Amidst the unending mountains, the weather changed with the wind, and shouts of killing shook the heavens.

Hundreds of Kongming Talismanic Sect cultivators, dressed in blue Daoist robes, wearing Heavenly Master Cloths, and wielding Magic Swords, were engaged in a fierce battle with over a thousand Demonic Evil Cultivators.

"Beyond this mountain is Shichuan County. Not a single one of these demons can be allowed to pass; otherwise, the 400,000 worldly civilians gathered in Shichuan County will all be doomed!" With his face stained with blood and a deep bloody gash on his back as if clawed by a beast, Song Changming endured the pain and shouted loudly.

"Yes!" the disciples of the Talismanic Sect responded in unison. Although fear and panic flickered in their eyes, more of it was an unyielding courage and fierceness.

At this moment, the Demonic Evil Cultivators opposite them all wore ferocious expressions, driving rolling Demon Qi and Demon Fog.

The demons were enormous, their immensely powerful bodies emitting a terrifying aura, baring their teeth, their bloodshot eyes flashing with a chilling light.

Behind them, hundreds of Evil Cultivators held Magic Artifacts forged from skulls, flesh and blood, poisonous insects, residual souls, and other sinister items, their eyes glinting green as they smirked coldly, with sinister and poisonous spells ready in their hands, prepared for a dark strike.

Boom—

After a brief standoff, the slaughter erupted again with a bang!

The two sides collided fiercely, and in an instant, severed limbs flew, blood splattering everywhere.

The Daoist robes of the cultivators were stained red with blood, and the bodies of the demons were hacked to shreds by Magic Swords and Dao Talismans.

The sounds of screams and roars were incessant, as if to shatter the entire mountain range. Large areas of the Forest Sea were blasted to pieces in the aftermath of the battle, and the once lush trees turned to ashes.

Mountaintops crumbled, the earth cracked, revealing sinister fissures, telling the tale of this fierce battle.

The air was thick with the stench of blood and smoke, suffocating those present.

On the ground, corpses piled up like mountains, both of cultivators and of demons.

Blood pooled into rivers, dyeing the earth red.

Such scenes were simultaneously occurring all across the One Capital and Thirteen Provinces.

Utilizing the Divine Marvel of the Nine Heavens and Ten Earths Demon Suppressing Divine Shuttle, the vast number of demonic evil cultivators were directly deployed across the realm of Central Earth.

Fortunately, all the regions had already formed the All Beings Alliance, and the local military governors had turned to governance.

The appearance of the Demonic Evil Cultivators, though sudden,

had only stirred some waves before the All Beings Alliance and military governors responded fiercely and suppressed them.

...

Dianchuan Province.

Perhaps due to being betrayed once by Gao Tianxiong in the past, this time during the massive invasion of the Hundred Thousand Great Mountains into the Central Earth realm, the number of Demonic Evil Cultivators emerging in Dianchuan Province was noticeably higher than in other provinces.

Furthermore, more were Great Demons of the Blood-Stained Realm, while Demon Kings and Demonic Powerhouses of the Dao Body Realm were also more concentrated.

This added further pressure on the All Beings Alliance in Dianchuan Province.

The key issue that frustrated the All Beings Alliance the most was that the military governor of Dianchuan Province, Gao Tianxiong, while the military leaders in other provinces actively responded and cooperated in combat,

only guarded his own territory, keeping his forces defensive and not attacking.

He protected his own small domain, ignoring the battles even if they were right under his nose, merely watching from the sidelines.

Such conduct naturally displeased the All Beings Alliance.

The then All Beings Alliance Leader, Store Manager Zhou Meng of one of the ten great sects in Dianchuan Province, Yellow Sand Inn, personally went to negotiate, hoping Gao Tianxiong would join forces against the demons at this critical time of great calamity and crisis for the Human Race.

However, despite the personal visit of the All Being Alliance Leader supported by the Dao Alliance, Gao Tianxiong remained behind closed doors, only allowing the butler of the residence to reply.

His master was away visiting friends, and he asked Leader Zhou to come another day.

Gao Tianxiong's indifferent and cold response infuriated the usually mild-tempered and forgiving Zhou Meng beyond measure.

Pointing at the main gate of the Gao Residence, he shouted "You brat" before leaving in a huff.

With Gao Tianxiong avoiding involvement and the county yamen troops not leaving the city for battle,

the All Beings Alliance in Dianchuan Province could only resist alone. Fortunately, Zhou Meng, being thorough in dealing with people,

had the support of many Ancient Sect Nobility, who understood that the calamity now endangered the entire Tianyuan Human Race.

The joined efforts of the sect aristocracy had managed to stabilize the situation temporarily.

...

"I heard that Zhou Meng was so angry at my doorstep that his face changed color. Hehe, the old fellow has always been incredibly mild-mannered, but this time he really got infuriated."

Wearing coarse, grey-black linen clothes and worn cloth boots, Gao Tianxiong tilted his head back and drank a bowl of cold water with a snicker as he spoke to Zhu Shanhe opposite him.

"Across the provinces of the former dynasty, besides us two brothers and Elder Li's Fujian Province, all the military governors have collaborated with the All Beings Alliance to jointly resist the demon havoc.

Because of your previous faked death, Dianchuan has received special attention, and the quality and quantity of descending demons are higher than in other major provinces.

The trouble you caused is now left for them to clean up.

If it were you, wouldn't you be angry?" Taking a bite of the vegetable pie in his hand, seemingly dissatisfied with the rough texture, Zhu Shanhe frowned and placed it down again.

"I'd definitely dig up that bastard's ancestral grave."

Grinning, Gao Tianxiong sat on a nearby tree stump, lightly massaging his knees, sore and swollen from walking the mountain paths for so long.

"I say, how much longer are we going to hide here?"

"Please note, it's not hiding, but waiting."

Offering a vegetable pie to Gao Tianxiong, Zhu Shanhe spoke softly:

"Openly defying the Dao Alliance and colluding with demons in private—

either of these two heinous crimes would be enough to get our brotherhood thrown into Wangsi Island."