Ch. 1685 - A Conspiracy, Entering The Human Sovereign Palace
“Found it,” Xu Zimo’s eyes narrowed.
He immediately sped off in pursuit of the aura.
His speed was pushed to the extreme, because he wanted to reach the Demonic Monarch before the other three did and ask the questions weighing on his mind.
Before long, Xu Zimo saw a village ahead.
The aura of the Demonic Monarch vanished within the village.
“Looks like this is the place,” Xu Zimo said softly as he walked toward it.
The village was clearly old.
At the entrance stood a stone tablet engraved with three characters, Hidden Spirit Village.
Beside the entrance was an extremely ancient willow tree.
Unfortunately, the tree seemed to have been cut clean through at the waist by some force, which was a pity.
Xu Zimo lifted his gaze toward the village.
It was deathly quiet inside, with no sign of human activity.
Just as he was about to enter, a group of people suddenly emerged from the village.
“Outsiders, stop,” an old man said coldly.
“Hidden Spirit Village does not welcome outsiders.”
The old man wore a green robe, with a group of young villagers standing behind him.
“All dead. So it really is in this village,” Xu Zimo said calmly as he looked at the village chief and the others.
“Young man, who are you saying is dead?” the old man snapped, clearly displeased.
Xu Zimo looked at him.
He casually waved his hand, and a terrifying blade aura burst forth.
In an instant, all the villagers were cut cleanly in half at the waist.
Blood splattered everywhere, but it was pitch black.
Then, horrifyingly, their bodies healed and stood back up again.
It was a chilling sight.
“Dead… so I’m already dead,” the old man laughed madly.
Spitting blood as he laughed, he lunged toward Xu Zimo.
“Get lost,” Xu Zimo said lightly.
His voice boomed like thunder, blasting everyone away.
He strode into the village.
At this point, everyone inside the village, whether women or children, had already become corpse puppets.
“Come out,” Xu Zimo said flatly.
But aside from the hoarse roars of the corpse puppets, no one responded.
“So I really have to do it myself,” Xu Zimo shook his head.
He raised a finger and unleashed the Creation-Devouring God-Finger.
A deafening force crashed down.
All the village houses collapsed.
The ground split apart, revealing a bottomless pit.
From deep within a cold underground cellar beneath the village, a figure was forced out by Xu Zimo.
This figure was wrapped in overwhelming baleful aura.
The aura was so dense it was almost solid.
The figure’s hair hung loose and wild, completely obscuring its face.
It roared as Saintly might surged forth and charged at Xu Zimo.
“A Sage Monarch. Peak of Saint Sovereign,” Xu Zimo smiled.
“No doubt about it. This is the Demonic Monarch.”
He slapped downward with one hand, smashing the figure into the ground.
The figure struggled violently, roaring in fury.
Suddenly, its hair parted, revealing its face.
It was a tiger’s face.
“A tiger demon,” Xu Zimo said.
Seeing the tiger demon charge again, Xu Zimo no longer bothered to waste time.
“A mere Sage Monarch, and you dare challenge me.”
Terrifying annihilating power erupted, suppressing the tiger demon so completely it could not move.
The annihilating force condensed into a massive, sharp blade.
It hovered in midair.
Any movement from the tiger demon, and the blade would fall and pierce it, killing it instantly.
The tiger demon did not dare move an inch.
“Human, you and I have no grudges,” the tiger demon said. “After escaping the Demon Suppression Tower, I only wanted to find a place to hide.”
Compared to the Blood Lotus Seed that had slaughtered wildly in Mist City, this tiger demon was far more restrained.
It hid beneath this village.
Turning all the villagers into corpse puppets, it was almost impossible to detect.
By all accounts, it was foolproof.
Unfortunately, it had terrible luck.
Xu Zimo tracked it down with Traceless.
No matter where it fled, escape was impossible.
“True, we have no grudges,” Xu Zimo nodded.
“I came only to ask you one question.”
“What question?” the tiger demon frowned.
“Are you planning to trick and slaughter everyone?”
……
“Benefactor, you found the tiger demon?” Carefree Monk stepped through the air and asked Xu Zimo.
Xu Zimo nodded, then shook his head.
“I encountered it here, but it escaped. Everyone in this village has become corpse puppets. That Demonic Monarch is at least peak Saint Sovereign.”
“What a pity,” Carefree Monk frowned slightly.
Zhang Meng and Wang Buyu soon arrived as well.
“Zhang Meng, track it again,” Carefree Monk said.
Zhang Meng nodded.
Azure spirit energy coiled and surged in his palm.
But this time, after swirling briefly, the energy vanished.
Zhang Meng froze.
“The aura is gone.”
“How could that be?” Carefree Monk asked urgently.
“There’s someone more skilled than me at tracking who helped conceal its aura,” Zhang Meng replied. “Or perhaps the Demonic Monarch itself knows how to hide its presence.”
“You mean we can’t track it anymore?” Carefree Monk asked.
Zhang Meng nodded helplessly.
“Damn it,” Carefree Monk’s expression darkened.
Finally, he said, “We don’t have time anymore. The demon lord just sent word. The Human Sovereign Palace is about to open. The Jade Maiden Palace and the Ghost Moon Ancient Sect have both arrived.”
“Then let’s hurry back,” Wang Buyu said.
The four of them took to the air once more, heading toward the Human Sovereign Palace.
……
At this moment, the area around the Human Sovereign Palace was already packed.
At least several hundred people had gathered.
Some belonged to the five major powers, some to first-rate sects, and even more were independent cultivators.
They completely surrounded the Human Sovereign Palace, making the area extremely noisy.
When Xu Zimo and the others arrived, the crowd was discussing how to enter the palace.
“Everyone,” a middle-aged man stepped forward and shouted, “the five major powers will take the lead this time. We ask that everyone maintain order and refrain from fighting and killing at will.”
This man was Xiao Qianshan of the Heart Sword Ancient Sect.
Someone sneered and said, “Elder Xiao, inheritances depend on strength. If there’s no fighting, how do we seize the inheritance?”
“That’s right. Whoever is strongest deserves the inheritance,” people in the crowd began to shout.
Hearing this, Xiao Qianshan snorted heavily.
More than a dozen of the instigators instantly turned pale.
They looked as if they had suffered a heavy blow and spat out mouthfuls of blood.
“Xiao Qianshan’s Heart Sword has already reached the realm of killing without form,” someone said in shock.
The Heart Sword Ancient Sect’s cultivation methods were inherently unusual.
Their attacks were invisible.
Everything existed only within the heart sword.
“Listen to me,” Xiao Qianshan said solemnly.
“If this were another inheritance, mutual slaughter would be fine. But this is the inheritance of the Human Sovereign. The kind of person the Human Sovereign was, I believe everyone here understands. The Human Sovereign’s inheritance seeks those with affinity. Killing and fighting for it is useless. Today, the five major powers are presiding here. Anyone who wishes to challenge our authority is welcome to try.”
After these words, no one dared speak further.
The five major powers ruled over everything, after all.
“Enter.”
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