Chapter 217 - Ridding Demons from Cloud Prefecture
"Azure Wing Demon King?" Qin Yun was surprised. "Since when do his atrocities rank highly among all the great fiendish demons in the world?"
He had intelligence and records that indicated that Azure Wing Demon King was only relatively normal among the great fiendish demons.
"Brother Yun, Azure Wing Demon King's acts of terror were restrained in the past but in recent decades, he had become more ruthless and maniacal. On the surface, it looks like his subordinates were responsible, but after Mom and I investigated the matter, we traced it all to him, Azure Wing Demon King!" said Yi Xiao. "The Inspector Heavenly Alliance is probably helpless against Azure Wing Demon King so they have not pursued the matter carefully."
"Tell me what he has done," asked Qin Yun.
"He has become increasingly maniacal in recent decades, especially this year. He secretly sent his subordinates to abduct human children. He’s abducted even more children than Water God did in Grand Dominance. Furthermore, several of the surrounding counties have suffered because of him," said Yi Xiao anxiously. "Just the harm he has brought children in one year is enough to match the harm Water God did for more than ten years."
Qin Yun's expression changed instantly. Every child had a family. The Qin family was a victim of demons in the past.
Qin Yun would occasionally have nightmares depicting scenes of his younger sister being taken away up to this very day.
Qin Yun said, "I'll meet up with you tomorrow morning."
Cloud Prefecture, Goat County River. A tiny boat was cruising down the river.
On the boat was Qin Yun, Yi Xiao, and Ao Xue.
"The Jiang Prefecture is south of the river and survives through fishing and rice plantations. It also neighbors the East Sea so there are many imperial troops and the Godfiend Guard stationed along the coastline," said Qin Yun. "Humans hold the advantage over the entire Jiang Prefecture but it's a lot more complicated in the Cloud Prefecture. The human faction is the top cultivation sect, Black Turtle Palace. As a subsidiary, it is backed by the Daoist sacred land, Primordial Chaos Sect. Deep in the mountains, there are many tribes with hints of Gu magi. Those Gu magi are also disciples of Magistress Mountain."
Magistress Mountain was among the Myriad Mountains and it was mainly in Dragon Mountain Prefecture.
And bordering the Myriad Mountains were the Shu and Cloud Prefectures. Similarly, there were instances of Magistress Mountain disciples appearing there but most of them remained reclusive in the mountains.
"Standing on the human side are Black Turtle Palace and the Magistress Mountain disciples." Qin Yun felt wistful. "However, the demons are a lot stronger. They have the Boor Ancestral Sect of the Nine Lineage Fiendish Demons, the Water race faction, Nine Caves Water Abode, and the Myriad Demon Mountain that is subordinate to the Heavenly Demon Palace.
The Boor Ancestral Sect, a faction of the Nine Lineage Fiendish Demons, had existed since ancient times.
The Nine Caves Water Abode was located in Nine Caves Lake, which was connected to the largest lake in the world, the Po Cloud Lake in the Po Prefecture. However, the Nine Caves Water Abode was united. The Nine Caves Abode Master was an ancient Water race existence that even the Four Seas Dragon race did not dare slight. The Nine Caves Water Abode's strength was on par with the Boor Ancestral Sect. It was also considered the second strongest faction of the Water race, right after the Four Seas Dragon race.
Myriad Demon Mountain was mainly the cultivation ground of Patriarch Myriad Demon from the Heavenly Demon Palace. Patriarch Myriad Demon was addressed as Demon Master by countless demons in Heavenly Demon Palace. Myriad Demon Mountain was just one of the subsidiaries of Heavenly Demon Palace but was in no way inferior to any of the lineages of the Nine Lineage Fiendish Demons. As for Heavenly Demon Palace? That was no doubt the best faction of all the demons!
"Humans truly suffer in the Cloud Prefecture," added Yi Xiao. "The demons are too strong."
"It's mainly a result of the topography," explained Qin Yun. "The Cloud Prefecture has many mountains and lakes! Humans find it hard to survive in such places so they are naturally where demons choose to entrench themselves. Other than the Nine Caves Water Abode's Boor Ancestral Sect, there's the Water race's Nine Caves Water Abode and the Myriad Demon Mountain," said Qin Yun. "Thankfully, Patriarch Myriad Demon is here to reign in the demons or the Boor Ancestral Sect would be a lot stronger."
"The Jiang Prefecture survives on fishing and rice plantations. It has few mountains and lakes. Consequently, there are relatively fewer demons," said Qin Yun wistfully.
The environment determined the kind of entities that dominated an area.
For example, the northern lands were particularly harsh. Humans found it impossible to settle and live there. Only demons with tenacious vitality could thrive there, and so occupied a massive region in the north. With so many demons, they formed the northern demon horde! Many of the imperial government's troops were stationed in the north to fend them off.
"Yea, here they come." Qin Yun looked up.
"Are they people from the Black Turtle Palace?" Yi Xiao and Ao Xue looked up as well.
An assortment of light streams flew over. Leading them was a goateed man with a sword slung behind his back. The Black Turtle Palace was a subsidiary of the Primordial Chaos Sect. Although many of them cultivated in the Physical Establishing Sage, it was also common for them to fight with sabers or swords in close combat.
"Sword Immortal Qin." The goateed man cupped his hands in front of him when he reached a spot not far from the boat. The Black Turtle Palace disciples behind him bowed as well. These disciples were all at the Connate realm, with most of them at the False Core and True Core. Leading them was a Connate Golden Core cultivator.
