Chapter 98: The Moon Clan Assembly

My pupils were filled with that brilliant golden spear light, and before it even struck me, I felt as though my head would explode.

At the brink of life and death, a shadowy gleam suddenly flashed in my eyes.

For reasons I could not explain, the incoming spear light abruptly changed course and shot past my ear by a hair’s breadth.

With a thunderous boom, the strike crashed into the ground. A wave of force surged upward and slammed into my back as I was still falling.

Borrowing that momentum, I twisted my body and shot out of the hall, then rolled sideways to avoid the follow-up blow from Qu Yuanshan before bolting deeper inside.

I had long known that if I went head-to-head with Qu Yuanshan, I was no match for him.

Still, this strike had ruined his nascent transformation and severed his path to advancement. That already counted as a great success.

If he wanted to break through now, he would have to wait at least a year or two.

I ran frantically inward while Qu Yuanshan roared behind me in pursuit.

Halfway through, I sensed that something was wrong and came to a stop.

Qu Yuanshan had not followed. Why would he let such an opportunity slip away?

Looking around, I found the surroundings in ruins: collapsed pillars, abandoned black palaces, and a floor paved with dark rock, most of it shattered.

I saw one horrific gully after another. Just looking at them made my eyes sting.

These were traces left behind by lingering power, and no one knew how long had passed, yet that sharp edge still remained.

I was utterly shocked. Just how high a realm would one have to reach to accomplish such a thing?

I could roughly guess that this place had once been the territory of some great demon beast, of course in ages past.

Then that demon beast must have been slain, and a battle likely took place right here.

I kept walking forward, as though I could feel those earth-shattering attacks crossing and colliding, leaving these terrible marks behind.

Ahead stood another abandoned hall. Eighteen enormous pillars had once stood before it, but all of them had been destroyed.

The gate was long gone, and even the walls of the outer hall had collapsed by nearly half.

I leaned in and looked inside. The interior itself seemed largely intact, but there stood row upon row of fearsome demon beast statues, each one baring its fangs and claws, every head turned toward the entrance.

I shuddered, gooseflesh breaking out all over me. Those statues seemed to be staring straight at me.

Forget it. I might as well leave. But would that bastard Qu Yuanshan be waiting to block me outside?

Just as I turned to leave, I suddenly felt a presence emanating from the depths of the hall, causing the Nether Dragon Eye at my chest to grow hot.

Could there be some treasure here?

Whatever it was, this hall was far too sinister. Better not risk it.

I tried to walk away, but my legs seemed rooted to the spot.

Damn it. Since I was already here, I might as well take a look.

The moment that thought arose, my desire burned fiercely.

I drew a deep breath, kicked off the ground, and shot inside like a phantom, swiftly passing through the ranks of demon beast statues.

Then, suddenly, a series of cracking sounds rang out.

Those beast statues actually began turning their heads in unison with my movement, even shifting to follow me.

I was horrified. Good thing I had not walked in slowly; otherwise, I would already have been surrounded and trapped.

From that alone, I could count myself lucky.

But just as that thought surfaced, a black panther demon beast statue with green ghostly light burning in its eyes appeared directly ahead.

It stood upright, gripping a massive saber in its clawed hands. The instant it saw me, it brought the blade down at my head.

A gust of demonic wind erupted, and the saber glow blazed brilliantly.

With a clang, I blocked with my Blood Evil Saber, only to be slammed straight from midair to the ground. My knees buckled, and I nearly dropped to one knee.

At the same time, the demon beast statues behind had already caught up.

I gritted my teeth and roared, gripping my saber with both hands and thrusting upward. A talisman detonated, blasting the black panther statue away as I darted forward.

But only a few steps later, I skidded to a sharp stop. There was no path ahead.

And yet I could still clearly feel that presence.

I turned around and looked at the swarm of demon beast statues lunging toward me, my face bitter.

Raising a hand, I saw the tattoo on my right wrist suddenly glow. A layer of ghostly light covered my palm and condensed into a claw.

At the same time, the only Nether Crystals I had left shattered, and all the power in my dantian was drawn out.

