Breakthrough in Battle

Breakthrough in Battle

A Half-Demon?

There were scattered records describing such beings in the outer sect Scripture Repository of the Ten Thousand Demon Cavern.

The Sky Mist Continent was vast beyond measure, and spiritual energy gave rise to all things. Humans were not the only intelligent race.

The Demon Race was the one that competed most fiercely with humans for territory and cultivation resources.

The Demon Race did not consist of ordinary beasts that had transformed, nor did they have any obvious blood relation to demon beasts. They possessed their own unique social structure and cultural heritage.

Aside from certain races with unusual body types, the Demon Race did not even have a reproductive barrier with humans.

That was how Half-Demons came to exist.

Yet such beings were not welcomed. They were even regarded as shameful monsters by both the Demon Race and humans, and they often did not live to adulthood.

Xiao Liang pondered briefly, only to see the expression on Yan Wuxu's Half-Demon face grow even more savage.

That strange tone from his earlier question seemed to have provoked him.

Yan Wuxu raised a hand and tossed the Charming Maiden Hundred Beauties Painting above his head. In an instant, a bloody light shielded his body, while Cha Ghosts gradually began circling around him.

Combined with his flood-dragon head and human body, he looked like a ghost king walking through the night.

"I want you dead!"

After that bone-chilling cry of hatred, Yan Wuxu stomped the ground. A flash of lightning streaked past, and his body seemed to teleport as he lunged before Xiao Liang.

A scaled claw several times larger than an ordinary hand, crackling with lightning, shot straight for Xiao Liang's face.

Pandora flashed forward to block it, only for Yan Wuxu to smash her aside with a sweep of his arm. Then he continued charging at Xiao Liang.

Ninth Qi Refining Stage!

How could he possess such speed and force? This was highly abnormal.

It was not hard to see that if that claw caught him, Xiao Liang's head would burst like a crushed tomato.

Hiss!

At that moment, a spirit-infused longsword silently appeared, blocking the scaled claw and nearly severing one of its fingers. It was Qin Long.

"Courting death? Then I'll tear you apart first!"

Yan Wuxu swiftly changed moves. His scaled claw grabbed for the blade, intending to shatter it. He possessed a Half-Demon body, and the transformed portions of his body were no weaker than magical artifacts!

Qin Long pressed her lips together without a word, merely twisting her wrist and releasing the hilt.

The Luoshui Sword was suspended in midair by her magical power. It spun rapidly, bursting forth with several feet of chilling sword qi.

Sizzle!

Relying on the bloody light protecting his body, Yan Wuxu grabbed at it. The rampaging sword qi slashed his scales apart, scattering sparks, and the air even filled with a scorched stench.

Crack!

In the end, he forcibly seized the blade. One hand was nearly crippled, red-black blood dripping steadily from it.

Yet an utterly bloodthirsty smile appeared upon Yan Wuxu's flood-dragon face.

Not good!

Qin Long's expression changed slightly. Without the slightest hesitation, she was about to abandon the spirit sword and pull Xiao Liang away.

Then she heard Xiao Liang roar, "Old ghost!"

Though the old ghost could not directly use magical power without risking the shattering of his Golden Core, using his spiritual sense briefly was harmless.

Buzz!

An overwhelmingly powerful spiritual sense swept outward, nearly freezing the movements of everyone present.

"A Golden Core Stage senior?! How is that possible?!"

Extreme terror appeared in Yan Wuxu's eyes. The spiritual sense impact muddled his consciousness, and his large hand gripping the Luoshui Sword involuntarily loosened.

Qin Long's combat instincts were exceptionally sharp. Naturally, she would not miss this opportunity. With a flick of her hand, sword qi erupted, nearly severing half of Yan Wuxu's palm.

The intense pain jolted Yan Wuxu awake, instantly sending him into a rage as he roared:

"Even if a Golden Core were here, so what!"

In merely two breaths, he had determined that, for some unknown reason, the being who had unleashed Golden Core spiritual sense could not continue attacking.

