Hearing Green Vine's roar, Lin Changqing's lips had already curled into a smile.
He hadn't disappeared for a while just to activate two abilities.
As long as Divine Demon Power was sufficient, the abilities of the Divine Demon Prison Suppression Art could be activated almost instantly.
He'd stayed away for so long because he'd calculated that Green Vine would burrow into the swamp.
Deep in the swamp, the Green Vine serpent demon was already bleeding profusely. More than a dozen holes covered its body, blood pouring from them and staining a hundred miles of marsh red.
"Damn it! What is this?!"
A silver glint darted through the swamp, its killing intent tearing through the mud and leaving the mire churning in its wake.
Look closely, and it became clear that the streak of silver light was a tiny, exquisitely crafted silver lock.
The Heart-Piercing Lock!
Lin Changqing glanced at the Divine Demon Power remaining in his body—barely a tenth—and gave a wry smile.
Over the past few centuries, the Divine Demon Power in his body had increased by a full two or three tenths.
Yet using the Spear of Divine Demons had still consumed nearly half of it.
After accounting for the Divine Demon Wings and the blood-red scales covering his body, when Lin Changqing activated the Heart-Piercing Lock, he'd managed to fill only about seventy percent of its divine runes.
Still, that was enough!
The Heart-Piercing Lock was a Supreme Grade Innate Spiritual Treasure. Even though Lin Changqing had only refined four layers of its restrictions, that was more than enough to deal with Green Vine.
"Roar!!"
"Despicable human! Who's attacking me from behind? Show yourself!"
"I serve under the Eighteen Divisions of the Demon Clan! You dare attack me? Are you looking to die?!"
The Eighteen Divisions? What was that supposed to be?
Lin Changqing gave a soft snort, completely unconcerned.
He was a personal disciple of a Saint, too. Was he supposed to brag about it?
His eyes narrowed slightly. Feeling the Heart-Piercing Lock's power rapidly draining away, Lin Changqing urged the silver light on. It sped up by another threefold, streaking toward the space between Green Vine's brows.
But in the next instant, Green Vine surged out again and lunged toward Lin Changqing.
"Roar!! Human, I'll kill you!"
"Die!"
With a furious roar, Green Vine lunged at Lin Changqing once more.
Its thousand-zhang serpent body was riddled with holes and bleeding profusely.
The overwhelming pressure of a mid-stage Golden Immortal crashed down, making Lin Changqing's expression shift.
But in the very next instant, an Azure Dragon lunged at Green Vine. Its claws plunged into the wounds and tore away a huge swath of flesh, ripping off countless scales as well.
"Roar!!"
The agony of its flesh being torn apart drove Green Vine to roar again, boundless fury blazing in its eyes.
But its lunge toward Lin Changqing halted in midair. It could only turn and crash into the Azure Dragon instead.
Green Vine's cultivation was ultimately far higher. Though its fangs had lost their venom, they were still razor-sharp. It tore away a huge chunk of the Azure Dragon's flesh and sent Ao Ying flying a hundred miles.
But Ao Ying wasn't alone.
Lin Changqing had planned for this, accounting for the element of surprise and his own greater strength. He'd prepared long ago, ready to strike with everything he had.
The spear had already left his hand, turning into a streak of blood-red light that slashed toward Green Vine's head.
Lin Changqing moved with blinding speed. With a beat of his wings, he was already behind Green Vine.
The three thousand six hundred Divine Demons within him all opened their eyes at once. Streaks of blood-red light streamed out and gathered behind Lin Changqing, forming the image of a Divine Demon.
The image glared furiously. It looked exactly like Lin Changqing, and now it followed his lead, striking with a palm toward Green Vine's massive head.
"Roar!!"
"Pathetic human! You think you can kill me?"
"Not enough!!"
The blood-red spear shot toward it, while a massive blood-red palm bore down from above. With nowhere to dodge, Green Vine coiled its body around its head, sealing off every gap.
