On Ye Xiu's Breakthrough Mountain.
The sound of the explosions from the distant Heavenly Light Sect reached the ears of even those present here, and every one of them was utterly astonished.
"Heavenly Light Sect... How could a calamity have possibly befallen Heavenly Light Sect?"
Cheng Lingwu was indeed worthy of his position at the side of Imperial Preceptor Min Youguo.
The explosions at Heavenly Light Sect instantly put him on high alert.
This was especially so when he caught sight of a flicker of joy crossing the face of Li Kuanghua, who was within the array formation outside the Mountain.
His astute mind immediately made the connection to the Li family member known to be within the Sect—Li Yaotie!
Lai Teng had been in the very act of leading his numerous avatars in a charge against Li Kuanghua and her group.
At this moment, however, he too had abruptly halted his advance due to the explosions at Heavenly Light Sect.
His expression was foul as he stared intently in that direction.
Within the marketplace just outside the Heavenly Light Sect, other Tian Xing avatars were similarly lying in wait.
He had already perceived everything that had transpired within the Sect!
"Lai Teng, what do we do now?" one of the avatars inquired.
As the avatar's voice faded, Cheng Lingwu, who was positioned behind them, also sensed that something was amiss.
He used a voice transmission technique to ask, "Lai Teng, what is it that you've all perceived?"
"Wang Jinhu is emerging from the Heavenly Light Sect as we speak. No one knows what transpired within, but it seems certain they are connected to this incident."
Lai Teng's gaze flickered. "And now..." he added, his voice tense, "...he is heading straight for us!"
"What?!!"
Cheng Lingwu's expression changed drastically. He couldn't help but gaze at the breakthrough occurring on the Mountain, a cold sweat streaming down his back.
He suddenly realized, all of this might be a single, elaborate ploy!
Ye Xiu's breakthrough drew the attention of all eyes. And at the same time, the explosion at Heavenly Light Sect...
Cheng Lingwu was certain there had to be a connection.
It was as if a sudden realization struck him; his eyes flew wide. "Li Yaotie is in the Heavenly Light Sect! We've had him under surveillance for many years! It's highly probable the Li family intends to use this entire affair as a cover to rescue him!"
Upon hearing this, Lai Teng's face turned ice-cold as he fixed his gaze upon Li Kuanghua!
This young lass was currently smiling at him with open mockery, which infuriated him to no end.
Beyond his anger, however, an inexplicable sense of panic began to stir in his heart.
He couldn't help but snarl in a cold voice, "Li Kuanghua, your Li family is truly ruthless! Is this your plan? To use Ye Xiu's Divinity Transformation breakthrough as a diversion, sending you all here to hold me off, just so you can rescue Li Yaotie? Sacrificing the lives of so many of your people, is it truly worth it?!!"
As his words faded, the cultivators from Azure Cloud frowned slightly, their gazes turning towards Li Kuanghua.
This was precisely the effect Lai Teng had intended to achieve; he had even hoped to incite internal strife among the Azure Cloud Region group. But it was not to be; the cultivators from Azure Cloud Region said nothing at all!
Li Kuanghua, however, showed not the slightest change in her demeanor.
She was still smiling with open mockery. "So," she taunted, "you genuinely believed our Li family would be capable of such a ridiculous act?"
"You..."
Just as he was about to speak, Lai Teng was suddenly seized by a profound sense of horror.
He cried out in alarm, "This is bad! Eternal Sun Prefecture!"
...
Eternal Sun Prefecture
Just as on that fateful day when the Li family was ambushed, throughout the various major factions, the avatars of Venerable Tian Xing all snapped open their eyes.
Subsequently, they rose into the air and surged in unison towards a single direction.
Only this time, it was the members of the Li family launching a surprise assault on Qilin Mountain!
The skies above Qilin Mountain were blanketed with ominous, dark clouds. It was as if skulls formed from pure demonic Qi were roaring across the vast expanse, and even shamanistic totems, one after another, were rising to float in the air.
The cultivators of Qilin Mountain, without exception, charged forth from within the mountain.
The grand defensive array activated, and the cultivators of the Lin family surged out in a frenzied rush to meet the foe.
All this, for a single man. That man's demonic Qi billowed to the heavens; anyone struck by his great saber, without exception, perished instantly on the spot!
The Frenzied Blood Demon Lord.
He, and he alone, had stormed Qilin Mountain!
"Use a trapping formation! This fiend is undying and indestructible!"
"You scoundrel! How can such a vile creature exist?! Elder, he is using the shamanistic techniques of the Wu Clan, including physical body techniques and a life-burning technique!"
"It's no use, Elder! The trapping formation can't control him! He has placed a death curse upon his own body; even if we successfully trap him within the formation, he will simply disintegrate, only to be instantly reborn in another location! He must have left a drop of his blood somewhere in the outside world! If we cannot divine the precise location of that life-vein, it is basically impossible to truly kill him!"
As the Frenzied Blood Demon Lord continued his bloody rampage into the heart of the Qilin Mountain Lin family estate, the cultivators of the Lin clan began to succumb to panic.
The Frenzied Blood Demon Lord was an unkillable monster, and what's more, this fiend had clearly come well-prepared!
Life after life was extinguished at the hands of the Frenzied Blood Demon Lord. He made no distinction—whether old or weak, woman or child, if they were seen by the Frenzied Blood Demon Lord, they were slain without exception.
Fortunately, the appearance of several Nascent Soul Elders managed to momentarily halt the Frenzied Blood Demon Lord's rampage.
From within Qilin Mountain, a phantom image of a Qilin had also materialized.
Its spiritual power was of an indeterminable profundity; no matter where the Frenzied Blood Demon Lord chose to resurrect, this Qilin could invariably appear at his location in the very first instant.
"Evil fiend!"
Astonishingly, this Qilin possessed sentience and spoke in a human tongue, its ferocious, wrathful visage plain to see.
"How dare you trespass upon my Qilin Mountain!" it bellowed. "I care not what techniques you cultivate, nor what innate talents you possess—do you genuinely believe you have attained true immortality and indestructibility?! Today, I shall see to it that you perish on this very spot!"
With these words, had this Qilin perhaps perceived the crux of the Frenzied Blood Demon Lord's abilities?
Yet the Frenzied Blood Demon Lord remained utterly fearless; demonic Qi surged even more intensely from the tattoos covering his body.
Once again, after being momentarily restrained, he self-detonated and perished, only for demonic Qi to immediately begin coiling upwards from a single drop of blood in another location, reforming into a body of flesh and blood.
The demonic saber from where he had just fallen reappeared in his hand.
He stared at the Lin family cultivators swarming towards him, and at the Qilin phantom in the sky emanating its immense oppressive might.
His voice was bone-chilling to the extreme. "You have destroyed this Lord's hope," he snarled. "In that case, this Lord shall ensure that your Qilin Mountain knows no peace!"
Even if he were to truly perish in this place, the Blood Demon Lord felt no fear!
For tens of thousands of years, he had been alone in that Frenzied Blood Demon Realm, mired in solitude for millennia upon millennia.
Then came the day he encountered seven fools and, through them, entered the world of the Li family. As year after year went by, his wisdom gradually grew, and he came to understand the ways of the world.
It wasn't as if no one had attempted to win him over during these years.
Those other factions would say that with his immense talent and abilities, how could a mere Li family possibly be enough to contain him? They argued that it was he, all along, who was saving the Li family.
But how could those fools possibly understand? It was the Li family who had saved him—who had saved a lonely and desolate soul!
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