Atop Qingxu Mountain in the Upper Heavenly Palace.

Inside the grand hall, only True Master Ming Liang, True Master Ming Shan, True Master Lan Bing, and Lanyang Sect Xue Yuyang presided, all four gazing toward the entrance.

True Master Chi Yang, enveloped in a murderous aura, stormed into the Upper Heavenly Palace, cursing under his breath, "Wu Hei, one day I will personally slay him to avenge my junior brother Chi Yan."

True Master Chi Yang looked up at True Master Ming Liang sitting above in the hall and bellowed, "True Master Ming Liang, I can no longer tolerate this. In less than half a month, hundreds of Independent Immortals have died, and the enemy specifically targets those with strong powers! My junior brother Chi Yan was a Ten Tribulation Independent Immortal, but still, he was killed by that Wu Hei. This is unbearable! True Master Ming Liang, we must teach these Independent Demons a lesson."

"True Master Chi Yang, remain calm," said True Master Ming Liang with composure.

Hearing True Master Ming Liang still responding in such a manner, True Master Chi Yang could no longer suppress the fury within him.

"Calm, be calm my ass, it’s not your junior brother who died, so of course, you can be calm. If I continue to stay calm, I don’t know how many more Independent Immortals of my Purple Sun Sect will perish. Look... in this half a month, how many of the deceased Independent Immortals belonged to your Qingxu Temple? It’s mostly our sects who have lost the most," exclaimed True Master Chi Yang, fiery with anger.

True Master Ming Liang’s brows furrowed, a flash of coldness in his eyes.

Standing up, True Master Ming Shan interjected, "True Master Chi Yang, do not let your hatred cloud your spiritual wisdom. Do you not know the secret of the Sky-breaking Map? The secret is known to only a few of us. Since you are aware of the secret of the Sky-breaking Map, you should know what needs to be done."

The Sky-breaking Map concerned the Ni Yang Realm, but aside from them, none of the other Independent Immortals was aware of it. Those few Independent Immortals understood the significance of the Sky-breaking Map, but they did not know why it was important.

Lanyang Sect Xue Yuyang, with his snow-white brows, also spoke up, "True Master Chi Yang, think carefully. The Sky-breaking Map is tied to the Ni Yang Realm. To open the Ni Yang Realm, we must gather three Sky-breaking Maps. As long as we have one, we have a sure part in entering the Ni Yang Realm. It’s not worth it to let countless Loose Cultivators die just for another map."

"Of course I understand that," True Master Chi Yang retorted angrily, "but why does the Independent Demon side always have experts coming to slay our Independent Immortals?"

True Master Lan Bing also frowned, asking, "True Master Chi Yang, not long ago, an envoy from Yin Yue Palace claimed that our own True Master Chi Yang has also gone to kill their people. Did you go?"

"No," True Master Chi Yang shouted back, "I am not so ignorant as to do such a thing. They are slandering me."

The others remained silent, fully aware of True Master Chi Yang’s temper. Whether he might have acted on his own to vent his anger on some Independent Demons at Yin Yue Palace was indeed hard to judge.

"Enough, let’s not talk about this anymore. From today on, I personally will guard Qingxu Mountain. In any case, the Sky-breaking Map must be kept within the Upper Heavenly Palace. With the Ten Variations Illusion Array in place, those Independent Demons won’t possibly break in," declared True Master Ming Liang in a stern voice.

His gaze swept across everyone, pausing especially on True Master Chi Yang, "Don’t blame me for not warning you, if you go out and get killed, you can’t blame others. What’s more... once the Immortal Realm Envoys arrive, the struggle for treasures in the Ni Yang Realm will probably involve envoys from various realms. We’re fortunate if we can obtain some treasures, but unlucky if we become mere pawns to those envoys. For this reason, it’s not worth it to let tens of thousands of Independent Immortals to shed blood."

True Master Chi Yang, Xue Yuyang, and the others fell silent.

They wouldn’t dare utter these thoughts in front of the Immortal Realm Envoys, but they understood the reasoning well.

