Chapter Eleven: I Have Received the True Transmission

"An Abyssal Demon can actually speak?"

Zhong Yue was startled. The Abyssal Demon he had encountered in Azure Sky Hall had immediately thrown itself into a frenzied slaughter the moment it appeared. He had therefore assumed that creatures like the Abyssal Demons acted solely on their instinct to kill. He had never imagined that they could actually speak.

However, the fact that these Abyssal Demons compared Ting Lanyue and the other female disciples of the Sword Gate Upper Academy to heifers did surprise Zhong Yue. In his view, heifers were nowhere near as adorable as these female disciples. He truly could not understand how the Abyssal Demons had managed to link the female disciples with cows.

Ting Lanyue shouted, "Junior Brothers and Sisters, prepare for battle! Junior Brother Zhong Yue, your cultivation is the weakest, and you have never experienced a battle like this. Follow me!"

Zhong Yue was stunned, then laughed helplessly.

Ting Lanyue and the other Upper Academy disciples were already prepared, standing ready for battle. Ting Lanyue said in a low voice, "Junior Brother Zhong, the Abyssal Demon you encountered in Azure Sky Hall was an immature Abyssal Demon. It could not even speak, and its soul was so weak that it died at the slightest touch. The Abyssal Demons here, however, are adults. In terms of combat strength, they are several times stronger than immature Abyssal Demons, and their souls are also much stronger. It is impossible to sever their souls easily."

Zhong Yue narrowed his eyes and looked ahead. The mass of Abyssal Demons had already pounced to within a dozen yards of them. These charging Abyssal Demons were indeed somewhat different from those he had seen in Azure Sky Hall. They were taller, burlier, and seemed stronger. They were also faster!

Moreover, the Abyssal Demons used to test the disciples in Azure Sky Hall had no flesh on their arms, only bones shaped like sickles. Yet the arms of these charging Abyssal Demons gleamed with a metallic sheen over their bones!

This meant that their arms were not bone sickles. The metal contained within their bones had settled, transforming their arms into metal sickles and greatly increasing their threat!

"Attack!"

Ting Lanyue shouted. Her spiritual power erupted as she cast the Thunderclap Sword Art. The emerald-blue lightning transformed into a three-foot sword beam, which pierced through an Abyssal Demon with a sharp hiss!

The other Upper Academy disciples also attacked one after another, each casting the Thunderclap Sword Art. Thunder boomed as sword after sword of lightning flew out, engaging the Abyssal Demon tribe!

"Adult Abyssal Demons have astonishing digestive systems. They can eat Mysterious Iron ore, and the Mysterious Iron within the ore is refined inside their bodies before fusing into their bones!"

Ting Lanyue slew Abyssal Demons as she explained to Zhong Yue, "These are merely ordinary adult Abyssal Demons. The truly dangerous ones are Mutated Abyssal Demons. Their skin is covered in Abyssal Demon totem markings from birth. Once they reach adulthood, their bones are completely replaced by Mysterious Iron. Their sinews are like copper and their bones like iron, making them impervious to blades and spears. The bones throughout such an Abyssal Demon weigh two or three thousand pounds, and it can unleash tens of thousands of pounds of force. Ordinary soul weapons cannot harm it in the slightest! Fortunately, they are extremely rare. Not one exists among several million Abyssal Demons. Only large Abyssal Demon tribes might produce such mutated demons. This small tribe we encountered could never give birth to one."

As she spoke, she had already slain five adult Abyssal Demons. Her attacks were fierce and swift as lightning, and her strength was indeed formidable. It was no wonder she was recognized by more than a hundred Upper Academy disciples as their senior sister!

The other Upper Academy disciples were also battling the Abyssal Demons and honing their Thunderclap Sword Art. This Abyssal Demon tribe was not large, with just over two hundred adult Abyssal Demons. Aside from Ting Lanyue, two or three other Upper Academy disciples also possessed impressive combat strength. After casting the Thunderclap Sword Art, they slew their opponents after a dozen or so exchanges.

He Chengchuan was especially formidable. His strength was no weaker than Ting Lanyue's, and his attacks were equally fierce and terrifying.

As for the other Upper Academy disciples, they did not have things so easy. They could only match the adult Abyssal Demons evenly, and some were wounded. Even so, no one had yet used treasures such as Totem Pillars or soul weapons. Clearly, they could still hold out.

