While the fight was still raging inside the Demon Palace within the Palace of Supreme Wisdom, the Wubei Sect was not in any less of an uproar.
All the chief elders, both from the outer and inner sect, had cornered Luoming Tian. They had completely surrounded the disciplinary pavilion. Although he turned out to be a 9th-grade Spirit Warrior, even he would have a hard time fighting all the chief elders at once. Four or five of them, if they had good teamwork, would probably be enough to cause him a major problem. Of course, they wouldn't be able to kill him. But now, there were almost twenty of them facing him. Besides, among them was Xiao Xuefeng. Not only had she spiritual senses even he was envious of, but she also possessed the Seal of Authority. She could not use it with as much expertise as Sect Leader Xuan, but as an alchemist she was talented enough to make it extremely dangerous.
If one 9th-grade Spirit Warrior had been sufficient to destroy the Wubei Sect, Luoming Tian would not have had to go to such lengths.
He had been forced to reveal himself earlier because his friend had found him out. Right now, Luoming Tian could still feel that Chief Elder Qinghe was trying to save the life Chief Elder Suxian was stubbornly holding onto. But Luoming Tian let none of that appear on his face. He had the same carefree appearance as ever, assuming the role of an aloof artist who wasn't bothered by the mundane world.
"Traitor Luoming, you've not only tried to kill your own friend, you also turned your back on your own sect, on your own kingdom, and on your own kind! Surrender and cease this abomination!"
"Miss Xiao, I am afraid that we are well past that."
After being chased all the way to the disciplinary pavilion, Luoming Tian had received some sort of blood needle from the Palace of Supreme Wisdom. Even Xiao Xuefeng had not been able to see through it. But as soon as he got it, he plunged it into the depths of the earth. And with his current attitude, Xiao Xuefeng was really not serene. She knew this was part of his master plan. But she simply couldn't figure out what he was after. However, he had risked revealing himself for it. Thus, she decided that capturing or killing him quickly, if possible, was the best course of action.
In fact, although she really wanted to be able to interrogate him, if she had to kill him, she would. Letting him live was way too dangerous. It was even possible that Luoming Tian was himself the Demon King. According to the information they had gathered, Luoming Tian was certainly Mo Tian. He was supposedly a different man from the Demon King. But this might have been a ruse. Indeed, no one had ever seen the Demon King and he seemed to communicate through Mo Tian. Besides, she had a hard time imagining that two demonic cultivators had reached the stage of 9th-grade Spirit Warrior.
If he really was the Demon King, killing him was the best option. But if he wasn't, he was the only way for them to get to the real Demon King. However, Xiao Xuefeng was just feeling that something was wrong. He had gone to the place where the Seal of Authority was the most powerful and he knew it since he had lead the disciplinary pavilion himself. There had to be a reason!
Anyway, she immediately activated the Seal of Authority to the maximum of her ability. In the sky, a giant character appeared, 'Execution'.
"Surrender or die! Choose!"
Luoming Tian only chuckled. All the chief elders were looking at him with rage, scorn and even hatred in their eyes. If Luoming Tian's cultivation had been beneath early Spirit Warrior, their mere gazes would have killed him. And besides their gazes, they had also all spread their spiritual senses.
All around the disciplinary pavilion, elders were organizing instructors. They had made sure to evacuate everyone. Among them were Elder Tian from the library and the armory, Elder Tang whom Cao Yun and his friends were familiar with, as well as many others. All the instructors were also helping out. More than during the stampede, the Wubei Sect was in a state of siege. But this time the safe place was outside of the sect. This was the worst crisis they had ever lived through, for no one had ever attacked the sect from within.
Some people were sincerely doubting Sect Leader Xuan right now. Maybe the rumors were true and he had grown weak and senile. But in the sky, Xiao Xuefeng was imposing her presence. With the 'Execution' character high in the sky, she had brought some peace to the disciples. With a bit more calm, the instructors and elders were able to get them to safety with more ease.
"Miss Xiao, do you really think I can't do anything against you all? Do you really think this piece of rock will save you?" He then turned toward the other chief elders. "Brothers, Sisters, listen to me. Do not throw your life away. Look at me, in less than a century I've been able to cross the final two grades of the Spirit Warrior realm. Soon, I will be the first man to become a Sage since the Forsaken Dao Era. If you follow me, as some of you already do, you will be the forefront of an all-new era where mankind doesn't have to cower in front of neither demons nor beasts."
His words shook the assembly, but not because of his offer, because he implied that some of them were already traitors.
"Don't listen to those treacherous words. He's just stalling and sowing discord among us. If you refuse to listen to reason, die!"
On the building of the disciplinary pavilion, all the characters engraved by Ancestor Wu started to shine. Just like when she had admonished former Chief Elder Bian, the rules of the Wubei Sect were used as a weapon. But this time the weapon would be deadly. The very characters formed a sword in the air. Everyone could feel that this sword was beyond their ability. Each one of them would have been killed by it with a single swing. Worse than that, they would have no way to evade such a blade. Only a Sage would have had a chance against such a weapon. And even then, they were not completely sure of his survival.
Xiao Xuefeng did not hesitate at all. Feeling that the man in front of her was too dangerous to be kept alive, she activated the Seal of Authority. The 'Execution' character completed the death blade. And it fell. In an instant, it was at Luoming Tian's throat. However, at the moment of impact, the blade went right through him. Even Xiao Xuefeng was shocked. She should have been able to see through any illusion.
No, this wasn't an illusion at all...
"I've taken a lot of time rebuilding this disciplinary pavilion and I was even helped by my dear friend Suxian Zheng."
"Don't you dare utter his name, vermin!"
