Martial Arts Alliance

At the sound of 'Chen Xu’s' voice, Li Hu and Zhenyuan froze in their tracks.

The gourd and the Ginseng Fruit Tree were currently locked in a messy scuffle. Li Hu was sitting squarely on Zhenyuan’s trunk, while Zhenyuan had used his branches to bind Li Hu so tightly that only a tiny bit of the gourd’s stem peeked out from the top.

The two spirits were stunned for a moment before Zhenyuan quickly retracted the branches coiled around Li Hu. Li Hu jumped down from Zhenyuan, struck a profound pose, and coughed dryly several times.

“Fellow Daoist Zhenyuan possesses extraordinary talent. To have such strength after practicing martial arts for so short a time... given time, you will surely become a great pillar of the world.”

Zhenyuan didn't say anything. He simply used two branches as a substitute for hands, crossing them in a cupped-fist salute, making it look as though they had just finished a friendly sparring match.

'Chen Xu' watched them, baffled, but he had no interest in prying further.

During his days at the Universe Daoist Academy, Zhenyuan and Li Hu were constantly messing around.

One was a Ginseng Fruit Tree that had undergone wild beastification; he naturally loved to fight and could be said to never have a moment of peace.

The wine gourd wasn't much better. While 'Chen Xu' had been diving into the depths of the sea to practice his martial arts, the gourd had been leading Zhenyuan around to challenge various progeny and inner sect disciples. He had even set up betting pools, proving himself to be a natural-born troublemaker.

'Chen Xu' looked at Li Hu and asked, “Is your master back?”

Li Hu shook his body, using his true qi to vibrate away the stray leaves stuck to him before replying.

“He’s back. As soon as he returned, he summoned all the progeny and several of the sect's great elders to his dojo for a meeting.

It was quite the spectacle; they even rang the Qiankun Bell nine times.”

“All the progeny? Then why are you still here?”

At those words, Li Hu froze.

Indeed, why was he still here? It was because during a meeting long ago, he had poured a few cups of wine for his senior brothers and sisters, only for the eldest senior brother to discover that the wine had been stolen from his personal cellar. Master had kicked him out because of it.

His master had even said he didn't need to attend any future meetings since he wouldn't be of any use anyway.

However, Li Hu naturally wouldn't admit the truth. Since Zhenyuan was right there, he couldn't afford to lose face.

After a moment of thought, Li Hu came up with a brilliant explanation.

“Master saw that your body was still here and specifically ordered me to stay and watch over you. That is why I didn't go to the dojo for the meeting.”

“I see. Thank you for your hard work, Xiao Jiu.”

“Ha! It’s nothing. Not hard at all, not hard at all,” Li Hu said, waving a hand with feigned modesty.

“By the way, Brother Chen, did anything come of your trip to the Sea of Spirit with Master? Why did Master look so grim when he returned? I haven't seen him look so troubled in a long time.”

Chen Xu shook his head, indicating that the outcome wasn't great. He then gave Li Hu a brief account of what had happened in the Sea of Spirit.

He covered the four Dao Lords exploring the Core Illusion, their joint battle against the Mother of Hell, and the descent of the Lord of Heaven.

Li Hu listened with wide eyes, letting out occasional gasps of shock like a perfectly engaged audience member.

“No wonder Master rang the Qiankun Bell. With hellfire corrupting so many people, the myriad worlds are going to be in chaos again.”

“Indeed. At least fifty to sixty percent of the transcendents who entered the Sea of Spirit were affected, if not eighty percent.

With a scale like that, there’s no telling how many have been tainted by the corruption of Hell.”

“Brother Chen, is that Mother of Hell really that powerful? It’s reaching out to the entire myriad worlds—isn't it afraid that everyone will band together to hunt it down?”

“It’s hard to say.”

'Chen Xu' couldn't give a definitive answer to that question.

Was the Mother of Hell powerful? Certainly. Her ability to easily handle four Dao Lords working together proved her terrifying strength.

But was she truly powerful enough to take on tens of thousands of opponents alone? 'Chen Xu' felt that was impossible.

If the Mother of Hell had reached that level of power, her crazed nature would have led her to go on a killing spree long ago, storming into Heaven to fight the Lord of Heaven directly.

Seeing that 'Chen Xu' didn't have an answer, Li Hu didn't press the matter. He simply looked toward Li Taiji’s dojo, lost in thought.

'Chen Xu' followed Li Hu’s gaze. Li Taiji’s dojo was located in the center of the nine main stars, forming an interlacing pattern with the surrounding stars.

When Li Taiji meditated on Dao rhymes within his dojo, the residual and escaping rhymes would spread out along the arrays connecting the main stars.

