Arc 15: Heavenly Secret Realm | Chapter 265: Fight Against the Demons
Translator: Lynn
Although Xu Ziqing knew his senior brother’s strength was outstanding, he still lacked the deep background to gauge the difference in combat power fully and could not predict the battle situation.
Unable to hold back any longer, he summoned Rongjin.
Rongjin, being an ancient ferocious creature, was imbued with a rare level of bloodthirsty aura. Even in its immature form, after consuming a great deal of blood and food, its abilities had greatly increased.
The Demon Subduing Staff in the hands of the three demons was indeed formidable. The black smoke it emitted could block spiritual senses. However, the bloodthirsty demon vine was remarkably different; it was not afraid of the many malevolent energies, and it slowly climbed forward, eventually making its way into the dense smoke.
Xu Ziqing and Rongjin shared a telepathic connection, so what Rongjin saw was also what Xu Ziqing saw.
Indeed, when the demon vine entered the black smoke, a very vague image appeared in Xu Ziqing’s consciousness.
Within the black smoke, the three demons were entangled in a battle with Yun Lie.
The three demons wielded the Demon Subduing Staff with great force, but their movements were exceedingly strange and intricate. Each move and strike showed a connection between the three staffs, seemingly forming a subtle formation that gave a continuous and relentless feeling.
And this formation, as expected of demonic techniques, was bathed in bloodlight. As the battle dragged on, the surface of the black Buddha’s head gradually seeped with streaks of deep red, like blood threads, continuously climbing on the Buddha’s face, dense as a spider’s web, and chillingly terrifying.
The black smoke from the Buddha’s head also gradually changed.
Within the black smoke, the blood aura spread out like blood threads extending from the Buddha’s head, wrapping around the smoke and quickly entangling Yun Lie.
The blood threads were exceedingly strange, floating in mid-air as if forming faces with a ferocious, ghostly expression, full of resentment!
Xu Ziqing, observing through Rongjin’s senses, recognized the extreme danger and grew even more concerned for his senior brother.
As he had antic.i.p.ated, once the blood threads approached Yun Lie, it seemed even the spiritual light on Yun Lie’s body was slightly delayed. While this was not immediately apparent, if it continued, the blood threads would gradually entangle Yun Lie. At that point, even a slight mistake could be fatal!
However, since Xu Ziqing could detect this, Yun Lie, being in the midst of battle, was undoubtedly aware of it as well.
Soon, Yun Lie’s momentum shifted.
Xu Ziqing saw that while the blood threads continued to struggle and entangle, as they neared Yun Lie’s surroundings within three inches, they were repelled by an invisible force and reluctantly returned to the black smoke in mid-air!
This was indeed… fortunate.
With Rongjin reflecting on the situation inside the smoke, Xu Ziqing felt somewhat rea.s.sured.
In this world, if you love someone, you need to see all their experiences in front of you to be at ease. Otherwise, no matter how powerful or unshakable they are, you cannot feel secure.
The three demons, after prolonged fighting, increasingly realized Yun Lie’s strength.
Initially, they believed that Yun Lie’s killing of the four brothers was due to their lack of preparation, not because Yun Lie was truly capable of defeating them. Although they did not underestimate the disciples from prestigious sects and had prepared for the battle, they were still caught off guard by Yun Lie’s actual prowess.
As the battle continued, the three demons relied on the blood threads from the Buddha head to slightly delay Yun Lie, otherwise, their own strength might not be enough to match Yun Lie.
The three brothers had a strong sense of coordination. The third demon, unable to hold his composure, transmitted a message: “Da-ge, Er-ge, my true essence is greatly depleted. I cannot continue fighting this person and fear we might perish here!”
The eldest demon, the most composed, flashed a fierce light in his eyes: “Even if we suffer heavy injuries today, we must avenge our brothers. I will have Yun Lie tortured and cut into pieces to relieve the hatred in my heart!”
Indeed, although the Seven Demons of Hushan committed numerous crimes, their brotherly bond was deep.
Many years ago, there was a powerful couple from the demonic path who had children. The eldest demon was born first and was much older than his younger siblings. Several decades pa.s.sed before the other brothers were born. In particular, the sixth and seventh demons were very young. A few years after they were born, the powerful couple pa.s.sed away. The eldest demon, being significantly older, raised his younger brothers almost like his own sons, placing great hopes and expectations on them and indulging their every need. Now, to think that they were all killed just for a moment of pleasure—how could he not be filled with hatred and driven to madness?
The second demon, cunning by nature and understanding his elder brother’s temperament, quickly devised a plan: “Da-ge, do not be impatient. We previously learned that Yun Lie had achieved Golden Core, and his swordsmanship must involve someone guiding him with emotions. He is known to be a solitary figure, but today he has brought a young cultivator with him, likely someone he values greatly and who might be the source of his Golden Core breakthrough!”
The eldest demon’s face twisted with rage. “Are you sure?”
The second demon, feeling confident, replied, “About ninety percent.”
The eldest demon understood and laughed sinisterly: “Let Er-di and I deal with Yun Lie, while San-di captures that young cultivator. Even if Yun Lie remains cold and unyielding, we can kill the young cultivator in front of him, shaking Yun Lie’s resolve!”
The third demon, impulsive and less clever than his two older brothers but experienced nonetheless, immediately understood the plan and set off: “I’ll go now! Let’s see what fate befalls that Yun Lie!”
While the three demons continued fighting Yun Lie, they quickly communicated this devious plan in their minds.
To make things easier for the three demons, the eldest and second demons shouted loudly and moved in to encircle Yun Lie: “Yun Lie, die!” As they spoke, the Demon Subduing Staff was raised high and brought down upon him!
