Realms In The Firmament

Chapter 1444: Time for the Decisive Battle

Chapter 1444: Time for the Decisive Battle

Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations

Xue Danru’s white clothes were stained with blood. The clothes were almost all in red color now. She looked at the messy battle with a complicated expression on the face, and then subconsciously made a sigh.

Xuan Bing, Jun Yinglian, Yue Shuang, and Yue Han were out to the battlefield to check the West Hall people’s bodies. They all seemed to be solemn and quiet.

“Most of the enemies have become dried corpses... It is a sign of the demonic souls being drained out. However, some of them look normal. I guess these are out of the effective area...”

Xuan Bing said, “What is the strangest about this is that... We are fighting in the West Hall, where the Demon Soul Dao is located. Now the West Hall people are all dead, so I don’t understand. None of anybody from the Demon Soul Dao showed up to help them. Why? It just doesn’t make sense. This is abnormal!”

Ye Xiao was about to say something after that, but then he sensed something, so he abruptly looked up and watched the sky.

A cloud of weird dark fog was leaving the sky fast.

“Stop!”

Ye Xiao raised up his head and shouted to the sky, said, “Zong Yuankai! Stop right there!”

That floating cloud of dark fog stopped after Ye Xiao shouted. It started to twist and then became a human shape of dense fog, flying up and down in the air. A voice sounded, and said, “Ye Xiao, keep going forward for three hundred miles more. That is the place where the battle between my Demon Soul Dao and your union of all sects in the Qing-Yun Realm is located!

“Listen! If you don’t want the Qing-Yun Realm to become the world of demons, try to come and stop me!”

After saying out the last few words, Zong Yuankai, who appeared as a human shape of dark fog, flew away immediately without hesitation.

“Zong Yuankai!” Ye Xiao stared at the dark fog and said, “You built the West Hall by yourself! Now it is destroyed! Your son, your grandson, everybody in your family died in this battle! Are you really cold-blooded like this?”

It was truly the most curious fact that Ye Xiao couldn’t understand.

According to what was happening at the moment, the Honor Demon, Zong Yuankai, had been watching the battle since the beginning. He might have arrived before the battle actually got started.

[Why didn’t he get down and do something?]

[Did he just watch his son die in the battle like nothing happened?]

[Is this... Is this something a father does?]

The dark fog moved fast away, and what was left behind was only a few words. It was the demon’s deep, cold, and murmuring voice.

“You and he have the same question, and you will get the same answer... It is... It is just a piece of demonic soul. Nothing more, nothing less.”

Hearing what he said in the end, everybody felt chilled in the heart.

[The same answer?]

[Just a piece of demonic soul.]

[I can understand why you are so ruthless to your enemies. But how could you... How could you be so cruel to your own son?]

Everybody suddenly fell into silence.

They thought that every living thing had feelings, so even demons had feelings too. However, it turned out the demons were unbelievably cold-blooded. If the demon could treat his own son like that, he would show no mercy to anybody else. If the world truly fell into the demonic force, life in the world would definitely suffer. While they were bemoaning the tragedy, they also became more determined to destroy the demonic force!

Xuan Bing had quietly moved to Ye Xiao’s side. She was frowning.

Wenren Chuchu hesitated for a while but eventually walked to Ye Xiao, and then whispered, “That... That Divine Yin Yang Fruit... It helps a cultivator to get to the top of the cultivation level but also plants the seed of demonic energy in the cultivator’s body... As the seed of the demonic energy grows, and eventually demonizes the cultivator, will the cultivator totally lose the feelings of a human being?

“If not, how come the two world’s most powerful cultivators in two generations, Zong Yuankai and Wu Fa, both became demonic creatures like this... They have totally lost their humanity...”

Wenren Chuchu asked in a low voice.

Ye Xiao was suddenly shaken up. He said loudly, “I see!”

That was the only reasonable explanation for Zong Yuankai and Wu Fa turning lunatic. There were no other reasons.

If they had at least one tiny bit of human feelings, they wouldn’t be so ruthless!

