Chapter 230: The Root Demon of Desolate Ridge
"When others bully the young, the old come to help. But for me, when I bully the old, the young come instead."
Qin Mu sighed inwardly, thinking how difficult it was to be the Heavenly Demon Sect Master.
Long Jiaonan and that woman from Sanqi Fortress had arrived here, indicating that other young experts were nearby. If these people caught up, it would be troublesome.
Fox Spirit skillfully manipulated the demonic wind, sweeping away the insects flying toward them and sending them far away. "Young Master, aren't these people going home for the New Year?"
"They probably consider killing me their New Year celebration."
Qin Mu shook his head. "Besides killing me, they also want to kill the Emperor. Killing me is definitely not going to work, but I wonder if they can kill the Emperor. After all, the Emperor is a much bigger target than me."
Fox Spirit handled it well, blowing away the insects so Long Jiaonan and the others wouldn't find this place, and hopefully wouldn't find Desolate Ridge Canyon either.
Desolate Ridge Canyon wasn't far from here. When Qin Mu reached Desolate Ridge, he saw that the terrain wasn't as steep as other places, but something seemed different about this area—the mountain was completely gray, without a trace of green.
The mountain was full of withered trees, both the trees and the ground were black, giving one unpleasant thoughts.
"What if they kill the Emperor?" Fox Spirit asked.
Qin Mu took the lead and walked into Desolate Ridge. Fox Spirit quickly followed, jumped onto Dragon Kirin's back, then hopped onto Dragon Kirin's head, looking around.
"If they kill the Emperor and the Crown Prince takes the throne, the Imperial Preceptor's reforms would be overthrown by the Crown Prince."
Qin Mu continued, "Then the Imperial Preceptor would eliminate the Crown Prince and install a more obedient Emperor. Even if the Imperial Preceptor doesn't do this, I will. I would also invite the Imperial Preceptor to become the fourth Heavenly King of the Holy Sect—I've been saving that position for him for a long time. However, they won't be able to kill the Emperor, and the Imperial Preceptor wouldn't want to be the Holy Sect's fourth Heavenly King."
Here, dead trees were everywhere, with no branches or leaves. Fox Spirit felt nervous, thinking these withered branches looked like sharp claws, and the twisted trunks seemed like terrifying faces, making her afraid.
"This place has been contaminated by divine and demonic blood."
The Duty Demon King casually slapped a few flying insects to death, then grabbed a handful of soil from the ground, rubbed it, and said in surprise, "Strange, this blood is very peculiar—I can't tell if it's divine or demonic. It seems to have both divine and demonic blood, one type of blood containing both divine and demonic properties. Interesting..."
Qin Mu asked curiously, "Demon King, could it be that divine and demonic blood fell on this land at the same time?"
He had seen demonic god blood before, which was very powerful. Back when he entered the darkness of the Great Ruins with the village chief, the chief wounded a demonic god in the darkness. A single drop of that god's blood fell on the soil, and all trees and flowers within a radius of over a hundred zhang withered, similar to the situation in Desolate Ridge.
But that was just a single drop of demonic blood.
Here, the entire Desolate Ridge Canyon was contaminated, indicating that a significant amount of divine and demonic blood must have flowed here.
"Different."
The Duty Demon King shook his head. "It's the same type of blood, just with both divine and demonic properties. Your vision is still too shallow to see the intricacies. Divine blood represents life, demonic blood represents death. The blood that fell on Desolate Ridge has both divine and demonic properties—the divine nature is hidden in the soil, while the demonic nature destroys all the vegetation here, causing everything that grows from the soil to die. These trees are dead, but their roots are not—in fact, they're exceptionally vigorous and developed. They might have already become spirits by borrowing the life force of the divine blood."
Fox Spirit quickly asked, "Will tree roots turn into demons?"
"Yes."
The Duty Demon King said, "They should turn into a very peculiar creature, covered in tentacles."
Although Desolate Ridge Canyon had "canyon" in its name, the terrain was actually quite high—just lower compared to the mountain ranges on either side.
This dark canyon wound and twisted, and the mountain path was difficult to travel. Back when the Heavenly Demon Sect smuggled goods through here, they must have suffered many hardships.
