Chapter 24: The Overly Dramatic Senior Brother and the Submissive Demon King
As Yi Ya struck down with his sword, the Red-Blooded Young Azure Flood Dragon, already dead, unraveled into a surge of blood energy, scattering toward the ground. In the air, standing atop his flying vessel, Yi Ya burst into wild laughter. “Ha ha ha ha! Ten years honing a single sword—now that I, Yi Ya, have emerged from seclusion, I shall become the foremost in the Qi-Gathering Realm!”
“The demon race’s tricks are nothing impressive! Broken so easily?”
“You, insect demon, what’s your name? Speak! I, Yi Ya, the Dazzling Radiant Sword Sovereign, do not kill the nameless.”
Tao Ye covered his face. Zhuo Ya’s brow was furrowed with three deep lines. Cang Yukun and Ziyu were left speechless. Lu Wu: “???”
Seeing Lu Wu remain silent, Yi Ya continued, “I suppose you’re the elite sent by the demon clan this generation. Come, let us fight!”
“Since ancient times, men have bled on the battlefield; today I will follow the example of the saints and sages, letting my blood bear witness to the vast blue heavens!”
Lu Wu: “???” What a dramatic youth…
Lu Wu sent a divine message in the nearby area: “When I alone reigned over the ages, your ancestors were still wandering those distant mountains in search of the path to cultivation.”
“So many years have passed, and you juniors dare to challenge me?”
Yi Ya was startled, but his expression soon grew calm. “It seems today is to be the day when I, Yi Ya, the Invincible Dazzling Radiant Sword Sovereign, fall.”
“If not I, who then shall descend into the abyss?”
“Come!”
Cang Yukun muttered under his breath, “Senior brother, wasn’t it Dazzling Radiant Sword Sovereign? When did it become Invincible Dazzling Radiant Sword Sovereign?”
Yi Ya replied without a change of expression, “A cultivator must possess an invincible heart. If your heart is invincible, your hand will naturally be invincible.”
Zhuo Ya pressed her hand to her forehead. “Yi Ya, he’s one of us…well, one of our insects.”
Yi Ya: “???”
Zhuo Ya pointed down to the earth. “The serpent that fell is from the Hundred Thousand Demon Mountains.”
Ziyu hurriedly added, “Senior brother, he’s my…friend, half a spirit beast, you could say.”
Yi Ya: “!!!”
Lu Wu: “Ahem, you’re a bit late.”
Yi Ya sheathed his sword. “So it’s already been resolved.”
With that, Yi Ya looked toward the far distance.
On a distant mountain peak, a bear, a flood dragon, a roc, and an ape rode out together, astride a Stag-Antlered Dragon-Eagle. This Dragon-Eagle was much more imposing than the corpse of the Young Azure Flood Dragon lying before them.
Atop the Dragon-Eagle, the roc led the way, the others trailing half a step behind.
As the Dragon-Eagle landed, the Young Roc King coughed lightly. “I didn’t expect the Grand Void Palace to be so well-prepared.”
Yi Ya’s hearty laughter echoed around them. “Ah hahahaha! We have long known that one day the Hundred Thousand Demon Mountains would employ a sea-of-demons strategy.”
“Seven years ago, the Grand Void Palace’s main mountain reduced the number of new disciples from five thousand to just one thousand. Did you really think we believed peace had arrived?”
“Our elders have been quietly establishing secret gathering points in nearby cities, recruiting disciples in secret.”
“Our army has long been assembled, awaiting the arrival of your demon sea legion.”
The Young Roc King, now in human form, looked pained. “So, in other words…”
The Bear King, also transformed, interjected anxiously, “Big brother, even if they have ten thousand at most, we have sixty thousand. Let’s just start the battle!”
The Ape King scratched his head. “I say we shouldn’t bother talking—just fight already.”
The Young Roc King spoke softly, “Brother Yi Ya, whether it’s the path of humanity or the path of demons, in the end, a path is a path.”
“The Moon-Chasing Operation is just a way for both sides to temper their disciples.”
“Why not have both sides withdraw?”
The other young demon kings rolled their eyes.
Yi Ya said, “Do you take me for a fool?”
“This time you’ve come with such force, entering through the Demon-Taming City’s gates—how many innocent mortals have died along the way?”
“Can you call for a ceasefire just like that?”
“We’re barely a hundred miles from the Grand Void Palace’s main peak.”
“We’ve come this far, and now you want peace?”