With a shout, I slapped forward. Black waves surged, and a gigantic claw manifested.

Boom!

The air burst apart, and the whole pack of statues was sent flying. The black panther statue at the front had its head shattered into pieces.

Then, from within those demon beast statues, one demon soul after another drifted out, trembling as they retreated, too afraid to come near me.

So these statues were controlled by demon souls, essentially bodies prepared for them to inhabit.

My legs gave way, and I collapsed onto the ground, drained of every last ounce of strength.

My spiritual power had been completely emptied, and it would not recover any time soon.

What pained me most was my Blood Evil Saber. Cracks covered the blade, and several small chips had appeared along its edge.

At that moment, the floor in front of me suddenly slid apart to both sides, and a stone pedestal rose from below.

On the pedestal lay a piece of black deadwood, and atop the deadwood rested a bead as black as ink.

I reached out and picked it up, only then realizing that the deadwood was not entirely black. It carried a deep purple hue, and upon closer inspection, it was strangely mysterious.

As for the bead at the top, not only did it emit no energy at all, but there were also tiny cracks within it.

“I thought it was some kind of treasure, but it’s just a rotten piece of wood,” I said, somewhat disappointed.

But at that very moment, the black bead at the tip of the deadwood suddenly emitted a faint glow.

Instantly, all those demon souls were drawn in by an enormous force, swallowed into the bead one after another.

At the same time, a powerful surge of spiritual shock crashed into my mind.

My head split with pain, and I passed out.

Then, from within the bead, an extremely faint shadow shot out and drilled toward the center of my brow.

Suddenly, the Nether Dragon Eye at my chest let out a furious roar.

The shadow convulsed violently, then retreated back into the black bead.

By then, a terrifying force was spreading out from the Nether Dragon Eye.

My Blood Evil Saber and the deadwood staff beside it floated into the air. In an instant, the staff began to change, transforming into a saber hilt that fitted onto my Blood Evil Saber.

Then, from my body, a transparent crystal finger drifted out as well.

It was the finger of that Netherworld lifeform summoned from the Underworld by the White Lotus Sect at Soul-Severing Ravine.

The finger dissolved into a crystalline liquid and spread over the blade of the Blood Evil Saber. The cracks and small chips disappeared at once.

And the saber’s aura began to change too, growing more and more terrifying.

Moonlight Forest was the ancestral land of the Moon Clan, and could also be called their sacred ground.

The main settlement of the Moon Clan was within Moonlight Forest. Every time the clan assembly was held, all the Moon Clan branches would gather there. It was the greatest event of the entire tribe.

The young women of the Moon Clan would dress with great care, competing in beauty and splendor.

Once they came of age, Moon Clan women would even use all manner of contests to choose the men they wanted for mating.

The men of the Moon Clan, meanwhile, would go bare-chested that day to display their strong bodies and attract the selection of high-ranking Moon Clan women. For them, being chosen by a woman of higher status meant escaping the lowest rung of life and no longer having to do the most menial labor.

Though the men would take medicine after mating and lose the ability to have children, if they could get a high-status Moon Clan woman pregnant, their own standing would still rise.

This year’s clan assembly was more lively and grand than ever.

The reason was that Princess Gulijinsha of the Moon Clan had turned twenty and would choose suitable men at the assembly. She could pick three at once.

This drove many young Moon Clan men into a frenzy. The Moon Clan was a matriarchal race, but sons born to high-ranking Moon Clan women still held a higher status than ordinary people and enjoyed more resources.

Naturally, when the Moon Clan princess chose men, she would mostly select from among these young Moon Clan men.

Inside the golden tent in Moonlight Forest, Gulijinsha wore the traditional garments of the Moon Clan and a moon crown symbolizing her status.

“Has he come?” Gulijinsha asked a Moon Clan girl who had just entered.

“Not yet,” the girl replied.

“Did you look carefully?” Gulijinsha asked.

“I’ve been waiting by the third stone the whole time, but I never saw the man you mentioned, Princess,” the girl answered.

Gulijinsha clenched her teeth and muttered under her breath, “That damn fellow. Don’t tell me he forgot. The call won’t go through, and I can’t find him anywhere.”