Chapter 197: Hopeless
Chapter 197: Hopeless
“Weiwei!/Ningwei!” Both Ji Wutong and Bing Huoyuan shouted at the same time upon seeing the apparition of Leviathan Ancestor.
Ji Wutong and Bing Huoyuan’s eyes contained disbelief as they shielded the Bai sisters in their embrace. With their knowledge and experience, the two could discern that the demon elder had somehow managed to unleash an attack at the level of the True Demon Realm. They, along with the other disciples, had received information that true demons could not leave the core territory of their clan, so they never thought they would receive the attack of a true demon.
The two used all the defensive methods that they could deploy in that short instance as they waited to see what the apparition would do. Not just them, once all the disciples detected the danger, all of them brought out their life-saving means.
Daoist Moneybag’s two cylindrical artifacts had disappeared and in their place was a round shield with a guardian lion head at the center. The head showed a fierce expression, and just looking at it would cause even elite disciples to show trepidation.
Han Jusang made several hand seals, and dark matter began to leak from his body until it covered him whole. Han Jusang’s new appearance was that of a three-meter humanoid with skin of pure black and two large horns atop his head, a devil. Even so, the ‘devil’ showed an uncertain expression as he moved as far away from the translucent sea serpent as possible.
Xia Yushan held his lifebound sword defensively in front of him. In the front of the absolute difference in power, the slaughter intent within his sword had diminished to a minuscule amount. Even so, the eldest senior brother of the Buzhou Immortal Sect watched with wide eyes at Tianyi, who was the target of the attack, but soon, Xia Yushan could not afford to divide his attention.
Once the first bubble popped, shockwaves spread throughout the Vast Heaven Islands. It was as if the invisible waves were physical, and Xia Yushan felt like a mountain had slammed into him. With blood puking from his mouth, he quickly brought out the life-saving means Sect Master Xia had prepared for him.
A five-colored lotus appeared and covered Xia Yushan behind its petals, and not a moment too soon as the second bubble popped and sent a shockwave throughout the Vast Heaven Islands. However, this time the five-colored lotus prevented the shockwave from affecting its occupant, and Xia Yushan didn’t feel the slightest tremor.
Xia Yushan sighed as he once again focused his attention on Tianyi. Suddenly, a look of worry flashed across his face, and he wildly searched Vast Heaven Islands for a particular figure. However, no matter how hard he searched, Xia Yushan couldn’t find Daoyi’s whereabouts.
Soon, Xia Yushan didn’t have the leisure to look anymore as the number of shockwaves increased, and so did the bubble’s strength with each one popped. Xia Yushan focused his attention on Tianyi once more and was shocked silly.
Xia Yushan had never sparred or fought Tianyi before, but his information on Tianyi’s strength was near perfect thanks to Sect Master Xia’s words. His master had said that Tianyi possessed the strength of Unity Realm expert without entering the Unity Realm and, at some aspects, was even superior to some transcending mortality sages.
So when he saw that Tianyi’s body also ‘pop,’ Xia Yushan couldn’t believe his eyes. There’s no way Tianyi would die so easily. Not to mention, there is no way Grand Elder Xi didn’t prepare any life-saving means for her only son.
Against his expectations, what remained of Tianyi’s body was a strange black mist that soon dissipated into the air, much to Xia Yushan’s and others’ shock. Tianyi couldn’t have possibly died, right?
Xia Yushan was soon forced out of his shock as the demons began to take action once more. Unlike previous times, they began to retreat under the remaining demon elders’ orders. Of the eleven original elders present, only six remain.
Xia Yushan only deliberated for a moment before ordering to give chase. The demons didn’t know that the person who just died was the controller of the Vast Heaven Islands, so if they knew, they would likely retaliate instead of fleeing. To keep the illusion that the controller of the Vast Heaven Islands remained alive, Xia Yushan ordered the disciples to give chase to keep up the illusion.
But Xia Yushan made a colossal miscalculation.
With Tianyi no longer controlling Vast Heaven Islands’ domain, the suppression of the demons had weakened. Nowhere was this as prominent as the demon elders, but they had attributed it to Leviathan Ancestor weakening the Vast Heaven Islands, and they weren’t wrong.
Leviathan Ancestor’s attack did shake the foundation of the Vast Heaven Islands, and the damage was greater than the combined might of the eleven demon elder’s Descending Eruption technique. Because of this, the murky connection between heaven and earth and the Unity Realm level demons was restored to a point. Before, if ninety percent of their connection was severed, now, it was only about fifty percent. And with half their strength restored, it allowed them to display over five times as much strength as before.
