Volume 1, Chapter 165 – Reinforcements

Many low-cultivation martial artists on the warship instantly bled from nose and mouth, suffering heavy injuries. Even Shi Lan felt his mind go blank, losing the ability to think for several breaths.

“Go!”

Bai Weiyang did not hesitate in the slightest. He ordered the warship to be driven at full speed, wanting to get everyone far away from this terrifying battlefield.

The blood-red spear was hacked back by the golden sword qi, sent flying in reverse. The Heaven Demon who had made the strike trembled violently, retreating several hundred zhang. With each step he took, the void beneath his feet was stomped into a pitch-black pit.

Blinding firelight pressed down from the firmament, driving straight toward the golden sea of swords.

Yan Jun’s snow-white robes outshone the snow itself. Like a sword immortal stepping into the mortal world, his terrifying aura rose once more. Thousands upon tens of thousands of golden sword beams shot into the heavens, divine radiance dyeing the entire world a pale gold.

The blinding firelight was torn apart with a thunderous roar a thousand zhang away from the golden sea of swords.

“Today, I, this Marshal, will butcher a Heaven Demon to go with your wine and welcome you properly!”

The Demon-Suppressing Marshal standing not far away let a cold smile curl at the corner of his mouth. He reached into the void and drew out a long mace over five feet in length. The mace was pitch-black from head to toe, with divine patterns coiling along its shaft and a terrifyingly unfathomable aura.

“His strength has already reached above the fifth stage of the Heaven-Man Realm. Cang Zun, attack together with me. The rest of you, combine your strength and first tear apart the human commander!”

The red-dressed woman blazed with firelight, a terrifying fire-law aura igniting the void. Rootless flames burned in raging waves.

The nine Heaven Demons other than Cang Zun moved the instant they heard her, pouncing toward the remaining Heaven-Man experts. Five of them went straight for the Demon-Suppressing Marshal.

“You think you get the final say?”

Yan Mobei let out a cold laugh, his gaze sharp as a blade. He took a single step, tearing through space to appear instantly before one of the Heaven Demons—the very same black-robed man who had attacked the warship earlier.

A peerless sword radiance shone through the Nine Heavens, as if about to slice apart primordial chaos itself. An unimaginably terrifying killing intent poured down like a tumbling river of stars, ripping heaven and earth wide open.

He moved too fast. The red-dressed woman and that Cang Zun had no time to stop him in their haste.

Tens of thousands of sword beams pierced through the void, punching so many holes in the world it looked like a sieve.

“Roar!”

That Heaven Demon’s expression changed wildly. He let out a furious bellow, demonic power surging as he tried to reveal his true form.

Unfortunately, Yan Jun gave him no such chance. The space around them froze in an instant. Even the surging waves of energy were locked in place in the void, as though time and space had come to a halt.

A single sweep of sword light flashed past, and the black-robed man’s head was lopped off in an instant. His body was ground to ash by countless strands of golden sword qi. The law aura coiling around the golden sword qi completely obliterated his Nascent Soul as well.

A thunderous boom erupted like a bolt of thunder on level ground.

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The void collapsed, ripples surging like waves. On the other side of those ripples was a barren world with no grass or trees, now crumbling and collapsing until it was fully destroyed.

The peak experts on the field all knew exactly what this meant. A newborn inner world was like a sprouting seedling—once the root was cut, there was only one end: destruction. It meant that black-robed man from moments ago was as dead as dead could be.

In the span of a breath, a Heaven Demon had fallen right there and then, not even a wisp of remnant soul escaping.

The rest of the Heaven Demons halted in midair, a chill gripping all their hearts.

In the boundless demon domain, Heaven Demons held exalted status. Each one commanded at least a million demons beneath them, dominating an entire region with an illustrious power.

Any one Heaven Demon had gone through at least several thousand to ten thousand years of cultivation to be worthy of the Heaven Demon rank. They were not so easily killed, even if that black-robed man had only just stepped into the Heaven Demon Realm not long ago.

It was not only the demon experts who were shaken. Even the human Heaven-Man experts were stunned by Yan Jun’s fearsome combat power. Only the Demon-Suppressing Marshal remained unmoved, as though this were perfectly normal.

After cutting down a Heaven Demon, no joy showed on Yan Jun’s face. In terms of numbers, the human side was still at a great disadvantage. Naturally, the wise move was to pick off the softest targets, find the weak points, and kill off several of the demon side’s main battle strength. That was the best strategy.

“Everyone strike together and do everything to kill him first!” Cang Zun let out a piercing roar. Behind him, the divine and majestic hawk gave a long cry as well. His demonic power and the power of the laws were pushed to their limits.

The red-dressed woman made her move outright. The raging flames around her condensed into a mass of world-ending fire, melting space itself as it surged toward Yan Jun. The other Heaven Demons followed close behind, attacking in succession.

Yan Jun had opened with an unstoppable strike to crush a Heaven Demon to death. This had already cast a shadow over the hearts of the demon experts who had thought victory was firmly in their grasp.

A thunderous boom rang out.

