Thanks to Katy for the kofis. enjoy the bonus chapters!!

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Only when the little one’s crying finally subsided did Qin Zhou release her.

“Village Chief… I lost control.” Her eyes were red, and she felt utterly ashamed.

She was no longer a child, yet she had thrown herself into the Village Chief’s arms and wept.

Qin Zhou shook his head. “It’s fine.”

Both fell silent. Whether it was about Lu Shi or the events unfolding thousands of years later, they were both filled with doubts and had countless questions they wanted to ask.

However, the timing was far from ideal.

Xuan Yiling’s expression suddenly sharpened. “The Righteous Alliance is approaching.”

Qin Zhou turned his head. There was nowhere nearby to conceal their bodies. Looking up, all he saw was swirling yellow sand.

But Xiao Baiyi had a solution.

With nimble movements, she pulled out a talisman and stuck it onto Qin Zhou’s arm.

Spiritual energy glowed from her fingertips like fireflies in the night, fluttering as it swiftly took effect.

Qin Zhou watched as his limbs began to fade away—

“This is an invisibility talisman. The village chief should know about it,” Xuan Yi Ling said.

“I know.”

Though Qin Zhou couldn’t draw them, he knew how to use them. Invisibility talismans, fireball talismans, thunder summoning talismans—these were commonplace in the game. They were standard gear for venturing into wilderness and secret realms.

Lu Shi loved studying these things, and unexpectedly, Xiao Baiyi had inherited his passion, enjoying tinkering with them too.

“My talismans aren’t as powerful as Brother Lu Shi’s, but fooling that bunch of useless righteous alliance members won’t be a problem.” Xiao Baiyi clearly wanted the village chief to watch the show with her. She applied a talisman to herself, and of course, to Tunfeng as well.

“Fine.”

Qin Zhou honestly wanted to leave. If Wen Jue arrived soon, he wouldn’t be able to escape.

Unfortunately, Galaxy proved disappointing, failing to breach the barrier within the limited time.

Now the Righteous Alliance had arrived.

No matter. They’d simply watch.

Soon, the Righteous Alliance members appeared within sight—a vast procession numbering dozens, perhaps even hundreds.

They clearly couldn’t see Xuan Yiling or Qin Zhou.

Rushing over, they first glanced at the stone platform. Upon confirming the treasure remained intact, their faces lit up with relief.

“The treasure is still here.”

“Where’s Xuan Yiling?”

“I can’t see her.”

“That Xuan Yiling kept her word after all, revealing the treasure’s location for us.”

“Hmph, she probably saw the treasure first and realized it wasn’t useful to her, so she didn’t risk retrieving it. This quicksand looks like a tough opponent.” The speaker pulled out a stone and hurled it toward the stone platform.

The stone, imbued with spiritual energy, was instantly crushed by terrifying gravity the moment it entered the quicksand’s range, tumbling into the shifting sands and vanishing without a trace.

Sure enough, witnessing this scene sent a chill down everyone’s spine. Thankfully, none had rashly attempted to retrieve the treasure.

“It’s a gravity formation.”

A whisper, audible only to him, reached Qin Zhou’s ear. He looked toward Xuan Yi Ling. Xiao Bai Yi gave him a reassuring smile, as if to encourage him to speak freely.

Qin Zhou: “Mhm.”

“This formation clearly bears Seventh Brother’s signature,” Xiao Bai Yi sighed.

Seventh Brother—Lu Qi?

Lu Qi was indeed a master of such things.

“Does anyone recognize what that treasure is?” someone from the Righteous Alliance asked.

The treasures appearing in each secret realm varied.

Most shook their heads.

They weren’t sure.

“A hammer… It doesn’t look like a weapon.”

“Enough. Stop trying to figure out what that thing is. Don’t forget, that’s not our objective. This secret realm has been legendary in the cultivation world for millennia. Has anyone ever seen a great cultivator carry this treasure out? The Supreme Patriarch of the Demon Sect visits every time, yet we’ve never heard of him taking any treasure away?“

”Don’t you understand? This treasure was never meant to be taken away.”

Precisely because neither the pinnacle of the righteous nor demonic paths could carry anything from here, they dared to speculate boldly: it wasn’t that the treasure couldn’t be taken, but that taking it would unleash some great, terrifying calamity.

Unfortunately, no matter how they probed the Sword Sect, they couldn’t persuade the Sword Immortal to offer an explanation.

Year after year, the Sword Sect suffered the fewest casualties among the righteous factions in the secret realm.

Moreover, when it came to confronting the Demon Sect, the Sword Sect always seemed reluctant to engage.

After thousands of years of this, even they felt the Sword Sect was unworthy of its position as the foremost among the righteous factions.

