The copy has 0 error tolerance, and the last words on the ground are all wrong for me.

Chapter 448 The little temple demon is so powerful

An Rong sighed and began to recall the circumstances of the poisoning that day.

With the attack on the Demon Realm imminent, as one of the three Earth Immortals of the Human Alliance, he could not remain in the fourth level of the Immortal Mansion like the Drunkard and the Scholar.

Like other elders of the Humanitarian Alliance, he had to leave after the trial ended to handle the Alliance's official duties.

Two days ago, the last of the three Earth Immortals—Peach Fairy Valley Zhihan—led the cultivators who had gone to the Demon Realm to test the Earth Demon King back to Zhenyue City.

When An Rong spoke of the three Earth Immortals leading the exploration of the Demon Realm, a look of self-reproach appeared on his face.

The Humanity Alliance's exploration of the Demon Realm was not entirely unprepared; they simply gathered their forces and charged straight in.

In the early stages of exploring the Demon Realm, the Human Alliance made ample preparations, with careful consideration given to the selection of participants and group assignments.

The leader of the Humanity Alliance, Sword Master Lü Changgeng, is skilled in swordsmanship and is the strongest fighter in the Humanity Alliance. Therefore, Lü Changgeng led the team to test the strongest of the four demon kings, the Water Demon King.

Lu Changgeng's swordsmanship was both offensive and defensive, and as the leader of the alliance, he was also cautious by nature, so he did not fall into the Water Demon King's trap.

When they encountered the Water Demon King, he led four elders of the Divine Sword Sect to form a sword formation. They fought and retreated, and only three grandmasters died at the hands of the Water Demon King.

The Fire Demon King Zhu Yinhai's innate demonic art is the manipulation of heart flames. He is proficient in illusion and mental attacks, so An Rong, who is skilled in thunder magic and has the ability to subdue inner demons, is responsible for dealing with him.

However, Zhu Yinhai's troublesome and cunning nature exceeded the Human Alliance's previous expectations. Before setting off, the Human Alliance unanimously believed that Zhu Yinhai, who left the most information in Da Xuan, was the weakest link among the four demon kings. Unexpectedly, Zhu Yinhai had been hiding his strength all along.

At first, it feigned weakness to gradually lower the guard of An Rong and other cultivators. An Rong, who lacked practical combat experience, confirmed through the mountain-suppressing beast that there were no demon ambush troops, and then pursued and killed Zhu Yinhai.

As a result, when they chased them to the depths of the demon realm, Zhu Yinhai suddenly activated the Ghost Gate he had set up in advance, killing the two grandmasters on the spot.

An Rong realized something was wrong and tried to lead the team to retreat, but it was too late. Many of the cultivators in the team were killed or injured by Zhu Yinhai, who had revealed his true strength.

If it weren't for Lü Changgeng, who had escaped the Water Demon King, coming to their aid, probably only he and the Grandmaster in An Rong's group would have been able to escape.

Even with Lü Changgeng's support, in the end, two Grandmasters, five Grandmasters, and more than ten top-tier experts who were close to Grandmasters still died at the hands of Zhu Yinhai.

The failure to explore the demon realm had a significant impact on An Rong.

Although Lü Changgeng did not blame him, many cultivators in the Demon-Slaying Army were suspicious of him, which increased An Rong's pressure.

The third team of cultivators, tasked with testing the Demon King, was led by Gu Zhihan from Taoxian Valley. Gu Zhihan was the head of the Renxin Pavilion and was skilled in medicine and wood-type magic. She was assigned to test the Earth Demon King.

Not only did none of the cultivators led by Gu Zhihan die, but they also gathered a wealth of intelligence about the area where the Earth Demon King was located, making their return a triumphant one.

The entire Humanitarian Alliance was elated and held a celebration for Gu Zhihan and others.

It was a good thing that the cultivator who had tested the Earth Demon King had returned safely, but compared to the other two, An Rong felt very ashamed, so he drank a few more cups at the celebration party.