Chief Elder Baishen's blood was still hot. She could not wait to rip Luoming apart limb by limb. Because Xiao Xuefeng could not kill him right away, she was happy to oblige. But despite her rage, she was still following orders. She knew that an unruly mob would not achieve anything. Although she had to admit that she wasn't as smart as some other chief elders and too hot-headed, she was not stupid.
Xiao Xuefeng and a few others had seen through Luoming Tian. He was in an array formation that was altering space. Although he was right in front of them, he was in a different space and could not be affected by their space. This array formation was very useful. But now that they had seen through it, it would quickly collapse in front of the Seal of Authority.
"Miss Xiao, you claimed that I was sowing discord, but I'm not. I already sowed. Now, I'm just reaping."
The moment he said that, several array formations got activated all around the Wubei Sect. As the chief elder in charge of the disciplinary pavilion, Luoming Tian had simplified the paperwork. But this had given him way more power. He had seen absolutely every document and using the restructuring of his pavilion, he had changed many things. In the chaos caused by Chief Elder Bian's departure, he had even begun many projects. The stampede had also been a good opportunity for him to implement new array formations. Chief Elder Suxian had even helped him for most of them.
And now Xiao Xuefeng realized that she could not control them. But that also meant something else. Alone, Luoming Tian would have not been able to do all of that. He had to have had many helpers, and not just in the disciplinary pavilion.
As she was thinking that, the noises of battle started to echo everywhere. Flames ascended all the way to the residence of the first-years. Finally, Luoming Tian showed his hand. Some elders took to the air as they were chased by other elders. A fratricide war was happening across the entire Wubei Sect. Right now, it seemed as though the demonic cultivators had infiltrated everything. In truth, it was probably not that widespread. But they had all stayed within the sect while the orthodox students were away on missions for most of them.
Despite the distraction, Xiao Xuefeng had not lost sight of her true target, Luoming Tian's head. The second time the blade fell toward him, the array formation exploded. The disciplinary pavilion itself shook. All the way to the foot of the mountain, a small tremor could be felt.
"Die!"
"Not today. Rise!"
Before the blade could strike down Luoming Tian, something beyond imagination happened. The entire disciplinary pavilion exploded. Thousands of pieces of rock flew in all directions like small meteors, destroying even more buildings and killing some disciples and some instructors. Even a few elders who were flying around got hurt. This wasn't what horrified the chief elders though. What completely froze their blood was what had come out of the pavilion.
Beneath the disciplinary pavilion, there was the Devil's Jail. According to the legend, it had been there way before the Wubei Sect itself. In fact, it was similar to the Palace of Supreme Wisdom. But many historians thought that it had been built, or at least rebuilt by the demons. They had been unable to deeply alter the Palace of Supreme Wisdom but they had taken over several other buildings, the Devil's Jail was one of them. According to the same legend, it had imprisoned powerful demons in the past. In fact, the ninth level could even hold 9th-grade Spirit Warriors.
What many ignored was that there were more than nine levels. Even Luoming Tian had ignored that fact until he had found the secret library of Demon God Da Mo. In it, he had found everything that had served him for this century-old plan, like the 'Blood Runes' method. He had altered everything to help him and serve his purpose. But the crux of his plan was the thing lying beneath the ninth level of the Devil's Jail.
After Emperor Nuwa had killed Demon God Da Mo, his followers had not surrendered right away. And some of them had even prepared a plan to bring back their Demon God. Da Mo had reached the stage of Reborn Demon, which was similar to the stage above Sage and below Immortal for humans. None of the followers were certain whether Emperor Nuwa had completely killed him body and soul. But they had been able to retrieve some blood from his body. In theory, only an Immortal Demon could be revived through a single drop of blood, but they tried anyway.
Emperor Nuwa had burned the body of Demon God Da Mo to a crisp and had even scattered his ashes into the void. But they realized that they could use the Devil's Jail to rebuild his body. They waited centuries, or even millenniums. Some of them were even captured on purpose to be sent in the lowest levels of the Devil's Jail. There, they planted the blood of Demon God Da Mo as a seed. Since then, it had absorbed the life energy of every prisoner. And slowly, it had begun to rebuild Demon God Da Mo's body.
This wasn't all! This body would have no soul and no mind. But thankfully, Demon God Da Mo had been smart. In life, he had put a drop of his blood essence inside the Palace of Supreme Wisdom, guarded by the Palace Spirit he had created himself. After his death, the spirit should have felt that he had indeed died but he was unable to see what was going on outside. With this drop of blood essence though, there was a tiny hope that Demon God Da Mo could be revived.
After careful analysis, Luoming Tian concluded that they had been deluded. Demon God Da Mo could never be revived in such a way simply because he had not reached the level of Immortal Demon. He was simply unable to preserve his soul and mind in his own blood. However, if Luoming Tian played it right, he could take over the new body. And he could in fact do so much more than that.
Thus, he had prepared everything so that he could awaken Demon God Da Mo's body. After becoming the chief elder of the disciplinary pavilion, he had confirmed that the body was mostly complete. And most importantly, it currently had the strength of a middle to late Exalted Demon, the equivalent of a Sage for humans. With this body under his control, in addition to his own strength, no one on the Piaolu planet could oppose him.
The culmination of a century of planning was right in front of his eyes. From the ground below, an arm as large as a tower had emerged. It had broken through all of the nine levels of the Devil's Jail and had even reduced the disciplinary pavilion created by Ancestor Wu to dust. No one could stop him now.
The arm was bulging and was the color of blood. As soon as it appeared, it grabbed the blade made of Ancestor Wu's calligraphy and of the 'Execution' character from the Seal of Authority. With a single movement, its hand completely crushed it.