"Elder Fumo: The Daoist Wutian told this old man that the Demon Venerable is in Ruizhou. So, I checked the puppet I placed there a month ago, and it turns out that the puppet was just destroyed by a formidable enemy. The puppet’s memory shows that the enemy is incredibly strong. I suspect it is indeed the Demon Venerable! Golden Lotus Seed has already gone with a few cultivators to investigate!"

Sure enough, the news from the two old men was indeed related to the target Demon Venerable, and this time the intelligence seemed very precise, narrowing down the Demon Venerable’s activity area to a relatively narrow scope, with experts already on their way to hunt him down.

After finishing the exchange, Wang Zhifan felt once again speechless inside and criticized internally:

"These two old men are supposed to be top-tier strong themselves, why don’t they go fight? Instead, they urge others to do it... Old people really turn sly with age..."

Realizing that the Daoists Wutian and Elder Fumo were unwilling to take on the formidable enemy first, Wang Zhifan understood that this time the danger must be significant, and only hot-blooded youths would be willing to take on the challenge, while old and cunning ones would not risk it.

From a pragmatic perspective, Wang Zhifan actually did not need to rush to deal with this potential formidable enemy, as his Demon Sealing List merit points were already sky-high, and even if this ’juicy meat’ was taken by other cultivators, it wouldn’t shake his top position.

If other cultivators couldn’t take him down, even better; he could take action later, possibly gaining more intelligence and ensuring his safety to a greater extent.

But Wang Zhifan wasn’t the type to value the top spot; he always prioritized clearing this mission.

Therefore, his personal inclination was to eliminate as many of the Demon Realm’s forces as possible, especially the core forces represented by the Demon Venerable.

Thus, he couldn’t tolerate the Demon Venerable who had killed many top cultivators to continue living, and letting him continue slaughtering Calamity Realm cultivators was even more unacceptable.

This left him with only one option, which was to immediately strike and assist allies in swiftly taking down the formidable enemy.

Thus, Wang Zhifan immediately sent a message to Golden Lotus Seed, expressing his desire to join forces with them to eliminate demons.

He had seen Golden Lotus Seed at the Fire Spirit Island meeting, but had encountered him relatively few times in previous combats.

His main impression was of a young monk with a golden lotus flower tattoo on his bald head, possessing notable strength and achievements, currently ranked ninth on the Demon Sealing List.

After sending the message, Golden Lotus Seed did not respond quickly, so Wang Zhifan pondered over the teleportation location on the Demon Sealing List map, planning to teleport to a suitable known location in the absence of further information.

As it was now early morning, the teleportation function of the Demon Sealing List had refreshed, allowing him to strike or provide support at any time.

After waiting for a little while and still receiving no response from Golden Lotus Seed, he had a faint feeling of unease, prompting him to check the Demon Sealing List.

The results weren’t as bad as he imagined; the name of Golden Lotus Seed, ranked ninth on the list, was still displayed in normal dark black, indicating that he was still alive.

"This bald guy, is he unwilling for me to come and share his merit points? Or is he busy with something and doesn’t have time to respond to me?"

Feeling slightly puzzled, Wang Zhifan quickly decided not to wait any longer. He teleported to Calamity Realm Ruizhou, based on the location he just determined, using the Demon Sealing List’s teleportation ability.

Ruizhou was a small prefecture in the western part of the Calamity Realm, but unlike many people’s impression of the west being a desolate place, it was considered a place of good weather and prosperity, hence receiving the name "Rui" (auspicious).

It was said that the area was densely populated and prosperous, and since it was far from Xuanzhou, the eastern place where the Demon Realm army descended, it was relatively less affected by demonic harm, prompting many Calamity Realm civilians to migrate collectively there.

When Wang Zhifan arrived in the dead of night, he found himself in a city in Ruizhou. Wearing the Wind Concealing Conical Hat, he noticed that the area was brightly lit, with numerous civilians coming and going under the starlight on the city streets. The bustling atmosphere was no less than that of Celestial Essence City, showing no signs of a Demon Realm army invasion.

