"I was wondering why something felt off about this coffin—someone is missing! Where did Jin Caiwei go?"
The Qiongqi Clan took Jin as their surname, and Jin Caiwei was the little Qiongqi the Immortal Fairy had mentioned.
Lu Yang: "..."
Why did that sound so bizarre?
"Wait, someone is coming. Hurry and get your Senior Sister and that Meng family kid out of here," the Immortal Fairy warned.
"Someone's coming to this place?" Lu Yang wondered. Knowing the Immortal Fairy wouldn't lie to him, he immediately spoke to Third Senior Sister.
"Third Senior Sister, we need to hide right away! Someone has entered the tomb!"
"How do you know that?" Third Senior Sister asked, puzzled. Even she hadn't detected anyone, so how had Lu Yang?
Besides, why would anyone be coming into the tomb? Had another Qiongqi died?
Lu Yang kept an entirely natural expression. "Before we set out, Eldest Senior Sister gave me a magical treasure with warning capabilities. Right now, it's warning of danger, so someone must have come in."
"Eldest Senior Sister plays favorites that much?" Third Senior Sister didn't doubt him. A treasure like that did sound like something Eldest Senior Sister could produce.
The three hurriedly returned everything to its original place and slipped back into the mechanism chamber.
To prevent grave robbers from discovering the tomb's traps and mechanisms, the mechanism chamber was shielded against divine sense, making it the perfect hiding spot.
Just as the three concealed themselves, footsteps echoed from the entrance of the passageway.
"Judging by the sound, there are two demons. One is an adult Qiongqi, while the other sounds like... a member of the Dijiang Clan?"
Third Senior Sister possessed astonishing hearing, able to identify the newcomers' races solely from their footsteps.
"A Qiongqi and a Dijiang? That pairing doesn't sound like grave robbers, nor does it sound like a funeral procession," Meng Jingzhou said, scratching his head.
As the two demons walked past the mechanism chamber, Lu Yang held his breath in trepidation, terrified of being discovered.
"Clan Head Jin, the place you chose for our discussion is certainly distinctive," the Dijiang said with a smile on his face, though inwardly he felt somewhat fearful.
Upon entering the tomb, he had sensed something watching him. Yet aside from Clan Head Jin, there shouldn't have been any other demons around.
Could the statue of the Ancient Qiongqi above be watching him?
Was the Ancient Qiongqi still alive?
The mere thought sent a shiver down his spine. He quickly shook his head in secret, banishing the terrifying notion.
Clan Head Jin offered a faint smile. "After all, this is a momentous matter. Finalizing it under the eyes of our ancestor is the only way to demonstrate the importance our clan places on the Dijiang Clan's proposal."
*The Dijiang Clan came to the Qiongqi Clan with such grand pomp?*
Lu Yang sent a voice transmission to Third Senior Sister, not daring to speak aloud.
Outside, the Qiongqi Clan was on high alert, with security on a level reserved for emissaries sent by the Dragon or Phoenix Clans. Although the Dijiang Clan was considered a major power, it shouldn't warrant such treatment from the Qiongqi Clan, should it?
And they even brought them into the Qiongqi Tomb?
Third Senior Sister frowned, equally bewildered. She had recently been busy conducting archaeological work across the tombs of various major clans and hadn't paid much attention to developments in the Demon Domain.
As Clan Head Jin and the Dijiang Clan envoy walked farther away, their voices grew faint to the point of being nearly undetectable. Only a cultivator who had specially trained her hearing, like Third Senior Sister, could clearly make out their conversation in the primary tomb.
"Paying respects to the Old Ancestor." Clan Head Jin knelt before the black coffin in obeisance.
Bowed by the imposing majesty of the Ancient Qiongqi, the Dijiang Clan envoy had no choice but to kneel and pay his respects as well.
"The Dijiang Clan has been quite active in the Demon Domain lately. Several old friends of mine have mentioned you."
"When the patriarch of the Taowu Clan told me of your clan's ambitions, it genuinely gave me quite a shock. Unifying the Demon Domain and establishing a Demon Nation—what an extraordinary idea."
Clan Head Jin stared coldly at the Dijiang Clan envoy.
"What surprised me even more was that the Taowu Clan actually agreed to your proposal and willingly submitted as vassals."
That was precisely why Clan Head Jin treated this as facing a formidable enemy, leading the Dijiang Clan envoy into the Qiongqi Tomb.
The Taowu Clan was evenly matched with the Qiongqi Clan in strength. Without an extraordinary reason, how could they have bowed their heads in submission?
The Dijiang Clan envoy sighed. "There was no other choice. A Golden Age has arrived, bringing countless opportunities. Great Xia possesses flourishing national might and is thriving by the day, backed by the Five Great Immortal Sects as its pillars. Even the Four Great Demonic Cults cannot stir up any significant waves there, and one of them, the Immortal Cult, was even wiped out entirely."
"By contrast, look at our Demon Domain. Our heritage has never been severed since ancient times, and our overall strength surpasses that of Great Xia. Yet we fight our own separate battles, divided into three factions based on our differing attitudes toward humanity."
