Young Noble Be Monster Slaying

The West Sea Diabolical Forces had always been an important branch of the Diabolical Forces.

In recent years, the Dark King Sect had stood out among the Diabolical Forces, the collective name for the evil factions. Most of the time, the Dark King Sect was considered the leading faction within the Diabolical Forces.

However, the sects and factions within the Diabolical Forces were less united than those in the Divine Nine and Terrestrial Ten. After all, they shared no camaraderie or common beliefs; they were merely a collection of individuals willing to stop at nothing for personal gain. It would be strange if they could unite.

The reason this collective name, Diabolical Forces, existed was due to a diabolical cultivator from ancient times whose cultivation of the Dao had reached a profound level. He was the one who united the evil sects that had been suppressed by the righteous forces, gathering them together and giving them the collective name of Diabolical Forces. The only commonality among all the sects in the Diabolical Forces was that they were all rejected by the righteous schools of thought.

That diabolical cultivator that united them became known as the first Diabolical Emperor.

Since then, the Diabolical Forces had remained segregated. Only when a powerful individual emerged and subdued all the sects and factions with utmost power could the Diabolical Forces unite once more. That individual would then earn the title of Diabolical Emperor. However, from ancient times until then, fewer than a handful of people had received this title.

Without the existence of an absolute power, the Diabolical Forces would be like a pile of scattered sand. All sects would recognize themselves as part of the Diabolical Forces, but none would acknowledge anyone as the overlord of the Diabolical Forces.

As of now, the current leader of the Dark King Sect was considered to be the one most likely to become the Diabolical Emperor of this generation.

When the current leader of the Dark King Sect first took over the Dark King Sect, he wanted to fight for the title of the Diabolical Emperor. Yet, even as a Heavenly Origin Terminator with the True Form of Ksitigarbha, he still could not unify the diabolical sect.

At that time, the West Sea Diabolical Forces was his greatest obstacle.

The so-called West Sea Diabolical Forces was really a collective name for the thirty-plus large and small evil sects scattered across the islands of the West Sea, with the sect known as Evil Dragon Mountain being the leading force.

The Dark King Sect only became a diabolical sect after branching off from the Heavenly Star Divine Cult. Before it came into existence, the West Sea was the Holy Land of the Diabolical Forces.

In the ancestry of Evil Dragon Mountain, there had been two Diabolical Emperors. Thus, the West Sea Diabolical Forces were really the legitimate evil forces.

As an outsider, although the Dark King Sect rose to prominence in just a few hundred years to become the strongest diabolical sect, the legitimate sects in the West Sea Diabolical Forces still looked down on it.

Back then, the leader of the Dark King Sect sought to subdue the other sects and ascend to the position of Diabolical Emperor. However, he faced severe resistance from the West Sea Diabolical Forces.

At that time, he had just taken on the role of sect leader. His foundation within the sect was still unstable, and severe internal conflicts were occurring. As a result, he had no choice but to put a pause on his ambitions.

The restraints originating from within the sect were caused by the Left and Right Guardians, the White Silver King and the Violet Gold Marquess, who refused to cooperate with him. Thus, in this matter, the Violet Gold Marquess and the West Sea Diabolical Forces had, in a sense, collaborated.

After that, the leader of the Dark King Sect changed his approach. Since those from the West Sea Diabolical Forces refused to allow him to take the title of Demon Emperor, he decided to recruit all the diabolical sects into the Dark King Sect.

He recruited the Four Halls of Darkness and gathered followers mainly for this reason.

With the prospect of profit, diabolical sect followers from all corners of the world flocked to join the Dark King Sect, causing its power to surge to new heights.

If the Dark King Sect Master had proposed consolidating all the diabolical sects within the Diabolical Forces, there was a chance of success. It was a pity that he chose to postpone this plan to first obtain the Breath of the Yellow Springs. In the end, he failed and suffered significant setbacks.

Given this background, it was understandable that the West Sea Diabolical Forces would seek to instigate something significant by bypassing the leader of the Dark King Sect and contacting the Violet Gold Marquess directly.

But… What could they be planning?

…

The Sword-Hanging Kingdom of the West Sea was located on a neighboring island to those inhabited by the Diabolical Force. The relationship between the Sword-Hanging Kingdom and the West Sea Diabolical Force was far from harmonious; they were more like enemies, with grudges as deep-seated as the abyss, constantly engaging in bitter fights.

Back then, an individual from the lineage of Evil Dragon Mountain, known as Immortal Yuan Lu, who had achieved the eighth realm and gained control of the Heavenly Origin, nearly destroyed the Sword-Hanging Kingdom. If it hadn't been for the protection of the Divine Nine and the Terrestrial Ten, he would have succeeded. During that time, the citizens of the Sword-Hanging Kingdom lived in constant fear and were seriously considering relocation.

It wasn't until the Sword-Hanging Kingdom produced the Sword Emperor of the West Sea, who slaughtered the nearby diabolical sects, that the situation was finally stabilized.

One could say that the West Sea Diabolical Force can barely hold onto its own territory, so how would they have the time to meddle in the affairs of the capital of Yu in the land of the nine provinces?

