Gentlemen, it's time to enter the Banner of Ten Thousand Souls.

Chapter 228 The Demons Are Joining Forces
Deep underground, in the dark tunnels, countless shadowy figures were gathering before the tower of bones.

Eleven demons at the Nascent Soul stage surrounded a ball of soul fire, bowing devoutly in worship.

But this submissiveness did not satisfy the Soulfire miniature; instead, it cursed and subjected him to another round of fiery torture.

Burning the demons to the point of writhing in agony, the little soulfire figure continued to roar, "That piece of trash Huaiyue hasn't sent back a single message in all this time. She's probably dead. I never imagined that you bunch of trash could be this useless. The mere Crimson Serpent Demon Sect, whose name is already buried in the ground, has rendered you helpless. You've wasted so many of my blood pills and so much of my effort."

The demons kneeling before the Soulfire figurine trembled, none daring to utter a single word.

But silence could not bring forgiveness. The two demons, whose bodies were half-burnt and smoking, were grabbed by the Soulfire Man and torn into pieces with a snap.

Blood and entrails splattered everywhere, landing on the other demons and creating a foul stench.

The souls of the two unfortunate souls tried to escape, but were swallowed whole by the little soulfire figure with a single bite. The souls of the two souls screamed and wailed in agony within the little soulfire figure's mouth, their cries extremely shrill.

But the little soulfire figure moved its mouth and quickly chewed the soul to dust, and the screams stopped abruptly.

In an instant, the demon was reduced to only nine people.

After devouring two of his subordinates, the Soulfire Fiend finally calmed down a bit and roared again, "You bunch of trash, do you have even a single piece of news that can make me happy? Tell me now, and I might spare your lives."

Boundless killing intent enveloped the remaining nine people. Finally, one of them raised his hand tremblingly and stammered, "Reporting to the Lord... I have heard that the five major sects are going to discuss some important matter at Rift Sky Mountain."

Upon hearing this, the little soulfire figure grabbed the person with a thought and asked, "Where did you get this information? Are you trying to piss me off by telling me now?!"

"My lord, please calm down. I just received intelligence... Tianxin Island... Some rogue cultivators from Tianxin Island have sent word that Tianxin Island is clearing reefs near Lietian Mountain, moving mountains and filling seas, as if they are setting up something, obviously to welcome guests. After inquiring, I found out that all five major sects will be sending important figures."

Rift Sky Mountain was the battlefield of the final battle between the righteous and the demonic forces. The remaining demon lords were chased to the point of having nowhere to run, and finally fought desperately against the five righteous sects at Rift Sky Mountain.

In that battle, both the righteous and demonic factions suffered countless casualties, and Zhang Qi even cleaved the sky in two with a single sword strike.

This place is extremely important to the five major sects, and is usually only used for commemoration. Now that it is undergoing large-scale construction, something big must be about to happen.

The little soulfire figure casually tossed the demon to the ground, pondered for a moment, and then said, "It's probably related to Zhang Qi. This Rift Heaven Mountain is of great significance; after the war between the righteous and demonic paths, all the righteous cultivators ascended to the Immortal Realm from here. Zhang Qi probably can't wait and is about to ascend."

This speculation is reasonable.

Everyone in the world knows that Zhang Qi is about to give up; it's either today or tomorrow, he definitely won't make it through the year.

As the number one person in the world, Zhang Qi's ascension ceremony should be more grand. As the largest sect near Lietian Mountain, it is understandable that Tianxin Island would undertake large-scale construction.

"Hmph, that old codger is finally leaving. The time for us to see the light of day again is almost here..."

He was just about to instruct his demon lords to prepare so that as soon as Zhang Qi ascended, they could immediately open the tunnel and break the seal on the Demon Lord Wujiu in Qingguan Mountain.

But before the little soulfire figure could speak, a gust of cold wind blew in and transformed into half a human figure in front of it.

The shadow only had an upper body; the lower half was a strange, tentacle-like shadow that supported a half-human figure floating in mid-air.

