Sun-Turning Demon Emperor (Part 1)

Sun-Turning Demon Emperor (Part 1)

In the duel arena, Xu Hui stared at Li Qiye with vicious malice. At this moment, he wished he could chop Li Qiye into ten thousand pieces, skin him alive, and pull out his tendons.

Yu He and the others had personally come to oversee this duel. Everyone held their breath and watched the two of them.

At this moment, neither Protector Mo nor Nan Huairen believed that Li Qiye could defeat Xu Hui. Xu Hui was, after all, an expert in the True Fate Realm. More frightening still, he had cultivated a grand sage-level cultivation art! Li Qiye had joined the Washing Yan Ancient Sect only a few days ago and had not even cultivated any dao arts. Defeating Xu Hui was utterly impossible.

"Can he really defeat Senior Brother Xu?" Li Qiye had crossed all fourteen levels of the "Chaos" Heart Forest in one breath, and now even the disciples of the Nine Sacred Demon Gate were beginning to lose confidence.

One senior brother shook his head and said, "Impossible! It is absolutely impossible for a mortal to defeat a cultivator. Such a thing has never happened throughout the ages! Unless he possesses an Immortal Emperor's True Artifact! But that is impossible too. Even if he had an Immortal Emperor's True Artifact, he would not have enough blood energy to wield it!"

"Yes, someone who has never cultivated dao arts simply cannot wield an Immortal Emperor's True Artifact, even if he truly possesses one! Junior Brother Xu's Fierce Slaughter Sword Art is terrifying beyond compare—profound, domineering, and ferocious. If he fights with his life on the line, then within our Nine Sacred Demon Gate, unless the princess or Eldest Senior Brother personally acts, no one can defeat him!" Another senior brother who had once sparred with Xu Hui nodded in agreement.

Other disciples of the Nine Sacred Demon Gate also did not believe that a mortal like Li Qiye could defeat Xu Hui. "Although Senior Brother Xu's Golden Eagle Physique is an acquired physique, his constitution is incomparably swift and fierce. Whether in speed or attack, Senior Brother Xu is renowned among us fellow disciples."

Cultivators placed great importance on physiques. There were innate and acquired physiques, and physiques varied in quality. From low to high, they were: Mortal Physique, Acquired Physique, Innate Physique, Emperor Physique, Saint Physique, and Immortal Physique!

Mortal Physiques were the most common in the world. Most ordinary mortals among the countless masses had Mortal Physiques! Li Qiye, for example, had a Mortal Physique. Whether in blood energy or constitution, Mortal Physiques were the weakest of the weak!

"Clang—clang—clang—" Xu Hui let out a long roar. In an instant, sword radiance surged from all around him. Strands of sword radiance formed a vast sword domain, each one circling around him like a divine sword! Its formations were dense and intricate, like a fortress of divine halberds, impossible to breach!

"Open—" At this moment, Xu Hui opened his mouth and spat out a divine sword. With a flash, the divine sword instantly became eight divine swords suspended in the air. Each was a hundred zhang tall, each seemingly capable of splitting the earth apart.

"The Fierce Slaughter Sword Art, the Blazing Gold Divine Sword!" A disciple could not help saying enviously, "Senior Brother Xu's True Artifact was forged from Blazing Gold Divine Stone containing complete dao patterns. The Blazing Gold Divine Sword excels in offense, while the Fierce Slaughter Sword Art provides defense. Within our Nine Sacred Demon Gate, aside from Eldest Senior Brother and the others, I fear few could easily defeat Senior Brother Xu."

A cultivator's treasures were divided into True Artifacts and Fate Artifacts. True Artifacts referred to True Fate Artifacts, while Fate Artifacts referred to Common Fate Artifacts. True Artifacts were more powerful than Fate Artifacts!

Seeing this, even Protector Mo fell silent. Nan Huairen let out a soft sigh. With such cultivation, such a cultivation art, and such a True Artifact, Li Qiye had no hope at all!

