Among the mountains, a spring spat out a trickling stream. No one would have thought that it was the source of the vast Clear river.
The melted snow and the clear spring water between the mountains gathered into it bit by bit.
The water twisted and turned between the mountains, growing larger and larger. It surged against the currents and constantly advanced.
In the beginning, Li Qingshan could only fly on the water, but afterwards, he directly leapt into the water. Daemon qi permeated his body, enveloping the entire river.
He knew time was tight, so he steeled his mind and powered the Water God Seal with all his might, mobilizing every shred of daemon qi he had to refine the river water.
This process should have been extremely long, long enough for the Ruyi commandery to respond in time and easily destroy his ambitions. However, he refined water with his original body at a startling rate.
If regular daemons were to refine water, they would be like a peasant rising up in rebellion, requiring tremendous effort to manage before they could gradually take over the world.
Wherever the spirit turtle passed by, it was like the arrival of the holy son of heaven. All of the water would automatically return to him.
He advanced along the way and left the Boundless mountains very soon. If he continued forward, he would arrive at densely populated places. It would probably be very difficult for him to hide his actions from the cultivators of the Clear River prefecture. If they really came to stop him, it would be quite troublesome.
Once he was delayed, the Marquis of Ruyi would respond, and probably even more powerful Golden Core cultivators would swarm over immediately.
I'd like to see who's bold enough to stop me!
… …
"Oh no, sir, the Moon Devil is refining the Clear river water!"
The news reached Liu Changqing's ears very quickly in the Hundred Schools of Thought near the Lake of Dragons and Snakes.
"Where are the four grandmasters?"
Liu Changqing asked in surprise. The four grandmasters should have forced the Moon Devil into a state where he had nowhere to hide right now. Why was he bold enough to refine water so openly?
"I don't know, but it's said that someone saw the grandmasters return to the Ruyi commandery, and … and …"
"And what? Stop stuttering, "Liu Changqing said impatiently.
"I think they only saw three people!"
"Don't tell me? That's impossible! "Liu Changqing was frightened. He swung his sleeves and made his way out. He arrived at the door and stopped. "Pass down orders. Keep an eye on the Moon Devil's movements at all times. But don't come close. "
He was not too anxious. A large river like the Clear River was not something that could be refined in a short period of time. There was enough time to adapt. But he soon found out that he was wrong, and very wrong.
As soon as he arrived in a place similar to the secret reporting room of the Hawkwolf Guard and waited patiently for the Marquis of Ruyi to receive him, a disciple came to report that the Moon Devil had already refined a third of the Clear River.
"What!?" Liu Changqing's expression changed drastically. Although there was less water in the upper reaches of the Clear River, making it easier to refine, there was no reason for him to be this fast.
However, the Marquis of Ruyi just happened to be doing something. He had yet to appear.
"I wonder who's over there. Please report to the Marquis that Liu Changqing has something important to report! "
By now, the four great, now three grandmasters, had already rushed back to the commandery city of Ruyi. He arrived in the commandery governor's estate to see the Marquis of Ruyi.
The Marquis of Ruyi paced around with his hands behind his back. His face was as sunken as it could be. Originally, he thought sending the four grandmasters was already overkill.
Not only did they fail to kill that monster, but they also lost one of their own. That was a Golden Core cultivator! He could not be compared to Foundation Establishment cultivators. Wen Zhengming and his Pine Sough academy could be described as one of the foundations of his rule. Now, it had been forcefully severed.
"Did you fall into the ambush of the daemons?" The Marquis of Ruyi calmed himself down and asked. This was the most reasonable explanation.
The scholar in white shook his head. "It's just the spider daemon, the Moon Devil, and a skeletal monster."
"Just them, just-" The Marquis of Ruyi widened his eyes. He raised his hand and pointed it at the scholar in white's nose before letting out another grunt and lowering it heavily.
The scholar in white was extremely displeased. We only got involved in this mess because of your orders. Now that junior brother Wen has met with misfortune, not only do you not comfort him, you even blame him.
As the leader of the four grandmasters, he was different from Wen Zhengming's straightforwardness. He had always been known for his arrogance.
Now, he clasped his hands and said, "We will avenge junior brother Wen for him. I've only come to tell you to be careful of the Moon Devil, marquis. I'll be taking my leave first!"
"You- fellow Tang, why do you say that? If fellow Wen is a grudge, then he's a grudge with me …"
"Marquis, sir Liu of the Clear River prefecture says he has something urgent to report." At this moment, another attendant reported.
"Let him wait. He can't accomplish anything at all!"
The Marquis of Ruyi became more and more resentful over Liu Changqing handing the Watermirror disc to the Moon Devil, but he forgot that if it were not for his orders, Liu Changqing would never have been bold enough to do that.
The Marquis of Ruyi managed to placate the three grandmasters after great difficulty. The scholar in white said, "Marquis, you should still go see prefect Liu. Perhaps it might be related to the Moon Devil."
"Then let's go and listen."
The four of them arrived in a secret room at the back of the governor's estate. After listening to Liu Changqing's description, the Marquis of Ruyi said sternly,
"What? You said the Moon Devil is refining the Clear river? There's no hurry. I'll send people over right now. We'll definitely kill this wretched daemon this time."
Not only was he not in a hurry, but he even felt that the Moon Devil's arrival above ground was a rare opportunity. This wretched daemon sure was greedy and arrogant. How could the Clear river be refined so easily?
"Marquis, but the Moon Devil has almost refined half of the Clear river already!"
