Chapter 154: Omniscience Plunderer, Dealing with Kunpeng

As expected, anyone who can become a Heaven Guarding General is an old fox.

Senior Thunder Prison was right. Many things had become inconvenient for him to handle directly, leaving him with no choice but to follow orders.

However, Baili Feihong was an outsider.

Aside from his deep ties with Gongyang Yan, he had no connections whatsoever with the various factions within the imperial court.

"The Kunpeng Demon Ghost will break free in a month," Baili Feihong stated abruptly.

Thunder Prison's expression darkened slightly. "Impossible. Given the grade of the Demon-Suppressing Piles, it is impossible for the Kunpeng Demon Ghost to break the Demon-Suppressing Grand Array. Once its strength reaches a certain threshold, the grand array will automatically subject it to torment, eroding the power within its body. It can never reach the critical point required to shatter the formation."

The Heaven Guarding General knew far more secrets about East Coast City than Baili Feihong had imagined.

"When the Demon God's skin appeared, the Eastern Marquis of the Underworld sneaked into the depths of the Demon-Suppressing Tower, accurately located the Sealed Demon Grounds, and used a special power to erode the Demon-Suppressing Piles," Baili Feihong revealed without concealment. "I used my vital essence to re-forge the piles and restore them to their original state, but the Kunpeng Demon Ghost used that window of time to absorb the laws of heaven and earth from the outside world, perfecting itself."

Heaven Guarding General Thunder Prison fell silent.

"Even if her prophecy were revealed to you, it would still be difficult to shake its ultimate outcome."

When this overbearing man mentioned her, Baili Feihong clearly caught a flicker of fear in his eyes.

Yet he was a Heaven Guarding General; even if the other party were a Martial Saint, Thunder Prison might not necessarily feel fear.

Who on earth was this prophet?

So mysterious, she instantly piqued Baili Feihong's curiosity.

However, Heaven Guarding General Thunder Prison had no intention of telling him.

When referring to this person, he even replaced her name with the pronoun [She].

Baili Feihong guessed that Senior Thunder Prison was afraid that this unknown, taboo existence could sense someone mentioning her name from across an immense distance.

"Do not attempt to seek her out; it will bring you unimaginable misfortune," Thunder Prison warned, lifting his gaze to look at Baili Feihong.

"Furthermore, during this coming month, I will remain at Dali Mountain. If the Kunpeng Demon Ghost breaks out of its seal, you and I shall join forces, and we will have a chance to seal it once more."

Baili Feihong shook his head. "There is no need. Had it not been for my wariness toward the Gate of the Yellow Springs, I would have already slaughtered this Kunpeng Demon Ghost. Keeping it alive until now was merely due to uncertainty regarding unknown dangers."

"Now that I know the Kunpeng Demon Ghost merely acts as a garbage disposal unit, killing it in the short term will not affect the Gate of the Yellow Springs. I will handle it myself."

The Eastern Marquis of the Underworld had released the Kunpeng Demon Ghost simply hoping that, at the exact moment the array shattered, the creature would cause massive casualties, thereby summoning the guidance force of the Underworld to reveal the location of the Gate of the Yellow Springs.

If Baili Feihong killed the Kunpeng Demon Ghost, it would only affect the retrieval of the dead souls of East Coast citizens.

When the time came, he could simply pull out the Demon-Suppressing Piles; once people died, their souls could naturally reincarnate, completely eliminating the need to worry about East Coast City turning into a mortal purgatory.

Moreover, activating the Gate of the Yellow Springs required absorbing a vast amount of Underworld energy.

Unless an incident similar to the Demon God's skin occurred, the Yellow Springs Mark would need time to accumulate the special energy of the Underworld before reappearing in the world. It was certainly not something that could happen in a day or two.

"I almost forgot about you. Your Eighteen Blood Refining Arts can restrain the Kunpeng Demon Ghost."

Thunder Prison chuckled dryly.

Baili Feihong offered no response.

"Senior Thunder Prison, I am already aware of the situation at Dali Mountain. Leave this matter to me; I will handle it."

A method to eliminate the Yellow Springs Mark suddenly occurred to Baili Feihong.

"Very well. With you here, I believe no major crisis will befall East Coast City."

Thunder Prison looked deeply at Baili Feihong.

