His First Strike

As the allied forces gathered by the Blood Devil Race laid siege to the Righteous Qi Sect, Sect Master Dongfang Leng ordered all disciples to withdraw to the sect and activated its grand defensive formation.

The activation of the grand defensive formation also caught Li Dalong's attention. Now in the late Nascent Soul Realm, his cultivation, strength, and divine sense had all surpassed his master Dongfang Leng's. Li Dalong used his divine sense to observe the sect and witnessed his master relinquishing his position and his junior brother Zhou Yong taking over as the new sect master.

The Righteous Qi Sect is being tossed about by wind and rain. Outside, devils and followers of evil paths led by the Devil Race are harassing it; inside, elders harboring sinister motives are tying its hands, while the other righteous sects sit and watch. It seems Master intends to sacrifice himself to protect my junior brother. Li Dalong pondered the predicament facing his master and junior brother.

From the conversations between the sect's elders and disciples, he learned that Blood Demon, the grand elder of the Blood Devil Race, was a mid-stage Tribulation Transcendence expert. The strongest members of the other races were only in the late Nascent Soul Realm. Precisely because Blood Demon was one of the handful of Tribulation Transcendence experts in the cultivation world, the Blood Devil Race had grown arrogant and overbearing in recent years. Their attacks on Righteous Qi Sect disciples outside the sect had become increasingly frequent, inflicting devastating losses on those who ventured out.

Over the years, the Rising Sun Sect and its subordinate forces had also repeatedly stirred up trouble, causing considerable losses to the Righteous Qi Sect. Even some elders had been ambushed and killed.

The main threat to the Righteous Qi Sect this time was Blood Demon, the grand elder of the Blood Devil Race, an Out-of-Body expert. With no Out-of-Body expert of its own, the Righteous Qi Sect could only rely on its grand formation to resist him. He alone had effectively trapped the entire sect.

Mid-stage Out-of-Body?

I just happened to draw a Spirit-Explosion Pill from the system. This was the perfect opportunity to test its power. This time, he would teach the Blood Devil Race and the Rising Sun Sect a lesson they would never forget.

If these fiends and followers of evil paths breached the Righteous Qi Sect, it would seriously disrupt his plans to hunker down in the forbidden grounds and develop in peace.

Besides, for the sake of his master and third junior brother, he could not stand by and do nothing about the Righteous Qi Sect's plight.

Li Dalong mentally instructed the system to open and took stock of the flying swords and magical treasures he had drawn over the years.

The Azure Cloud Sword was his only supreme-grade flying sword. To ensure a kill with a single strike, he would choose it. He took out the Azure Cloud Sword and gazed at it. "Today, I'll let you drink your fill of enemy blood before the eyes of the world!"

These fiends and followers of evil paths had swaggered outside the Righteous Qi Sect for so long, killing and injuring countless disciples. There were also forces led by the Rising Sun Sect hoping to loot a burning house.

"I've spent years in the forbidden grounds. Today, I'll use these fiends and followers of evil paths as a blood sacrifice to the Azure Cloud Sword."

With a thought, Li Dalong put on the Amethyst Garment rewarded by the system, then began altering his appearance and aura, disguising himself as a stooped old man with a head of white hair. The Amethyst Garment could conceal him, alter his appearance, and even change his aura. It truly lived up to the saying: anything produced by the system was guaranteed to be exceptional.

He casually swallowed the Spirit-Explosion Pill, and his cultivation realm and aura climbed steadily. In the blink of an eye, he reached the Out-of-Body realm, then advanced through its early, middle, and late stages. After briefly experiencing what it felt like to be in the Out-of-Body realm, he moved in a flash and vanished from the forbidden grounds.

Within a breath, he appeared in the sky fifty li outside the Righteous Qi Sect, above the Blood Devil Race's temporary assembly point. Concealing himself, he began scanning with his divine sense for Blood Demon, the Blood Devil Race's grand elder.

