Chapter 156: What benefits are there to be gained nowadays?; Crusade Against the Demonic Arts Inheritor!

"As expected of you, Brother Changge! If I were faced with such a matter, I would have hesitated, but your compassion for the people of the world is truly admirable!"

Chi Ling couldn't help but stand in solemn admiration.

She said so from the bottom of her heart, without the slightest hint of anything else.

Ye Langtian also spoke in admiration, "Brother Gu's actions are no different to personally taking Ye Ling's wrath on his own head. Alas, I - the Young Master of the Ye Family - dare not come forward myself. In this regard, I am still far from Brother Changge."

"Brother Gu is indeed a Young Asura for a reason." The Young Master of the Immortal Lake, hidden in a dizzying black mist, also sighed deeply at this time.

"Yes, the Young Lady is saved! With Young Master Changge's help, she will definitely turn this situation around."

The people of the Nine-Tailed Celestial Fox Family were also excited.

Their strength was indeed too weak.

What Gu Changge said made all the Young Supremes breathe a sigh of relief, and they could not help but look both happy and excited.

Whoever took on such an important task would probably face retaliation from the Forbidden Demonic Arts' Inheritor!

Even a Young Supreme such as Bai Lie, the Young Master of the White Tiger Clan had been killed.

Although they shouted loudly in the present, when faced with the real matter of the Forbidden Demonic Arts' Inheritor, they may run away faster than anyone else.

However, Gu Changge had now stepped forward to take charge of this crusade.

His courage put them all to shame.

"If I may, I have a few suspicions on why Ye Ling is currently being hunted by the Ancient Immortal Clans." At this moment, Ye Langtian suddenly opened his mouth and decided to speak his mind.

"Oh? Brother Ye, please elaborate." Gu Changge said with a faint smile.

At his words, everyone looked over.

"It may be that Ye Ling attempted to… "touch" something that belonged to these clans. If we think about it, why would he, the Inheritor of the Demonic Arts, go near the gathering places of these clans

Ye Langtian asked with carefully thought words.

With these words, the expressions of Kong Yang, Wang Wushuang, the Heir of the Immortal Lake and the rest of the group changed slightly.

Even Gu Changge appeared to be deep in thought.

Afterwards, he frowned slightly and said, "What does Brother Ye mean?"

Ye Langtian glanced at him and said with a nod, "Ye Ling's goal is probably to find these clans' Young Supremes, or perhaps even find their ancestral tombs…"

Gasp!

The sounds of gasping could be heard.

In fact, when Ye Langtian reminded them, most of them had already guessed beforehand.

Some people were just a bit slow to react.

Gu Changge glanced at Ye Langtian and secretly praised him in the back of his mind.

'It is worth calling him "Brother" Ye.'

'He is especially useful during times like this.'

By doing this, Ye Langtian had saved Gu Changge the trouble of having to "guide" them himself.

'I'm afraid Ye Ling will have to firmly carry this black pot until he dies.'

"Searching for the tombs... this..."

The words of Ye Langtian fell on the ears of the rest of the people like a thunderstorm, immediately followed by a shiver.

The entire group was shocked as a chill ran through their whole bodies.

If Ye Ling really did such a thing, his powers would now be greater than they've ever been.

Going by the horrific and unpredictable nature of the Forbidden Demonic Arts, it could be said that Ye Ling's current Cultivation Base would be simply unfathomable.

"While he was with us, Ye Ling usually stayed with the group, but that may very well be his next plan."

Chi Ling was a bit sceptical of Ye Langtian's words.

After all, she had been with Ye Ling before and knew what he was up to.

"Brother Ye has a point, but let's leave this matter as it is for now."

"Tomorrow, we will start searching for Ye Ling's location in the surrounding area, paying close attention to all the ancient cities. If you come across any of the Immortal Ancient Clan members, try to reason with them, for this is a grave matter." It was at this moment that Gu Changge took the opportunity to speak up, rubbing his forehead as though he had a headache.

He seemed to be troubled by the possible increase in Ye Ling's cultivation.

