102: Jade Pot

However, the crisis was far from over.

A wave-patterned porcelain pot hovered overhead at some unknown moment, pouring out a liquid as thick as honey from its mouth. It instantly encased the two in a massive sphere of water. "Hold your breath!" Lin Luo only had time to shout this one sentence before the cold liquid submerged their noses and mouths.

The water sphere landed on the bluestone with a dull thud. The previously eerie stream of water wound around it like an awakening giant python, beginning to constrict the sphere frantically. The sensation of suffocation within the liquid hit them rapidly; trapped in this viscous cage, they were like insects sealed in amber.

Shinobu had no time to react before the cold liquid choked her nostrils. Suffocation pressed in from the outside while the oxygen within her body was rapidly consumed. Her face flushed red with distress, painful tears welled in the corners of her eyes, and her hands beat feebly against the watery walls.

Seeing this, Lin Luo immediately pinched her nose and lowered his head to pass a breath of pure Qi into her mouth. Simultaneously, golden light erupted from his body, its sharp radiance shooting out in all directions like ten thousand blades—"Break!"

The water sphere exploded at the sound, and the water currents wrapping around them were shredded by the golden light. The viscous liquid splashed everywhere, reflecting an eerie luster in the sunlight like shattered colored glass.

After being saved, Shinobu knelt on the ground, coughing violently and greedily breathing the long-awaited air as her pale cheeks gradually regained their color. She was completely unaware of the intimate contact between them just now, only forcing herself to endure the burning discomfort in her throat and chest as she quickly stood and moved back behind Lin Luo. The nichirin blade in her hand was already unsheathed, glinting with a piercing cold light under the sun.

"It escaped," Lin Luo whispered, his brow furrowed.

He expanded his Divine Sense, covering the surroundings like an invisible net, carefully tracking that eerie aura. However, the stream continued to gurgle, and there was only the rustling of leaves in the forest—that strange presence had vanished without a trace, leaving no path to follow.

"How could it be so fast..." Lin Luo muttered to himself. It was so fast that even his Divine Sense couldn't capture the slightest trace.

Water? That's it, water!

His eyes sharpened as he formed a hand Seal. With a shift of his will, blades condensed from spiritual energy blasted toward the stream like cannonballs—"Boom! Boom! Boom!"

The once peaceful valley suddenly shook. The stream water was blasted in all directions, exposing the riverbed and churning the soil on both banks. In an instant, the entire stretch of the stream was riddled with holes, as if it had undergone a baptism of war.

Shinobu watched from behind him in shock. This power far surpassed ordinary cannonballs, and more terrifyingly, he could unleash such a barrage with such ease, as if his power were inexhaustible.

"Finally out."

A peculiar demon emerged amidst the churning water—its lower body was fused with a pot, its upper body was muscular but lacked arms, a pair of small appendages grew from the sides of its head, and ten tiny palms were neatly arranged along the sides of its torso.

The moment it appeared, those small hands quickly threw several porcelain jars. Mutated goldfish leaped from where the jars shattered, spitting out dense clusters of poison needles. Shinobu's nichirin blade danced like the wind, parrying the sky full of needles. Any needles she failed to block were quietly neutralized by a faint golden light before touching her skin—this was the protective measure Lin Luo had set up beforehand.

Lightning surged as Lin Luo flipped his palm and thrust it forward. Electric snakes danced wildly, instantly turning the fish monsters into charcoal, the air filling with a scorched smell.

"Go!" He grabbed Shinobu's waist and leaped into the air. At that moment, four octopus tentacles covered in eyeballs burst from the ground, closing in from all sides. Lin Luo spat out a sharp blade of sword light, severing one of the tentacles like a bolt of lightning, and used the opening to lead Shinobu out of the encirclement.

Lin Luo sped through the dense forest with Shinobu in his arms, their robes flapping loudly in the wind.

That Pot Demon's strength far exceeded ordinary demons, but more troublesome was its decisiveness—it fled immediately upon seeing it was outmatched, showing no desire for a drawn-out battle.

At this moment, what weighed heavily on Lin Luo's mind was another more pressing concern: if that cunning demon found Kanae first... He couldn't help but hold the girl in his arms tighter, his speed increasing further as his figure turned into a blurred afterimage in the woods.

Meanwhile, the Pot Demon had completed an instantaneous transfer from the deep mountains to the village using a porcelain pot in a villager's home. Since those two in the mountains were difficult to deal with, it decided to eliminate the members of the Demon Slayer Corps here one by one before Lin Luo returned.