Upon seeing the shadow, the little soulfire figure asked in a deep voice, "Youluozi? What are you doing here?"

The voice of the Soulfire figure was no longer as irritable as before, but rather more wary. Clearly, this half-shadow was of similar status to him, and their cultivation levels were not much different.

The half-human, half-octopus phantom appeared very respectful, speaking in a charming voice to the Soulfire figure: "Your Excellency Soul Lord, please calm your anger. Youluo has only come to deliver a message. Coincidentally, Your Excellency Soul Lord and your subordinates mentioned Rift Sky Mountain, and that is exactly what Youluo wanted to say."

The little soulfire figure didn't ask what the message was, but instead asked, "Youluozi, we've always kept to ourselves. You have the legacy of the Bewitching Heart Demon Lord, and I have the lineage of the Wujiu Demon Lord. We swore an oath together that we would not kill each other before seeing the light of day again, but you've barged into my territory today without even telling me beforehand?"

The phantom of Youluozi let out a seductive laugh, as if coquettishly saying to the little soulfire figure, "What are you saying, Soul Lord? When has Youluozi ever forced his way into your territory? If you don't believe me, look closely."

The illusory face of the Soulfire figure showed a puzzled expression, but after carefully sensing it, it exclaimed in surprise, "Phantom Transmission?! You've also reached the Void Returning Realm?!"

The phantom before them was not a magical illusion, but rather a lifelike shadow that appeared before the Soulfire Man after hearing Youluozi's voice from afar.

Youluozi did not actually trespass on her territory; she simply spoke a few words to the Soulfire dwarf from an unknown distance.

The little soulfire figure suddenly realized why it hadn't sensed anything.

"Your Excellency Soul Lord, would you please hear a word from Youluo now?"

The little soulfire figure said in a deep voice, "Speak, how much do you know about Rift Sky Mountain?"

Youluozi slowly said, "The matter of Rift Heaven Mountain is indeed related to Zhang Qi's ascension, but has Your Excellency Soul Venerable considered that the five righteous sects are not idiots? They have been searching for our whereabouts for so many years, and the struggle between the righteous and demonic factions has never ceased, with no shortage of bloodshed. Do they not know what Zhang Qi's ascension represents to us? Rift Heaven Mountain must be a conspiracy by the righteous sects, designed to lure us into a trap."

The little soulfire figure asked, "Do you have any proof?"

Youluozi said, "It's a pity there isn't one; it's just a deduction based on common sense. But the others all agreed with Youluo's conjecture. If Soul Master doesn't believe it, you can be cautious and send someone to investigate first. Don't act rashly."

"You're being kind," the Soulfire figure sneered, "but your kindness doesn't seem like that of someone from the Demonic Sect."

Although they were all demons who had hidden underground a thousand years ago, the Soulfire Little Man was different from the other successors of the Demon Lord's lineage; he was excluded.

It is no exaggeration to say that Wujiu Demon Lord was the first to betray the righteous path back then, which directly led to the reversal of the situation between the righteous and the demonic paths.

The Soulfire Little Man inherited the lineage of the Demon Lord Wujiu, so he naturally has to bear this guilt.

However, the other demons were not fools either. The Soulfire Pixies were trapped underground just like them. Rather than killing each other and causing trouble for the righteous path, they decided to fight their own battles, which would at least share some of the pressure.

Over the years, Soulfire Man has rarely cooperated with the others.

Therefore, when Youluozi appeared, the Soulfire Fiend was so angry because he was afraid that Youluozi would break his original vow and bring other demons to attack.

But the fact that Youluozi came to remind him was somewhat unexpected for the Soulfire Little Man.

When did the Demonic Sect become so friendly?

Logically speaking, they should be eager to become cannon fodder and test what kind of traps the righteous path has set.

Youluozi explained, "Your Excellency Soul Lord need not worry. Times have changed, and the so-called grudges of the past were nothing more than the schemes and tricks of the five major sects. The fact that Wujiu Demon Lord was sealed for a thousand years cannot be faked. No matter what he did back then, he was probably deceived by the five major sects."

