaining lifespan had directly doubled. Such good fortune would bring joy to anyone.

After the matter was settled, Xun Qu gave a solemn bow with clasped hands. "Although it's just a trade, Elder Shen, your parting with the Longevity Fruit is akin to giving me a new lease on life. If there's anything you need in the future, Elder Shen, just say the word. For any matter within my capacity, I will not shirk my duty."

"Defender Xun, you're too kind," Shen Changqing said with a faint smile.

The value of the Longevity Fruit was neither particularly high nor low. For ordinary people, an extra ten or twenty years of lifespan wouldn't change much. But for the powerful, ten or twenty years were invaluable. Therefore, exchanging it for a living Demon Evil with Xun Qu wasn't too great a loss.

Subsequently, the smile on Shen Changqing's face faded slightly. "There's something I forgot to mention to Defender Xun."

"What is it?" Xun Qu looked puzzled. It must be something significant to make him look like that.

Shen Changqing said, "Earlier, I killed a Demonfolk. If I'm not mistaken, members of the Eternal Alliance have also infiltrated the Heavenly Realm, and there are definitely more than just one or two of them. If they entered the Heavenly Realm merely to seek treasures, that would be one thing. But if they have ulterior motives, we need to be vigilant."

Upon hearing this, Xun Qu's expression grew grave. "Demonfolk... In the past, when the Heavenly Realm opened, they would often infiltrate, sometimes causing significant trouble. Elder Shen, you're right to be cautious. We must treat this matter with care."

Then, he looked up at the sky above the Heavenly Realm. "If my estimate is correct, the Heavenly Realm will close officially in two or three days. We don't have much time left; we might as well use this opportunity to gather some more heavenly materials and earthly treasures."

The heavenly materials and earthly treasures inside the Heavenly Realm were all quite valuable once taken outside. After all, the Heavenly Realm's opening was limited in time, and one could not always enter promptly each time it opened. Moreover, the abundance of Spiritual Energy within the Heavenly Realm nurtured heavenly materials and earthly treasures that were simply incomparable to those found in the outside world.

"Good!"

THWACK!

Another body fell to the ground.

Shimohe withdrew his palm, indifferently observing the corpse. "Mountain-Breaking City's Demon-Subduing Division took three Longevity Fruits at once. The remaining two must have fallen into the hands of the other two Demon-Subduing Divisions, or into the hands of the Qingyu Sect and the Heavenly Demon Sect."

He hadn't obtained this information from Xuanye, but from others who had entered the Heavenly Realm. Of course, after he got the information, that person was silenced. Eradicate them completely, leaving no trace—Shimohe was very clear on such matters.

Xuanye brought his hands together in prayer. "Amitabha Buddha. Patriarch, if they have consumed the Longevity Fruit, what should we do then?"

"Hmph. If they've consumed the Longevity Fruit, then I'll just refine it out of them," Shimohe said, his gaze icy. He looked at his surroundings without the slightest ripple of emotion. "As long as it hasn't been more than seven days since they consumed the Longevity Fruit, I can make them expel it exactly the way they ingested it. The Heavenly Realm will end in two more days. By then, everyone who entered will gather in one place, and I will force them to reveal their true forms!"

Upon hearing this, Xuanye's expression turned grave. "The Defender Envoys are not weak. If they group together, I'm afraid they won't be easy to deal with, right?"

"If all Defender Envoys possess only such strength, they are nothing to fear!" Shimohe sneered.

As the Patriarch of the Myriad Buddhas Sect and a powerful expert from hundreds of years ago, even though his strength had not fully recovered, he was utterly confident in suppressing all enemies.

Hearing these words, Xuanye's heart settled greatly.

If the Myriad Buddhas Sect had the Patriarch with us from the beginning, we wouldn't have suffered such humiliation!

As he recalled certain matters, the compassionate expression on his face was once again replaced by indignation.

Upon hearing this, Shimohe turned his head to look at him. "It seems some... different events have taken place since my departure?"

"Decades ago, a Defender Envoy personally visited the Myriad Buddhas Sect and forced our Sect to hand over two Sect-Defining Martial Arts: the Great Sun Scripture and the Tathagata Golden Body. When this incident spread, it caused a great loss of face for the Myriad Buddhas Sect. Unfortunately, the Demon-Subduing Division was too powerful. Even if the Myriad Buddhas Sect had exhausted all its means, it could not have contended with them. Thus, the Sect had no choice but to hand over the two Sect-Defining Martial Arts in exchange for its peace and safety. Additionally, copies of practically all Martial Arts controlled by any sect in the Jianghu have been collected by the Demon-Subduing Division. The Myriad Buddhas Sect was merely one among them."

