"Perhaps the murderer is one of the five Paramount realm fiendish demons," said Yi Xiao.
"Maybe."
Qin Yun sighed lightly. "To countless commoners, a Connate fiendish demon is strong enough to slaughter everything they know and love."
Thankfully, the world's most terrifying immortals and fiendcelestials were bound by the heavenly rules! The powerful fiendcelestials were unable to directly slaughter mortals but they could collude with Other Realm Fiendcelestials, shaking the world at its roots. The devastation they caused was in fact worse.
"Brother Yun, if you were to kill any of the five Paramount realm fiendish demons, the news would probably spread throughout the world. When that happens, the other four will flee in fear," said Yi Xiao.
"Yes, that's problematic," said Qin Yun. "I cannot kill them right away. Instead, I'll have to capture them alive one by one… Then, I'll kill them all at once! Also, when I'm capturing them alive, I cannot allow them to request for help! Once they do so, the world's fiendish demons will quickly know what I'm doing."
Yi Xiao nodded slightly. It was indeed troublesome.
"I'll do my best. I'll do my best to wipe them out all at once. Each of these great fiendish demons has their hands stained with the blood of us humans. I cannot let any of them escape." Qin Yun began thinking of a strategy to deal with them.
Qian Prefecture's Wolf Mountain.
Wolf Mountain spanned a hundred and fifty kilometers and was home to countless demons. Back when Qin Yun was wiping out the fiendish demons of the world, the demons in Wolf Mountain remained carefree because their leader was Patriarch Wolf Mountain, a great fiendish demon with strength at the Paramount realm.
"Huff~"
"Puff~"
A gargantuan silver wolf lay sprawled out with his eyes closed as he breathed slowly.
His breaths formed winds that howled through the surrounding woods. His body resembled a tiny mountain.
Although he had his eyes shut, he could still clearly sense everything happening around him. Furthermore, he was in control of an array formation that protected him.
"Patriarch."
There were many wolf demons a distance away. Due to Patriarch Wolf Mountain, Wolf Mountain had an excessive number of wolf demons. Many of them were children or grandchildren of Patriarch Wolf Mountain. They often descended the mountain to pillage and kidnap humans. Although Qin Yun was powerful, he was only one man. It was impossible for him to guard against such a huge horde of lesser demons.
What he needed to do was vanquish the leader!
As for the lesser demons? Once they lost their backer, local Connate realm cultivators would naturally hunt them down!
"This Patriarch Wolf Mountain's lair has an array formation that spans about ten kilometers." Qin Yun overlooked the area beneath him from the clouds. The array formation was already considered rather large, allowing it to envelop a tiny city. For example, back when Qin Yun reaped a huge harvest from the Immortal Cave Abode, many array formations were set up that only managed to envelop an area the size of Grand Dominance City. In comparison, the yellow flood dragon lineage at Yellow Wyrm Lake had a history of tens of thousands of years. The array formation there had enclosed an area that spanned fifty kilometers.
Wolf Mountain had only a mere ten kilometers.
"My Dao domain spans twenty-five kilometers. It can easily envelop the entire array formation," thought Qin Yun. "I can instantly wrestle away control of the array formation and even destroy the array's nodes."
"It's time."
Qin Yun was only seventy to eighty percent certain that he could capture the other party alive without allowing them to request for help.
Patriarch Wolf Mountain was laying there when suddenly his lair's array formation distorted.
"Oh?"
The gargantuan silver wolf suddenly stood and looked ahead.
The distant lesser demons were alarmed. What had happened?
"Who is it?" shouted the silver wolf with a deep tone. He was puzzled. "What array master is able to crack my array formation?"
He was a Paramount realm great fiendish demon after all. Essence Soul realm existences could not attack him even if they wanted to. Therefore, he was always filled with confidence when facing any danger. Even though something had happened to his array formation, he remained calm.
"Boom!"
Gravel suddenly flew up around the silver wolf.
"What happened?"
"What happened?"
The surrounding lesser demons were alarmed. They looked on in confusion as their master was engulfed by darkness amid the swirling gravel.
"Children, I'll go out to take a look." A strong wind whistled through the sky as Patriarch Wolf Mountain's voice sounded. Where he once stood was now empty.
"Did Patriarch go out?"
"Perhaps he went to pursue the intruder."
The lesser demons were filled with guesses but none of them panicked. They were confident in their patriarch.
At that moment, Patriarch Wolf Mountain had been reduced to a tiny silver-colored wolf about ten feet long. A rope bound him by encircling him a few times. The other end of the rope was in Qin Yun's hand.
Patriarch Wolf Mountain was panicking and pleading. "Sword Immortal Qin, spare me! Spare me, please!"
