I Seriously Didn't Want to Be the Martial Alliance Leader

Chapter 48: Chapter 47: The 3 Clans’ Plot

"Elder Qi’s Dao, I paid a hefty price to hire you Yin Mountain Five Ghosts. You’d better not slack off."

In the group of Sea of Reincarnation Realm Martial Artists, Wei Guangming stared at the shabbily dressed old Daoist next to him, his gaze unfriendly.

Elder Qi’s Dao smiled, revealing a mouth full of yellow teeth. "The Yin Mountain Five Ghosts may not have the best reputation, but in the Jianghu, we still have to honor our word.

Don’t you worry. With me taking action this time, I guarantee you’ll seize more Spirit Pills than anyone else here.

Speaking of which, Sect Leader Wei, you’ve really hit the jackpot this time. I only vaguely heard from those informants that one of the Three Sealed Demon Races was looking to arrange a marriage.

I never expected it would be for this gorgeous Patriarch. Tsk, tsk... If I weren’t an old Daoist who shuns the company of women, even I would be tempted."

Wei Guangming shot him a sideways glance. "Even if you were tempted, can that thing of yours still even work?

She’s looking for a husband who can produce heirs, not a chopstick.

Besides, I’m doing this for the future of the Iron Armor Sect, not for some woman.

Enough nonsense. You took more than a decade of the Iron Armor Sect’s savings. If you don’t succeed this time, you know the consequences."

Most of the Jianghu People present only learned today that the Bai Family was arranging a marriage, but Wei Guangming had already gotten some information from local informants long ago.

At the time, however, he didn’t know the marriage was for the Patriarch herself; he only knew that the dowry included the Bai Family’s Cultivation Technique.

The Iron Armor Sect’s Iron Chain Cross River Skill was too restrictive. For a Hard Skill, cultivating it to Wei Guangming’s level was basically reaching its peak.

If he could pair it with another Cultivation Technique, Wei Guangming was confident he could raise the Iron Armor Sect to a whole new level.

That’s why he had spent nearly half of the Iron Armor Sect’s savings to hire the five expert Loose Cultivators of the Yin Mountain Five Ghosts to help him fight for the Spirit Pills. It was all so he could successfully marry into the Bai Family and obtain their Cultivation Technique.

Now, seeing Bai Xuewei’s appearance, it was a pleasant surprise.

"By the way, tell your four brothers to remember those two. Find a chance to kill them inside the Sealed Demon Valley.

Don’t strike too early. Wait until they’ve collected a good number of Spirit Pills, then kill them. That way, you can seize even more Spirit Pills."

Wei Guangming looked toward Chen Yuan and Luo the Thirteenth Lang, an unconscious trace of killing intent leaking from him.

Among the Yin Mountain Five Ghosts, the leader, ’Illusory Yin Master’ Qi Daoist, was at the Sea of Reincarnation Realm and would be traveling with him.

The other four were all at the Qi Casting Realm, which meant they would likely run into Chen Yuan and his companion.

Having them deal with Chen Yuan’s duo was killing two birds with one stone for Wei Guangming—he could get his revenge and seize more Spirit Pills.

"Don’t worry, they’re just two country bumpkins from Yan Province. When the time comes, we’ll let them have a taste of the Yin Mountain Five Ghosts’ methods."

Elder Qi’s Dao let out a sinister chuckle, baring his two rows of large, yellow teeth.

He then took out a small skull and tapped it, sending out an invisible sound wave that transmitted a message to his four brothers.

Wei Guangming nodded. He had given similar instructions to the Iron Armor Sect’s Martial Artists.

Don’t be in a rush to kill. Wait until the targets have seized enough Spirit Pills before making a move.

Everything hinged on this. If he could marry into the Bai Family and obtain their Cultivation Technique, the Iron Armor Sect’s strength would skyrocket.

When that time came, in the Iron Armor Sect’s ancestral hall, his name, Wei Guangming, would be placed even higher than that of the founding patriarch!

After everyone had entered the passage, the trio of Zhao Xuanxin, Xie Tianyun, and Bai Xuewei walked over, activated the Array in the Sealed Demon Valley, and sealed the entrance.

"Do you think this group will be able to make it to the deepest part?"

Xie Tianyun suddenly asked.

