Geng Zhong and another person concealed their presence and fled into the distance.

Duge followed them from afar.

It wasn't until several hundred miles away that the two stopped.

"Old Geng, why have we stopped?" Liu Tong asked in surprise.

"Liu Tong, something's not right with Dragon Tiger Mountain," Geng Zhong turned to glance in Dragon Tiger Mountain's direction, only breathing a sigh of relief after seeing that no one was following, and then spoke with a serious expression.

"What's not right?" inquired Liu Tong.

"Atop Heavenly Master Peak, trees for several miles were felled, their broken branches still fresh. Clearly, a great battle took place, and at least an Integration Dao True Man intervened..." said Geng Zhong, "Yet, Sect Head Xu on the surface appeared as if nothing happened, which is abnormal."

"Old Geng, are you saying that the Evil Demons are on Dragon Tiger Mountain?" asked Liu Tong, hardly able to believe it.

"Nine times out of ten," Geng Zhong nodded, "Heavenly Master Peak is the face of Dragon Tiger Mountain, other than Evil Demons, considering Dragon Tiger Mountain's status, who else would dare to battle on Heavenly Master Peak?"

"Has Dragon Tiger Mountain gone into alliance with the Evil Demons?" Liu Tong looked utterly horrified.

"It's not an alliance; if it were, you and I would not have made it out of Dragon Tiger Mountain," Geng Zhong shook his head, "Dragon Tiger Mountain is the Dao lineage of Heavenly Master Xu, there's no need to jeopardize their future for an Evil Demon. It's more likely Sect Head Xu is being coerced by the Evil Demon. He's using this clumsy cover-up to get us to help him seek rescue from the Great Emperor."

Rescue?

Duge couldn't help but laugh and cry at the same time; he knew Xu Jinkui had slipped up, but he did not expect the two Night Roaming Gods to come to such a conclusion.

But this was not bad.

He had planned to follow the two Day Roaming Gods, sneak into the lair of the South Peak Emperor, see if he could stir up some trouble to benefit from the chaos.

Now that the two Day Roaming Gods had muddled their way to calling for rescue, it saved him the trouble of venturing into dangerous territory.

After all.

Dragon Tiger Mountain had an existing Mountain Protection Array, said to be capable of dealing with True Immortals...

Causing trouble on one's own turf is always safer than taking risks out there; what if the South Peak Emperor's Daoist Base also had a similar Mountain Protection Array?

As for whether the South Peak Emperor would invite Emperor Donghua to intervene, it should be impossible.

Duge believed he wasn't important enough to warrant the Emperor's attention.

Nor would the South Peak Emperor marshal a significant force to siege Dragon Tiger Mountain just because of the Night Roaming Gods' speculation.

Under normal circumstances, it would at most be a probe...

"Rescue, Old Geng, this is no laughing matter," said Liu Tong, "You're well aware of Dragon Tiger Mountain's strength. I don't know how many are at the Unity Realm Stage, but that Evil Demon's strength is at best Nascent Soul. How could they possibly control Dragon Tiger Mountain by themselves?"

Geng Zhong glanced at him and laughed, "Old Liu, why overthink it? We just need to report the situation to the Great Emperor and let him judge.

If our guess is correct, and we truly rescue everyone at Dragon Tiger Mountain, it's as if Sect Head Xu owes us a favor for catching an Evil Demon capable of disturbing Dragon Tiger Mountain by themselves; we would be greatly merited in the eyes of the Great Emperor.

If we're wrong, we still had the best interests of Dragon Tiger Mountain at heart. I'm sure Sect Head Xu won't blame the two of us, Day Roaming Gods. The Great Emperor will consider us cautious, and taking a Great Demon Monster lightly would be the true error."

"That makes sense," Liu Tong realized, chuckling with a 'heh', "It's a no-lose situation, what are we waiting for, let's go and report to the Great Emperor quickly."

...

Having made their decision, the two sly ghosts no longer needed Duge to follow them; he returned to Dragon Tiger Mountain to wait for the prey to come to him.

Over the next two days.

Besides carrying out his daily duties showcasing Daoist Rhyme, Duge spent most of his time researching Art Techniques to enhance his own power.

The Spiritual Energy of Dragon Tiger Mountain was sufficiently rich, but Duge's Nascent Soul was different from others; the amount of Spiritual Energy it needed to grow was astonishingly immense. As soon as he started cultivating, no one else would even dream of absorbing Spiritual Energy.

Duge wasn't so selfish as to compete with others for a slight increase in his power.

Yet, this terrifying rate of absorbing Spiritual Energy solidified his identity as the Heavenly Demon Ancestor, providing Xu Jinkui and the others with much-needed reassurance.

What made Xu Jinkui and the others resolute in their loyalty to Duge was the rapid cultivation progress of Liao Jiulong and the others.

Having his Daoist Base reshaped by Duge, Liao Jiulong advanced from a Qi Refiner to Golden Core within one day, and Du Ziming and Liu Ziyun reached the peak of Qi Refinement in two days, with their breakthrough to the next stage imminent.

Moreover.

The three, with their Daoist Bases improved by Duge, were also endowed with special Divine Skills.

When Liao Jiulong released his Spiritual Power, it naturally carried a sacred aura, which was the nemesis of dark evil forces.

Furthermore, he could create swords of light from thin air, and used them for faster-than-Sword Flight, his Spiritual Power could even heal others' injuries...

Du Ziming gained the ability to move stealthily in the dark; his Spiritual Power mixed with corrosive and violent traits, making his cultivation particularly rapid at night;

Liu Ziyun gained control over water with his Divine Skills...

Variety of mystical abilities, too many to count, almost brought Xu Jinkui and the others to tears of envy.

Such talent, accompanied by Daoist Rhyme, almost guaranteed ascension to Golden Immortality.

The Marshal who governs the Milky Way was said to have improved his talent by consuming a Water Spirit Pearl, obtaining the Divine Skill to control water, and after ascending, he gradually became the Water Army Marshal of the Heavenly Court...

If Liu Ziyun were to ascend one day, he would likely secure a distinguished position within the Heavenly Court's water department.

Elder Daoming was in seclusion, recovering the Spiritual Energy he had exhausted earlier.

He, too, had come to appreciate the subtlety of the Water Series Daoist Base. Over the past two days, he left the Scripture Library to cultivate near the Cold Ice Pool at the foot of Heavenly Master Peak, where his absorption of Spiritual Energy, while not as extreme as Heavenly Demon Ancestor's, was also terrifyingly

fast.