Ye Xiao had been thinking a lot, trying to figure out the reason why Zong Yuankai and Wu Fa would become so inhuman. Unexpectedly, Wenren Chuchu’s words enlightened him, and revealed all the secrets!

In fact, Erhuo had told Ye Xiao more than once that the Divine Yin Yang Fruit could not only boost one’s cultivation power but also cause harm to the people who ate it. However, the fruits that Ye Xiao and his people ate were reformed by Erhuo, which meant those fruits were harmless. The darkest shadow was right under the feet when the light was over the head. Ye Xiao couldn’t think of the fruits just because it was too easy to think of.

The fruit from the Demon’s Realm did improve one’s cultivation, but it also planted the seed of evilness in the body, which would start growing day by day. Eventually, what was planted inside the body would make the person a complete demonic creature. When the person became a total demonic creature, he or she would start to keep trying to build the demonic altars. The demonic creature would devote his or her life in turning the world into a demonic world, and an affiliated world to the Demon’s Realm!

It was a long time from planting the seed by giving the fruits to the people in the targeted world to the day the infected people starting to contribute everything to conquer the world, but it cost the demons just a few fruits. Besides, they could get the fruits back!

Perhaps, the demons used the fruits as baits not only to collect the souls from the people, but also to plant the demonic seeds in the targeted world. After all, tens of thousands of years didn’t seem to be a long time for a powerful realm like the Demon’s Realm!

Ye Xiao was enlightened by Wenren Chuchu, and he finally thought through everything. Other than that, he had thought even further and had seen some more profound questions about the future. However, thinking it through was not a victory. He still had to do something to solve the problems he was facing at the moment. As for further questions, he must not spend too time on them until the future came. He truly didn’t have the energy to deal with them at the moment!

“That thing... We ate the fruits too...” Wenren Chuchu seemed pretty worried. Her words had dragged Ye Xiao out of his thoughts and back to reality.

“The fruits you ate were reformed by an incredibly powerful man. There were no demonic seeds in the fruits. Don’t worry about it. It is your own thoughts that terrify you!” Ye Xiao tried to explain to her, and then he felt heavy in the heart all of a sudden.

[The final battle is coming soon.]

[Zong Yuankai has given up millions of his men’s lives. Every one of the outer forces of the Demon Soul Dao, all the people of them that we know, he let them die in my hands.]

[What for? Why did he do this?]

[He would never surrender. I know he wouldn’t. It was impossible that he would succumb to his conscience and try to destroy the evil organization by himself!]

[There must be something he is after. He must be planning for something.]

[Yue Changtian told me a lot about them. The most important thing I learned is the information about the altars. I guess the demonic altars are about to be completed!]

[Zong Yuankai didn’t start the final battle of the war right away. Instead, he wants the battle to take place three hundred miles away. The fight in that place must be the last step to complete his nine altars!]

[That is why he did that. That is why he said that. That is why he would choose that place as the final battle.]

[However... though I know to fight in the battle over there is want he wants, and it will help him on the altars, I have to go. I want to destroy this organization, and I want to wipe out all the demonic creatures. Even though I know it is a trap ahead of me, I will have to jump into it. As Zong Yuankai said, this is my only chance!]

[In another word, the battlefield three hundred miles away is somewhere I have to go. We can’t miss it! We can’t miss this battle!]

[This battle is the battle that decides the future of the Qing-Yun Realm!]

[No matter which side wins, it will lead to a new era in history!]

[It will be the beginning of a brand new history!]

[The world will either be a demonic world or a bright world!]

[It will be decided in this final battle!]

Ye Xiao took a deep breath. He looked pretty solemn all of a sudden, and said in a deep voice, “Guys, let’s rest here and heal. Nobody takes any reckless moves.

“Zong Yuankai told us to fight three hundred miles away. He wants us to be there. He will not attack us right here right now. If he can do this, he would have done it, but he chose to wait.

“Therefore, we don’t need to rush.

“Let’s rest well, and recover ourselves to the prime status before slaughtering demonic creatures in the great final battle!

“What is ahead of us will be the real war against the demons!”

Under Ye Xiao’s command, everybody stopped moving. They set camps and rest with patience.

