578: Chapter 579 Coercion

What Soul-Devouring Demon Lord said was not actually wrong; the Immortal Dao valued privacy, and the matter of one's Dao path was inherently the most private of affairs, so asking about it rashly was indeed rather sensitive.

However, facing this obvious and deliberate concealment by Soul-Devouring Demon Lord, True Monarch Taixuan Huangshi did not expose him, but merely narrowed his eyes slightly before immediately looking away from him.

His gaze shifted instead to True Monarch Chiyan Yinglei.

"Chiyan, do you have anything to say?"

The tone was plain, but the sense of oppression contained within it was not lacking in the slightest.

At this moment, True Monarch Chiyan Yinglei was also secretly groaning inwardly.

"How on earth is he supposed to explain this?"

If he dared to expose the background of Soul-Devouring Demon Lord, he believed that old ghost Soul-Devouring Demon Lord would definitely spill the beans about the Divine Court.

Thinking of this, he instinctively glanced at the figure dressed in a black-and-white starlight Dao robe in the distant Void Realm.

It was none other than True Monarch Yuji Sitian of Yujing Dao Court, standing quietly right there with an expressionless face.

True Monarch Chiyan Yinglei's eyelids twitched slightly. He knew that although his actions in establishing the Divine Court were handled secretly, who could guarantee that True Monarch Yuji Sitian had not noticed anything?

If this matter were blown out of proportion and caused Yujing Dao Court to investigate down...

Although True Monarch Chiyan Yinglei was not to the point of fear, he did not want to needlessly invite trouble upon himself either.

Therefore, True Monarch Chiyan Yinglei, who had been fighting Soul-Devouring Demon Lord to the death just moments before, suddenly seemed to reach a tacit understanding and intended to muddle through it along with the former.

"Sigh, how would I know so much..."

"Fellow Daoist, what are you hesitating about? Why won't you speak the truth?"

However, before True Monarch Chiyan Yinglei could finish speaking, Lu Ming's voice suddenly sounded from the side, interrupting True Monarch Chiyan Yinglei's pretext.

Instantly, True Monarch Chiyan's face stiffened, and he looked at Lu Ming beside him in astonishment.

At the same time, the gazes of the True Monarchs instantly converged on him.

Facing the numerous gazes, Lu Ming's expression remained calm, completely lacking the pressure of being watched by a group of True Monarchs.

He simply cupped his hands slightly and explained in a calm tone.

"As all Fellow Daoists are aware, I have comprehended the Yin-Yang Law for many years, and I have quite a few insights regarding this path.

However, not long ago, I suddenly sensed a fluctuation of a Law appearing between heaven and earth that was extremely similar to the Dao of Yin and Yang, yet completely different.

Feeling suspicious in my heart, I followed the induction all the way here, and sure enough, I encountered Qin Guan."

He raised his eyes to stare directly at Soul-Devouring Demon Lord, his gaze profound.

"Thus, during our exchange just now, I probed with the Dao of Yin and Yang and confirmed without a doubt.

What this person has comprehended is precisely the Law of Reincarnation!"

As soon as these words were spoken, there was dead silence within the Void Realm.

The look True Monarch Chiyan Yinglei cast at Lu Ming was already filled with resentment.

"Come on, brother, we just joined forces to fight the enemy together a moment ago, and you turn around and sell me out just like that?"

However, facing this gaze, Lu Ming kept his eyes on his nose and his nose on his heart, pretending not to see it.

Although the expressions of those True Monarchs did not show any obvious changes, the atmosphere among them distinctly became a bit more subtle.

In fact, even without Lu Ming pointing it out, given the discernment of everyone present, the fluctuations of that battle just now could not possibly be hidden from anyone.

From that Netherworld illusion, the phantom of Fengdu Ghost City, and the imagery of the flowers of the other side and the Wangchuan River, who couldn't tell what Law Soul-Devouring Demon Lord had comprehended?

It was simply lacking an opportunity.