At this moment, everyone understood that the matter has become far more complicated.

Ye Ling had snuck into the Ancient Immortal Continent.

The ancient tombs here were the perfect place for Ye Ling to increase his cultivation.

After further discussion, the group dispersed, preparing to gather their energy for tomorrow's move.

But Chi Ling stayed behind to discuss a few matters with Gu Changge.

Chi Ling mainly informed Gu Changge of their split, raising her doubts about Ye Ling.

In this regard, Gu Changge merely nodded in understanding.

Gu Changge took this moment to express his false concern and deep regret over the matter.

"In any case, even if you and I were to believe him, it would be useless. Ye Ling has gone past the point of no return and, in the eyes of the public, is now confirmed to be the Inheritor of the Forbidden Demonic Arts." Gu Changge said with a sigh.

"Ye Ling is indeed highly suspicious, but it doesn't necessarily mean that he has anything to do with the Demonic Arts inheritor." Chi Ling remarked.

Gu Changge nodded in agreement.

Chi Ling relaxed after their exchange.

In a rare moment, she joked with him and said, "In this period of time, I've heard lots of news regarding Brother Gu! Overpowering the Ancient Immortal Races and stealing opportunities, your followers need to work harder to keep up your public image."

Naturally, she didn't mean to blame Gu Changge when she said this.

It was just small talk, a bit of banter, since she had no other topic to talk about.

She believed that Gu Changge must've had a reason for his actions.

Moreover, in a world where the strong prey on the weak, snatching opportunities was no big deal.

Gu Changge understood her intentions and laughed along, "Can anybody really blame me for doing so? They wouldn't be able to keep the opportunities in their hands anyway, then those opportunities would've been snatched by the Ancient Immortal Clans, and they might even lose their lives in the process."

"It's better if I snatch them instead, so that they may continue to live."

Of course, he was just talking nonsense.

He didn't care about such things while he was snatching opportunities.

If anyone dared to stop him, he would just slap them to death.

However, when these words fell on Chi Ling's ears, her eyes widened with shock, "Brother Gu has even thought of such a thing..."

Gu Changge said nothing as he merely glanced at her.

Her brain's ability to comprehend things was so inadequate that she actually believed his words.

At this point, he suspected that Chi Ling had a few brain cells missing.

…

News of the crusade against the Forbidden Demonic Arts' Inheritor, led by Gu Changge and attended by the Young Supremes of the various Supreme Daoist Sects, the Immortal Great Sects, and other such geniuses of the younger generation, caused a huge stir across the Ancient Immortal Continent.

It was already shocking enough that the Inheritor of the Demonic Arts had returned once more to the realm of the living.

However, no one expected that Gu Changge would willingly come forward and lead the people to fight against the Forbidden Demonic Arts' Inheritor until now.

This act holds great significance to the cultivation world, and if successful, it could be considered a tremendous achievement.

In no time at all, Young Supremes from all over the place rushed to join the confrontation, so that they too may help cleanse the cultivation world of the scourge known as the Inheritors of the Forbidden Demonic Arts.

This event even attracted the attention of the various Ancient Immortal Clans.

In particular, the True Dragon Clan, who had previously threatened Gu Changge to return Long Teng's corpse, were the first to find the truth of the matter.

In the end, all the Ancient Immortal Races came to the conclusion that Gu Changge was serious about this incident.

This gave them an opportunity to take advantage of the situation.

Many of the Ancient Immortal Continent's native younger generations had rallied themselves to attack Gu Changge.

[Inside the True Dragon Clan]

One of the elders used the True Dragon Order to direct the rest of the clan to send the greatest of their younger generation on a quest against Gu Changge.

During this period of time, the slaughter and struggle between the natives and the outside cultivators would only increase as chaos ensued in the Ancient Immortal Continent.

Many of the younger generations of the outside world had died.

As a result, many people had the feeling that a great war would break out in the Ancient Immortal Continent.

This was especially true since Gu Changge had stirred up the waters, causing heavy casualties on both sides.

A number of Daoist disciples perished as a result.

…...

[The Baiheng Mountain Range.]