Against someone like Xu Hui, let alone Nan Huairen, even if Protector Mo personally acted, he could not break Xu Hui's defenses in a move or two. If he could not break through Xu Hui's defense at the start, he would then have to endure the storm-like onslaught of a grand sage cultivation art. That would be even more terrifying!

"Come, little beast! Today, I'll tear you into ten thousand pieces!" Xu Hui roared wildly, pointing his sword at Li Qiye.

"Pah, pah." Li Qiye spat into his palms and rubbed them together. This action was completely unlike his usual calm and leisurely bearing; it was utterly crude.

"Tear me into ten thousand pieces?" Li Qiye said unhurriedly. "You're not good enough. I'll beat you into a pig's head so badly that even your parents won't recognize you!" As he spoke, he slowly drew out the Snake-Beating Cudgel!

When Nan Huairen saw Li Qiye draw the Snake-Beating Cudgel, he nearly fainted. Wasn't that the fire-stoking stick from the ancestral hall of their Washing Yan Ancient Sect? He had been hoping Li Qiye would use the Mystic Gate Saber. Perhaps that miraculous saber could still turn this battle around and create a miracle.

Yet Li Qiye was not using the Mystic Gate Saber. He was using that fire-stoking stick! This, this, this—wasn't this seeking death? With such a fire-stoking stick, Xu Hui's Blazing Gold Divine Sword only needed a light slash to cut it in two!

As for Protector Mo, there was even less need to mention him. Li Qiye had no hope whatsoever. Now he had only one plan: if Li Qiye truly faced mortal danger, he would save him no matter what!

"The Washing Yan Ancient Sect truly has declined. A broken wooden stick dares clash with Senior Brother Xu's Blazing Gold Divine Sword!" A disciple of the Nine Sacred Demon Gate said disdainfully.

Because Li Qiye's passage through the "Chaos" Heart Forest had left a deep impression on Yu He, he focused his eyes and opened his heavenly eye, carefully examining Li Qiye's wooden stick. He was genuinely worried that this wooden stick might be some treasure refined by an Immortal Emperor.

But no matter how he looked at it, the wooden stick was just a wooden stick. It had neither undergone dao refinement nor received the enhancement of any cultivation art. It was an ordinary wooden stick beyond ordinary.

At this moment, even Yu He could not help wondering. A wooden stick dared contend against a True Fate-level True Artifact? This was not knowing the height of heaven or the depth of earth—seeking death!

Protector Xu gave a cold, sinister smile. Li Qiye was seeking death. His disciple could cleave Li Qiye to death with a single sword strike!

"Kid, come over here. Let this grandpa whip your backside until your skin splits and flesh tears!" Li Qiye stood there leisurely yet arrogantly, pointing the Snake-Beating Cudgel straight at Xu Hui.

"Seeking death!" Xu Hui roared. The eight divine swords instantly merged into one. With a "clang," sword cries soared into the sky. A divine sword came slashing down, carrying endless blazing flames, as though it would burn this vast duel arena to ashes!

"It's over—" Seeing this strike, Nan Huairen could not bear to watch. Once this sword fell, Li Qiye would likely not even leave behind bones. Xu Hui plainly intended to kill Li Qiye with one strike!

"Good timing—" Yet Li Qiye did not care in the slightest. He gave a strange cry and charged forward, casually swinging the Snake-Beating Cudgel in his hand without the slightest concern!

"Senior Brother Xu, kill him!" Seeing Li Qiye seek death, the disciples of the Nine Sacred Demon Gate could not help growing excited. If Xu Hui killed Li Qiye with one sword strike, Li Qiye's blood would be enough to wash away their humiliation!

"Bang—" Yet the scene was not as gruesome as everyone had imagined. Li Qiye was not reduced to nothing beneath that sword strike.