"It shouldn’t be a problem. There are several times more people at this Demon Sealing Conference than usual. Plus, we’ve even put our Junior Sister on the line. They’ll be desperate to slay Corpse Monsters and push into the deepest parts."

A mocking smile touched the corner of Zhao Xuanxin’s lips. "That Wei Guangming from the Iron Armor Sect even brought out the entire savings his Sect has accumulated for over a decade. It just goes to show how alluring you are, Junior Sister. But a fool like Wei Guangming should really consider if he’s even worthy of a single one of your toes."

Bai Xuewei chuckled lightly. "Senior Brother, you shouldn’t speak of him like that. The news we released didn’t mention me. He’s here for the Cultivation Technique."

With that said, Bai Xuewei looked at the two men, her expression turning solemn. "Senior Brothers, the arrow has already left the bow. Since we have already committed the act of betraying our master and ancestors, we must see it through to the end! This is our only chance, and it’s our last."

The two men also nodded with solemn expressions, then turned and stepped onto the area above the Sealed Demon Valley as well.

In an instant, the Array above the Sealed Demon Valley activated, and a gray miasma immediately enveloped the entire valley.

...

Inside the Sealed Demon Valley, Chen Yuan and Luo Lie walked through the central passage for about ten minutes before they finally saw some light ahead.

Among the thousand or so Martial Artists present, the majority were naturally at the Blood Movement Realm, numbering over seven hundred.

There was also a considerable number of Qi Casting Realm Martial Artists, around two hundred or more.

The remaining few dozen were all experts at the Sea of Reincarnation Realm.

After opening the Reincarnation Sea, True Qi circulates endlessly within the Dantian, granting stamina more than ten times that of a Qi Casting Realm Martial Artist. A few dozen of them were enough to sweep through a vast area.

Exiting the passage, what greeted Chen Yuan’s eyes was a barren wasteland shrouded in a gray miasma.

The earth was withered and yellow, caked and hard, with large patches of dark red bloodstains in some places.

The ground was occasionally littered with fragments of broken weapons. Some looked relatively new, while others were of an ancient design, vastly different from the styles of weapons currently seen in the Jianghu.

Many of the Martial Artists present were not first-timers at the Demon Sealing Conference.

Upon leaving the passage, they immediately vanished into the miasma.

Chen Yuan and Luo the Thirteenth Lang also followed them into the mist. Just as they stepped inside, Luo the Thirteenth Lang covered his nose and said, "What’s that smell?"

"This place was originally an ancient battlefield. Because of the Demons, the whole thing was flipped up to the surface.

The smell of thousands of years of decay and fermentation is naturally not going to be pleasant."

Chen Yuan observed his surroundings as he walked.

Visibility in the mist was only a few meters. Most of the time, they had to rely on their senses.

Just then, two roars suddenly rang out.

The sound of bestial roars suddenly came from the left and right of Chen Yuan and Luo the Thirteenth Lang.

In the next moment, two humanoid monsters shot out at extreme speed, lunging to bite them.

These humanoid monsters wore tattered armor and looked like dried corpses. Their flesh and blood hadn’t rotted away but had instead turned into black, gnarled jerky.

Their faces were grotesquely mutated, barely recognizable as human. Their mouths stretched nearly to the back of their ears, filled with sharp fangs and teeth.

Luo the Thirteenth Lang was startled by the creatures.

He was a battle-hardened veteran and had seen even bloodier scenes on the battlefield.

But something like a Corpse Monster was clearly beyond his imagination.

However, Luo the Thirteenth Lang reacted quickly. He thrust his Profound Flood Dragon Spear straight forward, piercing directly through his opponent’s chest.

But the Corpse Monster seemed unaffected. Even with a huge hole punched through its chest, it continued to charge at Luo the Thirteenth Lang, trying to tear at him wildly.

"Smash its head and dig out the Spirit Pill in its Dantian."

On his side, Chen Yuan slashed down with his blade, instantly tearing the Corpse Monster’s head apart.

Then, with a twist of his blade’s tip, he dug a pitch-black Elixir Pill directly from the Corpse Monster’s Dantian.

Luo the Thirteenth Lang pulled back his Profound Flood Dragon Spear and smashed it down over and over, crushing not only the monster’s head but also half its torso into smithereens.

