Chapter 162: The World Has Suffered Under the Heavenly Mechanism Sect for Long

Qu Hongxiu's mouth turned downward instantly. "Someone named Liu Gaoqing from the Heavenly Mystery Sect says he has footage of Uncle Xu sac... sacrificing himself..."

Chu Xiaotong's entire body trembled violently. She snatched the jade slip from Qu Hongxiu's hand and connected with Liu Gaoqing.

"Ch-Chu Valkyrie, I am..." The connection with Chu Xiaotong left Liu Gaoqing immensely excited.

"Get to the point!" Chu Xiaotong had no interest in whether his footage was high-definition or uncensored.

Liu Gaoqing hurriedly explained, "I will keep it brief, but some background is necessary so you don't think I am trying to scam you."

"Speak!" Chu Xiaotong forced herself to remain patient.

"The Heavenly Mystery Sect once risked our lives to infiltrate the Demonic Domain. Outside the demon city, we deployed a small-scale spiritual network base station, disguised and set up numerous jade slips. Day in and day out for centuries, they relayed monitoring footage of the demon city. Most of it was worthless and not worth..."

"I believe you. Skip that part."

Chu Xiaotong interrupted him. There was nothing hard to understand about this; Wang Jiandang had simply used a *Wildlife Planet*-style filming method with long-term fixed cameras, which bound to capture useful, editable footage eventually.

"Understood! As soon as Prideful Xu dropped the bombshell, I immediately checked the archives. According to the relayed footage, the demon city was indeed buried in a thousand miles of a sea of fire. Prideful Xu is awesome..."

"Get to the main point!" Chu Xiaotong felt a strong urge to beat him to a pulp.

"We will be releasing this footage to vouch for Prideful Xu. However, the subsequent footage captured regarding Prideful Xu suggests he may have perished..."

Chu Xiaotong's voice rose sharply. "Transmit it over!"

"Chu Valkyrie, you understand. This matter is too huge; I cannot suppress it and can only let you know in advance. Doing so also puts my life at risk, so... to put it bluntly, I want the equivalent of twenty million spiritual stones..." Liu Gaoqing could only reach Qu Hongxiu, but Qu Hongxiu could not afford his asking price.

"No problem!"

Chu Xiaotong cut him off immediately. Given the temperament of the Heavenly Mystery Sect, they would undoubtedly hype it up and charge in batches, but she refused to wait. Even if it meant knowing just a few hours early, she needed news of Xu Zhe right away!

The equivalent of twenty million spiritual stones!

That was comparable to the paid viewership of ten million people!

Liu Gaoqing was so thrilled he licked his lips. He had completely underestimated how much the Vermilion Bird Valkyrie valued Prideful Xu!

Since she agreed so readily, he could have named an even higher price.

Still, it was unwise to gouging her on the price now... What a pity.

"Please wait a moment, Chu Valkyrie. I am sending it to you right now."

...

After ending the call, Chu Xiaotong immediately instructed Qu Hongxiu to transfer the funds. Otherwise, that fellow would surely drag his feet, and she was unwilling to wait even a single second.

Ten million, twenty million, even fifty million spiritual stones—she no longer cared about the price. She only wanted to know about Xu Zhe as soon as possible. An hour early, a minute early—any would do!

What on earth was Xu Zhe's condition?

Separated by such a vast distance, she could do nothing to help, nor could her messages reach him.

Sure enough, the moment Qu Hongxiu received authorization and completed the transfer, Liu Gaoqing promptly sent over the preliminary edited video.

Massive clusters of heavenly fire streaked across the firmament, all heading toward the skies above the demon city!

Countless blazing fires crowded and packed the entire sky, then smashed down densely upon the demon city.

Even though it was filmed from an extremely distant vantage point, one could still feel the shocking impact of that apocalyptic disaster, as well as the terror within the demon city's protective barrier.

Chu Xiaotong did not see Xu Zhe yet, and she broke out in a cold sweat for him. Her hand, resting on Qu Hongxiu's shoulder, unconsciously squeezed so hard that Qu Hongxiu winced in pain...

Finally, Xu Zhe emerged. The protective barrier collapsed immediately afterward, and the entire demon city was buried in a thousand miles of a sea of fire.

"Uncle Xu is so handsome!" Qu Hongxiu couldn't help cheering.

