Chapter 1769 – The Issue
The jade marrow monument flew up once more as dark fog appeared underneath it. Standing on the side of the monument were nine elders from the nine super sects. They wanted to know who would walk out of the dark fog.
Time pa.s.sed, but n.o.body came out of the dark fog. This caused the nine elders to change their expressions. They immediately thought that something had gone wrong.
But not long after that, someone finally walked out. Seeing this person, the nine elders relaxed. It was good that someone survived. They were beginning to think that everyone had been wiped out.
After that, people came out one after another. Before long, more than 50 people came out of the dark fog.
However, the expressions of the nine elders turned ugly once more. They knew that not a lot of people would be returning from now on.
The reason they have this idea was because of the speed at which the cultivators appeared. The frequency of return has decreased after the 50 or so people appeared. These more than 50 people took more than an hour to arrive. This confused the elders. This could only mean that the danger in the Heavenly Demon Realm has increased.
Lin Zhendong and Hu Wushang were among the more than 50 people that returned. As for Zhao Hai, he has yet to appear. But just as the jade marrow monument was about to fall down, a figure was seen appearing from the dark fog. And this figure was Zhao Hai.
Before Zhao Hai entered the dark fog, Zhao Hai discovered that the Heavenly Demons had sent people to guard the locations where the dark fog appeared. But what’s surprising was that the Heavenly Demons allowed the cultivators to enter the dark fog. They weren’t attacked.
Zhao Hai was somewhat confused. When he appeared near the dark fog, Zhao Hai immediately knew why the others weren’t attacked, these experts were waiting for him. So as soon as he appeared, the Heavenly Demons immediately attacked. Zhao Hai didn’t have any plans to attack them, so he just dodged towards the dark fog.
After Zhao Hai came out, he immediately went to the Myriad Demons Sect Elder and cupped his fist as he said, “I have seen the Elder.”
Seeing Zhao Hai return safely, the elder didn’t say anything and just nodded. It disappointed him that Zhao Hai was able to survive. However, he wouldn’t reveal it.
At this moment, the jade marrow monument finally fell down and the dark fog disappeared. The Heaven Sect elder walked out and said, “The Heavenly Demon Trial has concluded. The sects can now take their disciples back. But before you leave, you need to leave your jade tokens behind. We will evaluate your standing and rewards from your achievements in the Heavenly Demon Realm.”
The disciples have been shaken with the cruelty of the world, so not a lot of them were polite. After the Heaven Sect elder finished speaking, the elder of the Myriad Demons Sect turned to Zhao Hai and said, “Give me your jade token.”
Zhao Hai didn’t say anything as he took out his jade token and handed it over to the Myriad Demons Sect elder. The elder looked into Zhao Hai’s ident.i.ty token and a contemptuous expression flashed on his face for a moment. However, he quickly returned to normal and then turned to get the jade tokens of the others, especially Lin Zhendong. Seeing Lin Zhendong’s record, the elder had a satisfied expression. He could see that Lin Zhendong has performed well.
In fact, everyone who came out of the Heavenly Demon Trial has done very well. This was because they had been fighting nonstop the moment they appeared in the Heavenly Demon Realm. This explains their stellar scores. It might be said that Zhao Hai had the worst record among those the elder saw.
Lin Zhendong’s jade token had a kill count of more than 300. Meanwhile, the other cultivators had more than 200 kills. It was only Zhao Hai who had around 100 kills, the worst among those in the Northern Divergent Province.
In the mind of the Myriad Demons Sect Elder, Zhao Hai didn’t dare battle the Heavenly Demons. He just escaped using his spatial ability. Otherwise, his kill count wouldn’t have been very bad.
Actually, Zhao Hai didn’t have the least kills among everyone who entered the Heavenly Demon Realm. Zhao Hai deliberately planned his kill count. Those who survived the Heavenly Demon Trial numbered 57. If ranked, Zhao Hai placed 33rd among everyone. He wasn’t the last, but he wasn’t the best either.
Zhao Hai didn’t want to get the attention of the Myriad Demons Sect for now. If he performed very well, then the Myriad Demons Sect might have plans for him. It would be a bad idea if the Myriad Demons Sect didn’t allow him to return to the Black Tiger Gang.
After the Myriad Demons Sect elder received the ident.i.ty tokens, he brought everyone to the transmission formation. And once Zhao Hai and the others arrived at the Myriad Demons Sect, they separated and returned to their own sects. Although the Myriad Demons Sect invited everyone for a small gathering, n.o.body accepted the invitation. They knew clearly that they might not survive if they stayed in the sect for long.