"Our Demon Domain is practically a plate of loose sand. How are we to vie for opportunities in the future?"
"If our Dijiang Clan unifies the Demon Domain, absorbs the Sea Race, and establishes a supreme Demon Nation, then what would Great Xia or the Buddhist Kingdom amount to? Nothing more than trivialities!"
Clan Head Jin looked at the Dijiang Clan envoy, his guard raised to the utmost.
The envoy's fanatical expression did not seem feigned, which meant he genuinely believed this could be achieved.
Where did the Dijiang Clan's confidence come from?
"Does the Dijiang Clan have any peerless experts?" Meng Jingzhou asked via voice transmission.
"If I recall correctly, the Dijiang Clan does have a Demon Emperor at the Tribulation Transcendence stage. As far as strength goes, he is certainly powerful, but not enough to sustain an ambition of that scale."
"Looking back three hundred thousand years, they did produce a half-immortal, but he died of old age long ago."
...
"It is rare for your noble clan to consider the Demon Domain's greater good. This Jin admires that. Unfortunately, my Qiongqi Clan has no interest in contending for the world, nor do we care for any Demon Nation. Envoy, please see yourself out," Clan Head Jin said, issuing a blunt order of expulsion.
The Dijiang Clan painted a pretty picture, talking about a supreme Demon Nation, the struggle of the Golden Age, and reducing Great Xia and the Buddhist Kingdom to dust. But Great Xia was hardly easy to deal with; a bitter war would inevitably follow.
As clan head, he could not lead his people into such peril.
"See myself out?" The Dijiang Clan envoy revealed a bizarre smile, looking all the more sinister within the tomb.
"Clan Head Jin, you seem to have misunderstood something. I did not come here to negotiate with you."
"What do you think you are doing!" Clan Head Jin bellowed in fury, spreading his wings wide. His tiger eyes went round as a roar shook the firmament.
Even as he spoke, the Dijiang Clan envoy produced a bone command token from his robes, inscribed with the character "Di."
The moment the token appeared, a terrifying pressure flooded the space, bearing down on Clan Head Jin like a hundred thousand great mountains. The entire chamber shook and trembled.
Several figures manifested above the token. One had a body as crimson as blood with nine serpent heads and cold, detached eyes—the archdemon Jiuying.
Another possessed a mountain-sized frame resembling a lion, with two upward-curving tusks like celestial blades—the archdemon Taowu.
There was also the White Tiger presiding over slaughter and conflict, awe-inspiring and glaring fiercely in all directions.
Aside from them, there were many other peerless archdemons radiating similar levels of terrifying pressure.
Clan Head Jin trembled, unable to keep his footing, nearly dropping to his knees. These archdemons were all the old ancestors of various clans, beings revered as Demon Emperors!
This meant every one of these Demon Emperors had submitted to the Dijiang Clan!
Yet the most striking figure was the colossal form in their center, radiant as a blazing sun, with six legs, four wings, and eyes filled with sharp intellect and greed.
The Ancient Dijiang, a half-immortal archdemon!
"Clan Head Jin, submit beneath the mark of my ancient ancestor!" The envoy laughed heartily, channeling the token once more to amplify the pressure.
Using this very method, he had already branded the servant's mark onto numerous major clans.
"That bastard is still alive?" The Immortal Fairy recognized the Ancient Dijiang at a glance.
"Just like that peerless talent of the Phoenix Clan, he possesses the rudimentary Law of the Jungle Dao fruit. This rudimentary Dao fruit can control beings weaker than oneself, even dictating their life and death!"
"He's that powerful?" Lu Yang was thoroughly shocked.
"He's mediocre. When this immortal was a half-immortal, he was the sort who couldn't last ten moves against me."
The Ancient Dijiang was nothing impressive in the Immortal Fairy's eyes, but to Clan Head Jin, it felt as though the heavens were collapsing!
Beneath the crushing pressure, a faint smile tugged at the corner of Clan Head Jin's mouth. Straining to steady himself, he slowly opened his tiger paw. Resting on his palm was a pure white feather.
The Ancient Qiongqi's feather!
When he had bowed before the black coffin earlier, he had seized the chance to unseal and retrieve this very feather!
The envoy immediately sensed something amiss. Unlike his ancient ancestor, a half-immortal famous for manipulating living beings, the Ancient Qiongqi was renowned for pure combat power!
Clan Head Jin channeled the Ancient Qiongqi's feather. A tiger's roar rent the firmament; the tomb rattled, and the earth trembled. A body grander than a mountain range filled the entire primary tomb, exuding a pressure that left the envoy quivering in terror.
The Ancient Qiongqi lowered his head, his pupils reflecting the image of the Ancient Dijiang and those beings known as Demon Emperors.
He cast a contemptuous look at the Ancient Dijiang, parted his jaws, and exhaled a hot breath thick with the stench of blood. Then, baring his bloody maw in an ambiguous grin, he spoke slowly.
"Fellow Daoist, give me some face?"
Chapter 580