Although the heavenly fire swallowing the demon city grew even more intense, Xu Zhe had come out, and Chu Xiaotong finally set her mind at ease. She glanced sideways at her disciple.

"Xu Zhe is handsome, so why are you shaking?" Were you shivering too?

Qu Hongxiu felt wronged in her heart. This wasn't caused by you pinching me, but I dare not say it out loud.

The scene shifted again. Countless heavenly fires chased after Xu Zhe, accompanied by a whirlwind as ferocious as a black dragon!

The hearts of both Chu Xiaotong and Qu Hongxiu leaped into their throats once more. They vaguely saw Xu Zhe release a small bronze sword, though it didn't carry him away... They held their breaths, their palms slick with sweat.

The black dragon whirlwind and the countless heavenly fires completely engulfed Xu Zhe. That was the final synchronized frame relayed back; after that, all the jade slip devices were destroyed by the heavenly fire. No wonder the call wouldn't go through...

"Damnable!"

Unconsciously, Chu Xiaotong slapped downward, sending Qu Hongxiu stumbling and nearly falling. It was as infuriating as a TV series cutting to credits right at the critical climax.

Without time to complain, Qu Hongxiu asked anxiously, "Master, Uncle Xu..."

Was this... what Liu Gaoqing called a suspected sacrifice?

"He won't."

...

Chu Xiaotong raised her voice. Her breathing was rapid, her chest heaving in continuous waves.

"Xu Zhe cannot possibly be in trouble. Given his usual style, things shouldn't end like this..."

These words were partly an expression of inexplicable faith in Xu Zhe, and partly a way to instill a firm belief in herself.

"Right! Uncle Xu will be fine!"

"Such a pure and honest man was driven by those damned internet trolls to rip open his abdomen to prove his innocence, and had he not done so, he wouldn't have needed to barge into the Demonic Domain alone. Single-handedly destroying the demon city—what an epochal feat! If he truly perished in the Demonic Domain, then the Heavenly Dao is profoundly unjust, and this matriarch will wash the Northern Territories in blood!"

The more Chu Xiaotong spoke, the angrier she became. If not for those professional trolls and those manipulated by the narrative, Xu Zhe would still be right here.

She unconsciously lashed out with a palm strike, but hit empty air—Qu Hongxiu had dodged in advance.

Qu Hongxiu had no idea what ripping open one's abdomen to prove innocence meant, nor did she think Xu Zhe was a pure and honest man, but she firmly believed he would be fine.

"Master, whether in the Stone Flame Secret Realm, the Burial River, the Immortal Burial Valley, or the Divine Elixir Heavenly Cave—those poisonous mists that would kill anyone else upon contact all became helpers for Uncle Xu to temper his physical body!"

Chu Xiaotong, who had been longing to crush all professional trolls to vent her anger, brightened up, regaining a measure of rationality.

"That's right! Both his innate talent and foundation far surpass those of other prideful geniuses. No matter how cruel the environment, it is merely a tempering grindstone for him. Even the Purple霄 Lightning Tribulation was used by him to temper his physical body."

Chu Xiaotong's breathing grew much calmer, the violent fluctuations subsiding.

She lowered her voice. "However, that fellow spent the previous period entirely researching high-tier battle formations for us, only to rush off to the Demonic Domain immediately afterward. Even if he can temper his body with heavenly fire, I'm afraid he didn't make adequate preparations..."

Qu Hongxiu also wore a face full of worry. "Those heavenly fires could even destroy the demon city's ancient protective barrier. If they enter a person's body, how agonizing it must be..."

She had never experienced the tempering of death and rebirth that Xu Zhe underwent time and again. Merely approaching the fire-poison mist encountered in the Stone Flame Secret Realm back then had been enough to make her tremble.

"Why are you shaking again?"

Chu Xiaotong raised an eyebrow. "It's one thing if Xu Zhe's handsomeness makes you shake, but can the thought of him enduring immeasurable pain make you shake too? Are you a masochist?"

"???" Qu Hongxiu aggrievedly said, "I'm just feeling sad for Uncle Xu when I think about him suffering such immense pain."

Chu Xiaotong pulled Qu Hongxiu into a hug. "Good disciple!"

"Ugh..." Qu Hongxiu's soy-milk assets were utterly defeated, pressed so hard she couldn't breathe.

...

On the other side, the jade slips the Heavenly Mystery Sect had once planted in the Demonic Domain had produced almost no results for centuries and were nearly forgotten.