The camps were three hundred miles away from the main base of the Demon Soul Dao.

Time flew and ten days passed as they stayed!

People started to feel confused about Ye Xiao’s decision.

They didn’t understand they had to keep waiting as they were already so close to the enemies! Their weapons could even stick to the enemy’s nose!

They had been fighting in high spirit, winning all the battles along the way. However, they just didn’t understand why they suddenly stopped while the final battle was right ahead of them.

Wouldn’t it be good to just kill their way through and wipe out the enemies? It would be great to end the war soon, wouldn’t it?

Many people were confused and having these thoughts.

However, Ye Xiao, Xuan Bing, and Jun Yinglian didn’t see things the same way.

They did win a lot of battles on their way to the main base of the Demon Soul Dao. In fact, over seventy percent of the victories they gained were given by the enemy, which meant they were fake. Those enemies that died weren’t that easy to kill at all. The Demon Soul Dao just abandoned them... The Demon Soul Dao let them die in the battles!

Ye Xiao had the deepest understanding about it.

When Zong Yuankai, the Honor Demon, showed up, Ye Xiao suddenly felt the strongest threat that he had ever sensed in his life. It was some extreme danger to him.

Ye Xiao always believed in his own feelings. Besides, he had sensed that Zong Yuankai must be at a higher level in cultivation than him. Otherwise, he would not have that kind of feeling.

That sternness and arrogance of Zong Yuankai made Ye Xiao realized how critical the reality was.

[There are always stronger people, as like there is always upper sky beyond the sky. I have been reaching invincibility all the way in my life, yet it doesn’t mean I truly am invincible!]

[Zong Yuankai is such a powerful man, yet he still has to sacrifice millions of his people for the plan that he has devoted so much to! He must be after something magnificent!]

[Millions of cultivators are dead. The outer forces of the Demon Soul Dao are all wiped before he is finally ready for the last battle!]

[If I am Zong Yuankai, would I start the last battle before I am one hundred percent sure I can win?]

[Impossible! I would never do such a thing!]

[He would not allow even one tiny possibility to lose! He will make sure the result is absolute!]

[He must be so confident that he can kill us all in the final battle.]

[Otherwise, he wouldn’t let the final battle begin.]

[After the fight against the people of the West Hall, we have lost quite some good people. If we go for the final battle just like this, we will definitely get defeated. We will become nutrient to the altars.]

[However... We have to fight this battle. What should I do? How do I raise the odd to win this battle?]

[If we just go for it, we won’t stand a chance.]

[Yet we can’t just give up!]

Ye Xiao had finally come to the situation where it was difficult to bot take a step forward or step back a little.

He had been asking himself the same question during the war.

[What should we do?]

[What should we really do!]

[We have to fight this battle!]

[But we will definitely lose it if we go!]

[What can we do to win the battle?]

His hair had almost all gone white because of the distressed in his heart.

After thinking again and again, it seemed there was one way he could do as he could think of.

That was why in the ten days, Ye Xiao had done a lot of crazy things—at least they looked pretty crazy to the others.

First, Ye Xiao gathered many people together, including Li Wuliang, Xue Danru, Jun Yinglian, Xuan Bing, Wenren Chuchu, Han Bingxue, the Moon Queen, Yue Shuang, Yue Han, Ning Biluo, Zhao Pingtian, and Liu Changjun.

He had thought about calling for Lei Dadi and the other two great elders, but the three old men had gone away. It seemed they didn’t want to be a part of it.

“We are in a pretty bad situation. I believe you all can see it. The Honor Demon must be quite confident, or he wouldn’t tell me to go for the final battle like that. He has given up millions of his people before, which proves his confidence at some point. Anyway, he is powerful enough to do that.

“He actually gave up such a lot of good people. I guess you all understand what it means.

“If we want to win this war, if we want to survive this war, we have to improve ourselves! We have to be much stronger!

“We won’t even draw the Honor Demon’s attention if we are just this good!

“Look, you guys are the only people among all who are most possible to reach the Golden Core Phase. Only people in the Golden Core Phase can threat the Honor Demon. We together, guys, we are the key to win this battle. The hope is on you guys. Only when we are all in the Golden Core Phase can we have the power to fight the Honor Demon in the battle.

