Chapter 227: The Root Demon of Withered Ridge
"Most people have to deal with the elder coming after the younger. For me, it's the younger coming after the elder."
Qin Mu sighed inwardly. Being the Demon Lord of the Heavenly Demon Sect was truly no easy task.
Long Jiaonan and the woman from Three Wonders Fort had arrived here, indicating that other young experts were nearby. If he were caught up by them, it would be troublesome.
Hu Ling'er manipulated the demonic wind, sweeping away the insects flying toward them and sending them far off. "Young Master, don't these people go home for the New Year?"
"They probably see killing me as their New Year's celebration."
Qin Mu shook his head. "Besides killing me, they also want to kill the Emperor. Killing me certainly won't work, but I don't know if they can kill the Emperor. After all, the Emperor is a much bigger target than I am."
Hu Ling'er had handled things well, blowing those insects away so Long Jiaonan and the others couldn't find them, saving them the trouble of locating the Withered Ridge Gorge.
The Withered Ridge Gorge wasn't far from here. Qin Mu walked into Withered Ridge and noticed that the mountain terrain here wasn't as steep as elsewhere, but it seemed different from other places. The mountain body was a dull gray, with not a trace of green to be seen.
This stretch of land was covered in withered trees. The trees were black, and the ground was also black, giving off an ominous impression.
"What if they do kill the Emperor?" Hu Ling'er asked.
Qin Mu took the lead and stepped into Withered Ridge. Hu Ling'er quickly followed, jumped onto the Dragon Qilin's back, then hopped onto its head, looking around.
"If they kill the Emperor and the Crown Prince ascends the throne, then the Imperial Preceptor's reforms will be overturned by the Crown Prince."
Qin Mu said, "Then the Imperial Preceptor will get rid of the Crown Prince and replace him with an obedient Emperor. Even if the Imperial Preceptor doesn't do it, I will. I'll also invite the Imperial Preceptor to become the fourth Guardian King of the Heavenly Sage Sect. I've kept that position open for him for a long time. However, they won't be able to kill the Emperor, and the Imperial Preceptor won't be willing to become the fourth Guardian King of the Sage Sect."
The place was covered in withered trees with no leaves. The little white fox was nervous, feeling as if the dry branches were sharp claws and the twisted trunks were terrifying faces, making her afraid.
"There's blood of gods and demons here, polluting this place."
The Heavenly Capital Demon King casually swatted a few flying insects, then grabbed a handful of soil from the ground and rubbed it between his fingers, puzzled. "Strange, this blood is very peculiar. I can't tell if it's divine or demonic. It seems to contain both divine blood 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 blood and demonic blood were spilled on this land at the same time?"
He had seen the blood of demon gods before, and it was quite formidable. Back then, he and the Village Chief had entered the darkness of the Great Ruins. The Village Chief had wounded a demon god in the darkness, and a single drop of that demon god's blood falling into the soil had withered all the trees and grass within a hundred zhang radius—similar to the situation in Withered Ridge.
But that was just a single drop of demon blood.
Here, the entire Withered Ridge Gorge had been polluted, indicating that a considerable amount of divine and demonic blood must have flowed here.
"It's different."
The Heavenly Capital Demon King shook his head. "It's the same type of blood, but this blood simultaneously possesses both divine and demonic attributes. Your vision is still too shallow to see the intricacies. Divine blood governs life, demonic blood governs death. The blood that fell on Withered Ridge has both divine and demonic properties. The divine nature is hidden in the soil, while the demonic nature destroyed the plants and trees here, killing everything that grew above ground. These trees are dead, but their roots aren't dead. Instead, they've become exceptionally vigorous and developed. They might have already become spirits by borrowing the vitality of the divine blood."
Hu Ling'er quickly asked, "Can tree roots turn into monsters?"
"They can."
The Heavenly Capital Demon King said, "They should turn into a very peculiar creature, covered in tentacles."
Although Withered Ridge Gorge had the word "gorge" in its name, the terrain was actually quite high. It was only low compared to the mountain ranges on either side.
This dark, winding gorge twisted and turned, making the mountain path very difficult to traverse. Back then, when the Heavenly Demon Sect smuggled goods through here, they must have suffered quite a bit.
