"Where is Cao De?"
"Li Mo, I know you're Cao De's trusted confidant. If you're willing to serve as a witness for the prosecution and identify Cao De on the spot, I'll submit a petition to the Brocade Guard Thousand-Household Office in Dragon Abyss Prefecture and ask for leniency in your punishment!"
Chen Fan looked at Li Mo and said in a deep voice.
The seven Brocade Guard Squad Leaders who had fought alongside Li Mo were surrounded by the Brocade Guard. Some died, while others surrendered. Meanwhile, the dozen or so demons were steadily driven back under the combined assault of Lu Xuening, Huang Chengyue, Wang Chao, Qin Yuan, and the others.
The strongest among those demons had only reached the fourth level of the Divine Treasury Realm. There were three in total, and the strongest—the black gorilla—had already been kicked to death by Chen Fan.
The remaining two were also firmly suppressed by Lu Xuening, a martial artist at the peak Divine Treasury Realm.
With those two top combatants gone, the demons at the second and third levels of the Divine Treasury Realm suffered a severe blow to their morale and were beaten back by Huang Chengyue and the others. However, these demons had thick hides and massive reserves of vitality; killing them quickly was no easy task.
The situation at the scene was gradually tipping toward Chen Fan's side.
"You want me to betray Commander Cao? You're dreaming!"
"I'll take the first step down the Yellow Springs Road. You'll soon come and join me!"
Li Mo stretched out his left hand, grabbed the blade of Chen Fan's Embroidered Spring Blade, and viciously drove it into his own throat before collapsing to the ground.
"He was a real man, after all!"
Seeing this, Chen Fan thought a little more highly of Li Mo.
"Cao De, even if you refuse to show yourself, everything that happened today will still be charged to your account. You colluded with demons, eliminated dissidents, controlled Ping An County, treated human lives like grass, and slaughtered innocents. These are already facts known to everyone!"
"Cao De, weren't you coming to kill me? Why haven't you made your move? Could it be that you're afraid?"
Chen Fan swept his gaze around and spoke loudly.
He knew Cao De had to be nearby. Today's grand mobilization had been for the sake of killing him. Yet at this critical juncture, Cao De had instead hidden himself away?
He looked at the demons still stubbornly resisting around him and decided to kill them first. Taking three steps as two, he struck down one demon with every slash, killing all eight in an instant. The remaining few demons also fell beneath the blades of Lu Xuening, Huang Chengyue, and the others!
"Hahaha!"
"Hahahaha!"
"Chen Fan, now that I'm here, what can you do?!"
Cao De, clad in the uniform of a Hundred-Household Commander and holding a perfectly straight Meteorite Iron Blade, strode out from a corner.
Terrifying blood mist swirled around his entire body, spreading unceasingly in all directions.
The blood within the corpses of the fallen demons and martial artists rapidly flowed out, turning them into dried husks.
That spilled blood merged with the mist, making it swell continuously. Cao De suddenly inhaled and swallowed all the blood mist into his body. His aura grew stronger and stronger, and a terrifying presence radiated from him!
"Blood Fiend Art!"
"This is the Blood Fiend Art of the Blood Fiend Sect, a genuine Divine Aperture Realm cultivation art!"
"To cultivate this art, one must find a place thick with yin-baleful energy, guide that yin-baleful energy into the body, then supplement it with essence blood to refine Baleful Intent. One then uses Bloodfiend Power to open apertures, guides the heaven-and-earth primordial energy into the body, and breaks into the Divine Aperture Realm in one stroke!"
"However, this is a heretical path of demons and devils. Those who use this method to break through to the Divine Aperture Realm are destined to have limited achievements in the future."
"Moreover, the bloodfiend energy will corrode the entire body. Once the Baleful Intent enters the brain, a blood demon will be born. At that point, the cultivator will completely lose themselves!"
"Cao De used not only the blood of all kinds of demons to cultivate this art, but also the blood of human martial artists. Such Baleful Intent is the most mixed and impure. Though its effects may be remarkable and its power formidable, it also greatly increases the risk of falling into demonhood!"
Lu Xuening could not help speaking when she saw Cao De in this state.
The Brocade Guard Thousand-Household Office in Dragon Abyss Prefecture possessed orthodox Divine Aperture Realm cultivation arts, and they had virtually no especially obvious side effects. Yet Cao De had chosen to cultivate a demonic art instead!
