Inside the arena.
Gu Qingfeng walked slowly, stopping before Elder Bowen, and spoke in a light, indifferent tone.
"Now do you understand what an evil cultivator is?"
Elder Bowen was not dead; he was still alive, but only barely breathing out, with no breath coming in.
He knelt on the ground—or more accurately, stood planted on the ground, because his legs were already a bloody mess. His entire body stood upright like a stone stele, the bloody hole in his abdomen clearly visible, from which fresh blood and residual spiritual power flowed.
Elder Bowen opened his mouth, which was filled with blood, and said weakly, "Evil... evil demon, you... you will die... die a miserable death... Our Crimson-Letter Sect... will not... will not let you go..." In his hand, he seemed to be clutching a talisman, wanting to crush it, but he no longer had any strength left.
It was a Message Talisman.
As the name implies, it was a talisman used to transmit messages.
In this world, whether it be sects, families, or gangs, almost all had their own Message Talismans. They were used to convey messages under normal circumstances and to call for help in emergencies.
The talisman in Elder Bowen's hand was precisely a Message Talisman, and not an ordinary one at that—it was a Demon-Slaying Talisman.
Once this talisman was activated, everyone in the Fire Cloud Branch Hall, from the Hall Master and Grand Elders down to the stewards and law enforcers, no matter what they were doing, had to rush to the scene immediately to slay the demon and defend the Dao.
"Let me help you."
Gu Qingfeng reached out with a beckoning gesture, and the talisman in Elder Bowen's hand instantly appeared in his own. Then, with a casual flick of his wrist, the talisman transformed into a streak of light that shot into the sky, blooming in mid-air to form a banner. It was an incredibly profound and mysterious banner, seemingly bearing the character for "Chi."
Immediately after, Gu Qingfeng looked at the several elders of the Wind-Cloud Branch Hall and asked, "Since the Fire Cloud Branch Hall has such a talisman, I presume your Wind-Cloud Branch Hall has one too. Hand over your talisman!"
The Grand Elder of the Wind-Cloud Branch Hall had already died violently. The other elders, though still alive, were severely injured. Facing Gu Qingfeng in this state, none dared to speak; they were all so terrified they didn't even dare to breathe heavily.
"Lan Feier, who holds the Demon-Slaying Talisman of your Wind-Cloud Branch Hall?"
"You..." Not far away, Lan Feier clutched her chest, her delicate face deathly pale, with traces of blood at the corner of her mouth. She had been heavily injured earlier by the sheer might of Gu Qingfeng's voice. Now, hearing him inquire about the Demon-Slaying Talisman filled her with immense fear. Trembling, she asked, "You... what are you going to do?"
"Call everyone from your Wind-Cloud Branch Hall, from the Hall Master down to the lowest disciple—every single one of them—over here!"
"What! You!"
Lan Feier panicked, unsure how to respond.
Since the Demon-Slaying Talisman was the highest-level Message Talisman of the Fire Cloud Branch Hall, it was also the highest-level transmission talisman of their Wind-Cloud Branch Hall. Once this talisman was activated, the entire Wind-Cloud Branch Hall would mobilize en masse. Therefore, under normal circumstances, unless encountering an extremely critical situation, this talisman was almost never used. Only the Grand Elder was qualified to possess such a talisman.
Gu Qingfeng seemed to have guessed as much. He reached out with a beckoning gesture, retrieved a storage pouch from Elder Xuanhua's corpse, found the Demon-Slaying Talisman inside, and with a casual flick, the talisman transformed into a streak of light, forming a crimson banner in the sky.
No one had expected Gu Qingfeng to do this—not only did he not try to stop it, but he actively activated the talismans of both the Fire Cloud and Wind-Cloud Branch Halls.
Those were the Demon-Slaying Talismans of the two great branch halls of the Crimson-Letter Sect!
Almost anyone with some understanding of the Crimson-Letter Sect knew that whether it was the Fire Cloud Branch Hall or the Wind-Cloud Branch Hall, their Hall Masters and Grand Elders were all Nascent Soul experts. Moreover, they all shared a common trait: they were all Chixiao People who had followed Monarch Chixiao in conquering the world back in the day. Only members of the Chixiao Sect were truly considered people of the Crimson-Letter Sect in the fullest sense, and only they had the right to be called such.
