When Gu Hai’s group returned to the land of the living, it was in a city the Spirit Mountain Holy Land controlled.
“Infinite Wealth, the choice of your life!”
“Buy from my Bodhi Financial Management! We will give you a free pill furnace!”
“Buy from my Golden Mountain Financial Management! Free body checkup!”
“If you don’t manage your wealth, wealth will ignore you!”
The hawking of many financial products rang out in the city.
This was the third month of the Blessings Destruction Plan. Now, financial management stores had opened all over the Spirit Mountain Holy Land’s two thousand cities.
Five percent interest every month was practically giving away money.
Few had bought into it during the first month. Many joined in the second month, and by the third month, the financial products were selling like hotcakes.
It was like one was behind times if one did not buy financial products.
These empty financial management stores gained plenty of business. They look shiny and flashy on the surface, bound to the Spirit Mountain Holy Land’s temples and even the Spirit Mountain Holy Land itself.
Gu Hai looked around and saw a burly man excitedly carrying a pill furnace after buying some financial products.
“This warrior, are you not worried about them running away after you buy their financial products?” Gu Hai asked that burly man.
“Run? If the monk runs, can the temple run? Golden Mountain Financial Management has bought the mining rights to the Golden Mountain Temple’s spirit stone mines. If they run, the mines are still there, right? Furthermore, look over there. One of the Golden Mountain Financial Management’s managers is the abbot’s nephew. Even if we cannot get money from them, we can just go to the Golden Mountain Temple for it. If we still cannot get our money back, we can always go to the Spirit Mountain Holy Land. You probably don’t know, but the Lord Buddha visited the Golden Mountain Temple back then,” the burly man said with a smile.
A middle-aged woman at the side said, “Young lad, you just arrived, right? Golden Mountain Financial Management is wealthy. Why would they care about our insignificant sum of money? Furthermore, there’s the Golden Mountain Temple backing them. What is there to worry about? If they really run with the money, we can go seek the Lord Buddha for justice. We are the Lord Buddha’s citizens. He won’t ignore us.”
“Indeed. There’s no need to worry. Just buy it. For every day you delay, you lose out on a day’s worth of money. Alright, I won’t chat anymore. I have to go home and convince my stubborn relatives. Haha! Not only can they earn money with me, but I can even get a commission by bringing in customers!” a skinny man said.
Kong Xuan, the Mosquito Daoist, and the Unborn Man felt confused.
“Gu Qin has done well. This matter has gone deep into the people’s hearts. Furthermore, we are pulling back our people and replacing them with people connected to the Spirit Mountain Holy Land.” Gu Hai nodded to himself.
“Your Reverence, should we scout for information?” the Unborn Man asked.
“There’s no need. We immediately head to the Southern Sea’s Purple Bamboo Forest.” Gu Hai shook his head.
“Yes!” everyone answered.
Boom!
The four rushed out of the city in an instant, shooting to the south.
------
Chang Ming flew towards the north and soon arrived at a valley. There were many of the blood race here. This was the Blood Uniform Guard’s first foothold in the nether realm.
However, Chang Ming found countless buildings in the valley destroyed as he approached. He also saw the corpses of many of the blood race.
“What?” Chang Ming’s expression changed.
Many blood race members quickly flew over.
“Lord Envoy Commander!” the Blood Uniform Guards called out anxiously.
“What’s wrong? What happened?” Chang Ming glared.
“It’s the Myriad Bone Sinister Mountain. Those skeletons went crazy, searching for something, scouring everywhere. They searched our place three times before going to other cities and sects. They left everywhere they went in a mess. At first, some Blood Uniform Guards resisted, so…,” those Blood Uniform Guards said with unsightly expressions as they looked at the corpses on the ground.
“Collect their corpses and give their families three times the usual compensation!” Chang Ming said.
“Yes!”
“Lord Envoy Commander, should we report this to His Reverence?”
Chang Ming remained silent for a while. “His Reverence has something urgent on hand. There’s no need to disturb him. Check out the situation first. Find out what has driven those skeletons so crazy.”
“Yes!”
