98: The Filthy Punishment Immortal Riding a Flying Serpent

Two incense sticks' time later.

Yu Xuzi had just returned to the small courtyard he rented.

A terrifying pressure that blanketed heaven and earth, carrying a monstrous Demonic Qi, suddenly crashed down from overhead like a falling meteor!

"He's here!"

Yu Xuzi composed himself and looked up.

First came a thick, inescapable stench of blood that swept across the entire Lei Huo Mountain.

The barrier of the protective Formation began to ripple.

In the sky, the clouds that had just been torn apart by thunder and fire and had not yet fully closed were covered by a shadow that blotted out the sun.

"Hiss-roar—"

A strange roar resounded through the clouds for a hundred miles.

It was a long serpent, crimson all over, its back covered in bone spikes, with every scale reflecting a cold and sinister luster.

Its body was a hundred and fifty zhang long, winding and coiling like a mountain range.

A pair of black feathered wings over a hundred zhang wide unfurled behind its neck; every slow flap brought a silent black hurricane, battering the Formation's light shield below and stirring up circles of violent ripples.

Rank Three Middle Stage Demon King—[Crimson Blood Profound Serpent]

As a descendant of a Rank Five Demon Emperor Bloodline, it possessed a trace of the true blood of the Soaring Serpent, a true spirit of heaven and earth, giving it a great chance of stepping into the Rank Four Demon Sovereign Realm!

Even truly becoming a Demon Emperor and ascending to the Upper Realm held a sliver of infinitesimal hope.

And atop this despair-inducing behemoth stood a figure with hands clasped behind his back.

Dressed in a pure, pitch-black robe, his posture was tall and straight.

Judging by his face, he was only a young man in his early twenties, with a complexion pale as if he hadn't seen the sun in a long time, and features that could be called handsome.

However, the gloom gathered between his brows and the cold anger burning in his eyes emitted an eerie aura that chilled one to the bone.

"You two trash Loose Cultivators certainly ran fast. Hand over the earth core fire lotus, and this seat might consider sparing your lives."

Light flashed atop Lei Huo Mountain as two figures rose, standing within the Formation, facing the young man in black and the massive Demon King from afar.

It was exactly The Two Sages of Lei Huo who had just fled back in a sorry state.

Both had unstable auras and extremely grim expressions.

The person before them went by the Daoist title "Xuan Yin Crimson Blood Venerable Huixing," an Elder of the Xuan Yin Palace.

With a Profound Fetus Late Stage cultivation, his combat strength was formidable and his reputation illustrious.

In his youth, he was also the former chief Prodigy of Xuan Yin Palace, a Dao Seed-level figure, and one of the potential candidates for the next generation of Dharma Aspect True Lords!

Not to mention in the Xuan Yin Continent, he was even somewhat famous throughout the entire Cangmang Realm.

"Fellow Daoist Huixing!"

The Elder brother, True Person Yu Ting, stepped forward, his voice like thunder as he forced himself to sound imposing:

"This place is the Dao field of us two brothers; how can we allow you to act so insolently? Furthermore, the earth core fire lotus is an ownerless object. We obtained it through our own ability, so how can you speak of handing it over?!"

"Obtained through your own ability?"

A mocking curve tugged at the corner of Venerable Huixing's mouth, the fire of anger in his eyes burning even brighter. "This seat pursued that lotus for three years. Seeing it was about to mature, you two took advantage of this seat's inattention to perform such thievery—and you dare call that 'ability'?"

His voice suddenly turned sharp, his heart having grown completely impatient.

"Didn't you claim that together you could fight a Profound Fetus Late Stage?"

"What a joke! Today, I shall let you know what a true Late Stage Great Immortal Master is!"

He said no more, pointing his fingers like a sword toward the Lei Huo Mountain Formation below.

"Roar—!!!"

The Crimson Blood Mysterious-Winged Soaring Serpent beneath his feet let out a world-shaking roar, its bloody stench and aura blanketing the sky.

Its massive body twisted suddenly, and its giant tail, covered in hideous bone spikes, rose high.

Surging Demonic Qi clung to it, transforming into a three-hundred-zhang-long crimson tail that whipped down fiercely with a terrifying power that could split mountains and a roar like the tearing of the Void Realm!

"Wooo—"

At the same time, Venerable Huixing unfurled his sleeve, and a banner wreathed in black qi grew with the wind, instantly becoming a hundred-zhang-tall giant banner.

"Awoo—"

Countless distorted, pained soul faces gushed out from the banner's surface, letting out waves of shrill wails.

Surging Xuan Yin Evil Qi, like a breached River of the Underworld, blackened the sky for a hundred miles around, pouring down toward the Formation!

It was precisely the Rank Three High Grade Magic Treasure—[myriad souls malice banner].

"Operate the Formation with full power!"

True Person Yu Ting's pupils shrank as he shouted sharply, striking out simultaneously with True Man Yu Yan, injecting two streams of pure thunder and fire dharmic power into the main Formation base below.

"Rumble—!!!"

The crimson giant tail smashed into the light shield, the majestic Demonic Qi and Formation spiritual light colliding and annihilating each other frantically, kicking up thousand-zhang-high mushroom clouds.

The entire Lei Huo Mountain began to shake violently.

The secondary protective light screens on the surfaces of countless buildings in the market town flickered wildly, and a large number of low-level Cultivators were knocked off balance, blood seeping from their ears and noses.

The Xuan Yin Evil Qi and the tens of thousands of souls from the myriad souls malice banner were even more pervasive, corroding the Formation barrier with a "sizzle" as its spiritual light gradually dimmed.

"Boom—Boom—Boom—!!!"

The Crimson Blood Demon King's attacks did not stop for a moment, the deafening explosions terrifying countless people in the market town to the core.

The Formation barrier began to shake, even denting inward in a massive arc, as if it would shatter at any moment.

A massive amount of Spirit Stones were burning frantically to replenish the Formation's consumption.

After all, it was only a Rank Three Medium Grade protective Formation; facing the combined strength of the Crimson Blood Demon King and Venerable Huixing, it was starting to fail.

"Brother, what should we do?"

True Man Yu Yan looked at True Person Yu Ting with a pale face, a hint of regret and imperceptible fear already in his eyes.

Before fleeing back, they had already fought once and had felt the terror of Venerable Huixing's Xuan Yin Evil Qi, sustaining significant injuries.

To put it nicely, they were slightly outmatched.

To put it bluntly, it was a complete rout; they had been suppressed and beaten the whole time, with no power to fight back.

Their public claim that their combined strength could block a Profound Fetus Late Stage Great Immortal Master might hold true against ordinary Loose Cultivators or Old Ancestors of small forces, but when facing a Prodigy like Venerable Huixing... his Magic Treasures, Cultivation Techniques, Spells, and divine abilities were all top-tier, and he was further aided by the powerful Bloodline of the Crimson Blood Demon King; they simply weren't in the same league!

"Hold the line!"

True Person Yu Ting gritted his teeth and said, "Our message for help has already been sent out. In three days at most, someone from the Taihe Sect will arrive! It will be safe then!"

"In the past, we never failed to provide the amount of Spirit Stone offerings due to the Taihe Sect!"

"I don't believe they will stand by and watch us die!"