Silence! A deathly silence!

A trace of a smile suddenly appeared on Shimohe's indifferent face, a smile that, in Xuanye's view, was utterly chilling.

"Very well. Truly impressive. I didn't expect the Demon-Subduing Division's methods to be even more heavy-handed than I imagined. To think someone could actually suppress the entire Jianghu and collect all the Martial Arts under heaven. And to think that the Myriad Buddhas Sect, after existing for thousands of years, has fallen to such a state."

Having said this, Shimohe brought his hands together and, for the first time, chanted a Buddha's name.

"Amitabha Buddha!"

The magnificent voice resounded through the mountain forest, like a Buddha from the nine heavens chanting softly. Within a hundred-foot radius, everything turned to ash. Apart from Shimohe and Xuanye themselves, even the corpses on the ground were utterly annihilated.

This scene thoroughly shocked Xuanye. Even though he had long known that Shimohe was an expert who had surpassed the Grandmaster Realm, and had previously witnessed him instantly kill Fu Yue, those feats were still within the realm of comprehension. But now, a single chant of a Buddha's name incinerating everything within a hundred-foot radius was simply too terrifying.

After swallowing hard, excitement surged through him.

With such a powerful expert guarding the Myriad Buddhas Sect, how could there be no hope for its resurgence?

Xuanye suppressed the shock in his heart and asked cautiously, "May I ask, Patriarch, what exactly is the realm beyond Grandmaster?"

Although Patriarch Shimohe was an expert beyond the Grandmaster Realm, the Myriad Buddhas Sect had no records of such a level.

"Beyond Grandmaster?" Shimohe smiled faintly, extending a hand as if grasping something unseen. Only after withdrawing his hand did his expression return to its usual indifference. "The realm beyond Grandmaster... I have named it: Great Grandmaster!"

"Great Grandmaster?"

"That's right. In my view, although breaking beyond the Grandmaster Realm means surpassing a certain boundary, one still experiences birth, aging, sickness, and death like ordinary people. It cannot be considered truly Transcendent. Therefore, I named it Great Grandmaster. If one can take yet another step upward, that is true transformation!"

Even Shimohe's tranquil eyes showed a slight flicker of emotion. That was the realm he had always pursued. Unfortunately, as his lifespan neared its end, he never had enough time to comprehend that thin veil.

What followed was simple. To ensure he wouldn't perish completely, Shimohe had entered the Heavenly Realm and chanced upon a newly grown Longevity Fruit tree. Considering his limited lifespan, he directly transplanted the Longevity Fruit tree to a hidden location. Then, using his abilities, he carved out a cave residence there for himself. From then on, Shimohe used the Turtle Breathing Technique to preserve the last spark of vitality in his body, silently awaiting an opportunity.

This chance was the hope that descendants of the Myriad Buddhas Sect would enter this place and, following the methods he had left behind, awaken him so he could consume a Longevity Fruit and extend his life. But this plan had many hidden dangers. First, if too much time passed without anyone from the Myriad Buddhas Sect arriving, the trace of vitality in his body could not be preserved, and he would truly perish. Second, the Longevity Fruit might not be mature when they arrived—either its fruiting period might have passed, or it might not have arrived yet. Shimohe could do nothing about the first scenario. For the second, however, he had specifically instructed those who entered the Heavenly Realm with him at the time: they were absolutely not to awaken him if the Longevity Fruit was not mature; instead, they were to wait for the next opportunity.

Now, after waiting for more than seven hundred years, the chance for rebirth had finally come.

Shimohe's turbulent emotions calmed, and he looked at Xuanye. "The Longevity Fruit wasn't naturally matured, was it? What price did the Myriad Buddhas Sect pay for it?"

"The Sect had Disciples bring the few Spirit Stones we possessed into the Heavenly Realm. As it happened, the Longevity Fruit was only a few years from maturing, so those Spirit Stones were used to bring it to fruition," Xuanye replied, his head lowered.

Although the Longevity Fruit had been successfully cultivated, the fruits themselves had been stolen. Because of this, he wasn't certain if he had done the right thing. But if he hadn't used the Longevity Fruit to attract powerful experts to fight over it, there wouldn't have been enough blood to awaken Patriarch Shimohe. A choice had to be made.

Shimohe nodded slightly. "Rest assured, your sacrifices will not be in vain. Once I retrieve the Longevity Fruit, the Myriad Buddhas Sect will become the number one sect under heaven!"