Demon Immortal



Han Shindong's face became ashen as he listened to the information narrated by his subordinate.

Near to him, several representatives of the sect who had arrived in haste after learning about the massacre committed by Duncan stood by listening as well. As the subordinate finished his report, even their faces became very ugly.

"This is preposterous!" one of the Golden Hall cultivators raged.

"This is madness! What do they hope to accomplish by this!?" another asked in disbelief.

"They are insane!!!"

The various representatives of the sects clamored in disbelief and anger. They had never heard of such a wanton slaughter being committed by a sect in such an open manner. They really couldn't believe what they heard. 

"Are you sure that no one survived?" Envoy Ming asked agitatedly looking at Han Shindong's subordinate.

The subordinate looked at Envoy Ming angrily. Even if he had eaten leopard's guts he wouldn't dare to lie about such a thing. To question him like this meant that Envoy Ming didn't trust him. His face became ugly. 

Nearby, Han Shindong's face also became ugly. Envoy Ming's rude manner of questioning left him with no face. Envoy Ming might be a representative of a first-tier sect, but questioning his own subordinate in front of other sect representatives like this was really crossing the line.

The subordinate looked at Han Shindong and gritted his teeth. He knew Young Master Han couldn't stand up for him openly, but it didn't mean that he couldn't retaliate to this disrespect. Envoy Ming had been enjoying their hospitality for the past few hours when Elder Long had gone searching for Duncan. 

In these few hours, this wasn't the first time he had been insensitive. Even though their Han clan couldn't measure up to the Iron Mountain Sect, the way in which Envoy Ming treated them all like his own retainers had been grating at them for a while now. And this show of blatant distrust in front of other sect representatives was the last straw for the subordinate.

"Why don't you contact the elder whom you sent a message earlier? You will know whether I am telling the truth or not," the subordinate snorted without hiding his anger.

Looking at the subordinate's face and hearing his reply, Envoy Ming flinched slightly. He merely grunted angrily and looked away not willing to tangle with him. All around him, the representatives of the other sects were furiously discussing the situation as well.

If it was before his hand was lost, he would have put the subordinate down ruthlessly without much effort for disrespecting him. However, with his hand lost, the confidence he had in his strength had taken a huge hit. 

Envoy Ming had been irritable for the past few hours. He didn't want to report his loss to the sect this soon. But, the Elder's message had directly enquired about where he was and what he was doing. If others weren't near him, he could have somehow evaded mentioning getting beaten by a newly promoted Violet Palace realm cultivator.

However, the subordinates of Han Shindong didn't give him much space. They seemed to follow him wherever he went. It was as if they had received some order to keep an eye on him. It was clear to him that Han Shindong's group didn't trust him much and were only tolerating him.

So, he had to come clean about the situation. He might have exaggerated Duncan's potential threat a little more than necessary to make him look good, but he didn't dare to hide his loss.

When the Elder replied to him about staying here and coordinating with the other sect representatives to hunt down Duncan, there was displeasure evident in his voice. So, Envoy Ming had been sitting on pins and needles for the past hour.

Just an hour later, news about yet another massacre, this time by the Master, had come. And this time, it wasn't just Nascent Soul Experts. Even a Spirit Severance Being was slaughtered along with various people who were the backbones of various sects.

He just couldn't believe such news. 

All the frustrations, anger, and dissatisfaction that he had been holding deep down in his heart boiled to the surface and he had asked the question without much thought. But, it looked like this had dissatisfied the other party.

Before he lost his hand, even if the other party was dissatisfied, they wouldn't openly question him back like this. But, after he lost his hand, even mere retainers of clans were looking down on him. This made Envoy Ming inwardly furious. 

He blamed Duncan for all this. Duncan, and his master, Liang Tianye.

The duo had disrupted the somewhat delicate balance that existed between the various sects. Envoy Ming didn't know if they had colluded together to commit such massacres back to back. It was entirely possible considering the relationship between them.

What Duncan had done was to hurt the foundation of the sects. Killing so many young talents had hurt the future of the sects they represented. With a single person damaging the future of various sects, the sects were naturally enraged. 

If Duncan had hurt the future, then his master had hurt the present. Nascent Soul experts were the backbones of any sect. Killing one was akin for a sect to losing an arm. Losing so many Nascent Soul experts at one go suddenly will surely hurt all the sects. The power structure of the entire continent might shift due to this.

Most sects had one or two Nascent Soul experts amidst them. Even first-rate sects like the Iron Mountain Sect only had four Nascent Soul cultivators as far as Envoy Ming knew. Losing one had essentially reduced their strength by one-fourth. Their sect had at least come out of these massacres relatively fine.

When he thought about the situation of sects like Eternal Sword Pavillion and Splitting Heavens Saber Sect, Envoy Ming felt a chill in his heart. The position these sects had enjoyed would soon plummet. 

Taking a deep breath, Envoy Ming looked around at the assembled representatives. Most of those who had come were at Golden Hall realm. By cultivation logic, they were seniors to him. He should heed their commands and act accordingly.

However, the situation was not that easy to unravel at the moment.