Yun Lie sidestepped and raised his sword in response, meeting the two Demon Subduing Staffs head-on. They struck the spirit sword with a sharp clang. Despite the two demons’ combined strength, Yun Lie remained unfazed, though his arm was tensed, revealing that it wasn’t without effort.
Perhaps because of the overwhelming power of the Demon Subduing Staff, the spirit sword soon emitted a buzzing sound, as if it was on the verge of breaking. Those who observed closely would notice that cracks had started to appear on the sword.
Meanwhile, the third demon disengaged and transformed into a streak of black light, rushing out of the black smoke.
The third demon thought that unless it was a Nascent Soul master, no one could penetrate this black smoke with their divine sense. He believed that even if the young cultivator outside was extremely perceptive, he would not be able to avoid them and would be easily captured.
However, the three demons had not antic.i.p.ated that although Xu Ziqing’s divine sense could not enter the smoke, he possessed a unique ability that ordinary cultivators did not.
He had the ancient bloodthirsty demon vine, which was resistant to negative energy. This vine could penetrate the black smoke, and the scenes it perceived were also known to Xu Ziqing.
Thus, as soon as the three demons changed direction, Xu Ziqing almost immediately understood their sinister plot.
It wasn’t that Xu Ziqing was particularly deep-minded, but he was well aware of the evil nature of demonic paths, especially when it came to his senior brother. He was even more careful, fearing that his actions might harm his senior brother, and thus thought of the demons’ plans as being even more sinister.
Knowing that his own strength was insufficient to confront the third demon, Xu Ziqing acted without hesitation and called out, “Rongjin!”
In an instant, dozens of bloodthirsty vines shot out from his palms, spreading out like a sea of blood. The sheer volume of blood energy surprised the third demon, who was about to charge.
“This item is so ferocious, clearly a demonic artifact!” The third demon were shocked and uncertain, thinking, “Is this person not a righteous cultivator but one of our own kind?”
Even ordinary demonic path cultivators would not possess such intense blood energy. To gather blood mist to this extent, such a ferocious item would need to consume millions of blood sacrifices. Such a voracious demonic artifact. If not from the demonic path, what else could it be?
This surprise and doubt caused the third demon to hesitate slightly.
In that brief moment, the bloodthirsty demon vine had already formed a sea of blood, protecting Xu Ziqing completely within.
Seeing this, the third demon did not hesitate further.
Regardless of whether it was from the righteous or demonic path, capturing him and handing him over to their eldest brothers was the priority!
In the next moment, the third demon had closed in on the bloodthirsty demon vines. With a grab of their hands, the magical aura surged, transforming into enormous, sky-reaching demon claws that violently grabbed at the young man in green within the vines.
The bloodthirsty demon vine was unwilling to yield. It lashed out with a sudden, forceful motion, shattering the demon’s claws and surrounding the third demon from all directions, tightly entangling them in the center!
The third demon, seeing the bloodthirsty demon vines as they split open like leaves, with their sharp teeth bared, was unwilling to be caught.
Naturally, the demon-slaying staff was wielded to fight against the demon vines.
In this situation, one side tried to completely surround and trap the enemy from all directions, while the other side used powerful demonic energy to create shockwaves that prevented the vines from closing in. As a result, the side trying to encircle could not advance any further, and the side using demonic energy was also unable to break free or use additional techniques.
With this, Xu Ziqing breathed a sigh of relief.
At that moment, Yun Lie noticed the movements of the third demon. However, he was already engaged in a fierce battle of true essence with the first and second demons. His eyes turned cold, and the light on his spiritual sword intensified as he fiercely forced the two demons back. Yet, despite his efforts, the spiritual sword ultimately could not withstand the immense pressure and shattered instantly under the force of the clash!
The three events—the two demons were restraining Yun Lie, Yun Lie’s sword shattered, and the third demon launched a sneak attack—happened in a mere moment.
Of course, Yun Lie wanted to turn around immediately and a.s.sist his Shidi1Junior Brother, but the power of these two demons troubled him more than the power of the peak Golden Core cultivators he had previously slain. After all, the ways of the demonic path are treacherous, and demonic cultivators of the same level are often more formidable than those who follow the orthodox path.
Yet Yun Lie knew that with the third demon’s peak Gold Core power, if a mere Core Formation stage faced him, they wouldn’t even be able to endure a single exchange.
Even someone as composed as Yun Lie finally furrowed his brow.
At this moment, his aura rose sharply, and the murderous intent he emitted felt almost tangible; his movements became faster, and his sword strikes more fierce.
Fortunately, Xu Ziqing was indeed Xu Ziqing. With his special experiences and strong luck, he would not fall easily.
His first reaction to the ambush was not to seek help from his senior brother, but to avoid disturbing his senior brother’s state of mind and use his trump card to protect himself.
Thus, Xu Ziqing released the bloodthirsty demon vines, which entangled the third demon, giving him a chance to catch his breath and allowing Yun Lie to quickly free himself from the two demons.
However, since Yun Lie had already seen through the techniques of the three demonic cultivators and held their sinister intentions in contempt, he no longer held back. With a slight tremor of his arm, a spiritual sword appeared once more in his palm. This was the Frost Slayer Sword that had been bestowed upon him by the sect master. It was a top-grade spiritual weapon, personally chosen by the sect master, and was superior even to ordinary top-grade spiritual weapons.
As soon as the Frost Slayer appeared, the world instantly froze.
Yun Lie’s entire presence also exuded a suffocating pressure…
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