Donghuang Ziji

Chapter 960 First Trial of the Central Plains

"I was indeed influenced, and then, under the changes and guidance of the Heavenly Demon, I moved towards nothingness. In the end, I had no choice but to enter nothingness myself and create something from nothingness to prove myself."

"As for Junmo's situation, I cannot be sure. I can only say that there must have been a reason for him to turn to the demonic path back then. Even his current Jie Zhou legal principles and Dao fruits can be seen as his resistance and summary of this situation."

After speaking, the Blood Demon Lord also gave his understanding of the Demon Lord: "The nature of his Dao Fruit is domination, control, and fierceness. It is the ultimate truth of all kinds of power. When applied to all sentient beings, it is called the power of awe. This Dao Fruit can be called the origin of all laws and regulations. It can use one's own power to distort the power of others and make them work for oneself. However, its principles are flawed, it lacks harmony, and it cannot be perfect."

Upon hearing this, Chu Tai remained silent for a while. The first half of the Blood Demon Dao Lord's summary was not much different from his previous summaries of the Monarch Demon Dao Fruit.

Like Chu Tai, the other party believed that the essence of the Dao Fruit of the Lord of the Demonic Path was absolute violence, a crystallization of highly condensed order under the rule of violence.

It is a mechanized supply order that abandons all humanity, morality, and ethics.

It is the ultimate embodiment of the dark nature of humanity, including enslavement, exploitation, tyranny, plunder, and oppression.

Chu Tai was somewhat confused about the latter half of the Blood Demon Lord's story.

"Is there a flaw in the Dao Fruit principles of the Demon Lord?"

Faced with Chu Tai's doubts, the Blood Demon Dao Master simply glanced at his own Dao Fruit.

“If his cultivation was not flawed, why would he go to such lengths to retrieve the remaining Holy Kingdom legacy from you? You don’t really think he’s just trying to find the truth about the demise of his past comrades, do you?”

"At our level, with a clear and pure Dao heart, he is well aware that the laws and Dao fruits of Jie and Zhou are incompatible with the Great Dao of the Holy Kingdom. Even if he understands the reasons and brings the deceased back to life, it will be difficult to restore the former glory unless his Dao fruit is further advanced, combining [power] with [virtue] to achieve mutual support between virtue and power, thus creating the great world."

"And at that time, he was no longer simply on the path of the Holy King..."

The Blood Demon Lord didn't continue speaking at this point, but Chu Tai already understood what he meant and added in a low voice.

"When you reach that stage, you become the Heavenly Emperor. The Heavenly Emperor who rules over all phenomena, bears all chaos, controls all sentient beings, carries all good deeds and sins, establishes all rules, and controls all destinies."

"Is this the path that the Demon Lord has chosen?"

Suddenly, Chu Tai thought of another possibility.

"Did the Demon King's decision to deal with the Holy King's Path with me also have this kind of calculation? For example, to seize that false ideal country and turn it into the fruit of his [virtue] path?"

"It's very possible that, in terms of the legitimacy of the inheritance, Junmo is probably above you. Moreover, those guys once gave the cauldron to Junmo for a period of time in order to divide the power of the Celestial Cauldron. Afterwards, they dared not use it themselves, so they left it to another junior, and eventually it ended up in your hands."

When the Blood Demon Lord said this, he used a rare, somewhat sarcastic tone.

"Those people on the Holy King's Path thought they were hiding well, but they didn't understand that the Dao Fruit of the Demon King no longer belonged to the Holy Kingdom system. If the ideal country they created were to come true, it would actually be able to restrain the Dao Fruit of the Demon King. Now, such an illusory existence can only be covered by the Dao Fruit of the Demon King and become his nourishment."

"Interestingly, the collapse of this illusory ideal state is actually a great poison and restraint to the civilization system you have built. But once reality is born from it, it will be a great supplement to you, and will also have a great restraining and damaging effect on the Demon King."

Upon hearing this, Chu Tai hurriedly asked, "Is there any chance that this illusory ideal world can become reality?"

"Naturally, we construct theories, put them into practice to verify them, return to critical thinking to distinguish gains and losses, overthrow and rebuild the foundation of theories, and then start exploring in practice again... This cycle repeats itself, and even a vague ideal is not entirely without the opportunity to outline its own reality. Just like the current capital of the Central Plains, although much of it is built on false benevolence and justice, can you say that the idealists who truly went into thousands of small towns to support the construction of various parties were doing things that were meaningless?"

The Blood Demon Lord's question made Chu Tai pause for a moment before finally bowing and saying, "I have learned something; my thoughts were shallow."

Chu Taixing was completely convinced by this gesture. The Blood Demon Lord seemed to be merely pointing out the possibility that the illusory ideal country could become real, but in reality, he was also revealing to Chu Taixing a method of using his logic to turn the tables on him.

