Steadily becoming a saint, the immortal officials hired me to tend the horses
Chapter 85: Chapter 85: First Trial of Divine Finger, Xu Lian Demon Lord

Outer Sect City.

The city walls were lined with Outer Disciples; Ye Lan and Zhen Qin were among them, furrowing their brows as they looked off into the distance. It wasn't just them—every disciple was looking in the same direction, as if facing a formidable enemy.

The vast snowfall covered the mountains and rivers, and the fierce wind howled, occasionally revealing the outlines of mountain ranges amid the swirling blizzard.

Goo-goo—

The mysterious sound of bird cries rose again, sounding like ghosts from the Underworld approaching, making the disciples' hearts pound like war drums.

Gradually, a shadow appeared in the other half of the white expanse, stirring all the disciples.

"What... what is that?" Zhen Qin said with a trembling voice, her volume low as if she was asking herself.

Ye Lan also widened her eyes; she thought she had seen and known much, but she was still shocked by the sight before her.

The huge shadow resembled a black sea approaching, boundless, its ends melding with the horizons, and the mysterious bird cries grew louder.

Anybody would feel fear when facing such a colossal shadow, as if a deep abyss was encroaching.

A tremendous pressure emanated from within the city, startling the disciples to turn their heads. Suddenly, dozens of Flying Swords soared into the air, encircled by golden Spiritual Power, and with a loud bang, the swords shot forth simultaneously, their golden Spiritual Power merging into a gigantic Golden Phoenix that swept across the city wall.

The Golden Phoenix, with a wingspan of a hundred yards, presented a majestic sight, yet it appeared tiny as it flew towards the terrifying shadow in the sky.

The Golden Phoenix ripped through the snow in its path, unstoppable as it collided with the terrifying shadow. Then, golden light burst forth, and a fierce wind roared, bringing with it swirling snow, forcing the Outer Disciples on the city walls to raise their arms to shield themselves.

"Your Majesty Demon Emperor, what are you waiting for?"

A chilling voice rose, drowning out all other noise between heaven and earth.

On the Heavenly Repair Platform.

The Underworld Demon Emperor slowly stood up, and across from him, a Five-Layer Void Crossing Realm Great Cultivator followed suit. Their gazes met.

"I never imagined that Your Excellency would be the legendary Underworld Demon Emperor; you've hidden yourself well,"

The cold voice of this Supreme Sect Elder rang out as he lifted his right hand, producing a jade ruler in it.

Several other Supreme Sect Cultivators also stood up, each exuding an aura far surpassing that of the Divinity Transformation Realm, causing other Cultivators on the platform to stand and retreat.

The Ghost Mother of Ephemera also retreated, looking no different from ordinary Cultivators.

"Heh."

The Underworld Demon Emperor let out a chilling laugh that made one's scalp tingle. His calm face quickly twisted as waves of Demon Energy flowed from his robe, spreading in all directions.

Boom—

Thunder rumbled from the sky, with thunderclouds rolling in from all directions, pressing against the snow above, forming a vast white fog as if a second sky had appeared, oppressively heavy.

The Underworld Demon Emperor looked up, a mocking sneer on his face. He suddenly crouched down and slammed his palm on the ground. In an instant, the dense Demon Energy covering the Heavenly Repair Platform violently surged, and numerous Evil Ghosts crawled out of the mist, their roars reverberating through heaven and earth.

The battle between the righteous and the demonic had erupted!

…

In Mystic Valley.

Gu An was leading the disciples in inspecting the medicinal herbs. The fierce wind caused snow on the mountains to continuously slide down, and the distant rumbling persisted.

Yang Ni stood next to Gu An, not shoveling snow but staring at the sky, her brow deeply furrowed.

Wuxin moved closer to Gu An, anxiously saying, "Senior Brother, this disturbance seems pretty major, doesn't it?"

Gu An also cursed inwardly. Hadn't Jiang Qiong said it wouldn't affect this part of the Outer Sect City?