The matter of Reincarnation involved too much, and no one wanted to be the first to spell it out and tear through this layer of window paper, lest they also get dragged into the vortex.

But now that someone had pointed it out, there was a justified and proper excuse to raise a difficulty over this.

In response, True Monarch Taixuan Huangshi's gaze slowly shifted to Soul-Devouring Demon Lord, his tone having already turned incomparably icy and detached.

"Qin Guan, what else do you have to say?"

At this time, Soul-Devouring Demon Lord's complexion had turned gloomy to the extreme, and that pair of pupils surging with dim-yellow light stared fixedly at Lu Ming, the killing intent within his gaze almost condensing into substance.

True Lord Qingxu, this Early Stage Nascent Soul Cultivator whom he had originally disdained, had repeatedly ruined his major plans today.

First meddling inexplicably in this matter, and then exposing his Law of Reincarnation in front of all the True Monarchs, roasting him over a fire.

"Very good!"

Soul-Devouring Demon Lord's gaze was like venom as he stared fixedly at Lu Ming for a moment, but ultimately he slowly moved it away.

On his pale and eerie face, he forcibly squeezed out a nonchalant smile, as if the killing intent from just now had never existed at all.

To cultivate his composure to this extent, he truly lived up to being an old Devil Head who had roamed the Xuanxiao Realm for many years.

At this time, Soul-Devouring Demon Lord imperceptibly turned his head, his gaze slowly sweeping across the other two figures in the Void Realm.

One wore a crimson Dharma robe, with a gender-neutral appearance, and was enveloped in the hazy Aura of the seven emotions and six desires.

The other was wrapped in a black robe, his entire body suffused with turbid Chaos Devilish Qi, resembling a walking abyss.

They were none other than the Six Desires Heavenly Demon and Demon Lord Hunyuan.

Soul-Devouring Demon Lord's gaze met theirs, the meaning in his eyes inexplicable, practically shouting aloud:

"The people of the Righteous Path are already putting pressure on me over there, and you guys are just watching like this? Say something!"

However, the Six Desires Heavenly Demon and Demon Lord Hunyuan merely exchanged a glance with him, quickly averted their gazes, and continued to remain silent.

Normally, when facing pressure from the Righteous Path, the Demonic Lords of the Demonic Path would maintain a semblance of superficial solidarity.

Not to mention helping much, at least they would verbally support each other a few times so that the Righteous Path wouldn't be too arrogant.

But this time the situation was extremely special. Soul-Devouring Demon Lord wanting to interfere with the Great Dao of Reincarnation was not only bad news for the Righteous Path faction, but it also touched upon the bottom line of their own interests.

Cultivators of the Demonic Path dealt with souls, resentful thoughts, and evil objects all year round.

Most of the Cultivation Techniques they practiced were tainted with extremely heavy Yin-demonic Karma.

There were already intricate connections between these Karmas and Reincarnation.

If Soul-Devouring Demon Lord truly mastered the Great Dao of Reincarnation, he only needed to tamper with it slightly to make them capsize in a drainage ditch in the future.

Not to mention, the two of them actually knew better than anyone else in their hearts that Soul-Devouring Demon Lord had never thought much of them.

The reason he still allied with them was simply to push them to the front as targets to attract firepower.

After all, persimmons were picked by their softest parts; even if the Righteous Path wanted to target the Demonic Path, they would prioritize dealing with their two families.

Now that it was his turn, Soul-Devouring Demon Lord, to become the target, why should they stick their necks out?

Therefore, the Six Desires Heavenly Demon slightly lowered its eyelids, while Demon Lord Hunyuan simply shifted his gaze elsewhere.

The two of them were like clay sculptures and wooden carvings, not saying a single word.

Seeing this scene, a trace of extremely gloomy light flashed deep within Soul-Devouring Demon Lord's pupils, but on the surface, he still remained unruffled.

Within the Void Realm, True Monarch Taixuan Huangshi slowly took a step forward.

