Chapter 272 - A traitor to the orthodox way
"Don't let him move!" The leader of the divine sword sect roared, his eyes glowing with a golden light, just like his sword.
In front of him, the colossal figure of the false demonic dragon, the only demonic beast left, its scales twisted and covered in horrible wounds.
A spear was plunged into its chest while a sea of ice surrounded it, trapping it in place.
After another moment of preparation, the leader of the divine sword sect attacked.
His sword tore through the air with all the power of an expert at the peak of the transcendence realm, a golden trail accompanying his movement towards the dragon's enormous neck.
The beast roared, its demonic Qi leaking out, its blood-red eyes filled with pain and despair.
"Die!" One last scream was all it heard before the attack tore through it's scales, flesh and bones, its pupils losing their light as its decapitated head fell to the ground.
"Shit..." Yanxiao spat, his body shrinking to its usual size, smaller but still imposing.
His eyes swept over all the survivors.
Among the patriarchs, leaders and guardians of the nine great sects and seven great families, there were a total of 21 transcendents, excluding the deceased Tang patriarch and the currently imprisoned leader of the Eternal River Sect.
All of these 21 transcendents had given their vow to fight against the demon cult, the vow to die for the orthodox way.
Of course, none of them actually planned to fulfill the last part of this vow. Even so, there were only 12 transcendents standing there.
The leader of the ancestral dragon sect.
The leader of the Ice Flower Sect.
The leader of the Eternal Heaven Sect.
The leader of the Divine sword sect.
The leader of the Hidden Moon Sect.
The guardian of the Ice Flower Sect.
The guardian of the Eternal River Sect.
The guardian of the divine sword sect.
The patriarchs of the Li, Zhao, Xu and Bai families.
Five of the leaders of the nine great sects, four of the patriarchs of the seven great families and three of the guardians.
All the others had died, their souls able to last only a few minutes outside their destroyed bodies before finally dissipating.
"How long has it been since we had such horrific losses?" The icy tigress approached the flaming tiger, her eyes full of grief.
Behind them, eighty percent of the Orthodox army had also been wiped out and the rest soon began to clear the battlefield.
"It's not over yet... That damned Xue Mochen, how dare he use such tactics against us?" The flaming tiger snarled, his feral face filled with rage as he turned to the leader of the ancestral dragon sect, who had just retrieved his spear.
"Long Baiyu, activate the teleportation arrays, we need to go to the reserve army now!"
"And do what there?" The leader of the ancestral dragon sect spat on the ground, his handsome face now marked by a horrible scar. "Die for nothing? Surrender? Look at our state, we have no way of defeating Mochen! Not in our current condition."
"Oh?" Yanxiao frowned, "The mighty Long Baiyu is afraid of a shitty little demon? I'll burn my life essence if necessary, but that bastard dies today!"
"It's not about cowardice, it's about survival. We need to return to the orthodox alliance, recover and take a defensive position. Only the arrays of our sects are enough to hold him off!" Baiyu also losing started control of his emotions.
Yanxiao was about to reply when a voice called out to him, one of the Eternal River Sect elders who was loyal to him.
"Guardian!" The elder bowed, bringing with him a chubby man. "This young man is Heidu, he-"
"I don't care," Yanxiao grunted angrily, "get him out of my sight."
The old man shuddered, gritting his teeth.
Yanxiao had been temperamental since the sect leader's house arrest, but now he seemed to be even worse than before.
Gathering his courage, he spoke: "He was Qingyi's companion in the snake battalion, taking part in the espionage mission in the demon cult and personally witnessing the battle between Qingyi and the cult's heir. He claims to have information proving that Qingyi is a traitor to the orthodox way!"
Those words paralyzed all the transcendents there.
Qingyi... a traitor?
"Are you sure of this information?" Yanxiao turned his face slowly, staring at Heidu.
"Yes, guardian." The chubby man spoke, his knees buckling under the pressure.
"Well, if you're telling the truth, I'll reward you well, but if you're lying, pray for a quick death." Yanxiao spoke, ignoring Heidu's shudder and focusing his gaze on the leader of the divine sword sect.
"Use the mirror of a thousand truths on him."
Hearing those words, the divine sword sect leader let out a dissatisfied grunt.
The mirror of a thousand truths was one of his sect's artifacts, capable of discerning truth from lies perfectly. Who the hell did Yanxiao think he was to order him to use his sect's artifact like that?
Despite being irritated, the leader of the Divine Sword Sect still gave in. A matter of such gravity concerned the entire orthodox world.
Waving, a small golden mirror appeared in his hands and he pointed it at Heidu.
"Give your testimony young man, the mirror will react to the lie," he ordered.
Heidu calmed his breathing before puffing out his chest.
"I, Heidu, a former member of the snake battalion of the orthodox alliance, saw with my own eyes Qingyi defeat the heir of the demon cult, using a strange artifact to summon a woman to his side right after the battle."
Receiving confused looks from the transcendents, he continued.
"That woman is Xue Ruyan, daughter of the demon lord. Not only did Qingyi have her by his side, but he even kissed her! Qingyi has a demon as a lover!"
The moment those words rang out, the strangeness on the transcendentes faces turned in to a deep shock.
Long Qingyi, with a demon?
The rumors of him being with Tang Biyue were already absurd, but nothing compared to what they had just heard there.
Having any kind of relationship with a demonic cultivator was a crime punishable by death!
Yanxiao turned his face, looking at the mirror in the hands of the divine sword sect leader.
No reaction. That meant Heidu was telling the truth.
Yanxiao's lips opened, preparing to speak, but a commotion interrupted him, again.
The demonic Qi around them, which had previously been out of control, suddenly calmed down completely, the fluctuations caused by the demonic amy movements disappearing.