I am Guhuoniao, not an umbrella demon, please do not disturb me.

They're different, completely different.

The guy in front of her was a monster, completely different from the three cultivators who chased her that day!

Indeed, the young cultivator was named Luo Qie, the strongest disciple of the Ming Sect. In the Tianyang Palace, he would be considered a senior disciple. His strength was at the Refinement stage, which was three major realms higher than the Golden Core stage.

"Is that so? Then you're useless."

Without Roche making any move, an invisible blade of light slashed straight down.

Unlike the despair she felt before, this person acted so quickly and ruthlessly that he didn't give Momiji any time to despair.

Ding!

A giant gourd with a mouthful of sharp teeth fell from the sky, smashing the transparent blade of light directly.

Shuten-dōji instantly appeared behind Roche and unleashed a Demon Fist without a word.

With a deafening roar, the powerful gust of air sent the demon girl, Momiji, flying. She swiftly used her demonic power to retrieve her severed arm, and upon landing, immediately reattached it. Thankfully, that guy acted quickly; the cut was impeccably clean, allowing for a swift reattachment.

Shuten-dōji's fist was enveloped in black demonic energy, while Roche held his long sword motionless. Fist and blade clashed head-on, their forces rapidly consuming each other, until Shuten-dōji was forced to take a step back.

The fact that this punch didn't send Roche flying already shows the difference in skill; Shuten-dōji was launching a surprise attack, while Roche was on the defensive.

With one hand gripping the sword, Roche unleashed a sudden burst of power, sending Shuten flying.

With just one clash, the maple trees surrounding Shuten-dōji and Roche were completely cleared, as if a large portion of the maple forest had been erased with an eraser.

Shuten took a few steps back to steady himself, his expression grave.

Bai Qingyu was the strongest person he had ever met, but the guy in front of him was even stronger than Bai Qingyu.

Needless to say, his strength is far weaker than that of humans.

Fortunately, he wasn't the only one who arrived. Ibaraki had already arrived beside him. Shuten knew that Ibaraki was weaker than him, but with the combined strength of the two demons, even if they couldn't defeat this human, they could at least fight to a draw. As long as they could hold him off until his aunt came to help, there was hope.

·

The sky outside the window was overcast.

Bai Qingyu stood in the private school with her hands behind her back, her delicate brows furrowed, a deep sense of unease in her heart.

This feeling of unease suddenly appeared half an hour ago, stronger than ever before. Bai Qingyu then recalled his life in the fishing village two years ago, when he experienced the same unease for more than ten days.

Now, after two years of peaceful life, she has almost forgotten about it and can't even think about it on a regular basis.

Peaceful and tranquil days can make people lower their guard. Just as Bai Qingyu was reflecting on this saying, he suddenly felt a powerful wave sweeping over him. It was clear that someone was fighting not far away, and both sides were quite strong.

"Shuten-dōji".

Bai Qingyu's expression changed drastically. She told the child to pack up and prepare to go home, then teleported out of the yard and rushed towards the maple forest.

She was certain that the unease was directed at her.

But why did he end up fighting with Shuten-dōji?

When Bai Qingyu arrived above the maple forest, she found that most of the forest had disappeared. The two sides fighting were the Shuten brothers and a human cultivator. Bai Qingyu recognized the human cultivator's attire; it was the same attire of the three people she had killed that day.

In the maple forest, Roche, wielding a long sword in each hand, still seemed to be handling the combined attack of two powerful demons with ease. On the other hand, Shuten-dōji was not seriously injured, but his demonic power was severely depleted.

At that moment, Roche suddenly realized something and looked up to see a phantom of a Guhuoniao (a mythical bird) hurtling towards him.

Bai Qingyu clenched his fist and slammed it into the cultivator's seven-colored light with all his might.

The barrier that was indestructible in front of Shuten-dōji and Ibaraki-dōji was as fragile as a piece of paper in front of Bai Qingyu. But when Bai Qingyu smashed the barrier and was about to give the cultivator a punch, his body was instantly wrapped in a seven-colored stream of light.

In her eyes, it seemed as if countless common people were kneeling on the ground, their faces pale and emaciated from hunger, their skin and bones resembling living skeletons.