“Here... These are some dan beads in supreme level which help to improve cultivators in cultivation. One dan bead means a hundred years cultivation... Each of you take ten dan beads... As long as your body can handle it, the efficacy will not be decreased.

“There are dan beads that heal people’s soul and provide soul energy, also at the supreme level. It will help you with cultivation.

“There are...

“And these are...

“And remember this, I have countless dan beads that I showed you just now. No matter how many you need, just come to me and ask for some. The only thing I want in return is at least five of you breaking through to reach the Golden Core Phase!

“At least five of you should make it!

“That is the only way to bring us some chance to win the war.

“Otherwise, I would say we don’t need to fight the pointless battle, and we should give up.”

When Ye Xiao was speaking, his face looked solemn and sullen.

The Moon Queen thought for a while and said, “Lord Xiao Monarch, when the Honor Demon showed up, you are the only one who spoke with him. I guess you didn’t just have some chitchat. People like us should sense a lot of things from that conversation...”

The Moon Queen didn’t speak out every word in her mind. She stopped to stare at Ye Xiao with her bright eyes. She believed Ye Xiao understood her.

Ye Xiao nodded and said, “That is true. I did sense a lot of things.”

The Moon Queen asked, “Such as?”

“Such as... I felt the restraint. I am not sure of it, though.” Ye Xiao slowly said, “There is one more that I sensed... It was the fear that rose up slowly from deep in my bones... My vibe, my soul, my mind, my energy... I am totally oppressed by him... Hmmm. Those were true feelings...”

The Moon Queen’s face turned colorless immediately.

In fact, the Moon Queen was not alone. The others all looked pale all of a sudden.

These people were all experts in cultivation, which meant they clearly knew that the feeling of Ye Xiao only indicated the fact that he was not able to defeat the Honor Demon. Ye Xiao was totally not a match to the enemy, or he wouldn’t have such an oppressed feeling.

Ye Xiao was the most powerful person among them all, and he was a lot more powerful than the others. If Ye Xiao wasn’t a match to the Honor Demon, there was nothing the others could do to help.

They all knew that in a fight of some really powerful cultivators who were in such high levels, the advantage of numbers did not help at all.

“Lord Xiao Monarch, you have already reached the Golden Core Phase, and you even improved quite a lot at that level.” The Moon Queen was clearly worried and anxious. She said, “Even you, powerful like this, are not a match to the Honor Demon... Really? Is the Honor Demon really this horrible?”

“In fact, the Honor Demon may be even more powerful than what I said. For now, he is the truly most powerful man in the world. He is invincible.”

Ye Xiao said in a deep voice, “If not, why would he make all those unbelievable decisions? How could he just let us kill all those people of his?

“He gave up those people, not only because he needs more demonic souls to feed his altars, but also because he has absolute confidence that he could control the battle by himself. He doesn’t worry at all. He believes nothing could go wrong. For us, what we need to do is to come up with something, a plan, to prove him wrong! We have to break the absolute because that is the only way to earn a chance to win the war!”

“If the Honor Demon is truly that powerful, we won’t be able to defeat him. Even if we can reach the Golden Core Phase, we can’t win.” The Moon Queen sighed and said, “Besides, it is not easy to get to the Golden Core Phase. What can we do if we are all at the Golden Core Phase?”

“Moon Queen, you do have a good point, but this is the situation we are in. If we fight him now, with our current power, we won’t survive. There is no way we can win. However, if we have a few Golden Dan Phase cultivators, there may be a small chance we can win.” Ye Xiao took a breath and said, “Now I am at the Golden Core Phase. Bing’er is at the Golden Core Phase too. Also Li Wuliang, Han Bingxue, they are at the Golden Core Phase as well. However, Han Bingxue hasn’t been stable at the phase yet. He still needs more improvement.

“Jun Yinglian is also at the Golden Core Phase. Yue Shuang and Yue Han are both at the Golden Core Phase.”