Found you. He detected Blood Demon's aura in the center of the Blood Devil Race's encampment. Without the slightest hesitation, he swung the Azure Cloud Sword. A streak of sword light abruptly appeared out of thin air, tore across the sky, and shot straight toward Blood Demon. It streaked forward like a meteor, carrying razor-sharp killing intent, fierce and swift, as though it would shatter the entire world.

Faced with the sword light hurtling toward him in a surprise attack, Blood Demon's eyes flashed with shock and terror. He had believed his cultivation and power were already unmatched in the cultivation world, yet the might of this strike exceeded anything he could imagine. Before the sword light even reached him, its power made his heart tremble. He began to sense a threat to his life.

He hurriedly drove the blood-devil power within him to its limit and unleashed a palm strike, but the warning in his heart did not diminish in the slightest. "Demon Spirit Possession!" Blood Demon roared. His previously unimposing body swelled like an inflatable doll, instantly growing to more than three times its size.

He immediately summoned the defensive magical artifact hidden within his body as well, raising a shield in the vain hope of blocking the onrushing sword light.

Yet the palm strike he had unleashed with all his magical power crumbled on contact with the sword light. The enormous palm formed from devil power was cleaved in two, and the sword light then sliced through the shield like a blade through rotten wood. Blood sprayed, a scream rang out, and Blood Demon was cut in half. The sword light then ground the two halves of his body into dust.

Without losing any momentum, the sword light flew into the Blood Devil Race's temporary encampment, carving an enormous, deep trench that stretched for dozens of li. Every fiend and follower of evil paths in its path was reduced to ash.

The violent fluctuations of spiritual power and the explosion stirred up by the sword light alarmed the various onlookers harboring sinister motives.

They watched as Blood Demon, the Blood Devil Race's grand elder who had been swaggering as though none could challenge him just moments before, failed to withstand even a single strike and was killed instantly by a streak of sword light. Every face turned deathly pale. Some even shook so badly that they could no longer stand and collapsed to the ground.

"How is that possible?"

"He was an Out-of-Body expert! He couldn't even withstand one strike!"

"The Righteous Qi Sect still has such hidden reserves?"

"The Righteous Qi Sect must not be insulted!"

"Terrifying!"

These were the thoughts of the fiends, followers of evil paths, and onlookers.

"Wonderful! Blood Demon is dead!"

"Good riddance!"

"Is that a senior who's been hidden within our sect?"

"I never imagined our sect had such a powerful supreme elder!"

"We're saved! Let's see who dares come to the Righteous Qi Sect and run wild now!"

These were the cheers of the Righteous Qi Sect's disciples.

A trace of cold indifference flashed through Li Dalong's eyes. He knew this strike was enough to make the cultivation world remember the Righteous Qi Sect. Then there was the Rising Sun Sect. He redirected his divine sense toward its distant position. Killing intent filled him toward the Rising Sun Sect, which had dared come to loot a burning house. For the wrong done to his second junior brother and today's siege of the sect, he could not possibly let them off. Before the Spirit-Explosion Pill's effects wore off, he would settle matters with the Rising Sun Sect as well.

He soon found Xiahou Yeming, the master of the Rising Sun Sect, among the crowd. Surrounded by elders and disciples, Xiahou Yeming was watching the situation at the Blood Devil Race's temporary encampment, still unaware that death was at his doorstep.

Once Li Dalong found Xiahou Yeming, he slashed with his sword without another word. Then, without sparing him another glance, he flashed back to the forbidden grounds on the mountain behind the sect.

The instant Li Dalong unleashed his strike, Xiahou Yeming sensed overwhelming danger. As the sword light drew closer and closer, he felt the breath of death. His body began to tremble, and despair welled up in his heart.

Yet just as the sword light was about to reach him, a flicker of resolve suddenly flashed through his eyes. He immediately sent the supreme-grade flying sword in his storage ring out to intercept it. On contact with Li Dalong's sword light, his flying sword crumpled and was knocked away. He abruptly straightened, gathered every ounce of strength in his body, and unleashed all his defensive measures without hesitation to meet the incoming sword light.