Gentlemen, it's time to enter the Banner of Ten Thousand Souls.

Chapter 253 There are no more Dao Integration Realm cultivators in the mortal realm

There were actually three lies in this fake ascension plan.

Zhang Qi's ascension was fake; it deceived most unsuspecting cultivators, as well as the demonic sects.

But those who are observant can naturally guess that there's something wrong with this; it's just the first and simplest lie.

The second level is inside the Incense Burning Sect. Even the hall masters of the Three Mountains and Five Halls are not very clear about it. Apart from Pang Duoduo who has calculated everything, only Lu Xingzhou understands what he is doing.

Taking advantage of the resurgence of the Demon Lord Wujiu, we will use the Demon Lord to eliminate all the traitors and the poisonous blood left over from the previous expansion.

Even if the Incense Burning Sect is destroyed, as long as those outstanding disciples who are loyal to the Incense Burning Sect are still alive, the Incense Burning Sect can be passed down.

Even the head of the Changsheng Hall was unaware that his unwavering loyalty to Lu Xingzhou had now turned him into a poisonous blood that needed to be expelled.

It can only be said that betraying one's own people is a tradition of the Incense Burning Sect.

But the biggest crisis this time is the resurrected Demon Lord Wujiu.

This eternally immortal demon lord was the most troublesome one back then. Otherwise, the Incense Burning Sect wouldn't have needed to deceive Zhang Qi into taking action to seal the Demon Lord Wujiu.

Therefore, only Lu Xingzhou and Zhang Qi knew about this third layer of lies.

From the very beginning, Lu Xingzhou understood that he had made too many mistakes and that he would not have a good end in this life.

But just like Lu Xingzhou's master, no matter how many mistakes he made, the inheritance of the Incense Burning Sect was the most important thing. Lu Xingzhou knew that the chances of successfully possessing the body of the Demon Lord Wujiu were extremely small. This senior brother was far superior to him in both cultivation and talent, and it was only through scheming and trickery that he had managed to seal him away for a thousand years.

Possession is a losing proposition, and forcing the Demon Lord Wujiu to ascend is merely a risky attempt, not a true guarantee.

The only solution is to make an agreement with Zhang Qi that his final sword strike will be used on the Demon Lord Wujiu.

A thousand years ago, Zhang Qi failed to completely kill the Demon Lord Wujiu. A thousand years later, he is exhausted and on his last legs. Will this sword strike be of any use?
Lu Xingzhou had also asked himself this question: what if Zhang Qi's sword strike was wasted?

But Lu Xingzhou ultimately chose to believe Zhang Qi.

Because this old friend has never let me down in the past thousand years.

It was precisely because of Zhang Qi that Lu Xingzhou did not hesitate to shut down his five senses, allowing Qu Heng to kill him.

Zhang Qi believed in the Yellow Springs Sect, and so did Lu Xingzhou.

Qu Heng did not disappoint Lu Xingzhou. In the end, he sent his soul into the body of the Demon Lord Wujiu, allowing him to send a final signal to Zhang Qi with his last breath.

The sign of ascension was Lu Xingzhou's will to die, and also Wujiu Demon Lord's last chance.

If the Demon Lord Wujiu is willing to ascend, once he reaches the Immortal Realm, he can dispose of Lu Xingzhou's soul at will, and he himself can survive.

However, if the Demon Lord Wujiu is unwilling to ascend, Zhang Qi will draw his sword and completely annihilate him.

At this moment, Zhang Qi had already drawn his sword.

Few people have ever seen Zhang Qi draw his sword, because he doesn't need to against ordinary opponents; he can kill those demons with just a flick of his finger.

Lu Xingzhou had only seen Zhang Qi wield his sword a few times, but this time was different from before.

His sword was faster and brighter.

A thousand years have passed, and although Zhang Qi has become emaciated, his flesh and blood withered, the years have also honed his sword, making him stronger than he was a thousand years ago.

Zhang Qi had already drawn his sword, and Demon Lord Wujiu was not careless in the slightest.

That sword strike a thousand years ago left a deep impression on him; the Eight-Nine Arcane Arts could transform the physical body into various forms. But even though he made his entire body as hard as a magical artifact, he was ultimately sliced ​​open by Zhang Qi's sword.

Then, the Demon Lord Wujiu stretched out his colossal hand and grabbed downwards.

The earth groaned, and the mountains and rivers trembled.

The Green Coffin Mountain, which had already been shattered by his previous power, and the ruins of the Incense Burning Sect, transformed into torrents of earth and stone that blotted out the sky, carrying endless dust and broken restrictive runes as they converged toward his palm.

In the blink of an eye, the rocks, soil, and trees within a radius of a hundred miles were condensed by the Demon Lord Wujiu into a jet-black seal.

A lifelike giant dragon coiled around the seal and roared at Zhang Qi.

This is formed from the earth veins of Qingguan Mountain, containing the power of heaven and earth.

With a flick of his wrist, he refined hundreds of miles of earth veins, transforming them into the shape of a dragon, all to block Zhang Qi's sword strike.

Wujiu Demon Lord was already giving it his all, without the slightest carelessness.

The dazzling light in the sky converged into a single line. In front of the Demon Lord Wujiu, Zhang Qi was like an insignificant little insect, about to be smashed into a small red spot by this black seal.

Zhang Qi did not dodge, nor was he able to dodge any further.

All the remaining essence, energy, and spirit of his life had been integrated into the sword light. As the black seal attacked, his physical body shattered instantly, like a withered leaf. But even as Zhang Qi turned to ashes, his sword light did not extinguish. Instead, it seemed to have gained sentience, and the hair-thin sword light landed on the black seal, silently slicing it apart.

There was no grand upheaval, no earth-shattering noise, just like ordinary fine threads cutting into a soft, glutinous pastry.

