Chapter 127: The Demon Ancestor

The arrangement of the chess pieces in the underground chamber beneath the Tianyuan Winery spoke volumes.

The celestial and demonic realms had long lost their way. The Ancestor of the Demons, with a single dominating thought, sought to subdue the chaos that reigned across the heavens.

Yet, the demonic cultivators were the root of all calamities in the world. As descendants of the妖仙 lineage, they harbored profound hatred toward demonic creatures.

Moreover, this young woman, being a third-generation妖仙, must have an extraordinary background.

If her tragic past involved demons, it would make sense.

What required even greater caution was the matter concerning Lin Hao...

After some contemplation, Li Changsheng chuckled softly within his heart, a subtle plan beginning to take shape.

“In that case, tomorrow we shall proceed to the Immortal Forest to pay our respects to the sect,” he said calmly, his eyes deep with meaning.

As he spoke, he finished the tea in his cup.

Ancient Alchemist Demons?

You think you’re hidden, but it’s I, Li, who shall play you like a pawn.

Once this batch of chaff is harvested, perhaps I can exchange it for a new treasure to toy with...

No matter what, I find myself somewhat looking forward to it...

***

Meanwhile, several hundred miles away, at a sacred mountain temple in the eastern region, a young man in white sat cross-legged by a lake not far to the east.

Suddenly, his entire body shuddered. A flicker of suspicion and doubt crossed his eyes, quickly replaced by a chilling sense of dread rising in his heart.

“This isn’t right...”

“With my state of enlightenment, how could such a strong palpitation arise so suddenly?”

“Could it be that something is about to happen...?”

His eyes widened in terror as his body trembled uncontrollably, every hair on his body standing on end.

This was far too strange!

With his profound cultivation, such an abnormal sensation should never occur!

“Could it be... him?”

Fear flashed across his eyes, his scalp tingling, as he suddenly recalled the black-clad youth he had met at the Chuling region—Li Changsheng!

“No, absolutely impossible...”

“Even if his cultivation is strong, he could never be one who comprehends the origin and understands the cause and effect of all things.”

“After the great calamity, there are no more deities in the world... This source of palpitation cannot be him...”

The thought barely formed before he shook his head, dismissing it. Yet in his eyes, a deep, serious concern had already taken root.

What the youth did not know was that above his head hovered a faint, ethereal thread, extending directly towards the Immortal Forest Town.

A faint glow pulsed along it...

“Ding~ Host has startled the child of destiny; 1000 fate points rewarded.”

“This one is rather interesting,” Li Changsheng murmured as a dark, eerie aura spread around him, his gaze piercing the distant horizon.

“If we meet again, I wonder what expression you will wear.”

His eyes gleamed with a strange light as he whispered, then brushed away the sinister aura surrounding him.

The thread of cause and effect leading to the Immortal Forest sect slowly faded away.

Time passed swiftly, and soon night gave way to dawn.

***

At sunrise, the eastern lands brimmed with vibrant life.

Li Changsheng and his companions, having changed their appearances, arrived before a suspension bridge forged from iron chains.

Beneath the bridge yawned a fathomless abyss.

On either side rose towering mountains that pierced the heavens.

The iron chains stretched hundreds of feet long.

From time to time, eerie, violent winds swept across the bridge.

For ordinary mortals, this bridge was an impassable chasm.

But the refined young man that Li Changsheng had transformed into showed a deep, dark expression.

“Sword Elder, didn’t you say everything was arranged?”

Li Changsheng’s voice was cold, his face indifferent.

The previous night, Sword Elder had visited the strongest sect in the Eastern Region, the Cold Heaven Dao Academy, and made the necessary arrangements.

With the reputation of the Li family, securing the status of several sacred disciples was effortless.

Yet, upon arriving at the Immortal Forest sect, they found no welcoming figures.

This was indeed strange.

“Master, this...” Sword Elder hesitated, his face darkening.

When he visited the Cold Heaven Dao Academy, he had secured the agreement that their sacred disciples would be welcomed to the Immortal Forest sect for deeper exchanges.

But today’s situation was unsettling.

“Enough.”

“If the Cold Heaven Dao Academy can no longer maintain order in the east, then this place should have a new master.”

