NOVEL NEXT 61: The True Identity of Third Senior Brother
Holy cow, is Third Senior Brother’s blood that powerful? Chu Sang shook Xiao Bai, wondering why it didn’t leave her a couple of sips—she also wanted to sleep and wake up at the Nascent Soul stage!
“This blood… seems to only work on demon races,” Xiao Bai, almost dizzy from being shaken, shattered her last bit of fantasy. “This bloodline flows with the purest and strongest demon power, only possessed by demon royalty. It’s genuine Demon Sovereign blood, useless for you, Master!”
Demon Sovereign blood?
Chu Sang blinked.
Third Senior Brother is a Demon Sovereign? Impossible.
The current Demon Sovereign is comfortably residing in the demon realm. Moreover, he deeply despises the cultivation world. If his child were truly imprisoned by cultivators, he certainly wouldn’t remain so calm.
That leaves only one other possibility—Third Senior Brother is from the lineage of the previous Demon Sovereign.
The former Demon Sovereign has been slain by the current one—this is confirmed information, unchanged in both the original story and this life.
Unless… the previous Demon Sovereign left behind an orphan.
Is Third Senior Brother the young lord of the previous demon realm?!
Chu Sang was stunned, feeling it was absurd, yet strangely logical. There seemed to be no other explanation.
She sighed. Second Senior Brother is a ghost infant, Third Senior Brother is the Demon Sovereign’s son, Fifth Junior Sister is a divine tree… Their Lingqing Sect is truly brimming with talent. If they had a demon race member, they could summon the dragon.
Oh right, Third Senior Sister also counts as a former demon race. A small sect with barely over a dozen members has actually gathered representatives from all major races.
The Sect Leader truly has a knack for picking up people.
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Meanwhile, the Zhao family hasn’t been at peace these past few months. Everyone is on edge, unaware of what misfortune they’ve stumbled upon. Their mansion has been repeatedly targeted by assassins.
The assassination attempts have been varied and creative.
One day it might be a servant girl delivering food, the next day a guard, and the day after an old man delivering goods… The methods are so despicable and unpredictable that it’s impossible to guard against. The assassin is highly skilled, uncatchable, and has come close to succeeding several times.
Their eldest young master was kicked from behind while exercising in the morning, resulting in a fracture. He’s still bedridden, recovering from his injuries.
The Zhao family is in a state of panic. The higher-ups even held a special meeting to review if they had offended any powerful faction, leading to this targeted revenge.
They’ve recalled as many of their personnel as possible, naturally unable to spare the manpower to cause trouble for Lingqing Sect every few days.
Lingqing Sect has been unusually peaceful during this period, no longer needing to guard against frequent sneak attacks.
Although the method is somewhat underhanded and unethical, it’s quite effective.
Tantai Ming removed his human skin mask, ruefully touching a new pimple on his face. Seeing his little junior sister approaching, he immediately forgot his troubles, let out a yell, and pounced towards her.
“!!!” Chu Sang skillfully dodged, letting him grasp at air, but pulled him back just before he could fall flat on his face.
“What are you doing, rushing about so urgently? How come you haven’t improved at all after being away for a few months?” Mu Chihuai teased.
“Let me tell you, something big has happened!” Tantai Ming had almost evolved into an information broker.
He had been wandering outside for this period, and his intelligence network was extremely efficient. If the matter weren’t so urgent, he would have wanted to torment the Zhao family for a while longer.
“Has the world ended, or have the demons invaded?” Chu Sang lay down on the ground, covering her face with a leaf. “If we’re all going to perish together, tell me early. I want to eat well, drink well, and have a good sleep on the last day of my life.”
“It’s neither. What are you thinking about all day?” Tantai Ming was speechless. “Recently, a Netherworld Ghost Domain has manifested in the world.”
“Domain cities are different from ordinary secret realms. Its range keeps expanding, devouring nearby living beings. In just a few days, several towns have been consumed by it, turning into burial grounds that ordinary people can hardly approach.”
“There must be quite a few evil cultivators secretly stirring up trouble. This situation is very tricky.”
“Ghost domain… zombies?” Chu Sang removed her eye mask, looking up as she recalled. They had encountered zombies in that secret realm before, which were indeed troublesome.
Mu Chihuai and Wen Renyue also wore solemn expressions.
Tantai Ming nodded, then shook his head. “It’s not quite the same as the zombies in the secret realm. The zombies in the secret realm were all low-level white zombies without much intelligence. Although their large numbers made them difficult to kill, they weren’t very dangerous.”
“This time, the ghost corpses initially had no intelligence either, but just yesterday, some cultivators reported that their strength is increasing, and it seems a small portion of the ghost corpses have developed intelligence.”
“If this is left unchecked, it’s highly likely that a Ghost King will be born.”
“If a Ghost King emerges, it will surely result in millions of corpses and thousands of miles of barren land. The entire cultivation world will suffer no small impact from this.”
“What do the Eight Great Sects say about this?” Chu Sang asked. This situation isn’t something ordinary people can handle. If necessary, those secluded Patriarchs in the major sects should make an appearance.
“If the powerful experts from the sects and clans were to intervene, this matter wouldn’t have become so tricky. The problem is, the ghost domain has a cultivation level restriction—only cultivators below the Nascent Soul stage can enter.”
“So the Eight Great Sects are now urgently recruiting talented individuals below the Nascent Soul stage from various regions to slay it before the Ghost King takes form.” Tantai Ming spoke righteously, full of justice, as if he was about to go shed blood and sacrifice himself the next moment.
After listening to such a long explanation, Chu Sang blurted out, “No reward?”
It’s quite stingy of the Eight Great Sects not to offer more compensation for such a life-threatening task.
Faced with the agreeing looks from the others, she suddenly remembered that she was supposed to lead her senior brothers and sisters in doing good deeds. She sprang up from the ground, drawing her sword, “Slaying demons and eradicating evil is the duty of us righteous disciples. We must go, even without reward!”
The others were enlightened: So little junior sister’s ideological awareness is this high?
Of course, Chu Sang had other considerations. The ghost domain is a small space split off from the ghost realm, with extremely dense ghost energy. She was a bit worried that Second Senior Brother might be drawn there by instinct—and remembering his state of loss of control last time, she was somewhat concerned and needed to go check.
It’s also a good opportunity to take her idle senior brothers and sisters on a trip, to gain experience and improve their cultivation, moving further away from the fate of cannon fodder.
Yes!
Having made up her mind, the group set out the next day. Su Chen’an, always meticulous, had already prepared the travel itinerary in advance.
The place where the ghost domain manifested is already very close to the boundary between the ghost realm and the cultivation world. The journey from their location is quite far, even if they were to fly on swords, it would take at least five days at the fastest.
By the time they arrive, the Ghost King might already be roasting human kebabs with his minions.
“The journey is too long; we need to take a Cloud Water Ship,” Wen Renyue shook her head.
Large sects and wealthy families all have Cloud Water Ships, but given how declining their sect has become, a Cloud Water Ship is out of the question.
Moreover, such large, high-grade transportation artifacts can only be refined through the cooperation of Nascent Soul stage cultivators or above. Even if Fifth Senior Brother is exceptionally talented, there’s not enough time.
They’re lagging behind other sects and families. By now, the others have probably already reached the destination. It’s impossible for them to hitch a ride.
“Perhaps… I know someone who hasn’t left yet. We could go and bum a ride on their Cloud Water Ship?” Chu Sang rubbed her chin and suggested.