Along the way, there was a black stone stele every so often, about three to four zhang tall, covered with runic inscriptions. Qin Mu examined them and said, "These are the Holy Sect's demon-suppressing runes. Ling'er, don't touch them—if you trigger the demon-suppressing runes, you'll be sucked into the stele."
Fox Spirit was startled.
"There are quite a few demon-suppressing steles in Desolate Ridge. It seems the Holy Sect put a lot of effort into opening this passage back then. This also indicates that there are many demons in Desolate Ridge, and they're very terrifying."
Qin Mu counted the demon-suppressing black steles they encountered along the way—there were as many as forty-six, and they hadn't even traveled half the distance yet. If each stele suppressed only one demon, that would already be forty-six demons.
But the demon-suppressing black steles were three to four zhang tall—using such large steles for suppression couldn't possibly be just for one demon each. The number of demons suppressed here must be considerable.
They reached the center of the valley and saw a pond ahead. Snow-covered mountains surrounded them, the weather was cold, yet there was actually a lake here, which was quite astonishing.
Beside the lake was an ancient tree, its branches withered but covering a wide area. Around the ancient tree and the lake stood densely packed black steles, numbering in the hundreds, completely surrounding both the tree and the lake!
Qin Mu and the others were startled. With so many demon-suppressing black steles here, could there be hundreds of demons suppressed?
Although he was the Heavenly Demon Sect Master, he knew very little about this Desolate Ridge passage, not knowing what the Heavenly Demon Sect had encountered here back then.
"Could there be a demon kingdom here?"
Qin Mu murmured, "But why are there so many steles around this ancient tree? It doesn't seem like they're meant to suppress many demons—it's more like they're meant to suppress this tree and this lake."
Just as he finished speaking, suddenly a cry for help came from the other side of the lake. Dragon Kirin was tall, and when it raised its head, its gaze passed over the black steles. It glanced over and said slowly, "There's a woman bathing in the lake."
"Help, help—" the woman in the lake cried out.
Fox Spirit quickly jumped onto its head and looked toward the lake, angry. "Dragon Fatty, is that bathing? That's drowning!"
"It's bathing."
Dragon Kirin said slowly, "She's not wearing clothes, so naturally she's bathing. Have you ever seen anyone drown while completely naked?"
"Completely naked?"
The Duty Demon King was both surprised and delighted, quickly climbing onto Dragon Kirin's head to look at the lake. Sure enough, there was a drowning woman in the lake, her body completely bare, her figure seductive, struggling in the water. The curves and contours made this Demon King stare straight ahead, praising, "This demon is beautiful! Stinky boy, come take a look!"
Qin Mu laughed. "There are still pursuers behind us. Let's go." After speaking, he peeked through the gaps between the black steles.
"Young Master is a gentleman!" Fox Spirit said with full confidence, praising him.
"Gentlemen outside, help me—"
The woman in the lake cried miserably, "Quickly push down the steles and save me. I'll offer myself to you!"
Qin Mu and the others went around the lake. Fox Spirit said clearly, "Demon, my Young Master won't fall for your trick. Let me tell you, my Young Master is the Holy Sect Master of the Holy Sect!"
Suddenly the woman fell silent, and a sinister voice rang out: "The Holy Sect Master of the Holy Sect?"
Crash—
The lake surrounded by the forest of black steles surged with massive waves. Countless pitch-black tree roots shot into the sky like countless tentacles, waving and twisting in midair. At the end of each tentacle was a young woman, completely naked, all looking toward Qin Mu simultaneously. Countless shrill, piercing voices cried out: "The Holy Sect! It was the Holy Sect that suppressed me here! They used these steles to suppress my body, pressing down on my legs and arms—"
Boom, boom—
In Desolate Ridge Canyon, the black steles trembled one after another. Beneath the steles, it seemed as if massive bodies were struggling and writhing, attempting to break free from their seals!
Qin Mu was startled. He had always thought that with so many steles in Desolate Ridge Canyon, they were suppressing a demon kingdom—countless demons. He never expected that all these steles were suppressing just one demon—a colossal demon!