"Slaying Abyssal Demons is also a good way to collect Mysterious Iron. Mysterious Iron can be used to forge soul weapons. The two sickles of an Abyssal Demon contain especially pure Mysterious Iron, making them excellent materials!"

Ting Lanyue continued to instruct him. "Junior Brother Zhong, the weak point of an Abyssal Demon is its heart. However, an adult Abyssal Demon's heart is surrounded by bones, forming a bone sac. Only a tangible yet formless sword qi like the Thunderclap Sword Art can pierce into the bone sac and stab through its heart. The Thunderclap Sword Art is the best method for dealing with Abyssal Demons!"

Zhong Yue watched the battle techniques of the Upper Academy disciples, absorbing their strengths. After all, these disciples had weathered countless battles, and their combat skills were indeed far superior to his.

Suddenly, Kindling's voice came urgently from within his mind. "Zhong Yue, there is a Mutated Abyssal Demon among them. Be extremely careful!"

"A Mutated Abyssal Demon?"

Zhong Yue was startled and was just about to warn Ting Lanyue, He Chengchuan, and the others when an unusually grating laugh suddenly rang out. The Abyssal Demon fighting an Upper Academy male disciple abruptly swayed, then grew several feet taller, reaching a height of sixteen or seventeen feet. Its body became massive, and its sickle arms flashed like lightning, sweeping out a dazzling blade light!

The male disciple's head flew into the sky, his face still filled with disbelief!

"It seems no Human race qi refiner came this time, so I no longer need to hide!"

The Abyssal Demon threw back its head and laughed loudly. It leaped like a bird in flight and flashed toward another Upper Academy male disciple. That disciple reacted quickly. With a single thought, thunder burst forth and transformed into a lightning sword that stabbed toward the Abyssal Demon's chest!

The Abyssal Demon did not care in the slightest. The lightning sword exploded against its chest, yet failed to injure it at all.

In the next moment, the Upper Academy disciple's head was hacked off. The Abyssal Demon reached out, seized him around the waist, lifted him up, and drank the blood from his neck.

"Mutated Abyssal Demon!"

Ting Lanyue, He Chengchuan, and the other Upper Academy disciples immediately realized what had happened. Their eyes nearly split with fury. Almost all of them activated the Thunderclap Sword Art at the same time. In an instant, lightning sword light filled the area, drowning the Abyssal Demon!

The streams of lightning sword light formed a huge thunderball that surrounded the Abyssal Demon. Ting Lanyue looked into the thunderball and saw that the Mutated Abyssal Demon still stood there, tilting its head back as it drank blood. The Upper Academy disciple's body visibly withered at a rapid pace.

Yet this Mutated Abyssal Demon remained completely unharmed beneath the Thunderclap Sword Art of more than a hundred Upper Academy disciples!

"Junior Brothers and Sisters, offer up your Totem Pillars and restrict its movements!"

Ting Lanyue shouted. He Chengchuan and the other Upper Academy disciples hurriedly cast out their Totem Pillars. With a series of thuds, they stabbed them into the ground and formed a great circle around the Abyssal Demon.

Not every Upper Academy disciple possessed a Totem Pillar, but even so, more than fifty Totem Pillars were planted at that moment.

Zhong Yue knew how formidable Totem Pillars were. When he had fought the disciples of the Tian Feng Clan, two Totem Pillars had nearly pressed him into immobility. Now, more than fifty had been cast out at once!

The pressure this created was likely more than twenty times greater than what he had experienced then!

The power of the Totem Pillars erupted one after another. Ripples surged in every direction, fixing each Abyssal Demon in place. One after another, the Abyssal Demons were crushed flat against the ground, unable to move.

The lightning faded, yet the Abyssal Demon still stood within the circle of Totem Pillars. Its expression was savage, and it had not been crushed by the lightning at all.

The Mutated Abyssal Demon laboriously moved its head. Its eyes flashed with murderous light as it fixed its gaze on Ting Lanyue. It extended its long tongue, licked its lips, and said, "The little heifer is fierce, huh? I just love conquering little heifers like you..."

Fine beads of cold sweat appeared on Ting Lanyue's smooth forehead. Seeing a disciple preparing to offer up a soul weapon to kill the Abyssal Demon, she hurriedly shouted, "A Mutated Abyssal Demon's body is harder than iron. Even soul weapons can barely injure it. Our Thunderclap Sword Art isn't mastered well enough, so it's completely useless against it! Everyone, split into groups of ten and flee in different directions! The more of us who escape, the better!"

