Chapter 297 Monster

Chapter 297: Monster

"Chaos Clan?!"

The demon race was the first to react.

But a human Deity Transformation cultivator moved even faster.

A pocket-like magical artifact hidden in his sleeve swept up all the surrounding black mist and air in one go, and he even tried to grab the qin that dropped when Shang Yunduo vanished.

The others were just as quick—the demon cultivator who had let Shang Yunduo slip away was especially furious, swiping a claw to tear apart the Heaven-Encompassing Pouch that had nearly enveloped him as well.

In the blink of an eye, the qin had changed hands many times, even moving from near the Taiyuan Sect to the center of the Boundary Mountain.

But the qin and the Sea-Subduing Flag seemed to respond to each other—no matter which one someone held, the other would gravitate toward it, and the pervading black mist followed right along.

So in the view of the many Taiyuan Sect disciples, what they saw was a dense ball of black mist streaking across the sky at lightning speed, flashing from right above their heads to the edge of their vision, then in a blink, it flew back from the direction of the demon race. Before they could even see clearly, all sorts of spiritual lights flashed and churned inside the black mist, and it shot off south again.

Several Deity Transformation cultivators watching from outside the mist also flew off in pursuit, vanishing completely, so fast it was like a dream.

During the struggle, the Deity Transformation cultivators quickly discovered that this qin—suspected to be the Kunze Lamp—seemed incredibly tough. So they stopped pulling their punches and no longer bothered to avoid hitting the qin. Their spells became wilder and more reckless.

The qin, used as a shield, clanged and rang out during the fight.

Shang Yunduo hid inside the qin, surrounded by the sounds of spells exploding, Deity Transformation cultivators clashing, and the mountains of the Boundary Mountain splitting apart.

Once they confirmed the artifact was real, they held back no longer. From the sounds of it, some had already started undergoing demonic transformation, and the humans had unleashed their Spirit Beasts too.

Roaring and rumbling.

It rattled Shang Yunduo so badly he wanted to throw up. His mind was going fuzzy, and his vision kept blacking out in waves. He gritted his teeth, focusing on the wound on his neck to keep himself conscious—if he let up even a little, he'd black out.

He held on for god knows how long until the Heaven-Encompassing Pouch that had sucked out most of his power was finally ripped open by someone. Shang Yunduo's spirits perked up. He quickly used demonic energy to hide himself and snuck out.

By now, the Deity Transformation cultivators were in the thick of a heated battle and couldn't care less about him.

So what if he ran? The cultivation world was only so big. As long as they got the artifacts, where could he run to beyond its borders?

Besides, Pei Jie was still here, and so was the Taiyuan Sect.

With a bit of his strength recovered, Shang Yunduo could finally make a move.

Amid the chaos, the qin's sound grew louder and louder, mixed in with all the other noise. Though some noticed, no one found it strange—besides, there was no spiritual energy on the qin—just sound.

Plus, the qin and the Sea-Subduing Flag kept changing hands nonstop. Only Pei Jie figured out what Shang Yunduo was up to.

And the qin's sound, amid all the artifact and spell attacks, grew louder and louder, more and more like a drumbeat.

Kong Yu burst out laughing.

No Deity Transformation cultivator would think ignoring a Foundation Establishment cultivator was underestimating their opponent. He didn't, and neither would they—and then they'd all lose to the same underestimation, just like he had.

Even though if they just left the black mist, Shang Yunduo couldn't do a thing to them—yet they stubbornly refused to leave.

Some even started using the black mist to mess with their opponents.

But how could Spiritual Cultivators even use demonic energy?

The longer they stayed inside, the more the demonic energy affected them.

Besides, their contempt for Pei Jie had successfully enraged Shang Yunduo.

The kid had finally started actively using demonic energy to invade others' souls.

Too bad Deity Transformation cultivators were still too tough for him.

Shang Yunduo knew this himself.

His cultivation was too low—whether as a Spiritual Cultivator or a demonic cultivator, it was way too low.

Back when he sealed Kong Yu, he had prepared thoroughly, planned everything out, and still barely won—and even then, he couldn't fully seal Kong Yu.

Now he had to deal with over twenty living Deity Transformation cultivators—way harder to handle than Kong Yu trapped in the Sea-Subduing Flag.

But this time, he didn't have enough time or power to prepare.

Being able to release all the demonic energy from the Sea-Subduing Flag at once was only thanks to the abundant Anger he'd absorbed from those Nascent Soul cultivators outside Wentian City. Before releasing it, both his body and the qin had been full to bursting with it.

