"What is that? It looks terrifying!"
"No good! A great demon from the Vast Mist Ridge is here!"
"Holy crap! Another one coming to attack us?!"
"Wait a minute—why can't I feel any oppressive aura at all?"
"Huh? You're right! No need to say it, it's definitely the immortal formation's doing!"
The outer disciples' expressions eased little by little, and they pointed and chattered at the divine bird in the sky, not the least bit afraid anymore.
Hua Yuntian: "..."
For some inexplicable reason, a twinge of sympathy for the Scarlet Sun Demon Sage welled up in his heart.
"Fool."
Jincancan huddled inside the main hall, staring at the Scarlet Sun Demon Sage outside the immortal formation with eyes full of disdain.
The brute had Golden Crow blood running through its veins, yet it was reckless and ignorant to the extreme.
Daring to trespass into mortal territory and break the pact between humans and demons—this time the demon clan would be in the wrong again.
Outside the mountain gate, the Black Rock Demon Lord's expression changed drastically, its bear eyes bulging with rage as it let out a sharp roar: "Go! Run now!!!"
"Shut up! Can't a man get a moment of peace?!"
Jiang Ling's brows furrowed, and he shot the Black Rock Demon Lord a glare.
"If you want to fight, then fight—enough with the nonsense! Disturbing someone's cultivation is an added crime!"
He still had that calm, unhurried look on his face. In the Black Rock Demon Lord's terrified gaze, he waved his hand casually, as if shooing away a noisy crow.
Hum!
In the next instant, the Nine Heavens Earth Dragon Guarding Formation erupted with an unprecedented blaze of brilliant black-yellow divine light.
The nine earth dragons solidified in an instant, like eternal divine mountains. Each was a thousand zhang long, their coiled dragon bodies like rolling mountain ridges, their thick scales like tectonic plates of the earth, their dragon eyes hanging in the sky like the sun and moon, exuding the primordial divine might that suppressed the earth and bore witness to ten thousand ages.
They roared, stirring the surging convergence of earth vein power for ten thousand li around, forming a thick black-yellow sky curtain.
This power was boundlessly heavy, imbued with the Kunyuan force that restrained all flames!
"What?!!"
In the blazing eyes of the Scarlet Sun Demon Sage, horror instantly replaced its rage.
It felt as if its sun true fire had crashed not into a formation, but into an endless earth membrane thick enough to snuff out a star!
Its sun true fire, capable of incinerating all things, was being rapidly dissolved and suppressed by that heavy black-yellow aura.
A deadly sense of crisis made every feather on its body stand on end.
Black Rock's warning had been true!
"No! Retreat at once!"
The Scarlet Sun Demon Sage's pupils shrank to pinpricks, and it tried to tear through space and flee in an instant.
But it was too late.
"Seal!"
Invisible chains of law coiled around the void, solidifying it until it was harder than divine gold.
"Suppress!"
The boundless power of the earth crashed down like the collapse of the Buzhou Mountain!
Screech!!!
A shrill, distorted cry of agony pierced the sky.
The Scarlet Sun Demon Sage's ten-thousand zhang Dharma form, blazing like the sun, shattered inch by inch in the face of absolute power.
The divine feathers around its body burst and fell away one by one.
Blood sprayed like a lava waterfall, dyeing the sky a tragic golden red!
BOOM!
A deafening crash shook heaven and earth, as if a star had fallen from the sky!
A colossal crater, a thousand zhang in diameter and bottomless, appeared outside the Primordial Beginning Sect's mountain gate. Its walls were scorched into a glazed state by the extreme heat, and smoke mixed with burning Golden Crow true blood billowed upward, forming a sky-blacking cloud of mist.
As the smoke cleared slightly, in the center of the deep pit lay the once invincible Scarlet Sun Golden Crow—now a pitiful, featherless bird.
Its colossal divine bird body had been crushed and deformed, its bones shattered to splinters, its magnificent plumage almost entirely plucked away, revealing charred flesh and blood beneath.
The Scarlet Sun Demon Sage lay on the verge of death, its eyes filled with extreme pain and confusion.
Could such a terrifying formation exist in the mortal world?
Was it an Emperor-tier formation?
It hadn't even had time to unleash the full divine wonders of its Golden Crow bloodline before it was crushed by absolute power.
Another unquestionable one-hit kill!
The Scarlet Sun Demon Sage, with its noble Golden Crow bloodline, was no more than an ant before the immortal formation!