Today, however, they had finally rendered a monumental service!

After multiple layers of reporting, the footage was immediately promoted with maximum resources. At the same time, the clarity was fine-tuned, multiple angles were re-edited, and a super-fiery background music track was added.

The heavyweight release of the video depicting the destruction of the demon city instantly ignited the entire internet!

Unlike the close-up, first-person perspective of Xu Zhe, the Heavenly Mystery Sect had more footage and more angles. Coupled with post-production, this made the entire scene even more grand and presented it with historical gravity!

Xu Zhe didn't film himself, but in the Heavenly Mystery Sect's video footage, his tiny, distant lone figure, contrasted against the apocalyptic majesty of a thousand miles of a sea of fire, appeared all the more incredible—a true solitary hero!

"Too fiery! Too explosive! Prideful Xu truly deserves to be the number one prodigy of ten thousand years!"

"Confirmed! Ironclad proof! All those trolls who slandered Prideful Xu, come out and do handstands while shitting!"

"Though I don't know how he pulled it off, I am standing with Prideful Xu! Back then, when Prideful Xu was only at the Golden Core stage and single-handedly suppressed ancient clans for ten thousand years, wasn't that equally incredible?"

"I unilaterally declare myself Prideful Xu's woman! As long as Prideful Xu is willing, I'm fine with being his dual-cultivation furnace!"

"Everyone who slandered Prideful Xu these past few months, come out and take a beating!"

"The Bai family, you shameless scum, come out and explain yourselves!"

Public opinion surged once again. Only a small fraction of people remained who continued to troll and question Xu Zhe.

At this point, no professional narrative-pushers dared to enter the fray; without strong winds forcibly steering the narrative, it would only trigger an even greater backlash.

When the traffic harvest had peaked and the paid viewership stopped rising,

The Heavenly Mystery Sect dropped yet another massive piece of news!

《After Destroying the Demon City, Is Prideful Xu Alive or Dead? Behold the Heavenly Mystery Sect's Risk-All Report!》

When the topic had first exploded across the internet, everyone had consciously avoided one question: Was Xu Zhe alright?

If he was alright, shouldn't he have made a further public appearance?

He had disappeared right after transmitting the video, and to countless inquiries, there had not been a single reply in the comments. Old friends like Chu Xiaotong had no news of him whatsoever either!

Many people guessed he might have run into trouble, but they didn't dare say it outright for fear of being branded as cursers of a hero.

Now, after the Heavenly Mystery Sect released the first batch of videos, everyone was certain they had genuinely acquired on-site footage.

With this second wave dropping, everyone paid to watch it immediately, eager to see Xu Zhe's ultimate fate.

After selling the footage to Chu Xiaotong at a high price, Liu Gaoqing had merely delayed and suppressed it for a short while. The reason it wasn't released promptly afterward was because the Heavenly Mystery Sect was busy with post-production and waiting for the right timing.

What was released at this moment was not the preliminary edited version Chu Xiaotong had seen.

It began by heightening the apocalyptic might of the heavenly fire and the spectacular sight of Xu Zhe single-handedly destroying a ten-thousand-year demon city, pushing the dramatic tension to its peak before abruptly plummeting, cutting directly to Xu Zhe being engulfed by a thousand miles of roaring flames!

The background music shifted from rousing to desolate, instantly gripping everyone's emotions.

"Prideful Xu! Hero of humanity! Epochal feats! Immortal through the ages!"

"I refuse to accept this ending! Brother Xu must be fine; the Heavenly Mystery Sect is just too scummy, playing with my tears!"

"That's right! Despicable Heavenly Mystery Sect, you'll probably release the follow-up in a couple of days anyway! Isn't it just about charging fees? Release it right now!"

Xu Zhe's visual fans, predominantly low-level female cultivators, lacked stable Dao hearts and detachment, possessing a stronger desire for participation. They had just been going wild fan-girling over Brother Xu; how could they accept the demise of their idol?

Xu Zhe's strength fans, mostly young male cultivators, found the long path of immortality filled with dry, bitter toil. Day after day, year after year without progress was a torment, and they needed a god-tier role model for inspiration. They could not accept the dissolution of an idol who had just ascended the altar.

The ten million soldiers of the Vermilion Bird Army had once suffered countless slaughters by demonic beasts. It was the appearance of Xu Zhe that helped them defend the honor of the Vermilion Bird Army and hold the Demonic Domain's defense line. Xu Zhe had fought bloody battles against the demons on the front lines alongside them, and his destruction of the demon city was vengeance for everyone!

