“The Fear Demon King!”
As soon as these words were spoken, everyone present was shocked.
“Hmph. Even if it was the Fear Demon King, he is merely at the Eternal-tier. How could he ignore my netherfire so easily and escape beyond the minor realm?”
The Dark Phoenix remained unconvinced and looked toward the Lord of Heaven.
The Demon Kings of Hell had grand reputations, but they were still only at the Eternal-tier. Compared to these unique-tier Dao Lords, the gap was more than just a little significant.
An Eternal-tier Demon King was still just an Eternal-tier. How could her netherfire have absolutely no effect?
“For the answer to that, perhaps you should consult Dao Lord Hunyuan.”
The Lord of Heaven did not answer directly but instead shifted the focus to Dao Lord Hunyuan.
“Old Daoist Hunyuan?”
“Brother Hunyuan?”
With that, the gazes of the Dao Lords from both sides fixed upon Dao Lord Hunyuan.
In response, Dao Lord Hunyuan let out a sigh and spoke slowly.
“Fear, Torment, and Pain—these three Demon Kings were formed from the Three Corpses severed by the Mother of Hell.”
“What! Severing the Three Corpses!”
The Immortal Dao Lords, the Yokai Dao Lords, and even Li Taiji, the Martial Dao Lord, were all profoundly astonished.
The group of Yokai Dao Lords, in particular, reacted with extreme intensity.
“Is the Severing the Corpse Method not the signature secret technique your Immortal Path prides itself on? How did the Mother of Hell manage to learn it?
If you ask me, you Immortals are thick as thieves with Hell! The chaos within the Yokai Realm all these years must have been manufactured by you and Hell together!”
The Dragon Emperor was aggressive, seizing the opportunity to unleash a barrage of accusations.
However, the Divine Deer beside him coughed softly.
“Ahem... Dragon Emperor, there is no need to use those sophisticated human idioms. Humans are vulgar; most of them use us Yokai as symbols for anything bad or evil.”
“Oh, right. Thank you for the reminder, Fellow Daoist Divine Deer.”
The Dragon Emperor slapped his head with a claw, only then realizing his slip. Fortunately, there were no Dao Lords on the Yokai side who had attained the Dao as a snake or a rat, otherwise he would have had to apologize again.
“That is a baseless slander! The Fear Demon King was clearly hidden among you Yokai. If anyone is colluding with Hell, it is your Yokai race!”
Facing the accusations of the Yokai Dao Lords, Dao Lord Qingming drew the treasure sword at her waist, her sword intent soaring into the sky.
Seeing this, the blood-crimson Qilin on the Yokai side also moved. Tiny droplets of blood began to seep from the fine scales covering its body.
Wisps of malevolent red mist drifted through the surroundings. The sky and the earth were dyed red in the blink of an eye.
Only the areas around each Dao Lord remained unaffected, protected by their innate domains.
“Sigh.”
Dao Lord Hunyuan sighed and reached out to press a hand on Dao Lord Qingming’s shoulder, signaling her to withdraw her sword intent.
Dao Lord Qingming was slightly confused but still obeyed the veteran Dao Lord’s instruction and withdrew her aura.
Dao Lord Hunyuan’s brow was furrowed, his expression suggesting an intense internal struggle.
Ultimately, to prevent the Immortal-Yokai War from erupting then and there, Dao Lord Hunyuan decided to reveal the secret.
“The Severing the Corpse Method used by the Mother of Hell was indeed spread by me.”
“What?”
Except for Taihao, the other Immortal Dao Lords were filled with shock.
This was the Immortal Path’s method of attaining the Dao; it was strictly forbidden to share it with outsiders.
“Haha!”
This was the reaction from the Yokai side. These Yokai believed they had caught the Immortal Path red-handed, giving them the moral high ground.
With a just cause, if the Yokai Path were to crusade against the Immortal Path now, it would no longer be considered starting trouble for no reason.
“Holy crap!”
This exclamation came from Chen Xu. He never expected that Dao Lord Hunyuan would be the one to leak the Severing the Corpse Method.
