Chang Xian Sect's disciples simply could not accept what they were seeing and hearing. How could the sect head possibly be this kind of person?
Speaking of those demons, many disciples of Chang Xian Sect had also died in the mouths of those monsters. And now they were being told that those monsters were created by the sect head and the warlock.
"Hahaha..." Sect Head Huo suddenly burst into loud laughter. His laughter shook the qi and blood of disciples with weaker cultivation who were standing near him, making them extremely uncomfortable. "What does this sect head have left to say? You want me to say whether I colluded with the demons? But now, what exactly are you guys who are mingling with the demons?"
His laughter suddenly stopped. Sect Head Huo stared at those Yuan Ying cultivators with gloomy eyes, "Ultimately in this world, it comes down to who has the strongest power and influence. When I stand at the peak of this continent, will you still dare to force me like this? Elder Demon Spider could get you righteous path cultivators to sit down and chat happily with him. What did that rely on? Wasn't it his powerful strength? Ultimately, you're afraid of him. When I, Huo Shu, gain power on the same level or even stronger, would you dare disrespect me?"
"I, Huo Shu, have merely done what you don't dare do. Without the convenience you provided, how could I, Huo Shu, accomplish what I've achieved so far? Remember this. I, Huo Shu, will definitely return one day to avenge my son!"
"Not good, be careful!"
The Yuan Ying cultivators surrounding Huo Shu felt their hearts jolt. They immediately retreated, but still felt it was somewhat too late. They saw the four Yuan Ying elders from Chang Xian Sect who had been staying by Huo Shu's side reveal looks of pain and distortion on their faces. In the next moment, their bodies exploded apart. Including Huo Shu in the middle, all their bodies exploded together.
At this moment, the few most powerful Yuan Ying experts present—Tang Xiu Shi, Alliance Chief Meng, the Silver Clan Chief, and Elder Demon Spider—also made their moves. Their figures abruptly appeared around the explosion. They swiftly set up layers of restrictions to constrain the destructive power from the explosion to the smallest area possible, avoiding excessive damage.
"What exactly did we overlook that allowed this to happen? How could Huo Shu willingly go to his death?" Tang Xiu Shi asked uncomprehendingly while resisting the explosive force.
"There is only one possibility. He arranged this scene early on for the sake of escaping. Perhaps the one who died wasn't his true self. Those Yuan Ying elders were also controlled by him," Elder Demon Spider speculated.
While they were busy setting up restrictions, Elder Demon Spider also had to consider the many demonic cultivators behind him. He didn't care about their lives, but in the situation where the righteous path occupied absolute advantage, he still had to consider preserving the demonic path's strength as much as possible. Otherwise, the demons would once again lose the space to survive that they had just fought for.
Just then, a blood-colored ray of spiritual light suddenly flew out from the center of the explosion, quickly fleeing towards the horizon. Including Elder Demon Spider who wanted to make a move, it was already too late. The speed was too fast that even a peak Yuan Ying cultivator going all out could not catch up.
Right at this moment, another figure suddenly darted out. A spirit technique prepared in his hand shot out, then that figure gracefully landed again, casually dusting off his clothes as if he hadn't done anything out of the ordinary.
Gu Yao was stunned. De Chang Ye was also stunned, because this figure was Yin Hua.
Although most of the attention was focused on the central explosion to avoid being affected, there were still quite a few gazes that noticed this scene, instantly making their location the new center of attention.
Gu Yao silently cried out that it wasn't good. Now they would be stared at. Was it still possible for them to slip away now?
He quickly transmitted his voice to ask: "Uncle, what did you just do? Did Huo Shu really die?"
These two questions were actually what everyone present wanted to figure out.
Yin Hua raised a finger and smiled slyly, "Firstly, I merely placed a tracking mark on that thing just now. No matter where that thing escapes to, Uncle Yin can still track it down."
Raising a second finger, he continued, "Secondly, Huo Shu isn't dead. The one who self destructed just now wasn't Huo Shu either, just some substitute. I don't know where he got the body from, but if I'm not mistaken, he should have used the long lost Puppet Substitute Talisman on that body. That ray of spiritual light took away the essence, blood, and vitality of those five bodies. As for what he plans to use them for, I don't need to explain further right?"
Gu Yao's mouth gaped wide open. He almost wanted to cover his uncle's mouth. Was it really okay to blurt it out so bluntly?
He felt numerous gazes projecting over. His scalp felt like it was about to explode, especially one gaze that seemed to want to strip him and his uncle completely naked. It made Gu Yao almost jump up in agitation.
He guessed that only one person's gaze could be so aggressive - it must be Elder Demon Spider. His uncle must have verbally sparred with him from afar and got remembered for it.
De Chang Ye wanted to slap his forehead. He said Elder Demon Spider was unconstrained and unpredictable, but Uncle Huang was not much better. Not to mention Uncle deliberately said those words for the Yuan Ying cultivators to hear. At least those with weaker cultivation would not have been able to hear clearly amidst such chaotic circumstances.
This trouble-seeking temperament, how was it befitting of an elder? Fortunately, Little Yao did not inherit it.