But the reason Wang Zhifan chose to teleport here was because there were three Demon Venerables currently present. He was prepared for battle upon arrival, only to find that the human race here acted as if nothing was amiss, which left him incredulous.

"According to the Demon Sealing List, there are clearly three Demon Venerables here, yet all I see is peace and tranquility... Could it be that the Demon Venerables here are different, disliking destruction or devouring humans?"

Feeling extremely curious, he remained invisible and immediately headed towards the locations of the three Demon Venerables marked on the map.

These three were currently gathered together, not far from him, also within this Ruizhou city.

As Wang Zhifan quietly advanced a little closer, he discovered that the location of the Demon Venerables shown on the Demon Sealing List map was inside a tavern—a seemingly ordinary three-story-high tavern.

"It seems they’re three not very large Demon Venerables; otherwise, this place definitely couldn’t accommodate them."

Wang Zhifan pondered, and with a powerful sense, he confirmed that inside the tavern ahead were three strong, evil presences gathered, all humanoid.

Humanoid Demon Venerables weren’t uncommon, as many Demon Venerables or demons had appearances resembling those of the human race, but it was just a mere superficial resemblance.

Anyone seeing a demon couldn’t possibly mistake them for a human, as a huge difference between the species could be discerned at a glance.

"It’s strange... a ruler among these bloodthirsty demons hiding in a small tavern... something’s not right... something’s wrong..."

Sensing something was off, Wang Zhifan abandoned the idea of ​​approaching further for investigation and instead released a Dream Me Avatar to investigate in his place, silently merging into the tavern’s wall.

Before long, in the field of vision returned by the Dream Me Avatar, Wang Zhifan saw the three targets inside the tavern.

They appeared to be indistinguishable from ordinary humans in appearance, and if it weren’t for the faint demonic aura they emitted, they would be almost indistinguishable from regular humans.

The most noticeable one was dressed in white like a young scholar, sitting at a wooden table, slightly shaking a Jade Folding Fan with one hand while holding a black game piece in the other, contemplating while playing go against an elderly human with a wrinkled face and disheveled white hair sitting across the table.

The other two Demon Venerables were dressed like middle-aged servants in gray cloth, bowing humbly next to the scholar in white, like devoted servants.

"This white-clothed scholar Demon Venerable seems to carry the aura of Emperor Tianhua... I can sense that his strength is extremely formidable... perhaps he is the target I’ve been searching for...

Right, that Jade Folding Fan he holds looks familiar... the fan surface has dragon patterns... and exudes an extraordinary aura... could it be the Saint’s Gifted Jade Dragon Folding Fan that the scholarly martial expert Carefree Roaming Dragon always carries?! This has to be it!"

In less than a second, the results from the Avatar he sent into the tavern revealed something unexpected; it seemed he had found the real culprit, the mysterious Demon Venerable who had slain the top Escapers on the Demon Sealing List, Carefree Roaming Dragon, Emperor Tianhua, and the Great Desert Extremist Spear.

For a moment, still realizing that this scholar Demon Venerable was entirely different from previous encounters, Wang Zhifan remained silent, opting not to rush in and attack directly. Instead, he retreated some distance to avoid alerting them prematurely.

Aside from the fact that this was a populous Calamity Realm city, unsuitable for large-scale conflict, his main reason for this decision was an innate sense of danger—a sense that this Demon Venerable held an exceptional level of threat.

"Tough nut to crack! Hurry and assist me!"

Faced with the daunting challenge, Wang Zhifan immediately activated his rallying strategy. He summoned the Demon Sealing List and swiftly sent requests for aid to Daoist Wutian and Elder Fumo, hoping for their assistance through teleportation.

After a few breaths, responses from rank two and rank three came in succession:

"Daoist Wutian: Martial Lord! This poor Daoist has calculated that the evil might of this demon is overwhelming and cannot be contended with, please retreat quickly!"

"Elder Fumo: Do not panic, Martial Lord! Wait in a safe place for a moment. I will immediately send my strongest avatar to assist you!"