Since it had not acted, he naturally would not wait helplessly for death.

But Yan Wuxu had already lost the initiative, while Qin Long was faster than he was.

She held her sword before her, then lightly brushed it with one hand, pouring all her magical power into the Spirit Artifact.

The Luoshui Sword rang and trembled as it flew toward Yan Wuxu.

She had unleashed the true inheritance-level Four Symbols Swordsmanship.

Combined with her innate Sword Dao Treasure Physique, it erupted with terrifying might!

Azure Dragon Concealing the Pearl! White Tiger Carries the Corpse! Vermilion Bird Scorches the Plains! Black Tortoise Shakes the World!

All four exquisite sword techniques were secret killing arts. With each successive form, the next accumulated an even stronger sword momentum.

Especially when she unleashed the final move, Black Tortoise Shakes the World, a shadowy black divine beast phantom flashed past.

The sword light surged like raging waves, its power simply not something a Qi Refining Stage cultivator should have been capable of unleashing.

The oncoming Cha Ghosts were swept away in the blink of an eye!

But what shocked Xiao Liang was that Yan Wuxu, aside from suffering several horrific wounds at the beginning, had actually gradually protected his vital points and steadied himself amid the terrifying killing moves!

The scales covering his body seemed highly resistant to spell damage.

Cough, cough!

Yan Wuxu coughed up mouthfuls of blood. Sword light had nearly flayed his entire body, yet his pair of vertical pupils shone with dim yellow light through the smoke and dust like gas lamps.

"Your swordsmanship is terrifying, but unfortunately, I am not so easily killed."

Blazing lightning erupted from Yan Wuxu's body. Just as the others thought he was about to attack, he suddenly tore down the Charming Maiden Hundred Beauties Painting glowing with bloody light above his head.

Had this Extreme-Grade Spirit Artifact not blocked nearly seventy percent of the sword qi for him just now, he would likely have been reduced to a skeleton.

However, this Extreme-Grade Spirit Artifact was now in terrible condition. Qin Long had first cut through its blood-red barrier, leaving a crack in its main body.

Then, in the ensuing battle, it had endured violent damage and was now covered in wounds.

Perhaps sensing that the Cha Ghosts were of little use against the girl before him, it no longer wasted spiritual energy gathering them.

Yan Wuxu gripped the Charming Maiden Hundred Beauties Painting in his hand. Just as the others wondered what he intended to do, he suddenly opened his mouth and bit down viciously on the scroll in his hand.

Was this man insane, or had Qin Long's barrage of sword qi knocked him senseless?

But immediately afterward, strange light appeared from within the scroll as Yan Wuxu tore into it, then was swallowed by him.

During this process, his body nearly expanded by an entire size, and his aura grew increasingly stronger.

Something was wrong.

Xiao Liang narrowed his eyes. After hesitating briefly, he quietly took an item from his Heaven-Earth Bracelet.

On the other side, Yan Wuxu suddenly burst into wild laughter. He spread his arms and howled toward the sky as a powerful aura exploded outward.

The spiritual energy around them gathered into the courtyard like a whirlpool.

"Hmph. At the Qi Refining Stage, you truly are a troublesome opponent. But if I reach the Foundation Establishment realm, how will you deal with me then?"

Yan Wuxu's half-human, half-flood-dragon body slowly rose into the air. Powerful spiritual energy surrounded him and actually held him aloft as he attempted to advance to the Foundation Establishment Stage right then and there.

This was utterly different from ordinary cultivators, who needed to sit in meditation with a calm mind when making a breakthrough.

Nourished by the spiritual energy drawn toward him, even the wounds Yan Wuxu had suffered earlier began slowly healing.

"Kid Xiao Liang, he has Demon Race blood. The stronger his fighting spirit rises, the more active the magical power in his body becomes. And it seems he even sacrificed that Extreme-Grade Spirit Artifact to use some secret technique. He may truly break through!"

(End of Chapter)