Not far away are large tracts of abandoned farmland.

Instead of cultivating their fields, they knelt on the ground, begging the divine phoenix for food.

Before she could react, her punch had already landed on Roche, sending him flying.

嘤

Volume 1: Chapter 107 Bai Qingyu's Farewell

Under Bai Qingyu's punch, Luo Qie was sent flying backward in a spiral, plowing more than a hundred meters across the ground before he finally regained his footing. If he hadn't been strong enough, Bai Qingyu's punch would have smashed his head to pieces.

He stood up and shook his head. Roche's face was expressionless. He planted his two long swords in the ground, held his jaw with both hands and twisted it hard. A tooth-grinding cracking sound came, and he forcefully straightened his head, which had been knocked askew.

Without his hat, Roche's face was revealed to everyone. He was plain-looking but slightly handsome. At first glance, you wouldn't be attracted by his appearance, but rather by his eyes, which were sharp as swords, as if a long knife was held to your neck.

Unlike other disciples of the Fate Cult, Roche was not bald; he had a thick head of long black hair, simply tied up with a thin rope.

He stood there, like a sharp blade drawn from its sheath.

Bai Qingyu landed beside Shuten-dōji, her expression extremely solemn. Apart from Yunru and Fengyuan, two powerful cultivators, this was the first time she had seen such a strong cultivator, and it was also the first time she had fought against a cultivator of this strength.

There are actually many cultivators in the world, and they can be seen in counties and prefectures of all sizes. However, the cultivators you usually see are at the basic level, such as Qi Refining, Foundation Establishment, or Golden Core. The stronger ones are at the Golden Core stage, but it is very difficult to see even Nascent Soul cultivators, because in many sects, a Nascent Soul cultivator is only at the level of a minor elder.

Bai Qingyu stared intently at Luo Qie and asked Shuten-dōji beside him, "What's wrong with this guy?"

"I don't know either. I saw that he was going to attack Hong... to attack the forest demoness, so I stepped in to rescue him."

"I wonder which sect they belong to."

Of all the sects in the world, Bai Qingyu found that the bald men in gray robes were the most troublesome among demons. They were similar to the people of the Demon Subduing Sect. These people often appeared in the city and would kill any demons they encountered.

The same thing happened with the three of them last time, but it seems she didn't handle it properly enough, and someone actually came knocking on her door.

"After hitting the small one, the big one comes along," Bai Qingyu thought to himself, feeling incredibly unlucky.

At this moment, Roche moved, sheathing his two long swords and walking straight over. Seeing this, Bai Qingyu and the Shuten-dōji brothers assumed an attack stance. However, to their surprise, Roche calmly walked up to Bai Qingyu, clasped his hands in front of him, and knelt on one knee.

Bai Qingyu took two steps back, without relaxing her guard at all.

But his eyes are strange. Is there something wrong with this guy, or is this posture the starting stance of some move?

Just as they were about to attack, Luo Qie, who had performed such a grand salute, spoke up, "Lord Divine Phoenix, the sect leader has ordered that you must return to West Mountain with me."

"What did you say."

This sudden statement baffled both Bai Qingyu and Shuten-dōji.

The Divine Emperor was clearly addressing Bai Qingyu, and even referred to himself as his subordinate.

Bai Qingyu was absolutely certain she didn't know this guy, and she'd never even heard of the so-called Divine Phoenix or the Sect Leader. Besides, she didn't think there was any doubt about whether the title "Divine Phoenix" was too far-fetched, or whether the Guhuoniao and the Phoenix were the same creature.

With a crane's body and a phoenix's tail, even if she truly transformed into her original form, she would still lean towards the crane rather than the phoenix.

Luo Qie stood up, raised his hand to block Shuten's punch, and continued, "Your subordinate Luo Qie has come today on orders to bring Lord Shenhuang back to the mountain. If Lord Shenhuang does not comply, then please do not blame me for being rude."

Shuten-dōji wanted to make another move, but Bai Qingyu stopped him by raising her hand.

"The Divine Phoenix you speak of, are you referring to me?"

“Indeed, Lord Divine Phoenix, there is no need to doubt. The totem that my sect believes in is you, my lord.”