Ten Heaven Demons attacked at once, their qi linked into one. The surging killing intent poured down as the power of the laws wove together into imprints of the Dao, each one terrifying in might, crashing down toward Yan Jun’s head.

Murderous intent condensed into something almost tangible in Yan Jun’s eyes as he swept his gaze back and forth across the ten remaining Heaven Demons. The void beside him rippled, and a sheathedless ancient cyan sword slowly emerged.

A long sword cry rang out, resonant and unending. Yan Jun’s expression remained calm, neither joyful nor sorrowful, as he raised his hand and closed his fingers around the hilt. Divine light burst from his entire body, like a golden sun hanging high in the Nine Heavens. An indescribable, solemn killing aura suppressed the entire battlefield.

A blazing sword beam tore the firmament apart as it slashed toward the falling world-ending fire and the law imprints. Facing the combined strike of ten Heaven Demons, Yan Jun was not afraid in the slightest and met them head-on.

The world-ending fire, containing the very extremity of the fire laws, could not withstand that blazing sword light. In the blink of an eye it was annihilated. The sword beam did not slow at all, breaking through four or five law imprints in a row before it gradually dispersed.

The Demon-Suppressing Marshal snorted coldly, killing intent in his eyes. He swung his long mace, law power roaring as he charged to aid Yan Jun.

Staff shadows filled the sky, smashing upward into the many law imprints. After familiarizing himself briefly with the long staff in his hand, Ji Yun immediately moved as well. The other Heaven-Man experts followed closely, several supreme treasures unleashed together, erupting with world-ending might.

The vast surging shockwaves turned into a mighty force that shoved the already distant warship another ten thousand zhang away. Its battered frame nearly collapsed entirely.

In the melee of nearly twenty Heaven-Man experts clashing, there was no room for any living creature to survive. The entire plain was plowed flat, sunk several zhang into the earth, like a colossal dried-up lakebed.

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The situation spiraled out of control. Spatial rifts split open one after another, yet more experts arriving at the scene. In addition to Heaven-Man Realm experts, many human Nascent Soul Realm powerhouses and great demons also came.

Those at the Myriad Phenomena Realm and below did not dare draw near the battlefield at all, for at any moment they might be wiped out with a casual wave.

A streak of golden light flashed in from the side, blocking the warship that was trying to escape. It was the demon king Bai Weiyang’s group had tried to capture earlier.

This time, there were several more figures at his side. Besides other transformed demon kings like himself, there was no need to guess who they were.

The golden-haired man stroked his nearly ruined wings and looked at Bai Weiyang, undisguised killing intent in his eyes.

The two sides exchanged not a single word. They raised their hands and immediately ignited a furious battle.

The warship turned about once more, continuing to flee farther from the main battlefield, while Bai Weiyang and the other two stepped into the sky to finish the fight that had been interrupted midway earlier and bring it to a proper conclusion.

……

The chaotic battle raging across this stretch of land was practically the pinnacle confrontation of the current Chengtian Domain.

But in the Chengtian Domain as it stood now, the demon race was unquestionably dominant. The demon reinforcements arriving were several times more numerous than the human experts. It did not take long before the balance of the battle began to tip.

By the final stages, aside from the Demon-Suppressing Marshal and Yan Jun, nearly every Heaven-Man Realm expert had fully opened their own little worlds, burning the power of their worlds in hopes of gaining stronger combat strength and turning the tide.

The blood and qi of peak experts pierced through heaven and earth, like divine pillars rising between sky and ground, radiating a terrifying pressure.

The battlefield was utter chaos, with no fixed opponents.

Aside from Yan Jun, the Demon-Suppressing Marshal, and a handful of other top-tier experts, there were always at least five Heaven Demons circling around them at any given time.

Golden sword qi rolled like giant dragons, tearing at the omnipresent powers of the laws. None of the Heaven Demons dared to clash with it directly.

A faint impatience stirred in Yan Jun’s heart. If things went on like this, human defeat was only a matter of time. If these top experts all died here, the fall of the Chengtian Domain would only accelerate. That was an outcome he did not want to see.

The Demon-Suppressing Marshal still looked relatively calm, but there was a weight in his eyes as well. He had already slain one Heaven Demon, but in the face of the sheer number of demon experts, it hardly mattered.

The situation was slipping beyond control. At this point, simply trying to pull free and escape was no easy task.

Another earth-shattering boom rang out. The sound of a world collapsing echoed once more as a figure exploded into a spray of blood in midair. The divine weapon he wielded—an ancient stone stele—was shattered and scattered in pieces.

A human Heaven-Man Realm powerhouse had fallen. Because his world power had already been drained, the sound of his little world collapsing was far duller than that of the Heaven Demon earlier, like a mournful, cracked bell tolling faintly in the chaos, not drawing much notice.

At the same time, a spatial rift spanning several thousand zhang opened again. Demonic qi soared into the sky as several figures poured out one after another. At their head was a transformed demon who looked less than thirty.

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More demon reinforcements…

The human experts remaining on the field all changed expression, a trace of despair rising in their hearts.

This demon was of medium build, androgynous in appearance, with peerlessly gorgeous features. Every small gesture carried a mysterious charm that tugged at the mind. In his arms he held a little white fox.