“Do you think you can come and leave as you please!?” Xia Yushan shouted as he waved his sword, and several sword-light erupted towards the fleeing demon elders. The sword-light was a rusty red and contained a terrifying and dense slaughtering intent. Even with their current level of power, the Unity Realm level demons did their best to dodge. The demon elders were able to dodge, but the Nascent Soul and Core Formation Realm level demons weren’t so lucky and died by the tens and hundreds.
Xia Yushan’s attack was something that he would normally never use in battle since it revealed a large opening in his defense that could cost him big time if the opponent were to dodge and capitalized on it, but against the demon army that was in full retreat, Xia Yushan didn’t need to consider such a situation, not to mention the lotus protecting still had spare energy. He wasn’t the only one, as all the disciples unleashed moves that they would never normally use in the midst of battle.
The demon ignored all this. In their eyes, getting out of the abnormal domain of the Vast Heaven Islands took greater priority. The only reason they fought earlier was that they had no choice. Now that the spatial suppression had weakened, it was better to flee. Otherwise, their casualties would increase even more.
Numerous demons had already reached the boundary, but the demon elders had yet to leave the Vast Heaven Islands. The biggest reason was because Tianyi had been targeting them and the demons below the Unity Realm level were more of an afterthought. So during the battle, the demon elders were slowly dragged towards the center of the Vast Heaven Islands as if they were stuck in quicksand.
“Immortals, I will repay this enmity in the future!” Ashflame Crow roared in rage as he neared the boundary of the Vast Heaven Islands’ domain. Despite being the first to enter and attacked by the top cultivators, Ashflame Crow managed to survive thanks to his wits, years of experience, and his unique Ash Flame.
However, just as he was about to pass the boundary, he discovered that he was facing the core of the Vast Heaven Islands again. It was as if he exited and then entered Vast Heaven Islands’ domain, but that was impossible. I’ve been only flying straight. How could I return?
Wait!
Ashflame Crow eyes zeroed in on the other side of Vast Heaven Islands’ domain.To his shock, he saw a fellow demon elder flying out of the domain near where he had once been. Or rather, fly and suddenly appear near him.
“Ashflame, what, what happened?”
Ashflame Crow didn’t answer his fellow elder’s question and observed the situation. Once he calmed down and calmly analyzed the situation, Ashflame Crow noticed that the number of demons inside the Vast Heaven Islands didn’t diminish at all despite all of them rushing out.
By now, he wasn’t the only one who had noticed the irregularity. More and more demons noticed that they couldn’t escape. None of the demons escaped. Instead, they had only reappeared inside the opposite side of the domain.
Ashflame Crow felt a chill creep up his spine. We were tricked. The damned master of the domain wanted us to think that Leviathan Ancestor’s attack weakened it, but it was for us to let our guard down and attempt to escape, allowing them to attack us without reserve!
A horrifying pit formed in the Golden Crow Clan elder’s stomach as he realized what the situation meant. An immortal with the power of a true demon descended. I have to warn the ancestor!
Ashflame Crow began to ignite his blood essence as his body was shrouded in ash-colored flames. The flames soon took on a bloody red tint as the pressure emanating from the crow demon began to rise and rise. “All of you use all your power and flee. We must break out and warn the ancestor!”
At Ashflame Crow’s words, the rest of the Unity Realm level demons began to ignite their blood essence as well. Even without Ashflame Crow’s words, they would have chosen to do the same. It was not that the rest of the demon elders were as loyal as Ashflame Crow, but they realized that if they did not do so, they would not be able to escape.
The demon elders began to attack the boundaries with all their might. Some of their attacks appeared at the other end, while some managed to bypass the boundary and reached the outside. Seeing this, the demon elders redoubled their efforts.
Xia Yushan, upon seeing this scene, sighed in relief because this meant that Tianyi hadn’t died. He suddenly stilled as he realized what he had done. Xia Yushan had expected to feel a sense of release if Tianyi actually died, but he discovered he was actually relieved to find out Tianyi was still alive.
Why? Xia Yushan questioned himself. Years ago, I wanted to reel Tianyi into my web of connections, but as time passed, I began to feel threatened by him. To this day, Tianyi’s cultivation speed astounds me, so I want to defeat him. I am unwilling for him to die until I defeat him. Once I return and absorb the yin and yang essence, I will challenge him and rid myself of the shadow left by him.
Having made up his mind, Xia Yushan refocused on the fleeing demons. Xia Yushan had been trying to kill Ashflame Crow since he had entered to extract his blood, and he was unwilling to let the demon elder flee as Ragingflame Crow had done. Brandishing his sword, Xia Yushan flew towards Ashflame Crow atop the five-colored lotus.
