"Human Nascent Soul cultivator, if you don't want to die, get lost and go somewhere else! I've claimed this island!"
Although this eighth-stage demon beast had transformed, he still retained some of his beastly features.
The Eighth Stage transformed demon beast amid the horde had sparse hair, sharp teeth, and long, slender limbs, giving him a particularly strange appearance.
Moreover, it was plain to see that even in his transformed state, this Eighth-Stage Demon Beast, the Giant Carp Beast, could not conceal his sharp claws.
"In your dreams!" Revered Master Wanli stared fixedly at the eighth-stage demon beast before him, his eyes flashing with cold light.
"Senior Wanli, go ahead and fight the eighth-stage demon beast. With me helping out back here, perhaps we can buy you a little more time," Lu Shang transmitted to Revered Master Wanli.
"Very well, young friend. I'll be relying on you to hold them back!"
Revered Master Wanli gave Lu Shang a meaningful look.
Lu Shang immediately turned and rushed toward the demon beasts behind him.
Since the formation prevented the demon beasts from exerting their full strength, the Core Formation cultivators and low-rank cultivators at the rear faced little trouble.
Some sacrifices, however, were inevitable.
Seeing Lu Shang move to deal with some of the high-rank demon beasts, Revered Master Wanli swiftly attacked the eighth-stage demon beast as well.
As the battle truly began, more high-rank demon beasts gathered around them.
Facing hundreds of high-rank demon beasts, the cultivators gradually slipped into a defensive position. Before long, their defenses would probably be shattered completely.
Lu Shang swiftly charged into the horde and manifested four enormous hands.
Only a handful of demon beasts were too large for one of these giant hands to seize.
These four enormous hands were the result of Lu Shang's practiced use of the fourth level of the Wild Desolation True Demon Art.
This not only consumed far less spiritual energy than transforming his entire body, but also increased Lu Shang's flexibility.
Both to complete his mission and to buy more time, Lu Shang extended his four enormous hands, seized four fifth-stage demon beasts, squeezed hard, then slammed them down.
Meanwhile, countless flying swords appeared around Revered Master Wanli, each shining with dazzling yellow light.
At Revered Master Wanli's mental command, countless sharp swords swiftly stabbed toward the eighth-stage demon beast.
But how could it be so easy?
The surrounding high-rank demon beasts gathered incessantly, intending to block Revered Master Wanli's attack.
Most, however, were only fifth- or sixth-stage demon beasts. Against the magical artifacts Revered Master Wanli had painstakingly refined, they had no power to resist.
Moments later, although countless demon beasts remained alive, dozens of their corpses already lay scattered about.
Lu Shang glanced sideways. "As expected of a cultivator who has spent centuries in the Nascent Soul Stage. Fifth- and sixth-stage demon beasts can hardly stir up any waves before him." He could not help sighing in admiration.
Yet in those brief moments, the situation on his side also changed dramatically.
The formation, which had previously held firm, was clearly beginning to falter.
Maintaining the formation consumed enormous amounts of energy. Glancing over, Lu Shang saw that the nearby Foundation Establishment and Qi Refinement cultivators could no longer sustain it.
Some demon beasts had even broken through and begun fighting these cultivators.
Lu Shang immediately took out his magical artifact and hurled it toward the center of the formation.
Just then, a sixth-stage demon beast had swiftly attacked that spot, as though he knew where the formation's core lay.
Lu Shang knew that even if this formation struggled to stop high-rank demon beasts, once it was destroyed, tens of thousands of low-rank demon beasts would pour in.
Besides, the formation also weakened the demon beasts.
The instant the Silver Frost Dragon Halberd flew out, that demon beast was slain.
Lu Shang then recalled the halberd.
Over by Revered Master Wanli, the eighth-stage demon beast had taken the offensive.
At some point, a long saber had appeared in the eighth-stage demon beast's hand, and he began fighting Revered Master Wanli at close quarters.
After only two or three exchanges, however, the shock waves of their battle kept the other demon beasts from approaching.
Seeing that he still could not seriously wound the eighth-stage demon beast, Revered Master Wanli immediately retreated more than a dozen yards.
Revered Master Wanli formed hand seals, and several flying swords merged into one enormous sword in an instant.
At Revered Master Wanli's command, the enormous sword immediately attacked the demon beast. He followed closely behind, intending to catch his opponent off guard the instant he met the sword.
Even the residual force of this enormous sword sent a shudder through Lu Shang, several miles away.
Lu Shang was utterly stunned.
Core Formation is still only Core Formation, after all. Compared with Nascent Soul, there's still a gulf that's almost impossible to cross, Lu Shang thought in astonishment.
Caught off guard by Revered Master Wanli's strike, the eighth-stage demon beast was knocked toward the sea's surface.
Intending to press his advantage, Revered Master Wanli swiftly pursued him toward the surface.
Revered Master Wanli's strength was restricted underwater, but a hit from that angle was certain to knock his opponent back toward the surface.
This was Revered Master Wanli's carefully laid plan. Even if the enormous sword failed to drive his opponent to the surface, his own attack would follow immediately.
Even if he could not inflict a serious wound, he could still knock his opponent out of the sea.
Revered Master Wanli knew that even several successive attacks might not injure his opponent, but once he left the sea, he could escape some of the demon beasts while unleashing more of his own strength.
