A matter of consequence to everyone, before it truly arrives, might only ever be idle chatter people use to pass the time.
The news that the demon race would be permitted to remain after the Great Calamity had not been entirely sealed off by the Eighteen Immortal Sects. Instead, it was released gradually, bit by bit.
Something that could determine whether the world would be overturned could not simply be buried under silence.
Time also had to be left for people to absorb the news and prepare.
When the matter first emerged as rumor, few paid it any attention. Many dismissed it outright as falsehood.
Time cannot smooth away memories, but it can smooth the emotions of those who were not involved.
It was only after the Three Sects and the Buddhist Sect went down to Western Niu Continent and personally tore into each other that people began to wonder whether the reports of Heavenly Demons might be true.
Then came the alliance of the various sects, and the world grew lively once more.
Disciples of the Eighteen Immortal Sects, who under normal circumstances were never seen, began showing their faces everywhere.
Until the Buddhist Sect swallowed its grievances against the Three Sects.
Until Bai Xuanling ascended to immortality.
Until the rumors spread that Chu Xingchen had taken up the Heavenly Mandate.
Until the Eighteen Immortal Sects tacitly accepted all of these speculations.
Only then did people have a somewhat more concrete sense — the Great Calamity truly seemed to be coming.
But even this feeling still failed to command everyone's attention. After all, the Great Calamity had no confirmed start date.
Until —
Southern Zhanbu Continent. Eastern Divine Continent. Northern Julu Continent.
On these three great continents, the demon race erupted in revolt. Everything that should not have begun to happen started happening.
From deep mountain forests to the utter silence of deserts, pillar after pillar of crimson light shot skyward.
Evil cultivators shouted that the Heavenly Dao was about to change, dragging everything in heaven and earth into a world of survival of the fittest.
As great chaos approached, every demon, monster, and phantom began vying for a share of the spoils, emerging from the woodwork one after another.
In a matter of moments, outside of Western Niu Continent, there was no longer a single patch of peace.
But the reason Western Niu Continent remained stable was, in truth, enough to make its inhabitants weep — and the reason was exceedingly simple: the spirit veins were shattered and broken, their usable value virtually nil.
It had rotted to the point where even scavenging it for scrap was not worth the effort.
Among the Eighteen Immortal Sects, some lay dormant and still, while others had long since begun their preparations.
Whether ready or not, every human and every demon would march together into this final slaughter and gamble.
Southern Zhanbu Continent. Dajing Kingdom.
Li Yingling gazed calmly at the crimson pillar of light soaring from within the distant mountain range toward the heavens.
Behind her, Li Xingtian and a group of Tianyan Sect cultivators likewise stared at that scarlet pillar.
Li Yingling regarded the crimson light pillar, her tone still relatively relaxed as she asked:
"Second Junior Brother, what do you think might spawn from this one this time?"
Li Xingtian's brow furrowed slightly. He did not rush to answer.
The reason was simple enough: these light pillars were extinguished every day, yet each day new ones rose again in entirely different locations.
For the time being, there was no way to distinguish which of these sky-piercing crimson pillars were decoys placed to fill the numbers, and which were genuinely significant.
But there was always a chance that a Tribulation Transcendence Great Perfection Heavenly Demon might randomly refresh from one of these pillars.
After all, some squads had actually encountered one — and the entire squad had been annihilated on the spot.
Naturally, the probability was not especially high. But the odds of encountering Integration-stage, Mahayana-stage oddities and demon races were still considerably better.
Still, as long as no Heavenly Demon spawned, the squad currently led by Li Yingling could genuinely handle whatever appeared.
After all, this ten-person team had stuffed in two Xuanqing Tianzong Tribulation Transcendence cultivators and one Tianyan Sect Tribulation Transcendence cultivator, along with two Mahayana-stage cultivators.
Their combat power was sufficient to flatten most sects outside the Eighteen Immortal Sects.
Li Xingtian answered cautiously: "Caution above all."
