Bamboo Demon and Demonic Cultivators

Before long, everyone except the grand elder was on the Flying Ship. By the strength of their auras, Sheng Zhen could determine that most of the cultivators gathered were in the False core realm. There were even a few who were in Golden Core, like Wei Song. But most of the Golden Core were surrounding Jin Cuifen, almost like guarding him.

"Oh they are guarding him, Alchemist Tower would not send their most talented Alchemist without any insurance. Even the two elders accompanying us are the strongest that this branch has", Wei Song Casually remarked.

Grand Elder waved his hand, and the ship started to float up.

"Brace yourself", Elder Jiang yelled.

The ship lurched and immediately accelerated past the city. Moving through the skies, it was past the city walls in a single breath. It moved so fast that the ground beneath them appeared just a blur.

"That's Awesome!", Sheng Zhen laughed, looking at the ground below. They were covering miles in seconds. It was faster than anything he had seen here or back on Earth. And even while moving at such speed, there was almost no wind on the deck. He had read about the Flying Ships but experiencing them firsthand was something else.

A few Young Master's looked at him with disdain but Sheng Zhen paid them no mind.

...

Moving at such speed, it did not take long for them to reach their destination. Below them was the Indigo Beasts Forest, and looking for above it was clear why it was named such. Indigo mist covered the green forest, and cries of beasts could clearly heard even if they were miles in the air.

Forest under them was entirely made of giant Bamboo trees, whose each shoot individually was taller than the entire Alchemist Tower.

"This is the Tomb?", Jin Cuifen asked. Sheng Zhen could see why he was skeptical.

But there was an empty ground in the middle devoid of any trees, and a simple thatched hut sat in the middle. Superficially, it looked like the farthest thing from a tomb of a Rank Seven alchemist.

"Yes, that is the tomb. The bamboo forest was not present just a few days ago. Records said that when it appears, Yun Cang's tomb will be guarded by an immensely powerful Bamboo demon. That demon is below us", Elder Jiang said, pointing at the endless Bamboo forest below. Cultivators gulped, realizing that were hovering over an incomparably large and powerful demon. For a demon possessing such a large body, they could not even fathom at what realm it would be.

Sheng Zhen just shook his head at the fear of cultivators around him. He had read Yun Cang's journal and he knew the truth behind the Bamboo demon.

"That's why we are going to wait for the rest of the righteous sects to arrive before entering.", the second elder answered.

"But why is no one here?" Elder Jiang asked, a little puzzled. Before leaving, the Alchemist sect definitely left some watchers and guards. Moreover, there was no other ship present when all the sects should be rushing here. Where was everyon...

~BOOOOM~

An explosion shook the ship and semi-transparent shields flared to life. The deck rocked violently, and the cultivators standing on deck felt the shockwave of the explosion rocking their bodies.

"Ugh", Sheng Zhen turned to see Jin Cuifen spitting blood. His cultivation was the lowest in the group and the shockwave affected him the worst.

A crimson-colored flying ship came into view, tailing the Alchemist Halls ship. On the crimson ship's hull stood a buff man with exotic marking covering him from his bald head to his toes. His tattooed chest was bare and three orbs of fire orbited around him, poised to attack.

"Hahaha, bastard Jiang, die.." and threw the three orbs of fire at Alchemist Hall's ship.

The fat-looking elder Jiang nimbly jumped on the railing of the ship and took out a flexible sword and slashed. Red sword energy left his sword and moved like a snake, cutting all three orbs of fire in half.

The orbs exploded far from the ship but the engulfing explosion was so massive that despite two ships being miles apart, the Alchemist halls ship was covered in resulting maelstrom of fire. The Protective shields once again flared to life, protecting everyone on board from the maelstrom of fire but Sheng Zheng could still feel the terrible heat behind shields. That bald man was no joke.

Sheng Zhen's eyes sparkled, 'So this is what a battle between high-level cultivators is like.'

"Haha, Jiang looks like you broke through again. How about another", more orbs of fire materialized around the bald man.

"Damn, what is Crimson Fiend Sect doing here", Wei Song cursing.

Just then another ship appeared floating behind the crimson ship. It was golden, but its sails and part of its hull were broken. But the moment it appeared, a heroic young man holding a large sword slashed at the crimson ship with all his might. A miles wide sword energy struck the crimson ship, nearly breaking it in half.

"Yang Tian!", both Elder Jiang and the bald man yelled at the newcomer, although the former yelled in relief and later yelled in anger.

"Ambush, really Hui Gang? Did you think you could hold me back by half-baked ambushes?", the heroic Yang Tian calmly remarked.

"Shut up", Hui Gang the bald demonic cultivator glared at Yang Tian and threw orbs of fire at the golden ship.

Seeing him distracted, Elder Jiang signaled the other elder to bring down the ship and turned towards Sheng Zhen and others, "It seems like a battle has broken between us and Demonic Sects. Whatever it is in the tomb, it seems the Demonic sects value it enough to break the treaty."

"And we can't let them have it, "

"We can't enter so it is up to you to stop the schemes of demonic cults"

While Elder Jiang was speaking, Sheng Zhen could make out more and more flying ships started to appear in the sky, each one of them speeding towards the clearing. His sharp eyes allowed him to make out the damage on them. Cultivators were flying between them, exchanging strikes and spells midair.

"Alright, let's go", Another explosion from the clash between Hui Gang and Yang Tian shook the skies.

"Brace Yourself", the other elder yelled before tilting the ship dangerously downwards. Sheng Zhen held onto the wooden railing, and his face split into a bright smile in anticipation of the impending crash. He had enough confidence in his physical body to survive the crash unscathed.

However, others didn't share his confidence.

"Ahhhhh", Wei Song yelled, along with others when the ship began its steep dive.

The ground was approaching at an alarming pace, and the speed at which the ship was diving at speeds faster than the top speed of fighter jets in Sheng Zhen's past life. So fast that even Golden core Realm cultivators were at risk of getting injured.

Just before the ship could strike the ground, two elders enveloped it and everyone in it in their Qi. Elder Jiang mobilized his spiritual energy and using it to push against the ground.

A rank Four Alchemist's spiritual energy was nothing to scoff at, immediately slowing the ship to half before hitting the ground.

"Run! Run! Run!" Elder Jiang yelled as a bamboo shoot rose from the deck, after piercing through the shields that even Nascent Soul cultivator found difficult to pierce. With a gentle twist, it flicked the elder Jiang away with no apparent difficulty. The other elder met the same fate, their cultivation was beyond what was allowed in the trial ground so the guardian threw them away.

Everyone jumped down and ran towards the thatched cottage. Golden core cultivators took to skies on their flying swords, taking along those of lower realms. Wei Song tried to do the same with Sheng Zhen whit her spiritual energy, but he just shook it off.

In haste, no one noticed that.

More ships were arriving behind and pulling the same maneuver Elder Jiang pulled to land as fast as possible. The elders manning the ship flew away before ships touched the ground to not invite the wrath of the Guardian.

The hundreds of cultivators of both Righteous and Demonic sects were spilling out, running towards the attached cottage. Spells were flying between them, along with all kinds of weapons and Qi attacks.

Sheng Zhen reached the cottage after all those from Alchemist Hall had already entered. He opened the door and stepped inside.

The moment his body crossed the door, he was transported into the Trial grounds.