The little white fox’s fur was pure white without a single stray hair. Its eyes were clear and moist, brimming with spiritual intelligence.

After sweeping a glance around the battlefield, the demon’s gaze locked onto the strongest presence here: Yan Jun. He moved slowly in that direction.

The Heaven Demons surrounding Yan Jun immediately pulled back, scattering away.

Yan Jun gave the newcomer a once-over, his brows knitting slightly. The strength of the one approaching was not weak…

“I’ll be waiting for you up there,” the demon said, rising straight into the sky and vanishing into the layers of astral wind. His tone was flat, but from the sound of his voice, he was a man.

Yan Jun glanced across the battlefield, not intending to pay him any mind. But the man’s voice sounded directly in his mind: “My patience is limited. You have five breaths. After that, I won’t wait.”

Yan Jun’s eyes darkened. He looked up into the sky, his expression suddenly shifting. Then he broke away from the battlefield, turning into a golden rainbow as he shot into the raging astral wind.

“Amitabha…”

Yan Jun had barely left when a majestic Buddhist chant echoed across the battlefield. A colossal golden palm imprint descended from the void, covering the sky. Accompanied by waves of Sanskrit chanting and a faint Buddha phantom, it slammed a Heaven Demon thousands of zhang into the ground. Law power burst forth and, in an instant, completely suppressed him.

An old monk clad in a red-gold kasaya, his whole body radiating Buddhist light, strolled in from the distance and forced his way into the battlefield.

“The master’s strike carries a heavy killing aura,” a gentle voice remarked. A middle-aged man in a gray robe walked in close behind, hands clasped behind his back.

“Amitabha, my Buddha is compassionate, but even the Buddha has a wrathful Vajra face,” the old monk said, eyes half-lowered. He reached out and closed his fingers, drawing a Vajra Demon-Subduing Pestle from the void and smashing apart a law imprint. The aura around him shifted.

“This poor monk’s journey is to ferry them to the Western Paradise. Stirring a bit of anger, the Buddha will not blame me. Good, good…”

The gray-robed man shook his head slightly, his eyes cold as he watched the myriad law powers hurled at them by the Heaven Demons.

“We scholars are meant to establish a heart for heaven and earth and a life for the common folk. But the demon race is cruel by nature. Even the vast magnanimity of the sages of old cannot tolerate their existence. Though they wear human skins, they lack human hearts. They are beyond teaching. Only when all demons are swept away will the world know peace.”

The old monk swept his demon-subduing pestle sideways, smashing endless stretches of void and burying countless law imprints. He gave a light shout: “Benefactor Feng, spare us your lengthy sermon. This old monk’s meditative heart is already stirred. I have no attention to spare for your long-winded discourse. Hurry and make your move!”

The gray-robed man shook his head ever so slightly. His gaze locked on one Heaven Demon as a cyan ledger appeared before him and opened. He lifted a jade-green brush, and on the blank page wrote a single character as he spoke aloud:

“Die.”

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As words gave birth to law, a terrifying death-law surged from the page, condensing into a pitch-black mountain that crashed down toward that Heaven Demon.

The Heaven Demon’s expression shifted. He hastily sacrificed a nine-tiered bone pagoda to meet the black mountain.

A deafening crash followed.

The bone pagoda shattered instantly and was flung back. The pitch-black mountain dispersed as well.

Before the Heaven Demon could breathe a sigh of relief, the scattered death-law rushed back together, turning into chains of law that bound him tightly. Like a grinding wheel rolling forward, they began to grind away his life force.

Hoarse beastly screams rang out again and again. Several Heaven Demons nearby tried to move in and rescue him, but all failed.

Standing in the void, the middle-aged man had black hair at his temples, with a few strands of silver beginning to show.

“Benefactor Feng is truly righteous, but how much of your lifespan did that one stroke burn away?” the old monk asked.

“I still have plenty of years left to live. If the master is curious, you can ask the Buddha yourself in the future,” the gray-robed man replied, lifting the jade brush once more as he spoke…

With the arrival of the old monk and the gray-robed man, the human side clawed back a bit of ground, but they were still on the back foot.

And the demon reinforcements were still pouring in…

……

High above the Nine Heavens, that alluring demon and Yan Jun faced each other.

The man glanced at the cyan ancient sword clenched in Yan Jun’s hand. After sending the white fox into his own little world, he arched a brow and said:

“That’s a fine sword. What’s it called?”

“Its name is Qingyu. It has cut down Heaven-Man experts and drunk Heaven Demon blood. The number of Heaven Demon souls beneath its edge is the highest of all. Add you lot to the count, and it will break into double digits,” Yan Jun replied coolly.

“I like your confidence,” the man said with a faint smile. Pink light flickered in his eyes as a flowery world unfolded behind him.

The surroundings turned into a city filled with beautiful women, all songbirds and swallows, their clothing barely covering their bodies, every pose dripping with seduction.

“Six hundred years ago, I cut away my five emotions and six desires. Are these cheap tricks all you’ve got?”

Yan Jun was utterly unmoved, a trace of mockery flashing through his eyes.