In the dead of night, the group returned to the Daluo Palace.
Gu Zhao asked Silk Embroideress and Bai Ke to host Bai Yiqi and Bai Yixuan. As for himself, he slapped Talismans onto the Soul Banner and the Intention Pearl before tossing them into the storehouse.
Heart Chakra, Eye Sword, Tail Map, Soul Banner, and Intention Pearl.
He had already collected five of the Six-Headed Divine Monarch’s six Magical Treasures.
Rumor had it that gathering all six Magical Treasures would allow one to summon... no, allow one to practice the Six-Headed Divine Monarch’s Dharma Gate, achieve Ten Thousand Years of Dao Practice, undergo Ascension to the Spirit Realm, and become a Demon God.
"Well, that doesn’t sound appealing at all!" he thought.
"I’m better off practicing Taoist Skills, aiming for Ascension to the Taoist Thirty-Three Heavens, and getting a position in the Thunder Department," he decided.
Gu Zhao stretched lazily, then wrapped his arms around Zhuo Qingyan and went back to sleep.
Having eliminated another pawn of the Demon Ancestor, Gu Zhao was quite satisfied.
Indeed, even a Great Demon with thousands of years of Dao Practice was merely a pawn to that Demon Ancestor. Only those whose Dao Practice had reached the level of the Dragon King of Ten Thousand Spirits were qualified to be directly schemed against by him.
At the same time, Gu Zhao remained vigilant. "The Demon Ancestor will soon emerge."
How soon was "soon," exactly?
When Gu Zhao eliminated the Ink Flood Dragon, he heard of the Great Sun Profound Light Celestial Demon Ancestor for the first time. Shortly after, Yun Fei’ang had come with a mission to lure and kill him.
Yun Fei’ang failed his assassination attempt, and now came this Mo He Divine Monarch.
Initially, Gu Zhao thought the Mo He Divine Monarch was only after the Eye Sword and Tail Map left behind by Xie Zhihan. However, hearing him shout the words "successor of the Taoist Realm" made it clear that Gu Zhao himself was also one of his targets.
But after some thought, Gu Zhao felt that the Demon Ancestor’s emergence shouldn’t be too immediate.
If this Demon Ancestor truly was "about to emerge," he wouldn’t need to send so many pawns practicing Demon Techniques to deal with him.
Once he emerged, couldn’t he just come over and handle it himself?
As a Descent Celestial Demon who once almost swept across the world and nearly turned this realm into a Demon Realm, his opponents should have at least ten thousand years of Dao Practice to be worth his time. Gu Zhao knew he hadn’t reached that level yet.
Didn’t sending all these pawns indicate that he couldn’t break free in the short term, and was worried about Gu Zhao and his group growing too fast?
However, if he understood the Taoist Realm so well, did he know that the successors of the Taoist Realm could use Evil Qi to speed up their Cultivation?
Gu Zhao was a bit baffled. Sending them over one by one like a piecemeal tactic—wasn’t this just helping them grow faster?
Was this Demon Ancestor actually helping them or trying to harm them?
Gu Zhao couldn’t make sense of it no matter how hard he thought.
At the same time, he recalled hearing the phrase "True Spirit descending" once again.
Through Divine Sense, utilizing the connection between the Five Thunders Order and the Thunder Seeds, Gu Zhao and the old Daoists discussed with one another.
"First of all, we can be sure that this Demon Ancestor’s background is absolutely not simple. To know about the inheritance of the Taoist Realm, he must be acquainted with our founding masters," Gu Zhao analyzed.
"Secondly, the other party shouldn’t be a match for the founding masters. He is extremely fearful of the founding masters’ True Spirits descending to the Lower Realm.
"This Mo He Divine Monarch also received orders from the Demon Ancestor. He even knows the word ’Immortal’."
"He definitely doesn’t know the profound mysteries of the Five Thunders Order, otherwise he would never adopt this kind of piecemeal tactic," Taoist Yan Song said.
"It’s also possible that he underestimated the Sect Leader’s growth speed. After all, Yun Fei’ang and this Mo He Divine Monarch were actually already very powerful," Taoist Ming Yu said thoughtfully.
"There’s another possibility. He can’t control truly powerful experts like the Dragon King of Ten Thousand Spirits," Taoist Yi Hong said with a smile.
