Volume Two: Travels in the State of Qi Chapter 171: Recognizing the Aurora Mirage

Seeing all the disciples of the Yin God Sect lying dead before him, Zhang Heng finally felt a wave of relief wash over him.

However, this was far from enough.

How could the lives of a mere dozen individuals ever compensate for the lives of one hundred thousand innocent souls?

Zhang Heng closed his eyes lightly, opened them again, and bowed slightly to the various Heavenly Origin realm experts present. "Respected seniors, the members of the Yin God Sect have committed monstrous crimes. They actually attempted to harvest the lives of one hundred thousand ordinary people. Fortunately, Senior Ling Tian and I happened to cross paths and intervened, preventing a terrible tragedy from occurring. Therefore, I implore you all to mobilize your respective factions and completely eradicate the Yin God Sect."

The crowd was still somewhat confused.

Ling Tian stepped forward to offer an explanation. Taking a sip of his spiritual wine, he slowly began, "I can personally verify that what the young man Zhang Heng has said is the absolute truth."

"There is a small town in the eastern part of the Qi State named Joyful City. The members of the Yin God Sect utilized one hundred thousand ordinary souls from that very place to nurture demonic energy. Thus, this Yin God Sect truly has no reason to continue existing."

With those words, Ling Tian's figure flickered and vanished completely.

He knew that Zhang Heng had come here driven by an unyielding obsession. Having witnessed firsthand the hundred thousand souls persecuted by the Yin God Sect, Ling Tian understood Zhang Heng's state of mind better than anyone else.

Back at Joyful City, Ling Tian genuinely had not associated that black mist with true demonic energy, simply because demons had vanished from the world for sixty thousand years. Throughout those sixty thousand years, the demon race had never once manifested on the Immortal Cultivation Continent.

Now that he thought about it, a lingering sense of terror gripped him. If he and Zhang Heng had not happened to pass by Joyful City and halt the disaster in its tracks, the entire world would undoubtedly have descended into chaos. Therefore, he had to see the Yin God Sect destroyed.

What?

Upon hearing Ling Tian's words, everyone broke out into furious rage.

The Yin God Sect had actually used ordinary mortals to nurture demonic energy! They had originally thought that only Wu Youji was colluding with the demons, but never did they imagine that the entire Yin God Sect was a thoroughly rotten demonic cult.

Without a moment of hesitation, they turned around, immediately rallying their respective forces to launch an all-out extermination of the Yin God Sect.

Demons were the public enemies of the entire continent; dancing with demons was an unforgivable sin.

Seeing this, a massive boulder finally lifted from Zhang Heng's heart. His primary objective in coming to the imperial capital had been the complete annihilation of the Yin God Sect.

Now that so many factions were striking simultaneously, and with the Sect Master of the Yin God Sect already dead, the sect was doomed to perish.

Virtually everyone participated in the massive crusade to wipe out the demonic cult. However, there was one person who remained unmoved.

She was a remarkably captivating and alluring woman, her gaze fixed unwaveringly on Zhang Heng.

Zhang Heng knew that she was the leader of the Primordial Origin Palace.

Feeling her intense gaze upon him, Zhang Heng felt utterly perplexed. "Elder Lin, why aren't you out there eradicating the demonic cult? What are you doing standing around here?"

"Little brother, where are your manners? Do I look that old to you?" The Elder of the Primordial Origin Palace ignored his question, choosing instead to quibble over his form of address.

Too lazy to argue with her, Zhang Heng simply turned his head away.

She approached him once more. "Little brother, don't call me Elder. Call me elder sister."

"Fine, Elder Sister Lin, is there something you need?" Zhang Heng surrendered.

With an enchanting smile, the surnamed Lin elder reached out to tease him. "You know, this little brother is quite good-looking."

At this, Zhang Heng hastily took two steps back. Crossing his arms over his chest, he said with a helpless sigh, "Elder Sister Lin, we are not a good match."

This woman was a formidable expert at the sixth level of the Heavenly Origin realm! If she decided to use force, Zhang Heng knew he truly wouldn't be able to resist. Furthermore, all the other Heavenly Origin experts had already gone off to hunt down the remnants of the Yin God Sect.

At this moment, he truly felt as though his cries to heaven went unanswered and his pleas to earth went unheard.

"Little brother, you flatter yourself. You haven't even grown your facial hair yet; sister has no interest in you." The woman wore an expression of utter disdain.

