Chapter 320 - The Warmth Before the Storm

In no time, not a sound could be heard in the crowd. The one hundred or so disciples of the Immortals’ League there felt puzzled. “When did the Chief come back?” But no one dared to ask the question out loud. They did not even dare to whisper.

The crowd watched the Chief walking onto the high platform. He cast a glance at the crowd below, coughed a few times, and said, “I have heard about the thing that happened recently. About that, the Immortals’ League will explain to all of you. Thus, please trust the Immortals’ League as firmly as ever. Never take advantage of the disorder to start a rumor, because it may cause a panic. The Immortals’ League will punish those people who disobey the order.”

His voice sounded a little bit low, as if he had been severely hurt or had some disease. Many of the older generation had seen the Chief of the Immortal’s League before. But in the last 20years, he had never appeared. So why would he come here today?

Clasping his hands, a young man saluted him and said, “Chief, what concerns us the most is the exact location of the Devil’s Abyss. Is it really related to the Valley of God and Devil? Who found it first that day? Please give us answers to each of these questions. Then we can be relieved!”

“Yes! We should be prepared in advance. Thus, if anything goes wrong with the Valley of God and Devil, we can defend against the Devil Clan’s attack together!”

Everyone frowned. People often mixed the Devil Clan up with the Devils’ sects. But in fact, members of the Devils’ sects were cultivators from the Human World, who had abandoned themselves to the Devilish Skills; while the Devil Clan members were real devils who might have three heads and six arms and liked eating raw meat and drinking blood. Anyway, in the eyes of the world, all of them were terrifying monsters. Beyond that, the Demon Emperor, their leader, had exceptional abilities. That very year, 100,000 Buddhas fled to the Western Paradise to escape from the Devil Lord, Wentian. One could imagine how terrifying the Devil Clan’s strength was.

What was worse was that the Human World lost so many strong ones at the end of the last era. Nowadays, the Human World was definitely no match for the Devil Clan unless the Immortal King from Heaven’s Realm descended to the Human World to help. But at that time, even the Immortal King would hardly look after himself. So how could he care about the survival or doom of the Human World? It was true that “if heaven and earth are ruthless, they treat the myriad creatures like straw dogs”.

The Chief raised his hand slightly to silence the people below him and he said, “The Devil’s Abyss may only be something left over from the ancient wars between immortals and devils. Perhaps it has nothing to do with the Valley of God and Devil. All of you can rest assured of that. Also, please do not listen indiscriminately to rumors and pass them on to others.”

The words from the Chief certainly had high prestige among the masses. Since the Chief said that the Devil’s Abyss was not related to the Valley of God and Devil, many people in present were gradually relieved. However, some people had their doubts. One of them asked, “We want to know who is the first one that discovered the Devil’s Abyss on that day? Can that person give us a detailed description of the situation there?”

The Chief nodded slightly and said to a person behind him, “Young hero Xiao, please come up to give a detailed account of what happened that day.”

Outside the square, Xiao Chen slowly went over to the Chief. He took much smaller steps than before, which made him look extremely unnatural. After he went up to the high platform, he coughed and said, “Well… That day, I was…”

Then, Xiao Chen told them the situation on that day, and the crowd suddenly started talking animatedly. “The Devil Qi covered the place thousands of meters around the Devil’s Abyss, which was already an extraordinary matter. God knows what was hidden under the abyss. Is there any major ancient devil who has resurrected? Or are the Devils’ sects making some big plans?”

The Chief said, “Well, now the problem has been solved. Please go back, everyone. In three days, the Immortals’ League will select some people to go there and investigate. These days, all of you please actively cooperate with the Immortals’ League and do not make trouble in the city. In addition, my breakthrough is imminent. Thus, I have given Elder Guyang full authority to manage the recent matters.”

After that, he directly descended from the high platform without waiting for more questions. Behind him, Xiao Chen followed.

30 minutes later, in the Pure Harmony Hall, several Elders of the Immortals’ League, Perfected Immortal Qing Chen, and others were there. The “Chief” walked in and gave a sigh of relief. Then he said with a smile, “Fortunately, I did not let the cat out of the bag.”

Next to him, “Xiao Chen” smiled gently, revealing two rows of pearl-like teeth. “Xiao Chen” thumped the “Chief” affectionately. The bashful figure of “Xiao Chen” imperceptibly showed that it was a woman. Slightly annoyed, she murmured, “Have you got into the habit of being the Chief?” The voice of “Xiao Chen” had changed to a woman’s, which sounded extremely sweet and charming.

After them, an Elder in a red robe strode into the hall. With a gloomy face, he asked, “Who are you exactly?”

A cyan-robed Elder in the hall smiled and said, “Junior Brother, this was my idea. Young hero Xiao has a unique skill of Magic Mimicry, which greatly widened our horizons this time.”

The “Chief” was Xiao Chen while that “Xiao Chen” was actually Li Muxue.

This time, after he changed back to his original appearance, Xiao Chen looked at the “Xiao Chen” beside him and asked while smiling, “Haven’t you changed back to your original appearance?”

Li Muxue giggled and said, “Hell, no! I am going to play with Sister Xian’er.” After that, she ran outside the hall.

Shaking his head, Xiao Chen smiled. Then, he looked back and solemnly asked the few Elders, “Has the Chief never been back since he went to investigate the Soul-consuming Evil Flower? Hasn’t he sent a letter back?”

The few Elders sighed and nodded their heads violently.

Gradually, Xiao Chen’s heart sank. “At that time, my grandpa went to investigate the Soul-consuming Evil Flower. But up until now, no news about him has been received. Who is spreading…?”

