Truth be told, from the mont Shi Xiaole defeated the Demon Marquis, there was no suspense left in their struggle. The reason why the Love Demon proposed a sword-pulling test was to settle the matter once and for all, leaving no room for doubt.
As for failure, if he did, he wouldn’t lose anything. So why not give it a try?
"Okay."
Shi Xiaole obviously understood his aning. With a quick leap, he swiftly moved to the middle of the mountain. After giving a respectful bow to the two elderly n with damaged eyesight, he walked up to the pile of strange rocks and reached for the purple blade handle.
Countless people above and below Mountain Cang were holding their breath.
Would this weapon, which had been lodged in stone for six hundred years, see the light of the day again?
As soon as his hand gripped the purple blade handle, a weak force only Shi Xiaole could sense surged into his body and flowed into his tendons and bones, which had been cleansed by the power of the Demon Crystal.
In an instant, Shi Xiaole felt his hand stuck to the purple blade handle, unable to pull free even if he wanted to.
The purple light was initially very dim, but it quickly spread around, startling the two elder n with damaged eyesight into opening their eyes.
"The Purple Extre Light, it only appears when the true lord of the Devil Path approaches. Have I finally waited long enough?"
"Is he really the revival lord of our Devil Path?"
The elders had a complex look in their eyes, looking at Shi Xiaole with excitent, relief, and a trace of scrutiny they hadn’t shown before.
Shi Xiaole felt his bones and tendons being sucked into the strange rocks by the purple light.
Fortunately, after a period of rest, his internal power had recovered considerably. Instinctively, he activated the Faceless Divine Skill and pulled the blade handle outwards with all his strength.
Crack.
Crack! Crack!
The cracks spread as the blade handle was gradually pulled out by soone for the first ti. The suction power in the purple light beca stronger, not giving up until it dragged Shi Xiaole’s tendons and bones out of his body.
The purple light was sucking at Shi Xiaole’s tendons and bones, and likewise, Shi Xiaole’s tendons and bones were absorbing the purple light, pulling at the purple handle. The two sides wrestled fiercely.
Shi Xiaole summoned all his strength to activate the Faceless Divine Skill.
Whoosh!
In the void, a purple current flashed.
In the bright purple light, Shi Xiaole held in his hand a weapon that was neither a sword nor a knife, but a six-inch-long, half-a-finger wide dagger shining with a purple light.
Two tiny inscriptions adorned the top of the dagger — Purple Extre.
"The Purple Extre Dagger?"
Shi Xiaole lightly traced the blade with his finger.
This dagger was not particularly sharp, at most it was a common odd weapon, but why was it so closely aligned with the strange rock, provoking a reaction in his tendons and bones?
Shi Xiaole couldn’t figure it out on his own.
However, at this mont, all the Devil Path masters within Mountain Cang who had witnessed all this were moved. They stared at the young man bathed in purple light, cold and detached, noble and dignified, and couldn’t pull themselves together for a long ti.
It was pulled out! The Divine Monarch’s blade was really pulled out!
Could it be that Xie Xiaofeng is really the destined dominant lord of the Devil Path?
"Holy Young Master, we implore you to ascend to the Nine Extres and take on the great task of our path!"
The Blue and Yellow families, as well as many high-ranking practitioners of the Devil Path from the sa lineage, were the first to kneel down and call out loudly using their internal power.
"We implore the Holy Young Master to ascend to the Nine Extres and take on the great task of our path!"
So neutral Devil Path powers, seeing the situation and thinking back to Shi Xiaole’s previous performance, were willing to kneel and shout along with the others.
The legend of the Divine Monarch’s blade was so widespread that no one doubted it.
Looking at Shi Xiaole, who had subdued the leaders, the Demon Marquis, who had concocted this rumor to find a suitable excuse for his rise to power, was not happy.
All his sches were in vain, as he ended up paving the way for soone else.
Of course, the abnormality of the Purple Extre Dagger also made the Demon Marquis suspicious, as if this weapon, which he had exaggerated, was sowhat strange.
"Damn it!"