His eyes, as calm as an ancient well, swept across the people present and finally landed back on Soul-Devouring Demon Lord, his tone detached yet carrying an unquestionable weight.

"Since things have been laid out in the open, Qin Guan, we won't beat around the bush with you.

The Law of Reincarnation concerns the cycle of Life and Death of all living beings in the Xuanxiao Realm, and cannot be monopolized by any single person or surname.

If you are willing to give up this Great Dao, stop right here, and at the same time swear an oath to the Great Dao, promising never to touch the Law of Reincarnation again,

In that way, we can let bygones be bygones.

But if you stubbornly refuse..."

He paused, and the Aura around him descended slowly like a mountain weighing ten thousand jun, pressing the entire Void Realm into slight tremors.

"Then don't blame us for joining forces to eliminate all future troubles once and for all."

After he finished speaking, although the other True Monarchs did not speak, agreement was clearly revealed in their gazes.

True Monarch Yuji Sitian of Yujing Dao Court still remained expressionless, but that silence itself was already an attitude.

The rest of the Grotto-heaven True Monarchs either slightly nodded or had solemn gazes, clearly having reached a consensus on this matter.

If Soul-Devouring Demon Lord refused to back down, today he would have to face the joint pressure of multiple True Monarchs.

However, upon hearing this, Soul-Devouring Demon Lord suddenly chuckled softly.

It carried an undisguised mockery and sneer.

"What a fine joint sealing and elimination of future troubles; you speak so righteously and grandly."

He raised his head, his gaze sweeping across the faces of the True Monarchs one by one, and finally fixed on True Monarch Chiyan Yinglei.

Meeting that malicious gaze, True Monarch Chiyan Yinglei's heart gave a sudden thump, and a chill surged up his spine.

He instinctively wanted to say something, but before he had time to open his mouth, he heard Soul-Devouring Demon Lord's eerie voice spreading out:

"Since Fellow Daoists are rarely gathered together in one place, Chiyan, why don't you tell everyone about your vision for the Divine Court? Let all the Fellow Daoists brainstorm together and pool our wisdom."

As soon as these words were spoken, the eyes of the True Monarchs instantly lit up.

"Divine Court? What Divine Court?"

Just from the name alone, one certainly couldn't hear anything particularly special about it.

But everyone knew one thing in their hearts: this matter was related to the great battle between True Monarch Chiyan Yinglei and Soul-Devouring Demon Lord today.

In their hearts, they had already faintly sniffed out a certain unusual scent.

It was just that they didn't know the reason before; now it seemed this was about to be made public, and they were also very curious about it.

And right when Soul-Devouring Demon Lord uttered the two words "Divine Court", True Monarch Chiyan Yinglei's expression became extremely unsightly in that very instant.

He knew that this old devil was planning to drag him down into the water, but he was somewhat helpless about it.

Therefore, he opened his mouth, just intending to defend himself when Soul-Devouring Demon Lord did not give him any breathing room at all, and his voice followed closely behind.

"Fellow Daoists might not know, but Fellow Daoist Chiyan is truly a person of astonishing talent.

By his own strength, he opened up the Divine Path lineage, established the Divine Court, set up divine ranks, gathered faith, and instituted Laws and regulations—this is what the Divine Path is.

It is the principle of heavenly mandate and the rule of all spirits. Above, it bears the might of the Heavenly Dao; below, it manages the order of all living beings, using divine positions to determine status and Laws to restrict actions.

In a word, it is to herd the people on behalf of Heaven and replace the Law with gods.

The grandness of its framework and the exquisiteness of its methods made even Qin unable to help shouting out in admiration."

Soul-Devouring Demon Lord spoke not fast, but every word was clear, and each word slammed heavily onto the heart of True Monarch Chiyan Yinglei.

That speech was said grandly and righteously, even carrying a hint of praise, but who present couldn't hear the mockery and malice within it?

Therefore, the moment the voice fell, the entire Void Realm fell into a dead silence as if frozen.