------
Gu Hai, Kong Xuan, the Mosquito Daoist, and the Unborn Man were all powerful experts. They could fly very fast, and they also had Kong Xuan to carry them. They arrived at the Southern Sea after just one day.
Now, the four flew above a vast sea with countless islands. They could see some sects and cultivators on these islands.
There were also myriad sea creatures swimming in the depths.
Whoosh!
The group landed on a mountain summit on an island.
“Your Reverence, Purple Bamboo Island is right in front. I have never entered it. However, we have to be careful since Crown Prince Gu Han said the Purple Jade Heavenly Demon is there.”
The group could see an island shrouded in purple fog in the distance, appearing very normal.
“The surrounding eight thousand islands obey Purple Bamboo Island. The Southern Sea Dragon Palace is also nearby. That sea region and the Southern Sea Dragon King also obey Purple Bamboo Island,” the Mosquito Daoist explained.
For this unremarkable island to control nearly the entire Southern Sea, it was not as simple as it seemed.
Gu Hai took out two zither puppets.
“Ao Shun, Shangguan Hen, answer me,” Gu Hai said.
However, the two zither puppets remained silent.
“Your Reverence, Shangguan Hen and Ao Shun have not replied since yesterday. Could they have…,” Kong Xuan said worriedly.
“We were worried this would happen. They have probably been captured,” Gu Hai said sullenly.
“Captured?” His three officials’ expressions changed.
Although Shangguan Hen did not have a divine Dao domain, he was at the ninth-layer Upper Heavenly Palace Realm. Furthermore, he cultivated the Eight Nines Profound Technique, possessing an indestructible body and seventy-two transformations. How could he get captured without any commotion?
“The Purple Jade Heavenly Demon probably did it. No one else in the Southern Sea could easily capture Shangguan Hen and even prevent him from using the zither puppet to call for help,” the Mosquito Daoist said with a frown.
“The Purple Jade Heavenly Demon? Mosquito Daoist, you have some understanding of the Heavenly Demon Holy Land. How strong is the Purple Jade Heavenly Demon? How does he compare to the Corpse Worm Heavenly Demon and Jiang Gautama?” Gu Hai frowned.
“The Purple Jade Heavenly Demon is the Purple Jade Peak’s peak master, the weakest peak of the Heavenly Demon Holy Land’s thirteen peaks. However, even though she is the weakest, she is still at the consummation of the Upper Heavenly Palace Realm. Your Reverence, do be careful.” The Mosquito Daoist frowned.
“Are you saying the Purple Jade Heavenly Demon is weaker than Jiang Gautama and the Corpse Worm Heavenly Demon?” Gu Hai looked at the Mosquito Daoist.
“Yes. The Heavenly Demon Holy Land has a ranking. The Unrestrained Heavenly Demon even once said if anyone could defeat him, he would let them become the main peak. Since the Purple Jade Heavenly Demon ranks last among the thirteen peaks, she should be the weakest. Of course, I’m not sure about the details. This is just hearsay,” the Mosquito Daoist explained.
“How excellent of the Heavenly Demon Holy Land. It lives up to being a holy land that has lasted since the ancient war between the shamans and animal spirits. They have consummate Upper Heavenly Palace Realm cultivators as peak masters. The factions in the land of the living cannot compare,” Kong Xuan said, frowning.
“No, Lord Kong Xuan, you are wrong,” the Unborn Man said, shaking his head.
“Oh?”
“If the Heavenly Demon Holy Land could suppress the factions in the land of the living, they would have expanded into the land of the living long ago. Why would they act so covertly? The Gautama Heavenly Demon joined Nalanda Temple, so the Purple Jade Heavenly Demon should have entered the land of the living around one thousand years ago. Why did the Purple Jade Heavenly Demon not dare to enter the Divine Continent, hiding instead in the Southern Sea?” the Unborn Man said.
“Is there some reason for it?” Kong Xuan asked.
“Yes. She didn’t remain in the Southern Sea because she did not want to enter the Divine Continent. Rather, she is on the Divine Continent blacklist. She is not permitted to enter the Divine Continent for three thousand years. That’s why she has remained in the Southern Sea,” the Unborn Man explained.
“The Divine Continent blacklist? Who placed her on it?” Gu Hai asked.