Now, their master was managing the overall situation, so busy he was nearly impossible to contact. At most, he could send a jade token with a few words of concern.
The Eldest Senior Sister had not been assigned any specific duties by their master either. She had merely been given a single instruction — do whatever you wish to do, and your master will support you. All intelligence will be made fully available to the Eldest Senior Sister. Whatever your master knows, the Eldest Senior Sister may know.
This also quashed Li Yingling's original intention of going to her master's side to assess the situation firsthand.
The words seemed like he was letting her run free, but in truth, the Eldest Senior Sister understood — this was the greatest expectation her master held for her.
You are no longer the Eldest Senior Sister who follows behind me, carrying out my tasks.
You will be a brand-new leader.
The Eldest Senior Sister spent a full half-month at Tianyan Sect sorting through intelligence — day and night without pause, reading and organizing without rest — before finally making her decision: to deploy Tribulation Transcendence-level formation experts to investigate these crimson light pillars.
Everything connected to the demon race must begin somewhere connected to these light pillars.
If she could decipher it in advance, or gain a thorough understanding, perhaps she could eliminate the risk at its root.
The Eldest Senior Sister's intention was clear — she knew it was difficult, perhaps even impossible. But if she was going to do this, she would go after the biggest prize!
Because if it was only a small matter, the absence of one Li Yingling made no difference. But if it was a major matter, the Eldest Senior Sister could marshal forces from every quarter.
If the light pillars could lead to other avenues of investigation, pivoting to new targets would also be an option.
In short, when the Eldest Senior Sister submitted this rather rough-looking plan to their master, the master approved it with the swiftest possible review.
Lin Luoyu had already withdrawn from Xuanwu Kingdom, though she had been summoned by Chen Baiqing to handle affairs in Eastern Divine Continent alongside her.
Yun Li had been deemed somewhat slow-witted by the Eldest Senior Sister and left behind at Tianyan Sect for the sect's people to take on a training rotation first.
Unsurprisingly, Li Xingtian had been conscripted as manual labor by the Eldest Senior Sister.
But being able to share the burden for their master and Eldest Senior Sister — Li Xingtian was still willing.
Li Yingling's gaze remained fixed on the crimson light pillar ahead:
"Of course, caution above all. Before we make our move, we still need to gather as much intelligence as possible. So, Second Junior Brother… the old method?"
Li Xingtian's expression stiffened at these words. He said in a low voice:
"Gathering intelligence — don't we have the clearance Master gave us? It doesn't have to be me every time, does it?"
Li Yingling raised an eyebrow, her tone deadly serious:
"Intelligence still needs to be collected by someone. How can you be sure those intelligence sources are reliable? If even one turns out to be untrustworthy and leaks our trail, letting the Heavenly Demons find us and capture us alive to threaten Master — when that time comes, to avoid putting Master in a difficult position, would it be you killing me, or me killing you?"
Li Xingtian very much wanted to fire back — couldn't we just end it ourselves if it comes to that?
But he was not the type to speak out of anger.
Moreover, purely in terms of logic, what Li Yingling had said actually made quite a bit of sense.
One could not expect everyone to be reliable, after all. The Heavenly Demons would also use routes and patterns to determine whether someone asking questions was part of Li Yingling and Li Xingtian's group.
Though Li Xingtian's face showed some reluctance, he ultimately nodded in agreement:
"Fine… the old method it is."
The Xuanqing Tianzong Tribulation Transcendence cultivator following behind the pair watched this scene, unable to suppress the curl at the corner of his mouth.
Sometimes he genuinely felt that the two before him were nothing short of a pair of clowns.
The so-called "old method" was to have this blood-qi-cultivating junior brother…
…infiltrate the evil cultivators as a spy to gather intelligence.
The approach was crude, but it was undeniably effective.
After all, no one would suspect that a blood-qi cultivator who reeked of blood energy like a blood demon reborn…
was actually a righteous-path cultivator.