Then, like a giant boulder thrown into a calm lake, it instantly stirred up a thousand layers of waves.

All gazes turned toward True Monarch Chiyan Yinglei at the very same moment.

Within those pairs of eyes, there was shock, sudden realization, but even more so, the look of watching a good show.

Everyone was an old fox who had lived for tens of thousands of years. Although Soul-Devouring Demon Lord did not explain it in too much detail, with their vision, they naturally understood what the other party meant.

The so-called Divine Path was nothing more than a cover, just a shell put on top.

What thoughts were mixed into it, everyone knew clearly in their hearts.

True Monarch Chiyan Yinglei wanted to suppress the Dao of Order of Yujing Dao Court with the Divine Path!

Tsk tsk, whether it should be said or not, this Fellow Daoist Chiyan's boldness was truly boundless.

This abacus was beaten loudly; if he really succeeded, I am afraid that a certain True Monarch's Dao path Foundation would be forcefully uprooted.

Thinking of this, the gazes of the True Monarchs involuntarily looked toward that figure dressed in a black-and-white starlight Dao robe who had always remained silent like a stone.

It was none other than True Monarch Yuji Sitian!

Around this Dominator of Yujing Dao Court, the formless Law of Order flowed. His face was as detached as a ten-thousand-year-old unmelting ice wall, revealing not a shred of emotional fluctuation.

However, every True Monarch present could clearly perceive that an extremely restrained yet extremely dangerous Aura was slowly gathering around him.

Resembling an undercurrent surging beneath a calm sea, it would turn into a vortex swallowing everything at any unknown moment.

He slowly turned his head, and those extremely detached pupils were locked onto True Monarch Chiyan Yinglei at this moment.

Within that gaze, there was no excessive outward display of emotion, only a killing intent condensed to the ultimate degree!

Suppressing the Dao of Order with the Divine Path, and replacing Yujing Dao Court with the Divine Court.

This was no longer coveting authority, but nakedly eyeing True Monarch Yuji Sitian's Dao path Foundation.

Once successful, it would fundamentally knock the other party down from their Dao path, causing their Realm to drop and their Foundation to collapse.

The grudge of blocking one's Dao was irreconcilable.

Such plotting was even more intolerable than Soul-Devouring Demon Lord's Law of Reincarnation.

Stared at by such a gaze, True Monarch Chiyan Yinglei instinctively took half a step back, wanting to open his mouth to explain, only to find that no matter what was said, it appeared pale and powerless.

Although the Divine Court was detonated by his own hands, the residual Karma remained, and True Monarch Yuji Sitian only needed to deduce slightly to see the clues.

Therefore, it was already too late to say words of denial now, and he himself was powerless to refute it.

Soul-Devouring Demon Lord looked at True Monarch Chiyan Yinglei's extremely unsightly face, the corners of his mouth slowly curling into an icy smile.

That pair of pupils surging with dim-yellow light slowly swept across the faces of the True Monarchs, finally landing on True Monarch Taixuan Huangshi, his voice low and playful.

"So, Fellow Daoist Taixuan, why don't you guys handle your private matters first?"

As soon as these words were spoken, within the Void Realm, the gazes of several True Monarchs intersected, and they could all see each other's meaning.

Needless to say about the Righteous Path Grotto-heaven side, the parties involved directly included two of them, and the remaining ones were Lu Ming and True Monarch Taixuan Huangshi.

And the Demonic Path side naturally would not speak for the Righteous Path.

They were happy to watch a show; today's grand drama was truly wonderful, ring linked to ring, making people dizzy with action.

However, with things turning out this way, Soul-Devouring Demon Lord's plan of fishing in troubled waters and driving a tiger to devour a wolf had also proven effective.

Having alienated the Righteous Path side, the alliance relationship dealing with him naturally also developed cracks.

Seeing that today's situation was about to end anticlimactically, right at this heavy-atmosphered moment, Lu Ming suddenly took a step forward, instantly attracting everyone's attention.