Every so often along the path, there was a black stone tablet, three to four zhang tall, inscribed with runic symbols. Qin Mu examined them and said, "These are the Sage Sect's demon-suppressing runes. Ling'er, don't touch them. If you trigger the demon-suppressing runes, you'll be sucked into the tablet."
Hu Ling'er was startled.
"There are quite a few demon-suppressing stone tablets in Withered Ridge. It seems the Heavenly Sage Sect put a lot of effort into opening this passage. It also shows that there were many and terrifying monsters in Withered Ridge."
Qin Mu counted the black demon-suppressing tablets they encountered along the way, reaching as many as forty-six. And they had only traveled less than half the distance. If each tablet suppressed only one monster, that would still be forty-six monsters.
But the black demon-suppressing tablets were three to four zhang tall. Using such large tablets for suppression couldn't possibly be for just one monster. That meant the number of monsters suppressed here was quite considerable.
They arrived at the center of the valley and saw a pond ahead. Surrounded by snow-capped mountains in the cold weather, there was actually a lake here, which was quite astonishing.
Beside the lake stood an ancient tree, withered and covering a wide area. Around the ancient tree and the lake stood densely packed black tablets, several hundred of them, completely encircling the tree and the lake!
Qin Mu and the others were startled. With so many demon-suppressing black tablets here, could it be that they were suppressing hundreds of monsters?
Although he was the Demon Lord of the Heavenly Demon Sect, he knew very little about this Withered Ridge passage and wasn't clear on what the Heavenly Demon Sect had encountered here back then.
"Could there be a kingdom of monsters here?"
Qin Mu murmured, "But why are there so many tablets around this ancient tree? It doesn't seem like it's for suppressing many monsters, but rather for suppressing this tree and this lake."
Just as he said this, suddenly a cry for help came from the lake. The Dragon Qilin was tall and looked over the black tablets, taking a slow glance. "There's a woman bathing in the lake."
"Help, help—" the woman in the lake called out.
Hu Ling'er quickly jumped onto his head and looked toward the lake, annoyed. "Fat Dragon, is that bathing? She's drowning!"
"It's bathing."
The Dragon Qilin said slowly, "She's not wearing clothes, so naturally she's bathing. Have you ever seen anyone drown stark naked?"
"Stark naked?"
The Heavenly Capital Demon King was both surprised and delighted. He quickly climbed onto the Dragon Qilin's head to look at the lake. Sure enough, there was a drowning woman in the lake, completely naked, her figure alluring, struggling in the water. Curves and protrusions caught the Demon King's eye, and he praised, "That demoness is good-looking! Kid, come take a look!"
Qin Mu smiled. "There are pursuers behind us. Let's keep moving." As he spoke, he stole a glance through the gaps between the black tablets.
"Young Master is a gentleman!" Hu Ling'er said confidently, praising him.
"Sir out there, save me—"
The woman in the lake screamed miserably, "Quickly push down the tablets and rescue me! I'll give myself to you in return!"
Qin Mu and the others skirted around the lake. Hu Ling'er said crisply, "Demoness, my young master won't fall for your tricks. Let me inform you, my young master is the Holy Lord of the Heavenly Sage Sect!"
Suddenly, the woman fell silent, and a sinister voice sounded: "The Holy Lord of the Heavenly Sage Sect?"
Splash—
The lake surrounded by the black tablets erupted with massive waves. Countless pitch-black tree roots shot up like countless tentacles, writhing and waving in the air. At the tip of each tentacle hung a naked, beautiful woman, all of them staring at Qin Mu in unison. Countless shrill voices cried out, "Heavenly Sage Sect! It's the Heavenly Sage Sect that suppressed me here! They used these tablets to suppress my body, pressing down on my legs and hands—"
Rumble, rumble—
In the Withered Ridge Gorge, the black tablets trembled. Beneath the tablets, a massive body seemed to be struggling and writhing, trying to break the seal!
Qin Mu was startled. Seeing so many tablets in the Withered Ridge Gorge, he had always thought it was suppressing a kingdom of countless monsters. He never imagined that these tablets were suppressing a single demon, an enormous demon!
The black tablets kept shaking, and the soil around them rustled, as if about to be uprooted. Suddenly, the runic symbols on the tablets lit up, their light flowing. Each tablet became as heavy as a mountain, pressing down on the monster in Withered Ridge, preventing it from escaping.
