"The boy has suffered a backlash from his Demonic Cultivation Art."
Atop the tallest tower, Cui Pinyuan, who had switched to cultivating the Demonic Cultivation Art, needed only a glance to know that Chen Haoming had been too eager for quick progress. He must have refined quite a few fellow disciples' corpses last night, leaving him unable to control his thirst for slaughter.
At such a time, if a knot formed in his heart and someone he had to kill haunted his mind, a cultivator suffering backlash would find it extremely difficult to restrain the great demon within.
The solution was simple enough. He only needed to vent his murderous urges and eliminate the person he wanted dead. That would usually discharge the murderous demon in his heart.
"He refined several fellow disciples in succession. The moment his inner demon of slaughter surfaced, he knew whom to seek out to vent it on."
Chen Jian took up the thread, watching coldly from above as Chen Haoming advanced step by step toward Zhao Changfeng. "From the moment he continued refining his fellow disciples, he was already prepared to kill Zhao Changfeng and dispel his murderous urges that way."
Cui Pinyuan nodded in agreement.
He was a mere rogue cultivator, while Chen Jian belonged to the Ghost-Controlling Sect. Neither could interfere in the Crippled Demon Sect's internal affairs.
Whatever Zhao Changfeng and Chen Haoming were thinking, the two of them would stay out of it.
As for Chen Haoming's claim that Zhao Changfeng was a Demon Spirit spy, neither believed it.
Chen Jian had wanted to entrap Zhao Changfeng and had kept dreaming of bringing him before Song Zejun and his wife, but Zhao Changfeng had refused even on pain of death.
Zhao Changfeng, who had incited everyone to act, grew more uneasy the closer he got to Song Zejun and his wife. His heartbeat was noticeably too fast. Chen Jian had observed every one of those little details with perfect clarity.
If Zhao Changfeng really was a Demon Spirit spy, why had he been so resistant to meeting Song Zejun and his wife?
When Zhou Jin spun that great umbrella, the fiercest and most terrifying Demon Spirit inside had headed straight for Zhao Changfeng. Clearly, it had wanted him dead as well.
Every sign showed that both sides wanted the other dead. No matter how he looked at it, the idea that Zhao Changfeng was colluding with the Demon Spirits did not hold up.
That was what he thought, and Cui Pinyuan thought the same.
Song Zejun and his wife had already been proven to have dealings with Demon Spirits. Without Zhao Changfeng stepping forward to accuse them, no one would have known their identities. With those two inside agents already in place, why would they need Zhao Changfeng to meddle?
"They follow the same path, cultivating the same Demonic Cultivation Art and Slaughter Spirit Technique. One is at the early Yuanqi stage, the other at the late Yuanqi stage."
"Zhao Changfeng may well..."
Cui Pinyuan did not fancy Zhao Changfeng's chances.
Chen Jian said mildly, "Zhao Changfeng shows no fear."
"Senior Brother Chen, I'm afraid murderous thoughts have poisoned your heart."
In the middle of the muddy street, Zhao Changfeng stood tall.
His back was as straight as a spear thrust toward the heavens. His slightly narrowed eyes were filled with coldness, and an extraordinary presence surrounded him.
Whoosh!
He silently activated the Blood Shadow Movement Technique. A black-and-red blood shadow, combining spiritual power, vital blood, and willpower, condensed beneath his soles, making him seem as though he were slowly rising into the air.
The blood shadow suffused his body, its image linking with his flesh, bones, and sinews, as though something alien had possessed him.
Zhao Changfeng suddenly felt an inhuman sensation of weightless suspension.
With the three powers united and the blood shadow enveloping his body from within, he felt his once-heavy body of flesh and blood abruptly transform into an incorporeal ghost.
"Because Senior Sister Ruan and I became lovers, you secretly grew jealous and resentful, wanting nothing more than to kill me."
"Senior Brother Chen, if you want to kill me, just come at me. Why bother searching for such flimsy excuses?"
Zhao Changfeng secretly worked his technique while adamantly insisting that Chen Haoming had suffered a backlash from his demon of slaughter, and that his affair with Ruan Meizhen had made Chen Haoming unable to suppress his inner demon, driving him to kill.
