Chapter 1863: Chapter 1863: Monster?
Shunhuo Forest, is the nearest demon beast forest outside Shunhuo City.
Of course, although it’s the closest, the journey is not short.
At Xiao Yi’s speed, it would take about an hour.
Xiao Yi flew swiftly while pondering over the matter of the Three Halls.
In the past, when he hadn’t been severely injured and during normal training, he’d seen martial artists from the Three Halls.
But to say he understood them, not really.
Firstly, within the Eight Palaces, each has formed its own alliance.
And the Black Demon Hall, Heavenly Mechanism Hall, and Soul Hall, have almost zero communication with the other Five Halls.
Secondly, the martial artists of these Three Halls either act discreetly or are relatively scarce in number.
The Heavenly Mechanism Hall and Soul Hall are respectively gathering places for Array Masters and Soul Masters.
And the number of Array Masters and Soul Masters is indeed very small.
The professions themselves, mastering these two skills, are not easy.
There was a time when Xiao Yi first came to the Central Region and thought the martial artists from the Asura Hall were the fewest.
But over time, he realized that this statement is actually true, but not suitable for the current era.
To be precise, in Ancient Times, the Asura Hall had the fewest martial artists.
Nowadays, that’s not the case.
In Ancient Times, martial artists from the Asura Hall were all Extreme Body Cultivators, truly deserving the title ’Asura’.
Today, those who can be called ’Extreme Body Cultivators’ are very few.
In Ancient Times, a spectacular era, martial arts proliferated to its peak, Extreme Body Cultivation, Extreme Sword Cultivation, Extreme Fire Cultivation, could be seen everywhere.
And now, speaking of Extreme Sword Cultivation, how many are there?
Or put it another way, in terms of ’Extreme Body Cultivation’, the Asura Hall is still the hall with the fewest martial artists among the Eight Palaces.
But if talking about ’Body Cultivation Martial Artists’, that’s not the case anymore.
The standards for Body Cultivation Martial Artists are much lower in this era.
Thus, in fact, among today’s Eight Palaces, the Soul Hall and Heavenly Mechanism Hall are the ones with the fewest martial artists.
From Xiao Yi’s travels and training, encountering soul masters or array masters was rare.
Naturally, even for him in the past, the chances to interact with martial artists from the Soul Hall and Heavenly Mechanism Hall were very few.
And as for the Black Demon Hall.
The Black Demon Hall is considered a rather peculiar hall among the Eight Palaces.
The requirements and restrictions to enter the Black Demon Hall are very low, almost the lowest among the Eight Palaces.
And within the Black Demon Hall, most martial artists have diverse skills.
It’s not that they’re not strong; rather, they have a lot of techniques and are not limited to one path, yet none are particularly proficient in one.
Take the Wind Shattering Hall, each martial artist there excels in Wind Control.
Flame Hall warriors, each one is skilled in Fire Control.
Soul Hall martial artists, every one of them is an outstanding Soul Master.
Only the Black Demon Hall, with diverse skills, may seem not very powerful, but once in a battle, they are troublesome and difficult to deal with.
Additionally, in the Black Demon Hall, there are many who act discreetly and have eccentric personalities.
The most obvious difference is that other halls have Demon Hunting Teams, Wind Envoy Teams, Flame Envoy Teams, etc.
Only the Black Demon Hall lacks a Black Demon Team.
Most Black Mages prefer to act independently and alone.
And what makes Xiao Yi most curious is the entire Black Demon Hall, which is exceptionally scattered and not as cohesive as the other seven halls.
Of course, Xiao Yi doesn’t question anything about the Black Demon Hall.
The name Black Demon Hall might sound creepy.
But it’s one of the Eight Palaces, a cornerstone that once protected the continent’s people.
Perhaps, it’s just because Black Demon Hall martial artists have more arrogant personalities that the hall is relatively scattered.
Of course, on the other hand, it’s quite free here.
However, there are some shortcomings.
For example, some dangerous tasks that are really hard to complete alone, the Black Mages can’t take them.
In contrast, other large Demon Hunting Teams, Wind Envoy Teams, etc., dare to take them because of their numbers and strength.
Though Black Mages are mostly arrogant, they do not equate to a willingness to court death.
Xiao Yi pondered while also shaking his head.
An hour passed in the blink of an eye.
When Xiao Yi arrived at Shunhuo Forest, he could see from afar a shocking pillar of black aura rising from the forest center.
That was the aura of the Evil Dao.
"Indeed, it’s Evil Cultivators." Xiao Yi’s eyes turned cold.
Though his current appearance is different, it doesn’t mean he’s forgotten these evil cultivators.
Just like he said before, when he sees an evil cultivator, he kills one.
Ever since the Evil Lord Mansion touched his bottom line, evil cultivators were destined to be killed without a flinch.
Swish...
In the span of several breaths, Xiao Yi arrived at the forest center.
"Great Formation?" Xiao Yi glanced below, frowning.
Inside the Great Formation, including the Lei Family Patriarch and many from the Demon Hunting Teams, Wind Envoy Teams, etc., were all heavily injured and lying down.
Only one sinister-looking evil cultivator in the center of the formation laughed coldly and sinisterly.
"Hmm?" The evil cultivator, a dry-faced old man, looked up, "Another one courting death?"
