Our eldest brother never hides good things from us.

"But I have a question."

Chang Wen then wondered, "What exactly is inside the Demon Suppression Platform that would make a sect risk the lives of over 30,000 elite members?"

"Is it merely because of the hatred between us and the Taixu Sword Sect? It shouldn't be that."

Thinking of this, he directly asked Jian Jiuxiao, who was not far away.

The latter is now a high-ranking official at Haoran Peak and is also his capable assistant. He's essentially an assistant, the kind who gets paid.

Over the course of a year, Jian Jiuxiao's cultivation also improved considerably, reaching the eighth level of the Integration Realm.

Although he can't compare to the overpowered characters like Shen Nianqing and Chu Xinghe, his progress is definitely rapid.

Upon hearing Chang Wen's summons, Jian Jiuxiao immediately came over, his expression full of respect.

"You mean this?"

After Chang Wen explained his doubts, Jian Jiuxiao began to explain directly, "Indeed, it's not entirely because of sect hatred; the bigger reason is the Demon Suppression Ceremony itself."

"Comparing the two reasons, sect hatred accounts for 30%, while the Demon Suppression Ceremony itself accounts for 70%."

"Could you elaborate?"

Chang Wen was about to enter the Demon Suppression Platform, so he wanted to understand the process first.

"it is good."

Jian Jiuxiao didn't hesitate and said with amusement, "Let's talk about the sect feud first."

"In the tens of thousands of years since the establishment of the Demon Suppression Ceremony, the number of disciples of my Haoran Immortal Sect who have died at the hands of the Taixu Sword Sect is at least 80,000 to 100,000."

Chang Wen...

Having said all that, there's basically no need to say anything more.

"Tell me about the Demon Suppression Platform."

Chang Wen did not waste any time.

Jian Jiuxiao nodded and continued, "Speaking of this Demon Suppression Platform, we have to trace its origins back tens of thousands of years."

"According to historical records, tens of thousands of years ago, our Haoran Immortal Sect was the only dominant force in the Northern Wilderness."

"At that time, although the Taixu Sword Sect and the Wanxiang Palace showed signs of rising, they could not shake the Haoran Immortal Sect in the slightest."

"Just then, an unexpected event occurred. A demonic tide suddenly appeared in the eastern part of the Northern Wilderness."

"The demonic tide was extremely large. It took half of the high-ranking members of our Haoran Immortal Sect to go there and barely manage to suppress it."

"At this time, the Taixu Sword Sect and the Myriad Manifestations Palace began to cause trouble..."

"In order to overthrow the Haoran Immortal Sect and quickly reach the same level of strength as the Haoran Immortal Sect, they disregarded everything and secretly sent high-ranking members of the sect to gradually erode the seal that was suppressing the demonic tide."

Hearing this, Chang Wen interrupted Jian Jiuxiao, "I have a question."

"The Taixu Sword Sect and the Myriad Manifestations Palace are ignoring everything. Why doesn't our Haoran Immortal Sect abandon the seal first, suppress the Taixu Sword Sect and the Myriad Manifestations Palace, and then suppress the demonic tide?"

As far as he knew, the Haoran Immortal Sect was far stronger than the Taixu Sword Sect and the Wanxiang Palace at that time.

If the Haoran Immortal Sect were to first annihilate the two sects, the two sects would have no chance of survival.

The fact that both sects are now considered top-tier forces alongside the Haoran Immortal Sect means that the Haoran Ancestor did not do that back then. Why?

Not far away, Ren Yuanzi's expression changed slightly as she recalled the scene, her gaze becoming enigmatic.

If we had truly wiped out the Taixu Sword Sect and the Myriad Manifestations Palace back then, those bastards from the Imperial Continent... would have pounced on us themselves.

He knew about this, but Jian Jiuxiao definitely didn't.

"I really don't know that, but since then, the Taixu Sword Sect and the Wanxiang Palace have taken advantage of the weakening of my Haoran Immortal Sect to expand wildly, and in just a few thousand years they have become a newly emerging first-class power in the Northern Wilderness. And they have begun to attack my Haoran Immortal Sect."

"And then?"

Chang Wen was curious.

"later……"

Jian Jiuxiao pondered for a moment, "Our ancestor knew that dragging this out was not a solution, so he withdrew 20,000 men to suppress the two sects from continuing to nibble away at the Haoran Immortal Sect."

