The main peak of the Emperor Beast Sect.

Sect Leader Tang Beifeng was coughing incessantly.

Ever since returning from the Wandao Sect, Tang Beifeng had been recuperating in his courtyard.

About half a year had passed.

Although Tang Beifeng’s injuries hadn’t fully healed, they had improved considerably.

"Damn it all!"

Thinking of his defeat once again, Tang Beifeng slammed his fist on the table in a rage, his shoulders heaving violently.

Over the past six months, news of the Nine Great Demon Sects’ siege on the Wandao Sect had spread far and wide.

He had lost all face.

Most importantly, Xiao Mo hadn’t died, which meant it would be incredibly difficult for him to kill the man now.

’Once Xiao Mo’s injuries heal, or worse, once he reaches the Ascension Realm, won’t he come looking for payback?’

’It’s hard to say for sure!’

Tang Beifeng felt he had to form a long-term alliance with the other Eight Great Sects.

Otherwise, his Emperor Beast Sect alone would have a hard time withstanding him.

Tang Beifeng immediately took out a brush, ink, paper, and an inkstone, intending to send a message via Flying Sword to the other Eight Great Sects, inviting them to discuss this important matter!

"BOOM!"

But just as Tang Beifeng was halfway through writing, a tremendous explosion rang out!

The entire Emperor Beast Sect shook, and the teacup on his table fell to the floor.

"Sect Leader! This is terrible!"

The next moment, a Deacon from the Emperor Beast Sect flew to the main peak, shouting.

"What is going on?"

Tang Beifeng asked coldly, his tone filled with displeasure.

"Sect Leader..." The old Deacon wiped the cold sweat from his forehead. "The Wandao Sect! That Xiao Mo from the Wandao Sect, he’s leading a group of cultivators to attack us!"

"What? Say that again!" Tang Beifeng shot to his feet.

"Xiao Mo... Xiao Mo is here to kill us!" the old Deacon stammered, swallowing hard.

"That brat Xiao Mo, how dare he humiliate me like this!" Tang Beifeng snatched up a cup and smashed it on the ground.

"Sect Leader, what should we do?" The old Deacon was a cultivator who had survived the great battle at the Wandao Sect. He knew all too well how terrifying Xiao Mo was.

"What should we do? Heh! So what if he’s here? I’d like to see how he breaks the grand array of my Emperor Beast Sect! Does he really think the Emperor Beast Sect is a pushover?!"

With a grand wave of his sleeve, Tang Beifeng strode forward, leaving the main peak behind.

Three breaths later, Tang Beifeng stood in mid-air, his hands clasped behind his back as he gazed at the Wandao Sect cultivators.

There were about eight hundred cultivators from the Wandao Sect.

At the forefront of the eight hundred cultivators stood a man with a saber. The naturally alluring woman from Ten Thousand Flowers Peak served him respectfully by his side.

"Xiao Mo! What is the meaning of this, you and your Wandao Sect?" Tang Beifeng’s voice was imposing without any hint of anger.

"Sect annihilation." Xiao Mo stated calmly, his tone devoid of any fluctuation.

It was as if he hadn’t come for revenge; he seemed to harbor no hatred for Tang Beifeng at all.

It was as if Xiao Mo was annihilating the sect simply because he felt like it.

"You think *you’re* enough?!"

Tang Beifeng laughed in anger.

If he had come to pick a fight and shout threats, Tang Beifeng could have understood.

But in all his long life, this was the first time he had ever heard someone declare they would annihilate his Emperor Beast Sect!

Xiao Mo paid him no mind. He drew his long saber—Dyed Ink unsheathed—and slashed down.

Tang Beifeng immediately activated the Array.

"BOOM!"

The black and red light of Dyed Ink’s blade struck the barrier, creating a deafening crash.

Tang Beifeng watched this unfold with composure.

In his eyes, even if Xiao Mo’s strength was astonishing, breaking his Sect Protection Array was nothing but a fool’s dream.

Soon, however, Tang Beifeng’s brow furrowed.

The light from the black saber intensified.

Like a knife slicing through tofu, the long saber cut an opening in his Emperor Beast Sect’s Sect Protection Array!

’What in the world is with this saber?’ Tang Beifeng was terrified.

"Kill!"

