The Demon Lord's Invasion

Chapter 30: An Unforeseen Calamity

A ferocious and terrifying crimson dragon above Jiang Tang suddenly disintegrated, and the scene instantly reverted to the Nine Spirits Formation. “Phew, that was a close call! The Crimson Flame Dragon Formation has a full thousand restrictions—if I’d been a moment later, I’d be done for!” Jiang Tang, drenched in sweat, sat in the center of the formation, panting heavily. “Four hundred and thirty-two—that should be enough to make it into the top hundred. All right, the monk needs to hide now. I’m going to hide in Xiao Jiang Zi’s sea of consciousness.” With that, Qiong Sang’s beast soul drifted out of the kitten puppet and, together with Dongfang, transformed into streams of light. One stream entered Jiang Tang’s brow, while the other slipped through his shirtfront and into the black box pendant hanging from his chest. After Jiang Tang stowed the little cat puppet in his storage pouch, he immediately performed a spell gesture. Instantly, a nine-colored light screen slowly descended. “Congratulations, Junior Brother Jiang.” Before Jiang Tang could even get a clear look at his surroundings, he heard this greeting. Jiang Tang looked up at the visitor, rose wearily, and clasped his hands in a bow, asking, “Who might you be, Senior Brother?” “Oh, I am Qin Yizhang, the senior disciple of the Ten Thousand Formations Pavilion. I’ve come today to ask Junior Brother Jiang if he’d be interested in joining our Ten Thousand Formations Pavilion?” “Join the Ten Thousand Formations Pavilion?” Jiang Tang’s eyebrows twitched slightly. Whether in terms of benefits or cultivation environment, the Ten Thousand Formations Pavilion was superior to Black Reef Island. However, his master, Tie Wu Yi, had treated him generously, and though Senior Brother Hua Mo Leng had been cold toward him, he had never been stingy with guidance—so Jiang Tang had long since let go of any resentment. “You don’t need to give an immediate answer, Junior Brother. It’s not too late to discuss this once Senior Uncle Tie returns. However, given your extraordinary talent and the fact that Senior Uncle Tie is currently away, I’m truly concerned. How about this: here are a few treatises on advanced array techniques. If you’re interested, feel free to study them.” Jiang Tang accepted the classics Qin Yizhang handed him without hesitation and bowed his hands, saying, “Thank you, Senior Brother Qin! I will surely repay you generously in the future.” “Hehe, Junior Brother, you possess extraordinary talent—don’t let this gift for array formations go to waste.” “I understand, Senior Brother!” Jiang Tang replied. After bowing once more in gratitude, he made an excuse of fatigue and took his leave. Qin Yizhang watched Jiang Tang’s retreating figure, lost in thought. For some reason, even though he could clearly see that Jiang Tang’s cultivation was very weak, he sensed a certain world-weariness about him. Though still young, he had completely lost his childlike innocence and viewed the ways of the world with detachment. Perhaps it wasn’t just that he’d faced life-and-death situations—it was more likely that his family had suffered a major tragedy! The rankings on the Xuan Guang List were changing rapidly; the top spot on the Formation Setup List changed almost every quarter of an hour. Yet on the Formation Breaking List, the name “Jiang Tang” remained firmly in place, even though he was still forty-one points behind the second-place holder! Yet even that forty-one-point gap was enough to leave others in the dust! Breaking formations requires skill. When encountering harmless formations, one can meditate and regulate one’s breath to restore one’s essence, energy, and spirit to peak condition before breaking them. Everyone in the top hundred of the Formation-Breaking Rankings did exactly that. Yet Jiang Tang was clearly taking a hit-and-run approach, unwilling to waste a single moment within the Nine Spirits Formation. Otherwise, no one could even begin to imagine just how impressive his score might have been. Back on the plain, he took out his token and walked toward a stone stele where few people were gathered. “Are you from Black Reef Island, Senior Brother?” The question came from a young woman with skin as smooth as cream and a delicate, charming face. “What? Are disciples from Black Reef Island not allowed to participate?” Jiang Tang asked, furrowing his brow. “No.” The young woman suddenly seemed a bit aggrieved; blushing, she lowered her head and said, “As long as you’re a disciple of Xian Zong, you’re eligible to participate.” “Then why are you beating around the bush?” Jiang Tang asked, growing impatient. But he hadn’t expected that a single complaint would actually make the female disciple’s eyes well up with tears. Looking quite pitiful, she said, “Junior Sister just… just wanted to remind Senior Brother that Outer Hall disciples sign up at the green stele over there!” “Fine.” Jiang Tang had only come over because he’d seen no one else around; he hadn’t expected such a rule. He shook his head and was about to leave when suddenly someone gave him a hard slap on the shoulder. Jiang Tang turned to look and saw a handsome young man staring at him coldly. “You scared Junior Sister Lian’er to tears, and now you just want to walk away like this?” “Wote?” Jiang Tang shook the boy’s hand off his shoulder, took a step back, and looked at him. “There’s nothing wrong with standing up for a girl you like. Go ahead, tell me how you want me to apologize. If it’s not too much to ask, I’ll do it.” “You…” The young man’s face flushed all the way to his neck in an instant, while the female disciple’s face was also crimson with embarrassment; she lowered her head so far that her chin nearly touched her collarbone. Just then, another, slightly older