The Red Charm Demon and the others were both furious and resentful, but at this mont, they couldn’t possibly jump out and reveal the truth. Otherwise, they would most likely achieve the opposite effect and would be seen as jealous, or even scoffing at the Divine Monarch’s blade.
As more than half of the people knelt down, Shi Xiaole looked towards the Demon Marquis at the peak and shouted, "Demon Marquis, I want to rally everyone’s strength, to flourish our path! You, stay or go?"
The Demon Marquis took a deep breath, thought of the reaction of the two elders just now and the people kneeling all over the mountain. Images of monts he had fantasized about flashed before his eyes, but they were ultimately shattered by a young man.
"Lord Marquis, I implore the Holy Young Master to ascend to the Nine Extres!"
The Demon Marquis bowed and lowered his head.
He knew better than anyone else that he had lost completely.
If he left today, he would be going against the grain, leading the Demon Sky Sect down a path of isolation from the Devil Path, which was certainly not sothing the Demon Marquis wanted to see.
After weighing the pros and cons, the Demon Marquis chose to submit temporarily.
"Lord Marquis!"
The surrounding crowd scread, but their screams were imdiately drowned out by shouts from all over the mountain. The words "Holy Young Master" shattered the sky and shocked the world, reaching the ears of the righteous martial world leaders who had been observing in secret outside the Mountain Cang.
The crowd was astonished!
"It seems that at this Cang Mountain Conference, the Devil Path has chosen their common lord. And this person is not the Demon Marquis, but the Holy Young Master, Xie Xiaofeng."
The Flying Fist Sect’s Suzerain, the ’Flying Sky Fist Marquis’ Chen Xiao, wore an unexpected and gloomy expression.
The disorganized Devil Path was already a headache. If these devils were to unite and work together, the Righteous Path would face a pressure ten tis greater than before.
"I hate it so much!"
The ’Broken Sun Blade Marquis’ Gu Nanfeng unusually blurted out in anger, splitting ten large trees in the distance with one sword.
It was all because he had stepped in to help in the Black Devil Ridge, allowing Xie Xiaofeng to survive the Red Charm Demon’s attack. Now, Xiaofeng had beco the Lord of the Devil Path, did that not make him the sinner of the Righteous Path?!
"Lord Gu, there’s no need to be so. Everything happens for a reason. I suppose it was destiny that Xie Xiaofeng was not to et his end then."
Lady Bizan gently offered her reassurances.
The atmosphere on the scene was unbearably oppressive, exuding a suffocating tension.
How formidable must Xie Xiaofeng’s prowess be, to be able to triumph over a Demon Marquis in peak condition?
The most terrifying part was his extre youth, a vast potential yet to be tapped. If things continued this way, would there be any adversaries to Xie Xiaofeng in ten years? Could the martial world of the eight provinces fall under the rule of the Devil Path?
"You need not panic."
A plain-looking scholar stated.
"Who are you?"
The crowd was taken aback, hastily moving away.
No one had noticed when this unfamiliar scholar had appeared in the crowds. If he wanted to lay hands on them, wouldn’t everyone be in grave danger?
The scholar chuckled, unfurling a gilt bone fan in his hand, depicting a beautiful ink painting.
"Landscape Jade Fan, could you possibly be Jade Fan Scholar?"
Lady Bizan’s voice trembled.
Feigning modesty, the scholar retorted, "I did not expect that the younger generation of the Martial World would recognize an insignificant foot soldier like ."
Insignificant foot soldier?
The crowd gasped.
If the four syllables "Jade Fan Scholar" represented an insignificant foot soldier, then what were they?
Ordinary martial artists and great martial giants were at most famous within a region, while the figures present were the leading figures in the martial world of various provinces.
Yet Jade Fan Scholar was renowned across the eight provinces!
His origins unknown, his na unknown. All that was known was that a hundred years ago, he had already been an expert at the peak of the Spiritual-Passage Realm. He had wandered the provinces, undefeated in the Martial World.
Ninety years ago, with the rise of powerful figures from the Devil Path, they wreaked havoc in the Martial World, drawing the attentions of Jade Fan Scholar. Justly, he crushed them single-handedly, thereby becoming an unshakeable monunt in the hearts of righteous martial heroes; an invincible figure.
