With a gentle wave of his hand, the fire imdiately dissipated, and the five carts carrying blazing flas vanished along with it.
"Hmm."
Dressed in red, the Holy Infant King held a gun in one hand and placed the other behind his back, adopting a mature deanor as he surveyed his surroundings. "Impressive! Truly impressive! To push back a Perfect Fifth Rank with a Sixth Rank, this king is willing to acknowledge you as the strongest of the Sixth Rank."
"Your praise is too kind," Jiang Li replied calmly, "I was previously engaged in a sword duel and slightly lost a move, and even sustained injuries."
"Hmm?" The Holy Infant King widened his eyes in surprise. "There is soone stronger than you at the Sixth Rank?"
"Jiang Li, the True Disciple of the Dinghu Sect, possesses the unparalleled talents of the Yan-Huang Technique. With superior aptitude and constitution, his future will undoubtedly rival that of Daoist Master Bai."
Jiang Li, channeling Li Qinglian’s straightforward and carefree character, expressed his heartfelt admiration, treating the one who slightly bested him as his lifeti archenemy.
"It doesn’t seem like you are injured at all..."
The Holy Infant King walked around Jiang Li, leaning on his spear, and said, "Never mind, that’s not important. What matters is that I’ve found you, and your strength is indeed formidable."
"What do you seek from ?" Jiang Li asked.
He knew that the Devil God Sect was a mix of dragons and snakes; aside from a minority of genuinely principle-driven mbers, the rest were infiltrators from noble families, secret agents from major sects, spies from the court, and operatives from other Evil Path forces...
The vast Devil God Sect was like a microcosm of the world’s forces, with various factions embedded within, forming cliques large and small.
It was probably only soone like the Great Venerable, suspected to possess the Book of Luo River Map, who could accurately identify the composition of his subordinates and assign them appropriate tasks.
Given this scenario, it was evident that there were internal unity problems within the Devil God Sect. All mbers were more guarded against their brethren than their enemies, and apart from those they knew well and trusted, they preferred to minimize interactions with others.
However, it seed an exception had arisen this ti.
"Of course, it’s to do great things, great things."
The Holy Infant King gestured a large circle with his hand, indicating the magnitude of the affair, "With the court now led by won and the Taiping Sect growing restless, it is the perfect opportunity to stir trouble. If not now, then when?"
The Dao Fruits of demons, ghosts, and monsters might not all be inherently evil, but the majority certainly aren’t good. They unabashedly used their Dao Fruit Abilities to fulfill their desires, which was their thod of expression.
The people of the Devil God Sect weren’t truly honest folks carrying the bla; their scapegoating also facilitated the demonstration of their Dao Fruits.
Even false rumors, once believed by many, could bring benefits.
So, what the Holy Infant King said was not entirely wrong; it was indeed an excellent opportunity to stir up trouble.
"Well said," Jiang Li responded indifferently, "but I follow the Human Species path."
Although Jiang Li was eager to join in, he had to decline to maintain his character, which was the difficult part of assuming another’s identity.
Li Qinglian, though not concerned about losing face, had his moral lines that were often higher than those of Jiang Li, at least not being able to bluntly say ’count in.’
But the Holy Infant King seed to have done his howork well.
"You are a Human Species now, but that might not be the case in the future. Don’t you want to truly step out of the shadow of Daoist Master Bai?" The Holy Infant King leaned in closer and continued, "Moreover, if you are willing to make a move, you might even acquire a portion of the ’Moluo Sword Manual.’"
’The Moluo Sword Manual,’ a forbidden sword technique from Buddha Country, was said to be created by Karma Tathagata...
Unlike Daoist Master Bai, who specialized in one path, Li Qinglian planned to forge a different path by nurturing a hundred swords to master the Sword Dao. Even if it was only a possibility, it was enough to tempt Li Qinglian. Finally, Jiang Li could say, ’Count in.’
"Agreed," Jiang Li said decisively.
"Very well."
The Holy Infant King clapped his hands, his figure transford into a blaze of fire, soaring into the sky, "Co."
Jiang Li summoned the Sword Light and followed closely.
...
...
The moon reached its zenith, casting its bright moonlight between the mountains, illuminating the mountain-top pond, turning the summit and the water’s edge silvery-white.
The sound of water roared, a silver cascade of a waterfall plumted from the mountain walls into the pond below, creating a drum-like sound and spraying fine mists of water, adding a touch of chill to the air.
Suddenly, the pond made a gurgling noise, a whirlpool ford in the blink of an eye, followed by a dark figure breaking through the water and emitting a chilling roar towards the sky, spreading coldness that frosted the pond.
Under the moonlight, the body that erged from the water stretched over twenty fathoms long, with dark scales covering its back and a dark belly, its green eyes looking up at the sky and its tongue flickering.
This was unmistakably a black snake spanning three fathoms in thickness.
"Hmph, it has been so ti since we last t, and you seem to have advanced significantly," a shadowy tower-like figure remarked from atop the summit, overlooking the pond. "Looking at you now, you must have reached Perfect Fifth Rank."
"Mutual indeed," the Black Snake spoke in a raspy voice, "Ashuren, for you to approach silently, your realm must be no less than mine."
Having known each other for a long ti, the Black Snake was aware of this person’s Dao Fruit, he was a Great Asura, but his exact title was unknown.