As long as it could withstand this blow, it would still have a chance.
Once it escaped, it would grind this human to dust, devour his flesh, and torture his soul for trillions of years!
Green Vine thought viciously, but at that moment, Lin Changqing's lips curled slightly upward.
Every step had gone according to his calculations. Green Vine was playing its part perfectly.
The blood-red spear pierced through Green Vine's body, sending sprays of blood and chunks of flesh flying.
The palm strike crashed down, met only a churning sea of blood, and tore away countless scales and chunks of flesh. It also slammed Green Vine's body down into the swamp.
At that moment, a streak of silver light flashed. The dark scale seven inches below Green Vine's neck shattered instantly, crumbling into dust.
A snake's weakness lay seven inches below its head. Strike there to kill it.
Green Vine had dragon blood in its veins, and that spot had become its reverse scale—its fatal weakness!
In an instant, the silver light darted through Green Vine's body, and its aura suddenly weakened.
"Roar!! Human, I refuse to accept this!!!"
The thousand-zhang serpent demon slowly fell still. Even its soul was shredded by the blood-red spear.
Lin Changqing raised his hand. The silver light drifted down into his palm, turning back into a little lock.
The blood-red spear returned as well, then vanished into his hand, replenishing a little of the Divine Demon Power in his body.
Only then did Ao Ying arrive from afar. Looking at Green Vine's motionless demon body, she stared at Lin Changqing in delighted amazement.
"Brother, it's over?!"
Looking at what lay before her, Ao Ying still found it hard to believe.
This was a mid-stage Golden Immortal great demon—the same one that had left her utterly unable to fight back. And now it had died right in front of her?
She'd only helped hold it off, but Ao Ying was still overcome with excitement.
Lin Changqing nodded and let out a quiet breath.
"Disperse the poisonous fog around us."
He smiled faintly as he spoke.
This swamp was where the Dragon Clan's secret realm lay.
The vortex in the distance was still there. This was the perfect time to enter the secret realm.
They had to act before anything changed. Otherwise, Lin Changqing wouldn't have gone to such lengths to kill Green Vine in an instant, nearly exhausting himself in the process.
Lin Changqing began recovering as quickly as he could, while Ao Ying soon dispersed the poisonous fog around them.
They couldn't put away Green Vine's thousand-zhang demon body, and there was no time to worry about it now.
Half a day later, once his strength had recovered to eighty percent, Lin Changqing took Ao Ying and flew toward the vortex.
Only then could they see what lay beneath it: rows of ancient buildings. The halls were archaic in style, yet forged from all kinds of divine metals.
Divine light even shimmered beneath the eaves. Those, too, were all innate treasures!
Lin Changqing had long heard that the Dragon Clan was fabulously wealthy, but the reality far surpassed his imagination.
He gave a soft laugh, unable to hide the delight in his eyes.
As expected, effort brought rewards!
"Xiao Ying, see if you can open the seal!"
Turning to Ao Ying, Lin Changqing sent a streak of blood-red light down with a wave of his hand, stirring the divine runes.
Only true dragons could understand the ancient dragon script through their bloodline.
Ao Ying was already studying it closely.
"Brother, this formation requires more than true dragon blood. It needs a blood sacrifice, too!"
"It'll take at least one Golden Immortal's body to open it, even if only for a moment!"
A Golden Immortal's body, just to open it for a moment?
Lin Changqing turned to look at Green Vine. Green Vine really was a good person by the standards of the Primordial World!
Well, that solved the problem of finding sacrificial material. What a pity about the demon's body. Eating it would have increased his Divine Demon Power by at least ten percent.
But fortune favored the bold. Lin Changqing didn't hesitate in the slightest.
"Let's do it!"
With a wave of his hand, Green Vine's body rose and sank into the vortex.
In an instant, golden pillars of light surged skyward from the ten-thousand-li vortex, shooting straight beyond the Nine Heavens.
"...This is bad. That made way too much noise!"
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