Fiend King Seal

To the east of the treasure trove known as Second Heaven, which was extremely far from the underground palace, was a dry reservoir, interior replaced with countless reeds. Qiao Xue silently strolled along the bank. She squatted down to touch a dry weed. She leapt into the reservoir and covertly surveyed the surrounding area. As soon as she heard rustling sounds, she held her breath. The reeds flopped down and rebounded back. In front of her was a crimson skeleton crimson tiger.

Skeleton crimson tigers, born with the might of level three fiend beasts and levelling up to level four by the time they had matured. As creatures embodying speed, seldom did they require a second strike to fell their target.

The skeleton crimson tiger belted in Qiao Xue's direction. She heaved a breath and gave it a smile. "So, how is it, Brother Crimson Tiger?"

The skeleton crimson tiger shook itself out and then stood up. In the blink of an eye, it leapt forward and transformed into a youth, eyes red and resembling a human in all capacities. The second he landed, he was clothed in human clothing. In other words, he was a fiend. Voice booming, he answered, "I finally found you. It's not looking good. Ghost Gate's people have been snooping around since their arrival, and I confirmed they're targeting the white ape fiend king."

The moment Qiao Xue revealed the white ape fiend king's core, the skeleton crimson tiger reactively flinched and lowered his head. "The fiend king's core."

"Precisely. It's going to be easier to proceed now." Qiao Xue returned the core to its storage and elaborated, "They've been trying to make use of the Nine Walk-ins Formation to pinch the white ape fiend king's soul and body. We must stop them."

As Mu Yu predicted, the fiends at Third Heaven were never exterminated. They merely secluded themselves. Having developed intelligence, they were erudite about Third Heaven. In fact, they used fiend beasts as scouts to collect information on humanity.

The fiend race travelled to Second Heaven with humans with the goal of releasing the sealed white ape fiend king. His revival was predicated on having his core. Ghost Gate getting in the way was not a part of their calculations.

Gazing at the golden medallion, the skeleton crimson tiger remarked, "They deserve to die for even thinking about desecrating His Majesty."

"According to Grandpa Azure Dragon, Ghost Gate didn't coincidentally rock up here. They have no such thing as a bottom line, so be careful when collecting intelligence on them."

"I know. Qiao Xue, I'm not as impulsive as Second Bear, you know."

"Speaking of First and Second Bear, have they found where White Ape Fiend King is sealed?"

"No. Ever since information on the fiend race here cut off, nobody could determine where he is sealed. A thousand years ago, humanity sealed him here. If I'm to hazard a guess, I doubt even fiends here know where he is sealed."

"The thousand year limit is imminent. The seal is already coming close. He will soon resurface. Ghost Gate's Nine Walk-ins Formation will endanger him. We must rescue him before they can get to him."

All fiends from all heavens respected fiend kings. Ever since their defeat at the hands of humanity at Third Heaven, they had been biding their time, waiting for their kings' returns to seize glory.

"Luckily, His Majesty separated his core during his sealing. We have the fiends of this heaven to thank for protecting it until now. We just need to return his core to him, and Ghost Gate won't be a threat," asserted the skeleton crimson tiger.

"We can't restore his core here. The teleportation formation we constructed can't contain his power. We have no choice but to return to Third Heaven first. If we fail that step, Grandpa Dragon's plans will go with the wind."

"Sorry, I forgot to factor that in."

The primary difference between their teleportation formation and the one Pill Cauldron Sect used was that theirs wasn't damaged. As such, they were teleported to the same location together. Ghost Gate's quintet and the other oblivious humans put them and their plan in a pinch.

"Where are Ghost Gate's people now?" queried Qiao Xue.

"They headed east."

"Keep tailing them. In the meantime, I will locate where White Ape Fiend King is sealed. Don't let them find out you're on their tail. As soon as we find out where White Ape Fiend King is sealed, contact each other the same old way."

The skeleton crimson tiger nodded and reverted to his fiend beast form. The two then went their separate ways.

***

"Man, if only those two busybody fishes didn't have to destroy that guy's jade piece," Xiaoshuai whinged.

"I don't know how keen I am to return. Shi Dengtian is probably going to welcome me with an ambush."

"I wouldn't be so sure about that. He was the mastermind. Since your jade piece is broken, he should be assuming you can't return. I doubt he'd set up an ambush, then. Well… I can't think of how we're going to escape. I guess we can say he got his revenge."

Mu Yu was more concerned about Ku Mu than that. Leng Bingxue, after all, couldn't stay with Ku Mu every second of the day. Anyhow, he continued with the discussion. "Where do you think Qiao Xue is at the moment? I'm not convinced she travelled here with us. She might have an alternative way out."

"If she really was a fiend, we could negotiate using their formation to return."

"Well, we need to find her first in this enormous heaven."

"Are you lost again? We don't want Hibiscus Soup Mountain. We want Drumstick Mountain over there! This is the fifth time!"

Mu Yu steered off course due to fleeing from fiend beasts who went after them. He came to an abrupt stop and changed direction. "Could've said so earlier."

"Drumstick Mountain is here. After Drumstick Mountain is Chicken Wing Mountain. Then, we cross Mandarin Duck Mountain…" guided Xiaoshuai, from Mu Yu's head. Needless to say, he was the one who renamed all of the mountains.

Mu Yu treated himself to a tough and dry mantou because all the food dishes Xiaoshuai spat was making him hungry.