When the Divine Oversight Bureau elder, Star-Watcher Old Man, had foreseen the opportunity for a breakthrough in Gongyang Yan, Thunder Prison had only dimly understood it at the time.

Without Gongyang Yan, could Baili Feihong have grown to this extent?

Gongyang Yan's arrival had forged Baili Feihong, and now Baili Feihong was resolving the East Coast City prophecy. The narrative was complete.

"Gongyang Xi, that old immortal, will not let this rest. Since you are still in East Coast City and various factions are watching its movements, he dares not use a Martial Saint artifact against you. After all, you are a genius of the Demon-Suppressing Bureau—a true genius. If he dared to send a Martial Saint artifact to deal with you today, the Five Elders of the Demon-Suppressing Bureau would draw their sabers and hack him to pieces. Even Martial Saint Gongyang would not dare utter a sound, terrified that the Five Elders would chop him down as well."

Thunder Prison continued, "You killed the Martial Commander, yet no one within the Demon-Suppressing Bureau will say a word, because in the eyes of the Bureau, the Eighteenth Prince is unliked. He stands backed by the sects, and one of the Demon-Suppressing Bureau's most important missions is to suppress the sects."

"If the Eighteenth Prince ascends the throne, the sect members behind him will immediately turn their blades upon the Demon-Suppressing Bureau."

"No, there would be no need to resort to force at all. They would merely need to replace every member of the Demon-Suppressing Bureau with sect members. By donning this official skin, the sects could easily dismantle the entire bureau from within."

"You must understand that the Demon-Suppressing Tower—the Bureau's highest secret—imprisons many senior elders of the various sects."

"Once the sects succeed in releasing these people, every original member of the Demon-Suppressing Bureau will face being hunted down by these martial arts giants who have been imprisoned for hundreds of years."

"Feihong, surely you do not wish to see the Demon-Suppressing Bureau reach such a state?"

Baili Feihong smiled. "The crown prince is still a ruler. No matter how noble an imperial prince's status is, he remains a subject. Usurping superiors is a crime punishable by death."

"Hahaha, well said. The crown prince is a ruler. Regardless of anyone's dissatisfaction with the crown prince, they cannot ignore the righteous orthodox mandate he embodies."

Without lingering any longer, Heaven Guarding General Thunder Prison turned and walked away.

"Why do I feel like this battle for the dragon's throne is riddled with traps everywhere?"

According to Thunder Prison, the Demon-Suppressing Bureau did not want the Eighteenth Prince to ascend the throne, and the reasons he gave applied equally to the Divine Oversight Bureau.

Once the imperial succession changed, the Divine Oversight Bureau's special status might no longer be preserved.

Did the Guliang Imperial Family wish to see this situation?

The imperial family of the former Great Qin Dynasty had acted like groveling cowards in front of the sects.

The Guliang Imperial Family had no desire to return to the days of being enslaved by the sects.

"So, knowing full well that once the current emperor passes away, the crown prince will immediately become emperor, they are still stalling for time, and even spreading rumors that the imperial family favors geniuses..."

"How does this look anything other than a staged trap for law enforcement?"

Baili Feihong muttered to himself, growing increasingly convinced of the high probability of this theory.

In truth, he hoped the Eighteenth Prince would genuinely contend with the crown prince. Once the crown prince ascended the throne, the very first person he would deal with would be Baili Feihong.

Since ancient times, the imperial family has had no room for familial affection.

It would be fine if the Eighteenth Prince made no moves, but once he stepped out to contend for the throne, failure meant death.

Yet Baili Feihong did not dare underestimate the Eighteenth Prince; the waters run deep within the sects.

If the major sects united, it would no longer be a simple struggle for the imperial throne, but a grand reform and invasion targeting the Great Yuan Empire.

"The affairs of the Guliang family—what have they to do with me?"

"When that time truly arrives, I shall simply eradicate whoever displeases my eyes."

At present, Baili Feihong still occupied an awkward realm.

A Master of Divine Powers was superior to those below, yet inferior to those above.

Therefore, the supreme figures of various major factions would not make a move against him for now.

The mere existence of the Five Elders of the Demon-Suppressing Bureau was enough to threaten them.

As for Divine Power Masters and Dharma Manifestation Realms, Baili Feihong feared them not at all.