"Seventh Layer of Emperor Realm cultivation." As Xiao Yi landed swiftly, he quickly assessed the evil cultivator’s cultivation.
"Which side are you from?" called out the Lei Family Patriarch from the ground.
The Lei Family Patriarch, though an old man, had a burly figure and an extraordinary aura.
His cultivation was also at the Seventh Layer of Emperor Realm.
Behind him, among the eight palace martial artists including the Demon Hunting Team and Wind Envoy Team, there were indeed some Saint Emperor Realm experts.
Yet, now they are all severely injured?
And this evil cultivator, seems to be completely unscathed?
A closer look reveals that beside the evil cultivator stands a young girl of around six or seven years old.
If guessed correctly, she should be the Lei Family Patriarch’s little granddaughter and the rescue target of the mission.
Xiao Yi had no intention of wasting time. With a swift movement, he rushed directly towards the little girl.
"Trying to save someone from my hands? What a joke." The evil cultivator sneered coldly.
Only to see the evil cultivator’s arm tremble.
A mighty force swept directly at Xiao Yi.
Xiao Yi’s figure was instantly blocked, and he was forced back several dozen strides.
"Formation Power?" Xiao Yi squinted his eyes.
No wonder this evil cultivator could injure the Lei Family Patriarch of the same cultivation level, while remaining unhurt himself, it was evidently the power of a Great Formation.
"From your appearance, you should be a Black Mage of the Black Demon Hall."
"Hehehe, among the Eight Palaces, your Black Demon Hall martial artists deal the most with the Evil Lord Mansion martial artists."
"You should know how formidable our Evil Lord Mansion is."
"Daring to come alone to court death? You have quite the guts."
Xiao Yi frowned.
Behind him, the Lei Family Patriarch shouted coldly, "Evil cultivator, the gutsy ones are you!"
"Did you forget about Purple Flame Vice Hall Master?"
"Hmph, just a few months ago, he swept through all the evil cultivation branches in our Eastern Range, and you still dare to show up? Seeking death?"
"Purple Flame Yi Xiao?" The evil cultivator sneered dismissively.
"That guy is strong, but as you said, he has already swept through once."
"Smart as he is, he would never imagine we would make a comeback, would he?"
"And even less, he wouldn’t imagine that I, an evil cultivator, would dare to show up."
"That fool is likely already out of the Eastern Range now."
The evil cultivator laughed triumphantly.
But if he knew that Purple Flame Yi Xiao is now right in front of him, who knows what expression he would have.
Whoosh...
Xiao Yi’s figure moved again.
This time, Xiao Yi’s speed was even faster.
"Hmm? So fast." The evil cultivator’s pupils contracted. By the time he reacted, the little girl had already been picked up by Xiao Yi and retreated.
The evil cultivator sneered dismissively, "Just a little girl, saving her is fine with me."
"I captured her only to make that fool, Lei Family Patriarch, bring more martial artists for me to absorb their essence blood."
"Heavenly Evil Five Poison Formation, activate."
The evil cultivator shouted, yet the surroundings remained calm.
"Hmm? Heavenly Evil Five Poison Formation, activate." The evil cultivator shouted several times.
The surroundings remained utterly silent.
Until Xiao Yi uttered a single character, ’Break.’
The original formation encompassing the surroundings instantly disintegrated.
Under the formation, the five poison aura lingering around vanished into thin air immediately.
"Array Master? You are an Array Master?" The Lei Family Patriarch’s face lit up with joy.
"I’ve heard the Black Demon Hall martial artists are all quite skilled. Seeing it today, your reputation is well deserved."
"Damn, you’re an Array Master?" The evil cultivator’s face changed suddenly, "No, you’re also a Poison Dao expert..."
The evil cultivator couldn’t finish his words.
In the last second of his life, he only saw a pair of white gloves extending from the wide black robe.
The next second, the evil cultivator’s vitality vanished, turning into a dried corpse.
Xiao Yi retracted his hand and picked up the fainted little girl, turning around to leave.
"Thank you, sir, oh no, senior." The Lei Family Patriarch quickly bowed, showing respect.
"Xin’er, wake up quickly." The Lei Family Patriarch called to awaken the little girl.
The little girl, dazed with sleep, rubbed her eyes and slowly opened them, "Grandfather."
She was initially overjoyed, but when she turned her head to look at Xiao Yi, her pupils constricted.
Being held like this by Xiao Yi, she naturally got a clear view of his face under the vast black robe.
The mask couldn’t conceal all the poisonous scars and boils.
"Ah, monster, go away."
The little girl struggled fiercely, even kicking her small feet against Xiao Yi’s chest several times.
The intense pain on Xiao Yi’s chest made him gasp.
The Lei Family Patriarch took over his granddaughter, apologetically, "Don’t mind her, senior, Xin’er is still so young..."
Xiao Yi shook his head, indicating he didn’t mind.
"Senior, please come back with me to the Lei Family, we will surely..." The Lei Family Patriarch said enthusiastically.
Xiao Yi shook his head, "No need, I’ve rescued her, the task is complete."
"You can send the reward to the Black Demon Branch Hall, I’ll go retrieve it when I have time."
With that, Xiao Yi swiftly left.
Only, under that vast black robe, he unconsciously sighed lightly, though the sigh was nearly inaudible.
...
The third update.
Today’s updates, complete.