Unfortunately, since that battle ninety years ago, nobody had seen Jade Fan Scholar. The rumors about him were varied, but none could co to a definite conclusion.
Who would have imagined that this legendary figure would appear here?
"Surely, you’re not... Jade Fan Scholar?"
Three-Eyed Gentleman, the champion of the ’List of the Wandering’, viewed the scholar, who looked at most in his early thirties, skeptically.
One could live up to a hundred and fifty years upon breaking through to the Spiritual-Passage Realm, but Jade Fan Scholar should be at least one hundred and thirty or forty years old. How could he look so young?
Jade Fan Scholar remained cheerful. He pointed towards the distance and everyone followed the direction of his finger. They saw that an enormous stone, weighing several hundred pounds, quietly turned into dust and scattered with the wind a hundred feet away.
The terrifying display of power sent shivers down many people’s spines and dispelled all doubts about his identity.
"Elder, you indicated earlier that we should not worry. Does it an you intend to take action?"
Gu Nanfeng asked respectfully, echoing the thoughts of the crowd.
Jade Fan Scholar said, "The Devil Path remains the sa. It is just this anomaly, Xie Xiaofeng, that needs to be weeded out. So ti ago, I t a fortune teller who predicted today’s situation. Hence, I rushed here just in ti."
"Fantastic! With elder’s intervention, we will surely succeed!"
The righteous faction erupted in joy.
"Alas! Xie Xiaofeng is indeed a talented individual. If he hadn’t trodden on the crooked path, I would not have wanted to kill him."
Jade Fan Scholar shook his head, took a few steps, and disappeared from the crowd’s sight like flowing water. In just a few monts, he arrived halfway up Mountain Cang.
At this point, Shi Xiaole had been unanimously proclaid as the leader of the Devil Path. He seized this opportunity to propose the establishnt of the Demon Alliance to coordinate the major factions of the Devil Path, preparing to seize control of the martial world.
The response was overwhelming.
After all, who dared to oppose Shi Xiaole’s status when even the ’Blind Brothers’ had acknowledged him? Particularly as the Devil Path revered martial prowess, and Shi Xiaole’s strength had already won over most people.
"With the Demon Alliance in place, I announce we shall soon reopen the Black Devil Palace as the headquarters."
Lan Tian made a shocking decision.
The re na ’Black Devil Palace’ indicated the residence of the Black Devil. However, it had been destroyed in the great battle years ago.
After consultations among senior officials of leading forces such as the Lan and Huang families and the Demon Sky Sect, it was finally decided to establish the headquarters of the Demon Alliance on the old site of the Black Devil.
The Lan and Huang families argued that, firstly, the Alliance Leader was the descendant of the Divine Monarch, and secondly, reopening the palace held a symbolic significance.
The enormous cost of constructing the palace would of course be shared. After all, all the senior powers were to reside there in the future.
"Reopen the Devil’s Palace? Dream on!"
A voice rang out halfway up the mountain. Jade Fan Scholar appeared, wielding his jade fan and striding straight into the gathering as if there were no one else present.
Swoosh. Swoosh.
The ’Blind Brothers’ were the first to turn their focus towards Jade Fan Scholar, unleashing their moves in a flash of shadow.
This was the first ti the followers of the Devil Path saw the ’Blind Brothers’ in action. Their overwhelming power far surpassed the match between Shi Xiaole and the Demon Marquis, astonishing everyone present.
Even more daunting however, was that the scholar didn’t even seem to be losing against their combined attack.
"Ninety years ago, when I first saw you two, I knew you to be formidable opponents. Unfortunately, I had other matters to attend to back then and missed the chance to spar with you. Today, I wish to experience your skills."
As the three masters clashed, every single move was accompanied by a surge of intense True Qi energy. It uprooted large tracts of trees on Mountain Cang, and sent dust swirling in the air.
Several hours later, the ’Blind Brothers’ flew back from a distance, their bodies covered in blood, their faces as pale as paper.
"Elders, are you..."
Yi Wentian asked worryingly.
"Our organs have been injured by the shock. But Jade Fan Scholar has not escaped unscathed either. He has already left."
Left-eye Elder coughed up blood and said in a somber voice.
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