There wouldn't be another chance like that.

Even if he listened to Kong Yu and ran, he'd never get another chance to take them out one by one.

Without the Sea-Subduing Flag and the Kunze Lamp, he'd have no power at all to stand against Deity Transformation cultivators.

Besides, this time was different from sealing Kong Yu. Back then, if he failed, he could just run away—Kong Yu was trapped in the Sea-Subduing Flag and couldn't exactly sprout legs and chase him.

This time, even if he ran, where could he go?

Anyone who wasn't a demon cultivator couldn't use the Sea-Subduing Flag or the Kunze Lamp at all. It wouldn't be him picking them off one by one—it would be them turning heaven and earth upside down to find him.

The world was vast, but there was nowhere a Deity Transformation cultivator couldn't reach. Even if they hid in the Endless Sand Continent, would they have to hide there forever?

Why should they?

Why should they be at everyone's mercy?

Why should even Pei Jie be treated like meat on the chopping block?

In that moment, he understood why Pei Jie was always so stubbornly strong. The cultivation world, where strength ruled, was exactly this arrogant and condescending.

As if "everyone below me is an ant" was just the natural order of things.

He could take their mockery and contempt. They could treat him like an idiot—he didn't care, he really wasn't as strong or as smart as them. But no one got to treat Pei Jie like that.

Pei Jie was right—why shouldn't the Sea-Subduing Flag and the Kunze Lamp be his?

He could have let them go. He could have handed them over. But not now.

Shang Yunduo clutched his neck, holding back his rage, eerily calm as he found one moment after another to quietly play his tune.

So this was what it felt like—after extreme rage, a person could be this calm.

He listened to every sound in the mist, so clear, clearer than ever. The new melody was hidden in the noise of these Deity Transformation cultivators fighting over the Sea-Subduing Flag and the Kunze Lamp.

Not a single person noticed.

Shang Yunduo had even planned how to finish the tune if he was discovered at any point. But whether human or demon, not a single one of them noticed.

Kong Yu quipped: "Almost thirty people in total, and not one of them realizes they're about to play a song? Tsk tsk. You can really see how badly the path of Music Cultivation has been lost."

Shang Yunduo wasn't in the mood to joke around with him.

This wasn't about some lost Music Cultivator tradition—it was that not a single one of them understood music theory.

Maybe people who spread themselves too thin could never make it to the Deity Transformation stage.

But he really couldn't wrap his head around what they'd lived all those years for, turning themselves into monsters who could casually wave a hand and blast massive gaps into the endless Boundary Mountains, each one giving off more spiritual pressure than any spirit stone vein he'd ever come across.

But then again, he was a monster too.

A rarer breed of monster than any of them.

The newborn melody was complete.

Thump, thump, thump...

The earth began to stir with restless drumbeats.

Out of nothing, barely there at first, then swelling louder and louder.

With the qin at the center, every sound within several hundred li started to resonate in harmony.

Finally, someone caught on: "What's that sound?!" "It's that qin!"

But it was already too late to stop it.

Shang Yunduo heard clumps of dirt and pebbles jumping, mountain ranges crying out.

Even the mountains that had been smashed and shattered still had voices.

Running.

Shouting.

Wailing.

Wings flapping.

The sounds of people fleeing, of feet splashing through water.

The sound of broken plants trying to save themselves, pushing sap to their wounds.

Sound after sound...

Stones passed it along, flowing water echoed it.

These sounds sank into the earth, merging with the sounds in the air into a force that was both complex and simple, quiet and immense.

And clearer still—the demon clans and human clans around the Boundary Mountains, chattering, gasping.

Their blood flowing, hearts pounding, breaths rasping.

These sounds mixed with the noise of conversation, and with the life force wafting off their bodies.

Confusion, doubt, alarm, panic, dread, fear...

Life force came from them, and from the dying and the dead—demon clans and human clans alike.

Then came spiritual energy.

Shang Yunduo devoured every bit of power around him as he transformed into a dragon.

This time he didn't manifest a Golden Dragon, and he didn't conjure up a handsome form for himself like some king. He turned himself into mist even finer than the Chaos Clan's, blending into the demonic qi around him.

If demonic qi wasn't enough, why not use the Mirage Dragon itself to conjure mirages?

The Boundary Mountains' scattered little spirit stone veins were draining fast.

The black mist churned violently as Shang Yunduo swallowed it and spat it back out.

The black mist wasn't poisonous and had no side effects. The Deity Transformation cultivators were wary but dismissive, still not vigilant enough—until sound and spiritual energy joined the mix.