Xia Yushan wasn’t the only one as the other disciples detected that the demons couldn’t leave and renewed their attacks. Unlike Xia Yushan, most of them targeted the Nascent Soul and Core Formation Realm level demons as the Unity Realm level demons had explosively increased their strength.
Under the assault of the cultivators, some demons relented and fought back like mindless beasts while others despaired and just waited for death, but the demon elders continued to attack Vast Heaven Islands’ boundaries.
Finally, one of them made a hole that was stable and large enough for him to pass. Not wasting the chance and ignoring his fellow elders, the crow demon flew through the hole. However, the hole abruptly shrunk while only half his body had escaped.
The demon elder wasn’t stuck, he successfully flew out of Vast Heaven Islands, but only half of him did. However, the crow demon didn’t care as flames erupted around his waist. These were the Flames of Rebirth that the phoenix was known for.
The Flames of Rebirth allowed them to heal from any injury. Although the Golden Crow Clan weren’t phoenixes, as demons that inherited fire and yang attributes, they could mimic the Flames of Rebirth. The Golden Crow Clan’s bootleg Flames of Rebirth weren’t as powerful, and the user had to pay a high price to activate the technique, but in life-and-death situations, it was invaluable.
The demon’s avian face showed a hard-earned joy as he flew off, but soon, he couldn’t keep the smile up anymore because he discovered that his waist wasn’t healing at all. “Impossible!”
Tianyi’s Vast Heaven Islands and the Demon Cage Realm were like two separate realms, so when the demon elder’s waist was severed, he also lost half his soul. In other words, the demon elder had received a similar injury as Ragingflame Crow had, only far more severe. Ragingflame Crow lost his wing while the demon elder lost his bottom half. In order to heal from his injury, he had to heal his soul first.
The Unity Realm level demons inside the Vast Heaven Islands’ domain all saw this. Even though they would find themselves at the opposite end of the Vast Heaven Islands, this didn’t prevent them from seeing what happened outside. The Unity Realm demons that were prepared to escape through the holes they created all froze as a chilling sensation crept up their spines.
The only one who didn’t give up was Ashflame Crow. His flames were powerful and had a powerful effect of incinerating and burning whatever it touched, even other flames, but it met its match. The Vast Heaven Islands’ foundation was built on Tianyi’s true qi of chaos, and in terms of power, Tianyi’s true qi of chaos trumped Ashflame Crow’s ash flames. So, even if Ashflame Crow willingly allowed himself to be fatally injured in order to escape, his flames didn’t have the ability to penetrate the Vast Heaven Islands’ boundary.
While Ashflame Crow was pondering on how to leave, a sudden change occurred. Nine shining lights, eight golden and one black, appeared where Tianyi’s body had popped. The pressure they emanated was enormous, causing all cultivators and demons to focus on them.
Under everyone’s disbelieving eyes, the area around them turned into the night sky. At first, it was only a small area, but soon it pervaded all reaches of the domain, causing the Vast Heaven Islands to appear to be floating in the Vast Void.
“W-what i-is this?!” Ashflame Crow couldn’t help but cry out. Before, they could at least detect outside the boundaries of Vast Heaven Island. Now, even if the boundary didn’t stop them, Ashfalme Crow and the other demon elders didn’t dare leave.
Turning his head frantically, Ashfalme Crow discovered that all the cultivators had disappeared, and only the demons were left. A sense of abnormality descended upon the demons.
It was too quiet, too peaceful, as if something was just waiting for them to lower their guard.
Waiting with bated breath, the Unity Realm level demons waited for the next assault, but five minutes, ten minutes, and then hours passed with nothing happening. Seeing this, the demon elders gathered and tried to figure out a plan of escape.
As time passed, the Unity Realm level demon realized that their connection to heaven and earth had been completely severed. Furthermore, they couldn’t absorb the spiritual qi at all. It was as if they had been transferred into a strange and sinister world where the rules had been completely altered.
With an uneasy heart, the time passed until a Unity Realm level elder couldn’t take it anymore and risked breaking out of the boundary and into the seeming Vast Void. The elder assumed that it was just an illusion, as there had been precedents of the cultivators using illusions against them.
But no matter how hard he tried, the demon elder realized that he couldn’t even detect the boundary, much less tear a hole in it. Furthermore, no matter how hard he flew, his position seemingly never changed.
With heavy hearts, the demons realized they had been imprisoned with no way of escaping. They were at the mercy of the cultivators. No matter how powerful they were, no matter fast they could fly, it was useless.
How does one fight against a world?