Young Noble Be Monster Slaying

Caiyi.

This was not the first time Chu Liang had heard the name of this demoness; he knew her to be both mysterious and powerful. Yet, seeing her in person made it hard to think of her as a monster.

Dressed in vibrant robes that fluttered in the wind, she descended gracefully from the distant sky. Her eyes seemed to pierce through time, appearing indifferent and devoid of emotion.

If she had concealed her demonic qi, she would seem just like a human. Unlike the demonic entities Chu Liang had encountered before, there was something uniquely distinct about her, though he found it hard to pinpoint exactly what that was.

Among those present, Yan Qihu, Wei Lang, and Gu Qingyuan were all Eminent Ones at the seventh realm. Second Madam Gu was at the pinnacle of the sixth realm, and she possessed the Xuan Yuan Eyes. As for the three juniors, Chu Liang, Ji Lingyu, and Tang Shi, they were top talents from their respective immortal sects and noble families.

Together, they formed a powerful group that could stand against any sect below the Divine Nine and the Terrestrial Ten. Yet, as they faced this woman, all of them felt this overwhelming sense of powerlessness.

Though she wasn’t trying to display her aura, her mere presence radiated an unmistakable essence of the Great Dao. It brought a sense of weight to the air, making everyone aware of her power. They all felt they were in the presence of someone who had reached the Heavenly Origin.

For a demon, reaching the eighth realm was much more difficult than for a human, once again proving just how extraordinary she was.

Whoosh—

A gentle breeze stirred as Caiyi landed gracefully before the group.

Wei Lang stepped forward, breaking the silence. "There are only a few eighth-realm demons in the world, so I guess you must have come from the Far West?"

"I am the King of Qingqiu," she replied calmly. "My name is Caiyi."

"So, the Demon King of Qingqiu..." Wei Lang nodded slightly.

In recent years, humans had known little about the Far West and were unclear on the succession of demon kings.

After a brief pause, he continued, "While the King of Qingqiu is indeed powerful, committing murder in human territory could reignite the war between our races. I urge you to consider this carefully."

His words carried weight. The reason humans did not wage war on the Far West was not just because it was difficult, but also because it served little purpose. Even if they invested heavily to eradicate the demon race, they would gain nothing of value. The remnants would simply flee, and they would never be able to completely wipe out the monsters in this world.

The human race was not united in this matter either, allowing the demons of the Far West to continue existing in their secluded corner.

However, if the demon race ventured into the heart of the nine provinces and caused trouble, it could ignite public anger and provoke a campaign against them, leading to heavy losses.

In the presence of an eighth-realm expert, they could only attempt to exert pressure this way.

Caiyi simply smiled and said, "I don’t wish to kill anyone. I’m here to awaken the Nightmare Demon King. If you assist me, I’ll spare you and even reward you. But if you choose to stand in my way… who would know if I was the one who made you all disappear?"

The pressure from an eighth-realm being was tangible, weighing heavily on everyone. No one wanted to risk their lives, and the atmosphere grew thick with silence.

Despite the overwhelming pressure, Yan Qihu was the first to leap forward. "Demoness! I don't know what you're planning, but if you want to kill me, go ahead and try!"

With that, he leaped into the air, his qi and blood surging to a terrifying level!

It appeared he had unleashed a blood-burning divine ability.

But Caiyi simply waved her hand, and a burst of colorful light surrounded Yan Qihu. Within that glow, he shouted and swung his fists and feet like thunder, as if engaged in an imaginary battle with the air.

It was an illusory technique.

Being the Demon King of Qingqiu, she was clearly a member of the Fox Clan, known for their exceptional skills in illusory techniques.[1]

Even though Yan Qihu had taken Chu Liang's Illusion Dispelling Pill and possessed the cultivation power of the seventh realm, he easily fell for the illusion. It appeared that the pill was ineffective against higher-level illusory techniques.

Wei Lang raised the Soul-Pacifying Scroll, casting a beam of light toward Yan Qihu in an attempt to help him.

However, as light flickered in Caiyi's eyes, a gigantic apparition of a nine-tailed celestial fox materialized behind her.

"RAAAAAR!"

With a powerful roar, the nine tails swayed, and the Soul-Pacifying Scroll shattered with a thunderous crash!

Boom—

This was a renowned enchanted tool from the Catalog of the Mortal World's Ten Thousand Treasures, and yet it had been destroyed in an instant!

Wei Lang felt the backlash, groaning as he stumbled back several steps, blood oozing from his seven orifices.

Her power was so overwhelming that even the two seventh-realm experts couldn’t withstand a single round against her.