Why did he feel like the Demon Path was invading from this side?

"Don't worry, the Supreme Sect won't be easily breached," Gu An reassured.

He sensed an unusually strong presence of Demon Energy in the Outer Sect City, unsure of its origins.

Wuxin was troubled, yet his hands didn't stop moving, a testament to the training he had received over the years from Gu An.

The sky gradually became covered with thunderclouds, diminishing the snowfall, which was actually fortunate for Mystic Valley.

After clearing the snow in the various sections, Gu An had Wuxin gather all the disciples together while he stood at a distance with Yang Ni.

"Can Supreme Sect really hold on?"

"What's that sound? It's terrifying!"

"I wonder what the condition of the Outer Sect City is now; fortunately, we're in Medicine Valley."

"Hard to say. For all we know, Demon Cultivators could be eyeing us next."

"Shut up, you doom monger!"

The disciples were anxious and frightened, unable to calm themselves, overwhelmed by the pressure from grand Cultivator battles, Demon Energy, and demonic prowess, sensations they had never experienced before.

Gu An glanced at the disciples a hundred yards away, then turned to Yang Ni next to him and asked in a low voice, "With your strength, how powerful an enemy do you think you can deal with?"

"As long as they're not from the Divinity Transformation Realm, I can kill as many as come," Yang Ni's response was bold, yet Gu An couldn't feel pleased.

Because there were sure to be those from the Divinity Transformation Realm appearing.

At that moment, a figure flew swiftly from afar and quickly landed in the valley—it was none other than Li Ya.

"Senior Brother Li!" Wuxin exclaimed in delight. Li Ya was an Inner Sect Disciple, a genuine Elixir Formation Realm expert, and his arrival couldn't be more uplifting for Wuxin.

As far as Yang Ni was concerned, to Wuxin's eyes, she was just a Foundation Establishment Cultivator—surely no match for Li Ya.

Li Ya disregarded Wuxin, swiftly approaching Gu An. His gaze swept over Yang Ni, his brows slightly furrowed; then, turning to Gu An, he urgently said, "Junior Brother Gu, we should evacuate. It's too dangerous here now. All the Outer and Inner Sect Cities are in battle; there's a traitor in Supreme Sect who has used the Teleportation Array to admit enemies inside!"

Eh?

Didn't Li Ya recognize Yang Ni?

Gu An's expression grew solemn as he responded, "No way. I can't abandon Medicine Valley. And even if we wanted to flee, where could we go?"

To be honest, when Li Ya arrived now, he was both moved and troubled.

With the Demon Path invading, Gu An was not really panicked; he simply found it inconvenient to make a move with other people around.

"Think hiding is easy? We definitely can't stay in Medicine Valley!" Li Ya said gravely.

Gu An shook his head and replied, "If you want to hide, go ahead, Senior Brother Li. You really didn't need to come to save me. I can't abandon my disciples!"

In Mystic Valley, there were more than twenty Servant Disciples, not easy to transfer all together—they could indeed be used as his excuse.

Just as Li Ya was about to speak, Yang Ni suddenly said, "Someone's coming!"

Li Ya instinctively looked up, and Gu An did the same.

They saw a huge vortex forming in the thunderclouds above, and within the vortex, a figure was plummeting down, heading straight for Mystic Valley.

The figure, like a meteor from Outer Heaven, descended upon the northern mountaintop, stirring up a cloud of snow and mist.

"Wuxin, you really made it hard for your brother to replace you. I never thought you'd hide here, daring to sneak into the Supreme Sect as a spy!"

A contemptuous and mocking sneer resonated throughout Mystic Valley, startling everyone into looking towards Wuxin.

The disciples around Wuxin stirred, stepping back in a flurry.

Wuxin's expression turned ugly as he stared hatefully at the person atop the mountain.