It was at this moment that he was attacked. After the celebration ended, he wanted to return to Huaigu Village to pay his respects and take the opportunity to adjust his mindset, but the candle worms in his body flared up, attracting the pursuit of the Candle Yin Skeleton.

After hearing the whole story, Wu Chang frowned. At the celebration banquet organized by the Human Alliance, one of the three great Earth Immortals was poisoned. There were so many things to complain about that he didn't know where to begin.

With this level of vigilance, it wouldn't be surprising if one day he woke up to find that Emperor Zhaoning had his throat slit in the palace.

If it weren't for the arrival of the Celestials in the World Dungeon, the Human Alliance would have been better off surrendering than fighting the Demon Race.

After criticizing the Humanitarian Alliance's poor protection, he turned his attention back to the incident itself.

Peach Fairy's victory celebration banquet was attended by almost all the cultivators of the Human Dao Alliance, and even many martial arts figures who admired the Human Dao Alliance mingled in to join in the fun.

In such a mixed environment, it's impossible to pinpoint who poisoned the person.

No wonder when he asked An Rong about the poisoner, An Rong said there was no rush to find the culprit; given the current situation, there's no use in rushing anyway.

He spoke in the tone of the Tang Clan leader, his voice displeased: "Before and after you were poisoned, did no one in the Human Alliance notice anything?"

An Rong shook his head slightly and said:
"I myself didn't even notice, let alone others? The perpetrator acted stealthily and came prepared, so I can't blame anyone else."

Wu Chang pressed further, "What did you do that made it worthwhile for the other party to use this method to assassinate you? Do you have any suspects in mind regarding who poisoned you?"

An Rong said:

"There are three possibilities for who poisoned the city, the most likely being the demons who infiltrated Zhenyue City."

"Many high-level demons can transform into human form. Since the preparation of the Ziwei Exorcising Array began, several bizarre murders have occurred in the city. Judging from the manner of death, the victims were suspected to have been killed by demons. However, the Human Alliance has investigated for a long time without any results."

"I suspect that the perpetrators have at least some demon generals in their ranks, and that they were disguised as high-ranking members of the Humanitarian Alliance."

Wu Chang wrote down what An Rong said. If it really was a demon, things would be much simpler.

The demons may be able to infiltrate Zhenyue City, but they may not be able to escape his notice. He should wander around the city after entering; he might be able to find some clues.

An Rong's expression was somewhat evasive, as if he was unwilling to mention this conjecture. He said:

"The second possibility is that the poisoner might be a human cultivator."

"Not all human cultivators want to resist the demon race. Some cultivators have witnessed the power of the demon race and want to become demons themselves. They hope that the demon race will win and that they will immediately transform into demons once the demon energy spreads throughout the Great Xuan."

"Among the Human Alliance, there are quite a few cultivators who are not opposed to transforming into demons, especially after they appeared in the Demon Realm and witnessed the power of the Demon King, the number of these cultivators has increased even more."

"If they were to side with the demon race, it wouldn't be difficult for them to bring the candle worms into Zhenyue City on their own."

Compared to the first possibility, Wu Chang is more inclined to believe An Rong's second guess.

Demonic energy and spiritual energy share the same origin, so it is not impossible for cultivators to transform into demons. Not to mention that in the memories of the Tang Sect Master, there were cultivators who were corrupted by demonic energy and turned into half-human, half-demon monsters.

For example, in the "Peaceful Years" instance, before the spiritual energy of the world instance plane had recovered, Chi Yuan obtained the method of transforming into a demon, which could turn a person into a demon.

An Rong avoided this possibility, probably because of Chi Yuan, and also because the perpetrator might be related to the cultivator who died at the hands of Zhu Yin Hai. Taking action against him might be both a pledge of loyalty and a form of revenge.

As for bringing the candle worms into Zhenyue City, Wu Chang, as a user of the Heart Flame, believed it was indeed not a difficult task.