But the Corpse Monster was still writhing on the ground. It only stopped moving completely after Luo the Thirteenth Lang took out a dagger and dug the Elixir Pill from its Dantian.

"So this thing is a Corpse Monster? It’s seriously ugly."

Luo the Thirteenth Lang grimaced.

"That’s because you haven’t seen anything uglier."

Chen Yuan said, "The Corpse-Driving Sect, a major Evil Dao sect from Tan Province, specializes in refining all sorts of corpses. They even stitch different corpses together. The things they create are incredibly demonic.

The predecessor of the Corpse-Driving Sect was the Corpse Demon Sect, a Demon Dao Giant Owl. They were even more insane, going so far as to dig up the ancestral graves of many Sects and Noble Families to use the remains of their ancestors for Corpse Refining. In the end, they incurred public wrath and were exterminated."

"That’s really asking for death."

Luo the Thirteenth Lang was left speechless.

At the same time, Luo the Thirteenth Lang felt that Chen Yuan truly knew a lot.

He knew how to kill these Corpse Monsters, and he even knew about things like the Corpse-Driving Sect and the Corpse Demon Sect.

Tan Province was in the south, and he had never even heard of these factions.

But Luo the Thirteenth Lang was simple-minded and never liked to overthink things.

After spending this time together, he had subconsciously come to feel that Brother Chen was just that knowledgeable. The man was smart, so it was only natural he knew these things.

"So this is the Spirit Pill? The Demonic Qi is a bit thick."

Luo the Thirteenth Lang examined the black Elixir Pill in his hand, frowning slightly.

Martial Artists who didn’t follow the Demon Dao couldn’t refine something with such an extreme Attribute. Even most Demon Dao Martial Artists wouldn’t be able to refine it directly.

That’s because it contained not only Demonic Qi, but also some corpse qi.

"That’s why you need to purify it with Inner Strength, removing the Demonic Qi before you can refine it."

Luo the Thirteenth Lang pursed his lips. "Then what’s the point? Judging by its Spiritual Qi content, it’s only at the level of a Low Grade Elixir. And you still have to spend time and effort purifying the Demonic Qi. Isn’t that just exhausting?"

Low Grade Elixirs could be created by any ordinary Alchemist. Although they required quite a few medicinal herbs, none of them were exceedingly rare.

For example, the Nine-Turns Nourishing Essence Pill from Medicine King Valley that Chen Yuan had refined last time was an Upper Grade Elixir and couldn’t be mass-produced.

"You come from the Sun-Swapping Alliance. After conquering a city, you have countless Elixirs and resources, so of course you think this is nothing.

But for Minor Sects, Small Noble Families, and Independent Martial Artists like me, these are treasures.

A Sect on the level of the Iron Armor Sect can’t even afford to support an Alchemist. They can’t even produce their own Low Grade Elixirs."

Chen Yuan, however, didn’t mind these Spirit Pills that were filled with Demonic Qi.

Purifying them with Inner Strength during his cultivation was a hassle, but constantly consuming and recovering Inner Strength was a form of training in itself.

Besides, many drops make a bucket. If he refined hundreds of Spirit Pills at once, the effect would be just as significant.

"Then let’s kill more of these Corpse Monsters and give all the Spirit Pills to you, Brother Chen."

Hearing that Chen Yuan was interested in these things, Luo the Thirteenth Lang’s spirits were suddenly lifted, and he began to venture deeper into the mist to slay the Corpse Monsters.

The Corpse Monsters’ advantage lay in their tough physical bodies and their immunity to True Qi. They would only die if their heads were smashed and their Spirit Pills were dug out.

Normally, in a one-on-one fight, it wouldn’t be too difficult for a Blood Movement Realm Martial Artist to kill one.

But if a group of Corpse Monsters charged out, things would get tricky.

A single mistake could lead to even a Qi Casting Realm Martial Artist being overwhelmed and killed by sheer numbers.

That was why the biggest difference between the three locations in the Sealed Demon Valley was the number of Corpse Monsters.

But with Chen Yuan and Luo the Thirteenth Lang teaming up, they weren’t afraid no matter how many Corpse Monsters there were.

Chen Yuan’s Cyan Dragon Blood Drink and Luo the Thirteenth Lang’s Profound Flood Dragon Spear were both top-tier Profound Soldiers, capable of easily tearing through the Corpse Monsters’ tough bones and flesh.