After releasing the chaotic black and white sword qi from his body, Wu Yu"s body seemed to have calmed down a little. His five spiritual sources were still turning within, absorbing the spiritual qi in the air and changing it to spiritual power.
New spiritual power would not change into yin yang sword qi as long as Wu Yu did not use the Yin Yang Sword Wheel. Only a portion remained as his sword qi.
Finally stable, Wu Yu finally turned his attention to his surroundings.
He was actually in a barren land, surrounded by hundreds of demons that were currently hurrying along with the palanquin.
Some of the demons were in their natural form, be it bird or beast, while others were in human form, and often mounted on their companions" backs.
Rats, oxen, tigers, rabbits, horses, goats, monkeys, all kinds of insects. There were also many fish and fowl, and even sentient rock spirits. They were really in all shapes and sizes.
When Wu Yu suddenly appeared, the entire army of demons stopped, staring at Wu Yu. They had not thought that Wu Yu would suddenly emerge from within!
Moreover, he had blown up with sword qi the moment he appeared!
They were actually a huge army advancing on the Bipo Mountain Range!
The demon army was mostly a ground force.
The Scarlet Sea"s Seven Ghosts were in barely visible forms; only their shadows could be seen.
The Zhongyuan Dao Sect"s army had more than 100 disciples at the Qi Condensation Realm, at least of the third and fourth tiers. All of them were mounted on Pegasi, flying above the demon army!
An imposing sight!
When Wu Yu suddenly appeared and exploded with sword qi, he had been worried about harming others, directing it upwards. As a result, more than 100 disciples of the Qi Condensation Realm were smack in Wu Yu"s attack radius!
While a majority of the disciples were unharmed, tens of their huge Pegasi had their wings sheared off, were wounded gravely, or even died painfully!
This caused the disciples to fall on the spot. It started to hail disciples, and this was accompanied by countless howls and sprays of blood.
The demon army hurriedly took cover, allowing the Pegasi to fall on the plains, whinnying.
The disciples at the Qi Condensation Realm used their dao techniques and immortal treasures to neutralize the attacks, and were largely unharmed.
But tens more disciples were caught defenseless, or were directly pierced by the sword qi. They fell along with the Pegasi, and some were even crushed by the falling Pegasi.
Wu Yu looked at the carnage. They had flown too high, and in a trice, a few third and fourth tier disciples were dead on the floor. More than 10 were injured, moaning in pain on the ground.
"Alright then...."
This was an accident, but Wu Yu did not regret it. After all, these were the enemies of the Heavenly Sword Sect, and they were on their way to destroy Wu Yu"s home.
But this accident had caused the entire troop to stop!
"What"s going on? Who"s attacking us!?"
The frontmost troops were crying out as they saw the Pegasi raining down. They came swarming over in Wu Yu"s direction. And upon seeing the disciples dead, the Zhongyuan Dao Sect elders did not look happy at all.
Wu Yu retreated back into the palanquin.
He watched the sky alertly. A bunch of people were approaching from the east - Jiang Xie and the other elders of the Zhongyuan Dao Sect. All of them were at least at the eighth tier of the Qi Condensation Realm and above.
From the west, the seven indistinct shapes were in the dark clouds, cloaked. The Ghostly Cultivators were shrouded with skeletal capes, and the sinister air that emanated from that side was eerie.
Leading the charge was Jiang Xie. He understood immediately. It had to be Wu Yu!
His face was terrible to behold, and the Zhongyuan Dao Sect surrounded Wu Yu in righteous fas.h.i.+on.
Jiang Xie glowered at the palanquin. "Ninth Spirit, dare I ask why you let Wu Yu out to kill my disciples?!"
If not for the Ninth Spirit, he would not even waste words.
From within the palanquin, the Ninth Spirit was a little vague on the details, although she roughly knew what had transpired. She said, "Brother Jiang, don"t be angry, it was an accident. He laid down an immortal root in my palanquin and successfully fused with it. He was unable to control it, so I let him out. I"m afraid he did not know that there were people in the sky."
The Ninth Spirit spoke true.
However, if Wu Yu had known that the sky was full of Zhongyuan Dao Sect members, he would still have done it.
"Accident? Four of my disciples lie dead, and 17 more wounded. I"ve lost 130 Pegasi. An accident? Do you think that this matter will be let go like that?" This time around, Jiang Xie could not tolerate it any more. Even if it was an accident, he could not simply swallow this.
Wu Yu was fearless. He wished that the Ninth Spirit would clash with Jiang Xie. He laughed. "What are you going to do about it? Honestly, if I had known you lot was above, I would have aimed better. Maybe I could have killed a few more."
"Wu Yu, do you want to die!?"
"Shut your mouth!"
"Stop hiding behind the woman. If you have the b.a.l.l.s, come face me!"
Instantly, the disciples of the Zhongyuan Dao Sect raised a malevolent outcry.
They were out of their minds with anger. Before the battle had started, such a thing had already happened. If they could not take down Wu Yu, their morale would take a heavy blow.
Instantly, more than 100 people were posturing and threatening. It was an impressive sight.
A pity that Wu Yu was the fearless kind. Against their bellows and threats, he still smiled. "All of you can only squawk blindly. Any capable ones actually going to touch me?"
"You!"
With this taunt, not even Jiang Xie could hold back the flood of Zhongyuan Dao Sect disciples, who poured towards Wu Yu"s position. Which was also the palanquin"s position. And the Ninth Spirit"s position.
