Chapter 187: Petrified
“Nine-tailed Celestial Fox!”
The cultivators gathered at Qianmen Fort changed their expressions as they saw the colossal white fox figure appearing above the Tang Valley volcano crater.
As more and more cultivators gathered, Qianmen Fort had long been under strict martial law. The city walls were lined with Demon Suppressing Guards, ready to fight and repel any enemy at any moment, with a stance of killing anyone who dared to breach the pass.
No one wanted to force their way through Qianmen Fort, nor did they dare to confront the Demon Suppressing Guards head-on.
They couldn’t enter Tang Valley, so naturally, they couldn’t ascertain what was happening inside, yet no one chose to leave.
Firstly, the Soul Stars above Qianmen Fort had lit up. Even by just gathering near Qianmen Fort, they could nourish their Divine Souls with the Soul Power emanating from the Soul Stars.
For cultivators, the stronger their Divine Soul, the better, naturally.
Secondly, most cultivators were concerned about the situation in Tang Valley. Half a month ago, a tornado-like pillar of black Demonic Energy suddenly appeared above the Tang Valley volcano crater; this was formed by the leakage of Demonic Energy.
Everyone could guess that the demons who had infiltrated Tang Valley had destroyed the Formation Eye.
Currently, the Demonic Energy pillar showed signs of growing larger. Once the Demonic Energy could no longer be controlled, it was highly likely to overflow into the Human World through the Artifact Saint Palace.
In response, the cultivators present were very worried, as the Human World was where they would primarily live and Cultivate in the future.
Furthermore, witnessing the progress of events firsthand at Qianmen Fort would undoubtedly be more accurate than hearing secondhand information from others later on.
Among the Demon Suppressing Army, Chu Junyi frowned as he looked at Liu Chengxiong on the city wall. As the highest Commander of the Qianmen Fort Demon Suppressing Guards, with demons having infiltrated and destroyed the Formation Eye at the center, he should have immediately gone to stop them instead of standing on the city wall, seemingly guarding Qianmen Fort but actually doing nothing.
Colonel Sheng Pengyun, seeing his solemn expression, spoke up, “General, don’t worry. Xiangguo Temple, Celestial Master’s Mansion, Sanqing Palace, and Taisu Palace have all sent people. They have definitely transmitted the news from here.”
“If the Demonic Energy truly spreads to the Human World, it will surely be controlled in time. Even if it’s not controlled promptly, it shouldn’t cause too much impact, as that Demonic Energy pillar isn’t that large, and it won’t leak much Demonic Energy.”
Chu Junyi’s frown did not ease: “Do you know why the prison that confines Fierce Beasts and demons is called the Demon Prison, and not just a demon prison?”
Sheng Pengyun and the others standing beside him truly didn’t know this, and they all shook their heads.
Chu Junyi explained, “Since the Demon Prison was established, the Fierce Beasts and Great Demons imprisoned within have all been ferocious and ruthless individuals. After being confined in the Demon Prison, their hearts were filled with Ferocity, hatred, and Killing Intent. This continued until these Fierce Beasts and Great Demons passed away, by which time these Violent Auras had grown to a terrifying extent. Even a slight exposure to these auras could incite all sorts of evil thoughts in cultivators with unstable minds, leading to them being influenced or even controlled.”
“Therefore, what emanates from the Demon Prison is not just Demonic Energy, but Demonic Aura mixed with a large amount of Violent Aura.”
“If Demonic Aura spreads into the Human World, let alone ordinary people, even the vast majority of cultivators wouldn’t be able to withstand it. Once influenced by the Violent Aura, it would absolutely cause unimaginable chaos.”
“The violent thoughts spawned by Demonic Aura cause harm that is no weaker than the evil desires nurtured by the Divine Lamp’s Black Flame.”
Upon hearing this, the Demon Suppressing Army soldiers’ expressions turned serious.
“What are the Demon Suppressing Guards of Qianmen Fort doing? How did they let demons infiltrate the center of the Formation Eye?”
“The demons should have entered from the direction of Soul Severing Mountain.”
Sheng Pengyun looked at the massive volcano crater behind Qianmen Fort and asked doubtfully, “The Nine-tailed Celestial Fox has nine tails, why do I only see eight?”
Chu Junyi’s eyes flickered: “There must be someone inside Tang Valley resisting the demons and guarding the Formation Eye.” He paused, “Most likely, it’s someone from the Artifact Saint Palace.”