The young man’s eyes flickered with a cold light.

Sword Elder had loyally followed him for years; today’s strange events could only mean one of three things.

First, the Cold Heaven Dao Academy, once the strongest sect in the east, was no longer what it used to be.

Second, the Immortal Forest sect had undergone some change.

Third...

“There is no third,” Li Changsheng muttered quietly, his eyes deep and inscrutable.

The strength of the Eastern Region, though slightly superior to that of the Chuling lands, was hardly formidable.

At best, it was the realm of Refining Spirit, the peak of the Tongfa cultivation path.

A mere Tongfa cultivator would never dare provoke the Li family, which boasted several ancient-level masters!

“Since no one comes to greet us...” Li Changsheng’s eyes flashed coldly with a hint of mockery.

“We shall enter and meet that sect master ourselves.”

With that, he stepped onto the iron chain bridge.

Immediately, fierce winds howled, whipping violently around the bridge.

The chains twisted and writhed with the wind.

Yet Li Changsheng remained calm, placing each step precisely where the chains curled, as if the chains danced deliberately beneath his feet.

If one looked closely, it seemed the chains were moving in harmony with him—welcoming and flattering.

Li Changsheng paid no mind, walking leisurely and confidently.

With over a million fate points to his name, such a stroke of fortune was only natural.

Sword Elder and Zhao Wan’er, disguised respectively as a middle-aged man and a young woman, silently followed.

The three of them crossed the hundreds of feet of the bridge as if strolling on solid ground.

In the depths of the Immortal Forest sect, five figures stood stunned within a grand, ancient white jade hall.

At the center floated a pearl emitting a faint blue light.

Within the pearl, images displayed the trio crossing the trial grounds surrounding the sect.

Five figures watched, their expressions a mixture of hesitation, shock, gloom, and doubt.

“This suspension bridge trial has repelled countless prodigies over the years.”

“Anyone standing on this bridge faces overwhelming pressure and violent winds, barely able to take a step forward!”

“Even the sacred disciple Chu Tian spent three days and nights to cross!”

“But this person walks it as if on flat ground—truly strange.”

A gaunt elder dressed in gray spoke hoarsely, his face grim.

“The Fourth Elder’s observation is sound.”

“The youth among the three is likely the sacred disciple from the Cold Heaven Dao Academy.”

“In comparison, the middle-aged man and the young woman were slightly less adept crossing the bridge.”

“Still, even their skill surpasses that of Chu Tian.”

Before the elder finished, a seductive, enchanting voice interrupted.

Turning to look, there stood a voluptuous woman dressed revealingly, her eyes brimming with endless allure.

She fixed her gaze on Li Changsheng’s image, a faint, inscrutable smile playing at her lips.

“That Cold Heaven Dao Academy sacred disciple is no ordinary youth.”

“But the Third Elder has cultivated for centuries, while this lad appears barely in his thirties.”

“The Third Elder’s hopes may be dashed.”

At that, a Dao-robed woman beside her, the sect’s Second Elder and law enforcer, finally spoke with a cold, strange tone.

“Oh?”

“Second Elder, do you harbor some thoughts about this youth?”

The Third Elder’s voice dripped with teasing charm.

“Are you looking for trouble?”

The Second Elder raised her brow, eyes flashing with cold light.

“Let’s see what the sect master says.”

Seeing their exchange, a young man who had maintained a gentle smile spoke with resignation, trying to calm them.

All four turned their gaze toward the middle-aged man at the head of the hall.

Duan Tianya.

Clad in gray, his expression calm and imposing, a dense fragrance of alchemical pills surrounded him, evoking the ceaseless cycles of the natural world.

This man was the head of the alchemy path and sect master of the Immortal Forest sect.

“As I see it...” Duan Tianya opened his eyes, their depths flashing with contemplation, just as the blue pearl at the hall’s center trembled suddenly!

A profound humming filled the air.

Duan Tianya’s face changed drastically.

“What is this...?”

The four elders showed shock and disbelief—the sect’s ancestral artifact was reacting!

Duan Tianya, though startled, quickly composed himself.