Envoys would descend from the Immortal Realm, the Demon World, as well as from other realms.

With the descent of envoys from all realms and their formidable powers, certainly stronger than those like True Master Ming Liang and the others, the contest for treasures in the Ni Yang Realm would inevitably be the affair of these envoys. True Master Chi Yang and the others were mere pawns in this game.

Was it worth letting countless Independent Immortals die for treasures of the Ni Yang Realm that they might never obtain?

Of course, it wasn’t.

This was a truth well understood by these True Masters.

"Wu Kongxue should also understand this, so why do his people keep killing Independent Immortals, especially that Wu Hei, who’s responsible for most of the killings?" True Master Chi Yang complained indignantly.

True Master Ming Liang fell silent.

Indeed, Wu Kongxue and others must understand this principle.

The treasures of the Ni Yang Realm are coveted by Immortal Emperors from all domains, and those treasures are certainly the focus of competition among the envoys of various realms. If they could just get a piece of the Sky-breaking Map, wouldn’t that be enough? Why do they need to fight so desperately?

"Wu Kongxue, perhaps that guy simply doesn’t care about the lives of the Independent Demons at all," Xue Yuyang suddenly said.

True Master Ming Liang and the others were shaken.

That’s right, Wu Kongxue is not an Independent Demon from the Tenglong Continent’s sects; he was originally a Loose Cultivator type of Independent Demon, and so was Wu Hei.

The two of them don’t care about the life and death of Independent Demons from the Tenglong Continent. True Master Ming Liang and the others care about the lives of tens of thousands of Independent Immortals, but would Wu Kongxue and Wu Hei care?

"If Wu Hei and Wu Kongxue come over, I will personally take action. Alright, everyone else can go rest," True Master Ming Liang finally issued only this command.

******

Qin Yu rode his Immortal Sword, traversing the skies.

Qin Yu knew the secrets of the Sky-breaking Map and also knew that the Sky-breaking Map only becomes useful when three pieces are gathered together. Of the three pieces, one was in the hands of the Dragon Clan; with the Five-clawed Golden Dragon, a Twelfth Tribulation Super Divine Beast, that piece was destined to be unobtainable by others.

Qin Yu had always believed that the Independent Demon side and the Independent Immortal side, under normal circumstances, would not be foolish enough to fight each other to death. But now, what he was witnessing was completely different from what he had expected.

"What exactly is going on? And there’s also talk that many Independent Demons from the Yin Yue Palace have died. Could it be... there are others stirring up trouble from the shadows?" Qin Yu speculated in his heart.

The current situation, in Qin Yu’s eyes, only had one explanation: another force was stirring up trouble in secret.

"Could it be the Dragon Clan?"

Qin Yu thought about it but could not be certain. In the end, he still swiftly flew toward the Yin Yue Palace. After determining the general location of Qingxu Mountain, Qin Yu was ready to investigate the Yin Yue Palace.

With incredible speed, it took Qin Yu less than a day to arrive outside the Yin Yue Palace.

The Yin Yue Palace was also located in deep mountains, and now, from afar, it exuded a terrifying aura—the collective aura of countless Independent Demons.

"The tens of thousands of Independent Demons of the Yin Yue Palace, when combined, their momentum even surpasses that of Pengmo Island," Qin Yu silently appraised.

Qin Yu, on the periphery of the Yin Yue Palace, just observed the surrounding territory and position with his eyes and firmly memorized them. It was during this careful observation that suddenly—

From the direction of the Yin Yue Palace, a shadowy figure shot up into the sky at great speed, and during the ascent, the figure reentered the Yin Yue Palace at an even faster speed.

In just the blink of an eye, one moment it shot up toward the sky, the next it plunged back into the Yin Yue Palace. Within this blink of an eye, there were at least hundreds of attacks, up and down.

"At least attacked hundreds of times," Qin Yu was inwardly startled; that speed was just too fast. Compared to that shadowy figure, Qin Yu’s current speed was not even one-tenth of the opponent’s.