Sheng Pengyun: “But the Artifact Saint Palace has been silent in the Human World, how did they suddenly appear?”
Chu Junyi: “It’s not that they’ve been silent, they just didn’t want us to notice them. They have always been there.”
Sheng Pengyun: “The Artifact Refining Workshop is being watched by the Demon Suppressing Army, the Imperial Guards, and the Eastern Depot, yet they haven’t found the Artifact Saint Palace’s location. They are indeed well-hidden.”
“If you ask me, there’s no need to be so secretive. It would be better to openly recruit cultivators like Lingguang Hall. To develop and expand the Artifact Saint Palace, it ultimately relies on people. By hiding, how many cultivators can they recruit?”
“Although the Artifact Saint Palace holds the orthodox Artifact Refining Inheritance and doesn’t fear a lack of followers, now is the very beginning of the Spiritual Energy Revival. It’s a time for snatching people and territories. If they fall behind at this stage, it will be difficult to catch up later.”
Sheng Pengyun paused, looking at Chu Junyi: “Speaking of Sacred Lands, the other three Sacred Lands don’t seem to have much activity either. General, you can figure out these things, so the Successors of the Sacred Lands should be able to as well. Seeing other forces recruiting cultivators everywhere, why are they so calm?”
Chu Junyi shook his head: “Many things depend on timing. Perhaps the time is not yet right.”
Just as everyone was worrying about the situation in Tang Valley, the colossal white fox above the Tang Valley volcano crater transformed into a beam of white light and flew directly into Tang Valley.
A moment later, the white fox transformed into a peerlessly beautiful woman in white, appearing on the Boundary Stone Platform in the center of Tang Valley.
At this moment, on the Boundary Stone Platform, a hammer emitting red light was suspended in the center. Beside the hammer, three people were engaged in a fierce battle; two of them wanted to seize the hammer, while one person was trying to stop them.
Further out from the three were eighteen humanoid stone sculptures sitting cross-legged in a circle, guarding the hammer in the middle.
One of the humanoid stone sculptures had already been more than half shattered and had fallen onto the platform.
Due to the shattering and falling of this humanoid stone sculpture, a crack was revealed in the place where it had been sitting.
At this moment, a continuous stream of churning, boiling black gas was overflowing from the crack. As the black gas dispersed into the air, it immediately formed a tornado-like vortex pillar.
In the distance from the black gas pillar, four people were engaged in a fierce battle. Three of them were the master and disciples of Baili Changfeng.
As soon as the white fox appeared, she urgently said to her three subordinates, “Don’t worry about the Divine Hammer, focus all your efforts on destroying the Formation Eye.”
There was a powerful expert stationed at the bottom of the hot spring bath, which was completely beyond her expectations.
At this moment, the white fox deeply regretted her actions. She shouldn’t have been greedy. After detecting a treasure at the bottom of the hot spring bath, she had forgotten that the purpose of infiltrating Tang Valley was to destroy the Formation Eye, and instead intended to seize that treasure.
The treasure was guarded by an expert, and her actions seemed to have awakened the expert at the bottom of the hot spring bath.
After speaking to her subordinates, the white fox directly charged towards a humanoid stone sculpture. The other three demon followers also stopped entangled with Baili Changfeng and the other four, and they all attacked the humanoid stone sculptures.
“Beast, stop!”
At the same time, at the bottom of the hot spring bath, Hua Changxi frowned as she saw the colossal fox tail falling. Recalling that the demons had infiltrated Tang Valley to destroy the Formation Eye, she put away the Shen Nong Cauldron and the fox tail, glanced at the crack connecting to the Divine Wood Space, and quickly swam upwards towards the hot spring bath.
As Hua Changxi flew out of the hot spring bath, she heard Xia Xue’s shrill cry.
“Master, no~”
Hua Changxi’s expression changed slightly. She rode the clouds towards the direction of the sound and soon saw a huge gray stone platform.
On the stone platform, a woman in white had shattered a humanoid stone sculpture, revealing a crack. Instantly, a large amount of eerie and terrifying black gas surged out from the crack.
The black gas surged out, directly forming a black tornado gas pillar that rose from the ground at a visible speed.
Upon seeing the black gas pillar, Baili Changfeng lunged forward and sat down on top of the crack. The outflow of black gas was blocked, and the black pillar slowly dissipated. However, Baili Changfeng began to petrify at a visible speed.
