Chapter 336: The Demon Sealed by the Nine Nether Resentful Demon Formation

Shen Mo continued reading.

[Upcoming Opportunity: You will soon rest in Boyang City. Three days later, Boyang City will be turned into a sacrificial site by the demonic cultivator, Murong Zhen.

Sensing something amiss, you will track down Murong Zhen and attempt to kill him. However, Murong Zhen will react quickly and escape using a Small Teleportation Talisman.

In the end, you will obtain several Earth-tier treasures meant for the ritual and the Nine Nether Resentful Demon Formation.]

Shen Mo raised an eyebrow, put down his chopsticks, and set aside his wine cup, lost in thought.

He hadn’t expected that stopping in Boyang City on a whim would lead to such an event.

“Murong Zhen… that name sounds familiar.”

Shen Mo focused his mind.

Having read numerous books and intelligence reports on Jiangzhou and the Tianhe Sect, he had absorbed an immense amount of information.

Recalling a single name from that vast sea of knowledge wasn’t an easy task.

Even a Divine Transformation cultivator like him had to take a moment to think.

For lower-realm cultivators, it would probably take them three to five days to sift through their memories.

Just then, he overheard a conversation at a nearby table.

“Hey, do you think the Fifth Elder of the Tianhe Sect will catch Murong Zhen this time?”

“Doubt it! That guy defected twenty years ago, and they haven’t caught him since. Not only that, but he once sacrificed an entire city of nearly 300,000 people! Absolutely insane!”

“Yeah… I just don’t get what’s wrong with him. He was once the young sect master of Tianhe Sect, and he betrayed them for no reason. What a waste.”

“Forget it. Just eat. Let the Tianhe Sect deal with their own mess.”

Shen Mo’s brows twitched.

Like a flash of lightning, memories surged into his mind.

He remembered now.

Murong Zhen was the former young sect master of the Tianhe Sect.

A peerless genius, he was born with a Heaven-rank physique and was treasured by the sect as their most valuable disciple.

For a time, he overshadowed all others.

In just fifty-three years, he reached the peak of the Divine Transformation stage and was ready to break through to the next realm.

Had he been content with an Earth-tier Primordial Spirit, he would have advanced long ago.

But he was obsessed with attaining a Heaven-tier Primordial Spirit—an ambition that ultimately led to disaster.

Twenty years ago, Murong Zhen betrayed the Tianhe Sect.

He slaughtered his own dao companion, the granddaughter of the Tianhe Sect’s leader.

He also killed several of the sect’s most promising young talents.

Then, on a rainy night, he fled into the darkness, vanishing without a trace.

Since then, the Tianhe Sect had lived under the shadow of disgrace.

Their carefully nurtured young sect master had gone mad, turning against his loved ones and betraying the sect.

No one could have predicted such a turn of events.

The common folk assumed Murong Zhen had simply lost his mind.

But Shen Mo, as the young sect master of the Jade Cauldron Sect, had access to deeper intelligence.

Murong Zhen had succumbed to demonic cultivation.

At some point, he had obtained a forbidden demonic technique.

The technique detailed how to extract life essence through slaughter, refining it into blood energy for cultivation.

Through this, he had become something neither fully human nor fully demonic.

His slaughter of his dao companion and comrades had been part of his path into demonic cultivation.

After all, the first step into demonic practice required slaying one’s beloved.

Without killing the one closest to him, how could he truly sever his humanity?

“But why is he sacrificing an entire city of 300,000 mortals?”

Shen Mo frowned slightly.

There were many types of sacrificial rituals.

The most common was blood sacrifice.

However, extracting life essence from mortals was far less effective than absorbing essence from cultivators.

The life energy of 300,000 mortals might not even equal that of thirty Divine Transformation cultivators.

Unless… he needed it for a specific purpose.

“The Nine Nether Resentful Demon Formation…”

Shen Mo repeated the name in his mind, and his eyes gleamed with understanding.

