Azure Dragon Myriad Blade Kill

Chapter 6: Azure Dragon Myriad Blade Kill

As soon as He Yu heard the Python Demon's second condition, he understood what it was thinking.

It wanted him to become its subordinate?

At the thought, He Yu sneered inwardly. It thought it could subdue him when their demonic auras were evenly matched? If he really lowered himself to serve it, what face would he have left if others found out?

There were already monsters in this world. Who could say there weren't immortals and the like as well? If someone merely pinched their fingers and calculated his origins, only to discover that he served under a Python Demon whose cultivation was about on par with his own, the mockery, contempt, and disdain... He Yu shuddered at the thought.

"What have you decided? This king has cultivated for over a hundred years and commands more than a thousand lesser demons. I rule over a thousand li around Cangmang Mountain. If you submit to me, you'll not only hold a position second only to mine, but also receive my guidance." The Python Demon understood just how difficult it was to subdue a monster whose cultivation matched its own, so it brought out every threat and inducement. It was confident that the other party might not care about status, but its guidance should be tempting enough. It was certain He Yu had been born only recently. His cultivation might have surged thanks to some fortuitous opportunity, but he absolutely couldn't match its understanding of how to wield his power.

"Considering you taught me how to communicate through thought, I won't hold this against you. Get lost, or don't blame me for repaying your kindness with treachery!" He Yu said coldly. He couldn't even be bothered to pretend to consider it.

"Hmph! If you won't submit today, death is your only path." A cold glint flashed in the Python Demon's eyes at He Yu's words, and it was ready to kill. But when it saw the other's cultivation, its appreciation for talent resurfaced.

Seeing the sneer tug at He Yu's lips, the Python Demon knew he had no intention of submitting. It immediately began plotting in secret: It seems the only way to make him submit and serve me is to defeat him and show him my strength.

Absolutely confident in its combat experience and its mastery of demonic aura, the Python Demon could no longer wait for He Yu to agree. A terrifying hiss rang out as its enormous tail whipped up and lashed toward He Yu. Thick brown demonic aura swirled around the tail, more than doubling the force of an already powerful blow. It had held back, afraid of seriously injuring He Yu; otherwise, the strike would have been stronger still.

Crude control of demonic aura. It's just hardened aura coating the body, while the attack still relies mainly on physical force. He Yu could not have looked down on it more. For lesser demons with little cultivation, using demonic aura to attack this way was already several times stronger than simply releasing aura to strike an enemy. But it was nowhere near worthy of his attention.

In his previous life, He Yu had studied not only cultivation methods and theory in depth, but also quite a few martial arts techniques and simple Daoist spells. Though he had never practiced them with true qi or true essence, he understood them thoroughly. Seeing the Python Demon's methods now, he felt as if a three-year-old were playing with swords and spears in front of a martial arts master.

The Python Demon's attack stirred murderous intent in He Yu as well. Though it had taught him how to communicate through thought and had shown him some kindness, an enemy could not be allowed to live. Showing mercy to an enemy was cruelty to oneself.

In return for that small kindness, I'll leave your corpse intact. Having made up his mind, He Yu acted at once. At a thought, all twenty-five Demon Cores within him released streams of hazy azure demonic aura, which poured out of his body and shrouded everything within thirty feet until nothing could be seen.

"Hmph! You dare bring out such a cheap trick?" Seeing the powerful demonic aura around He Yu, the Python Demon scoffed inwardly. His aura might be strong, but how could it compare to its own condensed aura? Given the same amount of energy, the more tightly it was concentrated, the smaller it became—and the greater its power.

Bang!

Its tail slammed into the demonic aura before it and tore through it, charging straight toward He Yu at the center. A triumphant smile spread across the Python Demon's sinister face, but in the next instant, it froze in shock.

Its mighty strike could split stone and cleave mountains, yet the moment it hit the mass of demonic aura, a mysterious force seized it. It was like a gigantic whirlpool, with countless smaller whirlpools spinning inside. Its strength could not budge them in the slightest.

He Yu sneered inwardly. I'm using Taiji Fist principles to guide my demonic aura. If you can break through it, Zhang Sanfeng will turn in his grave! This is a vicious martial art for overcoming strength with weakness—and we're only evenly matched in cultivation.

He put all his effort into Taiji's skill of neutralizing force. In just a few breaths, he had completely dissipated the Python Demon's power. Then, without hesitation, he unleashed his own strength alongside the force he had just redirected, sending it surging out like a raging flood.

Rumble!

Amid a thunderous explosion of energy, the Python Demon felt an unprecedented, terrifying force slam into its tail. Horrified, it hurriedly circulated the power of its Demon Core to defend itself. Fortunately, because it had held back earlier, it had enough strength left to resist. But the combined force of He Yu's attack and its own previous strike was simply too terrifying. Even with all its strength focused on defense, it could only save its life. It was gravely injured from the outside in and hurled away by the tremendous force.

Bang!

The Python Demon crashed heavily to the ground and spat out a mouthful of blood. Its insides churned like a storm-tossed sea; golden sparks filled its vision, and its thoughts grew muddled.

He Yu knew that when your enemy was down, you had to finish them off. Seeing the Python Demon gravely injured, he immediately shaped his demonic aura into an azure dragon dozens of meters long and over a meter thick, which lunged straight into the Python Demon's gaping maw. Countless spinning blades covered its body. This was a killing technique He Yu had improvised on the spot, based on Ten Thousand Swords Return to Origin and the Eighteen Dragon Subduing Palms: Azure Dragon Myriad Blade Kill. Though it was only a rough first draft, it was already powerful. It could wound any opponent whose cultivation was less than twice his own, and with further practice and refinement, its might would grow even greater.

It was also because He Yu possessed demonic aura. As long as he willed it, the aura followed his thoughts perfectly, allowing him to unleash attack techniques that would normally take a long time to master. He was quite pleased with himself, unaware that his demonic aura was far superior to true qi. These techniques had been created to work with true qi, and most of them were merely products of his imagination. He could naturally perform them with ease by using an energy source of a higher order, but they still needed time to refine, since many of them came from novels and television shows he had seen in his previous life. He had managed to reproduce them with demonic aura, but bringing them to their full intended power would not happen overnight.

Though the Python Demon's thoughts were muddled, the instant He Yu unleashed his killing move, it sensed the threat of death filling its heart. It hurriedly spread its demonic aura to protect itself and rolled its body to one side. These movements were driven purely by battle instinct.

The Python Demon had decent combat experience and instincts, but unfortunately for it, it had run into He Yu. The gap between them was simply too great.

Azure Dragon Myriad Blade Kill roared as it changed direction. In one or two breaths, it had entered the Python Demon's belly through its gaping maw.

The powerful demonic aura surged into the gravely injured Python Demon's belly, and the countless blades tore it apart. The outcome was decided in an instant. The Python Demon had only just regained consciousness when it died amid the immense agony of being shredded from within.

As soon as the Python Demon died, Azure Dragon Myriad Blade Kill within its body dispersed into a great mass of demonic aura, which poured out through its mouth and was absorbed by He Yu.

Gazing at the enormous snake corpse before him, He Yu's thoughts churned. He had expected to have to put in a great deal of effort because their cultivation levels were so close, but he had never imagined it would be this easy. He Yu realized that he might have underestimated his own strength. With the countless martial arts techniques and simple cultivation spells he knew from his previous life, he could defeat monsters whose strength was not much greater than his own.