“The Quicksand must not be touched. We’ll set up an array at the perimeter and wait for the prey to take the bait.”

Xuan Yiling’s brow furrowed.

“What formation? Aren’t they here for the treasure?” Xuan Yiling grew increasingly uneasy. The ten figures had actually crossed their legs in a circle around the shifting sands, and the speaker had just produced a scroll.

“The Demon-Slaying Great Formation,” Qin Zhou said, his voice unusually grave.

Xuan Yiling hadn’t expected the village chief to already know the answer before they’d even begun setting up the formation.

“The Demon-Slaying Great Formation belongs to the ancient formations. It was originally devised to eliminate the demonic beasts ravaging the mortal realm. Cultivators, limited in power, devised a method to imprison enemies within scrolls and then use the Heavenly Thunder Tribulation technique to achieve ‘demon-slaying’.” Qin Zhou recalled the prequel story about the Small Cultivation Mountain Village he’d read in the chronicles.

In a world overrun by demonic beasts, cultivators bore a mission. To confront the demonic beast leader, they deployed the ‘Demon-Slaying Great Formation,’ trapping the beasts within its array. Ultimately, dozens forced their way through the formation, summoning the heavenly thunder tribulation.

By harnessing the heavenly tribulation, the cultivators ultimately defeated the beasts.

Yet that battle proved perilous; many participating cultivators perished. What remained was a spirit energy world in dire need of rebuilding.

This was the time period during which the player village chief entered the game world.

“The scroll in his hand looks like the Great Demon-Slaying Formation scroll,” Qin Zhou ventured, though he wasn’t entirely certain. As an ancient-level formation scroll, the Great Demon-Slaying Formation scroll really shouldn’t have appeared here.

He had thoroughly studied the game’s chronicles and watched the entire prequel storyline, so he recognized the scroll’s markings somewhat.

“Sounds formidable.” Xuan Yiling had some knowledge of formations, but she hadn’t imagined the Righteous Alliance could possess something so powerful.

Qin Zhou pondered silently. If it were the same Demon-Slaying Great Formation scroll he knew, it wouldn’t be that impressive.

After all, the Demon-Slaying Array had appeared ten thousand years ago. Back then, the highest cultivation level one could reach was the Golden Core stage.

Qin Zhou was astonished. He never imagined that after a ten-thousand-year hiatus, he would witness the reappearance of the Demon-Slaying Array scroll. Could there have been leftover stock from ten thousand years ago?

Where on earth had they unearthed this ancient relic?

“They want to exterminate demons—what kind of demons are they targeting?” Qin Zhou suddenly asked.

Xuan Yiling froze upon hearing this.

Exterminate demons…

Who else could the righteous faction be targeting besides the Demon Sect?

“Oh no, they can’t possibly be planning to use this against Seventh Brother or Eldest Brother…” Xuan Yiling’s face instantly paled. She’d felt some regret even before entering the secret realm, and now her intuition proved accurate.

Worse still, she had personally brought these people here.

Target Lu Qi and Lu Yi?

He knew Lu Qi had become the Supreme Patriarch of the Demon Sect. But Qin Zhou wasn’t entirely clear on Lu Yi’s role in all this.

But then there was what Xiao Baiyi had just mentioned about Elder Wen.

Likely, Lu Yi and the Demon Sect were inextricably linked.

“Never mind. Let’s watch and see.” Qin Zhou patted Xiao Baiyi’s head.

Hearing those six words, Xuan Yiling instantly felt her heart relax.

This kind of reassurance could only come from the Village Chief.

She sniffed back a sob. Not afraid. Heh heh, time to watch the show.

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After watching Qin Zhou and Xiao Baiyi bustle about, someone finally relaxed their tone. “All set. That’s good enough.”

“To lure the demonic fiend here, we’ve affixed these talismans. I paid a hefty price for them from Xuanji Immortal’s shop. Even if the fiend arrives, it won’t notice us.” “The righteous man reluctantly produced a handful of talismans.

Someone touched the yellow paper talisman and whispered, ”Do these talismans truly work? That demon is ranked first on the Heaven-Piercing List, his power unfathomable… Are we relying solely on these talismans?“

”The shopkeeper said that once these talisman papers are affixed, even a Union-Stage powerhouse couldn’t see us. We’ll know once they’re up.”

Watching them each affix a talisman, they vanished from sight.

“Truly undetectable,” someone marveled. “Xuanji Immortal’s talismans are formidable indeed.”

Qin Zhou silently glanced at Xiao Baiyi beside him.

Look, it’s you again.

Xiao Baiyi covered his face. “I’ll go apologize to Seventh Brother and Eldest Brother myself.”

