Chapter 279: Return Of The Demon God
Space shattered before the five elemental spirits, and Li Yao emerged from the crack. The spirits instantly stood up respectfully when they saw her, staring at her nervously. Ever since they had come here, they’ve always felt like Li Yao’s hostages. Well, it wasn’t that far off since she practically kidnapped them.
"Let’s go," she said curtly as she turned back and stepped into the spatial tear without hesitation.
The spirits nodded obediently and followed her into the dimensional rift.
They all reappeared moments later in an open clearing outside the sect.
Li Yao turned to look at the spirits with a serious expression. "I don’t have time to play around with you lot, so I’ll go on ahead. When you’re done with your job, make sure to return here," Li Yao spoke authoritatively, leaving no room for argument.
The spirits nodded in understanding, and Li Yao was immediately swallowed by the space around her, disappearing into another spatial tear that sealed itself behind her.
When she was completely gone, the spirits finally sighed in collective relief. It was always so nerve-racking when interacting with the lightning spirit. Even though she was technically their ally, her overwhelming power and unpredictability made them incredibly uncomfortable. They then flew away together toward the direction of the dark lotus.
Meanwhile, deep inside the demon sealing tower at the hundredth floor, an ornate coffin’s heavy lid suddenly flew open.
The person inside slowly rose from his resting place.
He appeared to be in his mid-thirties, with striking red hair and two black horns protruding from his forehead, each tipped with crimson. Most notably, there was a huge gaping hole straight through his chest, but he didn’t seem to mind it at all, as if it didn’t exist.
He stretched out his fingers, as if calibrating them after a long period of being unable to use them properly.
"Looks like the time has finally come," he spoke, his voice deep.
"Hmm, it’s actually quite earlier than expected," he said with mild surprise, examining his surroundings.
"Well, no matter. That annoying girl is gone, so I can finally make my move," he said with satisfaction as he rose fully from his coffin.
"How many years has it been?" he asked rhetorically as his bare feet touched the cold stone ground.
He then summoned a dark aura that swirled around his body before forming into dark robes that covered up his body.
He walked up to the solid wall of the tower. Although there were no windows or openings, he could clearly see through the walls. He watched with amusement as the mindless demons charged repeatedly at the sect’s protective barrier, only to collide violently and get splattered across its surface.
He smiled in satisfaction as he stretched out his hand. The demonic creatures splattered against the barrier started vibrating intensely, then began sinking into the ground as if the earth were swallowing them whole. Suddenly, a concentrated dark ball of qi appeared in his outstretched palm.
"The formation is quite decent. It’s difficult even for me to bypass without alerting the creator," he thought.
He then settled into a meditative posture and started absorbing the dark energy ball. As the energy flowed into him, the gaping injury in his chest slowly began to heal.
He stretched out his hand again, and more demons from outside the barrier vibrated and sunk into the ground, creating another concentrated energy ball in his palm. As he absorbed it, he thought to himself that his master had been really thorough in her preparations.
Did she really have to injure him this seriously? Well, he supposed it made sense from her perspective. If he hadn’t been so severely wounded, he might not have slept until the right time and would have likely devoured this entire mortal planet prematurely, he mused as he licked his lips with anticipation.
He thought to himself that he just needed to absorb enough corrupted energy to recover some meaningful strength. About Void realm level would be sufficient for his current plans. Although that was pathetically weak compared to his true peak power, it would be enough to get the job done. Besides, there was simply no way he could recover his full strength in this run-down place.
He then glanced in another direction with calculating eyes. "If I can devour that flower, maybe I can enter the Mahayana realm," he thought. Although that level was also relatively weak, he’d at least be able to venture out and devour several thousand worlds to recover the rest of his original power.
"Maybe I’ll do that after I’m done here," he thought.
...
Li Yao floated above a large group of demons viciously attacking a convoy of merchants on the mountain road below. The demonic creatures snarled and slashed at the terrified travelers who were desperately trying to defend their goods and lives.
When the merchants caught sight of her floating above them, they started shouting desperately, "Immortal, please save us!"
But Li Yao didn’t hear their pleas and appeared lost in deep thought, her brow furrowed with concern. "Why do I feel like someone is planning to steal from me?" she wondered. Ever since she left the sect, she seemed to be growing uneasy by the second.
[What are you doing? Help them!] the empress spoke urgently from within her spiritual sea.
Li Yao snapped out of her distracted state and casually waved her hand in the direction of the battle below. A devastating wave of spiritual qi blasted from her palm, cutting cleanly through all hundred or so demons attacking the merchants. The creatures were sliced apart instantly, their bodies dissolving into dark mist.
"Thank you so much, immortal! You are our savior!" the grateful merchants started chanting in unison, dropping to their knees in gratitude.
But Li Yao didn’t pay them any attention and simply departed, disappearing into the distance without acknowledging their thanks.
Once she had completely left the area, the bowing merchants slowly rose from their submissive positions. Their expressions instantly transforming from grateful to coldly serious.
One of their carriages opened with a soft creak, and a fairly beautiful young lady stepped out elegantly. She had delicate features and a refined aura, but her eyes held a calculating coldness.
"Saintess, what do you think?" one of the disguised merchants asked respectfully.
"That’s definitely her," she confirmed with certainty.
"What do we do now?" they asked, awaiting her instructions.
"We follow her and capture her," she said with an evil smile.
"But...isn’t she too strong?" one person asked nervously, still vividly remembering how effortlessly Li Yao had dispatched the entire demon horde.
"What strength?" the saintess spoke dismissively. She waved her hand casually and produced hundreds of concentrated qi blasts that struck numerous trees throughout the surrounding forest.
The others were genuinely shocked by this overwhelming display of ability. "As expected of the saintess of one of the ten holy lands," they thought with renewed confidence.
The saintess smiled with satisfaction when she saw their reaction. She thought to herself that although she couldn’t sense Li Yao’s exact cultivation level, she couldn’t be that much stronger than herself since they were of the same generation.
She was widely considered a genius of their generation and was almost at the Nascent Soul realm despite her young age. She could even fight evenly against established Nascent Soul cultivators. Even if Li Yao had received some strength boost for being recognized as a spirit, she firmly believed she could still win against her.
...
Li Yao was flying at a leisurely pace through the mountain ranges when suddenly, a group of people surrounded her from all directions.
"It’s you guys," she spoke, recognizing them from before.
"Kekeke, little spirit, your luck has run out. Come with us nicely..." one of the men said with a predatory grin.
"Or not so nicely..." his companion added menacingly as he withdrew a massive spiritual axe and pointed it directly at Li Yao.
...
A/N: Xiang Yu cooked?
What is the demon god’s mission?