Ancient Dijiang stared intently at the silhouette of his old friend, Ancient Qiongqi, not daring to let his guard down in the slightest.
Even though it was merely a contingency measure left behind, he could already feel the pressure Ancient Qiongqi exerted upon him.
Yet he still showed no fear. Both were half-immortals; neither could claim clear superiority over the other. He hadn't feared a living Ancient Qiongqi, so why would he fear a dead one?
"And what if I refuse to grant you face?"
*Boom—*
Without a single word, Ancient Qiongqi brought a tiger paw smashing down like he was pulverizing a watermelon, whipping up a terrifying tempest that swept through the Qiongqi Tomb.
"You dare try to control my Qiongqi Clan? You must be tired of living!"
Under that paw strike from Ancient Qiongqi, the marks left in the command token by those Tribulation Transcendence stage Demon Emperors burst one after another. They had merely embedded an aura of their pressure into the token; how could they possibly withstand a strike from Ancient Qiongqi?
Ancient Dijiang flapped his wings without the least bit of hesitation, meeting the blow head-on.
Ancient Qiongqi had long since perished, while Ancient Dijiang was far away on the eastern side of the Demon Domain. The two half-immortals were clashing across time and space, sending tremors through the entire Qiongqi Clan.
Outside the tomb, the colossal Qiongqi felt the call within their bloodline. Collapsing like toppling hills, they bowed toward the tomb from afar.
Inside the tomb, Ancient Dijiang burst into loud laughter and ceased his attacks.
"Brother Jinshi, you and I are as close as brothers. After waking from my slumber, the one I wished to see most was you! Seeing you today with your majestic bearing undiminished from the old days fills me with joy. I sent an envoy to your noble clan solely to pay my respects to you, Brother Jinshi. Now that my goal has been achieved, I wish you a good sleep. Farewell!"
The unification of the Demon Domain was proceeding in an orderly fashion. There was no need to provoke such a formidable enemy for no good reason; gaining or losing the Qiongqi Clan would not derail his plans.
He could simply treat this visit as having tested the Qiongqi Clan's hidden foundation.
*Clatter.*
The command token fell to the ground, instantly crumbling into powder.
Ancient Qiongqi cast a cold glance at his old rival, Ancient Dijiang, let out a cold snort, and dispersed into thin air.
"Fairy, is this what you meant by 'showing some face'?"
Lu Yang swallowed hard. No wonder she had claimed this feather could make any demon race do a favor—it turned out that if they refused, Ancient Qiongqi would simply resort to force.
"Of course. Was there anything wrong with my description?" the Immortal Fairy asked, sounding completely justified. It was just that his tone hadn't been quite right; whenever old Qiongqi spoke to her, he was always polite and eager to please, whereas his tone toward others was noticeably worse.
"...Nothing wrong at all."
"Should we go have a chat with Ancient Qiongqi? It looked like he wasn't completely dead yet, fighting just like a living being."
The Immortal Fairy waved her hand dismissively. "He's as dead as dead can be. At most, he left behind a wisp of divine sense. After that clash just now, both the divine sense and consciousness inside the feather were thoroughly exhausted."
"Then what if Ancient Dijiang attacks again?"
"He can't. That is the flaw of the Law of the Jungle Dao fruit. Since Dijiang voluntarily conceded during the clash just now and gave up the position of the 'strong,' he can no longer exert control over the Qiongqi Clan."
"Fairy, Ancient Dijiang said he woke up from a slumber. Does that mean he slept from ancient times until now, also for the sake of becoming an immortal?"
"If that's what he claims, then sure. He probably froze himself into an ice block until now, or soaked himself in some solution. There are plenty of methods, but essentially they all simulate time stasis."
Not long ago, Lu Yang had met another half-immortal who had slept since ancient times—the Great Yu Imperial Preceptor.
"However, the higher one's cultivation, the more precious the heavenly materials and earthly treasures required to sustain such a slumber. It's safe to say that the treasures used by a half-immortal are of the highest grade. Furthermore, because a Dao fruit is merely rudimentary, during the slumber one's power gradually dissipates, leaving behind an empty shell. After waking, an extensive period of recovery is required before returning to peak condition."