A moment ago, he felt his Dharmic powers sealed and he was unable to say a word. As for his reassuring words, 'Children, I'll go out to take a look,' they were faked by Qin Yun through the use of Dharmic powers.
"Spare you?" Qin Yun held the rope and gently shook his head at the captured Patriarch Wolf Mountain.
The only flaw of a sneak attack was the need to first crack the array formation.
If the Paramount realm fiendish demon sought help the moment the array was cracked, Qin Yun would have been out of luck.
"Paramount realm fiendish demons are used to being seen as high and mighty. By taking advantage of this, I have a chance of capturing each and every one of them," thought Qin Yun.
After capturing Patriarch Wolf Mountain, he went to one area after another. He threw Patriarch Wolf Mountain, who had all his strength sealed, aside. Even his mouth was sealed. He used a similar method to capture the Paramount realm fiendish demon that ruled the land, Valley Lord Fountainjade.
Following that, he rushed to the South Sea, East Sea, and the North Sea.
The targets were Patriarch Crocdragon, Consort Snake, and Palatial Lord Icedragon.
Paramount realm fiendish demons were indeed arrogant. They believed that no one in the world could do a thing to them. None of them thought to seek help when they noticed that an intruder was attempting to crack their arrays. Naturally, all of them were captured one after the other. Soon, there was only the last target left, Palatial Lord Icedragon.
North Sea, Icedragon Palace.
"Hahaha…" Decked in frost ice scaled armor, a youth with a dragon head sat in the seat of honor. He overlooked the area beneath him where demons had gathered. He smiled and said, "Everyone, this is an auspicious day for me to take in my fifty-ninth concubine. I'm honored that all of you have graced me with your presence. Here, bottoms up!"
"Brother Icedragon, congratulations!"
"Haha, Brother Icedragon, you sure have good fortune in love. I'm very envious."
"The wine is good but there's no meat."
The demons were drinking alcohol. The seats of honor were mainly filled by the more powerful demons from the North Sea's Water race. There were also a few Connate Golden Core demons among them.
"Hahaha, of course there is meat. Here!" The dragon-headed youth laughed as he gave the order. "Quick, serve the human fruits."
Soon after, beautiful Water race female attendants carried plates over. Human babies were sleeping soundly on them. All of them looked very young and they were thoroughly cleaned.
"These human babies are less than a hundred days old. They are excellent human fruits. My men went ashore recently to kidnap them specially for today's joyous occasion." The youth laughed and said, "They are all alive too. They are at their freshest and tenderest when alive. Everyone, please enjoy yourselves."
"To gather so many infants that are less than a hundred days old. That's not a simple task."
"Brother Icedragon is truly formidable."
"Ever since the humans produced a powerful Connate Golden Core sword immortal, we have been forced into hiding. Only Brother Icedragon has the guts and capability to pull something like this off."
"Why would Brother Icedragon need to fear a mere Qin Yun?"
There was a round of laughter. The eyes of the Water race demons could not help but light up when they looked at the infants.
"Qin Yun? He is only a sword immortal that has stepped into an ordinary Dao. If he were to come to the bottom of the sea, his strength would decrease too… Why should I fear him?" said the dragon-headed youth with a laugh.
"Boom!!!"
The entire Icedragon Palace shook.
"Who dares attack my Icedragon Palace's array formation?" The youth's expression changed as his eyes were filled with rage.
A gust of wind blew.
In the middle of the Icedragon Palace's hall, a gray-robed youth with a sword by his waist appeared. He held a rope, and on the other end of the rope were four bound fiendish demons.
"You are…" The dragon-headed youth looked at Qin Yun. "Qin Yun, what are you doing here in my Icedragon Palace?"
"Patriarch Crocdragon?"
"Consort Snake? Valley Lord Fountainjade? Patriarch Wolf Mountain?"
There was a round of gasping exclamations all around.
The sight of the rope-like Dharma treasure in Qin Yun's hand binding four great fiendish demons stunned the surrounding demons.
"You…" The dragon-headed youth noticed it too. Consort Snake and Patriarch Crocdragon were Water race fiendish demons. They were stronger in water than on land and were as strong as him. Yet, they had been captured alive? Furthermore, he had not heard any news of it. This horrified him.
"Didn't someone just say you aren't afraid of me?" Qin Yun smiled at the dragon-headed youth.
"Sword Immortal Qin, there are no grudges between us. I…" said the dragon-headed youth immediately as he backed away in horror.
"No grudges?" Qin Yun glanced at the infants on the plates and his eyes were filled with coldness. He swept his gaze across the surrounding demons. Many of those sitting in the hall were famous and powerful fiendish demons. "Not one of you in this hall shall leave."