As he spoke, the large, rough hand wrapped around Ruan Meizhen's slender waist suddenly slid a little lower.
His hand settled over Senior Sister Ruan's full, rounded buttocks. As though afraid Chen Haoming might not see, Zhao Changfeng even turned slightly to the side.
At that moment, he felt Ruan Meizhen's entire body stiffen and her breathing quicken.
An intense killing intent suddenly erupted from Ruan Meizhen!
"Senior Sister, Senior Brother Chen's cultivation is far above mine. Only by driving him into a frenzy can I gain a sliver of hope."
"Think of those Demon Cores, then think of that spirit jade. You need them to break through to the Primordial Spirit realm!"
"Don't you want to go to the Primal Demon Temple and take revenge?"
Zhao Changfeng spoke softly, his voice as faint as a mosquito's buzz.
Brazenly molested by him in public, Ruan Meizhen had been on the verge of losing control, turning on him, and killing him. His words abruptly restored her clarity, and she took deep breaths to steady her mind.
That's right. I have to go to the Primal Demon Temple for revenge. I have to kill that wretched pair with my own hands!
Ruan Meizhen forced herself to endure the discomfort coursing through her body. Reining in her mind, she remained motionless and allowed Zhao Changfeng to display their intimacy before so many people.
At the same time, alongside her humiliation and anger, a morbid pleasure born of revenge quietly took root.
Xu Lang, Xu Lang!
He once wanted my body, and I promised to give it to him once he became an outstanding disciple of the Primal Demon Temple. He...
If he's been watching me in secret, if he learns that one day I gave my body to someone else, will he develop a Heart-Demon Obsession? Will it hinder his breakthroughs?
As Ruan Meizhen thought this, the strange pleasure in her heart grew stronger.
"Demon Spirit spy! I'll eliminate you right now!"
Chen Haoming no longer had a shred of reason left.
Knowing that Zhao Changfeng could draw Demon Spirits into his body, he had retained some caution. He had been building up his power step by step, intending to bring his momentum to its peak as he approached Zhao Changfeng and kill him with a single blow.
But Zhao Changfeng's fondling of Ruan Meizhen's lovely buttocks shattered the composure he had struggled to maintain, preventing his momentum from reaching its peak.
Chen Haoming leaped into the air, raising the Blood God Saber forged by the Crippled Demon Sect high along with him.
Whoosh!
Clearly visible bloody light shone from the blade. A streak of blood energy flickered from its tip like a rainbow beam, resembling a savage blood-colored soul temporarily imprisoned within the Blood God Saber.
Chen Haoming's murderous aura soared skyward with him. His eyes and skin turned blood-red, making him look every inch a bloody god of slaughter.
Whoosh!
Zhao Changfeng abruptly left Ruan Meizhen's side. His eyes and body likewise turned blood-red, displaying the very same signs of the Blood Shadow Art.
The difference was that he gave off an unreal, illusory sense of floating.
With a light tap of his toes against the ground, he could glide through the air like a boneless ghost beneath the blazing sun.
The two rapidly closed in on each other.
Each time Chen Haoming landed, he came crashing down like a mountain of immense weight, then shot back into the air like a cannonball.
Zhao Changfeng's figure skimmed close to the ground, as light as a ghost, creating the uncanny impression that he was not human.
Every survivor in Tamu Town watched the scene, watching two fellow disciples fight to the death, each insisting on his own account.
Even Shen Yanrong and Qin Hui, who felt profoundly guilty toward Zhao Changfeng and were certain he was no Demon Spirit spy, dared not interfere in a Demon Dao Great Sect's internal affairs.
Holding the spirit stones they had gathered, the two had intended to offer another sincere apology. Now they could only watch anxiously from the sidelines.
"Zhao Changfeng, he-he must be innocent!"
Shen Yanrong's urgency was plain in every word. Her embroidered shoes stepped back and forth through the mud, as though the wet, slippery sand were burning her feet.
"These are a Demon Sects' internal affairs. We have no right to interfere. We can only... hope Brother Zhao survives!"
Qin Hui spoke in a deep, fierce voice, his tiger-like eyes brimming with killing intent. Through gritted teeth, he said, "If Brother Zhao dies at this man's hands, once I join a Demon Dao Great Sect, I'll find a chance to kill him and avenge Brother Zhao!"