But it didn’t make sense. This Dao Lord Hunyuan was one of the dozens of Dao Lords who had crusaded against the Mother of Hell in the past.
With his seniority and background, he shouldn’t have done such a thing.
“Brother Hunyuan, why would you do this?”
Dao Lord Huangtian stepped forward. He and his sister were straightforward by nature. Since becoming Dao Lords, their strength allowed them to live without restraint, always acting and speaking as they pleased.
Dao Lord Hunyuan waved his hand slightly, indicating there was no need for haste, and continued speaking.
“Back then, out of wariness toward Hell, I began to plot against the rulers of other special worlds as well.
It so happened that the Lord of the Undead was making friends with transcendents across the worlds, so I gave a modified version of the Severing the Corpse Method to him.
Ultimately, that led to the fall of the Lord of the Undead.”
“Holy crap! Holy crap! Holy crap!”
Chen Xu cursed three times in a row. So it was this seemingly honorable Hunyuan who spread a poisoned technique, causing the first Lord of the Undead to fail his corpse-severing, which left behind the necrotic authority.
“With the precedent of the Lord of the Undead, I thought I could replicate that success with the Mother of Hell.
Thus, I began to lay a trap, orchestrating a drama of a disciple turning against their master. I had a disciple 'steal' that version of the method, and after passing through several hands, it eventually fell into the Mother of Hell’s possession.
As I expected, the Mother of Hell did indeed study the method and used it to sever the Three Corpses.
But unfortunately, the Mother of Hell was far more cautious and cunning than the Lord of the Undead. She discovered the modifications in the method and actually managed to fix them using a method I had never even heard of.
As a result, the three Demon Kings—Fear, Torment, and Pain—were born.”
Hearing this, the Black Tortoise, whose aura was unfathomable, also let out a sigh of realization.
“I found it strange back then why those three Demon Kings bore traces of the Severing the Corpse Method.
So it was the handiwork of you, old Daoist Hunyuan.”
“Heh, I’ve made a fool of myself before Fellow Daoist Black Tortoise.”
This Black Tortoise had also been part of that crusade against Hell and was an old acquaintance of Hunyuan.
At this moment, the Lord of Heaven rose from the ground. Holy Light shone forth, dispersing the surrounding blood-red mist and suppressing the auras emitted by the Dao Lords.
“Everyone, my Heaven has no desire to concern itself with or interfere in the grievances between your Immortal and Yokai paths.
However, the Mother of Hell is currently plotting a terrifying scheme. I do not wish for further turmoil between your sides at this sensitive juncture.
Otherwise, rather than letting you fall into the Mother of Hell’s hands, it would be better for you all to join the Heavenly Pantheon as foreign subordinate gods.”
“You!”
The Lord of Heaven’s threatening words instantly drew hostility from both sides.
But the Lord of Heaven paid them no mind. He turned around and flew toward the still-open Heaven’s Gate in the sky.
Before reaching the gate, the Lord of Heaven looked back once more. With a calm yet oppressive gaze, he scanned the Immortal and Yokai Dao Lords.
Then, he stepped into the gate and returned to Heaven.
At this point, Chen Xu realized that the gate had remained open so the Lord of Heaven could return, not so Chen Xu could follow. He had misinterpreted the situation.
Since the Lord of Heaven was heading back, Chen Xu followed suit. Before the gate, Chen Xu suddenly turned and bowed toward Li Taiji, then quickly passed through the gate and returned to Heaven.
This scene, of course, did not escape the eyes of the Dao Lords present.
The Yokai side instantly became wary. What was the meaning of this? They claimed to be neutral, yet they were clearly showing favoritism.
The Yokai Dao Lords looked at each other, the gravity in their eyes clear.
With the Lord of Heaven’s interruption and the discovery of the Fear Demon King’s traces, this battle between the Immortals and Yokai could no longer continue.
The blood-crimson Qilin shouted a single word.
“Withdraw.”
The Dao Lords exited the Immortal-Yokai Minor Realm. Seeing this, the Immortal Dao Lords also retreated, leaving only Tianta to remain stationed there.
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