A deathly silence fell over heaven and earth.
Several outer disciples of the Primordial Beginning Sect stood frozen in place, their minds a complete blank.
Hua Yuntian's blood ran cold, his pupils dilating as he stared at Jiang Ling's still unflappable back. Only one almost numbing realization remained in his heart:
This immortal formation was a true barrier of despair!
Outside the mountain gate, the Black Rock Demon Lord stood dumbfounded, its huge bear eyes filled with grief and self-blame.
"Great Sage! I've doomed you!!!"
It let out a pained growl, its massive bear paws slamming powerlessly into the ground.
The Scarlet Sun Demon Sage had indeed been a friend, but they had not interacted much in normal times. It had never imagined that the other would disregard the pact between humans and demons, rush out of the Vast Mist Ridge, and come to its rescue.
This filled it with overwhelming guilt.
Jiang Ling strolled slowly to the edge of the newly formed super crater, looking down at the pitiful featherless bird at the bottom, and a kind and amiable smile spread across his face.
"You were so loud just now, weren't you? Threatening to burn us all to ash?"
He pointed at the mountain gate archway beside him, charred and damaged by the extreme heat. "Now, can we talk about compensation calmly?"
The Scarlet Sun Demon Sage lay at the bottom of the scalding crater, feeling the terrifying divine power hanging over its head. Boundless fear and humiliation completely engulfed it.
This was definitely an Emperor-tier formation!
No—wait.
It had once caught a distant glimpse of a Demon Emperor making a move, and its divine power was far less terrifying than this formation, which made it unable to even muster the thought of resistance.
All its Golden Crow bloodline, all its dignity as a Great Sage—none of it mattered in the face of life and death.
"I'll pay... I'll pay whatever you want..."
It let out a feeble whimper with great difficulty, its voice hoarse, not a trace of the divine bird's majesty left.
"Just paying money isn't sincere enough."
Jiang Ling smiled brightly, and with a flip of his wrist, pulled out another soul contract.
**"Even though you've lost all your feathers, you still have a pretty imposing aura. Perfect—my Primordial Beginning Sect's gate is still missing a tough guy to keep the peace.
Stay here and guard the gate, keep Black Rock company. A bear on the left, a bird on the right—they make a perfect pair. Sign this, and I'll provide food and lodging, heal your wounds, and maybe even help you grow some new feathers."**
Staring at the contract exuding the power of law, the Scarlet Sun Demon Sage's expression changed, and it roared in anger: "Don't push your luck! Heavenly materials, earthly treasures, divine gold, spirit stones—take whatever you want! But make me a gatekeeper? Never!!!"
"Is that so?"
Jiang Ling smiled faintly. "I've never tasted Demon Sage meat before. You're quite a big fellow—should be enough for quite a few meals, don't you think?"
As he spoke, he lifted his arm slightly, as if about to wave it again.
The immortal formation glowed with a hazy yellow light, and the terrifying oppressive aura emerged once more.
"No!!!"
The Black Rock Demon Lord's eyes turned bloodshot with anxiety, and it let out a terrified shout: "Please spare the Scarlet Sun Demon Sage this once, Sect Master! Your subordinate is willing to take his punishment for him!!!"
"You take his punishment?"
Jiang Ling let out a cold laugh. "You're already a prisoner, your life and death in my hands. What right do you have to take someone else's punishment?"
Black Rock Demon Lord: "..."
It had no words to reply, so it turned to the bottom of the crater and pleaded in a soft voice: "Great Sage, I'm the one who got you into this mess. But this immortal formation is far too terrifying—we're no match for it. Why don't you just sign it for now? As long as you're alive, there's always hope for revenge..."
The Scarlet Sun Demon Sage's face was filled with grief and indignation, and it stared fixedly at Jiang Ling, desperate to tear the human in front of it to shreds.
It was a proud Void Refining Great Sage, holding an exalted position in the demon clan—how could it be enslaved by humans!
But if it refused to surrender...
It glanced up at the black-yellow divine light poised to strike above its head, then at Black Rock, lying on the edge of the crater filled with grief and self-blame, and finally felt its own broken body on the verge of collapse...
An overwhelming surge of grief, humiliation, and despair welled up in its heart.
The Scarlet Sun Demon Sage's nose twitched, and scalding blood tears fell, splattering onto the bottom of the crater.