True immortals possessed infinite lifespans and had no need for slumber.
"Should we go looking for Ancient Dijiang?"
Aside from the Immortal Fairy, this was the second ancient figure whose existence had been confirmed. He was bound to know a great deal.
A look of disdain appeared on the Immortal Fairy's face. "Tch, that old fellow is no good piece of work. Treacherous as can be, and he hides exceedingly deep. It'll be tough to track him down. If we have Girl Yun come over and flip the Demon Domain upside down, she might find him."
Lu Yang: "..."
With the clash between the two half-immortals settled, Clan Head Jin's gaze turned chillingly cold as he stared at the Dijiang Clan envoy trembling on his knees.
"Envoy, will you scramble out of my Qiongqi Clan on your own, or shall I have someone carry you out?"
"I'm leaving! I'm leaving right away!"
The Dijiang Clan envoy had never imagined the Qiongqi Clan possessed such a profound foundation. Even his own ancient ancestor had voluntarily retreated, so what purpose was there for a mere envoy like him to stay?
The members of the Dijiang Clan were born with six legs, yet at this moment, he wished he had grown six more. Scrambling and crawling, he fled from the Qiongqi Tomb and raced out of the Qiongqi Clan territory.
Third Senior Sister had listened to the entire ordeal, faithfully reproducing the brief clash in the primary tomb with voice mimicry as vivid as a theatrical performance.
Meng Jingzhou stared in dumbfounded disbelief. They had merely come here to do a little archaeology; how on earth had they run into something like this? First the awakening of Ancient Dijiang, then the grand scheme to unify the Demon Domain!
Third Senior Sister was hardly any calmer. She had raided tombs countless times, yet this was the first time she had ever encountered something so absurd.
The unification of the Demon Domain was an earth-shattering event, yet not a whisper of news had leaked out. Ancient Dijiang must have used his rudimentary Law of the Jungle Dao fruit to control the upper echelons of the great clans. That kind of absolute subjugation ensured total secrecy. It was only today, through a string of coincidences, that they had stumbled upon the Dijiang Clan's scheme.
She retrieved a sheet of xuan paper from her identity jade pendant to report the developments in the Demon Domain to Eldest Senior Sister, while Lu Yang ground the ink beside her.
A reply from Eldest Senior Sister arrived very quickly.
"Have Little Junior Brother answer: how strong is Ancient Dijiang's combat prowess?"
Third Senior Sister was thoroughly astonished. Little Junior Brother knew about that sort of thing?
Lu Yang thought it over, then drafted a reply to Eldest Senior Sister.
"He wouldn't survive ten half-immortal self-detonations."
"Then don't worry about it."
The exchange came to an end.
Seeing that there was nothing left for her to do, the Immortal Fairy yawned out of boredom, climbed up a tree, hugged the trunk, and went to sleep.
Before nodding off, she kindly reminded Lu Yang:
"By the way, there's a minor detail you should be aware of."
"What is it?"
"The Qiongqi Clan head has discovered you."
Lu Yang blanched in horror. Before he could even warn Old Meng and Third Senior Sister, the door to the mechanism chamber slowly creaked open. Clan Head Jin poked his enormous tiger head inside, his icy pupils reflecting the silhouettes of the three intruders.
"If not for our ancestor's warning, I truly wouldn't have guessed three little thieves were hiding in here."
"Let's see... Demonic Sound Heavenly Maiden, Lu Yang... both from the Dao Seeking Sect. And you're Meng Jingzhou of the Meng family. Are you taking after your father?"
Meng Jingzhou: "..."
Why did that sound so much like an insult?
Once their identities were confirmed, Clan Head Jin's expression softened, replaced by an amiable smile.
"You three shouldn't stay in here. Please step outside with me, lest word spread that my Qiongqi Clan lacks hospitality."
Although these three were suspected grave robbers, Demonic Sound Heavenly Maiden had numerous enemies throughout the Demon Domain, and the Dao Seeking Sect was notoriously infamous—hardly a decent bunch among them.
Still, considering that the Qiongqi Clan was recently strapped for funds and needed to borrow money and take out a loan from the Meng family...
It was better to treat them with courtesy.
Chapter 581