Before this news was disseminated, the person who had the highest authority in the group was Envoy Ming. Even though his cultivation was low and he had already been defeated by Duncan, the order from Huang Muyang asking him to coordinate and eliminate Duncan made him pretty important. Moreover, his own position as an Envoy from the Iron Mountain Sect secured his position.

Now, with this information spread out, there will soon be people who would question his authority. That was why Envoy Ming had reacted so badly. Just like he thought, even a retainer from a subpar clan like the Han Clan was mouthing off to him. This didn't bode well for Envoy Ming.

Envoy Ming realized that he needed to do something right now. Or else, he would become useless in this group and no one would respect him. So, he didn't hesitate to take the plunge and rile up the group further.

"This is absolutely unacceptable!" Envoy Ming suddenly shouted causing everyone to look over. Han Shindong looked at Envoy Ming with hooded eyes and gestured for his subordinate to remain quiet. 

"Hear me out," Envoy Ming said looking at the assembled representatives. "We can't let this go unanswered. I am just a Violet Palace realm cultivator. Most of you are all Golden Hall experts. It isn't my place to advise you all. But, Senior Huang had asked me before his untimely demise to hunt down this demonspawn and exterminate him with extreme prejudice."

"The disciple kills our juniors. The master slaughters our seniors. What a pair of master and disciple they are!!! We as righteous cultivators need to answer these killings by exterminating these two scourges on earth. While we can't stand a chance against the demon Liang Tianye, we can take care of the demonspawn that is his disciple," Envoy Ming spoke passionately causing all the representatives to look at him seriously.

"Trust me when I say that this demonspawn is not any less bloodthirsty than his master. The Wind Demon had used the entire Greenwood Forest as his slaughter ground and had used the death of our seniors as a way to nurture his weapon. What about his equally bloodthirsty disciple?"

"This is the exact location where he committed slaughter of our juniors. But, do you see anything of their bodies left behind? Our senses are being assaulted with their anger and woe right now. But, apart from it, what else is left of them? Nothing!!! There is nothing left of our juniors!!!"

"Why? Because this demon had utilized their death to break through to the Violet Palace realm. What kind of twisted cultivation technique requires so much blood sacrifice to advance to the Violet Palace ream? Furthermore, what amount of blood sacrifice will be needed for him to advance further? Will he commit massacres like this every time he advances? Can you even imagine the scale of slaughter that will be required for him to reach Nascent Soul realm at this rate?"

"I think Senior Huang understood this clearly. That is why he ordered me to coordinate with all of you to eliminate that demonspawn. We can't let a demon like this live. While we can't do anything to the master, we can surely hunt this demonspawn down and eliminate a future headache for all of us. So, what we need to do is to stick to our mission and put an end to this menace on earth!!!"

Envoy Ming spoke passionately. His hatred for Duncan started leaking into his speech as he spoke further and further. It sure did rile up the assembled representatives. 

Envoy Ming didn't think that these representatives were fools. He was sure that some knew what he was doing. But, they seemed to let him do it because everyone was afraid of taking the lead. Envoy Ming grasped onto this and pushed himself to the front.

The reason that no one wanted to take the lead on this hunt was very simple. After the Wind Demon's massacre near the Greenwood Forest, a single mistake from either side would result in a war between two factions. To take an aggressive stance right now and hunt down Liang Tianye's disciple would be akin to declaring war against the Heavenly Demon Sect.

While everyone wanted to do that after the atrocities committed by those two, no one wanted to be the first one to step out and take the name. Envoy Ming also knew what he was doing was very risky, but he didn't think about the consequences much.

Right now, what he wanted to do was to kill Duncan. But, he was unable to do it alone. So, he could only use these representatives to finish the task. He didn't trust Han Shindong's people. He felt that they had some ulterior motives. So, he didn't want a mistake to happen at the last minute.

By riling up everyone and using their anger as a tool, he would succeed in killing Duncan for sure. This method wasn't without its disadvantages though. He knew that if the situation reversed due to some reason and their sects wanted to have a peaceful situation, the person who initiated this hunt would be offered up as the sacrificial peace offering to cool the anger of the Heavenly Demon Sect.

But, Envoy Ming only wanted revenge on Duncan at this moment in his heart. So, he didn't care about the future repercussions. So, he took the bold step and wanted to use the mission of Senior Huang as an excuse to drive his own agenda.

Even though everyone knew the ins and outs of the situation, none showed it on their face. Even Han Shindong didn't react much overtly. Only his subordinates looked a little displeased seeing Envoy Ming putting himself in a place of authority.

"You are right! What a pair of master and disciple!!! They both must die!!!" the representative from Splitting Heavens Saber Sect spoke out first.

"What a pair of master and disciple!!! They both must die!!!"

"What a pair of master and disciple!!! They both must die!!!"

"What a pair of master and disciple!!! They both must die!!!"

"What a pair of master and disciple!!! They both must die!!!" 

The words echoed in the region as everyone came to an understanding of their own. Envoy Ming smiled broadly seeing his plan coming to fruition. He looked in the distance and showed a sinister smile.

*****

A/N: Check out my other stories and let me know your thoughts...

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