The black steles continued to tremble, the soil beside them shaking violently as if about to be uprooted. Suddenly, the runic inscriptions on the steles lit up, their light flowing. Each stele became like a massive mountain, incredibly heavy, pressing down on the demon in Desolate Ridge, preventing her from escaping.
"I want revenge!"
Above the lake, countless women's faces twisted in agony as they shrieked, "I want to kill all of you in the Holy Sect!"
The black steles surrounding the ancient tree blazed with light, the radiance of the runic inscriptions casting onto the ancient tree. The tentacles above the lake seemed to be pulled toward the ground by some strange force. The women hanging from the tentacles screamed, grasping at everything around them but catching nothing, gradually being dragged down into the lake.
"This lake was probably formed by the impact of divine and demonic blood. The blood has been absorbed by this ancient tree."
The Duty Demon King asked in puzzlement, "Why does your hometown have so many strange things?"
Qin Mu laughed, "My hometown has things even stranger than this. We need to keep moving—we must get out of Desolate Ridge before nightfall and find a safe place."
"What a pity."
The Duty Demon King smacked his lips and said, "That little demon was quite pretty—prettier than the women in my Duty realm."
Meanwhile, Long Jiaonan, Qiu Yue, the scholar Lan Yu, the half-witted monk, Yuan Shan, and others had gathered and were searching for Qin Mu's tracks. Suddenly they felt the tremors coming from Desolate Ridge, and one by one they looked in that direction.
The scholar Lan Yu exclaimed, "The Heavenly Demon Sect Master went to the Divine Severance Mountain Range? Isn't he afraid of being shot by the Xuanji Crossbow?"
Qiu Yue waved his hand, and countless swarms of insects followed the sound toward Desolate Ridge. "The Heavenly Demon Sect Master is cunning. If he's taking the Divine Severance Mountain Range, there must be a way through! I'll use the insects to scout the path, and we'll follow behind!"
The group rushed toward Desolate Ridge, with the tide of insects surging ahead. Countless insects flew forward, and when they reached the lake, they saw demonic clouds pervading the water. Countless voices called out from the lake: "Holy Sect Master, I want to kill you! I must kill you and destroy your Holy Sect!"
The group looked at each other in confusion. The half-witted monk coughed once and said loudly, "Demon, what grudge do you have against the Heavenly Demon Sect Master?"
A young woman emerged from the lake, her body exposed, her appearance pitiful and charming. She cried, "The Holy Sect suppressed me here for hundreds of years. My hatred for them is as deep as the ocean and as vast as the sky. Reverend monk, if you can save me, I'll offer myself to you..."
The half-witted monk smiled. "I am a monk of the Buddha. I don't need you to offer yourself. If you take refuge in Buddhism and help me kill the Heavenly Demon Sect Master, I will break the seals here and release you."
"I am willing to take refuge!" the woman said, both surprised and delighted.
The scholar Lan Yu, Yuan Shan, and Yu'e all frowned, about to object, but the half-witted monk had already uprooted a black stele and thrown it to the ground. He turned and said, "Fellow Daoists, this is a demon suppressed by the Heavenly Demon Sect. The Heavenly Demon Sect is demonic—any demon they suppress must be a good demon. Please help me push down these demon-suppressing steles and save this fellow cultivator!"
The group had no choice but to step forward and work together to push down the steles one by one.
Boom—
The mountains shook as the ancient tree slowly rose. Beneath the tree, a massive black sphere continued to bulge, growing larger and larger, like an enormous ball of thread made from countless black lines. The black roots writhed like flood dragons and great serpents, and among the tangled roots, countless white bones were revealed!
When the half-witted monk saw these bones buried beneath the tree, he couldn't help but shudder with fear.
He now realized that what the Heavenly Demon Sect had suppressed might not be his fellow cultivator, but rather something even more ferocious than the Heavenly Demon Sect itself!
"Run—" Long Jiaonan screamed shrilly.
The group fled in panic, scrambling toward the Great Ruins.
"I'm free, I'm finally free—"
Countless shrill voices echoed behind them as more black steles along the path suddenly trembled and collapsed. Massive tentacles burst from the ground, waving ceaselessly. From the roots hung beautiful women who laughed and said, "The Holy Sect said I ate too many people and suppressed me here. Thank you, thank you, little monk. Now I can eat people again—".