With one swing of the Snake-Beating Cudgel, Li Qiye unbelievably struck the weakest point of the Blazing Gold Divine Sword, hitting its spine. With a "clang," Xu Hui's Blazing Gold Divine Sword was knocked to the ground, like a venomous snake struck at its vital seven-inch spot and beaten limp upon the earth.

"Kid, this grandpa will beat you into a pig's head!" Xu Hui could not believe it, but Li Qiye had already rushed forward, casually swinging the Snake-Beating Cudgel at him!

"Kill—" Xu Hui roared wildly. Rather than retreat, the sword radiance around his body instantly transformed into a sea of swords and crushed toward Li Qiye. He simply refused to believe it!

"Bang!" Yet even his grand sage-level Fierce Slaughter Sword Art was useless. With one strike of the Snake-Beating Cudgel, Li Qiye hit the flaw in the Fierce Slaughter Sword Art and viciously lashed Xu Hui across the face. Blood sprayed from Xu Hui's face beneath that blow! Xu Hui was beaten dizzy, with golden stars dancing before his eyes!

"Bang, bang, bang..." In the blink of an eye, Li Qiye struck more than a dozen times. Every blow landed on Xu Hui's weakest spot. Xu Hui was instantly beaten until he could not fight back, like a snake whose bones had been pulled out. His blood energy failed, his cultivation art fell into disorder, and his bones went limp! In the blink of an eye, Xu Hui was beaten to the ground. Several blows had landed on his face, leaving it covered in blood.

The Snake-Beating Cudgel was not a treasure, nor was it a divine weapon. It was merely a wooden stick! Beat a snake at seven inches—when the cudgel struck, it targeted only a person's weak points and vital flaws, striking nothing but openings! Unless one had reached the Heavenly Origin Realm, few could evade this cudgel! The Snake-Beating Cudgel could be said to be the bane of ordinary cultivators.

A three-foot Snake-Beating Cudgel was something rarely seen in the world. In the early years of the emperors, Li Qiye, who had become the Shadow Crow, entered the Eternal Fiendish Ground and spent no small amount of effort obtaining this three-foot Snake-Beating Cudgel from the Ghost Forest!

Let alone a mere Xu Hui, even before Immortal Emperor Mingren became an Immortal Emperor, he had suffered greatly beneath this Snake-Beating Cudgel. Back then, those invincible war generals under Immortal Emperor Mingren had, in their youth, been beaten by this Snake-Beating Cudgel until their skin split and flesh tore, howling in pain!

Avoiding the Snake-Beating Cudgel was not difficult either. Once one broke through to the Heavenly Origin Realm, dodging it became much easier. But if one had not reached the Heavenly Origin Realm, then before the Snake-Beating Cudgel, all one could do was take the beating.

The Snake-Beating Cudgel was neither a treasure nor a divine weapon. It was cut from a small tree that had grown through countless ages within the Eternal Fiendish Ground!

Although even after reaching the Heavenly Origin Realm, one could still be whipped by the Snake-Beating Cudgel until skin split and flesh tore, the Snake-Beating Cudgel would not kill anyone! That was precisely why Li Qiye, after becoming the Shadow Crow, had gone through such trouble to obtain this Snake-Beating Cudgel from the Eternal Fiendish Ground's Ghost Forest—to properly teach Immortal Emperor Mingren and those brats a lesson!

"Bang—bang—bang—" In the blink of an eye, Xu Hui was beaten to the ground. Li Qiye showed no mercy, viciously lashing Xu Hui with the Snake-Beating Cudgel. For a time, Xu Hui was beaten until his skin split and flesh tore, his body covered in wounds. He lay on the ground, unable even to crawl back up!

This scene left everyone dumbfounded! Yu He was greatly shocked and immediately used his heavenly eye to inspect the Snake-Beating Cudgel. Yet it was still only a wooden stick. There were no fluctuations of divine power, no laws circulating through it, and no forbidden arts sealed within it. It was simply an ordinary wooden stick.