It was enough to let him bide his time and grow stronger in the shadows.

During this period, Baili Feihong did not expend any skill points, instead quietly cultivating his divine powers.

Having reached his level, cultivating divine powers yielded a massive amount of experience points. Amidst his days of keeping a low profile, his strength had advanced tremendously.

Soon, all of his divine powers would break through to the fourth tier.

Both supreme divine powers and ultimate divine powers would enter the fourth stage.

For anyone else, breaking through to the fourth tier of divine powers required the cultivation of the Dharma Manifestation Realm.

However, possessing the Book of Skills meant that as long as an experience bar remained beneath a skill, he had no limits.

Even if he reached a limit, he could use skill points to break through the barrier.

Never speak of logic or impossibility to someone who cheats.

The existence of a cheat is inherently the greatest bug of all.

"The Yellow Springs Mark has already merged into Dali Mountain."

"If it were merely a physical merging into the mountain, a single divine power like 'Moving Mountains and Reversing Seas' could relocate Dali Mountain out to sea."

"However, the Yellow Springs Mark has not only merged into Dali Mountain, but into the void itself, transforming into something akin to a law that exists parasitically within this heaven and earth."

"Moving Dali Mountain away will not solve the problem."

"Instead, I can use the Myriad Things Primordial Cauldron to plunder and refine all matter and energy within the void of Dali Mountain, converting them into Primeval Cauldron Qi."

"Even if I cannot refine the Yellow Springs Mark, I can still plunder it away."

"I'll throw it into the subterranean world and suppress it alongside the Black Heaven Stele."

A fifth-tier Death-Depriving Hand might not necessarily resolve the Yellow Springs Mark.

No matter; he would simply upgrade the Death-Depriving Hand to the ninth tier and evolve it into a supreme divine power.

A ninth-stage supreme divine power—the Death-Depriving Hand—let alone the Yellow Springs Mark, he would dare to plunder even the Road to the Yellow Springs itself.

With a single thought, he invoked the Book of Skills once again.

"Book of Skills, elevate the Death-Depriving Hand divine power to the ninth tier!"

[1.6 million skill points deducted. The Death-Depriving Hand has been promoted to the ninth tier of divine powers.]

Baili Feihong raised an eyebrow slightly. Given his understanding of the three fundamental traits of the Myriad Things Primordial Cauldron—plundering, refining, and returning to the origin—upgrading the final four tiers of the Death-Depriving Hand required another 1.6 million skill points.

The essence of this divine power was in no way inferior to any ultimate divine power.

A vast surge of profound insights regarding the Death-Depriving Hand flooded into Baili Feihong's mind.

In an instant, he felt as though he had transformed into the Lord of Devouring, capable of stripping away the life of all things at will.

"Begin the evolution of the Death-Depriving Hand divine power."

[Initiating the evolution of the Death-Depriving Hand. Detected that the Death-Depriving Hand has reached the ninth tier of divine powers; the grade of the evolved divine power will undergo a qualitative transformation.]

"Continue the evolution."

[Evolution successful. Perfectly compatible with the Myriad Things Primordial Cauldron, successfully promoted to the Myriad Things Plundering Hand. 800,000 skill points deducted.]

Baili Feihong was momentarily stunned upon hearing this.

As the Myriad Things Primordial Art circulated within his body, the divine power that had evolved into the Myriad Things Plundering Hand became his natal divine power. Though its quality was that of a supreme divine power, to him, it was more suitable than any other supreme divine power in existence.

This was a divine power 100% fused with his core technique, belonging entirely to his instincts, talents, and natal constitution.

The patterns of the Myriad Things Primordial Cauldron within his body shifted, taking the Myriad Things Plundering Hand as their core, integrating all other divine powers beneath its unification.

[Myriad Things Plundering Hand: Capable of plundering all things and making them one's own. Supreme divine power, Seventh Heaven (1,000 / 200,000,000)]

His experience points had already reached nine digits.

Testing it out, he found that upgrading to the Eighth Heaven required two million skill points.

"Upgrade the Myriad Things Plundering Hand."

[2 million skill points deducted. The Myriad Things Plundering Hand has been promoted to the Eighth Heaven of supreme divine powers.]

"Continue upgrading the Myriad Things Plundering Hand."