Using the porcelain pots scattered throughout the village, it quickly locked onto a lone member. "Water Prison Pot." A wave-patterned pot quietly appeared, and a water sphere instantly swallowed the member. There was no time to react—no matter how sharp the nichirin blade was, it couldn't pierce this flowing cage. Silently, another member perished.

The Pot Demon continued to move patiently. Using this method, five members in a row lost their lives to its sneak attacks.

"Flower Breathing, Fourth Form: Crimson Hanagoromo!"

Two sharp, upward-curving slashes struck, leaving deep, bone-deep wounds on the Pot Demon's upper body. Kochou Kanae had sensed something was wrong early on and finally arrived at the last moment, just barely saving the member who was about to be killed.

"Upper Rank Five..." Kanae stared at the characters engraved on the demon's forehead and cheeks, her fingers tightening slightly on her sword as a hint of gravity flashed in her eyes.

"Flower Breathing, Fifth Form: Peonies of Futility!"

Nine sword lights bloomed from all directions like peony petals, all stabbing toward the same vital point. However, the Pot Demon suddenly retracted into its pot. The pot shattered under the sword strikes, but the demon was nowhere to be found.

Just then, a cry of alarm from a member came from outside, and Kanae immediately rushed over. She saw countless goldfish monsters hovering in mid-air, poison needles pouring down like rain. The nichirin blade had little effect when slashing at the slimy fish bodies.

"Blood Demon Art: Ten Thousand Gliding Slime-Fish!"

The Pot Demon threw ten slime-fish patterned pots, and ten thousand sharp-toothed catfish swarmed toward Kanae like a hive of bees. "Flower Breathing, Third Form: Honorable Shadow Plum!" Curved slashes flew like plum petals, shredding all the approaching catfish.

Unexpectedly, the fish sprayed venom before dissipating. Kanae couldn't dodge in time, and the spot where it touched her arm immediately throbbed with piercing pain, causing her to let out a muffled groan.

"Blood Demon Art: Water Prison Pot!"

The Pot Demon threw another wave-patterned pot, and a water sphere instantly swallowed Kanae. She struggled to thrust her nichirin blade through the water, but the tip was heavily repelled by the viscous water walls.

Normally, by lowering her heart rate and using exquisite breath control, she could hold her breath underwater for over ten minutes. But now, the water in the cage twisted into countless water snakes, tightly binding her limbs and constantly draining her strength and oxygen. Her vision began to blur, and her lungs burned like fire.

At the critical moment, a sharp, moon-white blade of light whistled through the air, accurately shattering the porcelain pot where the Pot Demon was hiding. The Pot Demon shrieked as it dodged another incoming crescent-shaped blade of light. Its form, having lost its vessel, began to change drastically—

Its body expanded rapidly, the small hands on its sides disappeared, replaced by muscular arms connected to its torso. Fish-tail-like long hair grew from its head, and its lower body transformed into a fish tail covered in transparent scales. Its fingers became webbed, with tips as sharp as knives.

"Blood Demon Art: Killer Fish Scales!"

The Pot Demon bounced at high speed along an eerie trajectory, its movements defying common sense. Even Lin Luo found its movements difficult to track. Although the spiritual energy blades didn't cause a fatal wound, they had bought precious time for the rescue.

Sharp golden light swirled around Lin Luo's fingers as he tore open the water prison cage with a claw-like strike, rescuing Kanae. Shinobu immediately caught her sister, skillfully dodging the pursuit of the fish monsters in the air, and landed steadily in a safe area.

"Upper Rank?" Lin Luo stood firm, finally seeing the characters engraved in the opponent's eyes.

The Pot Demon gave a strange laugh: "Indeed, I am Upper Rank Five—Gyokko. For you to escape my Octopus Pot Hell so quickly is truly extraordinary. You are much more formidable than Lord Akaza described."

Lin Luo said coldly, "Akaza? The next time we meet will be the day he dies. As for you—" A cold light flashed in his eyes, "stay here and be the first Upper Rank to fall!"

"Arrogant! Let me test your mettle!" Gyokko suddenly leaped up at high speed, his claws glowing with a bloody light as they tore toward Lin Luo at a speed invisible to the naked eye.

However, in Lin Luo's Divine Sense, this swift movement was like slow motion. He stepped aside and delivered a sharp flying kick; Gyokko immediately smashed into a distant wall like a broken kite, sending stones flying.