"We have been trapped underground for thousands of years, never seeing the light of day. Instead of being wary and scheming against each other, why not take this opportunity to unite? Zhang Qi will definitely leave this year. Why don't we wait patiently? If we all remain still, those who are in a hurry will be on the right path."

The little soulfire figure pondered for a moment, then said, "That makes sense, but you should know my goal. Zhang Qi's ascension is attracting worldwide attention, and I need this opportunity to break the seal on Green Coffin Mountain and rescue my master. If it's as you say, and I wait until next year, Zhang Qi will be gone, but what will happen to the Incense Burning Sect? Without the chaos brought by Zhang Qi's ascension, the Incense Burning Sect will be a monolithic entity. How can you expect me to break the seal then?"

Upon hearing this, Youluozi laughed and said, "Isn't that simple? Zhang Qi is gone, and Lu Xingzhou will be the first to bear the brunt. How could Lu Xingzhou possibly agree to our return to the world? When the great war breaks out, the Fenxiang Sect will still be too busy to take care of itself. Won't you have a chance then?"

The little soulfire figure shook its head and said, "Easy for you to say. Lu Xingzhou is not Zhang Qi. He only cares about the Incense Burning Sect. Unless we join forces to attack the Incense Burning Sect, that old tortoise Lu Xingzhou will definitely not be distracted. Even if all the other cultivators die, Lu Xingzhou won't budge. Lu Xingzhou is watching the ceremony at Rift Sky Mountain while Zhang Qi ascends. This is the best opportunity for me to break the seal."

Youluozi sighed and said helplessly, "Since Soul Venerable is determined to go his own way, I will no longer try to persuade you. But you should know that this matter is very likely a trap, so please be careful, Soul Venerable. The power we have accumulated over thousands of years is ultimately no match for the righteous path."

"That's precisely why Master's resurrection is of paramount importance." The little soulfire figure said decisively, "Who among us can take charge? Only when my grandmaster is resurrected can the demonic sect truly make a comeback. Youluozi, why don't you help me? Once we succeed, will we still have to fear the five righteous sects?"

Youluozi smiled and said, "Since the Soul Lord has invited me, Youluo can certainly lend a hand. However, I can't help for nothing, can I?"

The little soulfire figure laughed heartily upon hearing this. Talking about interests and exchanges, that's the style of the Demonic Sect. It's actually scary when they suddenly come to show concern for you.

The little soulfire figure said, "Speak, what do you want?"

Youluozi said, "I want the Soul Cleansing Flower you cultivate to have the same effects as the Incense Burning Sect's. Don't try to fool me with inferior products."

The little soulfire figure frowned and said, "What are you going to use this for? This thing is only useful for breaking through to the Nascent Soul Realm, and you've already surpassed that realm."

Youluozi laughed and said, "There's no need to ask about this Soul Master. I want ten."

The little soulfire figure roared, "Do you think this is a Blood Pill? You can just kill someone and make one? Don't you know how difficult it is to replicate the Soul Cleansing Flower of the Burning Incense Sect? I haven't cultivated that many in hundreds of years."

"Don't try to fool me, Soul Lord. I know you have more than ten of them."

The little soulfire figure turned its head to look at the little demons lying on the ground, opened its mouth and spat out a ball of soulfire, which landed on one of them.

A scream followed, and the demon slowly burned to ashes as it howled in agony.

Before he died, he cried out, "Help... Fairy Youluo, save me! You said you would protect me..."

But in the end, the shadowy figure remained unmoved, simply waiting quietly for the soulfire figure's reply.

After eliminating the traitor, Soulfire said to Youluozi, "Eight at most, if you don't want them, that's fine."

"Hehe." Youluozi chuckled softly, as if teasing the little soulfire figure's ears. After the laughter subsided, Youluozi said seriously, "Deal."

(End of this chapter)