The Crimson-Letter Sect itself was not fearsome; what was fearsome were the Chixiao People.
The Crimson-Letter Sect controlled the underground order of this world, with branch halls spread across the globe—one hall per region. Every major region had a branch hall stationed there, and each branch hall was guarded by several Chixiao People who had followed Monarch Chixiao in his campaigns.
In this world, a saying had long been passed down:
"Better to provoke an immortal of the Nine Heavens, offend a demon of the Nine Nethers, than to provoke the Chixiao Monarch or transgress against the Chixiao People."
The Chixiao Monarch referred to none other than the renowned Monarch Chixiao.
And the Chixiao People referred to the members of the former Chixiao Sect.
How terrifying Monarch Chixiao was, no one in this world or even the heavens and earth was unaware.
How ferocious the Chixiao People were, anyone who had lived through the end of the ancient era knew perfectly well.
Ordinary people cultivated immortality and walked the Dao, hence it was called the Immortal Dao.
But the people of the Chixiao Sect cultivated something that was both immortal and not, walked a path that was both Dao and not.
Ordinary people practiced Immortal Arts, where mystery was just mystery. But the Immortal Arts practiced by the Chixiao People—their mystery was not mystery, but killing intent.
Yes.
Killing intent.
The Immortal Arts practiced by the Chixiao People were neither flamboyant nor resplendent, nor even particularly mysterious. What they possessed was pure killing intent.
These individuals, when they followed Monarch Chixiao, slew immortals above and slaughtered demons below. They were fierce generals who had waded through seas of blood. Their spiritual power and blood qi boiled; every move and technique contained rolling killing intent. Each was a fierce and battle-hardened ferocious person. Most importantly, on their backs, they bore the totem of the Chixiao Dragon-Elephant.
"Every Chixiao person bears the Dragon-Elephant, killing and drinking blood with crimson eyes. The dragon on the chest, the elephant on the back; the Dragon-Elephant drinks blood and slaughters across the heavens."
It was said that every Chixiao person had a dragon mark on their chest and an elephant carrying on their back. The dragon represented "Chi," the elephant represented "Xiao."
The Chixiao Dragon-Elephant was the spirit beast of Monarch Chixiao back then, and also the guardian spirit beast of the Chixiao Sect. No one knew where Monarch Chixiao had obtained this Dragon-Elephant, only that it was exceptionally ferocious, swallowing clouds and spitting mist, devouring immortals, eating demons and monsters, feared by all.
Back then, the Chixiao Dragon-Elephant suffered judgment, its soul scattered and dispersed.
To worship the Dragon-Elephant, Monarch Chixiao irrigated his own body with the Dragon-Elephant's blood spirit, condensing the Dragon-Elephant totem.
All the Chixiao People were no exception; they too irrigated their bodies with the Dragon-Elephant's blood spirit, condensing the Dragon-Elephant totem.
It was said that the Chixiao Dragon-Elephant totem would manifest its power upon drinking blood. "The Dragon-Elephant roars across the world, blood dyes the rising storm."
Back then, Monarch Chixiao led tens of thousands of Chixiao People, baring their upper bodies, dragon on chest, elephant on back, charged up the clouds, swords pointing at the Nine Heavens, slay Immortal, sacrifice to the Dragon-Elephant, causing blood rain to fall across the world for nine long years...
Later, when Monarch Chixiao vanished, the Immortal Dynasty collapsed, heroes vied for supremacy, demons and monsters threw the world into chaos. To pacify the calamity, the Old Master issued a Chixiao Decree, summoning the Chixiao People to pacify the heroes, exterminate the demons and monsters. They slaughtered until the skies darkened and the earth churned, slaughtered until rivers of blood flowed, slaughtered until the skies filled with the roars of Dragon-Elephants.
Even after the great calamity, most of the Chixiao People who had followed Monarch Chixiao lived in seclusion, rarely showing themselves. But no one dared to ignore their existence.
And now, this Gu Qingfeng had the audacity to proactively activate two Demon-Slaying Talismans. Soon, the Chixiao People guarding the Wind-Cloud and Fire Cloud Branch Halls would emerge from their seclusion. No one knew what would happen then.