Seeing this, the Blood Demon Lord had no intention of continuing to communicate with Chu Tai.

"In the days to come, I will focus on cultivating my inner energy and wait for the opportunity to break through to the next level. I will inform you when the time is right."

"It's natural."

After responding, Chu Tai's figure transformed into specks of spiritual light and disappeared.

On Mount Tai in the east, Chu Tai himself sensed something and looked towards the direction of the Holy King's Path with a playful gaze.

Then it began to quietly accelerate its influence and erosion of the Central Plains, and increased its guidance and utilization of the power of the Holy King's Path.

Unfortunately, the Central Plains had no effective countermeasures against Chu Tai's tactics, and could only send troops to the border to demonstrate their power.

Tens of thousands of soldiers, clad in armor and wielding spears, gathered together and advanced in perfect unison, their breaths mingling as one.

Each person's blood and fighting spirit surged with each breath, emanating in wisps and strands, mingling with the surrounding aura of war and killing intent. Under the command of the military formation, this aura transformed into an intensely dense and irresistible killing intent, condensing and purifying above the formation to form a ferocious, coiling blood python.

The blood python raised its head, its eyes reflecting the illusory image of the general commanding the army. Its aura locked firmly on the Taiyi Immortal Sect, which was suppressing the border and drawing upon the power of the Holy King's Great Dao. With a wave of its hand...
With a silent roar, thousands of soldiers simultaneously brandished their weapons, and the turbid baleful energy instantly transformed into countless invisible blades that slashed down, attempting to sever the immortal sect's destiny.

"The method of gathering the masses in the human way involves tens of thousands of strong soldiers, gathering their fighting spirit, condensing their blood energy, and mixing their evil energy, all gathered together by the thought of all living beings. Even a fourth-rank celestial being would avoid its sharp edge. Unfortunately, our way also has the inheritance of a sage king, and we can also use this method of gathering the masses."

The head of the Taiyi Immortal Melody lineage, Daoist Jixue, held a golden bell and stood in the void with her eight disciples. Hundreds of Immortal Melody disciples around them held musical instruments and played wonderful music.

Meanwhile, in a town below, tens of thousands of musicians played music simultaneously.

Daoist Jixue gently shook the golden bell in her hand, and visible ripples spread from her palm, bringing together the wonderful sounds of the other disciples and musicians.

From a distance, it looked as if tens of thousands of delicate, exquisite, and ever-flowing sound waves were intertwined, creating a harmonious and perfect celestial melody that echoed in the void, blocking the path of the blood python.

Any attempt by the opponent to erode or break through will cause a continuous sonic effect, dissolving the bloodthirsty energy layer by layer.

As time passed, the music inevitably incorporated some sounds of battle and warfare, tinging the barrier of countless sound waves in the void with a thin layer of red. But this change did not make the music dark or shattered; on the contrary, as Daoist Jixue continued to shake the golden bell, it became more profound and resonant.

Just as the generals of the Central Plains army sensed something was wrong, a sword rang out, precisely piercing the key point in the operation of the military formation.

Jixue Daoist's eyes lit up, and he raised the golden bell high in his hand, giving it a sudden jolt.

In an instant, the blood python writhed violently, and fine cracks appeared on its raised head. Then, like a piece of porcelain falling to the ground, it shattered into countless fragments.

In the army formation, a small number of soldiers felt as if a hammer had struck their chests, causing their blood and qi to circulate in disorder. With muffled groans, some soldiers staggered, their faces turning pale, and a clear crack appeared in the once unified discipline of the army.

This action naturally caused the general to suffer a backlash, but he immediately suppressed his surging blood and qi, and drove the solidified evil energy into a torrent of turbid water that rushed towards the Immortal Rhyme Sect.

Master Jixue sighed, turned the golden bell in his hand, and the sound waves spread outward, quickly decomposing, cleansing, and purifying the falling dark red fragments.

A cold sword light leaped out from the void, gliding in an arc before severing the commander's head and further shattering the discipline of the military formation.

The sword light turned again, aiming straight for the deputy general, but the military flag standing in the void shook, the scattered baleful aura gathered together, and a large hand, black iron in color and flowing with blood-red baleful aura, reached out, trying to grasp the sword light in its palm.

"They want to bully the weak without even asking if I agree."

The next instant, a blazing golden light tore through the void, transforming into an equally enormous hand constructed of golden flames. It descended, arriving first despite being behind, and precisely blocked the hand of malevolent energy. The moment the two collided, they immediately stirred up a great deal of primordial energy.

The sword light sensed this, turned in mid-air, killed the deputy general, and then slashed fiercely at the military flag. The flag's baleful aura surged violently, and the giant hand disintegrated in an instant. Golden light fell and burned it.