After saying this, Xiao Baiyi relaxed. “But if it were my talisman, there’d be no need to worry.” Noticing Qin Zhou’s lingering gaze, Xiao Baiyi cleared her throat and declared with righteous indignation, “Talisman sellers in shops want to charge higher prices, so they have their clerks say even Core Formation cultivators can’t see them.”

She never imagined anyone would actually believe her talismans could affect Core Formation, cultivators.

She wasn’t Brother Lu Shi, after all.

Her talismans weren’t that powerful.

With the cultivation bases of her Seventh Brother and Eldest Brother, they could instantly discern their authenticity.

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Wen Jue sensed the barrier’s tremors from afar. Though unaware of the specifics, he knew something had gone wrong.

He accelerated his pace to reach the scene.

His arrival coincided precisely with the moment those individuals affixed their talismans.

In the silent, yellow-sand Gobi Desert, only Wen Jue’s white silhouette stood out. Distant sandstorms swirled, yet he halted, remaining rooted to the spot.

The concealed group held their breath in anticipation.

The moment Wen Jue moved to retrieve the hammer, he would inevitably enter the quicksand zone. That area was already protected by a gravity array. Seizing that opportunity to crush the scroll would trap him perfectly.

There was only one chance.

Wen Jue walked straight toward it, his gaze fixed on the hammer as expected.

The wind whistled past his ears, carrying with it a peculiar fluctuation of spiritual energy.

Wen Jue seemed oblivious, unconcerned.

As long as the hammer remained intact. If it were lost, he had no idea how he would explain it to Qin Zhou.

He sighed softly as his white robes billowed in the wind, then soared over the shifting sands.

To everyone’s astonishment, the gravity array within the quicksand zone failed to suppress Wen Jue’s form.

The gravity array had no effect on Wen Jue?! The crowd gasped in shock.

No.

It wasn’t ineffective—he was forcibly resisting it.

The array’s spiritual energy nearly tore apart the aura surrounding Wen Jue. Upon closer inspection, one could see the vibrations generated by their mutual opposition.

The aura enveloping him seemed to transform into shields, fully supporting the effects of the entire gravity array.

Some felt a chill run down their spine at this sight.

This was the top-ranked cultivator on the Heaven-Piercing List.

The region they dared not tread upon cautiously, he scarcely gave a second thought.

Some even began to waver internally.

Could they truly handle Wen Jue?

Wouldn’t it be better if the leader of the Demon Sect or the Supreme Patriarch had come instead…

“I wondered what was going on with you. So you decided to come out on your own.” Wen Jue had already appeared on the stone platform, narrowing his eyes as he appraised the silver river lying still upon the stone altar.

”He’s in the Immortal-Demon City. You could sense him from this far away?“ Wen Jue muttered. ”Sometimes, this sovereign truly envies you creatures bound to masters. As long as your master returns, you can detect them.”

Wen Jue picked up the hammer, a flicker of envy and bloodlust in his eyes. “Is there truly nothing in this world that can connect one person to another? Dead or alive, something that lets me keep a constant watch over him.”

“Never mind. Locking him up is best. Keeping him locked up and always in sight is the best solution.” Wen Jue curved his lips, lost in his imagination, thoroughly pleased.

The hidden figures: “…”

The righteous cultivators couldn’t fathom what madness possessed the demonic overlord to mutter such things.

Xiao Baiyi’s reaction paused for a second. Could Big Brother be implying… Xiao Baiyi slowly turned her head, catching a hint of shock in the village chief’s silent expression.

So, the village chief was shocked too.

Of course. When the village chief vanished, Big Brother was still a pure and virtuous cultivator. In the blink of an eye, nearly ten thousand years had passed, and now his words carried a distinctly demonic edge.

Qin Zhou: “…”

Qin Zhou had suspected Wen Jue’s connection to the Demon Sect, but he truly hadn’t imagined that Wen Jue could make such remarks about the hammer.

Between the lines, it felt like he wanted to devour and strip him bare.

Quite interesting.

“I say, aren’t you going to make a move?” Wen Jue suddenly turned around. “How long do you intend to keep this one waiting?”

His eyes overflowed with murderous intent, as if he were preparing to revel in the impending carnage.

Streams of spiritual energy sliced through the air, grazing everyone present.

As the energy cut through skin like blades, spatters of blood flew everywhere.

Xuan Yiling acted swiftly, grabbing Qin Zhou and pulling him backward.

They barely dodged the onslaught.

“Quick! Activate the grand formation!” someone suddenly shouted in alarm.

Just as Wen Jue glanced in that direction, the sound of a scroll shattering erupted beside him. The next instant, a colossal cage descended from the heavens, trapping him where he stood at the center of the stone platform.

Wen Jue narrowed his eyes. “Oh, so this is the trick you play when you don’t invite the Sword Sect to join in.”