The Devil's Tribulation

Chapter 969 Sword Sect Disciples Remain Unyielding

Southern Continent, Sacred Flame Island, entrance to the Sacred Flame Realm.

Many cultivators had gathered outside the massive stone gate. These cultivators were there to pick up someone, because today marked the end of the five-year term in the Holy Flame Realm.

Rumble~~ The stone gate slowly opened, revealing a pitch-black void passage.

The previously chaotic crowd instantly quieted down, craning their necks to look at the entrance of the passage.

Soon, the first batch of cultivators emerged.

The leader was imposing, dressed in a bright yellow python robe and wearing a purple-gold crown, with a beautiful woman by his side.

For this 'debut', Nangong Tian specially changed into a new set of magic robes, which were top-grade magic treasures.

I can't not change it, the old one was already torn, and my butt was exposed. How can I wear it out in public?

Standing before the stone gate, Nangong Xing felt a sense of relief upon seeing his eldest son emerge. He stroked his goatee and said, "My son is back~ Let your father see him. Not bad, not bad, your cultivation has improved again~"

After speaking, he gave Shangguan Yun a provocative look.

Shangguan Yun smiled, showing no intention of responding to Nangong Xing's words.

Nangong Tian was overjoyed to see his father come to fetch him personally. He strode up to his father, knelt on one knee, and said, "Father, your son has not disappointed you!"

As he spoke, he handed over a jade box.

Nangong Xing was overjoyed and hurriedly took the jade box, asking, "The Demon-Companion Grass?!"

Nangong Tian nodded vigorously and said, "Exactly!"

Upon receiving Nangong Tian's affirmative answer, Nangong Xing's large hand holding the jade box trembled.

With a 'click', the jade box opened, and a pale red light spread out.

All eyes turned to this, eager to see what the demon-accompanying grass inside the jade box looked like.

Nangong Xing's eyes lit up, and he carefully picked up the Demon-Companion Grass with two fingers, laughing loudly, "Good, good, good!"

Nangong Xing's three consecutive "good"s fully demonstrated his current mood.

As the master of the Purple Gold Palace and a cultivator at the Great Perfection of the Integration Realm, Nangong Xing hadn't been this happy in many years.

"There's even a year old! Hahaha~~"

Nangong Xing carefully put away the Demon-Companion Grass, then looked at Shangguan Yun and smiled, "It seems my Purple Gold Mansion has won again this time. Brother Shangguan, you're too kind~"

Although Shangguan Yun was displeased, he still smiled and said, "Brother Nangong, there are still many people who haven't come out yet. Isn't it too early to say this?"

Nangong Xing thought to himself, "Stubborn to the end." Then he looked at Nangong Tian and asked, "Tian'er, besides the demon-accompanying grass, did you have any other 'extra gains' this time?"

With a casual wave of his hand, Nangong Tian scattered over ten thousand identity tokens belonging to cultivators from the three sects of the Eastern Continent onto the ground.

Shangguan Yun's pupils contracted; each token here represented the life of a cultivator from one of the three sects.

In other words, more than 15,000 cultivators from the three sects perished here.

Shangguan Yun looked unwell, as did Ge Xun beside him.

Because among those tokens, the most numerous were those of the Ghost Control Sect cultivators, totaling as many as seven thousand.

The Ghost Control Sect only had a little over 10,000 people, and this place alone took up most of them!

Liu Qian scanned the pile of tokens several times with her divine sense, but found no tokens belonging to important disciples of the Beast Taming Sect, and breathed a slight sigh of relief.

After throwing out the token, Nangong Tian loudly reported, "Lord of the Manor, during this trip to the Holy Flame Realm, the sect obtained a total of one Demon-Companion Grass and four Dragon Soul Grasses."

There are over 60,000 ancient medicinal plants that are over 10,000 years old, and 380,000 ancient medicinal plants that are over 500 years old.

More than 30,000 catties of high-grade refining materials, seven high-grade spirit-gathering stones, 6,000 catties of rare ores, and one million catties of various high-grade ores.

Finally, they also slew three seventh-tier demon lords, obtaining three seventh-tier crystal cores and varying amounts of demon beast materials.

Nangong Xing stroked his goatee, smiling and nodding as he listened to his son report on their achievements.

Finally, unable to contain himself, he burst into laughter, saying, "As expected of my son, Tian'er, get up quickly!"

Nangong Xing was overjoyed and personally helped his eldest son up, his eyes shining with satisfaction.

Nangong Tian only reported the gains; as for the losses, there were still some details, which he would have to report back when he returned.

Meanwhile, the Hehuan Sect was also reporting that their harvest was much worse than that of the Zijin Mansion, but the mortality rate of Hehuan Sect cultivators was the lowest among the major sects.

Although the gains were not much, they still managed to acquire some, including over 1,600 identity tokens belonging to cultivators from the three sects of the Eastern Continent.

Shangguan Yun, Ge Xun, and Liu Qian didn't care about anything else; they only cared about whether there were any core disciples among those tokens.

The three of them scanned the area with their divine senses and breathed a sigh of relief.

It's unclear what Shangguan Yun and Ge Xun would do if they discovered that Pan Chengfeng, Xin'er, or Li Ke were among those tokens.

But Liu Qian will definitely go crazy; she doesn't care whether this is the Emperor's territory or not!

Whoever has Xin'er's token, she will definitely rush over immediately.

Just thinking about it is exciting.

People gradually emerged from the passageway.

With the arrival of Jin Guang Temple and Xuan Ji Sect, more than three thousand tokens belonging to cultivators from the three sects of the Eastern Continent were also brought along.

To date, of the 40,000 people in the three sects of Dongzhou, more than 20,000 have perished.