Jian Guang returned to the front of Xianyun Gate and stepped forward with Daoist Jixue. He bowed to Jin Guang and said, "Jixue of Xianyun Gate, the ancient merchant of Yulou Pavilion, thanks Dongjun for his help."

The golden light subsided, and the flames gathered, transforming into a phantom figure that raised its hand to the two and said, "The three of us meeting today can be considered as old friends reuniting, so there's no need for such formalities."

As he spoke, the yang energy spread outwards, repairing the problems caused by the previous erosion from the blood energy.

Meanwhile, the previously hostile soldiers were also captured by Chu Tai's incarnation of Dongjun and sent to towns under the Xianyun Sect as residents and laborers.

Gu Shang and Ji Xue dared not be negligent. Although they knew that the Dong Jun in front of them was the incarnation of the former leader of the Taiyi Jinhua lineage, Chu Tai was now a first-rank great power who had inherited the lineage of Taiyi Zhenjun. He was the de facto leader of the Taiyi lineage and one of the sources of many lineages.

To say nothing of the distant past, just consider that Jade Pavilion and Immortal Rhyme Sect received new inheritances from Chu Tai. With the help of the Dao Fruit Fragment System, they were able to quickly rebuild their sects and become first-class cultivators who held great power in their respective regions.

Having personally experienced the changes brought about by Chu Tai and the immense power he displayed, these two seniors who had survived the tribulations of the Taiyi Immortal Sect dared not be disrespectful to Chu Tai.

Although Chu Tai couldn't see what the two were thinking, he could guess a thing or two.

To this, Dongjun could only sigh, exchange a few simple pleasantries, and then vanish in a streak of light.

The two old friends who stayed behind started chatting.

"Judging from the situation, it'll be soon for this Dongjun to reach the second rank."

Gu Shang sighed, while Ji Xue said with some displeasure, "Fellow Daoist Gu Shang, when addressing His Highness Dongjun, please add the words 'Your Highness'."

"Alright, I know that after you inherited the wonderful techniques of the Jade Maiden of Yaochi, you also regard Dongjun as one of your ancestors. But he is, after all, just an incarnation of Fellow Daoist Chu Tai. There are no outsiders here now, so why bother with such petty concerns?"

The old merchant waved his hand, then said with some emotion, "Speaking of which, is it really okay for us to be so distant?"

"What can we do? His Majesty Taiyi's cultivation progresses too fast. Even though I have the advantage of the Taiyi Immortal Sect's prosperous fortune and the wonderful system of Dao Fruits he taught me, I am still struggling at the fourth rank and silently exploring the path to the third rank. I am not even at the third rank, so how can I call him a fellow Daoist?"

At this point, Ji Xue glanced at Gu Shang and said, "Even if His Majesty Taiyi doesn't care, how will outsiders view Him? And how will they view our Taiyi Immortal Sect? You should change your temper."

"I feel that you have not only inherited the methods of the Jade Maiden of Yaochi, but also its order and laws. We are cultivating the immortal path, so it is not a good thing to have such a clear hierarchy."

Gu Shang's rebuttal made Ji Xue even more displeased, but soon she heard a faint bell sound and immediately realized something was wrong. After thanking Gu Shang, she began to cultivate in seclusion.

At the same time, Chu Tai, atop Mount Tai, silently extracted a wisp of demonic energy from the Eastern Emperor Bell.

"Is this a scheme by the Heavenly Demon?"

As he spoke, Chu Tai drew out wisps of demonic energy from the Eastern Emperor Bell. These demonic energies contained many extreme emotions, but upon closer inspection, the core elements were probably change, chaos, and separation. Some of them contained all three, while others contained only one or two.

But regardless of which wisp of demonic energy it is, one of the three Dao fruits must exist.

And since this demonic energy was extracted from the bodies of many immortal cultivators guarding the borders of the Central Plains, Chu Tai couldn't help but suspect that the Heavenly Demon might be behind it.

After all, when looking back, both Heaven and Heavenly Demon left a certain influence on the Holy King's Path.

Over the years, Chu Tai didn't believe that the Heavenly Demon hadn't had any effect on them at all.

If it weren't for his respect and trust for the Holy Kings who pioneered the Holy King Path in the past, Chu Tai would suspect that the Heavenly Demon might be using overt cooperation or overt submission to secretly hollow out the entire Holy King Path.

As soon as this thought arose, Chu Tai raised his guard several notches. While gathering the demonic energy, he silently calculated the changes in the heavenly energy and pondered where to go next.

Similar to Chu Tai is Jun Mo, whose reaction to the power of the Heavenly Demon was much more extreme.

(End of this chapter)