“The late Qian Heavenly Emperor, Long Zhanguo,” the Unborn Man replied.
“Long Zhanguo?” Gu Hai said, puzzled.
“Yes. Long Zhanguo was at the consummation of the Upper Heavenly Palace Realm. The Purple Jade Heavenly Demon is the same. Logically, they should be similarly strong. When the Purple Jade Heavenly Demon first arrived in the land of the living, she arrogantly went around challenging experts—until she got to the Qian Nation’s Heavenly Court City,” the Unborn Man said reminiscently.
“Heavenly Court City?”
“She wanted to challenge Long Zhanguo and use him as a stepping stone to fame. Then she could take in disciples and establish a large sect or even a holy land at the fastest speed possible. However, she was too naive. She could not compare to Long Zhanguo’s strength.” The Unborn Man frowned.
“Oh? Just how strong was Long Zhanguo?” Kong Xuan asked.
“Erm…how do I put it? Let’s compare Jiang Lianshan and Long Zhanguo. Although Jiang Lianshan was very scheming and the factions he controlled were spread practically all over the land of the living—like Jiang Gautama, Ba, Ji Dihong, Chiyou, and others—his personal strength could not compare to Long Zhanguo’s. Long Zhanguo rose too quickly. Although he did not excel at raising his children like Jiang Lianshan did, Long Zhanguo alone was sufficient for the Qian Heavenly Dynasty. He alone could conquer the whole world. The Purple Jade Heavenly Demon understood nothing at all about such an expert before barging into Heavenly Court City. You can easily imagine the result,” the Unborn Man replied.
“The Purple Jade Heavenly Demon lost?” the Mosquito Daoist said, feeling confused.
“That’s right. That battle was kept secret; few know about it. However, I happened to witness it. Back then, I had just started cultivating lifespan and was seeing Wanqing’s mother. We were planning to go to Long Zhanguo to ask for his blessing. However, the Purple Jade Heavenly Demon came at that time,” the Unborn Man reminisced.
“Wanqing’s mother, Long Xiaoyue?” Gu Hai said with misgivings.
“Indeed. Back then, the Purple Jade Heavenly Demon bragged boldly, wanting to sit on Long Zhanguo’s throne. Your Reverence probably can imagine the scene then. All the officials glared at her furiously,” the Unborn Man said.
“So Long Zhanguo attacked?” Gu Hai asked.
“No. Long Zhanguo did not attack. Instead, he extended his hand and touched Long Xiaoyue, sending her some energy. Then, Long Xiaoyue attacked and beat the Purple Jade Heavenly Demon to the ground in just a while,” the Unborn Man recalled.
“That’s impossible, right? He only sent Long Xiaoyue some energy, and she defeated the Purple Jade Heavenly Demon? This Purple Jade Heavenly Demon does not seem like much,” Kong Xuan said in confusion.
“The Purple Jade Heavenly Demon is at the consummation of the Upper Heavenly Palace Realm. No matter how weak she is, she can’t be weaker than us, right? I can only say Long Zhanguo was too powerful!” the Unborn Man sighed.
“Why did Long Zhanguo get Long Xiaoyue to handle her?” Gu Hai asked.
“No one else had realized; only Long Zhanguo noticed. The Unrestrained Heavenly Demon, the master of the Heavenly Demon Holy Land, had been watching in secret, although the Purple Jade Heavenly Demon did not know. She was just the Unrestrained Heavenly Demon’s subordinate. No matter what, how could Long Zhanguo deal with a subordinate personally? Hence, he sent Long Xiaoyue,” the Unborn Man explained.
“Why didn’t Long Zhanguo kill the Purple Jade Heavenly Demon?” Kong Xuan asked.
“Long Zhanguo exchanged glances with the Unrestrained Heavenly Demon and apparently reached an agreement at that time.
“After that, Long Zhanguo placed the Purple Jade Heavenly Demon on the Divine Continent blacklist, which he sent to the other two heavenly dynasties and the three holy lands. The five factions’ leaders agreed and signed off on the blacklist.
“Since then, the Purple Jade Heavenly Demon no longer dared to step into the Divine Continent. She was banned from the Divine Continent for three thousand years.”
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