Free Web NovelChapter 150: Chapter 150: Round Two
"Very good!"
Su Duo was quite pleased with his Black Demon Guards.
They were loyal, powerful, and most importantly, every one of them had passed Su Duo’s trials and possessed an absolute fanaticism for the Demon Dao.
In truth, Su Duo was already well aware of the current power vacuum within the Purple Profound Celestial Marketplace.
As early as half a month ago, Su Duo had learned that the Purple Flower Palace’s Golden Core Cultivators had already left the marketplace and returned to their Sect.
Su Duo also knew the reason why.
It was all because of Yan Demon Venerable.
Under Yan Demon Venerable’s reign of terror, every Cultivator in Dinghai State lived in constant fear.
And as a Sect composed almost entirely of female Cultivators, the Purple Flower Palace was naturally the most terrified of all the Sects in Dinghai State.
After learning that Master Body Stabilization’s true identity was a Demon Venerable, they grew even more panicked, terrified he would come for them at any moment.
Though there had never been news of a Demon Venerable personally committing murder, other cultivators were still watching from the shadows, eager to strike even if he wouldn’t.
After all, numerous Tribulation Cultivators had already sprung up, making a fortune from the chaos. Their sudden wealth had made many people green with envy, and the Purple Flower Palace had long been in their sights.
They were just waiting for the Demon Venerable to breach the Purple Flower Palace so they could swoop in and claim a piece of the pie.
Even some Golden Core Cultivators harbored such thoughts.
This gave the Palace Master of the Purple Flower Palace a terrible headache and kept her in a state of constant anxiety.
Fortunately, Elder Gu delivered another piece of timely intelligence, which was a blessing in disguise.
Although Golden Core Cultivators could still be affected by Body Stabilization, they could instantly break free once the caster left, meaning the danger was minimal.
Thus, the Palace Master of the Purple Flower Palace specifically ordered all dispatched Golden Core Cultivators to return to the Sect as a precaution.
Additionally, since men were not among the Demon Venerable’s targets, the Palace Master had temporarily invited several male Golden Core Cultivators to lend their aid.
Of course, these were men she trusted implicitly; otherwise, it would have been like sending a sheep into a tiger’s den.
One of these men was the Sect Leader of the Profound Origin Sect.
The aid they were providing was not for a battle against a Nascent Soul Demon Cultivator, but against the marauders who were very likely to appear.
At the same time, all of the Purple Flower Palace disciples in the Purple Profound Celestial Marketplace had left. Never mind the Foundation Establishment Cultivators; even disciples at the Qi Cultivation Stage had fled.
It had originally been the Purple Flower Palace’s turn to manage the Purple Profound Celestial Marketplace, but with their withdrawal, the Marketplace’s defensive strength instantly plummeted.
Coupled with the departure of Elder Gu, the resident Golden Core Cultivator, the entire Marketplace’s defensive capability dropped to rock bottom.
Furthermore, the Profound Origin Sect, which was scheduled to take over next, was also unable to spare any manpower. So, just as Su Duo had predicted, there wasn’t a single Golden Core Cultivator in the Purple Profound Celestial Marketplace now.
The only thing left to deal with was the Purple Profound Celestial Marketplace’s Array.
This Array had been set up by a Pavilion Master of the Profound Origin Sect’s Array Pavilion.
However, it wasn’t the current Pavilion Master He, but his predecessor.
If Pavilion Master He had been the one to set it up, Su Duo would have charged in long ago without a second thought.
But the previous Pavilion Master’s skill with Arrays was nothing short of divine, even surpassing Su Duo’s own. This made him extremely wary of the Purple Profound Celestial Marketplace, so he hadn’t struck immediately.
Instead, he first had his subordinates set up Array Breaker measures before making his move.
"Let’s go! The first step to restoring the glory of the Demon Dao will be taken by our hands!"
"RAH! RAH! RAH!"
The Black Demon Guards roared their assent.
「...」
Jiang Xu returned to his shop, "World’s Number One Talisman."
A frown had been fixed on his face ever since he parted ways with that group of suspected Demon Cultivators.
He couldn’t stop thinking about it.
The appearance of Demon Cultivators was by no means an ordinary event.
And they weren’t just some scattered, unorganized commoners; they clearly belonged to the same faction.
’What is their plan? Are they targeting a specific shop, or do they intend to attack the Profound Origin Sect’s branch hall, or perhaps another Sect’s? What’s their goal? What do they stand to gain? Are they trying to establish their might with a terrorist attack? Or do they need to kill to advance their Realm?’
’Surely they don’t intend to take on the entire Marketplace?’
The thought flashed through Jiang Xu’s mind, and he initially scoffed at it. The idea of a handful of Foundation Establishment Demon Cultivators attacking this Marketplace was preposterous.
But in the next moment, Jiang Xu had a startling realization.
’If they really are a single faction, then they must have a leader.’
’And this leader’s Cultivation might not be limited to just Foundation Establishment.’
’What if... what if there’s a Demonic Cultivator at the Golden Core Realm?’
Jiang Xu’s eyes widened, and a chill shot through his heart.
He immediately left the Talisman Shop, activated his Concealing Breath Spell to hide his presence, and flew straight for the city gate on his Magical Artifact. He completely ignored the resolution he’d made just two days prior to hole up and study Runes no matter what.
Jiang Xu was incredibly fast. He reached the city gate in less than a quarter of an hour. Before long, however, he returned to his little shop, his face grim.
It wasn’t because he had remembered his prior resolution and decided against leaving.
It was because he saw a Grand Array had once again appeared before the city gate.
This Grand Array looked exactly like the Demon Array from outside the Secret Realm.
And just like before, any human who touched the Demon Array was transformed into a bizarre, grotesque Demon.
A considerable number of people who had been trying to leave the city had already been turned into Demons and were now heading back inside.
Jiang Xu’s mind raced, a thousand thoughts churning within him.
’How can this be! Weren’t we told that Elder Demon Su was dealt with by the two Elders? Why has this Array appeared again? Can just anyone set up this Array? Or has another Array Master shown up? What in the world is going on?!’
Jiang Xu was overcome with regret.
’Just a moment ago, that Grand Array wasn’t there. If only I had left the Marketplace right after splitting from those Demon Cultivators, or the moment I first saw them...’
’No, it probably would have been too late anyway. Setting up an Array isn’t something you can do in an instant. It must take time. That means they must have been plotting outside the city for a long time.’
’If I had rushed out just now, the mastermind might have spotted me, which would have been even more dangerous!’
Jiang Xu recalled the actions of the two Elders who had arrived later in the Secret Realm, and he slowly began to feel that something was off.
’The two Elders never actually said they killed him, did they? Could it be... that Elder Demon Su isn’t actually dead?’
Jiang Xu began to speculate.
’Were the two Elders in such a hurry to leave the Secret Realm because Elder Demon Su was still alive? Were they afraid he would come looking for trouble again, so they rushed everyone to leave?’
