Chapter 373: Chapter 230: Nine Nether Profound Separation World Creation Array

A whole row of Demon Cultivators, their Magical Power sealed, were forced to kneel neatly on the ground.

The fleeing Demon Sect Flying Boats had no time to rescue their comrades in the crashed vessel; they had been utterly abandoned. Their faces were numb, their eyes filled with despair, knowing that these Righteous Cultivators would not grant them a pleasant fate.

The soldiers of the Demon Suppression Army showed no mercy while capturing these cultivators. Some even landed a few vicious blows on the sly, leaving the prisoners bruised and swollen.

Yang Jing sat in his military tent, sizing up the Demon Cultivator kneeling before him. Not many Foundation Establishment Cultivators had been captured, and this was one of them. Even among the Six Great Sects, status was clearly delineated by Cultivation Level, let alone within the Demon Sect.

The information known by these Foundation Establishment Cultivators was far greater than that of Qi Cultivation Demon Cultivators.

The Demon Cultivator immediately recognized Yang Jing as the Fire Dragon Master, the cultivator who had destroyed two of their ships. He knelt obediently, not daring to harbor the slightest thought of resistance.

"How did you suddenly appear in the Demon Realm from the Northern Continent?"

Yang Jing asked.

At the Northern Army Governor’s Mansion, there were Golden Core Cultivators who specialized in reading one’s Divine Sense, but they had already followed the Governor to the Northern Line. He planned to first interrogate the captive for some valuable information before sending him to the Northern Line to have all his memories read in detail.

The Demon Cultivator fearfully glanced up at Yang Jing and said timidly,

"If I tell you everything I know, without holding anything back, can you spare my life, General?"

Yang Jing shook his head.

"I can only guarantee you a comfortable death. Are you really prepared to die guarding the Eastern Demon Sect’s secrets?"

Despair filled the Demon Cultivator’s face. The war between the Taoist Sects and the Demon Sects had raged for tens of thousands of years. From the moment the Demon Sects appeared in the Nine Heavens World, they had been mortal enemies.

Falling into the enemy’s hands meant certain death, unless one had a special status.

"It’s the Heavenly Star Demon Summoning Array. Once the array is complete, it can guide the Flying Ship Fleet in the Outer Realm."

Naturally, the Demon Cultivator felt no loyalty to his Sect.

"We flew into the Outer Realm from a Demon Realm in the seas near the Northern Continent, then followed the guidance of the Celestial Star Demon-Attracting Order on our flying boat to enter this Demon Realm."

Yang Jing’s pupils contracted. He immediately made the connection to the place in the Demon Realm where the three ley lines converged. It seemed the Heavenly Star Demon Summoning Array was what had been dismantled there.

With this array, the Eastern Demon Sect could transfer troops to the Western Continent via the Outer Realm almost anytime they wished.

Unlike Celestial Demons, these Demon Cultivators weren’t restricted by the Heaven and Earth Embryonic Membrane. They could freely enter and exit the Demon Realm at any time.

He even considered the fact that the Demon Realm was south of the Northern Army Governor’s Mansion. If a large army were to be secretly gathered in the Demon Realm and coordinated with the Four Demon Sects to the north, they could launch a sudden pincer attack on the Northern Army Governor’s Mansion.

Caught off guard and attacked from both front and rear, the Northern Army Governor’s Mansion would surely suffer devastating losses. If they failed to respond properly, they might even be completely annihilated, and all of the Northern Domain Seven Kingdoms would fall and become a Demon Realm.

Under a deliberate sneak attack from the Eastern Demon Sect, the few outposts meant to monitor the Demon Realm wouldn’t last long at all.

After all, the Eastern Demon Sect possessed a superweapon like the Heaven-shattering Earth Trampling Formation.

At the thought of this possibility, Yang Jing shot to his feet.

"How long were you sailing in the Outer Realm?"

"Outside the Nine Heavens World, it’s all just chaos with only the light of the stars. We have no idea how long we were sailing."

The Demon Cultivator said with an innocent look on his face.

Yang Jing kicked him, then sent a stream of Celestial True Gang into his body.

The Demon Cultivator immediately let out a hysterical scream, writhing on the ground in agony. His body had been transformed by Demonic Qi, making him nearly half-demon. With the Celestial True Gang entering his system, it was as if he had been injected with molten lava.

"Spare me, General! Spare me! Seven days! The journey was seven days in total!"

he cried out while begging for mercy.

Yang Jing withdrew his foot and retracted the Celestial True Gang.

Though the Demon Cultivator was no longer screaming, he was still twitching uncontrollably.

The Celestial True Gang had caused permanent damage to his body, even crippling most of his Cultivation.

"Can Golden Core Demon Cultivators enter the Demon Realm through the tear in the membrane?"

Yang Jing crouched down and looked the Demon Cultivator straight in the eye.

This was a critical point. Golden Core Demon Cultivators had already formed a Demon Soul, making them more like Celestial Demons than humans, but they were not true Celestial Demons in the end. If Golden Core Cultivators could enter the Demon Realm through the tear, the situation would be extremely grave.