A large area of ancient and dilapidated ruins, hidden by ancient trees that were so wide and vast their vines resembled clouds.

It was here that one could spot the figure of Yue Mingkong.

She led her group to set up camp here, carving many formations. Additionally, Divine Artifacts could be seen everywhere.

The spiritual Qi was dense, the essence stones were scattered, and mysterious scriptures were engraved in every corner.

Each ancient character radiated a misty golden brilliance as it floated in the void of space.

In time, when the immortal radiance rises to the sky above, it will help obscure the heavenly opportunity this place held, giving her some time to act.

Otherwise, it would be bad if a large number of cultivators and creatures were alerted and attracted to the area.

By now, she had also heard the news of how Gu Changge was leading a crusade against Ye Ling.

'This Ye Ling must've spent eight lifetimes' worth of bad luck to have offended Gu Changge. Not only did he carry the black pot, but there's now even a crusade against him… led by none other than Gu Changge. Ye Ling must be spitting blood in anger by now.'

'Currently, everyone is being kept in the dark by Gu Changge, left clueless about the fact that the true Inheritor of the Demonic Arts is him. Making the whole world simply dance in the palm of his hand…'

Yue Mingkong naturally had no sympathy for Ye Ling.

On the contrary, she was currently speculating what Gu Changge's objectives were.

One of them was to seize Ye Ling's opportunities.

As for the other objective, she honestly couldn't guess.

'I've located the Immortal Road[1]. Before anyone else can even react, "it" will be mine…'

[1. Quick Recap: The Immortal Road is a series of portals or 'cracks in space' that leads to different locations in the Ancient Immortal Continent. The one at the beginning of this arc was one such portal.]

Indeed, Yue Mingkong had already found a rather plain-looking stone gate situated deep in the mountains.

On the stone gate were several carvings.

The mountains were vast, the sky was high, divine vines and immortal trees grew, filled with Immortal Aura.

She tried to see through the gap in the Fairy Gate to the path beyond it, but there was a thick shroud of mist that obscured her view.

In that instant, a huge rain of light blossomed from behind the Fairy Gate as runes fell from the sky.

The Immortal Runes submerged in her body as if trying to temper her physique.

Such power was so sacred that it far exceeded the quality of ordinary Dao Runes, carrying immense energy.

With this, Yue Mingkong confirmed that this was, in fact, the Immortal Road.

Unfortunately, her current powers were not enough to open it on her own.

She was left with two choices. Either wait for the Immortal Road to open on its own, revealing a fortuitous opportunity ripe for attaining divinity…

Or she could tell Gu Changge about it, since he might have a method that allows them to bypass the door entirely, significantly cutting their waiting time short.

The two solutions swirled around in Yue Mingkong's head, trapping in her quite the dilemma.

The feeling of the opportunity being so tormentingly close but being unable to taste even a drop of "it" made her feel the urge to slash it open with her sword.

However, she was worried that if Gu Changge brushed her aside and found a way to get in himself, she would have worked for nothing.

…

[In the middle of a courtyard in a remote ancient city.]

'It's clear as day that he's the real Inheritor of the Demonic Arts, yet he has the audacity to frame me and even bring people to attack me!'

Ye Ling was now in a frenzy of hatred, wanting to tear Gu Changge into a thousand pieces.

Next to him was Yin Mei, who had met up with him in the Ancient City.

By Gu Changge's instructions, Yin Mei ensured that she did not arouse any suspicion in Ye Ling.

Rather, Ye Ling even felt a bit of remorse due to his earlier actions. He had abandoned Yin Mei and fled the scene first; he feared that she would be upset.

Contrary to his expectations, Yin Mei showed up and merely stated that she still had plenty of life-saving means, allowing her to escape her fate. What's more, she seemingly understood his actions.

Ye Ling felt even more moved.

Currently, however, he grimaced as he recalled catching a Young Supreme looking for him, asking him about these things.

What had happened outside made him furious, his hatred filling every pore of his body.

Gu Changge's actions were even more outrageous than a thief calling out for a robbery.

