Chapter 1150: Fiercer Reputation
The sound of the Heart Demon Flute, in mere minutes, brought a devastating blow to the Spiritualist faction. During this period, those Spiritualists who were outside the Heart Demon Flute's range and thus whose inner demons weren't awakened, all without exception chose to flee Lin'an City. They saw no hope of victory; knowing that staying meant certain death, they naturally weren't foolish enough to fight to the bitter end. Unfortunately, almost none succeeded, ultimately being caught and slain by the pursuing Yin Division forces. The Heart Demon Flute possessed immense power, but its consumption of energy was equally vast. In just a few minutes, Jing Miao's complexion turned pale, and the aura she exuded became extremely weak, all due to her internal power rapidly approaching exhaustion.
"Heh, there aren't many Spiritualists left anyway. You don't need to force yourself to control them anymore; let them go wild. " Yang Haoran saw Jing Miao's weakness and spoke with a faint smile, reminding her. Jing Miao didn't push herself either, ceasing to blow the Heart Demon Flute in her hand. The flute's melody stopped, and although those whose inner demons had been awakened were no longer under Jing Miao's control, these awakened inner demons wouldn't vanish just because the music ceased. The inner demons persisted, and they remained crazed, like irrational beasts, with everyone around them becoming a target. The heavier a person's negative emotions, the stronger they became once their inner demon was awakened. Beyond that, the strength of the inner demon naturally bore some relation to their own inherent power. The remaining individuals, having endured numerous attacks until now, clearly demonstrated a significant boost in strength after their inner demons were roused, otherwise they would have long since been obliterated by the relentless assaults. However, enduring this long had also inflicted severe damage upon their physical bodies, resulting in their combat strength being vastly inferior to when their inner demons were first awakened.
Moments later, the remaining Spiritualists also successively lost their lives. When the very last person tragically perished, this earth-shattering battle finally concluded. Victory naturally belonged to the Yin Division, and Lin'an City had been transformed into a mountain of corpses and a sea of blood because of this war. Not everyone appreciated a mountain of corpses and a sea of blood, but not everyone loathed it either. Some still quite enjoyed such scenes; for instance, the siblings Jing Qi and Jing Miao, who cultivated demonic arts—blood was an excellent tonic for them to enhance their power. Then there was Bai Xue, for whom the Human Spirits within the corpses were her absolute favorite!
This time, in order to attack Lin'an City, the Spiritualists had truly gone all out, deploying not only a large number of individuals but also formidable experts. Yet now, with the exception of a very few, all others had perished in Lin'an City. If one were to include the six Grand Spirit Masters, such as the Crippled Elder, then the losses for Jingling Continent's Spirit Land would naturally be even greater. Although the deaths of the six Grand Spirit Masters had no direct relation to the battle in Lin'an City, and their presence in Death Valley was not due to the Lin'an City conflict, they did, after all, die in Lin'an City; this was an undeniable fact. If those six were also counted, then this battle for Lin'an City would mark the Spirit Land's greatest loss in history.
With the Spiritualists attacking Lin'an City annihilated, the victorious Yin Division faction was naturally filled with joy. However, many still inexplicably felt a sense of dread upon seeing the siblings Jing Qi and Jing Miao. Especially after seeing Jing Miao, a bloody scene would involuntarily flash in their minds: Jing Miao blowing the Heart Demon Flute, manipulating the Spiritualist faction to slaughter each other. Even knowing that Jing Qi and Jing Miao were their own allies, they couldn't help but feel intense fear towards the siblings. From this, it was evident that their dread of the duo was bone-deep; if even their own people felt this way, how much more so their enemies? In this great battle, the Yin Division's ability to turn the tide and snatch victory from defeat owed much to the indispensable contributions of Jing Qi and Jing Miao. Such heroes should, logically, have become objects of adoration for others. Yet the reality was quite the opposite: due to their overwhelming fear of the siblings, coupled with the duo's complete disinterest in interacting with anyone else, presenting an aloof demeanor that kept others at arm's length, everyone gave them a wide berth.
After this battle, it was clear without a doubt that the siblings' fierce reputation in Jingling Continent would surpass all previous renown. The title "Miraculous Mad Demon" would only grow louder than before. No one dared approach Jing Qi and Jing Miao in Xiaoshuting, and that was purely out of fear. Besides the siblings, there was one other person few dared to approach: Bai Xue. The reasons for not daring to approach Bai Xue were, on one hand, naturally due to her realm and power, and on the other, her identity as a snake demon.