Judging from the fact that the Demon Ancestor could only control the Ink Flood Dragon to plot against the Dragon King of Ten Thousand Spirits, aiming to refine the Dragon King to evolve a Demon Realm, it was evident that the Demon Ancestor had no way of controlling the Dragon King of Ten Thousand Spirits directly.
"That’s good news. At least we don’t have to worry about an expert with Ten Thousand Years of Dao Practice popping out of nowhere," Taoist Yan Ling teased.
The old Daoists all chuckled upon hearing this.
"Have any demonic traces been discovered in Jiangbei?" Gu Zhao asked casually.
"I am in Lezhou. I’ve discovered demonic traces and am currently investigating them," Taoist Jing Feng suddenly said.
"Oh?" The old Daoists all turned their attention to him.
"Lezhou is close to the borderlands. Citizens in several State Mansions have been victimized, and various Demons and Ghosts have died inexplicably," Taoist Jing Feng said in a deep voice. "Lezhou borders the various Western Divine Countries. Previously, the Xuanwei Divine Sect thought it was the gods of the Western Divine Countries killing people for Soul Refining, which even led to a conflict with the West.
"I wandered around the area a few times and found very, very faint Demonic Qi. I can confirm that a person practicing Demon Techniques is behind this, but I’m not sure exactly how powerful the other party is."
"I happen to be in Lezhou as well, though on the eastern side. I’ll go help you," Taoist Qingyuan said.
"Alright!" Taoist Jing Feng nodded.
The group discussed for quite a while, but their final conclusion remained to hold their steady course against any shifting circumstances.
While the Demon Ancestor had yet to emerge, they would seize the time to clear out the Demon Cultivators on earth, absorb the Evil Qi, and boost their Cultivation.
With the enemy weakening as they grew stronger, they hoped that by the time the Demon Ancestor emerged, they would have grown powerful enough to deal with this descended Demon Ancestor.
At the same time, the sacrificial rituals of the annual Spring Festival Grand Offering must absolutely not be interrupted.
Celestial True Monarch Tianchen had determined that their Incense Blessing Divine Curse was a communication method connecting to the Celestial Realm, and they could also sense the Divine Curse Magical Power vanishing into the highest heavens.
From this, it could be deduced that the Incense Blessing Divine Curse might truly be able to contact the Taoist world.
As for why there had been no feedback, there were far too many possibilities.
For instance, their Cultivation might still be insufficient, causing the Incense Blessing Divine Curse to fall short of reaching the Taoist world.
Or perhaps there were too many people offering incense in the Lower Realm, and the Immortals simply couldn’t attend to them all.
Of course, the worst-case scenario was that their version of the Incense Blessing Divine Curse was incomplete and lacked location information. Even though the Incense Blessing Divine Curse flew out of this world, it wouldn’t know where to go next.
"Ahem, in Taoist cultivation, a title serves as a coordinate, so it shouldn’t be a matter of not finding the place," Taoist Shen Hao, an elder of the Shangqing Sect, analyzed for the group. "The first two possibilities are more likely."
Taoist Yu Zhang said, "During our next Spring Festival Grand Offering, when we cast the curse collectively, let’s try including the information about a Demon Ancestor appearing in this world."
"That makes sense. We can give it a try," Taoist Ming Yu agreed.
When it came to offering incense for blessings and the Eight Great Divine Curses, this was the professional specialty of Zhengyi Dao. Since Taoist Ming Yu, Taoist Shen Hao, and Taoist Yu Zhang had proposed the idea, the old Daoists of the Quanzhen Sect naturally wouldn’t object.
Within a certain earth vein, inside a certain Demon Cave.
Demonic Qi surged, and Demonic Thoughts billowed like waves.
"That toad is dead too.
"Something’s not right. Even with those Immortals using Dream Transmission to teach them, the cultivation speed of these successors is far too fast, isn’t it?
"Last time, when dealing with that little loach, they needed over a dozen people to attack together. This time, against the toad, that so-called Daluo Palace Master actually won all by himself.
"And then there’s that aura I sensed last time..."
Early the next morning, Gu Zhao climbed out of Zhuo Qingyan’s bed.
After practicing a set of the True Qi Eight-section Brocade, a refreshed Gu Zhao went to Silk Embroideress’s courtyard.
The two Celestial Foxes had stayed with Silk Embroideress and Bai Ke the previous night.
Just as he reached the door, he heard Bai Yixuan speaking. "You actually know Moonlight Evasion. You must be Aunt Thirteen Bai’s daughter!"