Before she had finished speaking, strange patterns began surfacing across the skin of the Abyssal Demon within the Totem Pillar circle. They were the innate totem markings of a Mutated Abyssal Demon. Ting Lanyue's expression changed drastically, and she shouted, "Why are you still standing there? Run!"

She knew how terrifying Mutated Abyssal Demons were. Not only did they possess boundless strength and bodies harder than iron, they were also born with totem markings. The appearance of those innate totem markings meant that the Mutated Abyssal Demon was about to activate its totem power and forcibly break through the suppression of the Totem Pillars!

With this Mutated Abyssal Demon's strength, slaughtering the Upper Academy disciples would likely be effortless. Its speed was even inconceivably fast. If they delayed even slightly, no one might escape alive!

He Chengchuan and the others also saw that the situation was dire. They immediately split into groups of ten and scattered in every direction.

Zhong Yue followed behind Ting Lanyue and sprinted madly. When he inadvertently looked back, he saw that the totem markings across the Abyssal Demon's body were shining and trembling continuously. One Totem Pillar after another was shaken violently and gradually loosened. The Abyssal Demon could break free from their suppression at any moment!

Everyone fled for their lives at top speed. Yet at the instant Zhong Yue looked back, one Totem Pillar suddenly shot out of the ground with a whoosh and flew into the air. Then it exploded with a crack, scattering into splinters.

Crack! Crack! Crack!

Dust billowed as the innate totem markings of the Abyssal Demon suppressed the Totem Pillars. One after another, they rose into the air and shattered!

Whoosh—

The Mutated Abyssal Demon's body moved like a ghost as it charged straight toward the fleeing group of Ting Lanyue and Zhong Yue!

Zhong Yue suddenly visualized the Sea of Consciousness. "Kindling, with my current strength, do I have any chance of dealing with this Abyssal Demon?"

Within the Sea of Consciousness, the Kindling Child was slightly startled. He replied carelessly, "Deal with this Abyssal Demon? This Abyssal Demon is protected by innate totem markings, and those markings are far beyond what ordinary Totem God Pillars can compare with. With your current strength, your chances of victory are next to nonexistent! However..."

The Kindling Child paused, and Zhong Yue immediately asked, "However what?"

"However, if your spiritual power manifests in Suihuang's form, you may not be without hope of victory. If your spiritual power manifests in the form of Suihuang, then using a crude method like the Thunderclap Sword Art to attack the Abyssal Demon will allow Suihuang's state to strengthen the power of the Thunderclap Sword Art, giving you the strength to fight it."

Kindling continued, "But I cannot say how good your chances are. After all, you are not a pure-blooded member of the Fuxi Divine Clan. If you were pure-blooded, killing this Abyssal Demon would naturally be effortless."

Zhong Yue suddenly stopped. Ting Lanyue and the others continued running and did not notice that he had fallen behind.

"If a pure-blooded god race can do it, that doesn't mean I can't!"

Zhong Yue turned around, spread his legs, and strode toward the Mutated Abyssal Demon.

The Mutated Abyssal Demon roared. The totem markings across its body lit up one after another. It accelerated, and its two sickle arms swept through the air in a flurry, filling the space with dazzling light.

Zhong Yue also strode forward, his steps growing wider and wider. Spiritual power surged out from the center of his brow. Behind him formed Suihuang, with a dragon's head, a snake's tail, and a human body. A hundred feet tall, he stood towering behind Zhong Yue with dragon horns growing from his head!

Zhong Yue immediately felt as if boundless strength were pouring into him, as though the entire world lay beneath his feet!

"Thunderclap Sword Art—Spring Thunder Opens Winter, Lightning Illuminates the Nine Provinces!"

Zhong Yue shouted. Thunder suddenly erupted beneath his feet and lifted him into the air. In the next moment, lightning flashed!

At that moment, Ting Lanyue abruptly looked back and saw that Zhong Yue was gone. She was startled. "Junior Brother Zhong has never cultivated any profound techniques, and his movement isn't fast..."

She immediately turned back along the path. After Ting Lanyue had returned less than a mile, she suddenly looked up and saw a youth riding lightning through the air. His hands were held as if gripping an invisible greatsword, which he brought down fiercely toward the Mutated Abyssal Demon!

Crack!

With that sword strike, lightning burst through the air like a towering tree of thunder!

Ting Lanyue's mind roared. "The true transmission of the Thunderclap Sword Art!"