"Elder Sister Lin, if you have something to say, just say it directly. If it's something I can actually help with, I will certainly do my utmost," Zhang Heng said with a serious expression.

This woman was definitely looking for him for a reason.

Earlier, in order to successfully lure out the Demonic Lord and eliminate him, Zhang Heng had secretly visited all the Heavenly Origin realm experts beforehand, which was why they had agreed to put on this act with him.

The reason the others had cooperated with him was because they knew Zhang Heng possessed the Sword Saint Dugu Bai's protective heart-sword, granting him their cooperation out of respect for Dugu Bai.

However, this woman was different. When Zhang Heng first approached her, he hadn't even revealed the heart-sword yet, and she had still agreed. Therefore, she most likely had a favor to ask of him.

"Little brother, you may have won first place in the imperial capital grand tournament, but in my eyes, you are still pathetically weak. Do you really think that if I encountered a difficult problem, I would come looking for you?"

"Elder Sister Lin's cultivation is peerless and invincible under heaven; naturally, there is nothing you cannot resolve. Since that's the case, I'll take my leave first." Anxious to escape, Zhang Heng activated his Aurora Phantom movement technique and attempted to slip away stealthily.

Dugu Bai's heart-sword was no longer in his possession, so Zhang Heng felt it was best to keep a low profile.

However, she grabbed him by the arm in a flash. With the speed of a sixth-level Heavenly Origin cultivator, Zhang Heng had no way to evade her.

Then, with a solemn expression, she asked, "How is she doing?"

"Who on earth is 'she'?" Zhang Heng felt completely baffled. He was entirely certain that he had never met this Elder Lin prior to today.

"Little brother, under the vast heavens, there is only one person who masters that specific movement technique, and you are the second person I have ever laid eyes on. Are you going to tell me you have no relation to her?"

Hearing this, Zhang Heng came to a halt. He finally understood what she was getting at.

Although his Aurora Phantom movement technique had been bestowed upon him by the system, in this day and age, there was only one person known to wield it: the supreme figure of the Exquisite Holy Land, the master of the Exquisite Saintess Murong Qingxue—the hailed fastest cultivation-tribulation powerhouse in the world, Qian Muyun.

He had never expected that an elder of a minor sect would actually recognize someone of Qian Muyun's stature.

It made sense, though; this woman's behavioral style was an absolute carbon copy of Qian Muyun's. She was probably nothing more than a fan-girl of Qian Muyun.

Zhang Heng smiled in sudden realization. "Elder Sister Lin, Senior Muyun is a member of the Exquisite Holy Land, and she has already broken through to the Tribulation Realm. Furthermore, she is the master of the Exquisite Saintess Murong Qingxue. In this world today, there are very few matters that could possibly trouble her. Naturally, she is doing very well."

Hearing this, the woman smiled brightly. "Little brother, you really are quite extraordinary. The Sword Saint, Senior Dugu Bai, was willing to hand his natal artifact—the protective heart-sword—over to you, and Senior Qian Muyun, whose speed is unrivaled under heaven, was willing to impart this never-before-shared mental cultivation manual to you."

"Sister here is simply burning with curiosity. What sort of secrets are hidden within you that manage to attract such figures?"

"Elder Sister Lin, I advise you not to be curious about me."

"Oh? And why is that?"

"Because curiosity is where a woman's descent into the abyss begins."

Hahaha! The woman covered her mouth and chuckled softly.

"Little brother, you are so amusing!"

"Little brother, being favored by them is both your capability and your fortune. Sister here can only harbor envy. Very well, take care of yourself."

With those final words, she turned and stepped directly into the void, disappearing from sight.

Zhang Heng was truly left speechless.

Aside from everything else, when it came to being decisive and prompt in her actions, this woman really gave Qian Muyun a run for her money.

Now that those powerhouses had gone to deal with the Yin God Sect, there was no need for Zhang Heng to intervene personally. Consequently, he had already returned to his quarters within the imperial palace.

There was nothing quite as satisfying as having powerful backers; all he had to do was drop Dugu Bai's name, and that flock of elderly Heavenly Origin realm men would scramble over themselves to do his bidding.

Thus, Zhang Heng made up his mind: once the affairs of the Qi State concluded, he would embark on a journey across the realm, forging alliances with all sorts of top-tier heavyweights.

After all, he possessed an all-knowing, omnipotent system. With the system's assistance, he was certain that one day, he would successfully befriend every single top-tier powerhouse in this world.