Qin Yu couldn’t clearly see how many times the opponent had attacked, barely counting up to hundreds of times; the actual number of attacks was even more.

"Wu Kongxue, have you, Wu Hei, assassinated True Master Chi Yan of the Purple Sun Sect? This time, killing a thousand Independent Demons as a settlement is acceptable, but if you act again, don’t blame me, Ming Liang, for being ruthless and merciless."

No sooner had the voice faded than the figure turned into an afterimage and had already disappeared from Qin Yu’s sight.

"What a domineering True Master Ming Liang," Qin Yu thought with a shock.

Qin Yu saw clearly that from beginning to end, True Master Ming Liang did not use Instantaneous Movement at all. Whether he was attacking or drifting away, it was all with that astonishing speed.

Qin Yu didn’t know that during combat, it was rare for Independent Immortals to use Instantaneous Movement because once they did, if the enemy were to cause spatial vibrations, they might end up directly in a spatial rift, which would be courting death.

Therefore, speed was still very important in combat.

Just as True Master Ming Liang flew away, a blood-red figure also hovered in mid-air. In just a moment, several more figures appeared beside the blood-red figure.

Wu Kongxue’s face looked displeased: "Ming Liang, that’s too much!"

"Wu Hei, did you really go and kill True Master Chi Yan of the Purple Sun Sect? Don’t you know that for the Sky-breaking Map, tens of thousands of Loose Cultivators slayed each other, blood flowing into rivers, and that it wasn’t worth it?" Wu Kongxue glared angrily at Wu Hei.

The Fire Demon also looked towards Wu Hei.

Wu Hei shouted angrily, "No, I did not kill True Master Chi Yan! Wu Kongxue, you are stronger than me, but just based on one sentence from True Master Ming Liang, you determined that I killed True Master Chi Yan, which is way too much."

Lady Lian Yue also spoke up, "Wu Kongxue, not long ago, Big Brother Wu Hei and I were together, chatting the whole time. Big Brother Wu Hei did not go to Qingxu Temple to kill anyone."

"Could it be a frame-up?" The Fire Demon sneered coldly.

Lady Lian Yue’s eyes flashed with a cold light, "Perhaps it is... someone inciting conflict in secret, the person who impersonated Wu Hei, and this True Master Ming Liang could very likely be an impostor too."

The Fire Demon laughed, as if hearing a great joke, laughing so wildly, "An impersonator, haha... Lian Yue, has your brain gone bad? True Master Ming Liang cultivates the ’Dianxing Technique,’ his power is extremely focused, and his speed is also very fast. When it comes to speed alone, even Wu Kongxue, your lord, is slightly inferior."

Wu Kongxue nodded, "If not thinking of ways to block, purely in terms of speed, I am a bit slower than True Master Ming Liang."

"Lian Yue, you hear that? True Master Ming Liang’s speed is extremely fast. In the entire Mortal World, I think there are only two people whose speed can surpass his, one is the Dragon Clan Patriarch, and the other is the one known as the fastest, Zong Jue of Pengmo Island!"

The Fire Demon sneered as he looked at Lady Lian Yue, "Lian Yue, you don’t think the Dragon Clan Patriarch and the Island Master of Pengmo Island, these two eminent figures, would secretly incite conflict and do such despicable deeds, do you?"

Lady Lian Yue opened her mouth, but didn’t know what to say.

The Dragon Clan Patriarch, the Island Master of Pengmo Island, their status so revered, how could they engage in such devious deeds?

"You all felt that True Master Ming Liang’s speed just now. None of us could catch up, so that person must definitely be True Master Ming Liang," the Fire Demon declared confidently.

And just at this time, another seven or eight Ninth and Tenth Tribulation Independent Demons flew over.

"Lord Wu Kongxue, we can’t tolerate this any longer. Just a while ago, hundreds of Independent Demons died, but this time even True Master Ming Liang personally took action and killed a thousand in one stroke. If this continues... how can our Independent Demon brothers remain calm and stay in Yin Yue Palace?" An anxious Tenth Tribulation Independent Demon spoke.

