The demons who chose to stay saw that those who chose to leave were unharmed and were directly released.
They all wished they could eat the medicine of regret.
Unfortunately, there was no medicine of regret for them to take in this world. They could only continue to wait nervously to be inspected, and soon, they all passed the Spirit Lord's inspection.
That's right, they passed the inspection.
As for the reason, it was actually very simple. The Spirit Clan was originally formed by a gathering of various races unwilling to join the three clans, making their composition quite complex. Those disguised demons, despite their significant differences from many races.
However, there were all sorts of strange things in this world, so the Spirit Lord naturally assumed they might be a special race and didn't consider them as spies or anything.
His main purpose for the screening was to:
See if any of the remaining Spirit Clan members had bloodlines from the three clans.
But just as the demons breathed a sigh of relief, thinking they might be able to slip through, the Spirit Lord discovered something amiss within one of the Spirit Clan members. He found the demon seed, the seeds that the demons had secretly planted in ordinary Spirit Clan members to amplify their greed.
These demon seeds were identical to the root aura of the demons. Even without fully understanding the situation, the Spirit Lord could instantly recognize that this black seed-like object was related to the few with demonic energy that he had previously detected, which were different from the ordinary innate races.
'Wait, something seems wrong. Isn't this demonic energy? No, are there demons among the innate races? I don't remember any demons, and judging by the proportion of demons in other worlds, demons should be quite powerful!
Is it possible that demons are currently just a small race?
And only slowly became stronger later on...
It seems possible.
But are these demons inherently evil? They've only just been born and are already planting demon seeds into other lives. These guys definitely can't be kept. I should expose their true faces.
And then expel them all.'
It took the Spirit Lord a moment to recall what demonic energy was and to logically assume that demons were currently a minor race, but he certainly didn't like this race.
So, with a slight turn of his mind and after some thought,
He said nothing, merely noted down the individual who had been planted with the demon seed, and continued his inspection. He continued until all the Spirit Clan members had been examined, and all the demons and those planted with demon seeds had been marked.
Only then did the Spirit Lord make his move. He controlled all the demons and moved them to the left, then controlled those who had been planted with demon seeds and moved them to the right. In front of everyone, he removed the demon seeds from their bodies and immediately confronted the controlled demons:
"If my senses are correct, these seed-like things are identical to the root aura within your bodies, so you planted them in them, didn't you? Speak, why did you do this?"
To ensure they would confess truthfully, the Spirit Lord specifically used a truth spell he had learned in the past, which involved the soul and the laws of integrity. He hoped to make them speak the truth, thus allowing him to logically expel these unruly individuals and cleanse his sect.
However, the content of the demons' truthful confession, after being subjected to the truth spell, was far more explosive than the Spirit Lord had anticipated.
It was so explosive that it caused a sensation among everyone present.
The Spirit Lord had initially assumed that they might have intended to secretly control other Spirit Clan members using the demon seeds, causing them to fall into demonhood and increase the demon population. He had seen many similar situations in worlds he had experienced before.
But as they revealed that the demon seeds were meant to amplify the greed of those Spirit Clan members, sow discord, and incite internal strife and division within the Spirit Clan, and that the previous internal turmoil among the Spirit Clan was orchestrated by them, and that their master had made arrangements in many races, the Spirit Lord immediately understood that this matter was far larger than he had imagined.
The power of the demon race was also far greater than he had imagined.
They were by no means a weak race, but rather one that normally hid well, acting insidiously and filthily, always operating in the shadows, causing trouble secretly without revealing their strength.
In such a situation, the Spirit Lord certainly could not simply expel them. Instead, amidst the indignant curses and accusations from the other Spirit Clan members, he first performed a soul search on all the demons, and then utterly annihilated them, completely destroying their souls.
Immediately afterward, he hurried back to the location where he had released the group of Spirit Clan members who had chosen to leave. He rounded up all the Spirit Clan members who had not yet fled too far and subjected them to a thorough examination and screening.
He found that any demons were still subjected to soul search and annihilation, while those found to have been planted with demon seeds had the seeds removed.
After everyone had been examined,
The Spirit Lord then gave a brief explanation to the group of frightened Spirit Clan members who had been rounded up again. He did not tell them the whole truth, merely stating that the individuals who had just been annihilated were spies and that the demon seeds were harmful. He then released them again and began to ponder whether or not to disclose this information.
It was now certain that the demons harbored schemes and were plotting in secret. Although the main reason for the Spirit Clan's plight was the three clans, the demons were not entirely blameless. He couldn't swallow his anger without seeking revenge.
But revenge felt like too much trouble.
Moreover, he knew that the demons' ultimate goal was to deal with the three clans, and the Spirit Clan was merely an incidental target.
Currently, the three clans were clearly dominant. Disclosing the existence and schemes of the demon race might severely damage them, but it might also ease the tensions between the three clans.
So, after much deliberation,
The Spirit Lord decided to let it be for now. He would wait until the late stages of the conflict between the three clans, when their strength had been greatly depleted, and then reveal the news. This way, the three clans could contend with the hidden demon race. Although he was unlikely to benefit directly, he would be quite satisfied just to see these guys suffer.
With this decision made, the Spirit Lord soon returned to his Intermediate Thousand World as if nothing had happened.
He fulfilled his previous promises and cooperation.
He opened up all the laws within his Intermediate Thousand World to allow his subordinate Spirit Clan members to comprehend them, while also assisting them in attaching their created worlds to the edges of his own world. This way, their future cultivation would form a cohesive whole, allowing them to cultivate and progress together, and even significantly increasing their cultivation speed.
The main drawback and hidden danger was that ordinary Spirit Clan members would be more influenced by the Spirit Lord in the future, with their lives depending on him. However, as long as the Spirit Lord did not cause trouble, it could generally be considered a win-win cooperation.
The only variable was that the God of Destruction, upon discovering that all the demons lurking within the Spirit Clan had perished, became concerned that the Lord of the Spirit Clan might already know about the existence of demons. Fearing that he might leak the information, the God of Destruction began to dedicate some of his energy to tracking down the Spirit Lord, intending to find an opportunity to eliminate him.
This was to prevent premature leaks of information that could disrupt his plans,
Or to prevent them from being leaked at an inappropriate time.