123 Bloodline of the Great Demon

White Sand Island.

Within a hundred-thousand-li radius of the surrounding sea, the largest marketplace was located on this very island. White Sand Marketplace resembled a small city, filled with continuous rows of buildings and towering pavilions, much like the prosperous cities found in the mortal realm. Cultivators moved to and fro, while various beams of light from escape arts, spirit beasts, and magical artifacts rose and fell across the horizon, creating a bustling and vibrant scene.

Gu Zhengping walked into a small courtyard, his face etched with worry. Before a stone table in the courtyard stood a middle-aged cultivator of extraordinary bearing, his expression gloomy as he stood with his hands behind his back.

"Third Uncle..."

Gu Zhengping sighed, wanting to say more but hesitating. His once tall and straight frame was slightly hunched, his spirit and energy dissipated, looking nothing like a cultivator of the Foundation Establishment stage.

The middle-aged cultivator glanced at him and asked, "Has it been confirmed?"

Gu Zhengping nodded. "That Thunder Roc is indeed of the bloodline of the Demon Emperor from the Myriad Demon Island..."

The middle-aged cultivator closed his eyes, his aura surging and billowing. Although constrained within the small courtyard, it still caused Gu Zhengping to feel a pressure as heavy as a mountain.

*Thump.*

He knelt on the ground, lamenting, "Third Uncle, I have brought ruin upon our clan!"

The middle-aged man shook his head and said, "Do not blame yourself; this is the will of heaven. Our Gu family has been passed down for seven thousand years—from a family of Qi-Refining practitioners to one of Foundation Establishment, and then to a Golden Core family. Prosperity inevitably leads to decline; such is destiny."

Gu Zhengping was speechless for a moment.

Ten days ago, he had been hunting demon beasts on the sea to harvest their cores for medicine. He happened to encounter a Thunder Roc and impulsively captured it. At the time, the Thunder Roc seemed to have just emerged from a great battle, severely wounded, with its strength barely at the level of the Qi-Refining stage. Gu Zhengping had captured it with almost no effort.

However, the creature had a stubborn nature and insisted on fighting to the death. Angered, Gu Zhengping had slain it. Afterward, he arrived at White Sand Island to attend to matters and went to see his third uncle, who was overseeing the marketplace. When they discussed the incident, his uncle—a man of vast experience—immediately realized the implications. He had Gu Zhengping retrieve the corpse and hurriedly cast a secret sealing art upon it.

Seeing a great Golden Core cultivator so alarmed and urgent, Gu Zhengping felt a sense of dread, vaguely guessing that the origin of the Thunder Roc was extraordinary. His uncle’s speculation proved correct: it was the bloodline of a Demon Emperor from Myriad Demon Island. Great Golden Core demons were known as Demon Kings, while those at the Primordial Spirit stage were revered as Demon Emperors.

Through other channels in the marketplace, Gu Zhengping confirmed his uncle's fears. Myriad Demon Island was a sacred ground for the demon race, capable of rivaling the Heavenly Sword Sect. Provoking the descendants of a Demon Emperor meant that the Gu family faced an existential catastrophe. While the Gu family was the strongest cultivation force in the surrounding hundred thousand li of sea, they were insignificant compared to a behemoth like Myriad Demon Island. They would need no more than three or five Golden Core demons to flatten the Gu family's islands.

As it stood, the Gu family only had two Golden Core cultivators: one guarding the main family estate and the other stationed at the marketplace.

"My sealing technique can hold for at most twenty more days. By then, the demon experts will surely track us down using the blood-tracing secret art," Gu Yunfei, the third uncle, said in a deep voice. "You have already been tainted by the karma; even if you destroy the corpse, you cannot escape the tracking. Once you fall into the hands of the demons, they will surely search your soul, and that will be the end of the Gu family."

Gu Zhengping lifted his head, a glimmer of resolve in his eyes. "Third Uncle, could we seek help from the Heavenly Sword Sect?"

Gu Yunfei gave a bitter smile. "You overestimate our family. The Heavenly Sword Sect would not offend a Primordial Spirit demon just for a small family like ours. If we were an affiliate family of theirs, or if one of our own had entered their sect, there might be a chance—but as it stands, it is difficult!"

Gu Zhengping laughed in despair. "Is it truly the will of heaven? To think that a descendant of a noble Primordial Spirit demon would not even have a single protective treasure on its person?" He knew, however, that the creature must have faced some crisis before encountering him, as it had been on the verge of death.

Gu Yunfei sighed in silence. Although the Gu family appeared infinitely glorious on the surface, their ability to withstand risk was no different from any other Foundation Establishment clan. While family-based cultivators could use family resources to rapidly increase their strength, they lacked the carefree freedom of rogue cultivators.

A heavy silence filled the courtyard, weighing on their hearts like a stone. Just then, two bright, line-like rays of light rose in the distance, connecting heaven and earth. A faint, distant sound of a dragon’s roar drifted over.

Gu Yunfei gazed into the distance, feeling the turbulence in the world’s spiritual energy. It seemed as though something extraordinary was about to be revealed. Could it be the manifestation of a great treasure? He felt a surge of curiosity. On White Sand Island, dozens of beams of light took flight, rushing toward the horizon. Many bold cultivators shouted and took to the sky toward the source of the omen; most of them were rogue cultivators.

Gu Yunfei looked at his nephew—the young man who would one day inherit the family leadership—and said in a deep voice, "Since things have come to this, we might as well go and see the spectacle!"

With a flick of his sleeve, he cast a ray of spiritual light, enveloped Gu Zhengping, and vanished from the spot.

...

On a massive island where ancient trees touched the sky, several demon clansmen were lazily patrolling, occasionally singing off-key tunes or making crude remarks about a beautiful female demon on the island. Suddenly, where the sea met the sky in the far distance, two brilliant rays of light erupted, emitting a piercing radiance. The demons looked at each other in confusion and hurriedly ran toward the cave dwelling in the center of the island.

Inside the cave, a voice rang out: "Great King, it is bad! A strange phenomenon has appeared on the sea; it looks like an invasion by human cultivators!"

The Great King of the cave was a bull demon. Though he had attained a human form, he had kept his two large horns. He was tall and burly, his aura formidable—he was a genuine Golden Core demon! With a soft shout, he frightened the demons into kneeling.

"Do not panic! Tell me the details!"

The demons began to chatter, describing what they had seen, adding exaggerations as if thousands of Heavenly Sword Sect cultivators were flying toward them. The Bull Demon King knew the nature of his subordinates and remained calm, strolling out of the cave to look into the distance.

"You fools! Where would these Heavenly Sword cultivators come from? This is clearly a sign of a rare treasure being birthed!"

A moment later, he laughed, scolding them before shouting, "My children, prepare yourselves! Follow me to seize the treasure!"

His voice, rolling like thunder, spread across the entire island. More than thirty astonishing auras emerged from the dense forest and converged. In the blink of an eye, thirty-six Foundation Establishment demon cultivators stood in formation behind the Bull Demon King.

"Let’s go!"

The Bull Demon King gave a savage grin, mounted a rolling cloud of demonic energy, and soared proudly into the sky, heading straight for the horizon. Behind him, the thirty-six demon cultivators followed in their various colorful beams of light, pursuing him closely.