Resolving the Demon Invasion Crisis

Outside the Demon King lair.

"Tsk tsk, our brothers must be enjoying quite the feast right now" In the dark, the creature smacked its lips, sounding nostalgic.

"Oh yes, those succulent bloodied food" The replying voice bore even more nostalgia. For a moment, the duo mused on the taste of human flesh.

From the distance, they suddenly felt a terrifying aura approach. A shadowy silhouette revealed itself, its fur blazing red, even in the dark. The red eyed wolves guarding the entrance shivered and subconsciously stepped back as soon as they caught sight of it. 

It barely glanced at them, just flashing a token and going straight in. When it did, the wolves heaved a sigh of relief, relaxing their taut muscles.

Inside the lair.

The panther walked in meekly, its previously majestic aura deeply restrained. The cave was dimly lit, its spiritual concentration hinting it was probably atop a spiritual mine of at least mid level quality. To the left were rotting corpses and skeletons of human cultivators and demonic beasts alike. Glancing in that direction inadvertently, the panther swallowed and bowed its head.

"Lord Demon" He addressed the figure in the shadows ahead. The figure turned, revealing thirsty bloodshot eyes.

It was a serpent, eyes flashing with cunning. Gigantic in nature, it easily dwarfed the panther. 

"What's the news?" As it spoke, a putrid smell came out of its mouth. The panther did not dare show its irritation.

"We are advancing steadily. Most of the small towns on the outskirts have either been destroyed, or abandoned by those cowardly humans" The panther replied respectfully.

"Most, you say?" The serpent questioned, its eyes boring sharply into the panther's. It looked down quickly, not daring to meet its Lord's gaze save he becomes a side meal for the night.

"Twenty two out of twenty four. We are still locked in battle with one of the last two, while the other...the other" It stuttered, not finishing the sentence.

"The other....what?" The serpent was impatient.

"Our troops were completely eliminated. We got news from a flying scout"

"The human sects were not supposed to take action for at least two days, granting us enough time to complete the plan." The serpent's eyes roved eerily as it mused, its tail flickering with a slow dangerous light. The panther visibly tensed, as if expecting his boss to fly into a tantrum that would end up decimating him.

After what seemed like eternity the serpent spoke again. "Withdraw the troops and initiate the next part of the plan"

"Yes, Lord Demon" The panther wiped an invisible sweat mentally.

At this moment, the cave shook as it was suddenly impacted by a gigantic force. The interior of the cave was shattered into bits, burying the demonic beasts in the rubble.

Outside the Lair.

"Do you think that would be enough?" A lazy voice sounded. It came from an elegant looking young man. He was dressed in all white, his hair tied up in a bun. His left hand grasped a wine gourd while his right hand held a gigantic hammer that looked thrice his size. He looked to the left as he asked the question.

Beside him, a fair maiden looked at him with doting eyes. Like him, she was also dressed in white, and their clothes bore the same insignia of criss-crossed sabers.

"Let's see" Her hands made a series of movements as she drew a complicated looking rune diagram. Shockingly, her qi manifested mid air, indicating her high cultivation despite her young looking appearance.

"There won't be any need" An aloof voice came from the distance. Flying swords rushed in their direction, atop them were the disciples of the Flying Sword Sect. Their disciples were widely know for their simple mindedness and terrifying combat prowess. True to their name, as soon as they arrived, their chief disciple unleashed a strong sword intent that attacked the decimated cave, blasting even the smallest bit to pieces.

"Damn humans!" The serpent who had survived the initial attack had been hiding his time and was planning to attack while the disciple from earlier was executing the Demon Tracking Spell when the sword intent destroyed its body. It quickly abandoned his physical form and tried to escape with his soul embryo. It thought as it made to escape that as long as it bided its time, it could always repossess the body of an excellent junior and recultivate to its peak.

As it rushed to the distance, it instinctively felt something was wrong. There seemed to be an incinerating aura coming from that direction, one that seemingly targeted its yin soul. It didn't even have time to think before it exploded, its entire existence destroyed.

The Flying Sword Sect disciples and the duo from earlier calmly waited as a red haired elder appeared in front of them, holding a younger disciple.

"The Myriad Conglomeration Sect thanks the great sects for resolving the Demon Disaster" were his first words. Surprisingly, his voice sounded respectful, as if he was talking to his mates and not just juniors qof younger age

"Inform your sect to provide the appropriate reliefs to the small towns and villages affected. We will be taking our leave first." The elegant man seemingly disdained further conversation and made off with his fellow disciple. The elder did not take offence.

The Flying Sword Sect disciples looked at their chief disciple, who had his eyebrows furrowed.

"There was obviously a grander plan by the demons. Why did you kill the only source that could have allayed our doubts" He questioned calmly.

"I attached instinctively when I sensed something making in my direction, I had no idea it was already in its most vulnerable form. Beside, my cultivation art is Yang oriented, I couldn't have attacked without harming it regardless" The elder replied apologetically. The young man nodded, and he zoomed off a moment later with his sect mates.

Alone now, the elder glanced around and smirked. Just now, he had run to the scene in a rush, hoping to eliminate the demon before it could be captured, as that would lead to the reveal of incriminatory information against his sect. Thankfully, he was successful, and nobody else knew that his Myriad Conglomeration Sect was responsible for the Demon Invasion against those small villages in their prefecture. 

In a bid to secure a better position in the upcoming Battle Royale competition, the core successor of the sect cultivated the secret art, Blood Devourer Method, which was obtained from the annihilation of an evil sect. Unknown to all, the serpent demon was secretly loyal to their sect, and they had commanded the demon Invasion using it. The plan was to secretly carry out a blood sacrifice from all the bloodshed to improve his cultivation, jumping several levels in a go. As the small towns were beneath the attention of the large clans and sects of the continent, the plan was to secretly utilize the common people in their region as cultivation resources before the bigger sects took notice. Unfortunately, their plan was not completed.

"Only 72% complete" The young boy beside him spoke for the first time. In his hand was a glassy transparent orb that was almost fully bloodied. Apparently, it was a tool to measure the quantity of blood acquired.

"Put that away right now" The elder chided, although his voice bore a trace of respect. "We cannot underestimate the means if those large clans disciples. They might still be watching this place"

The young boy grunted and was about to put the orb away in his storage ring when he noticed the blood level decreasing rapidly. His expression faltered, mirroring the elder's beside him.

"What in the h.." Before the sentence was completed, a streak of sword light pierced through his glabella from the distance, targeting the elder next. The red haired elder was aghast in terror as he felt the concentrated killing intent, mobilizing the entirety of his cultivation base to fight against the qi lock. His actions proved unfruitful as his defences were smashed apart. Unresignedly, his last sight was his headless body shooting a fountain of blood up in the air.