"But it was because we withdrew 20% of our manpower that the seal on the demonic tide broke, endangering many forces in the Northern Wilderness."

Various factions launched a barrage of insults against the Taixu Sword Sect and the Myriad Phenomena Palace.

"The Taixu Sword Sect and the Myriad Manifestations Palace joined forces to suppress the demonic tide in order to protect their reputation and prevent it from affecting their foundations. They also established the Demon Suppression Platform to permanently seal the demonic tide."

"After sealing the demonic tide, the Imperial Continent's Sky Patrol Division came to the Northern Wilderness and established the annual Demon Suppression Ceremony."

"After that, there was a long-standing feud between us and the Taixu Sword Sect that lasted for tens of thousands of years."

After saying that, Jian Jiuxiao fell silent.

Chang Wen quickly had a new question: "Then what is the purpose of going to the Demon Suppression Platform every year?"

"Um……"

Jian Jiuxiao pondered carefully, "There are probably two points."

"The first point is to secure a spot for further studies in the Imperial Continent. I've already mentioned this to you last time, so I won't go into details again."

"The second point is the suppression of demons."

"The demons beneath the Demon Suppression Platform will continuously construct the 'Desire Base' to generate more desire energy, helping them become stronger and thus break through the seal."

"What we need to do is destroy as many 'Desire Bases' as possible before the Mahayana restriction disappears, and complete the demon-suppressing ritual at the last moment."

"Once the demon-suppressing ceremony is completed, our mission will be considered finished, and we can choose to enter and exit the demon-suppressing platform at our own discretion."

After speaking, Jian Jiuxiao looked at Chang Wen, waiting for Chang Wen to process what he had said.

"magic?"

Chang Wen was genuinely curious, "Is it something like I imagined, emitting black smoke?"

As soon as he said this, many disciples who were monitoring the area with their divine senses couldn't help but laugh.

I never expected my senior brother to be so humorous; it's really interesting.

"no."

Jian Jiuxiao smiled and quickly returned to normal, then said, "The so-called demon is not another species, but a human being who has unleashed his desires to the extreme."

"In their eyes, there is no such thing as benevolence, righteousness, propriety, wisdom, or trustworthiness; there is only the unleashing of all kinds of desires. They call themselves Blissful Beings, but we usually refer to them as demons."

"...The so-called demons are actually humans?"

Chang Wen wondered if he had misheard. Why was this different from what he expected?

"good."

Jian Jiuxiao nodded. "When I first found out about this, I had the same expression as you, but I got used to it later."

Chang Wen fell into deep thought, carefully digesting the information.

After a long pause, he asked again, "What are their usual methods?"

"Creating an illusion."

Jian Jiuxiao explained, "No matter how powerful you are, as long as you fall into the illusion it creates, you may become a slave to desire and eventually become a demon."

"Moreover, the stronger the magic that creates the illusion, the lower your chances of successfully breaking free from it. When you're truly trapped in an illusion, you simply can't tell whether it's an illusion or reality."

Chang Wen...

Why does giving him a peak Tribulation Transcending expert make my back feel cold?

"How many disciples from previous Daoist conferences have turned into demons?"

Chang Wen asked again.

"About 30%."

Jian Jiuxiao answered conservatively, "At its peak, it reached 70%."

Chang Wen...

Is it that scary?

It should be noted that those who can become elite disciples in the Haoran Immortal Sect are all exceptional individuals, selected from among thousands.

Even they couldn't resist the demon's methods, which shows just how powerful those methods were.

"This is unavoidable..."

Jian Jiuxiao looked at Chang Wen and said, "A disciple whose Dao heart is not firm will most likely fall into demonic possession once he enters the illusion."

"This is also a trial for the sect's disciples, a trial of life and death."

"But our sect is quite humane. We certainly won't force disciples who don't want to participate in the Demon Suppression Ceremony. All 30,000-plus people here this time came voluntarily."

"Nothing more than that, we are not afraid of life-or-death trials, and we also want to challenge our own weaknesses."

"Although illusions can kill without leaving a trace, if one can successfully pass the trial, one's Dao heart will become purer and more stable, surpassing thousands of years of tempering, and the benefits will be enormous."

"So that's how it is."

Chang Wen suddenly realized, and then asked, "So, Senior Brother Zhou Qing was trapped in an illusion back then?"

As soon as he finished speaking, the entire spirit ship fell silent. Everyone looked at Ren Yuanzi, not daring to utter a word.