Don’t think that sects like the Myriad Demons Sect doesn’t do a.s.sa.s.sinations. In fact, these super sects liked a.s.sa.s.sinations the most. As long as n.o.body has evidence, n.o.body would accuse them. Even if the sect wanted to avenge their disciple, they couldn’t do it.
Zhao Hai used the transmission formation to return to the Black Tiger Gang. When Tie Zhantian heard that Zhao Hai returned, he immediately summoned him to his study. Hu Liangchen and the other senior members of the sect were also present.
Tie Zhantian looked Zhao Hai up and down before he laughed and said, “Good, good. I didn’t expect that you would cross your tribulation during the trial. That’s fantastic! Hahaha. My Black Tiger Gang now has a new expert. It seems like you had great harvests in the Heavenly Demon Trial.”
Zhao Hai smiled faintly and said, “I had great harvests. But compared to my tribulation, there’s another bigger harvest. We now have more understanding regarding the Heavenly Demon Realm. Gang Leader, we need to make preparations. It seems like the Heavenly Demons are planning something big.”
Hearing Zhao Hai, Tie Zhantian couldn’t help but stare. Then his complexion changed as he asked, “What do you mean? Are they going to invade?”
Zhao Hai smiled bitterly and said, “Although I hope that they won’t, I reckon it will come to that. After I arrived at the Heavenly Demon Realm, I was immediately surrounded. It seems like they knew that I would appear in that place. At that time, they sent two transcending tribulation stage Heavenly Demons as well as dozens of nascent soul and core formation demons. Luckily I was able to run away quickly. But that wasn’t the end. It seems like the Heavenly Demons knew where I was all the time. No matter where I hid, they would always find me.”
Hearing Zhao Hai, Tie Zhantian’s expression turned serious. He looked towards Hu Liangchen. Hu Liangchen looked at Zhao Hai and said, “Little Hai, you mean the Heavenly Demons have a method to track you down?”
Zhao Hai nodded, “That might be the case. Otherwise, they wouldn’t have been so accurate. I felt like a rat always running away while inside the trial. They didn’t let me relax for a moment. Fortunately, I was able to cross my tribulation and increase my strength. There are only 57 people who survived the trial, all of them were at the transcending tribulation stage. None of the nascent soul or core formation experts came back.”
Everyone in the room turned serious. They were surprised at the losses in the Heavenly Demon Trial. This was because the previous trials have at least more than 400 survivors. There were trials where only more than 100 people returned, but that was very rare. This was the first time where less than 100 people survived.
Zhao Hai looked at everyone and then forced a smile as he said, “There’s something worse. The place I appeared in is the territory of a sect called the Cloud Demon Sect. In the Heavenly Demon Realm, it is only regarded as a medium-grade sect. It should have similar status as the Black Tiger Gang. However, the sect has at least two Immortal Experts. I was discovered by one of them and almost died. I had just crossed my tribulation at that time. But I was able to escape using my ability. The Cloud Demon sect is stronger compared to the Black Tiger Gang.”
Tie Zhantian’s expression turned uglier. He knew clearly that Zhao Hai was being polite in saying that the Cloud Demon Sect was stronger than the Black Tiger Gang. In reality, the Black Tiger Gang simply couldn’t compare to the Cloud Demon Sect.
Hu Liangchen looked at Zhao Hai and said, “Little Hai, why do you think the Heavenly Demon Realm would attack the Great World of Cultivation?”
Zhao Hai replied, “Before going to the Heavenly Demon Trial, I looked through the records of the previous ones. According to our sect’s records, when the Great World of Cultivation sends young masters to the Heavenly Demon Realm, the Heavenly Demon Realm would also send their young masters to fight. This way, both sides would get some training. Therefore, although the Great Demon Realm suffered losses, it didn’t reach such a critical point like this time. So in my opinion, the actions of the Heavenly Demons are too unusual. Before this, they haven’t gone so far as to kill and pursue the people from the Great World of Cultivation.”
Hu Liangchen and the others nodded. They approved of Zhao Hai’s thoughts in this matter. Zhao Hai looked at everyone and said, “After so many years, both parties were already aware of how the other would act. But this time, the Heavenly Demons camped the area where we would appear and then immediately hunted us down. This means that they didn’t want cultivators to enter the Heavenly Demon Realm. And why was this? This is the issue!”