This active Dao rhyme was an incredibly rare opportunity for practitioners.

Suddenly, a thought flashed through 'Chen Xu’s' mind. If Li Taiji’s dojo was compared to Hell, then the surrounding main stars were the various battlefields Hell was pioneering.

If that were the case, could Hell’s actions be part of laying out an incredibly massive array?

'Chen Xu' was startled by his own speculation. He shook his head to calm himself.

No, that shouldn't be possible. The battlefields of Hell spanned across countless star realms. Such an exaggerated spatial distance made it impossible for the components of an array to interact.

DONG—!

Before 'Chen Xu' could think further, a heavy, muffled bell toll echoed through the entire Universe Daoist Academy.

“So soon?”

Li Hu was confused. Logically, for a major event like this, the meeting could easily last a week or two. Just listening to the reports from the various progeny regarding the situation in the Universe Martial World would take a significant amount of time.

Could it be that this was just a preliminary meeting and not the official commencement of action?

Li Hu watched the streaks of light flying out from the dojo. Just as he was thinking about which brother or sister to ask for information, a wave of Yin-Yang Dao rhyme washed over them, and Li Taiji appeared before them.

“Fellow Daoist Li.”

“Master!”

Li Taiji didn't pay attention to Li Hu, looking directly at 'Chen Xu' instead.

“Fellow Daoist Chen, Hell’s actions this time have gone too far. Aside from my territory and that of the Extreme Martial Dao Lord, nearly all the other martial Dao Lords have had disciples injured.

We won't just swallow this provocation from Hell. The Extreme Martial Dao Lord and I have already begun to take the lead. We plan to unite with the other martial Dao Lords to form an alliance to jointly combat Hell.”

Li Taiji’s announcement was unexpected to 'Chen Xu'.

Since the great hunt of Hell in ancient times, Hell and the various Dao Lords had minded their own business, neither side interfering with the other.

Hell’s demon armies wouldn't proactively seek trouble with forces led by Dao Lords.

Similarly, Dao Lord-tier organizations generally wouldn't go out of their way to deal with the demon armies.

Aside from the Heavenly Pantheon, all other sides had lived in relative peace.

The myriad worlds were simply too large, with an innumerable amount of worlds. What did it matter if Hell swallowed a few? They were Dao Lords, not saviors of the world.

Unless it was someone like the Lord of Heaven who had a deep-seated blood feud with Hell and felt compelled to fight, everyone else turned a blind eye. As long as the demons didn't encroach upon their own territory, they didn't care.

Initially, 'Chen Xu' had thought Li Taiji and the others would simply act individually to find a few hell archdukes or demon kings to vent their anger on as a response to the provocation.

He hadn't expected the Mother of Hell’s crazed actions this time to actually drive the martial Dao Lords to unite and prepare an alliance to fight back.

With the addition of such a massive amount of transcendent power, the balance on the various battlefields across the myriad worlds would be shattered instantly.

It might even lead to a counter-invasion of Hell itself, reenacting the legendary scene of the ancient hunt.

The only question was how much resolve these martial Dao Lords truly had.

But regardless, 'Chen Xu’s' pressure had lessened considerably.

With this group of martial artists charging at the front and drawing attention, the Mother of Hell likely wouldn't focus on someone like him, who had only just eliminated a single demon king.

He hadn't been the Lord of the Undead for long and was still in the stage of building high walls and storing grain; it wasn't the right time for a major conflict.

“Rest assured, Fellow Daoist Li. I have some experience when it comes to fighting Hell. Since your Martial Arts Alliance is willing to take them on, my Land of the Undead will certainly provide some backup.”

“Good! Fellow Daoist Chen, I actually have something I’d like your help with.”

“Uh, what is it?”

'Chen Xu' was taken aback. Wait, Li Taiji wasn't following the script. He had only been offering a standard polite remark.

“As you know, aside from the Heavenly Pantheon, our Dao Lord forces haven't had much friction with Hell. We know very little about their demon armies.

Therefore, I would like to invite you to hold classes at the Universe Daoist Academy to explain the intricacies of dealing with demons to my disciples.”

“Oh, that’s no problem. However, Fellow Daoist Li, if I may be blunt, wouldn't the Heavenly Pantheon have more authority on the matter of fighting demons?

Why not go to them?”

“Heaven is indeed professional. It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say they understand Hell better than anyone else in the myriad worlds.

However, not everyone is on friendly terms with Heaven. There are several Dao Lords in my Martial Arts Alliance who are unwilling to accept Heaven’s involvement. Therefore, I can only trouble you, Fellow Daoist Chen.”