Chapter 166: Chapter 166: Demon Hunting
But there was nothing he could do.
Jiang Xu watched where the other party had long since vanished. Even if he was unwilling to accept it, there was nothing to be done.
Only then did Jiang Xu begin to ponder their identities.
’Looks like those two were working together. But that female cultivator called herself ’Miss’ something... could she be the young lady of some major Cultivation Clan or a Major Sect?’
Jiang Xu couldn’t help but feel a little regretful.
He had just finished his seclusion and had grown accustomed to not using his Concealing Breath Spell inside his cave residence, so he’d forgotten to activate it for a moment.
He never expected it to attract this kind of trouble. What awful luck.
But then Jiang Xu had another thought, and it didn’t seem right.
That man was clearly a Demon Cultivator, and the two of them were together. What kind of young lady from a good family would associate with a Demon Cultivator?
And yet, that female cultivator’s various magical artifacts and her miraculously skillful escape abilities were clearly anything but ordinary.
This gave Jiang Xu a major headache.
’Right, I need to check if I’ve been marked.’
After repeatedly using the Spiritual Eye Technique to confirm that no strange imprints or marks had been placed on him, Jiang Xu finally breathed a sigh of relief.
’Since they’ve already fled, this is no place to linger. If they come back with reinforcements, I’ll be in deep trouble.’
At that thought, Jiang Xu quickly activated his stealth and bolted toward the Purple Profound Celestial Marketplace without a second glance.
...
Along the way, Jiang Xu clearly noticed that the Endless Forest looked different than before.
’Why are there so many Demon Cultivators! And what’s the deal with those savages?!’
After three years in seclusion, Jiang Xu emerged to find the outside world had changed beyond recognition.
Normally, an Immortal Cultivator’s seclusion would last for several years, but the surrounding environment would rarely change much. It was usually the same as it was before.
But it had only been three years, and Jiang Xu already felt like he’d been left behind by the times.
On the road to the Purple Profound Celestial Marketplace, Jiang Xu lost count of how many battles he came across.
He frequently saw ferocious-looking Demon Cultivators attacking the Righteous Dao.
There were also some Righteous Cultivators who attacked Demon Cultivators, shouting slogans about vanquishing demons and defending the Dao.
But that wasn’t what shocked Jiang Xu the most.
What truly shocked him was seeing many Body Cultivators who looked like savages teaming up with Demon Cultivators to attack Righteous Cultivators.
These seemingly savage Body Cultivators had appearances that were clearly different from humans like Jiang Xu.
Their skin was like cast bronze, and they wore clothes made of furs or leaves. Their upper bodies were powerful and sturdy, with muscles that bulged like hard rock, sharply defined and freely exposed.
What was particularly striking were the complex and extremely strange tattoos covering their bodies.
These patterns were branded deep into their skin, with each person’s markings being unique—some were fierce like dragons, tigers, leopards, and bears, while others were mysterious like ancient totems.
Whenever they fought, these tattoos seemed to come alive, exuding an aura that contained the souls of ferocious beasts, as if they were channeling some special power for them.
They looked like an entirely different race from Jiang Xu, and he had no idea how these savages had appeared in Dinghai State.
Along the way, Jiang Xu didn’t get involved in any of the conflicts, nor did he clash with anyone.
Just like that, Jiang Xu arrived before what was once the Purple Profound Celestial Marketplace.
Seeing the Marketplace ahead, Jiang Xu raised an eyebrow.
The city in front of him looked much newer than when he had first seen it; it seemed many parts had been newly constructed in the past few years.
At the same time, Jiang Xu saw that the Marketplace was now heavily guarded.
The guards on the ground were more than a notch stronger than before.
In addition to two Foundation Establishment Cultivators scanning the area ahead with their Divine Sense,
there were another six Qi Cultivation Great Perfection Cultivators and more than a dozen Qi Cultivation Late Stage Cultivators at the city gate, strictly registering all who came and went. They held some unknown object and were scanning the registered pedestrians with it.
Meanwhile, several flying Spirit Beasts were patrolling the sky, on high alert.
Most importantly, the name above the Marketplace’s city gate had changed.
It was no longer called "Purple Profound Heaven."
Instead, it had been changed to—"Demon Hunting."
’My goodness, has it really changed this much?’
Jiang Xu deactivated his stealth, revealing his figure. Seeing how strict the screening was, he decided to find someone and ask what was going on.
No sooner said than done, Jiang Xu casually stopped a Qi Cultivation Middle Stage Cultivator who looked like he was about to enter the city.
"Fellow Daoist over here, may I ask you a question?"
The man who was stopped looked impatient and quite annoyed, but when Jiang Xu released a sliver of his aura, the man instantly deflated.
His body hunched over, and he replied to Jiang Xu with a sycophantic smile:
"Aiyo, Senior, please ask! Whatever I know, I’ll tell you!"
Jiang Xu didn’t intend to ask for free. He casually handed over a bottle of Qi Replenishing Pills he no longer needed before asking:
"I’ve been in seclusion for a few years, but now that I’m out, so many things have changed. For example, these Demon Cultivators are everywhere, and the Purple Profound Celestial Marketplace has changed its name. Can you tell me about it?"
After receiving the elixirs, the man’s back bent even lower, and his smile grew even wider:
"Senior, you really picked a time to go into seclusion, missing the biggest event to ever happen in our Dinghai State."
Then, the man recounted the entire story to Jiang Xu from beginning to end.
It turned out that not long after Jiang Xu went into seclusion,
Su Duo had breached the Purple Profound Celestial Marketplace. After slaughtering nearly half of the Cultivators inside, three Golden Core Cultivators from the Profound Origin Sect and the Celestial Blade Sect belatedly arrived.
In truth, their late arrival wasn’t entirely their fault.
The Profound Origin Sect didn’t have many Golden Core Cultivators to begin with, and several of them were unable to come for various reasons.
After finally managing to notify the Celestial Blade Sect and drag two more Golden Core Cultivators from there, they became worried it was a Demon Cultivator ploy to lure the tiger from its mountain, fearing that their own headquarters would be attacked after they left.
So, they first sent people to the Purple Profound Celestial Marketplace to gather intelligence. Only after confirming the situation did they truly set out.
But because of that delay, they were too late. In the end, Su Duo still succeeded.
Furthermore, these three Golden Core Cultivators, facing a single Tier Three Array Master, failed to actually capture him and ended up letting Su Duo escape.
After Su Duo escaped, news that the Purple Profound Celestial Marketplace had been breached spread throughout Dinghai State and even reached Canglang State.
Consequently, the seven great Demon Sects of Canglang State, representing the Demon Dao of Canglang State, declared war on the Righteous Dao of Dinghai State.
And so, the two sides began to clash.
Interestingly, the native inhabitants of Canglang State, the Barbarian Race, also allied with the Demon Dao to declare war on the Righteous Dao of Dinghai State.
The Barbarian Race’s reasoning was that they had an agreement with the Demon Dao: as long as the Demon Dao of Canglang State drove out the Righteous Dao from Dinghai State, the Demon Dao would then move into Dinghai State, thereby returning Canglang State to them.
But they never considered:
Could one really expect people of the Demon Dao to keep their word?
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