Of these, 15,000 were killed by the Zijin Mansion, 2,800 by the Xuanji Sect, 1,600 by the Hehuan Sect, and over 800 by the Jinguang Temple, totaling 22,000 people.

Liu Qian glared fiercely at the group of monks and transmitted her voice to Shangguan Yun: "I told you long ago, none of those bald monks are good people! Now do you believe me?!"

And those vile creatures, they killed so many of our disciples! I wish I could go and slaughter them right now!

Among the tokens brought out by these two sects, there are already some tokens belonging to core disciples.

Among them were the tokens of Ge Yiran, a core disciple of the Ge family of the Ghost Control Sect, and Huang Liang, a disciple of Gu Jing and grand-disciple of Liu Qian of the Beast Control Sect.

The Yu Lei Sect is in a slightly better position, but it doesn't yet have any core disciples that Shangguan Yun cares about.

But with so many elite disciples killed, even though Shangguan Yun was 'good-tempered,' a murderous aura was faintly emanating from him.

Nangong Xing kept smiling and talking to the other sect leaders, but his attention never left Shangguan Yun.

Seeing that Shangguan Yun was about to lash out, Nangong Xing was overjoyed.

Gradually, some small sects and families began to emerge. After they came out, they all left in silence, not daring to look at the cultivators present.

Gradually, some people noticed that something was wrong.

Elder Guang Demao of the Fanhai Sect was the first to mutter, "Why haven't I seen any cultivators from my Southern Continent come out?"

Immediately afterward, Qi Wuwei of the Xuanji Sect added, "There are no cultivators from the Western Continent either; it seems to be mostly minor families and sects from the Eastern Continent..."

Nangong Xing was so happy that he hadn't noticed these things, but now that he heard these words, he realized something was wrong.

Nangong Xing pondered for a moment, then his eyes suddenly narrowed as if he had thought of something. He hurriedly transmitted his voice and asked, "Tian'er, why didn't the people from the Sea-Turning Sect and the Sword Sect come out with you?!"

No sooner had these words been spoken than another group of cultivators emerged—the Corpse Demon Sect from the Western Continent!

Enraged and filled with murderous intent, the Corpse Barbarian charged directly at Nangong Tian of the Purple Gold Mansion and roared, "Nangong Tian! How can you be so petty?!"

"If you want to harm my sect, then do it openly and honestly!! Using these underhanded tactics is simply unworthy of being called a proud member of the nation!!"

Nangong Tian was baffled by the insults, but he wasn't one to back down easily. He frowned and said, "What's wrong with you?! What have I done to you?!"

Seeing that he was feigning ignorance, the corpse barbarian's pale face immediately contorted, and he cursed, "Shameless scoundrel! Keep pretending!! Keep pretending!!"

"If you didn't do it on purpose, I'll destroy my own Qi Sea today!!"

Upon hearing this, Nangong Tian's temper flared up. When had he ever been scolded like this before?

Or should we call him a "petty person" in front of so many people?

Nangong Tian's magical power surged, wanting to teach Shi Man a lesson, when suddenly two people appeared beside him.

One was Nangong Xing, and the other was Shi Yintian, the sect leader of the Corpse Demon Sect and the uncle of Shi Man, both of whom had reached the Great Perfection of the Body Integration Realm.

Nangong Xing asked calmly, "What does the Corpse Sect Master want to do?!"

Shi Yintian replied expressionlessly, "What do you want? Naturally, I need to find out what happened!"

"Man'er, explain yourself clearly, and your uncle will stand up for you!"

Shi Man took a deep breath and began to recount his experiences in the Holy Flame Realm.

From initially chasing and killing, to being forced back and losing his corpse. Due to a significant loss of strength, he refused Nangong Tian's 'invitation' and did not go.

They fought to help seize the demon-accompanying herb and then turned their battles to compete for the quasi-immortal

She recounted everything, from being robbed and humiliated to having to pay a "door-entry fee."

He concluded, "It's him! He must be doing this on purpose because he resents his nephew for not helping him steal the Demon-Companion Grass!!"

"It's a small matter that my nephew was humiliated, but the deaths of over two thousand elite sect members were all in vain!!"

"What did you say?!" "What did you say?!"

Originally, only his uncle was with Shi Man, but when he heard that the three sects of Dongzhou were blocking the entrance and charging a 'gate fee', two more people came!

One was Guang Demao, an elder of the Overturning Sea Sect, and the other was Su Bude, an elder of the Sword Sect. Both of them were at the peak of the Integration Realm.

Shi Man shouted back, "Right now, cultivators from the three sects of the Eastern Continent are blocking the entrance, going door-to-door collecting 'entrance fees'!!!"

"This is outrageous!! Shangguan Yun, bring your disciples out here right now!! This is utterly ridiculous!!"

Shangguan Yun said calmly, "There are still seven hours until the end of the competition..."

Shangguan Yun ignored what those people were saying and looked directly at Ying Chengxu on the high platform, cupping his hands and asking, "Palace Master Ying, is there a rule in the competition that forbids accepting 'entrance fees'?"

Palace Master Ying chuckled and said, "There are no rules in the competition; everyone relies on their own methods."

Shangguan Yun turned to Nangong Xing and said, "Oh dear, I'm so sorry, Brother Nangong, there are no rules in this competition, and I can't help you with that."

Liu Qian covered her mouth and started laughing, while Ge Xun burst into laughter.

"What's there to be so smug about?!"

The Sword Sect elder said angrily, "With just a few thousand of you, how can you possibly stop millions of cultivators?!"

Liu Qian snorted coldly and said, "If millions of cultivators are of one mind, then it is indeed impossible to stop them."

However, everyone has selfish motives; killing a few who stand out is enough, those disciples are sufficient.

"Just wait and see! The Sword Sect disciples will not yield!!"