They immediately knew something was off.

But then they suddenly realized the black mist—which should've been nothing to them—had lost its boundaries.

Before they knew it, they were already deep inside the mirage.

Various artifacts and weapons were aimed at Pei Jie, who'd never joined the fight but had followed them the whole way.

Pei Jie just smiled at them calmly, not even bothering to draw his sword.

At that moment, it felt utterly infuriating to them.

They'd been careless. Pei Jie had followed for the same reason—to grab the treasure—but he wasn't here to be their hostage. He was here to lull them into a false sense of security.

"It's just an Illusion!" They'd seen it all in their long years of cultivation.

But Shang Yunduo's voice suddenly came from every direction: "You want to know the secret of Ascension? Then come see for yourselves!"

In a single breath, he dragged them all back tens of thousands of years, to just before countless legendary ancient races broke through the boundaries and left this world.

Back then, conflicts even more terrifying than Deity Transformation battles were erupting all over the world.

Some were legendary races whose Cultivation at birth could crush Deity Transformation cultivators outright.

What was so great about the Deity Transformation stage anyway?

Shang Yunduo helpfully tracked down their ancestors for them.

Unfortunately, most demon clans—and all human clans—were just ants in that era, born at dawn and dead by dusk in the chaos, with no chance to survive at all.

"Pathetic illusion!" The demon cultivator who got impatient first tried to break the illusion—and failed.

Someone else tried, and failed too.

No matter how they dispersed it, no matter what Technique they used, the black mist and the illusions quickly reformed and kept going.

These illusions were incredibly lifelike, every detail holding up under scrutiny, as if they'd really happened.

And yet they felt fake too, as if the illusions weren't meant to trap them—just to make them watch.

What kind of illusion even was this?

What was the point of all this?!

The human Deity Transformation cultivators couldn't help wondering—was this how those Golden Core and Nascent Soul cultivators outside Taiyuan Sect had their Dao hearts shattered?!

If this was all he had, then screw Kong Yu and the Sea-Subduing Flag!

Yet no matter what, they just couldn't get out.

And this illusion didn't intend to harm them—no attacks, no killing moves, nor did it mess with their spiritual sense or consciousness. It even had the nerve to put them all in one place.

Even worse, it went and prepared a super comfy reclining chair for Pei Jie, who was kicking back and enjoying the illusions.

Pei Ke didn't even get one.

And so, in this peaceful illusion, Pei Jie—the one with the lowest cultivation, completely surrounded by weapons—sat his ass down, while everyone else was stuck standing. If they wanted to sit, they'd have to plop down on the ground, like they were bowing down to him.

"Daoist Pei, what do you say?" Someone on the human side finally couldn't take it anymore.

Before Pei Ke could get a word in, Pei Jie spoke up. "Can't you see? He's giving you a live demo of Ascension."

A Deity Transformation stage cultivator snapped back angrily, "Where is there any Ascension in this?!"

Pei Jie replied, "What's the hurry? You've all waited a thousand, even several thousand years for Ascension—what's a few more minutes?"

He, for one, thought it was pretty damn interesting.

It was kinda like that thing called a video that Shang Yunduo mentioned every now and then.

In that world, people just sat around watching all sorts of moving pictures.

Except the images Shang Yunduo talked about were acted out by real people, though he couldn't wrap his head around how that worked. What Shang Yunduo was showing them now was probably something he'd seen back in the Endless Sea.

So this was the kind of world where he'd picked up those sea tribe and dragon spells?

The impatient ones refused to buy it and didn't wanna watch. They rallied the others to join forces and break the illusion together—but nope, still failed.

A few of the hotheads got so pissed they laughed out of pure frustration.

A flying awl shot toward Pei Jie's face, but Pei Ke instantly drew his sword and deflected it.

Clang, clang, clang—

The sound of weapons rang incessantly. Those who had not moved before—both humans and demons—drew their weapons and surrounded Pei Jie and Pei Ke.

A human Deity Transformation stage cultivator who had some acquaintance with Pei Ke advised, "Daoist Pei, at a time like this, you should persuade your good junior brother to work together with everyone to leave first."

Pei Jie burst into laughter. "What, are thousands of years of blood feuds and estrangement between our two races going to dissolve into peace over such a minor predicament?"

"..."

Just then, ignoring the commotion around them, the Old Demon Cultivator who had been leaning on his staff and staring at the illusions suddenly straightened his back.

A Deity Transformation stage cultivator who caught a glimpse of the illusion out of the corner of his eye also exclaimed in surprise, "Ascension?!"