"All of you, hold!" Jiang Xie bawled.
However, the hot-blooded young disciples had lost their heads now. Not even the Sect Leader could stop them.
Boom!
They attacked the palanquin, angering the demon army. To the demon army, the Ninth Spirit was their ruler, and they would not brook such challenge! This angered the demons, and they converged before the palanquin, naturally sheltering and protecting Wu Yu as well.
The two forces were about to start fighting.
Wu Yu was celebrating inwardly. He wished that they would all slaughter each other until the blood gushed like a river.
But he had not expected that at this moment, the Ninth Spirit would walk out of the palanquin to stand beside him.
The Ninth Spirit"s influence with the demons was even more absolute than Jiang Xie"s own with the Zhongyuan Dao Sect. With a slight gesture, the entire demon army halted, docilely returning to their position.
And on the Zhongyuan Dao Sect side, all were enamored at first sight with the Ninth Spirit. The anger in their hearts was quelled, and they were completely entranced by the face of this 1,000-year fox demon. Even Jiang Xie, Tian Yijun, and the others were all deeply moved, and even bewitched.
The Ninth Spirit raised her head and asked, "Our common goal is the Bipo Mountain Range. Can we stop fighting among ourselves here?"
Her voice made the entire Zhongyuan Dao Sect unable to object. Besides the only one who could maintain a semblance of alertness - Jiang Xie.
"We have no quarrel with you, but Wu Yu has killed the disciples of my Zhongyuan Dao Sect. This debt has to be settled," Jiang Xie insisted.
"But he is very important to me. He cannot be harmed or killed at your hands." The Ninth Spirit"s beautiful eyes flickered, and they fell even deeper under her spell.
"If you want to settle this, it"s easy! I, Wu Yu, challenge the disciples of your Zhongyuan Dao Sect! I"ll fight however many there are!" Wu Yu knew that the Ninth Spirit was using her charming demon techniques. That was why he began to channel the Inner Vajra Buddha Sutra. While they were swayed, he remained alert under the piercing pain.
In truth, Wu Yu"s reasons for saying this were simple. They were fourfold.
First, Inner Vajra Buddha second Realm, Qi Condensation Realm fifth tier, and now with the Yin Yang Sword Wheel laid down, he was raring to fight. He wanted to see his own level! This was his battle-hungry heart at work.
Second, the more chaos he caused, the more time he bought for the Heavenly Sword Sect, for Feng Xueya to prepare and devise.
Third, he wanted to crush the morale of the Zhongyuan Dao Sect, and make them frustrated!
Fourth, he wanted to look for a chance, to see if he could escape!
That was why he had said thus on a brainwave, reacting to the Zhongyuan Dao Sect"s need for revenge. On this barren wasteland, he would challenge them with his power alone!
Decisive, arrogant, brazen - a move that only he could make!
Although it had started as an accident, now it was a huge opportunity for Wu Yu.
Jiang Xie started, and asked, "You want to challenge the disciples of my Zhongyuan Dao Sect? How so? It has to be a fight to the death. That is all we will accept!"
Although the Ninth Spirit was protecting Wu Yu, if Wu Yu himself accepted such a challenge, then that was not the fault of the Zhongyuan Dao Sect. Jiang Xie was clear that although they needed the Ninth Spirit for this fight, if they continued to be led around by their noses in this way, he would lose a lot of initiative.
He believed that the Ninth Spirit would not pull out of the agreement so easily either. She too needed the Bipo Mountain Range.
"Naturally, it"s a fight to the death!" Wu Yu said icily.
"Who are you challenging!?"
"All below the 7th tier of the Qi Condensation Realm. I"ll kill every single one of you that steps up! Whoever can kill me will be lucky!" Wu Yu lifted his head to meet Jiang Xie"s eyes coldly. His words were br.i.m.m.i.n.g with arrogance.
"Very well."
Wu Yu"s best battle record so far had been defeating Jiang Junlin. But within the Zhongyuan Dao Sect, there were many at the seventh tier and below who were much stronger than Jiang Junlin!
They had all been cultivating for more than a century.
They were the elites of the Zhongyuan Dao Sect!
At present, Wu Yu had five spiritual sources, and his spiritual power was average. His physical prowess was excellent, and Jiang Xie acknowledged that. But most of them did not feel like he could defeat all the disciples at the seventh Tier of the Qi Condensation Realm and below.
Wu Yu was using the protection of the Ninth Spirit to issue his challenge. Jiang Xie really wanted to kill him, and was supremely confident about the abilities of his disciples. This time, he chose to take the challenge!
"This punk, he went through some transformation and got a powerful body. He also beat two opponents who exceeded his level before! But for martial cultivators, it becomes even harder to defeat those of higher levels the higher up you go! He"s so naive. No matter what level he"s at, he thinks he can beat opponents who are two tiers above him!
"How reckless. Very well, a pity that he doesn"t understand how the world works! And at the seventh tier of the Qi Condensation Realm, who wouldn"t have a killing move or two?"
Jiang Xie was clear about this in his heart.
However, much still depended on the Ninth Spirit.
Instantly, Wu Yu and Jiang Xie both looked towards the Ninth Spirit.
"Hmph, I can"t be bothered with you men." The Ninth Spirit laughed lightly, turning and returning to the palanquin.
Only now did the wasteland return to normalcy.
The fire of battle raged on!