Ye Xiao looked around and then stopped at Wenren Chuchu, then he blandly said, “Lady Wenren Chuchu from the Misty Cloud Palace is reaching the Golden Core Phase too.

“About twenty of you are going to reach the Golden Core Phase!”

Ye Xiao calmly said, “As an individual, the Honor Demon is invincible indeed. However, his people are definitely weaker than us.”

“That is something I have been thinking about all the time. This may be the only possible chance we can get to defeat the Demon Soul Dao.” Ye Xiao said.

“Lord Monarch, your plan is practical and very possible to lead us to victory... However, there is one problem that we may not be able to solve... Even if we all reach the Golden Core Phase, and kill every single one of the Honor Demon’s men... However... We will have to face the Honor Demon himself in the end... When we fight against him, we will still be...” The Moon Queen said, with deep concern in her eyes.

The Moon Queen was the most experienced person among them all. She definitely understood what Ye Xiao wanted. Ye Xiao’s plan was a good plan. However, she also understood that a powerful man who was beyond the Golden Core Phase would never be afraid of fighting against a group of people at the same time.

If the Honor Demon was truly that powerful, even if the over twenty cultivators were all at the Golden Core Phase, they wouldn’t get any big chance to win the battle anyway.

Ye Xiao abruptly raised up his head and stared at the Moon Queen with a pair of profound eyes. He slowly said, “There is at least one last thing we can do! The one last strike of a cultivator!”

The last strike of a cultivator!

The Moon Queen was shocked.

[The last strike of a cultivator?]

The last strike of a cultivator was a suicidal attack—to attack the enemy with a self-explosion!

The Golden Core Phase was the highest level in the Qing-Yun Realm. No matter how powerful the Honor Demon was, he was still under the sky of the Qing-Yun Realm, which meant he was restrained by the limitation of cultivation in this world. If twenty Golden Core Phase cultivators exploded themselves to attack the Honor Demon, he might get killed!

“I need everybody to break through because I need to make sure we at least have the last strike to make.”

Ye Xiao’s eyes were sharp with determination, and he said, “If we can defeat the Honor Demon, we can clean the demonic energy in the world. We will put an end to the calamity.

“However... If we cannot...”

Ye Xiao gritted his teeth and said, “If we can’t defeat him, if we can’t win this battle, we should at least try whatever we can to kill as many of his people as we can. We should do anything we can to destroy the nine altars!

“As long as we can destroy the nine altars, even if we all die, the demon’s plan will fail. The Demon Soul Dao fails as long as we destroy those altars and kill their men... At least, we will earn tens of thousands of years for the Qing-Yun Realm before the demons rise again!”

Ye Xiao was speaking decisively and passionately.

The Moon Queen was convinced, and she was touched in the heart.

“Zong Yuankai has spent about twenty thousand years since the day he ate the Divine Yin Yang Fruit and became the legend of the Qing-Yun Realm. Now, he finally has led everything to the final step...” Ye Xiao calmly said, “If we all die, there won’t be many people in the world who can provide good demonic souls to the altars. There won’t be many high-level cultivators left in the Qing-Yun Realm...

“Ten thousand years later, there won’t be as many superior cultivators as there are now.

“As long as we can destroy the altars today, even if we die, people after us will still have a chance to save the world!

“At least the demons do not take the world in our era!”

Ye Xiao’s eyes were bright and full of heat. He said, “No matter what, we have to do our best in this fight. We must do whatever we can, fight with our lives!

“We win, we are heroes! We lose, we are martyrs!

“We surely won’t regret it if we win, but we won’t regret it if we lose!

“As long as we have done our best.”

His eyes were bright and full of fever. He said, “Guys, the only thing you should do now is to improve yourselves as much as you can and prepare for death.

“I have some dan beads that may help you improve one thousand years cultivation.”

Ye Xiao left the dan beads on the table and said, “Whoever needs one more push to break through, come and take some. Try your best to get to the next level!

“For yourselves! For the Qing-Yun Realm!”

...

Ye Xiao left and dan beads and left the tent.

In the makeshift tent, there were almost ninety people including people from all different sects in the Qing-Yun Realm and independent cultivators. These people were all close to or already at the Cage Phase. They were almost the most powerful force in the entire Qing-Yun Realm.

