On the Brink of Battle

Endless, magnificent clusters of ancient buildings lay amid the mountains, seeming to stretch on forever.

Spiritual power surged through the sky like great rivers, forming a spectacle like heavenly waterfalls beneath the starlight and moonlight.

Not only did this place carry the bone-chilling aura of ancient great demons, it was also filled with an almost sacred feeling.

Dragons had always been beings of both righteousness and evil in ancient times. There were auspicious dragons, sacred beasts that blessed all under heaven, and demon dragons that devoured every living thing.

Every so often, a hair-raising roar would emerge from beneath the mountain ranges and earth veins. It would be followed by the tolling of the Emperor Bell from the Li Ancient Secret Repository. Even after endless years, those two auras remained locked in a silent standoff.

Two days passed.

Xu Yan and Qin Nishang traveled several thousand li along the foot of the mountains, crossing the ancient building complex.

The exhaustion on their faces had been swept away, replaced by a healthy, rosy fullness.

The spiritual power of heaven and earth within this ancient ruin was exceptionally dense, and its vitality seemed boundless. If this were not demon territory, with demon beasts and spirits flying past from time to time, Xu Yan would truly have wanted to cultivate in seclusion here for a while.

Perhaps he could even open his third acupoint.

"Xu Yan, did you hear that? It sounds like waves churning?" Qin Nishang's eyes trembled slightly as she turned her head and suddenly spoke.

Xu Yan said nothing. He immediately calmed his mind and listened closely in every direction.

By his ears came a tremendous roar like raging waves crashing against the shore. He seemed to hear the sounds of magical power clashing as well.

"It seems there are human experts ahead..." Xu Yan's expression shifted as he spoke.

Qin Nishang's face lit up with joy. "Come, let's hurry over and take a look!"

After traveling another dozen or so li, they climbed to the top of a high peak.

The magnificent sight ahead was breathtaking. A giant mountain peak seemed to have been cleaved in half, its middle collapsed across the ancient building complex.

At the fracture lay a celestial lake stretching several thousand zhang across!

The sound of massive waves Xu Yan had heard came from there.

That celestial lake had been accumulated bit by bit from the spiritual energy of heaven and earth. The years required to gather such an enormous lake were beyond imagination.

The lake's spiritual power was immensely dense and vast, seemingly inexhaustible. Its waters were a profound dark black, as though they could swallow one's very mind and soul.

Even more astonishingly, a massive dark-red ancient hall rose and sank within it.

As the lake waves churned, the dark-red ancient hall rippled with an eerie yet sacred radiance.

Roar!

The muffled roar that seemed almost within reach came from beneath the great lake, making every soul tremble.

Xu Yan's heart pounded violently, and the essence blood in his body seemed to boil.

Around the great lake stood numerous human cultivators and Demon Race experts. At a glance, there were at least several thousand of them.

The two sides faced one another across the celestial lake, the atmosphere taut as drawn swords and bent bows.

On the lake's right stood the Demon Race experts. White Bone Madam, whom they had seen before, stood at their forefront. Her demon aura soared into the heavens, and fury filled her pitch-black eyes as she glared through gritted teeth at the human experts. Her voice was as cold as a blade when she spoke. "Your greed knows no bounds. You have gone too far. Now that the Li Ancient Secret Repository has emerged, why have you come to the burial ground of our Demon Race's holy ancestor?"

The Corpse Stiff King, green ghostfire rising from his entire body, spoke viciously as well, roaring, "Take one more step forward, and I'll have Moat Dragon turn a thousand li of land into a drought and slaughter every mortal along Great Yin's border!"

The Demon Bat King hovered in the air, trident in hand, his killing intent fierce. "This is not a place you can lay your hands on. Get lost!"

The three demon kings spoke one after another, and the thousands upon thousands of lesser demons behind them echoed their words, brandishing magical artifacts as they roared.

In an instant, soaring demon aura spread outward, nearly blotting out the sky and making one's hair stand on end.

From afar, Xu Yan gazed across the great lake, his pupils contracting as he spotted several familiar faces.

The disciples of Pursuing Sun Academy were the most numerous, numbering several hundred.