Xiao Mo pointed his long saber forward, and the eight hundred cultivators of the Wandao Sect charged ahead to kill!

An incense stick’s worth of time after the battle began, Xiao Mo tossed Tang Beifeng’s head down from the sky and announced, "Those who drop their weapons will live. All others will die."

As Xiao Mo’s voice echoed out, the sight of their Sect Leader’s death caused everyone to lose their will to fight. One after another, cultivators began to drop their weapons.

From start to finish, a total of four hours passed. The Emperor Beast Sect was utterly destroyed.

After taking control of the Emperor Beast Sect, Xiao Mo opened its treasury and rewarded the disciples of the Wandao Sect.

From then on, the Emperor Beast Sect became a vassal sect of the Wandao Sect.

Xiao Mo installed an Elder as the new Sect Leader, on the condition that this Elder had to swear an oath on the "Celestial Dao Scroll." From that day forward, he could only be loyal to the Sect Leader of the Wandao Sect; otherwise, his path to the Great Dao would be severed, and he would be rejected by heaven and earth.

The day after the battle, Xiao Mo made an announcement within the Emperor Beast Sect: any disciple of the Emperor Beast Sect at or above the Cave Mansion Realm who was willing to follow him to annihilate the next sect could join them. Their contributions would be rewarded the same as those of the Wandao Sect disciples.

Xiao Mo gave them two days to consider.

And two days later, when Xiao Mo was about to leave the Emperor Beast Sect, a total of seven hundred of its disciples followed him to continue the conquest of the next sect.

It was because they had seen the disciples of the Wandao Sect receive so many rewards these past few days!

Some Cave Mansion Realm cultivators were rewarded with various Elixirs and achieved a Realm Breakthrough just by consuming them!

Cultivators have always sought fortune in the face of danger; their path is one of defying the heavens!

They had witnessed Xiao Mo’s strength and seen the treatment the Wandao Sect disciples received.

’So why not risk my life for Xiao Mo?’

The White Jade Sect, the Desert Wind Sect, the Tianqi Sect, the West Dream Sect...

Over the next three years, Xiao Mo killed the Sect Leaders of eight of the Ten Great Demon Sects of the Western Regions, bringing their sects under the command of the Wandao Sect.

In addition to the Ten Great Demon Sects, Xiao Mo also ordered his subordinates to either eradicate or absorb the other Demon Sects, large and small.

The eight hundred cultivators Xiao Mo had originally brought from the Wandao Sect had swelled to an army of forty thousand followers after three years.

Throughout the entire Western Regions, under all the heavens, there was no one who did not know Xiao Mo’s name.

But besides annihilating Demon Sects, Xiao Mo also destroyed Buddhist Temples.

In a place like the Western Regions, though the Demon Sects were no good, how many of the Buddhist Temples were any better?

The Buddhist School encourages people to be good, and the Buddha has compassion for the world. There is nothing wrong with that.

The fault lies with men. How many people had brought disaster upon the Western Regions in the name of the Buddha?

Like the Joyful Temple, which preyed upon the women of good families for cultivation.

Like the Suffering Temple, which took pleasure in torturing others, yet claimed that suffering was a form of liberation.

Like the Wanxin Temple, which used children to refine Elixirs and told their parents it was a blessing they had cultivated.

All these so-called temples were utterly laughable.

Were there any normal temples that truly followed the Buddhist School?

Yes, but very few.

Were there those who committed beastly acts in the name of the Buddha?

Yes, and they were right in front of him.

Another half a year passed. After Xiao Mo annihilated the Black Lotus Sect, the first among the Ten Great Demon Sects, the entire Western Regions came to have a common name for him.

They called him the Demon Lord.

At the same time, because Xiao Mo had consolidated all the Demon Sects and even destroyed many Buddhist Temples, the Buddhist Sects were extremely alarmed.

The Buddhist Sects had already formed an alliance to launch a crusade against Xiao Mo.

In the eyes of the world, the third great war between Buddhists and Demons was imminent.

Xiao Mo couldn’t care less about this.

He just often found himself standing on a mountain peak, gazing in a certain direction.

In that direction, there was a temple.

Within the temple, there was a small courtyard.

A young woman knelt beneath a Bodhi Tree, her hands pressed together in prayer.