The candle worms, which harbor the heart flame, are extremely well-hidden during their incubation period, making it much easier for them to infiltrate Zhenyue City than for demons.

An Rong paused for a moment, then said:
"I can't be sure about the last possibility, but I've heard that some cultivators in the Human Alliance have invaded the Demon Realm, not simply to wipe it out. My existence might be an obstacle for them."

Wu Chang squinted and said:
"Can you tell me more about it?"

An Rong shook his head and said, "I don't know the specifics either. Before I went to the Demon Realm to test the Fire Demon King, Tao Xian came to me alone and told me to be very careful."

“When I asked her for details, she said she couldn’t say.”

Wu Chang couldn't help but click his tongue. The demon race hadn't even figured things out yet, and the Human Alliance was already scheming against each other. It was truly a case of a small temple with a big demon wind, and a shallow pond with many turtles.

"Can that Peach Fairy be trusted?"

An Rong nodded and said, "I believe her."

Wu Chang sized up An Rong and asked in a gossipy tone, "Who are you?"

An Rong blushed slightly and said:
"Sect Leader Tang, please don't overthink it. Miss Gu and I are just normal acquaintances. When I left Huai Mountain, Uncle Yuan asked me to take the token to one of his friends."

“Uncle Yuan’s friend is a famous doctor in Tianlan Province. Thanks to him, I recovered from my previous weakness. At that time, Miss Gu was studying medicine with that doctor, and we became acquainted over time.”

"It wasn't until later, when spiritual energy revived, that I learned that the divine doctor was actually the second elder of the Benevolent Heart Pavilion."

After hearing this, Wu Chang suddenly realized why An Rong had never used the pendant in all these years, yet he was still able to enter the upper echelons of the Humanity Alliance and knew more secrets than he, the Tang Clan leader.

It turns out that Chi Yuan helped An Rong find a truly reclusive sect. With the background of half of Renxin Pavilion, plus the luck of being the chosen one of the plane, and the abilities that An Rong was born with, it was impossible for things not to go smoothly.

Wu Chang asked, "Brother An, what are your plans regarding the poisoning?" An Rong replied, "The news of Zhu Yinhai's death won't be delayed for long. If we can't lure the murderer out to strike again in a day or two, I will tell Alliance Leader Lü everything, and he can make the decision."

Wu Chang had no opinion on this and told An Rong to handle it as he saw fit.

They waited in the immortal abode for two or three hours, and then they saw a male cultivator dressed in official robes descend from the sky on a gray eagle.

An Rong told Wu Chang through telepathy that the visitor was the Vice Minister of the Taichang Temple of the Great Xuan Dynasty. Before the spiritual energy revival, the Taichang Temple was in charge of the earth-worshiping ceremony. The officials of the Taichang Temple were the most skilled cultivators in the Great Xuan Dynasty in setting up formations, especially in the field of earth-worshiping, where they were second to none.

The Vice Minister of the Court of Imperial Sacrifices acted swiftly, connecting the Kaiyang Immortal Abode with the surrounding mountains and rivers in the time it takes for an incense stick to burn.

Originally an isolated mountain, Kaiyang Mountain's energy has somehow connected with the surrounding Beishan mountain range, forming a unified whole.

Wu Chang admitted that he was not good enough at mastering formations, but in terms of formation skills, the Vice Minister of the Court of Imperial Sacrifices had definitely reached the level of a grandmaster.

Connecting the Qi to the Kaiyang Immortal Abode took a lot of effort, but activating the array's core was quite easy.

The seven immortal mansions were built for the Ziwei Exorcising Evil Array. The Vice Minister of the Court of Imperial Sacrifices simply filled in some array runes on the first four floors of the immortal mansions, and the entire immortal mansion started moving on its own.

Once the array's core was formed, it completely occupied the five-layered trial space of the Kaiyang Immortal Mansion. Even with the permission of Wu Chang, the master of the Immortal Mansion, the cultivators were unable to enter the trial.

Seeing this, Wu Chang couldn't help but feel sorry for the players who would later enter the world instance.