When Xiao Chen went back to somewhere near the courtyard, he heard laughter coming from inside. Shaking his head, he smiled and walked in. Then, he saw Li Muxue chatting happily with Xian’er and Zhiluan while using his appearance.

Zhiluan was greatly shocked when it spotted another Xiao Chen coming in. “Me-meow! Why is there one more d*mned boy?”

Murong Xian’er heard his words and turned around to look. “Ah! Why are there two Brother Xiao Chens?”

Li Muxue could no longer hold back her convulsive laughter, and her voice also changed back. Hearing the original voice of Li Muxue, Murong Xian’er stamped her feet in anger. “Sister Murong, it was you! You! You are so naughty!”

Li Muxue was shaking all over with laughter. Zhiluan was foaming with rage and said, “What a bad girl! You dare to deceive me!” It paused a little and then muttered with a red face, “Taking on the appearance of ‘Xiao Chen’, you promised to give me some pills that you refined. Now, will you keep your word?”

Li Muxue burst into a laugh. “But I do not know how to refine the pills. You can go ask him for the pills.”

“You… you!”

Zhiluan became so angry that its whole body was trembling. Just now, after shedding much of its dignity, it shamelessly begged “Xiao Chen” for the pills. However, Zhiluan had never expected that this thing would end up like this. Once again, it felt that its fragile heart was deeply traumatized. In a fury, Zhiluan grabbed two green dates on the table and violently threw them at Xiao Chen.

Quickly, Xiao Chen avoided the dates flying at him. “I did not mess with you. Why did you hit me?”

“It was you! You must have taught the Magic Mimicry to this d*amned girl! That’s why she could come here to trick me. I do not care. Anyway, you should give me a few pills that you refined as compensation!”

“But does that make any sense? You hit me. After that, you asked me to give you some pills. Are you serious?”

“I don’t fu*king care!” With its claws folded before its chest, Zhiluan was fuming with anger.

Xiao Chen smiled bitterly. “I really should not have passed the Magic Mimicry onto Li Muxue.”

Li Muxue snorted with laughter. “There, there. Brother Zhiluan, good cat. It was my fault.” After Li Muxue said that, she glared lightly at Xiao Chen. “From now on, if you dare flirt around once again, I will change into your appearance and wander around to bluff and deceive others. Hmph! You even dared to flirt with the descendant of the Ancient Immortal Clan. You are extremely audacious!”

Xiao Chen was stunned a little and looked at Murong Xian’er, who then stuck her tongue out at him. “Before, I thought she was Brother Xiao Chen, so I accidentally spilled the beans! Beyond that, I also accidentally told her about the sword match between you and Liu Feiyan!”

Xiao Chen gave a bitter smile again, and Li Muxue raised her fist. “From now on, please behave yourself! Hmph!”

Another three days passed. During this period, Xiao Chen accompanied Murong Xian’er every day. As the city was in chaos, they could only tour around Jade Terrace Mountain.

Murong Xian’er knew that every day, Xiao Chen managed to find time to accompany her because he wanted to go there. When she heard that Xiao Chen was going to explore the Devil’s Abyss, Murong Xian’er was nearly crying. Swaying his sleeves back and forth, she begged. “No… No… let me go there with you!”

“No!” This time, Xiao Chen refused point-blank. The evil Qi of the Devil’s Abyss was surging. But Xian’er was full of Immortal Qi. How could Xiao Chen let her go to such an extremely ferocious place? Besides, he did not know why he always felt that something terrible was going to happen recently, and he even had had a terrible nightmare last night.

These days, more and more cultivators had gathered in Tianyuan City. Those ordinary citizens were too scared to open their gates, and they did not even dare to open the windows. The Immortals’ League had issued the first “Beheading Order” in the past century—Anyone who dared harass the citizens in the city would be beheaded!

On this day, all the people gathered in the square of Jade Terrace Mountain again, and the square was now was a sea of people. However, Ling Yuanshan and Wan Gufeng were not among the Ling Family and the Order of the Divine Fire.

The Immortals’ League had already selected the people who would be sent to explore the Devil’s Abyss. Most of them were disciples of the big sects or families in the Five Continents. Of course, there were some volunteers. In Wuyin Monastery, Master Xuanji unexpectedly received an urgent letter. He quickly opened the letter and read it. Then, he frowned immediately.

Next to him, Xu Gu, his disciple, asked, “Why are you frowning, master?”

Master Xuanji shook his head. “The thing about the Devil’s Abyss is the top priority. Xu Gu, you should also go there tomorrow.”

“Yes, master.”

Therefore, the following was the list of persons who would go to the Devil’s Abyss this time: Xu Gu, Xiao Chen, Qingluan, Ziyun’er, Yu Yifeng, Xiaoyue, Su Zimu, Yang Shaochen, Ling Fei from the Ling Family, Wan Yanyan from the Order of the Divine Fire, Qi Feng from the White Mist Academy of the West Continent, Qin Shaoyang and Liu Feiyan from the Xianyong Sect, Zhou Li and Qingyu from the Jade Qing Sect, Han Moyang from the South Continent’s Order of the Countless Blades, Zhong Buhui from the North Continent’s Yin-Yang Sect, and Bai Yushu, who was the disciple of Daoist League’s Third Elder. In all, there were 18 people.

Coincidentally, there were also 18 people, including Xiao Chen, who had gone to Wuwang Wind Cloud City last time. However, it was a pity that only 15 people had managed to come back.