The Marquis of Ruyi's temper immediately erupted. "What the hell are you doing? I order you to stop the Moon Devil no matter the cost, or you can forget about your position as prefect. I'm on my way! "
The Marquis of Ruyi's figure vanished before him, and Liu Changqing backed out of the room. He was slightly furious.
Stop him? How am I supposed to stop him? Even the four grandmasters you've sent can't do anything to him, so what can I, a measly Foundation Establishment cultivator, do?
The Marquis of Ruyi's orders were absolute, so all he could do was gather the school leaders for a discussion. However, he had made up his mind to never wander around on the Clear river.
In the cultivation world, stopping someone from cultivating was even worse than killing their father or stealing their wife. The Moon Devil definitely would not be soft-hearted this time. Once he targeted him, only death awaited him.
The position of prefect was important, but it was not as important as his own life.
Even prefect Liu, who had been directly conferred the title by the Marquis of Ruyi, thought like that. It was only natural that the Patriarchs and Elders of the other families would think of this.
There were plenty of courageous people among them, but none of them were willing to do something that was clearly throwing an egg at a rock. The fate of the Clear Court sect's Yang Pinghu in the past was a bloody lesson.
"Actually, there's no need for us to face off against the Moon Devil directly. All we need to do is interfere with his refining of the water. The Clear river's drainage basin is so long, so we can take advantage of the fact that he's in the middle reaches right now and wreak havoc upstream. We can buy ourselves some time and wait for reinforcements from the Ruyi commandery. "
The Marquis of Ruyi's orders could not be disobeyed. As a result, someone came up with this idea. There was still some degree of safety to this idea, so they agreed to it reluctantly and dispersed.
Han Tieyi stood up suddenly, but he saw Hwa Seung-zan still sitting there without moving at all. Just Just now during the intense discussion, this greatest think tank of the Clear River prefecture had said nothing at all, casting a strange gaze at him.
"If only it were that simple." Hwa Seung-zan smiled helplessly. This idea was far too simple. It was so simple that anyone could think of it. There was no need for him to waste his breath at all. However, how could he not think of it?
The figure with flying red hair appeared in his mind. He dared to stand in the eye of the storm. He was bold enough to stand in the eye of the storm and continue with this heinous act. Clearly, he had some confidence. If a group of Foundation Establishment cultivators wanted to stop him, they would probably have to pay with their lives.
The cultivators rushed to various parts of the Clear River prefecture, ready to wreak havoc.
Huge, vicious skeletons appeared one after another. They burst out of the water and kicked up a huge wave, blocking their path. Little Ann's twenty-one Skeleton Demons were scattered across the river, protecting Li Qingshan.
Li Qingshan also passed down an order. "Apart from the father and son of the Han family and Hwa Seung-zan, kill everyone else."
We might be friends, but you're bent on opposing me, so don't blame me for being vicious.
In the beginning, the cultivators did not take these skeletons that were clearly under someone's control seriously, but as soon as they clashed, they discovered they were completely wrong.
When their spiritual artifacts landed on the skeletons, they could only kick up specks of sparks. Only arcane artifacts could leave behind some marks. Once these monsters approached them, they could rip through their protective spiritual qi with a single swipe.
After being refined time and time again by Little Ann, the Skeleton Demons now all possessed tremendous strength. They moved like the wind, and they did not have any weaknesses or openings. Even when clashing with late Foundation Establishment cultivators, they would not have any issues.
Compared to the Marquis of Ruyi's mission, their own lives were more important. These cultivators had originally planned on changing locations after every battle. They would never remain where they were, just in case they angered the Moon Devil and directly flew over to kill them. Now that they had encountered such a powerful monster, it was even more impossible for them to remain. They fled as soon as they touched it.
The Skeleton Demons did not pursue them either. They just stood guard in the Clear river and wanted to see who was bold enough to approach them.
The leader of the school of Miscellany, Gou Dai, approached silently where the Clear river flowed out of the Boundless mountains. He held a Glazed Mirror of Invisibility in his hand, concealing his figure and aura without leaving behind any openings. Even if he stood face to face, he would struggle to discover his existence.
Li Qingshan had once obtained a Glazed Mirror of Invisibility, but it was only a mid grade spiritual artifact. The one in Gou Dai's hand was basically the same, but it was a supreme grade spiritual artifact. They were two grades apart.
After several millennia of development, many "standard" artifacts had been created to satisfy the various requirements of "invisibility", "defence", and so on.
They were similar to the five great methods of practising qi in the Qi Practitioner realm, combining various advantages and disadvantages to maximise efficiency. Later artifact smiths only needed to forge artifacts according to this standard.
However, different levels of artifact forging would result in differences in the power of the artifacts.
Gou Dai's confidence did not originate from the "Glazed Mirror of Invisibility" alone. In his other hand, he held a small bottle. Liquid sloshed about in the bottle.
As the leader of the school of Miscellany, his cultivation and strength were not particularly great, but he had gathered quite a lot of strange and wondrous items. At crucial times, they could unleash wondrous effects.
The bottle of "Spiritual Condensation Liquid" was originally a precious material for forging artifacts. As long as he tossed it into the river, not only would it destroy the Moon Devil's daemon qi, but it would also condense the water spiritual qi in the region. If the Moon Devil wanted to refine this region of water again, it would be extremely troublesome, but he would not be in any danger at all.
He would be doing a great service to the Marquis of Ruyi. He would be able to reap great benefits with a small investment.
Just as he was deep in thought, a skeleton suddenly appeared in front of him without making a sound.
Gou Dai shivered inside and immediately stopped moving.
"It's impossible for it to see me!" Welcome. Your support is my greatest motivation. m
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