The demonic Qi got thicker and thicker until it became a few times thicker than it was when the City Lord’s Abode was invaded. Everything became a sea of black. From within the demonic Qi, there came an occasional ghostly cry which sounded especially piercing. A black figure with red eyes shot out of the demonic Qi, glaring at the group of them.

　　Lonemoon immediately set up a defensive array to protect the entire mountain. Then, he summoned all the disciples and told everyone to stay inside the front hall, inside the defensive array. For the hundred-and-eighth time, he cursed the male lead’s knack for creating trouble. He had only been in the Invincible Sect for a few days and such an unfortunate thing has already happened.

　　Not more than five minutes after all the disciples gathered, Yi Qing and Shen Ying returned. Yi Qing was dragging two people along with him, while Shen Ying was carrying… A fish?

　　The corners of Lonemoon’s mouth twitched. What does she want a freaking fish for now?

　　The few of them entered into the defensive array.

　　Yi Qing let go of the people he had dragged along – Bao Yi and Bao Feiping. They looked like they were recovering from some sort of ordeal. They had disbelief written all over their face- especially Bao Yi, who also looked gravely injured.

　　“What… happened to the both of you?” Lonemoon moved forward to support their weight.

　　Yi Qing frowned, glanced at the two of them and said, “We guessed wrongly earlier. The gate that Qu Shuang City formed was only a distraction. The real gates of the demonic realm have already moved. It’s not in any particular place; instead, it’s been in Ning Zi’an’s body this entire time. His entire body forms the gates.”

　　“What!” Lonemoon was shocked. Holy shit, wasn’t the male lead from a respectable and good sect? Since when did he become one of the bad guys? This novel was obviously incomplete.

　　“You mean to say that all of this demonic Qi is coming from him? He’s a demon?”

　　“No! Little An is definitely not a demon!” Bao Feiping interrupted before Yi Qing could answer Lonemoon’s question. “When he was born, he was really an immortal. I don’t know when… he was implanted with some sort of demonic seed.” Bao Feiping looked like he blamed himself for not noticing anything amiss even after all of these years.

　　“Eh, it’s negligence on our part,” Bao Yi exclaimed. “Little An has already been implanted with the demonic seed. The demons must have thought this through when they invaded us earlier. That was why they decided to shift the gates of the demonic realm onto Little An’s body. They wanted to turn him into a demon and then open the gates.”

　　“Wait…” Lonemoon was thinking so hard that his head was beginning to hurt. “You mean to say that the gates of the demonic realm can be moved?”

　　“That’s right,” Bao Yi replied, nodding. Guiltily and worriedly, he continued, “We did not know this. That was why we brought him out of Qu Shuang City. Without the suppression of the immortal meridian, the demonic Qi in Little An erupted. That’s why… we are the ones who got your sect into this trouble.”

　　Lonemoon was absolutely enraged. “Alright, there’s no point saying all of these things now. Do either of you know any way to solve this problem?” The entire Invincible Sect was now pitch black. Demonic Qi flooded every single crevice of the place, except where they were standing.

　　“Well…” The two of them exchanged a look and shook their heads. “The demonic Qi is disrupting our sensing of the immortal Qi around us. It’s going to be really difficult for us to break out of this demonic Qi. What’s more…”

　　He did not finish his sentence. If even one or two demons managed to emerge from the demonic realm, they would be able to make use of the massive amount of demonic Qi in Invincible Sect to finish them all. Their only hope lay in the Immortal Emperor Ge You, who was now in Qu Shuang City. But how were they supposed to send a message out to him?

　　“Have you seen the gates of the demonic realm?” Lonemoon asked.

　　“I can see it – it’s huge!” Shen Ying pointed in front of her before either of them could answer.

　　Lonemoon looked up and saw that within the black clouds, a huge black door had arisen. It was growing in size and looked exactly the same as the gates they saw back at Qu Shuang City.