[4 million skill points deducted. The Myriad Things Plundering Hand has been promoted to the Ninth Heaven of supreme divine powers.]

Glancing at his skill points, which had now dropped into the six-hundred-thousand range, Baili Feihong felt a twinge of pain in his heart.

At this moment, the ninth-tier Death-Depriving Hand had been fully upgraded into the Ninth Heaven Myriad Things Plundering Hand.

It had been promoted to Baili Feihong's most formidable trump card.

In front of the Myriad Things Plundering Hand, Blood Suppressing Mountains and Rivers was nothing more than a serving dish waiting to be eaten.

The terror of this divine power meant that even if Gongyang Xi stood before him right now and used a Martial Saint artifact, it might not necessarily cause him any harm.

This was truly a peerless supreme divine power integrating both offense and defense.

With his divine power breaking through its realm, his state of mind grew increasingly profound, his martial will more condensed, and his divine sense significantly enhanced.

The blessing that the Myriad Things Plundering Hand bestowed upon the Myriad Things Primordial Cauldron gave Baili Feihong a genuine sense of qualitative leap.

At this moment, he had reached the absolute zenith of divine powers.

Enhancing other divine powers would merely make his methods more formidable, but this was the pinnacle.

Feeling his body washed anew by the divine power, looking at all things with the naked eye felt as though he could instantly pierce through their very essence.

The Demon-Suppressing Divine Eyes had now been reduced to something as tasteless as chicken ribs.

Looking at Dali Mountain now, mountains were no longer mountains, but rather a ghostly paradise of amusement.

Strings of chilling, shadowy laws constructed this peculiar domain.

He knew this was the ability of the Myriad Things Plundering Hand to perceive the ultimate essence of all things.

"No wonder I couldn't find you before; it turns out illusions were blinding my eyes."

The Yellow Springs Mark was merely a name.

It could exist in any form whatsoever.

Those who had never seen it could not perceive its existence in the slightest.

Even those who had seen it and recognized it could sense it, yet could not lay eyes upon it.

Because it was this very heaven and earth; it existed within Dali Mountain, omnipresent.

Unless someone gathered it together and condensed it into the Gate of the Yellow Springs, it could never be manifested.

"The people of the Underworld wish to find it—an absolute impossibility."

Therefore, the Eastern Marquis of the Underworld had destroyed the Demon-Suppressing Grand Array, released the demons, shattered the seal, and simultaneously plunged East Coast City into an apocalypse, sending two to three million East Coast citizens to their deaths.

Death would summon the laws of the Underworld and guide the lost souls.

The Yellow Springs Mark would inevitably absorb even more of the Underworld's law energy, manifesting in the mortal world as the Gate of the Yellow Springs.

The only one capable of perceiving all of this was Han Su, the ancient Xuanbing female frozen deep beneath Dali Mountain.

"The Eastern Marquis of the Underworld made contact with the ancient Xuanbing female Han Su."

"This can be understood as the Underworld accepting Han Su and allowing her to return to its fold."

The Eastern Marquis of the Underworld had been dead for a day.

The Underworld had also had sufficient time to react.

Two paths now lay before Baili Feihong: first, choose to refine Dali Mountain and plunder the Yellow Springs Mark.

By doing so, he would become a must-kill target for the Underworld.

However, he would instantly resolve the crisis in East Coast City.

The second choice was to break the seal, slay the Kunpeng Demon Ghost and the numerous demons.

The crisis at Dali Mountain would remain unresolved, and most likely, the Underworld would spare no expense to unleash a massacre in East Coast City, forcing the descent of the Underworld laws to guide the wandering souls.

Meanwhile, Baili Feihong could take the opportunity to slaughter the people of the Underworld.

"The first method is the most appropriate."

"However, I worry that during my refinement process, the Underworld will launch an attack, release the Kunpeng Demon Ghost, and reduce East Coast City to ruins."

"It's better to deal with the Kunpeng Demon Ghost first; it currently poses the greatest threat to the people of East Coast City."

Condensing the Gate of the Yellow Springs at Dali Mountain was no easy task.

Therefore, he had plenty of time to deal with the Yellow Springs Mark at Dali Mountain.

"Once the crisis of East Coast City is resolved, even if the Underworld attacks, I will be able to respond with ease."