"I don’t want to waste any more time," Caiyi declared, casting a cold glance over the gathered crowd. "Three breaths. That's how long you have to reveal the Nightmare Demon King's whereabouts. If no one reveals the Nightmare Demon King's location, I'll kill the men first, then the women. If I still hear nothing, I'll destroy the entire dream realm. The ending won't change.."

She could certainly destroy the Nightmare Demon King's entire dream realm, but awakening the Nightmare Demon King in this manner would cause a great disturbance and surely attract the attention of an eighth-realm human expert.

This was something she wished to avoid.

As her words faded into silence, Chu Liang suddenly sprang up and shouted, "Caiyi... do you remember Yan Renjie?!"

…

"Hmm?" Caiyi's eyes suddenly sharpened.

As soon as her gaze fixed on him, Chu Liang felt his blood run cold, almost freezing his voice in his throat.

But he pushed through, clenching his teeth as he said, "I am a disciple of Mount Shu. I came across Yan Renjie's diary; it detailed everything about him and a woman named Caiyi... that was you, wasn’t it?"

The truth was, the diary merely mentioned Caiyi once, and the remaining pages had been torn away.

Yet at this moment, Chu Liang had no choice but to take the risk and step forward.

His tactic seemed to have an effect, as Caiyi went quiet for a second before shaking her head and saying, "I don’t know what you're talking about. Since you were so quick to jump out, I'll start with you."

With that, she raised her hand, reaching out toward Chu Liang.

In that instant, Chu Liang felt death closer than ever. A burst of radiant light plummeted from the heavens, just about to crash down upon him...

This moment of life or death was utterly horrifying.

Chu Liang suddenly shouted, "It's done!"

With a crisp crack, he vanished in an instant!

Shattering the Void!

The jade talisman given to him by Venerable Wen Yuan, which Chu Liang had carefully kept for so long, finally came into use. In a blinding flash, he disappeared and reappeared a thousand li away.

Caiyi remained where she stood, a subtle furrow appearing between her brows.

Her restriction was powerful enough to block all spiritual energy; not even a talisman created by an eighth-realm expert should have been able to activate.

In the following second, she spotted a dark, fist-sized gap where Chu Liang had vanished. The gap didn't need to be massive; just a tiny crack could allow spiritual energy to slip through.

He had successfully opened a gap!

Had he jumped out earlier just to divert her attention and buy time to break the restriction? But how had he managed to do it?

At the exact moment Chu Liang shouted, Wei Lang pulled out an old yellow paper that was blank at first. As his mind focused, words rapidly appeared on the paper as the paper started burning brightly before vanishing in an instant.

Now that the restriction had been lifted, he could finally get a message through to the Noblemen's Hall.

Caiyi's expression turned grim. She had thought success was within her reach, yet in an instant, the tables had turned. With the message already sent, powerful humans would arrive soon, making it impossible for her to secretly take the Nightmare Demon King out of here.

She swiftly turned around, and the nine-tailed celestial fox apparition on her back started becoming bigger and bigger, transforming into a towering monster that reached into the heavens.

Then, she unleashed a roaring cry.

"Aooo—"

Rumble—

The atmosphere around heaven and earth shifted, as the wind and clouds suddenly changed!

The peaceful dream realm at the uppermost level disintegrated instantly, turning everything into pure nothingness. Not only that, but the dream realm below started to fracture as well; the blood moon shattered, and the Nightmare Specters ceased to exist.

At the Bone Palace, as everything crumbled into nothingness, the soldiers of the former dynasty underwent a rapid transformation. Their formation, once brimming with a murderous aura reaching the heavens, turned into hideous, lingering spirits and malevolent ghosts.

The old chancellor knelt before the jade coffin, bowing his head in deep reverence. With a loud voice, he declared, "Your Majesty, the kingdom has fallen beyond repair. I fear we would never be able to restore it. I wish Your Majesty well on the journey ahead. My support, as your old minister, ends here."

With that, he pushed the jade coffin with one palm, and it disappeared in a flash.

Immediately, the collapse of the realm reached this spot, and the old chancellor reverted to the pitiful state of his death—his body smeared with blood, his face distorted in agony.

He transformed back to a lonely wandering ghost.

At the same time, the ground quaked within the Kingdom of the Dream Immortal.

All the citizens were startled from their peaceful state, eyes widening in terror as they turned toward the Demon Mountain...

"The Demon Mountain... it's alive!"

1. Qingqiu (The Land of Green Hills) is the territory of the Nine-Tailed Foxes, mythical beings celebrated for their shapeshifting abilities, allowing them to disguise themselves as both men and women. ☜

GLTD Alternate Universe's Thoughts

Translator: GT