The people of Lin'an City's Yin Division had no issues with Bai Xue's identity as a snake demon; after all, they bore no inherent animosity towards demons. However, Lin'an City had no small number of Demon Hunters, and they certainly didn't look kindly upon demons. Some Demon Hunters even harbored deep hostility towards them. Nevertheless, considering Bai Xue's high realm and formidable strength, coupled with the fact that she was Yang Haoran's subordinate and thus an ally to the Demon Hunters, they did not attack Bai Xue, even if they strongly disliked her or held a degree of animosity. Naturally, Bai Xue likewise held significant prejudices against Demon Hunters, her hostility no less than theirs towards demons. Yet, she also refrained from striking at Lin'an City's Demon Hunters, for she knew she couldn't; doing so would inevitably cause Yang Haoran some trouble. Of course, this was predicated on no Demon Hunter actively seeking trouble with her. If a Demon Hunter were to proactively challenge her, or foolishly prance about in front of her, she wouldn't mind showing them a thing or two.
Unlike Bai Xue and the siblings Jing Qi and Jing Miao, Yang Haoran found himself approached by no small number of people bowing to him after the battle concluded. These were his subordinate Emissaries of Death: some from Lin'an City's Yin Division and its higher-ups, and others Emissaries of Death who had retreated from other cities and gathered there. When Yang Haoran first appeared, they each had their own opponents and naturally couldn't abandon them to salute Yang Haoran. Now that the battle was over and they had achieved ultimate victory, as his subordinates, they naturally wouldn't forget to pay their respects to Yang Haoran, their Guardian. Besides these Emissaries of Death who saluted Yang Haoran, there were also some who came to curry favor and establish connections with him. These individuals were either high-ranking members of Lin'an City's Demon Hunter branch, some of Lin'an City's Exorcists, or the leaders of various minor factions.
Of course, Yang Haoran wouldn't lose himself because of this. His polite attitude towards these people was one thing; whether he would truly take them to heart because of it was another matter entirely. Yang Haoran didn't concern himself with cleaning up the battlefield. He merely gave instructions to the Emissaries of Death from Lin'an City and those who had gathered there: how to clear the battlefield and how to hand over the acquired resources. He believed that the Emissaries of Death in Lin'an City could handle such matters. If they couldn't even manage these minor affairs, he felt that the Lin'an City Emissaries of Death might have reached the end of their capabilities.
Before Yang Haoran made arrangements for his subordinate Emissaries of Death, the trio of siblings Jing Qi and Jing Miao, and Bai Xue, had secretly set their sights on what they desired. The siblings Jing Qi and Jing Miao needed blood to enhance their strength; this was dictated by the cultivation method they practiced. As for Bai Xue, she required Human Spirit to advance herself; this was determined by her identity as a demon.
According to the initial idea of Jing Qi, Jing Miao, and Bai Xue, they intended to devour all the blood and Human Spirits of the deceased in Lin'an City. However, when they expressed this thought to Yang Haoran, he prevented them from doing so. The reason was simple: among all those who died in the battle for Lin'an City, a considerable number were also from the Yin Division faction. If the blood and Human Spirits of those fallen Yin Division members were completely devoured, it would certainly be inappropriate. Not only would it be disrespectful to the dead, but it would also dishearten the living. To charge into battle, fall on the battlefield, and then have one's own corpse consumed into an empty shell by one's own side—no matter who it was, they wouldn't feel good about it.
Yang Haoran had no desire to commit such a foolish act, nor would he engage in such a repulsive one. Therefore, he warned the siblings Jing Qi and Jing Miao, and Bai Xue: those from the enemy could be devoured however they wished, but their own fallen comrades could not be touched, because these deceased soldiers needed to be properly interred. Although doing so was a bit troublesome, all three understood why Yang Haoran had made this decision, and thus, none of them defied his wishes.
While Yang Haoran was making arrangements for his subordinate Emissaries of Death, the siblings Jing Qi and Jing Miao, and Bai Xue, departed with inner joy and excitement. When the trio returned, fully satisfied, Yang Haoran had also completed his deployment arrangements for his subordinate Emissaries of Death. Because a considerable number of Emissaries of Death had retreated and gathered in Lin'an City, but there was only one Emissary of Death ultimately in charge—that of Lin'an City's Yin Division—this led to some issues being difficult to handle, and even minor conflicts arose among them. After all, they were all Emissaries of Death, so it was normal for management to be troublesome. As Yang Haoran made arrangements for these Emissaries of Death, he also took the opportunity to resolve these minor conflicts. Naturally, he didn't want to see these small problems escalate into major disputes, as they would be quite troublesome to deal with then, which was why it had taken him some time.
After handling these matters, Yang Haoran, under the gaze of countless eyes, tore through space and departed Lin'an City with Bai Xue and the siblings Jing Qi and Jing Miao. He had indeed been seriously wounded this time and needed to recover quickly to prepare for battles that could erupt at any moment. Furthermore, Zhong Siyu, that Blood-Clad Ghost King, was still waiting for him to deal with her, and that was a problem that gave him quite a headache.
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