If they move too slowly, the array cores within the seven immortal mansions will have already been activated by the time they enter. In that case, if they want to obtain the blessings of the immortal mansions, they will have to find wild immortal mansions, and obtaining the blessings then will not be as easy as it is now.

After activating the array's core, the Vice Minister of the Court of Imperial Sacrifices greeted An Rong and Wu Chang, then hurriedly departed on a gray eagle.

Judging from his words, he had been exploring the Immortal Abode before receiving the news to activate the Kaiyang Array Eye, and it was only at this crucial moment that he was in a hurry to leave.

Coincidentally, the immortal abode that the Vice Minister of the Court of Imperial Sacrifices was exploring was the Tianquan Immortal Abode.

Unexpectedly, he was still a competitor. If An Rong hadn't been watching over him, Wu Chang would have had to delay the Vice Minister of the Court of Imperial Sacrifices for several more hours before letting him leave.

Now that the Kaiyang Formation Eye has been activated, Wu Chang and the others should leave the Immortal Abode and return to Zhenyue City.

An Rong needs to lure the person who poisoned him before to make another move, while Wu Chang and Eileen need to go to the Humanitarian Alliance to officially join the Demon-Slaying Army.

The three returned to Zhenyue City. Before they even entered the city, they saw Lü Changgeng and a group of high-ranking members of the Dao Alliance waiting for them at the city gate.

Upon seeing Wu Chang, Lü Changgeng took the initiative to greet him warmly:

"Brother Tang and his disciples have been traveling around fighting demons, and their hard work and contributions are great. The Human Alliance and even the entire Great Xuan owe the Tang Clan a lot. The Tang Clan should be allowed to recuperate and thrive."

"But now that we are about to break through the demon realm, Chang Geng has no choice but to shamelessly ask Brother Tang to come out of seclusion. I never expected that Brother Tang would take down the most difficult immortal abode with just one move. We are truly ashamed."

When An Rong sent the message earlier, he had already told Lü Changgeng about Wu Chang obtaining the Kaiyang Immortal Mansion and the existence of immortal opportunities within it.

Wu Changzai already had a long and distinguished career in the Human Alliance. At this moment, he not only represented a major contributor to the capture of a celestial palace, but also a future Earth Immortal cultivator.

In any case, it is worthwhile for Lü Changgeng and the high-ranking members of the Human Alliance to personally welcome them.

Wu Chang waved his hand and said, "Alliance Leader Lü, you flatter me. Exorcising demons and protecting the righteous path is the duty of us cultivators."

Lu Changgeng reached out and took Wu Chang's arm, leading him into the city. He said:

"Brother Tang is being modest. Please come with me. Chang Geng has already instructed people to prepare a banquet to welcome you and wash away the dust of your journey."

As Lü Changgeng spoke, Wu Chang noticed a female cultivator with an ethereal and dignified air standing to Lü Changgeng's left. She exuded a divine aura, and judging from her cultivation level, she should be Zhihan from Peach Fairy Valley.

Gu Zhihan kept her eyes on An Rong from the beginning. Only after confirming that An Rong was unharmed did she greet Eileen and introduce her to Zhenyue City.

The birth of the fourth Earth Immortal of the Human Alliance was even more important than Gu Zhihan leading the cultivators to a safe retreat from the Demon Realm. Wu Chang and Eileen spent a grand celebration banquet surrounded by everyone.

Unlike the Tang Sect Master's memories, every cultivator he saw at the banquet had a genuine smile on their face, without the usual indifference and perfunctory attitude.

While accepting congratulations from the various cultivators, Wu Chang was also observing the Human Alliance cultivators present.

After looking around, he didn't detect any demonic aura or anything out of place on anyone.

The most likely assassin in An Rong's words turned out to be the least likely.

At the end of the banquet, Lü Changgeng, in his capacity as leader of the Humanity Alliance, officially announced Wu Chang as the fourth Earth Immortal of the Humanity Alliance.