His mind made up, Baili Feihong immediately returned to the Demon-Suppressing Tower in East Coast City.

The demon-suppressing envoys were busy handling the aftermath of the disaster.

Gongyang Yan sat quietly inside the office.

Without seeking her out, Baili Feihong looked toward the Kunpeng-Slaying Demon Sword standing before him.

The sword, plunged into this very spot, was actually the core of the core of the grand array.

The statue of the Yan family ancestor loomed majestically, overlooking East Coast City.

With a wave of Baili Feihong's sleeve, the ten-thousand-ton statue slowly rose into the air, and with a beckoning of his hand, the Kunpeng-Slaying Demon Sword flew into his grasp.

Hundreds of years of wind and frost had failed to dull the sharpness of its blade.

Rumble~~~

The color of the heavens and earth shifted.

Dark clouds loomed menacingly, as if threatening to crush the city.

The entire East Coast City was plunged into darkness.

Having experienced yesterday's catastrophe, the citizens of East Coast City immediately turned pale, trembling with terror as if facing the arrival of doomsday.

"I am Baili Feihong. Please do not panic; I am here to handle everything."

Yesterday, Baili Feihong had manifested like a deity, defeating enemies and destroying demons with a few casual strikes.

At this moment, his voice swept across East Coast City like a gentle spring breeze, easing the tightly strung hearts of the citizens once more.

Blood Qi surged upward, piercing straight into the clouds, tearing the firmament apart.

A massive opening formed in the center of the dark clouds, allowing sunlight to stream down and bring light back to East Coast City.

Terrifying Blood Qi enveloped East Coast City, sealing the entire domain within his vitality.

"Pull out the Demon-Suppressing Piles!"

At Baili Feihong's command, every single one of his clones guarding the Demon-Suppressing Piles immediately pulled them out.

Casually thrusting the Kunpeng-Slaying Demon Sword into the ground, he used Earth Escape right where the original statue had stood, continually descending deep underground, reaching a depth of ten thousand meters.

Terrifying demonic energy surged and churned.

The Demon-Suppressing Grand Array that had once imprisoned them began to lose its effect.

At this moment, the suppressed demons began to flee wildly. The Kunpeng Demon Ghost was no longer their greatest backing; it had become their enemy.

Since yesterday, the awakened Kunpeng Demon Ghost had continuously devoured demons.

In the span of a single day, the demon population had plummeted by ten percent.

Yet they quickly fell into despair.

Below was the abyss-like maw of the Kunpeng, waiting wide open; above was the scorching sun forged from Blood Qi.

All paths of escape were blocked.

"Kill!"

"Roar~~~!!"

The earth could not stop them.

Like fish entering water, they launched an attack against the human slowly descending from the surface.

Compared to the Kunpeng, which possessed Demon God bloodlines, these demons harbored an innate terror toward the beast.

"Supreme Divine Power: Myriad Things Plundering Hand."

His Blood Qi transformed into formless hands that swept across the demons like a tidal wave, instantly plundering all energy from their bodies and converting it into Primeval Cauldron Qi.

As his body descended slowly, the terrifying Blood Qi touched this massive demon army, instantly reducing them to fine dust.

Most of these demons and ghosts had been influenced by the Kunpeng Demon Ghost, fusing with wandering souls to transform into special entities.

In a sense, they were demons spawned by the Kunpeng Demon Ghost itself.

Clearly, the Kunpeng Demon Ghost, suppressed for hundreds of years, also knew that devouring souls to continuously grow stronger would trigger the torment of the Demon-Suppressing Grand Array once it touched the critical threshold.

Therefore, it had split its power, giving birth to a vast multitude of demons and ghosts.

These demons had gained consciousness, becoming new independent entities.

Yet in essence, they were all part of the Kunpeng Demon Ghost's power.

When the Kunpeng Demon Ghost attempted to turn the tables, heaven and earth cracked apart.

However, in the very next instant, the clone controlled by Baili Feihong re-inserted the Demon-Suppressing Piles back into their original positions.

The array once again restricted the Kunpeng Demon Ghost.

And the sole remaining flaw was the Kunpeng-Slaying Demon Sword.

Standing just outside the edge of the grand array, Baili Feihong reached through the flaw to begin plundering the power of the Kunpeng Demon Ghost, intent on refining the creature entirely.