Chapter Fifteen: The Northern Frontier, War Begins

The demon clan's quasi-Immortal Emperor, Xuan Ye. Though his cultivation as a quasi-Immortal Emperor was not particularly high, Xuan Ye was unique: he was the sole leaf to fall from the Tree of Dao Laws formed by the three thousand Great Daos, and from that leaf, the demon clan took shape. He represented the supreme fortune of the demon race. To call him the common lord of all demons would not be an exaggeration.

Back in those days, after I had subdued the endless cosmos and wandered across the starry skies, I once encountered Xuan Ye as he was being hunted by over three hundred tribes at once. At that time, he was still an obscure nobody. On a whim, I lent him a hand and taught him a few things. I did not expect that the boy would seize the opportunity, fall to his knees, and beg me to take him as an adopted son. Seeing that his aptitude was decent and his nature not ill, I simply accepted him as a disciple and imparted to him much knowledge.

Tens of thousands of years have passed, and Xuan Ye has now cultivated to the level of quasi-Immortal Emperor. Yet, his predicament of being hunted seems to have hardly improved in all these years...

“To answer your request would be no trouble...” As he reminisced, the Lord of the Underworld slowly shook his head, ruffled little Jin’er’s hair with a teasing smile, and said, “However, if your godfather comes to fetch you, I won’t keep you here.”

“I know!” Little Jin’er replied playfully, flashing two small tiger-like canines as she grinned.

“Since that’s the case, our journey to the Southern Frontier should come to an end.” He turned to her and continued, “Let’s go back.”

With that, the Lord of the Underworld shook his head once more, wasted no further time, and turned to instruct King of Chu River before preparing to depart.

“Wait a moment!”

Suddenly, little Jin’er called out. Meeting the gazes of the two elders, she stuck out her tongue mischievously, then turned to Bai Lin, ordering, “Now that my god-grandfather has returned, it’s time for the demon race to be thoroughly unified.”

“Pass down my command: from now on, all demons must obey my orders at all times, without error.”

“Take Qing Ning and Chi Tong, and eliminate the mountain foxes, ghost elephants, and those demon tribes along the southern riverbank—leave none behind.”

“Three days from now, I want to see a demon race united as one!”

Bai Lin dared not delay. He bowed respectfully and withdrew to carry out the orders.

“Alright, let’s go,” said the Lord of the Underworld. Without another word, he beckoned, and with King of Chu River and little Jin’er, stepped lightly away.

Their figures swiftly faded.

Soon, across the hundreds of thousands of miles of the Southern Frontier, the roars of tigers and the cries of dragons erupted almost simultaneously. Endless frost and searing flames spread across the azure sky.

...

After leaving the secret realm, the Lord of the Underworld invoked the power of the River of Forgetfulness, and the three of them departed the Southern Frontier, treading through the limitless void.

“Grandpa, where are we going?” At that moment, little Jin’er tugged at his sleeve, her face full of curiosity.

“Tianyuan is vast. Wherever you wish to go, we shall go,” the Lord of the Underworld replied with a helpless shake of his head, his voice gentle. “From now on, just call me Master Patriarch.”

Out of nowhere, he had gained a granddaughter—how strange and implausible that was. Truthfully, he already felt some regret for taking that rebellious disciple under his wing. A quasi-Immortal Emperor, yet he not only went out stealing but even got caught in the act—his back was broken for his trouble. Utterly shameful.

“Master Patriarch, let’s go to the Northern Territory!” As he pondered what excuse to use to expel Xuan Ye from his sect, little Jin’er happily tugged at his sleeve, smiling.

“Very well...” came the Lord of the Underworld’s cool response. He changed direction and took the other two northward.

Before long, the three appeared on the clouds above endless wind and snow. Below them lay a battlefield—or rather, a wilderness not far from the capital of the Azure Heaven Kingdom.

On one side stood an army of one hundred thousand armored soldiers of Azure Heaven, their weapons gleaming coldly. At their head, an old man held a horsetail whisk, his gaze calm and distant.

Opposite them were sixty thousand illusory, eerily-spirited armored troops, led by a woman of slight stature. She wore not particularly heavy armor, a white cloak draped over her shoulders, and in her hand she wielded a strange, ancient spear.

“Qing Li, the Celestial Emperor has already pardoned our Azure Heaven King for his rebellion. What brings you here today with the Yin Soldiers?” The old man’s eyes glinted coldly across the distance, his voice tinged with contempt. “Do you mean to destroy my Azure Heaven?”

“Beat the drums!”

Qing Li gave no reply. She spun her spear and held it slantwise behind her, her clear, cold voice drifting out.

Boom... Boom... Boom-boom...

From behind the ranks of Yin Soldiers, the war drums suddenly thundered, the sound sweeping across the plains. The heartbeat of every Yin Soldier seemed to quicken with the drums, blood surging, heat rising.

“Qing Li! Do you mean to rebel?” The old man felt a sudden jolt of unease, anger flashing in his eyes as he shouted.

To command the Yin Soldiers, even without an edict from the Lord of the Underworld, was certainly under the orders of King of Chu River! How could a small kingdom like Azure Heaven afford to offend such beings?

If the King of Chu River himself were present, the old man would not dare be so brazen and would surrender at once. But for the mere princess of Cold Moon to lead sixty thousand Yin Soldiers against Azure Heaven—this was madness!

“All generals, hear my order!” Ignoring the old man, Qing Li’s eyes narrowed, a glint of coldness flashing deep within them. She leveled her spear at the hundred thousand soldiers of Azure Heaven and shouted coldly, “Crush Azure Heaven!”

“Kill!”

At her command, the sixty thousand Yin Soldiers roared in fury and charged straight at the army of Azure Heaven.

“Arrogant!” The old man’s expression grew even darker as he sneered, then waved his horsetail whisk toward the oncoming Yin Soldiers and bellowed, “Attack! I want their souls scattered!”

“Kill!”

With a furious cry, the hundred thousand soldiers of Azure Heaven surged forward to meet the Yin Soldiers in battle.

“In the realm of Mara, myriad phantasms manifest...” At that moment, the void trembled. A clear, cold murmur echoed—a woman’s voice. Instantly, a surge of blood-red light enveloped the Yin Soldiers.

As chains of crimson appeared, they linked together in groups of five thousand, forming twelve immense battle formations. Like ravenous tigers, the sixty thousand Yin Soldiers swept into the ranks of Azure Heaven.

In an instant, the sounds of screams and fury erupted across the plains. Under the relentless assault of the Yin Soldiers’ formations, the Azure Heaven troops were thrown into chaos, utterly routed and suffering devastating losses.

“Wicked girl! Courting death!” The old man with the horsetail whisk, face twisted in rage, unleashed the pressure of a quasi-Emperor as he charged straight at Qing Li.

“Princess, fear not! Your old minister is here!” From the horizon behind, an elder in white robes with a sword across his back strode forth through the void. In a flash, he joined the fray.

Boom!

The two clashed in a thunderous collision, both recoiling from the impact.

“Sword Elder, come cut him down with me!” Without hesitation, Qing Li’s eyes flashed with frosty determination; she gritted her silver teeth and unleashed an aura equal to a quasi-Emperor. Spear spinning, she darted forward, vanishing in an instant.

When she reappeared, she was already three inches before the old man. The spear blurred—a remnant afterimage—and thrust straight for his brow!