Twenty-five ladies from the Misty Cloud Palace, seventeen people from the Qiong-Hua Palace, nineteen people from the Ice Cloud Palace, six people from the Cold Moon Palace, eight people from the Sky Ice Palace, and brothers and sisters of Ye Xiao were all included.

It was difficult for itinerant cultivators to reach this level, so there were only three men, who weren’t Ye Xiao’s men before this war, were present in this meeting.

“In ten days, we have to improve ourselves to a level that allows us to at least fight against the Honor Demon. For the future of the Qing-Yun Realm, for the Qing-Yun Realm not turning into a demonic world, we must do our best to get stronger!”

Everybody was in high spirit, watching the dan beads on the table that Ye Xiao left behind.

Those dan beads provided one thousand years cultivator. None of these people had ever seen any, not to mention eat some. These were treasures that only existed in the legends. Xiao Monarch just brought out so many of such incredible dan beads and gave them to everybody, only because he wanted to win the war!

Everybody was touched and inspired.

...

“The Divine Yin Yang Fruit...” Jun Yinglian asked, “How many more do you have? Perhaps, we will get a bigger chance to win if you take them out for the others...”

Ye Xiao sighed and said in a deep voice, “I think you misunderstand things about the Divine Yin Yang Fruit. It does help cultivators rise to the top level of the Dao Origin Stage in cultivation, but that is it. If the cultivator is at a higher level than the Dao Origin Stage, it may help him improve a little, but it won’t push him into the Tittle Phase, the Cage Phase, or any other level beyond the Dao Origin Stage. It only helps to improve within the limit of one’s current level. Ning Biluo, Zhao Pingtian, and Liu Changjun were good examples. Their mindsets are technically more powerful than Han Bingxue’s, but they both have to work hard for some longer time to break through. Even if they ate some Divine Yin Yang Fruit, it won’t help them that much. We only have time days left. People who are too far from a breakthrough are not going to make it...

“However, those people who are only one step away to reach a higher level only need those supreme dan beads that provide one thousand years cultivation. They will eat the dan beads and try their best. If they break through, they succeed. If they can’t break through, so be it. There is nothing more we can do to help!

“We need to wait to the end of these ten days before considering giving them the Divine Yin Yang Fruit. If a man’s mindset is already much higher than his actual cultivation power, he needs the Yin Yang Fruit...” Ye Xiao bitterly smiled and said, “Well, I guess... Only seven or eight people here will eventually improve their mindset to that level.

“I wouldn’t care if giving all the Divine Yin Yang Fruit to them will help. I just need to make sure everyone counts. I need everything to be useful to us in this battle!

“For now, giving them the fruits will not help us become a stronger army. Instead, once those who have eaten the fruit and haven’t done anything useful to the battle die, their souls will provide more energy to the altars for the Demon Soul Dao. We can’t let it happen. We can’t take that risk.”

Ye Xiao’s voice was deep and sullen.

Jun Yinglian nodded and agreed with Ye Xiao.

“To be honest, I hope you can get greatly improved more than the others, because, among all these people, you are the ones I trust the most, whom I can show my back to. No matter how loyal the others seem to be, they are not my people.” Ye Xiao looked at Li Wuliang, Xuan Bing, Jun Yinglian, Han Bingxue, Yue Shuang, Yue Han, Zhao Pingtian, Ning Biluo, and Liu Changjun.

“If you are already at the Golden Core Phase, stay at your best status. It would be great to make some improvements within this level!

“If you haven’t reached the Golden Core Phase yet, seize every second in the ten days. One more person reaches the Golden Core Phase, one step closer to the victory!”

Ye Xiao looked aside, staring at the sky where the Honor Demon flew away! Three miles away, there was a demonic fire burning on the ground!

The demonic energy filled up the sky over that place!

It was where the final battle took place...

Win or lose, they would become the undying legend of the world!

The heavens would make the decision!

Ye Xiao was enlightened again, and he blandly smiled. He said, “There is something we have to do in our lives! Even if I don’t want to do it, even if I don’t dare to do it, fate will drive me toward it. It pushes me over and makes me do it... Destiny will force me back to the path that I am destined to step on eventually.