Under Revered Master Wanli's relentless attacks, the eighth-stage demon beast was indeed driven out of the sea.
Although Revered Master Wanli had gained the upper hand, the situation around the formation grew even more troublesome.
Countless demon beasts poured in, and at least half the cultivators could no longer hold them off.
Even the ten Core Formation cultivators were outmatched and could only defend passively.
To ease the burden, when the Core Formation cultivators below saw Revered Master Wanli fly out of the formation toward the surface, they immediately ordered everyone to fly toward the surface as well.
Even so, this only slightly eased the pressure from the demon beasts.
Before long, they were forced back onto the defensive.
To Lu Shang's surprise, however, ten Core Formation cultivators seemed to be rapidly approaching.
At first, Lu Shang thought he was imagining things, or mistaking the auras of demon beasts for cultivators.
But when Lu Shang fully extended his divine sense, he confirmed that they were indeed ten Core Formation cultivators.
Two had late-stage auras, while almost all the others possessed middle Core Formation cultivation.
"Only three factions in the Chaotic Star Sea could muster a force like this. At a time like this, they can only be cultivators from the Star Palace."
Sure enough, moments later, ten Core Formation cultivators appeared.
They assessed the situation with a single glance.
The ten Core Formation cultivators immediately joined the formation and began fighting the demon beasts.
With the Star Palace cultivators arriving as reinforcements, the situation immediately reversed.
Wielding their magic treasures, the Star Palace cultivators drove the demon beasts back in mere moments.
"As expected of the Star Palace's Core Formation cultivators," many people on the battlefield exclaimed.
Meanwhile, after emerging from the sea, Revered Master Wanli pressed his advantage, unleashing all his magic treasures and divine abilities and driving the eighth-stage demon beast back again and again.
Even with other high-rank demon beasts helping, they could only hold off Revered Master Wanli, who had reached the peak of early Nascent Soul, for a brief moment.
Seeing the situation turn against him, the eighth-stage demon beast erupted in fury. "Humans! You're courting death!"
The demon beast immediately reverted to his original form.
A demon beast thirty feet in size appeared before Revered Master Wanli.
This demon beast had sharp fangs and long, slender limbs. Holding a long saber, he roared incessantly.
"You demon beasts are the ones who deserve to die!" Revered Master Wanli thundered.
He immediately launched another attack at the demon beast.
Yet in his beast form, the eighth-stage demon beast's armored hide was truly bristling with sharp edges.
When Revered Master Wanli attacked with his longsword, it actually rang out like clashing metal.
After several exchanges, Revered Master Wanli was actually at a slight disadvantage.
Lu Shang had not expected that Revered Master Wanli, who had held a slight advantage underwater, would have the battle turned against him merely by the demon beast reverting to his original form after leaving the sea.
Seeing things going badly, Revered Master Wanli flew back dozens of yards, leaving only a few magical artifacts to keep the demon beast occupied.
Revered Master Wanli drew several drops of blood essence from between his brows and placed them on the longsword in his hand.
In an instant, the blood essence merged with the longsword.
The longsword instantly radiated dazzling golden light. "Die, demon beast!"
The demon beast answered Revered Master Wanli with a great roar to the heavens.
Then the demon beast charged straight at Revered Master Wanli as well.
Thus, Revered Master Wanli and the demon beast embarked on a desperate struggle to the death.
The shock waves from the two spread outward. Even the cultivators several miles away could feel the tremendous power of this exchange.
Moments later, both were hurled dozens of yards away by the shock waves.
After this exchange, both the man and the demon beast were gravely wounded.
Revered Master Wanli spat blood, while a conspicuous sword wound appeared along the demon beast's side.
Blood streamed from the demon beast's sword wound.
The demon beast let out heart-rending howls of pain.
The situation reversed yet again. Although Revered Master Wanli was gravely wounded, he still had strength to spare, and with the Star Palace cultivators' aid, the formation behind him was clearly under much less strain.
Although the eighth-stage demon beast's eyes were now bloodshot, he realized things were going wrong and turned to slip away.
But before he could enter the sea, a bloody silhouette suddenly appeared in front of the Demon Beast.
In an instant, it transformed into a hundred-foot-tall Four-Armed Demon.
A single punch knocked the demon beast back several meters.
This was none other than Lu Shang in his Four-Armed Demon form.
Just moments earlier, Lu Shang had noticed that the gravely wounded demon beast intended to flee. He immediately stopped fighting the other high-rank demon beasts and used the Thunder Escape Technique two or three times in succession to appear in front of him.
Lu Shang followed up with successive blows, driving the demon beast back several more yards.
Seeing that the demon beast was now coughing up blood and his aura was weak, Lu Shang no longer intended to hold anything back.
Suddenly, Lu Shang drew an enormous halberd and slashed at the eighth-stage demon beast, whose aura was barely flickering.
"It's over!"
As Lu Shang raised his hand and brought the halberd down, a gaping wound instantly opened across the demon beast's chest.
And so, the eighth-stage demon beast who had fought for so long met his end beneath Lu Shang's Silver Frost Dragon Halberd.
Lu Shang snatched out the eighth-stage demon beast's demon core, then used the Thunder Escape Technique several more times, departing with the speed of thunder that left no time to cover one's ears.
This clean, decisive attack took place in a mere instant, leaving even Revered Master Wanli in the distance startled.
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