"Fellow Daoist Yan." Qin Yun got up to bow. Yi Xiao and Ao Xue also stood up.
"Sorry for troubling you, Daoist Yan," said Qin Yun again.
"Haha, I should be thanking Sword Immortal Qin," said the goateed man immediately. "My Black Turtle Palace calls the Cloud Prefecture home and it pains us that there are so many fiendish demons wreaking havoc here. However, there are some fiendish demons that our Black Turtle Palace are powerless against! This Azure Wing Demon King entrenches himself in Azure Wing Gorge and terrorizes several surrounding counties. His strength is even higher than mine. As long as he hides behind his lair's array formations, there is almost no cultivator in the world that can put him in his place. Now that Sword Immortal Qin is willing to take action, our Cloud Prefecture and its countless commoners are blessed."
"In a while, I will rid you of Azure Wing Demon King and the other powerful fiendish demons. The remaining demons will be left to my fellow Daoists from the Black Turtle Palace," said Qin Yun.
"Haha, cleaning up the remnants is very easy for us. However, Azure Wing Demon King is very powerful so Sword Immortal Qin, you have to be careful," said the goateed man.
"Fellow Daoists, just watch from the side," said Qin Yun.
"Alright, we will stay by the side and wait for Sword Immortal Qin's command," said the goateed man.
Qin Yun nodded.
Sou!
The boat he was on was not paddled by anyone but the boat accelerated greatly and headed towards Azure Wing Gorge.
According to the rules of engagement that Qin Yun followed, he was responsible for slaying the powerful fiendish demons. As for eradicating the remaining evil, he left it to the local cultivation sects! After all, there were countless lesser demons and cleaning up the mess was just a tedious triviality. Large sects had many disciples so they could naturally clean up the mess. And the local sects were happy to do so.
That was because the Inspector Heavenly Alliance was meant to deal with fiendish demons.
Dealing with fiendish demons was a meritorious act!
Qin Yun slew great fiendish demons and earned great merits. By cleaning up the mess, the local sects also received partial merits. Although it was lesser, it was also easier! Furthermore, they could do their part to bring happiness to the commoners.
The convoy from Black Turtle Palace rode a cloud as they watched the tiny boat head for Azure Wing Gorge.
"Although Sword Immortal Qin is a Paramount realm sword immortal, Azure Wing Demon King is a famous great demon king in our Cloud Prefecture. He's also hiding in his lair. Can Sword Immortal Qin really kill him?"
"There is probably no cultivator in the world that can destroy an old demon king like Azure Wing Demon King."
The Black Turtle Palace disciples discussed.
Although they had the means to deal with fiendish demons, they had long ignored those at Azure Wing Demon King's level. After all, they could not kill him no matter how hard they tried. All they could do was turn a blind eye towards him!
"Alright," said the goateed man. "Since Sword Immortal Qin requested our Black Turtle Palace to watch from the side, he probably has some confidence."
"I do wish that Sword Immortal Qin will kill the demon but I don't really pin any hopes on him. After all, Azure Wing Demon King is one of the top-ranked great fiendish demons in the world."
"Perhaps he has some special plan?"
The other disciples remarked.
The goateed man nodded and said, "He should have a special plan. If not, a frontal assault by a Paramount realm existence will not be able to kill Azure Wing Demon King. Let's go. We should follow them."
Whoosh.
The group of cultivators from the Black Turtle Palace rapidly headed for Azure Wing Gorge.
As for Qin Yun, he led his wife and mother-in-law on the boat. The boat was a Dharma treasure and was extremely fast. It had already entered the confines of the Azure Wing Gorge.
Moments later.
"Creak." The boat slowed down and let the waters bring it forward.
Qin Yun stood at the bow with his hands behind his back. He looked at the tall mountains on both sides of the riverbanks and said with a smile, "This Azure Wing Demon King sure is careful. We did not encounter any obstacles our entire way in. His lair is right in front of us. Xiaoxiao, Mother, watch me deal with this demon king."
He obviously did not think up any special plans. The lair's array formations were controlled by the demon king himself so there was no way to pull any tricks.
If he wanted to kill him, he had to do it with overwhelming strength in a frontal assault.
"Let's see what means Brother Yun will employ." Yi Xiao was looking forward to it. Ao Xue was also watching with a smile.
"It would be quite embarrassing if I failed to kill him. Haha." Qin Yun laughed but he was feeling very relaxed. Azure Wing Demon King was relatively normal among the fiendish demons at the intent domain level. He was not unique like Nine Mountain Island Lord who had a mountain as his true form. Qin Yun believed that he could definitely slay him as long as nothing out of the ordinary happened.
At that moment in Azure Wing Gorge, in the fiendish demon's lair.
Many demons were watching nervously from afar.
"These two bitches are like haunting ghosts that refuse to leave." Through the array formation, Azure Wing Demon King could see the boat cruising down the river a distance away. He also saw the young man standing at the boat's bow. "Now even that Qin Yun is here. Hmph, so what if he is here? That dragon lady can't do a thing to me. An additional Qin Yun would similarly be helpless against me."
Azure Wing Demon King's eyes flickered with bloodlust but he also became more careful.
When all was said and done, the dragon lady and Qin Yun were two existences with combat strength at the Paramount realm.