From top to bottom, all the Vermilion Bird soldiers could not accept the death of their comrade-in-arms!

Furthermore, everyone in the Southern Territories had indirectly benefited from Xu Zhe's protection, and none of them could accept this outcome.

In an instant, a massive chorus of voices turned to denounce the Heavenly Mystery Sect, demanding that they disclose Xu Zhe's subsequent status!

Chu Xiaotong had paid the astronomical price to see the ending first, but her deep concern for Xu Zhe, coupled with the internet's widespread refusal to accept the outcome, made her suspect that there was still footage being withheld!

Liu Gaoqing wouldn't dare play her for a fool, but it was entirely possible there were things he didn't know yet.

Refusing to let the outcry be left to random passersby, and unable to get in touch with Wang Jiandang, Chu Xiaotong used her verified, prominent official account to directly interrogate them.

"Heavenly Mystery Sect, give us an explanation! I don't care about your profit-seeking, but you have already used a human hero as a money-making tool twice! Is it not enough yet? How much money do you want? Shall I pay you?"

Her public interrogation immediately drew countless likes and voices of support. Gu Jiayier, equally renowned, followed up without hesitation.

Her male fans, Xu Zhe's female fans, the entire Vermilion Bird Army, and the people of the Southern Territories all found a leading figure and launched a joint assault on the Heavenly Mystery Sect.

Even some previously neutral individuals, long sick of the Heavenly Mystery Sect's clickbait titles designed to milk paid views, joined in to blast them.

The Heavenly Mystery Sect had reaped those two waves of traffic brilliantly and were making money hand over fist, but they hadn't expected to provoke public anger. Panic-stricken, they had to hurriedly issue a clarification stating that Xu Zhe wasn't necessarily dead—his jade slip had merely been destroyed, and there was simply no further video footage available.

This, however, made a certain group of people sneer!

That terrifying heavenly fire could even destroy the ancient protective barrier and instantly melt away an entire massive demon city, yet it couldn't destroy a mere Xu Zhe?

Could it be that those heavenly fires shared his surname?

The two factions belonging to Bai Yefeng and Zhang Yunfan, which had remained quiet until now, both smiled.

Xu Zhe was dead, the demon lord was also dead, and the female prisoners in the Demon City's Human King's Mansion were dead too... Dead men tell no tales!

The subsequent story could be written however they pleased, and they no longer needed to rush into any clarifications...

"A full seven days have passed. I wonder what kind of torment Xu Zhe has been put through."

Looking at the tightly furrowed brows of Chu Xiaotong, Gu Jiayier offered a word of comfort. "Big Sister Chu... sigh, even without eating or drinking, you've gotten skinnier from worry. Wang Jiandang couldn't possibly be lying to us. With countless paparazzi in the Heavenly Mystery Sect, they will eventually track down Xu Zhe."

Chu Xiaotong stared at her and slowly said, "I am planning to take a trip to the Demonic Domain..."

"Are you out of your mind?!"

Gu Jiayier shrieked. "The Southern Territories may look peaceful now, but a storm is brewing! The Bai family is obviously colluding with the demon race, and the borderlands of other continents still hold demon armies. Everyone has their eyes on you. If you leave alone right now, you will undoubtedly invite assassins to target you, and worse, it could plunge the four continents into military chaos!"

Chu Xiaotong understood this logic as well; otherwise, she would have set out on the very first day, just like when she led her army to support Xu Zhe in the Western Kunlun Continent.

Yet this time, that fellow's life or death was unknown. And that was heavenly fire capable of instantly destroying a demon city!

Even if he truly survived, he was all alone in the desolate depths of the Demonic Domain. What if he needed help?

...

Meanwhile, deep within a certain region of the Demonic Domain.

Xu Zhe slowly opened his eyes, a trace of bewilderment in his gaze. What on earth did I just go through?

Eh? Weren't I enveloped by countless heavenly fires? How come there isn't a single injury, not even a bit of pain? It feels just like... having a comfortable sleep.

What on earth was that black wind dragon?

Did it block everything for me?

Wait a minute... why am I not wearing any clothes?

So the heavenly fire and the black dragon made such a massive, grandiose spectacle just to burn off my clothes? How utterly indecent!