The man on the mountaintop wore a black robe patterned with blood-red designs, his hair disheveled, his features handsome but with eyes full of deadly menace, his smile even more ferocious as he looked down on Wuxin as if he were a mere insect.

[Bai Wu (First Level of Nascent Soul Realm):203/790/980]

Gu An, observing the results of the Life Span Detection, was not at all flustered.

He dared to let the other party into the valley because he sensed that the man's cultivation level posed no threat; it was just a precautionary measure he wanted to reconfirm.

Li Ya frowned as he stared at Wuxin from a distance, a murderous intent flashing in his eyes.

Seeming to understand Bai Wu's fearsomeness, Wuxin gritted his teeth and shouted, "I'll go back with you, just don't harm the others!"

"That won't do. The order I received is to kill everyone from the Supreme Sect, including those insignificant Servant Disciples!"

Bai Wu licked his lips and mocked, "And who said I'm taking you back? Today, you'll perish here with them, and I can bring your head back instead."

"Hmph!"

A sudden cold snort sounded, startling Bai Wu as his pupils dilated; he instinctively turned to look, only to see a woman in blue appear out of nowhere beside him, her sword slashing down.

It was Yang Ni!

He immediately leaped away, but still got struck on the arm, blood spurting out.

Yang Ni continued her assault, and the two of them began fighting on the mountaintop, sword qi flooding around, demonic energy dispersing like fog, soon taking their battle high into the air.

Li Ya couldn't help but look towards Gu An and asked, "Who is that person?"

"Your mother's sister, Yang Ni. Don't you recognize her?" Gu An replied softly.

Upon hearing this, Li Ya's expression turned perplexed, mumbling, "How could it be her..."

Seeing his expression, Gu An grew secretly puzzled.

What did he mean?

Could it be that their relationship wasn't good?

Without asking further, Gu An said, "I'll go check the forest, where many medicinal herbs are planted."

Having said that, he ran off towards the forest.

Li Ya wanted to call after him, yet his heart was caught up in Yang Ni's battle.

"Damn it!"

Li Ya cursed softly and leapt up, rushing to support Yang Ni.

In fact, Yang Ni didn't need his help; she was overwhelming Bai Wu in the fight. In less than 30 minutes, Bai Wu was already covered in blood. Despite his expansive display of spells, Yang Ni's movement technique was too exquisite, and she easily dodged each attack.

Seeing Bai Wu so flustered, Wuxin widened his eyes, completely surprised by Yang Ni's prowess.

Where did his brother replace such a powerful Great Cultivator?

Meanwhile.

Gu An reached the edge of the forest, his back to Mystic Valley, and looked towards the distant mountains.

He raised his right hand, thumb pressing against his middle finger, beginning to aim at the distance.

He sensed the presence of a Void Crossing Realm being hundreds of miles away, unsure why it lingered, but certain it meant no good.

Too close to his Medicine Valley. It must be eliminated!

Just in time to try out Elder Tian's Gathering Spirit Divine Finger.

He had already mastered the Gathering Spirit Divine Finger, and even though he wasn't adept, killing a Void Crossing Realm Demon Cultivator should be effortless!

Spiritual Power compressed at the front of his middle finger, he refrained from gathering the surrounding Spiritual Energy, fearing it might alert Yang Ni and the others.

Hundreds of miles away.

In a flat area among the mountains, a group of Demon Cultivators was gathered, setting up an Array Platform.

A particularly imposing Demon Cultivator stood by, watching silently.

His name was Xu Lian, one of the Demon Lords of the Heavenly Extinction Sect, with a cultivation at the fourth level of the Void Crossing Realm, idly playing with a white flame in his right hand, his expression indifferent.

A disciple of the Heavenly Extinction Sect approached and said softly, "Master, the formation will be complete within 30 minutes."

The Demon Lord Xu Lian replied indifferently, "Finish the formation first, prepare…"

Before he could finish, his expression changed abruptly, and he instinctively turned his head to look.