In the Human Alliance, the status of Earth Immortals surpasses that of Elders and is second only to the Alliance Leader, making them extremely powerful.

Earth Immortals can enjoy the highest level of benefits from the Human Alliance, such as being able to exchange for the highest-level mounts, apply for a large number of pills, and freely access secret intelligence sent from various parts of the Human Alliance.

Earth Immortals possess many statuses and benefits, but the Human Alliance will not let Wu Chang take these benefits for free.

At the end of the banquet, Lü Changgeng told Wu Chang that he should go to the Demon Realm within three days before the Ziwei Exorcising Array was completed to collect the last missing information about the Wind Demon King.

Lu Changgeng also knew that Wu Changgang had just obtained the immortal opportunity but had not yet fully integrated it and condensed his divinity. Therefore, the cultivator accompanying him this time was not a grandmaster or great grandmaster, but An Rong.

Perhaps feeling it wasn't safe enough, Lü Changgeng added:
"After our last exploration of the demon realm, the demon race will definitely be on high alert. It might be inconvenient for Brother Tang and Tai Sui to act alone."

"It just so happens that there have been more Celestials coming to Da Xuan to help recently. After they complete their trials and return, Brother Tang can choose a few to go to the Demon Realm together. The Celestials' cultivation methods are different from ours, and they are more resistant to demonic energy, making them perfect for exploring the Demon Realm."

Upon hearing this, Wu Chang exclaimed in surprise, "A celestial being has appeared?"

Lu Changgeng nodded and said, "First, a Celestial Being appeared this morning. That Celestial Being was extremely powerful, with a realm similar to that of an ordinary Grandmaster. However, when I faced him, I was not confident that I could defeat him."

"In the evening, several more celestial beings appeared. Each of them was at the level of a grandmaster and had taken on a trial, which they were currently completing."

Lü Changgeng sighed:

"Those celestial beings all looked extremely young, and I couldn't sense any trace of years of cultivation on them. It's truly enviable that they could attain the Grandmaster level in just a few years with so little effort."

"If even the overseas immortal mountains are like this, what must the real immortal realm look like?"

Wu Chang responded calmly with a few words, but what he was thinking about was the celestial being that Lü Changgeng had mentioned.

Judging from the time, the players who entered the instance this time should have been 12 hours after him. The second batch of entrants should be the players whose invitation numbers were among the first ten.

Jianxing and Lengshan should be among this group.

They've come at the right time. Kaiyang Xianyuan's mission requires him to activate the twelve earthly branches.

Having received the blessing of the Kaiyang Immortal Abode, he was 100% immune to the effects of demonic energy, which made him eager to enter the demon realm and search for the secrets of the demon race. He had no time to do such dirty and tiring work.

Now that Jianxing and the others have appeared, he can use Zhenwo to outsource the reward as a hidden side quest to them.

If they don't benefit from activating the Twelve Earthly Branches, he can simply claim all the Earthly Immortal's benefits and distribute them as mission rewards to a few people. They'll definitely have to thank him then.

Wu Chang asked perfunctorily, "Alliance Leader Lü, are those celestial beings reliable? Could there be any demons infiltrating them?"

Lu Changgeng shook his head and said, "Brother Tang, rest assured, we have personally verified each Celestial Being, there will be no problem."

Seeing that Lü Changgeng was so certain, he no longer hesitated and accepted the mission to explore the demon realm.

After three rounds of wine, five flavors of food.

Wu Chang and Lü Changgeng agreed to confirm the exploration plan in detail the next day. Afterwards, he and Eileen left the banquet and went to the courtyard prepared for them by the Humanitarian Alliance.

As he was leaving, he saw Gu Zhihan talking to An Rong. The two Earth Immortals were huddled together, and he figured that the person who had poisoned them didn't have the guts to continue, so he didn't go up to disturb them.

Just as Wu Chang's main body returned to the room, his true self arrived at the final moment of exploring the Tianquan Immortal Mansion.

(End of this chapter)