　　“Little An!” Bao Feiping nervously shouted.

　　It was then that Lonemoon noticed a child standing at the bottom left hand corner of the gate. It was Ning Zi’an. He looked very different from the way he normally did. His face covered in demonic scars and both of his eyes were flashing red. One of his hands lay on the gate. He stared coldly at the group of them.

　　This is… the male lead? He’s obviously the boss of the antagonists!

　　“What’s wrong with him?” Lonemoon asked.

　　“He’s overcome by the demonic Qi in his body. He’s now a demon,” Yi Qing answered.

　　As if confirming what Yi Qing had just said, the demonic Qi around Ning Zi’an’s body surged as the boy began to roar. Bursts of demonic Qi shot downward toward the group of them. Yi Qing wielded his sword. The sword Qi from his sword cut through the bursts of demonic Qi which shot toward them.

　　Ning Zi’an let out a mirthless laugh. He did not seem to care in the least for the people standing beneath him. He turned toward the big gates and seemed to focus hard on them. He cut open his left palm and placed his wounded palm atop one of the baboons on the gate.

　　“Oh no, he’s going to open the gates of the demonic realm! Stop him!” Lonemoon shouted. He turned to face Shen Ying. “Shen Ying, take that little rascal down!”

　　“Okay!” Shen Ying answered. She looked around but could not find any weapon, so… She had no choice but to use the gigantic fish in her hand. She threw the fish toward the child.

　　Everyone felt a huge gust of wind and heard a loud crashing sound. Ning Zi’an, who had just started to open the gates, was thrown back toward the gate. Half of the demonic Qi around his body dissipated with the blow.

　　But the impact of the blow was not gone. What seemed like an unstoppable force continued to push forward. They heard a creak and the stationary gates suddenly began to move. Ning Zi’an fell through the gates as they moved. The gates are… are… are open!

　　Σ(°△°|||)

　　Shen Ying: “…”

　　Yi Qing: “…”

　　Lonemoon: “…”

　　“Father… Niu, I want to say that this only happened because the quality of the gates is really bad. Do you believe me?” How could it open when she had just thrown a fish at it?

　　“Believe my ass!”

　　We’re done for, we’re done for!…

　　One salted fish had thwarted all of the many ways Lonemoon had thought of to keep the gates from opening. What was the point!

　　(╯‵□′)╯(┻━┻

　　Immediately, the black Qi around them became thicker and thicker. A large black figure flew out from within the gates. The figure took on a different form from the one before. This black figure had a tangible and complete body, but it was completely black. Its face covered in so many black-coloured scars that its features were undistinguishable. An aura which was chilling to the bone headed toward them. The entire defensive array began to vibrate vigorously. It felt like it would fall apart at any moment.

　　The demons are here!

　　“Hahaha…” The black figure looked down and around it and began to laugh maniacally. “I never thought that the gates of the demonic realm would finally be opened. I am Fiend- Ah ya!”

　　Before it could finish speaking, it found itself flying through the air after being kicked by someone. Its body felt like a deflated balloon. Ts… With a loud hissing noise, it felt itself begin to dissipate as black whirls of smoke, leaving behind black bones.

　　Shen Ying retracted her leg and pointed toward the half-opened gates. She regained her composure and said, “Hey, I am going to clean up this mess. Go and look around for that child. Chef, look after everyone!”

　　“Yes, Master!” Yi Qing answered.

　　Shen Ying disappeared through the gates in a flash.

　　The crowd: “…”

　　For a long while…

　　Come to think of it…. Was the demon from the demonic realm going to say that it was a Fiend Celestial? Legend had it that Fiend Celestials could snuff out the fire of a million suns, annihilate the entire universe, and emerge victorious over Immortal Emperors. Yet, immediately after it emerged from the demon realm, it was… kicked to death?!

　　(⊙_⊙)

　　No, no, no, we must have heard… wrongly?