Luo Che raised his hand, and a seven-colored light outlined a picture. Two huge totems, a dragon and a phoenix, could be seen. The dragon on the left was not clearly visible, while the phoenix totem on the right was clearly Bai Qingyu's true form.

Only then did Bai Qingyu finally understand what had happened.

The guy in front of her wasn't here to avenge those three cultivators, but to capture her. This was because their sect, called the Fate Sect, worshipped a phoenix as its totem, and this phoenix was more accurately called the Guhuoniao.

Bai Qingyu now knew why he could see disciples of the Fate Cult everywhere, and he finally understood the source of his unease.

If I'm not mistaken, the people of this Fate Cult knew of her existence and began searching for her two years ago. Because it's a large and powerful sect, they could only sense impending danger but didn't know the specifics.

"Aunt, don't listen to him. What kind of bullshit Fate Cult is he? I'm not afraid of him." Shuten-dōji's eyes widened in anger as he stood directly in front of Bai Qingyu. Although he was much weaker than Roche, that did not frighten him.

How could he capture his aunt in front of the future Demon King?

That's absolutely impossible!

No one knows whether an accident or tomorrow will come first, Bai Qingyu remained silent.

People have arrived, and there are many of them.

The hundred or so demons led by Shuten-dōji surrounded the maple forest, but it wasn't really that useful. If Roche wanted to, he could have easily cleared a bloody path with two slashes. The main purpose of this group of demons was probably just to hold the fort.

However, further out from this group of little monsters, they were surrounded by more than a hundred cultivators from the Life Sect.

These cultivators were all gathered by Luo Che; their strength varied, but they were certainly much stronger than the group of minor demons on the periphery. Bai Qingyu looked up and saw dozens of gray-robed figures soar into the air, their seven-colored light enveloping the entire maple forest.

At first, Bai Qingyu didn't know what the seven-colored light was. It didn't seem like spiritual power or demonic power. It was indeed very strong, far exceeding ordinary spiritual power in terms of overall strength. However, it was as fragile as a piece of paper in front of her, and only Luo Qie could barely see it.

Now she knows that these powers are the people's faith.

She felt as if she were the natural enemy of this power of faith, because she was their totem, and in a sense, this power was derived from her.

I still remember what I saw when I shattered the cultivator's barrier with a single punch. Countless people knelt on the ground, emaciated from hunger, ignoring the land outside, and praying to the divine phoenix for food.

At first, I found it laughable; had people become so ignorant?

Now that I think about it, how could a normal person give up fertile land to cultivate in order to worship some god and ask the god to provide food? Isn't this just someone manipulating everything behind the scenes to exploit the people's faith?

No wonder the disciples of the Fate Sect are generally stronger than cultivators from other sects; they can all form a team of three Golden Core cultivators.

This all comes down to the common people.

Bai Qingyu couldn't understand it at all.

Where has the karmic retribution gone for such a heinous crime?

Bai Qingyu felt that there must be karmic obstacles involved. If they dared to do this, how were they any different from the Demonic Sect? It was just that the leader of this Fate Sect probably used something to suppress the karmic obstacles. Otherwise, the first person to attack them would definitely be the Taoist priest from Tianyang Palace.

So, is the search within oneself an attempt to extract more faith, or to absorb karmic burdens...?

More and more cultivators gathered around, and while no one made a move without Luo Qie's order, Bai Qingyu knew that he and his group were already fish in a barrel.

I should have thought of this day long ago.

I had warned her two years ago. The anxiety she felt for more than ten consecutive days was unprecedented, and she should be extremely careful for a long time to come.

For the past two years, she has chosen a more comfortable life and has stayed in Tongzhou for two years.

She paid no attention when the first group of cultivators from the Fate Cult appeared, and she paid no attention when the second group appeared.

After killing those three guys, she found totems in their storage rings. Even though the totems were so abstract, they were about 70% similar to her own body, but she still didn't pay them any attention.

"My Lord Divine Phoenix, I do not wish to fight you. Please make a decision as soon as possible."

As Roche spoke, a male and a female monk landed beside him, both wearing the same gray robes, except that they were both bald.