"I want revenge!"
Above the lake, the countless women's faces twisted, screaming shrilly, "I want to kill all of you from the Heavenly Sage Sect!"
The black tablets surrounding the ancient tree blazed with light. The glow of the runic symbols shone on the tree, and the tentacles above the lake seemed to be pulled downward by a strange force. The women hanging on those tentacles screamed, grabbing at everything but catching nothing, gradually being dragged into the lake.
"This lake should be the mark left by the impact of divine and demonic blood. The blood has already been absorbed by this ancient tree."
The Heavenly Capital Demon King said puzzledly, "How does your hometown have so many strange things?"
Qin Mu smiled. "My hometown has even stranger things than this. Let's keep moving. We must leave Withered Ridge before nightfall and find a safe place."
"What a pity."
The Heavenly Capital Demon King smacked his lips. "That little demoness was quite pretty, prettier than the women in my Heavenly Capital."
Meanwhile, Long Jiaonan, Qiu Yue, the scholar Lan Yu, the Half-Crazy Monk, Yuan Shan, and others had gathered and were searching for Qin Mu's trail. Suddenly, they felt the tremors coming from Withered Ridge and all looked in that direction.
The scholar Lan Yu exclaimed, "The Heavenly Demon Lord went to the Divine Severance Mountain Range? Isn't he afraid of being shot by the Profound Trigger Crossbow?"
Qiu Yue waved her hand, and countless swarms of insects followed the sound toward Withered Ridge. "The Heavenly Demon Lord is cunning. Since he's going to the Divine Severance Mountain Range, there must be a path of survival there! I'll use the insects to scout ahead, and we'll follow behind!"
The group hurried toward Withered Ridge. The insect tide surged ahead, countless insects buzzing forward. When they reached the lake, they saw demonic clouds swirling over it, and countless voices cried out from within: "Holy Lord of the Heavenly Sage Sect, I will kill you! I will definitely kill you and destroy your Heavenly Sage Sect!"
The group exchanged glances. The Half-Crazy Monk coughed and said loudly, "Demoness, what grudge do you have against the Heavenly Demon Lord?"
A beautiful woman emerged from the lake, naked, pitiful and alluring, weeping as she recounted, "The Heavenly Sage Sect suppressed me here for hundreds of years. My hatred for them is as deep as the sea, irreconcilable. Eminent monk, if you can rescue me, I am willing to give myself to you..."
The Half-Crazy Monk smiled. "I am a monk. I don't need you to give yourself to me. If you convert to my Buddhist faith and help me kill the Heavenly Demon Lord, I will break the seal here and release you."
"I am willing to convert!" the woman said, both surprised and delighted.
The scholar Lan Yu, Yuan Shan, Yu'e, and others frowned, about to dissuade him, but the Half-Crazy Monk had already uprooted a black tablet and thrown it to the ground. He turned back and said, "Fellow cultivators, this is a monster suppressed by the Heavenly Demon Sect. The Heavenly Demon Sect is demonic, so the demon they suppress must be a good demon. Help me push down these demon-suppressing tablets and rescue this fellow cultivator!"
The group had no choice but to step forward and work together to push down the tablets one by one.
Rumble—
The mountains shook. The ancient tree slowly rose, and a massive black sphere beneath its trunk kept swelling, growing larger and larger, like a huge ball of tangled black threads. The black roots writhed like flood dragons and pythons, and countless white bones were exposed among the tangled roots!
Seeing these bones buried under the tree, the Half-Crazy Monk felt his hair stand on end.
He now understood that the being suppressed by the Heavenly Demon Sect might not be his ally, but rather an existence even more vicious than the Heavenly Demon Sect!
"Run—" Long Jiaonan shrieked.
The group immediately sprinted away, fleeing toward the Great Ruins.
"I'm free! I'm finally free—"
Countless shrill voices sounded behind them. More black tablets along the path suddenly shook and toppled over. Thick tentacles burst out from underground, waving wildly. Hanging from the roots were beautiful women, laughing, "The Heavenly Sage Sect said I ate too many people and suppressed me here. Thank you, thank you, little monk. Now I can eat people again..."