“It will eventually show me a fork in the road, and make me choose!”

Ye Xiao slowly walked away.

“I am here now. It is here now.

“I have chosen it. I did.

“This battle is unavoidable. I will fight!

“And I will win!”

He suddenly raised up his head, and the fever in his eyes was blasting!

At this moment, it seemed his sharp eyes could see through the clouds and even the firmament beyond the sky!

...

Ten days had passed.

The army of the union didn’t move a bit, but the Honor Demon actually didn’t feel anxious at all. He just kept waiting and waiting patiently.

Ten days was all Ye Xiao thought he could have before the final battle, and it was over.

The Moon Queen was back to her prime status after cultivating in meditation. She slowly stood up.

[I have improved myself during the ten days, but not much. I wonder how the others will do in the ten days cultivation.]

[If somebody has to die for this fight, I... I think I should step out and do it.]

[I will do it for my sect, for the Qing-Yun Realm, and for my... my family!]

...

Wenren Chuchu was awake from the meditation too. Her eyes were filled with cold and indifference like ice. However, deep inside the frost in her eyes, there was a flame of something indescribable.

[Somebody has to die in this battle.]

[I am at the Cage Phase now, but one small step away from the Golden Core Phase.]

[If we are all going to sacrifice myself, I hope that I can die before he does.]

[We are impossible to be a couple in this life, but I can at least die for him! I can at least die before him!]

...

Lei Dadi and the other two great elders all opened their eyes at the same time.

They were satisfied with all they had been through in their long lives.

There were no regrets for them.

[This is the critical time for us in this war against the demons. If the death of us, the three old useless men, can save one young man in this war, and bring a bright future for the world, we won’t hesitate to die!]

...

People all started to walk to the tent where the meeting was held.

They were all walking with determination. There was no hesitation.

Ye Xiao quietly sat inside the tent, with an expressionless face.

The cultivators kept entering the tent one by one and took a seat somewhere inside the tent. Nobody talked.

There was nothing to say at this moment after all.

It was the day for the final battle.

After a while, all the cultivators in the union of all sects in the Qing-Yun Realm who was beyond the top level of the Dao Origin Stage had gathered in the tent.

“Great!” Ye Xiao raised his head up and looked around the other’s faces one by one, and then looked at the sky outside the tent through the window. He blandly said, “It is early in the morning. Guys, take a rest. We will go in the afternoon today, and set camps outside the Demon Soul Valley. Tomorrow morning, the battle against demons starts officially.”

“Yes! Lord Monarch!”

“The outer forces of the Demon Soul Dao were all cleaned. Inside the Demon Soul Valley, there should be only the main figures of the Demon Soul Dao, who were all elites among elites... Therefore, if any of our people are under level seven of the Dao Origin Stage, they won’t join the battle tomorrow!”

When the others heard what he said, they all stayed silent for a while and then quietly nodded to agree.

These people were all great cultivators, who had more wisdom, profound vision, and more experience than normal people. They understood why Ye Xiao made that decision.

In the final battle, the enemies were all great cultivators who were much better than any regular superior cultivators. Cultivators under level seven of the Dao Origin Stage would never get a chance to do anything. Only the repercussion of any attacks from the super powerful cultivators could kill everybody under level seven immediately.

They wouldn’t be able to do any harm to the enemies, even if they killed themselves to attack. If they died, they only helped the demons to feed the altars with their souls.

They wouldn’t help, and they could make things worse!

“I am going to say one more thing.” Ye Xiao calmly said, “I am afraid that some of us have to die in the fight. It needs sacrifice. However, we should all remember one thing no matter what is happening... If our death cannot hurt the altars a bit, we should do whatever we can to stay alive.

“If we can’t do harm to the altars, even if we die with the enemies, we will provide energy to the altars.”

His eyes were sharp like lightning. Word by word, he slowly said, “You must remember this. Don’t you forget a word!”

The others all became sullen and oppressed.

[If I can’t do harm to the altars, I can’t even kill myself to attack the enemy?]