Master Yuan had actually come in person. Standing at the forefront, his domineering magical power surged and roared like dragons and tigers. This master, renowned throughout Great Yin, possessed martial cultivation that was equally astonishing.

Besides Pursuing Sun Academy, there was also a group of cultivators clad in fiery-red Daoist robes. The middle-aged man at their head was the fire-escape grandmaster Xu Yan had seen in the sky some time ago.

"That is the Flame-Treading True Person, master of Fire Spirit Valley," Qin Nishang said.

"Uncle Yan is here too!" Xu Yan focused his gaze and suddenly spotted Yan Qing.

Yan Qing kept looking around, rubbing his hands from time to time. He stood at the very back of the human cultivators, seemingly pinching out some sort of Dao pattern.

No wonder the Signal Gold Sword had been useless earlier. He had already ventured deep into Mang Mountain.

Facing the vast, surging demon aura, Master Yuan remained calm. He cast the demons an indifferent glance, his voice falling like bolts of thunder. "The Li Clan possesses an inherited Daoist scripture that was once seized by the great horned-dragon demon. It lies within the Demon Tomb. Once we retrieve that scripture, we will leave of our own accord."

"What damned Daoist scripture? There is no such thing!" the Corpse Stiff King roared.

The Flame-Treading True Person wore a stern expression. Brushing his Daoist robe, he said solemnly, "The Secret Solar Inheritance is a human Daoist scripture. The secret arts and divine abilities within are methods of utmost yang and utmost firmness. Even if you obtain it, you cannot cultivate it. Why not let us take it away and avoid needless bloodshed? What do you say?"

The moment he finished speaking, White Bone Madam immediately responded in a ghostly voice, "You dare use such lies to deceive us? You merely seek to use this as an excuse to seize the possessions of our Demon Race's holy ancestor!"

"If you want battle, then battle. Why waste words?" The Bat King swung his trident, and rolling demon aura formed a gale around him.

Master Yuan's face darkened.

As he looked at the impassioned Demon Race experts, his expression gradually turned cold. A light of utmost yang seemed to flash within his pupils. His great robe snapped in the fierce wind, while magical power surged through his meridians.

"Without the Secret Solar Inheritance, we will not leave," Master Yuan said slowly, clenching his hand.

"Old bastard, you're courting death!" the Corpse Stiff King snarled through gritted teeth.

"Do not let a single one of these two-legged sheep who came today escape!" White Bone Madam shrieked sharply.

"This place will be your burial ground!"

The Demon Race experts were furious. In their eyes, Master Yuan and the others simply did not take them seriously.

They thought they could come and go as they pleased from the tomb of the ancient horned dragon?

And they even wanted to take away a Daoist scripture. That was nothing but a fool's dream.

Though the Demon Race had weakened over the years and could not contend with Great Yin, they were not to be trampled and bullied at will!

"Kill them all!"

The Corpse Stiff King had endured for a long time. Even his enormous body was trembling. With an enraged roar, he launched a fierce attack.

Terrifying deathly aura burst from his body. He moved with incredible speed, like a bolt of black lightning, treading on black qi as he charged through the air!

The great battle was on the brink of eruption.

The Corpse Stiff King's target was Master Yuan. He struck out with a palm from the air, making the space there tremble. Wherever the deathly aura passed, heaven and earth darkened.

Master Yuan remained unhurried. He suddenly swept his sleeve!

In an instant, vast spiritual power of utmost yang surged forth like a heaven-shaking tidal wave, crashing explosively into the deathly aura.

Fearless of death, the Corpse Stiff King forcibly tore through the spiritual power of utmost yang with his fleshly body. Amid terrifying upheaval, the sky shook again and again as though thunder were exploding, and he charged toward Master Yuan. Master Yuan's brows furrowed slightly. As his arms moved like swimming serpents, layer upon layer of huge waves roared forth once more.

At the same time, White Bone Madam and the Bat King attacked as well.

The master of Fire Spirit Valley hurried to meet them. A group of disciples and elders also brought out their magical artifacts, unleashing wave after wave of divine abilities and Daoist arts to confront them.

In an instant, the great lake became a chaotic mess. Terrifying commotion rang out without cease, while the blinding radiance of magical powers and divine abilities nearly illuminated everything within several hundred li!