"Blood Demon Art: Thousand Needle Fish Kill!" Gyokko roared as countless goldfish monsters appeared again, poison needles pouring down like a torrential rain.

Lin Luo snorted coldly, his hands forming Seals as spiritual energy surged around him: "You think you're the only one who can summon help?"

He raised his hand and traced a complex green Talisman in the air, shouting in a deep voice: "Five Thunder Generals, Fire Chariot General, Overturning Heaven and Earth, Driving Thunder and Rushing Clouds—Command!"

Suddenly, a wild wind rose, and the once quiet night sky was swallowed by churning dark clouds. Thunder roared, deafening the ears. The green Talisman turned into a stream of light and merged into the clouds, drawing down ten thousand electric snakes like silver dragons that accurately struck every single goldfish monster.

"Boom—!"

Lightning flashed, illuminating the entire village as if it were day. The fish swarm was instantly turned to charcoal in the violent lightning strikes, dissipating into the air before they could even let out a cry. A scorched smell mixed with the characteristic crisp scent after a thunderstorm filled the air, leaving countless charred pits on the ground.

Gyokko watched this scene in horror; the Blood Demon Art it was so proud of had been completely dismantled in an instant.

Lin Luo stood amidst the lightning, his clothes moving without wind, the golden light in his eyes growing even brighter: "Now, it's your turn."

He slowly raised his right hand. In the sky, thunderclouds churned, and a bolt of blue-violet heavenly lightning as thick as a barrel was condensing, emitting a heart-palpitating hum.

Gyokko was terrified, no longer daring to fight. It gave a strange cry, its body rapidly shrinking as it tried to flee toward the nearest porcelain pot—this was its best life-saving technique; as long as it entered a pot, it could flee a thousand miles in an instant.

"Trying to escape?"

Lin Luo's eyes were as sharp as lightning, having long seen through its intention. He pointed his fingers like a sword and slashed downward. The green Talisman in the sky, which had not yet dissipated, suddenly split into dozens of fine bolts of electricity. Like a woven net of thunder, it instantly enveloped all pottery within a hundred meters!

"Crackle—Boom!"

Electricity danced like wild dragons and snakes, accurately striking the pottery scattered everywhere. Whether it was the giant pot it relied on for hiding or the inconspicuous clay jars in the villagers' homes, anything touched by those jumping electric arcs exploded into dust in an instant! Countless fragments rose and vaporized in the lightning, leaving not even a single shard behind. Gyokko's escape route through the pottery was completely cut off.

"No—!"

Gyokko let out a shrill, distorted scream filled with despair and disbelief. Seeing its last resort destroyed, the instinct for survival drove it to a final struggle. It jerked its head up, its crimson eyes staring fixedly at the stream shimmering under the moonlight in the distance. A flash of mad determination crossed its eyes—it did not hesitate to burn its Origin demon Qi. The ten tiny hands on its torso vanished in a bloody light in exchange for a powerful thrust, turning it into a distorted bloody rainbow that charged toward the water at a speed beyond its limits!

"Wishful thinking!"

Lin Luo would not allow it to escape through the water again. His face was cold as he formed a hand Seal, his robes flapping loudly in the wind. The massive green Talisman in the sky rotated violently, drawing the winds and clouds from all directions, gathering and compressing all the power of thunder toward the center!

In the center of the Talisman, a brilliant pillar of lightning over a zhang in diameter crashed down! Wherever the lightning pillar passed, space itself seemed to warp slightly, emitting a low, shocking roar.

Just an instant before that bloody rainbow could touch the water's surface, the deep purple lightning pillar arrived first, striking the blood light that was Gyokko with pinpoint accuracy and devastating force!

"Ah—!"

A short, shrill scream that didn't sound human at all rang out and then stopped abruptly.

Gyokko's incredibly hard demon body, which could withstand repeated strikes from a nichirin blade, was like melting snow under a scorching sun or insignificant dust in a gale. Without even a puff of smoke or a single scrap remaining, it was completely dissolved, decomposed, and ultimately reduced to absolute annihilation in the blinding lightning!

The lightning gradually faded, and silence returned to the world. Only the dense, pure scent of thunder lingered in the air, making the skin tingle slightly—a testament to that world-destroying strike just now. In its place was only a bottomless charred pit, the mud and sand at its edges turned to glass, shimmering with a faint light.