Then, Zhang Qi's sword light landed on the forehead of the Demon Lord Wujiu.

Wujiu Demon Lord was greatly surprised, Zhang Qi's sword back then did not look like this.

A thousand years ago, Zhang Qi's sword was incredibly fierce and full of destructive power. No matter how he changed his physical body, he was ultimately cleaved in two by Zhang Qi's sword.

But this sword strike, delivered a thousand years later, seemed utterly powerless, yet it made his very soul tremble. The fear of death drove the Demon Lord Wujiu to frantically change his body.

Its enormous body rapidly shrank, transforming into a divine golden crow, attempting to evade the reflected sword light.

But the sword light was faster than lightning, sweeping across the golden crow. Seeing that he couldn't dodge it at all, the Demon Lord Wujiu transformed into a green snake, landed on the ruined ground, and burrowed into the crack in the ground.

But the sword light sliced ​​across the ground, penetrating deep into the soil, and cut the green snake's tail in two.

The Demon Lord Wujiu let out a roar, and the two severed parts of his body merged back together, this time transforming into a nine-headed serpent as large as a mountain, spewing out a large mass of corrosive poison at the relentlessly flying sword light.

However, it still had no effect.

The sword light pierced through the poisonous mist and landed on one of the snake heads.

Wujiu Demon Lord immediately felt a chill all over his body, as if the spiritual energy within him had been completely frozen.

The body, which could be gathered and dispersed at will, uncontrollably reverted to human form, but was as immobile as rotten wood.

The Demon Lord Wujiu tried to struggle, but found that his soul was nailed to the Niwan Palace.

His soul should be omnipresent, and every inch of his flesh and blood is where his soul resides, so no matter what injury he suffers, he will not be affected and can regenerate in the blink of an eye.

But this time, Zhang Qi's sword light locked onto him firmly, sealing off all his transformation techniques.

The tiny sword light pierced through the skin and flesh, broke through the skull, and went straight to the deepest part.

The Demon Lord Wujiu opened his mouth but couldn't utter a sound. He could only watch helplessly as the sword light slowly rotated.

The next moment, a wound appeared on his neck.

Not only that, Lu Xingzhou, who was also trapped in the eyes of the Demon Lord Wujiu, had a clear wound on his neck.

The wound rotated from right to left in a circle.

The enormous head fell off, and the majestic demonic body crashed to the ground.

Even though being decapitated would have no effect on Wujiu Demon Lord, as he could regrow his head with a single thought, Wujiu Demon Lord appeared completely dead at this moment. His severed body was gushing blood, and he had finally extinguished all life force.

Just as the sword light dissipated and the Demon Lord Wujiu died completely, Qu Heng, thousands of miles away, sensed it and took out a mass of scarlet flesh from his storage bag.

Chen Ye was startled by Qu Heng and hurriedly asked, "Grandmaster, is this piece of flesh and blood of the Demon Lord Wujiu in your hand?"

Qu Heng nodded and said, "I just grabbed it. I was thinking of taking advantage of it. It's such a small piece, it might be useful for sealing things up, but unfortunately..."

Qu Heng shook his head, threw the flesh and blood on his hand to the ground, and flicked a golden flame from his fingertip, burning it to ashes.

Chen Ye said angrily, "Grandmaster, you are too greedy. Everyone knows that the Demon Lord Wujiu can be reborn from a drop of blood. You still dare to dig up such a large piece. Don't you know the saying that people die for wealth and birds die for food?"

Qu Heng said, "I could have sealed this flesh and blood, but it's no use now, since Demon Lord Wujiu is dead."

Chen Ye said in disbelief, "Really dead? But for a whole thousand years, the righteous path couldn't do anything about him..."

Qu Heng said with certainty, "If he wasn't completely dead, I couldn't have burned his flesh and blood to ashes so quickly. Although I don't know exactly what method was used, Wujiu Demon Lord must have been completely cut off from his life. It seems that Zhang Qi delivered the final blow."

"Master Zhang..."

Chen Ye was speechless. He had known all along that Zhang Qi had left his last sword. Now that Demon Lord Wujiu was dead, did that mean that Zhang Qi was no longer in this world?
Qu Heng put it even more bluntly: "Not only Zhang Qi, but I'm afraid Lu Xingzhou is also gone. Regardless of whether he survived or not, he can no longer linger in the mortal realm. From now on, neither the righteous path nor the demonic sect will have any cultivators at the Dao Integration Realm."

Chen Ye frowned. Originally, Lu Xingzhou should have been the righteous path's greatest support after Zhang Qi left, but unexpectedly, Lu Xingzhou also left today. In this case, who can the righteous path rely on?
The hidden strength of the Demonic Sect is unknown. Without the threat of Dao Integration Realm cultivators, those demons hiding underground will truly see the light of day again.

Qu Heng patted Chen Ye on the shoulder and said, "My grand-disciple, you are truly a chosen one."

Chen Ye asked in confusion, "Grandmaster, why are you bringing up such an abstract and unrealistic thing now?"

"Isn't it?"

Qu Heng said cheerfully, "Since the righteous path no longer has any Dao Integration Realm cultivators, your grandmaster is not afraid of anyone. The Incense Burning Sect is destroyed; the Qinghe Sword Sect has lost its number one position in the world; the Mirage Sect is nothing but withered bones in a tomb; Tianxin Island is far overseas; and even if only the Yunlu Immortal Sect remains, it is not a threat. We brought out many books and magical treasures from the Incense Burning Sect, which has replenished most of the foundation that the Yellow Spring Sect lacked the most."

"Chen Ye, we are no longer a minor sect. If we can develop steadily for a few years, our Yellow Springs Sect will become the leader of the righteous path!"

(End of this chapter)