The Immortal Forest sect’s ancestral artifact had been lost for years; none expected it to suddenly reappear today.

His eyes gleamed with unprecedented brightness as he turned his focus to the floating black alchemical cauldron before the young man in the image.

***

“Sect Master, this...” Outside the sect, near the trial grounds by the suspension bridge, Sword Elder stared intently at the grimy black cauldron floating before Li Changsheng, a hint of shock in his expression.

The aura radiating from the artifact rivaled that of the Li family’s treasured relic, the Extinguishing Dao Stele.

Sword Elder could scarcely fathom how such a treasure could exist in the modest Immortal Forest sect.

“This is indeed strange,” Zhao Wan’er said calmly, though a trace of hesitation lingered in her eyes.

Earlier, as they crossed the bridge, the artifact suddenly surged up from the depths below, heading straight toward their master.

“Since it’s come, we’ll take it,” Li Changsheng chuckled softly, shaking his head.

If a child of fate like Lin Hao, with tens of thousands of fate points, could only unleash his fortune in moments of crisis, then it was only natural that a powerhouse like himself, with over a million fate points, might occasionally have fortune burst forth during a leisurely stroll.

Just as Li Changsheng reached to claim the cauldron, a strange flicker passed through his eyes.

Almost simultaneously, five imposing figures emerged from the void before them.

They were none other than Duan Tianya and the four elders of the Immortal Forest sect.

“Cold Heaven Dao Academy’s sacred disciple?” The skeletal Fourth Elder’s eyes gleamed sharply.

With a sinister chuckle, he mocked, “The little sacred disciple is quite handsome. If he wishes to study alchemy, he should become my sister’s disciple.”

The Third Elder’s voice was laden with seduction as she smiled enticingly.

The Second Elder and the Grand Elder exchanged a helpless glance but remained silent.

“Since you have come to apprentice, you should first perform the ceremony of apprenticeship,” Duan Tianya said softly, his eyes flashing with keen light as the profound alchemical fragrance surrounded him.

“Presumptuous!”

Zhao Wan’er’s face darkened as she coldly rebuked them.

At her words, a suffocating aura of deathly silence enveloped the place, a terrifying pressure descending.

The temperature plummeted, and the five men’s expressions changed dramatically.

The aura radiating from Zhao Wan’er was overwhelmingly powerful, far surpassing the sect master’s Tongfa realm cultivation.

It was utterly unfathomable.

“Impossible!” Duan Tianya’s face twisted with shock.

No matter how strong the Cold Heaven Dao Academy was, how could they possibly produce such a formidable being?

Could it be that these people came from the northern lands?

With that thought, fear flickered in Duan Tianya’s eyes.

If this person were displeased by his earlier offense and chose to slay him...

The foundation of the Immortal Forest sect would be shattered, plunging it into chaos.

In such turbulent eastern lands, the sect would have no chance of survival.

“What to do... what to do...” Duan Tianya’s mind burned with anxiety, his brow furrowed deeply as sweat poured from his forehead.

Could submission be the only option?

Despite its small size, the Immortal Forest sect must be valuable to these people for their alchemical medicines.

For now, feigning cooperation might preserve a shred of hope.

With resolute eyes, Duan Tianya bowed deeply to Li Changsheng.

“I was unaware of your sudden visit today. I beg your pardon.”

“Our sect is willing to submit to you. I hope you will not hold past grievances against us...”

The four elders behind him, fearful, also bowed deeply.

“Cut them down,” Li Changsheng said coldly, looking at Duan Tianya.

He had clearly detected the fluctuations in Duan Tianya’s spirit when he first appeared.

Did the man truly think Li Changsheng would be satisfied with merely the Immortal Forest sect?

At his command, Zhao Wan’er’s eyes flashed coldly as she summoned a violet-black slender blade.

An overwhelming murderous aura erupted, accompanied by a piercing hum.

With a graceful flick of her hand, a black gleam appeared, and Duan Tianya’s figure shattered into a mist of blood under her strike.

“What...”

The four elders’ faces turned pale with horror.

They had failed to notice Zhao Wan’er’s movement, and their sect master had been slain in an instant.

The gap between them and this woman was not just vast—it was a chasm beyond reckoning!