Such cultivation arts were expressly forbidden by the Great Zhou Dynasty. This charge alone was enough to take Cao De's life.
But since Cao De dared to reveal it before everyone tonight, he clearly had no intention of letting anyone present leave alive!
"Little girl, young as you are, you've seen quite a lot."
"That's right. What I cultivate is the Blood Fiend Art!"
"I know this cultivation art isn't tolerated by the imperial court, but I had no choice!"
"I, Cao De, worked diligently in my position as the Brocade Guard Hundred-Household Commander of Ping An County for twenty years, and I repeatedly went to the Brocade Guard Thousand-Household Office in Dragon Abyss Prefecture to exchange for Divine Aperture Realm cultivation arts."
"But my aptitude was too poor. I exchanged for three whole Divine Aperture Realm cultivation arts, yet I couldn't successfully cultivate a single one."
"In the end, even the Divine Aperture Realm senior guarding the armory said outright that if I couldn't even get started with those three simplest ones, exchanging for other Divine Aperture Realm cultivation arts would merely waste my merit points and have no meaning whatsoever."
"Then was I supposed to remain in this godforsaken place, Ping An County, for the rest of my life? Was I never to become a Divine Aperture Realm martial artist?"
"No!"
"I refused!"
"I was unwilling to accept it. I wanted to defy the heavens!"
"Now, I've succeeded. Using the Blood Fiend Art, I successfully opened my own apertures, connected with the heaven-and-earth primordial energy, and became a true Divine Aperture Realm martial artist!"
"Later, I can switch to cultivating other Divine Aperture Realm cultivation arts and transform the Bloodfiend Power within my body. Although that may leave me unable to advance another inch for the rest of my life, I'll still be satisfied."
"Speaking of which, I have to thank you for going on a killing spree in Ping An County and slaughtering demons."
"The reason I arrived late tonight was because I first paid a visit to the government office and refined the essence blood of every demon there."
"Now that I've also refined the essence blood of the demons and martial artists here, the bloodfiend energy within my body has grown even stronger. I have now opened three apertures, and the heaven-and-earth primordial energy I can connect with has become even more immense."
"Are you ready to welcome death?"
Cao De strode with the bearing of a dragon and tiger, brimming with confidence. He held the Meteorite Iron Blade as bloodfiend energy billowed around him, his internal force bursting through his body and making his clothes flutter without wind.
"Go!"
"Cao De has already become a Divine Aperture Realm martial artist and opened three apertures. Even if he used a shortcut and walked the heretical path of demons and devils, he is still a genuine Divine Aperture Realm martial artist!"
"The five levels of the Divine Treasury Realm are only the beginning of the martial path. The Divine Aperture Realm and the Divine Treasury Realm are as far apart as heaven and earth!"
"I've already sent a request for reinforcements to Dragon Abyss Prefecture. Don't try to prove your strength for the moment. Take one step back and the sea will be broad, the sky vast; keep the green hills, and there'll be no shortage of firewood!"
Lu Xuening grabbed Chen Fan's arm and spoke in a deep voice. Yet no matter how hard she pulled, Chen Fan remained utterly unmoved, which made her even more anxious.
"Go?"
"I can leave just like that, but what about all of you?"
"What about the Brocade Guard brothers who trusted us and followed us here to stand against Cao De?"
"Anyone can leave today, but I, Chen Fan, cannot!"
Chen Fan said with a steadfast gaze.
The eyes of those Brocade Guard shone as they looked at him. They knew they had made the right choice. They had not followed the wrong man!
"Hahaha!"
"None of you will leave. Go die!"
"Blood Fiend Palm!"
Cao De laughed loudly. He leaped into the air, light as a swallow and swift as a startled swan, charging straight at Chen Fan!
"I said I wouldn't leave, but I don't seem to have said that I would stay behind and let you slaughter me!"
"So what if you're a Divine Aperture Realm martial artist?"
"Let's see whether my Martial Dao Ten Stages can defeat your crooked path!"
Chen Fan showed not the slightest panic in the face of Cao De's attack. He unleashed the Heaven and Earth Millstone Fist, throwing a punch that carried surging heaven-and-earth primordial energy. Its terrifying force seemed capable of shattering heaven and earth and tearing apart the firmament!
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