Lady Lian Yue, Wu Kongxue, the Fire Demon, and the others, all changed their expressions.

Exactly. If things continued like this, those Independent Demons would definitely become fearful, and they might decide to leave Yin Yue Palace directly.

Another Ten Tribulations Independent Demon flew up from below and respectfully said to Lady Lian Yue, "Lady, just now, dozens of Independent Demons said they wanted to leave Yin Yue Palace. They are currently being persuaded by us with good words."

As expected!

Time and again, Independent Demons were killed, which struck fear into those with weaker powers.

After all, Yin Yue Palace does not possess Qingxu Temple’s ’Ten Variations Illusion Array’.

Lady Lian Yue’s eyes flashed coldly as she said in a chilly voice, "Lord Wu Kongxue, I think... we should no longer remain quiet. The Upper Heavenly Palace on Qingxu Mountain has the Ten Variations Illusion Array to defend themselves with. We do not have such high-level Formations. Let us directly lead tens of thousands of Loose Cultivators to attack Qingxu Mountain."

The Fire Demon nodded and added, "Right, regardless of everything else, if we take control of Qingxu Mountain first and then besiege Upper Heavenly Palace. If they dare, let those Independent Immortals hide forever within the Upper Heavenly Palace protected by the Ten Variations Illusion Array."

Wu Kongxue pondered for a moment.

Then he smiled.

He did not belong to the Demon Island Sects of Tenglong Continent, and how many Independent Demons died was inconsequential to him. Wasn’t a grand slaughter a very exhilarating thing?

Wu Kongxue, who cultivated the ’Blood Demon Demon Path’, loved killings the most. Just thinking about tens of thousands of Loose Cultivators slaughtering each other, with the rivers of blood that would flow, Wu Kongxue couldn’t help but start to feel a trace of excitement rise within him.

"Good," Wu Kongxue said, his eyes turning red, "since True Master Ming Liang dared to bully us, they can’t blame us for being ruthless. They have the Ten Variations Illusion Array, so let them hide. First, we’ll kill all the ordinary disciples of Qingxu Temple, as well as all the ordinary Independent Immortals outside of the Illusion Array. Then we’ll see if True Master Ming Liang can still sit still."

The other Independent Demon leaders all showed murderous gleams in their eyes.

They had already had enough of the frustrations of the past few days; the demonic nature of Independent Demons is quite strong, after all.

...

From afar, Qin Yu saw several Independent Demon leaders gathered together, discussing matters. But since Wu Kongxue and the others were speaking, a minor Restriction was set up around them, preventing Qin Yu from hearing a thing they said.

He saw those Ten Tribulations Independent Demons receiving orders from Wu Kongxue and flying downwards immediately.

In just a short while, cheers and bloodthirsty howls echoed across the entire mountain of Yin Yue Palace. These Independent Demons, their demonic nature and killing intent extremely heavy, were already filled with rage after being repeatedly ambushed and killed by the experts among the Independent Immortals. Now that they knew they were going to march on Qingxu Mountain as a whole, they all grew excited.

"It should have been like this long ago."

"Kill, kill, kill them all, ha ha..."

"Qingxu Mountain, await your slaughter." 𝒻𝑟ℯℯ𝑤𝑒𝑏𝑛𝘰𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝒸𝑜𝘮

...

The Independent Demons, excited to the point of madness, roared loudly, their voices echoing back and forth within Yin Yue Palace. From a distance, hearing these words, Qin Yu had already understood what was about to happen.

"Is the great battle about to begin? There’s no need for incitement at all, or perhaps, someone has already incited them beforehand. Regardless, the prelude to the first step of the plan has been successful."

Qin Yu looked towards Yin Yue Palace before him, and in his pupils, Yin Yue Palace seemed to be engulfed in a towering inferno.

(To be continued. If you wish to find out what happens next, please visit WWW.CMFU.COM. There are more Chapters available and by supporting the author, you support genuine reading!)