A hint of odd colors flashed across Elder Demon Spider's eyes. The corners of his mouth hooked up into an eerie arc. Tang Xiu and the Silver Clan's leader caught this expression in their eyes. They helplessly exchanged a glance with each other, clearly realizing that this self-proclaimed "Uncle Yin" was none other than Gu Yao's uncle, Yin Hua. The young cultivator beside him was naturally Gu Yao. Revealing themselves so brazenly in public, what was Yin Hua trying to do?
Most worrying was that Huo Shu was not dead. Although they had this premonition before, having it confirmed from Yin Hua's mouth still made them feel uneasy. Since Huo Shu dared to do this, he must have hidden cards. It was feared that when he appeared again, it would be even harder to deal with than now.
A miserable shriek suddenly rang out from within the crowd. Tang Xiu and the others looked back. "This is bad. That bastard Huo Shu left behind such a move before escaping. My fellow cultivators, listen to orders. Do not panic. Organize yourselves to resist the demons together. They are merely struggling before their deaths. Let us also make a move together and be wary if Huo Shu has any other backup plans."
The later words were spoken to the Silver Clan Leader Meng as well as Elder Demon Spider. Elder Demon Spider let out what seemed like a regretful hook of his lips, nodding indifferently. "Fine."
Then with a wave of his hand, his spider demon dragged Huo Ming into its mouth, crunching and chewing with snapping sounds. Huo Ming, who was still in despair after being abandoned by his father, let out miserable shrieks. But it soon stopped abruptly after a short while.
Tang Xiu and Leader Meng could not reprimand him. What could they say, to nitpick at the methods of a demon? But they still felt that the old demon did it on purpose, taking out his displeasure on Huo Ming. Was this considered avenging the son for the father's crimes?
Gu Yao did not see the scene, but he heard the crunching and chewing sounds. Goosebumps rose all over his body. This old demon was definitely not just putting on an act with those sounds. It reminded Gu Yao once more to keep as far away as possible from such people in the future.
Gu Yao tugged at his uncle's sleeve. "Uncle, let's go help too."
He also thought that this would be a chance to slip away at some point. He felt somewhat uneasy being stared at by Elder Demon Spider, and there were still quite a few gazes and divine senses lingering faintly over him. His uncle had completely exposed their identities with his earlier words. If he had known, why bother sneaking over here in disguise?
"Alright." Yin Hua flicked his finger, slapping Gu Yao's hand away. What was this image? How could his nephew be such a coward afraid of trouble? "Let's go. Keep up properly."
Indeed, just as Tang Xiu expected, the demons were only the first wave. Right when the cultivators organized themselves, including Long Xian Sect's disciples who also recovered from despair, first concentrating their efforts on dealing with the demons, a Long Xian disciple suddenly attacked disciples of other sects from behind. To everyone's surprise, such incidents occurred in succession several times. The previously orderly situation immediately fell into greater chaos.
The attacked disciples angrily counterattacked. But while counterattacking, they also attacked other innocent disciples, prompting those innocent disciples to join the fight as well. Like triggering a domino effect, with a light push, many people were swept into this chaotic mutual slaughter.
"Stop! Anyone who dares attack a fellow cultivator again will be killed without question!"
Tang Xiu flew into the air and angrily shouted. The might contained in just his voice alone caused quite a few cultivators to tremble and vomit blood on the spot. Tang Xiu then gathered spiritual energy into his palm, reaching out from midair to grab the cultivators who had been killing most fiercely earlier. He threw them to a secluded area, intending that if they wanted to kill, then go ahead and kill properly without affecting the other cultivators' efforts in slaying the demons.
Such incidents occurred several times. Although the initial chaos originated from Long Xian Sect's disciples, the following incidents actually occurred among other sects' disciples instead. Indeed, those sects had also been infiltrated by Long Xian Sect and Huo Shu. The higher-ups of those sects had their foreheads pulsing with anger. One could imagine how much trouble Huo Shu's move had left them.
The most alarming were Long Xian Sect's disciples. No one knew who among them were innocent and who were Huo Shu's planted agents. Thus, not only were they unwilling to cooperate with them when fighting the demons, they even kept their distance. The innocent Long Xian disciples wished they could just smash their heads and die fighting the demons, in order to prove their innocence.
Gu Yao was completely caught off guard by this development. He had thought that since Huo Shu doted on his son so arrogantly, he would see his son as extremely important. Yet at the critical moment, he still abandoned his son in exchange for himself. Moreover, he even left behind such a terrible mess when leaving. Just thinking of the effort it would take to weed out all the nails hidden among the cultivators gave people a headache.
While Gu Yao was distracted by his thoughts, a silhouette suddenly flashed before him, blocking his path. The next moment, a blast of sword qi exploded right in front of Gu Yao. Chi Changye's figure shielded Gu Yao.
"Elder Yan? No, Uncle Yan, what are you trying to do?"
Lou Huaijing and Ying Muqing were not too far away. Seeing this situation, they rushed over. To their surprise, this person turned out to be Yan Yuanjing. It seemed like there had been no news of him ever since reaching the Infant Transformation stage. They did not expect to see him today, and he even seemed to be targeting Gu Yao?
Facing Long Xian Sect's circumstances, Lou Huaijing and Ying Muqing both felt extremely heartbroken. They did not know how to resolve such a terrible mess. But the Elder Yan whom they deeply respected did not seem to stand on the same side as them.