male disciple walked over and said coldly to Jiang Tang, “How dare you speak to her like that, junior brother? Do you really think you’re in the right for intimidating Junior Sister Lian’er?” “The people of Black Reef Island really are barbaric.” “Huh, are there even people left on Black Reef Island?” “Of course there are, but they’ve got nothing better to do—they just waste their days away.” “Oh, then why does the sect even keep Black Reef Island around?” “Who knows? Anyway, since he bullied Junior Sister Lian’er, we won’t let him off easy.” “What’s going on here?” Jiang Tang glanced around and noticed that male and female disciples from all around had gathered, all glaring at him with hostile looks. The young man, his face flushed red from Jiang Tang’s words, pointed at him and spoke again: “Unless you apologize to Junior Sister Lian’er today, don’t even think about leaving here!” “That’s right, apologize!” The others chimed in, their voices growing more urgent. “Fine.” Jiang Tang took a deep breath, just as he was about to smooth things over, but suddenly froze. For in his mind, Qiong Sang was saying coldly, “You must never apologize, even if it costs you your life. How despicable! This is utterly outrageous!” “What?” Jiang Tang asked in his mind. “That female disciple was deliberately making things difficult for you. It’s because her lover is in love with your Senior Sister Ji, so…” “Huh?” Thinking of that handsome guy’s guileless, goofy grin in front of Ji Yukui, and connecting the dots with Qiong Sang’s words, Jiang Tang finally got it! “So I’ve become the scapegoat again,” Jiang Tang said, sweeping his wavy bangs aside. With a look of arrogance and contempt, he scanned the crowd, finally fixing his gaze on the girl. He shook his head, then turned to the boy and said, “You’ve been fighting so hard for her—isn’t it just because you want to sleep with her? Too bad she doesn’t have any feelings for you. But it doesn’t matter. People fear humiliation most of all—especially a woman like her. Right now, I’m going to do everything I can to humiliate her. And her so-called ‘beloved’ will definitely not stand up for her, because that ‘beloved’s’ true love is on my side. But she herself will never be able to outmatch me in this lifetime. So what’s she to do? She’ll have to rely on you guys right here—even if it means selling her body!” As she spoke, Jiang Tang swept her finger across the crowd and continued, “Whoever offers a thousand crystals gets a chance to defeat me.” With that, she pointed at the young man and added, “You only need five hundred crystals.” The crowd erupted with excitement! A roar of voices instantly drowned out Jiang Tang. But he remained standing there, not moving an inch, ignoring all the jeers as he looked at the girl who still kept her head bowed. Seeing her knuckles turn white as she clenched the hem of her dress, he couldn’t help but sneer: ““I’ve seen plenty of girls like you—the ‘sweet, innocent, and naive’ type. You’re foolish, naive, pure, kind, and without a single scheming thought. You’re incredibly gentle to everyone. The radiance you carry is like a rainbow in the sky—truly beautiful. But when all those colors mix together, what do you get? Black! Understand? If you don’t, let me explain it more clearly: people eat all kinds of grains and foods—things of every color—but what do they turn into in the end?” The young girl finally looked up. Surprisingly, there wasn’t a trace of coldness on her clear, beautiful face; instead, she looked utterly vulnerable. Tears blurred her eyes and streamed down her cheeks, a sight both heartbreaking and pitiful. She said, “Senior… sniff, sniff, how could you be like this…Sniff, sniff… how can you treat Lian’er like this? What exactly did Lian’er do wrong to provoke you… sniff, sniff, sniff…” “I’ll kill you!” The young man finally lost his temper. He snapped his fingers to cast a spell, ready to strike! “Fear!” Jiang Tang struck him across the face with the back of his hand. His movement was so swift it left almost no trace; it looked as if the young man had suddenly spun around more than ten times on the spot like a spinning top before collapsing unconscious to the ground. “You… how dare you harm a fellow disciple! Very well—where is the Disciplinary Hall? Quickly summon the senior disciples from the Disciplinary Hall to apprehend this man!” “What’s all this commotion?” With a cold snort, a female disciple with a powerful aura—her cultivation at least at the Golden Core Realm—walked over, followed by a group of female disciples, each with profound cultivation that inspired fear. “It’s Senior Sister Han Yanying! This is just great. Senior Sister Han, this disciple not only has a dark face but an even darker heart. After humiliating Junior Sister Lian’er, he knocked Junior Brother Cai Shang unconscious—he clearly treats the sect’s rules as nothing!” “Hmm?” Han Yanying’s expression turned cold as she looked at Jiang Tang. “That’s a baseless accusation. With which eye did you see me injure Junior Brother Cai Shang?” “Don’t think I didn’t notice just because you acted so quickly. It was clearly you—who else would suddenly attack Junior Brother Cai Shang?” “That’s right, it was him. And he’s still trying to wriggle out of it!” “Where’s the evidence? You don’t have any, do you? Fine, then let me ask you: did I use my left hand or my right?” Jiang Tang held out both hands for everyone to see. Every cultivator present had ordinary eyes; without using spiritual energy, they simply couldn’t have detected Jiang Tang’s strike. When one cultivator fights another without using spiritual energy to protect their palm, the skin on their hand is bound to turn red after knocking someone unconscious. Yet Jiang Tang’s hands showed no signs of having struck at all, which left everyone somewhat perplexed.