Hearing the shouts, everyone focused their gaze and saw a group of over a hundred people surging toward Liuren Mountain. Those arriving were all the chief law enforcers, deacon elders, and execution elders of the Fire Cloud Branch Hall. The four or five leading them were the deputy hall masters of the Fire Cloud Branch Hall, and the middle-aged man at the very front was the current Hall Master of the Fire Cloud Branch Hall, Ren Yang—a Nascent Soul expert and also a disciple of the previous old hall master.
After the Demon-Suppression Talisman was activated, Hall Master Ren Yang, taking precautions, led the elders here at the first opportunity; the rest of the Fire Cloud Branch Hall members would follow shortly.
However, when they arrived at Liuren Mountain and saw over two hundred people lying paralyzed on the ground, they were all shocked. When they saw Elder Bowen's corpse and the other Fire Cloud Branch Hall elders on the brink of death, they could hardly believe their eyes.
Knowing that the activation of the Demon-Suppression Talisman signaled an emergency, Hall Master Ren Yang and the others never imagined that the several elders and genius disciples who had come to attend the banquet would be dead or injured, with those still alive barely clinging to life.
"It's him! He's the Evil Demon! He's the one who drained our spiritual power... it's him! It's him!"
One of the Fire Cloud Branch Hall elders, on his last breath, pointed weakly at Gu Qingfeng.
Hall Master Ren Yang followed the direction and looked over. Seeing that the Evil Demon still had one hand clamped over Elder Shi Tong's head, he was shocked once more. As he stood up, a torrent of Nascent Soul spiritual power erupted from him, his aura truly unstoppable. At the same time, the over one hundred law enforcers and deacon elders from the Fire Cloud Branch Hall who had arrived also circulated their spiritual power. Though their cultivation wasn't at the Nascent Soul level, they were all Transcendent True Beings with rich combat experience.
"Uncle Ren, no!"
Lan Feier flashed into view, immediately stopping him and persuading, "You are no match for him. Do not act rashly!"
Ren Yang, capable of serving as the Hall Master of the Fire Cloud Branch Hall, possessed extraordinary mental fortitude, cultivation, experience, and insight. He was not an impulsive man. If he were truly impulsive, he would have attacked the moment he arrived at Liuren Mountain, not waited until now.
Over two hundred people were present, all Transcendent experts from the Ten Great Sects and the Three Caves and Five Mountains, including many Great Perfection True Beings. Such a group was dead or injured, yet this Evil Demon could stand here calmly and steadily. Even as a Nascent Soul expert, he had to be wary.
"Hall Master Ren, why haven't the old hall master and the several Supreme Elders come?"
Feihe, disregarding everything else and only wanting to save his master, asked, "Only the old hall master and the several Supreme Elders can kill this Evil Demon!"
"Since it's a Demon-Suppression Talisman, the old hall master and the several Supreme Elders must also be aware of the situation's gravity. I believe they will arrive soon."
Hall Master Ren Yang stared fixedly at Gu Qingfeng, growing more and more puzzled because he couldn't detect any trace of evil aura on Gu Qingfeng. He was very perplexed and asked, "Is he truly an Evil Demon?"
"This..." Lan Feier simply didn't know how to answer that question.
Meanwhile, Feihe, Jin Yu, and the other elders from the Ten Great Sects and the Three Caves and Five Mountains insisted that Gu Qingfeng was indeed the Evil Demon.
At that moment, another large group surged over—also over a hundred people. They were the various deacon and law enforcement elders of the Wind-Cloud Branch Hall. The dignified woman leading them was the current Hall Master of the Wind-Cloud Branch Hall, Mingxin, also a Nascent Soul expert and, moreover, Lan Feier's master.
As if having suffered immense grievance, the moment Lan Feier saw her master, she rushed into Mingxin's arms, her eyes reddening.
Like Hall Master Ren Yang of the Fire Cloud Branch, Hall Master Mingxin and the others were also startled by the scene before them upon arrival. Seeing the Wind-Cloud Branch Hall elders on the brink of death, killing intent flashed in her eyes immediately, but she was promptly dissuaded by Lan Feier.
Within the area, over three hundred people—the over one hundred Wind-Cloud Branch Hall elders led by Mingxin and the over one hundred Fire Cloud Branch Hall elders led by Ren Yang—all summoned their flying swords, spiritual power flowing over their bodies as they surrounded the shattered pavilion, staring fixedly at the white-robed man inside.
Inside, Gu Qingfeng stood quietly, one hand behind his back, the other still clamped over Elder Shi Tong's head. His fingers tapped lightly, one spiritual seal after another condensing and striking the old man's body. The old man sat slumped on the ground, eyes closed, blood trickling from his mouth and ears.
He did not move, not even glancing at these people.
Not far away, Huode squatted to the side, taking occasional puffs from his pipe. Watching the people from the Wind-Cloud and Fire Cloud Branch Halls surround Gu Qingfeng, he initially thought to speak up and advise against it. But after glancing at Gu Qingfeng, he reconsidered and decided to let it be.
He could try to dissuade anyone else from fighting, but not Gu Qingfeng. A poorly worded attempt might just drag him into the fray.
As more and more people from the Fire Cloud and Wind-Cloud Branch Halls arrived—nearly eight hundred in this short time—the previously frightened elders from the Ten Great Sects and the Three Caves and Five Mountains gradually regained their courage. They began shouting for blood, especially the geniuses like Heir Apparent Disciple Jin Can of Fenghui Sect, Inheritor Disciple Xiao Fan of Jiangzhu Mountain, and Inheritor Disciple Yuan Xuan of Black Crow Mountain. Having been so terrified by Gu Qingfeng earlier that they lost control of their bowels was a profound humiliation. Whether Gu Qingfeng was truly an Evil Demon was irrelevant to them; what mattered was that Gu Qingfeng must die!
"Sir, you bear no evil aura. Why have you committed such slaughter here?"
As the Hall Master of the Fire Cloud Branch Hall, Ren Yang knew well that if someone were an evil cultivator, they would definitely possess an evil aura—an aura impossible to conceal or hide. Yet, this person before him bore only the aura of his Purple Mansion, nothing else. As for being an Evil Demon, that was even more impossible; the aura of an Evil Demon could be detected from a hundred miles away.
"Release Elder Shi Tong!" Hall Master Mingxin of the Wind-Cloud Branch Hall shouted sternly.
"What of it?" Gu Qingfeng said softly. "Why haven't the Chixiao members overseeing the branch halls come?"
"The old hall master and Supreme Elders of our Wind-Cloud Branch Hall will arrive shortly!"
Whether in the Wind-Cloud or Fire Cloud Branch Halls, the several Chixiao members overseeing them had gone into seclusion after the Great Calamity and rarely appeared. However, since the Calamity, whenever a Demon-Suppression Talisman was activated, those Chixiao members would emerge from seclusion and arrive promptly. This time would likely be no exception.
Suddenly!
Another large group surged through the sky toward them.
There were over a thousand people. Seeing them, Elder Jin Yu and Jin Can revealed expressions of immense excitement, for these several hundred people were precisely the elders of their Fenghui Sect.
Fenghui Sect was the number one sect in the Glazed Domain, with a heritage spanning thousands of years, over a hundred thousand disciples, over ten thousand Golden Core True Beings, and over a thousand Transcendent True Beings. The over thousand people arriving were almost all Transcendent True Beings.
If that were all, it wouldn't have made Jin Yu, Jin Can, and the other Fenghui Sect members so excited.
The truth was that the Sect Head of Fenghui Sect, along with over ten Supreme Elders, had all come—and these were all Nascent Soul experts.