'She must have exposed my trail. How else could Gu Changge have known that I was hiding in this Ancient City?'

'Dammit, I should've known that Chi Ling and Gu Changge were in cahoots, how could I have trusted her this much?'

A deep shadow fell on Ye Ling's face.

These days, he could see cultivators flying through the sky, searching for him in various areas.

This was even more annoying than that group dispatched by the Ancient Immortal Races.

'Fortunately, they're unaware that the cave left for me by the Ancient Deity of Reincarnation is hidden in this Ancient City.'

As he thought of this, Ye Ling could not help but reveal a sneer of disdain.

Then, he struck out to silence the Young Supreme in front of him.

"Old Turtle, are you sure the entrance is in this Ancient City?" Ye Ling once again asked the Old Turtle inside the pendant, he had a hunch that it would be here.

But without the Old Turtle's directions, he didn't know exactly where it would be.

"It's here. The entrance is a dry well. That said, the Ancient Deity left many patterns back in the day, so even if a being in the Sacred Realm were to enter by mistake, that being would perish."

The Old Turtle's words rang out from within the pendant, causing Ye Ling's expression to turn solemn.

Afterwards, he spoke to Yin Mei behind him, "Yin Mei, remember to stay close to me and walk directly behind me, don't make any wrong moves."

Upon hearing Ye Ling's cautious words, Yin Mei took on a worried look on her face as she nodded her head and replied, "I know, don't worry."

Ye Ling was relieved to hear this without noticing the passing mockery in Yin Mei's eyes.

Soon, Ye Ling wandered around the nearby courtyard. The Ancient City looked old, very old, old enough to have weathered countless ages.

And yet, there was not a sign of any living beings residing within.

"This should be the way to reach the well."

Ye Ling led the way for Yin Mei, stopping at the ancient temple, which had long since been devoid of any trace of the living.

In front of them, in a dry well covered by withered leaves, came an aura that Ye Ling was familiar with.

'This indeed has the Reincarnation Aura!'

"This is it, there's no mistake."

He couldn't help but show how happy and excited he was.

At that moment, the sound of a divine rainbow was heard from all over the sky, as several cultivators descended on the Ancient City, searching for him.

Sensing their aura, Ye Ling's face turned pale as he spoke to Yin Mei behind him, "Follow me."

If they didn't escape this very moment, they would be caught.

Thus, Ye Ling took the lead and rushed towards the Ancient Well in front of him, stepping into it first.

With a loud noise, the withered leaves drifted away.

The space below began to fracture and blur as if he was being sent to another world.

It was just as Ye Ling had predicted.

Underneath the dry well was an imaginary junction that joined different spaces together.

Upon seeing this, Yin Mei showed no hesitation as she followed him.

However, as she descended, she left behind traces of her aura.

"Just now, I felt someone's aura here..."

"How come it disappeared in the blink of an eye?"

The cultivators searching in the ancient city were also confused. Their divine senses covered thousands of miles, but they could not find any trace of Ye Ling no matter where they looked.

"Forget it, let's go back and report to Young Master Changge first, Ye Ling is nowhere to be found here."

With that, they left the ancient city.

Meanwhile, in another direction, at the top of a mountain, Gu Changge was sitting with one leg on top of the other, as his robes flowed elegantly in the wind. He sensed something.

A strange aura emerged from his body, forcing the void in front of him to become a blur.

"Come here, someone!" Gu Changge commanded indifferently.

"Master!"

One of Gu Changge's followers appeared as soon as he called.

On all sides of the mountain, a large group of cultivators and creatures were sitting waiting patiently.

"I've gotten word that the Demonic Arts Inheritor has shown himself..."

"He is now in a ruin 40,000 miles to the east, pass on this news."

Gu Changge showed a smile that carried deep meaning.

Naturally, there was nothing in the ruins at the moment, and if there was, it would be a tomb that he had dug.

"Yes, Master."

After that, Gu Changge ordered the follower behind him to leave.

"Ye Ling, oh Ye Ling, how much worth can a person really have..."

The void in front of him blurred as he stepped into it, disappearing in an instant.