"They can’t. We arrived at the Demon Realm two months ago. Elder Jin Xuan, a Golden Core Cultivator, was with us. He was trapped outside in the void."

After experiencing the heart-piercing, bone-gouging agony of the Celestial True Gang, he didn’t dare utter a single falsehood.

Yang Jing slowly let out a breath. If Golden Core Demon Cultivators couldn’t enter the Demon Realm, then there was still a chance they could hold their ground by relying on the defensive array.

Suddenly, he raised his head.

To the west and northwest of the defensive line, a sinister demonic light shot into the sky. Like a giant curtain, it enveloped the entire Grand Array in the span of a breath.

It was noon, but in an instant, they were plunged into the deepest darkness. The blazing sun, blocked by the curtain of Demonic Qi, was instantly reduced to a pale, dark sun, its light devoid of even a shred of warmth.

Yang Jing looked up at the sky. Even with his Grotto Dark Dharma Eye and Bright Qi Talent, he couldn’t see through this dark canopy of Demonic Qi. Shrouded by this demonic curtain, the entire defensive line seemed to have been plunged into a Demon Realm.

’If I had used Thunder Escape the moment the Demonic Qi curtain appeared, I might have had a sliver of a chance to escape this false Demon Realm.’ But the instant the thought arose, Yang Jing extinguished it.

Iron Head, Yinjiao, and several of his disciples were within the array. If he fled, the morale of the Demon Suppression Army on the defensive line would surely collapse, and they would have no hope of resisting the Demon Sect’s army.

In that situation, his five disciples would have no chance of survival.

"What is this array?!"

Yang Jing demanded of the Foundation Establishment Demon Cultivator, his voice calm.

The Foundation Establishment Demon Cultivator, however, was staring at the curtain of Demonic Qi in utter disbelief.

"This... this is the Nine Nether Profound Separation World Creation Array! It’s a Tier Five Array! Its core is the World Core from a collapsed Small Thousand World. When activated, it can transform the space within the array into a Demon Realm. This is a great treasure of my Eastern Demon Sect! Activating it once consumes the Heaven-Opening Power within the World Core. According to the original plan, it was supposed to be used to trap the Northern Domain’s Governor, Canyuan True Monarch, along with tens of thousands of Demon Suppression Army soldiers! How could they use it here?!"

Compared to a natural Demon Realm, the Nine Nether Profound Separation World Creation Array possessed an extremely powerful trapping ability. Even a Nascent Soul Cultivator would be unable to break out of it before the Heaven-Opening Power in the World Core was exhausted.

"How long can this array be maintained?"

Yang Jing knew that if this array, once deployed, could exist permanently within the Nine Heavens World, it would definitely be rated higher than a mere Tier Five Array.

"The amount of Heaven-Opening Power left in the World Core is a top secret in the Eastern Demon Sect. How could a mere Inner Sect Disciple like myself possibly know? I only know that according to the Sect’s plan, it was supposed to trap Canyuan True Monarch for at least a month,"

the Demon Cultivator said, completely crestfallen.

In his eyes, these Western Continent Cultivators trapped inside the Nine Nether Profound Separation World Creation Array were already dead men walking.

’As for me,’ he thought, ’in the eyes of the Eastern Demon Sect, those who fail and are captured have no rights to speak of. The moment I was caught by the Demon Suppression Army, my status as an Inner Sect Disciple was stripped away.’

’Now, in the eyes of my fellow disciples, I’m nothing more than an excellent material for refining Spiritual Artifacts and practicing Magic.’

’Being in Yang Jing’s hands is far better than falling into the hands of my own sect members.’

"One month."

Yang Jing looked up at the sky. The heavy curtains gave him the feeling of being in a different dimension. ’I’ve seen Canyuan True Monarch fight with his full strength. If this array can trap him for a month, it can trap these three thousand Demon Suppression Army soldiers for several years.’

’However, the Eastern Demon Sect has paid such a huge price. To conserve the World Core’s power, they’ll probably try to annihilate this trapped, isolated army within seven or eight days.’

’On the other side of the Demon Realm, in the Northern Continent, a great army is probably already massing, preparing to advance.’

"Within the Nine Nether Profound Separation Demon Extermination Array, what is the highest Realm of Celestial Demon it can withstand?"

Yang Jing could see that after the Grand Array formed, this Demon Cultivator had completely sided with him.

"A Great Celestial Demon, comparable to a Golden Core Cultivator,"

the Demon Cultivator said in despair. He couldn’t understand how Yang Jing could remain so calm. ’Doesn’t he know that in ten days at most, everyone here will be dead?’

’As the one who killed an Other-Transformed Self-Free Celestial Demon, he has absolutely no chance of survival. He’ll probably be captured and brought before the Instantaneous Demon Venerable to suffer endless torment. Even his Divine Soul will be extracted and tortured for ten thousand years.’

Just imagining himself in that position sent a despairing chill down the Demon Cultivator’s spine.

"What’s your name?"

Yang Jing suddenly turned his head to look at him.

The Demon Cultivator jolted.

"My name is Pan Shicheng."

Yang Jing nodded.

"Pan Shicheng, I want you to convince the other captured Demon Cultivators to surrender to me. Are you willing?"