[That is quite a lot to ask... It is just difficult!]

“The main task, what we have to do first now...” Ye Xiao suddenly felt the fright rising in his heart before finishing the talking. He stopped to look at the sky outside the window.

The others all felt the oppression all of a sudden, as if the sky had turned dark and fallen down on them. They all looked out the window as well.

On the left side of the tent, some clouds were twisting with fog on the top, and then a human shape appeared. As the wind blew over, the cover cloth of the tent was flickering, and the shadow was also shaking.

That was exactly the Honor Demon!

While people were having a meeting, in which Ye Xiao was talking about his plan, the Honor Demon just showed up like that.

It was silent. He showed up from nowhere.

Nobody knew how the Honor Demon got in.

The Honor Demon was just like a human shape painting that was drawn on the cloth of the tent. It felt like he was a part of the tent.

Everybody was frightened and some of them couldn’t help to make an uproar.

The cover cloth of the tent was just some regular cloth, but the Honor Demon just showed up on it. He was just like a shadow, but with a pair of real eyes, looking upon everybody from the top of the tent. He even started to make some creepy and weird laugh.

“Well, this is good. Great job. I was worried about not being able to collect enough energy for the altars. Look how things turn out just fine. In ten days, you have all improved so much... It seems there is enough energy for the altars now. The heavens do bless the Demon Soul Dao. Hah hah hah hah hah hah...”

“Bastard!”

The Moon Queen slightly waved her hands and two glaring streams of white light shot out toward the Honor Demon on the top of the tent.

The Honor Demon just kept laughing. It seemed he did not want to get away from the attack.

The two streams of white light hit the Honor Demon and got through his chest straightly, and eventually cut the cloth with the cracking sound of wind and thunder.

Outside the tent, somebody was moaning in pain.

Apparently, her attack didn’t hurt the Honor Demon at all but hurt somebody outside the tent who was clearly her own people.

The Honor Demon’s shadow kept staying on the tent, and his laugh didn’t stop.

“This must be his shadow. This is just a vision. It won’t help to attack.” Xue Danru reminded everybody else.

“Hah hah hah...” The Honor Demon was laughing wildly and said, “Prime Master Xue, you are a wise person after all. It is true that attacking me here won’t help you. Any reckless moves now will only bring you awkwardness.”

The Moon Queen coldly smiled and said, “You are the Honor Demon, with a demon’s heart, and a demon’s soul. I admit that I do not know what a demonic creature thinks. After watching your own son die, watching everything you have been working on get destroyed, you can still laugh so loud with pleasure. To be honest, I am impressed.”

The Honor Demon said, “Wrong!”

“Wrong?” The Moon Queen looked confused.

“You are wrong! My son, and my people, they are not dead! They are in the demonic soul altars. They are now a part of the altars. They are immortal now! They live forever with the altars!” The Honor Demon horribly laughed and said, “You are all mortals. You know nothing about being a demonic soul! You have no idea how good it is to become a demonic soul!”

The Moon Queen coldly said, “That is true. I do not know what is so good to be a demonic soul. Is it meaningful for you to be immortal like that? I live in reality, and I know that you are no longer a human being anymore, because you can kill your own son and turn him into a piece of pathetic demonic soul! You are just a lunatic, frenzied demonic creature beyond redemption!”

“Zong Yuankai, you have lost every bit of your humanity!”

It might be the worst the Moon Queen could ever say to curse.

The Honor Demon heard what she said, but he didn’t feel offended at all. For him, it was a compliment. He laughed so loud and then said, “Thank you! That is flattering. It is true that I have no humanity anymore. Well, why do I need humanity? I am the Honor Demon!

“I am a demon. I live as a demon. Giving myself to the dao of demons is all I need to do in my life!”

Nobody could think of a word to say to this crazy man.

They had never seen anybody who was so proud of being inhuman in their lives until they met the Honor Demon. They truly didn’t know what to say all of a sudden.

Ye Xiao’s eyes were lighting up in sharp lights. He stared at the Honor Demon and blandly said, “Zong Yuankai, finally, you are hasty. What a surprise!”

...