The Young Roc King cupped his hands. “Brother Yi Ya, I was always against escalating this operation.”
“If you’re willing to withdraw, I’ll apologize and accept punishment.”
Yi Ya was not pleased.
The bear, ape, and flood dragon brothers grew even more anxious.
“That won’t do, big brother!”
The Young Roc King raised a hand. “My mind is made up!”
“Brother Yi Ya, let this matter end here.”
“I’ll bear whatever consequences there may be.”
“Be it a hundred years’ suppression, fire, sun, flood, or thunder, I have no complaints.”
“I accept it all.”
Lu Wu was startled. “Isn’t this…a little too submissive?”
Yi Ya laughed. “Others may not know you, Young Roc King, but I do. What sort of scheme is this?”
“But it doesn’t matter, because this military action isn’t under my control. I only fight—I don’t negotiate.”
“Go back. Let us both rest for half a day, and at sunset, the battle will begin.”
The Young Roc King sighed. “Alas, seeing the suffering of the people grieves my heart.”
Lu Wu was deeply shaken. He hadn’t expected that even so-called demon kings could speak such words.
This Young Roc King was no fool.
If he could say such things, there must be an audience for them.
If he could say them, so could I.
Lu Wu suddenly felt that blending openly among the humans, entering the Holy Capital, was now entirely feasible!
Yi Ya, after refusing, turned to Zhuo Ya. “Junior sister, let’s return to camp and rest.”
Zhuo Ya asked, “Senior brother, are all these people on our side?”
“What’s going on here?”
Yi Ya replied, “Let’s go, I’ll explain on the way.”
Lu Wu quickly sent Ziyu a message.
Ziyu spoke up, “Senior brother, what about the spoils?”
She pointed to the Stag-Antlered Dragon-Eagle.
Yi Ya considered. “Why don’t you keep it?”
“We’ll discuss it back at camp. This Dragon-Eagle is decent—let’s take it with us.”
On the way, Yi Ya explained the origins of the army in detail.
It turned out that after the last Moon-Chasing event seven years ago, the Grand Void Palace noticed something odd about the Hundred Thousand Demon Mountains’ actions.
Previously, the Demon Mountains formed Moon-Chasing squads from those above the seventh level of Qi-Gathering.
But after the last battle, they began selecting young demons from the Foundation Establishment stage, claiming it was to standardize training and save resources.
The Grand Void Palace’s master, Li Daoyun, predicted that the next Moon-Chasing event would see the demon clan deploy a sea-of-demons strategy.
Thus, he ordered several elders to begin recruiting disciples in the more stable regions under the Grand Void Palace’s control.
Over the past seven years, many children from the border regions had entered the main peak as outer disciples.
But in the safer heartlands, the number of new disciples seemed to shrink each year.
In fact, this was only a façade.
In reality, the selection of disciples had increased year by year.
These disciples weren’t just secretly chosen to cultivate; they were also trained in ten-man squad tactics, hundred-man unit maneuvers, and thousand-man formations—preparing for this very day.
The inner and outer disciples of the Grand Void Palace relied on the sect’s task system to gain experience in the world.
But these secret gathering points had no assigned tasks, so the main peak’s disciples knew nothing of their existence.
Those who stumbled upon them were sternly warned by the sect not to spread the news.
So the secret was kept tightly sealed.
Now, after seven years, more than thirty thousand disciples had been recruited at these covert points.
From them, ten thousand outstanding disciples were selected to form this army.
At first, the Grand Void Palace sent squads to various southern border regions as a diversion.
The real plan was for all the gathering points to concentrate their disciples here.
Without this army, the demon sea strategy of the Hundred Thousand Demon Mountains could have overrun the Grand Void Palace’s territory and reached the Demon Abyss in at most ten days.
Now, with both sides making their moves, and with everyone present, it would be unreasonable not to fight.
The Grand Void Palace is surrounded on all sides by demon forces, with only the southeast and southwest offering tenuous borders with other human cultivator factions.
In such harsh circumstances, battle is the key to cultivation.
This coming war would serve as a grand training ground, and the Grand Void Palace’s strength would rise to a new level.
The same was true for the Hundred Thousand Demon Mountains.
They, too, had only the southwest and northwest flanks bordering the Flood Dragon Demon Lake and the Chaos Lands; the cardinal directions were all hemmed in by human forces.
They, too, needed war as training.
Thus, this army-level battle of cultivation was inevitable.