Zhao Changfeng had saved so many of their companions. They would never forget that debt.
Chen Haoming, please die! I want to watch you die with my own eyes!
Shi Yue shouted inwardly.
He had seen how easily Zhao Changfeng had blasted rogue cultivators to death. The moment Zhao Changfeng decided to take on this job, he had felt certain Chen Haoming was doomed.
Ruan Meizhen thought the same.
She understood Zhao Changfeng's cold rationality, how he planned before acting, and had watched him kill many people, including Zhang Mu. Though she did not know the true extent of his current combat strength, she simply knew he must be completely confident.
Besides, she sincerely hoped Zhao Changfeng would be the one to survive.
A beautiful woman as alluring to the bone as she was could best discern the meaning in a man's gaze. She knew better than anyone what thoughts Chen Haoming harbored toward her.
In fact, Chen Haoming had confessed his feelings several times in private, but she had rejected him each time with harsh, cold words.
She knew full well that Chen Haoming had long resented her.
She was afraid, too, because every one of her attempts to break through had failed, while Chen Haoming was about to reach the great perfection of the Yuanqi stage.
Progress in the Demonic Cultivation Art had always been swift. She feared Chen Haoming would enter the Primordial Spirit realm before her and become Teng Kun's formal disciple.
The status of a formal disciple and that of a named disciple were worlds apart. By then, Chen Haoming could manipulate her with ease.
If that day truly came, she did not know how she would face it.
A gigantic blood shadow suddenly broke away from the Blood God Saber, spreading through the air like a blood-red curtain over the area where Zhao Changfeng stood. Bloodthirsty killing intent filled the sky.
The Blood God Saber was forged by the sect specifically for disciples cultivating the Blood Shadow Art. The one Chen Haoming held was a genuine Second-Tier Spirit Artifact, worth five thousand spirit stones.
Arrays hidden within the saber could double the power of every blood shadow. It was also Chen Haoming's most valuable possession.
The Crimson Blood Shadow kept expanding, its thick bloody stench almost tangible.
It briefly blotted out the sunlight, casting an enormous blood-colored shadow over Zhao Changfeng from afar.
Blood-red filled Zhao Changfeng's surroundings, as though he stood in a crimson ocean.
"An intimidating show, but unfortunately, your power isn't refined and concentrated enough."
Zhao Changfeng smiled with easy confidence.
At that instant, the surging willpower hidden in the second cauldron within his body burst forth, and he marshaled every bit of it.
A blood shadow from Zhao Changfeng condensed in an instant. It bore an abnormal black-and-red hue and charged straight toward the gigantic Crimson Blood Shadow descending from above.
The black-and-red blood shadow was many times smaller than the one Chen Haoming had created. It looked like a young child trying to defy a colossal heavenly god, a comically absurd sight.
But then a second black-and-red blood shadow suddenly appeared.
Then came the third, the fourth, and the fifth!
Five small black-and-red blood shadows, like five children struggling together against heaven's decree, soared upward one after another, as though demanding to know what that blood-colored colossal god intended.
The first blood shadow, filled with an obsession to twist and tear, rammed headfirst into the bloody canopy.
It punched straight through the curtain!
Bloody light and clots exploded across the sky, flying and splashing everywhere. The towering colossal god was ripped apart, falling as countless scraps resembling severed limbs and shredded flesh.
The first blood shadow perished, and the second swiftly followed.
Then came the third, fourth, and fifth!
The second blood shadow shot straight to Chen Haoming's chest!
Pfft!
The bloody defensive barrier Chen Haoming used to withstand heavy blows was breached by the second blood shadow in an instant. With a muffled grunt, he was pinned in midair.
The third blood shadow followed the opening and flashed into his body.
The fourth and fifth blood shadows followed close behind, reaching deep into Chen Haoming's flesh, bones, and sinews. With willpower's unique twisting, tearing force, they joined the third blood shadow and erupted with savage violence!
With a bang, Chen Haoming's body exploded, killing him.
His severed limbs and shredded flesh fell onto the wet, muddy sand after the gigantic blood shadow he had condensed. His corpse could never be made whole again.