Moreover, during the Assembly of Immortal Sects, powerful members from the sects in the Divine Nine and the Terrestrial Ten would gather in the capital of Yu. What kind of foolish diabolical cultivator would choose that time to cause trouble?

After discovering the letter, the Weapons Master promptly took it to Venerable Wen Yuan. Naturally, there would be further communication with the court.

As for Chu Liang, this enjoyable time of unboxing had come to an end.

Like the loot of other diabolical cultivators, most of what he uncovered consisted of sinister pills, enchanted tools, weapons, and arts manuals that Chu Liang couldn't use at all.

Only a few items were usable, with the most valuable undoubtedly being the Dream of Souls Airship.

To be honest, airships ranked higher than ordinary mounts. After all, even a spirit beast was considered apex at the sixth realm, and at the seventh realm, they were deemed a god. Once they reached such a cultivation level, whether demonic beast or spirit beast, they could no longer serve as mounts.

However, a meticulously crafted luxury airship was undoubtedly more valuable than a sixth-realm spirit beast and offered potential for further advancement.

In Taotie City, there was a small sect known as the Cloud-Surfing Sect. Its fame across the four seas and nine provinces stemmed from its ancestral airship crafting techniques.

It would take the entire Cloud-Surfing Sect three to five years to craft a top-quality Cloud-Surfing Airship, and owning such an airship instantly became a symbol of status and prestige.

However, this was an exclusive secret technique. While Taotie City allowed some shops to open branches at Red Cotton Peak, they would never allow collaborators of such level to establish branches elsewhere.

Chu Liang handed the Dream of Souls Airship to Wen Yulong to tinker with, hoping he could study the airship crafting techniques.

If he can create something similar in the future... wouldn't that be wonderful? Chu Liang thought.

After taking care of matters here, he set off for Azure Falling Peak.

He had arranged to meet with Senior Sister Jiang.

When their conversation reached a crucial point yesterday, the Whale-Riding Immortal suddenly appeared and interrupted him. He felt really sad about it. Now that he was back at Mount Shu, he wanted to speak with Jiang Yuebai once more.

On the towering ancient tree of Azure Falling Peak, Jiang Yuebai stood alone in the wind, her gaze distant and melancholic.

When she spotted Chu Liang, a slight smile gradually formed on her lips. "You've been quite busy."

"Didn't I just acquire the Violet Gold Marquess's storage tool yesterday? I was checking out the spoils," Chu Liang replied with a grin.

"Quite a harvest, I suppose?" Jiang Yuebai asked.

"Not much—just a few usable items," Chu Liang answered. "These diabolical cultivators have all sorts of sinister things."

Jiang Yuebai nodded slightly, and the two suddenly fell into a contemplative silence.

The atmosphere grew a bit tense.

After a brief pause, they suddenly spoke in unison, "Yesterday..."

"Heh." Chu Liang chuckled, "You go first."

It seemed that Senior Sister Jiang was not as calm as she appeared on the surface; she was probably just as nervous as he was. Yesterday, they had nearly revealed their feelings, so she must have given it a lot of thought as well.

"Yesterday, I... thought about it," Jiang Yuebai said slowly. "I feel that now is not the right time for us to discuss personal feelings, at least not until after the Assembly of Immortal Sects. This Assembly is crucial for the Mount Shu Sect. If we fall out of the top ten again and lose our place in the Divine Nine, we would all be considered sinners."

"The top ten..." Chu Liang pondered for a moment before saying, "That shouldn't be too hard, right?"

He thought about the younger generation of the Divine Nine's immortal sects and considered Mount Shu Sect's current strength. Even if securing first or a top-three spot was uncertain, making it into the top ten seemed feasible.

"It's not that simple," Jiang Yuebai shook her head. "The Assembly of Immortal Sects isn't only for the Divine Nine, the Terrestrial Ten, and various other immortal sects. The three great families—well, there are only two now—along with the Imperial Supervisory Bureau and kingdoms from overseas will also have their teams take part to see how strong the younger generation is. Every year, they take up several spots in the top ten, and sometimes they even fill more than half of them."

"I see..." Chu Liang responded softly.

Compared to the sects of immortality cultivators, the kingdoms from overseas and the Imperial Supervisory Bureau would have a much larger pool of candidates. This meant that the four selected from this larger pool would have faced intense competition to be chosen. Given this level of competitiveness, it wouldn't be easy for the sects in the Divine Nine and Terrestrial Ten to secure a spot in the top ten.

Of course, the sects in the Divine Nine had their own strong foundations. Even if each generation was worse than the last, it would still be very difficult to fail to make the top ten consistently.

It was no easy feat for the Mount Shu Sect to have fallen into such a dangerous state.

"Before the Assembly of Immortal Sects, we will likely have a training session during which we'll go into closed-door cultivation for some time," Jiang Yuebai continued. "We should focus on improving ourselves during this period. If we achieve good results at the Assembly of Immortal Sects, then we can continue the conversation from yesterday..."

As she whispered, her eyes appeared somewhat misty.

For some reason, Chu Liang felt that she had other concerns on her mind.

He wondered if it had anything to do with the meeting with the Whale-Riding Immortal yesterday.

Seeing her hesitant expression, Chu Liang offered her a reassuring smile and said, "I understand."

GLTD Alternate Universe's Thoughts

Translator: GT