Chapter 68 — Azure Dragon
劍問蒼天 · Page 4 of 7
Baiduzi, Duanmu Laozu, and the Old Vampire, who had by now also come over, all turned almost at once to look at this pale-faced scholar whom the Nether King addressed as "Brother Long." But his right hand was at this moment tucked within his sleeve, and the object in it could not be seen at all. Still, given how certain Daoist Cangyan had been, and how the pale-faced scholar had not denied it, it was most likely true that he possessed this divine ring.
At the thought of the various wondrous powers of this divine ring spoken of in legend—and since cultivators of the Way all without exception set great store by magic treasures—one's whole body fairly grew hot. Yet though these three had appeared at the same time as the pale-faced scholar, they had not come by the same road, nor had they ever met this man; they knew only that shortly after their own arrival, a master of exceedingly deep cultivation had mysteriously appeared at the Nether King's side.
At once Baiduzi cast another fierce glance at his right hand, then turned to the Nether King and said: "Lord Nether King, this brother we too have never seen. I wonder when the Nether King Sect produced such a master?"
The Nether King smiled and said: "Brother Baidu, our Nether King Sect is but a small sect of the Holy Cult, naturally no match for your Myriad Poison Sect."
Baiduzi snorted. He belonged to the Myriad Poison Sect, one of the four great factions of the demon cult, and had been sent here to this remote place at the bidding of his sect master; indeed, this was the first time in a hundred years he had come forth from the mountain.
Yet withdrawn though he had been, he still knew the affairs of the demon cult perfectly well: today the cult was led by four great factions—the Myriad Poison Sect, the Soul-Bewitching Faction, and the Hall of Longevity had all risen after the Black-Hearted Elder's death eight hundred years ago and the decline of the Blood-Refining Hall, great factions of long history and deep roots. Only the Nether King Sect was different: it had sprung up suddenly three hundred years ago, and its masters had cropped up like bamboo shoots after rain, so that within two hundred years it had already divided the demon cult's realm with the other three, a thing that made men marvel.
Within the demon cult, the clash of power was everywhere, and every great faction wished to attain the heights the Blood-Refining Hall had reached in the days when the Black-Hearted Elder was alive, when it could summon wind and call rain at will. But the factions were evenly matched, and even the many lesser demon-cult factions remaining mostly attached themselves to one of the four great sects, so that none could gain the upper hand. Thus, though they schemed against one another in secret, on the surface they still barely maintained harmony.
Before Baiduzi came here, the master of the Myriad Poison Sect had personally instructed him to be sure to find a chance to probe into the Nether King Sect—what secret did it hold? How great was its true strength? In recent years a rumor had been circulating in secret throughout the demon-cult world: that the "Heavenly Book," the supreme sacred canon of the demon cult, had already fallen into the hands of the Nether King Sect.
And now, the "Heavenly Book" had not yet shown itself, yet this Qiankun Qingguang Ring, lost for a thousand years, had suddenly appeared. Baiduzi was shaken to the core, feeling that the true strength within the Nether King Sect was simply unfathomable. But on his face he put on a smile—though it looked uglier than weeping: "The Lord jests. Who today does not know that the Nether King Sect is at its zenith? But this Brother Long we truly have never seen, and we would very much like to make his acquaintance."