The Great Asura and the Sixth Grade Asura inherited the sa line, both characterized by their irritable and belligerent nature. Influenced by his Dao Fruit, Ashuren’s temperant was naturally difficult, silence was not his forte.
Now, his ability to arrive here so stealthily clearly showed he could now suppress his temper, minimizing the influence of his Dao Fruit.
"Hmph, consider yourself observant."
Ashuren snorted and suddenly leapt down from the mountaintop, bringing a strong gust of wind and landed on the ground without reducing his speed, causing the ground to tremble and forming a large crater.
"Where are the others? Or did you only invite ?"
"There’s also that little firestarter, Da Feng, Zaochi, Seal Pig, and Rashamon Lady, but I don’t know if they have the guts to co," hissed the Black Snake.
As soon as he finished speaking, a streak of firelight descended from the sky, the intense heat dispelling the night’s chill and turning the moisture in the air into mist.
"Courage is the last thing I lack."
The firelight finally stopped mid-air, facing the Black Snake from afar, revealing the silhouette of the Holy Infant King, and ...
A figure in green robes quietly appeared to the left of the firelight. Both the Black Snake and Ashuren fixed their gaze on this newcor.
Despite watching the firelight descend, neither had noticed this person’s presence.
"Little ghost, who did you bring with you?" Ashuren raised his voice.
Jiang Li, suspended in mid-air, took in the surrounding scene and imdiately identified the identities of the man and the snake.
The Black Water Mysterious Snake You Mountain Lord, one of the Nineteen Demons, leader of the serpent cultivators within the Devil God Sect, especially after the Giant Snake Baqi and Heluo God were suppressed.
The other, standing tall with bulging muscles clad in simple linen robes, his ssy, long hair hanging loosely and an extrely ugly face, was likely the Great Asura Ashuren. By the way, this man was very likely associated with Fire House Buddha Hell.
Since Karma Tathagata defected from Buddha Country, the Asura Dao Fruit had beco exclusive to Fire House Buddha Hell, from Karma Tathagata downwards, the most renowned were the top four powerhouses in Buddha Prison who harbored the Asura King Dao Fruit.
As for Buddha Country, there might still be Asura Dao Fruits, but essentially, any cultivator who harbored an Asura Dao Fruit ended up being poached by Fire House Buddha Hell, so Asuras were no longer visible in Buddha Country.
As for why Jiang Li was so well inford about these two ...
That goes back to the characteristic mix of entities within the Devil God Sect.
"What right do you have to question who I bring?" the Holy Infant King responded defiantly, showing no sign of weakness, "Ashuren, if you want to try my Samadhi True Fire, just say it."
"I’m going to make you perish right now."
Ashuren’s form began to expand slightly, his muscles bulging like small snakes.
The Holy Infant King’s eyes flared with fire and smoke snorted from his nose, clearly ready to fight.
Jiang Li watched as the two were about to co to blows after just a few words, reflecting that the rumors were true; the Devil God Sect indeed fostered camaraderie among mbers, excelling at sticking together.
Here, everything else was illusory; only strength was real. Once the Holy Infant King and Ashuren clashed, whoever erged victorious would hold the sway in the ensuing conversations.
Just as the two were about to display a bout of All Martial Arts, a tranquil voice carried on the wind.
"He is Li Qinglian, an independent incarnation of Taibai True Monarch of Daode Sect. Although everyone present outranks him, if we talk about seniority in teaching, he is a senior to everyone here."
A breeze brought in a graceful figure, her hair elegantly coiled, clad in a jade white Dao robe, holding a horsetail whisk, a typical Daoist nun attire. However, her stunningly beautiful face and the willowy waist accentuated by a jade belt revealed a charm not typical of a serene Daoist nun.
The only pity was probably that her chest was not pronounced, not quite matching her senior sister.
Rashamon Lady, one of the Nineteen Demons, specialized in assassination, a figure akin to an assassin. If the people of the Devil God Sect were not so outspoken and open about their actions, perhaps no one would even know of such a character within the sect.
"A senior? A re Sixth Grade dares to be my senior?"
Ashuren scoffed disdainfully, "Don’t talk about Taibai True Monarch’s incarnation, even if it’s a Daoist Lord’s incarnation, if they’re Sixth Grade Realm facing , it’s still a kill without a burial."
"Ha, you’re quite fierce," retorted the Holy Infant King with a similar scoff, "Go ahead and try if you dare."
While speaking, the Holy Infant King secretly transmitted, "The Moluo Sword Manual fragnt I told you about is on Ashuren."
With the Great Asura Dao Fruit and the Moluo Sword Manual fragnt, suggesting that Ashuren was unrelated to Fire House Buddha Hell would hardly be believable to anyone.
Seeing this, Jiang Li could only lant the richness of talent within the Devil God Sect; just after eting a fellow sect mber, he had encountered a typical undercover mber.
Ashuren had ties to Fire House Buddha Hell, but it was uncertain if the other three, the Black Water Mysterious Snake, Holy Infant King, and Rashamon Lady, were also connected to external forces.
Mixing within the Devil God Sect, the hardest part was figuring out how many faces a fellow devotee really had.
Even that Great Venerable might not have just one face. At least for now, the true face of the Great Venerable remained a mystery.
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