Twenty years ago, when Murong Zhen defected, he had stolen several formation banners from the Tianhe Sect’s treasury.

One of them was precisely this Nine Nether Resentful Demon Formation.

This formation was a sinister, demonic array.

Its effect was to use the resentment, killing intent, and other negative emotions of people to awaken certain sealed demons.

However, there had never been a case of demons running rampant on the continent.

The Nine Nether Resentful Demon Formation had no real use and was thus carelessly stored away in the sect’s treasury, making it easy for Murong Zhen to steal.

With this in mind, everything became clear.

Murong Zhen clearly intended to use the formation to awaken some sealed demon.

“A demon in Jiangzhou?”

Shen Mo frowned.

That was impossible.

There hadn’t been any sign of the demonic race for thousands of years.

So much time had passed that most people had forgotten the demons had once roamed freely across these lands.

How could Jiangzhou possibly have a demon?

“Wait… a demon… the Nine Nether Iceflame…”

Shen Mo’s eyes flashed with sharp light.

He suddenly remembered.

Before setting out, he had read some information about the Nine Nether Iceflame.

This type of exotic fire rarely appeared, so there wasn’t much documentation on it.

The few records available only briefly described how the Nine Nether Iceflame was born and how it grew.

It was formed in extremely dark and deep underground environments.

And it fed on demonic energy!

The more demonic energy it devoured, the faster it grew.

“Most demons were sealed within the Demon-Suppressing Sea, but perhaps one or two managed to escape.”

“Could it be…”

“Some powerful senior once sealed a demon underground in Jiangzhou using the Nine Nether Iceflame?”

A shocking thought surfaced in Shen Mo’s mind.

The more he considered it, the more plausible it seemed.

Excitement flickered across his expression.

If this were true, then he had truly come to the right place.

He only knew that the Nine Nether Iceflame was located somewhere in the nearby cities but hadn’t pinpointed its exact location.

If he could track Murong Zhen and ultimately find the Nine Nether Iceflame, that would be an incredible opportunity!

At that moment, a commotion erupted in the street below.

Shen Mo looked down and saw the city guards clearing the roads.

The citizens were being ushered to the sides.

Shen Mo leaned forward and glanced toward the city gate.

There, a procession was slowly entering Boyang City.

Leading the group were several creatures covered in white scales—jiao horses!

These steeds were hybrids of flood dragons and horses, carefully bred over generations.

Currently, only the Four Seas Jiao Dragon Clan possessed the means to breed them.

Each jiao horse cost three supreme-grade spirit stones.

Shen Mo’s gaze moved further back.

The carriages looked modest on the surface but were, in fact, incredibly extravagant.

They were constructed from thousand-year ironwood, an extremely dense and sturdy material.

Every inch of their surface was engraved with formations.

With just a quick glance, Shen Mo spotted formations for increased speed, levitation, and other enhancements that facilitated rapid travel.

There was also a faint glow flickering around the carriages.

Clearly, protective barrier formations had been inscribed as well.

For a carriage like this to travel for just one day, it would likely consume an entire supreme-grade spirit stone.

Excessive luxury.

Only the Tianhe Sect could afford such extravagance.

Among the great sects, the Tianhe Sect was renowned for its wealth.

Not for any particular reason—other than the fact that they possessed a forbidden land that produced a rare treasure known as the Soul-Consolidating Fruit.

It was the key ingredient for refining the Divine Soul Pill!

As far as Shen Mo knew, the imperial court purchased large quantities of Soul-Consolidating Fruits from the Tianhe Sect every year to produce Divine Soul Pills.

The Danhe Sect also had extensive records of purchasing Soul-Consolidating Fruits from them.

As for other major sects, their reliance on the Tianhe Sect was self-evident.

With this advantage, the Tianhe Sect was practically drowning in wealth.

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Source: Webnovel.com, updated by Madara Web Novel