55: Chapter 55 Battle Against Demons in the Underground Caves

To verify his thoughts, Shen Moyan walked deeper and deeper.

Along the way, he tried his best to avoid places with traces of Yao Beasts and suppressed his aura to the minimum.

Meanwhile, all the clues were rapidly connected in his mind.

A reasonable deduction surfaced in Shen Moyan's heart.

Wild Goose Formation True Monarch needed to mobilize water from nearly an entire province, but with his own Guizang Realm strength, it would be difficult to operate a law of tribulation-grade formation.

But for the required water source, he cleverly made use of this deeply hidden underground ocean with nearly infinite water, finally achieving the world-changing feat of Vast Sea Submerging Langya.

There existed some unknown cooperation or transaction between Wild Goose Formation True Monarch and the Yao Race forces.

The Yao Race might have provided the convenience of Earth Vein Channels for his grand formation, or assisted him in inscribing formation patterns at this key water source.

And Wild Goose Formation True Monarch might have promised to share this Kongsang Prefecture and even the broader Langya Province with the Yao Race after the matter was settled.

"If he wanted to transfer this underground ocean to the high sky, then there must be a grand formation underground..."

While Shen Moyan was thinking, he suddenly stopped.

The yi mo gourd at his waist was trembling violently, pulsing with excitement.

"What are you going crazy for?" Shen Moyan placed his hand on the gourd, and his expression suddenly froze.

Light was almost swallowed, with only the faint, flickering blue moss on the rock walls providing a weak halo, casting distorted shadows on the jagged stone walls.

Within the range of his Divine Sense, an indescribable shadow appeared.

The air was as thick as solidified ink, permeating with the pungent smell of sulfur mixed with rotting meat.

Shen Moyan looked up and met the eyes of that shadow.

"What kind of ghostly thing is this?"

Shen Moyan felt a sense of familiarity from that shadow; at the same time, the Heavenly Demon Transformation Art actually began to operate involuntarily.

He had specifically chosen a place without traces of Yao Beasts, yet he actually encountered such a thing.

No, it was precisely because of this thing that the Yao Beasts did not take this path.

Suddenly, the shadow rose like a living thing, stretching into a distorted, formless figure.

It had no facial features, and its two hollow eye sockets flickered with bloodthirsty crimson.

"Hiss—"

It let out a non-human murmur that acted directly on the Divine Soul, as if ten million aggrieved souls were wailing at the same time, shaking the entire cave slightly and causing rubble to fall.

"A Demonic Fiend?"

Shen Moyan realized and understood the origin of this thing.

The yi mo gourd was excited because it had encountered its own kind.

A Demonic Fiend is a Cultivator who has lost themselves after their body was tainted by a Demonic Seed.

The shadow's raspy murmurs gradually became clear, and Shen Moyan understood.

"Six Hells Demonic Sect?"

The Six Hells Demonic Sect was one of the twenty-one Immortal Lineages in the Great World of Mountains and Seas.

Shen Moyan recalled the name and details of this lineage, and as if the Demonic Fiend had heard his inner thoughts, the crimson in its eye sockets locked onto him.

It raised its hand, and its arm transformed into a pitch-black long sword.

Wherever the black sword passed, even the light seemed to be swallowed and distorted by it.

The Demonic Fiend was extremely fast, lunging straight at Shen Moyan's face.

Simultaneously, the sword wind carried a mental shock, like an invisible tide trying to submerge Shen Moyan's Sea of Consciousness.

Clang—

Sparks flew as the heavenly demon sword flew out, blocking the strike.

"It seems this Demonic Fiend's cultivation was not low during its lifetime."

Shen Moyan operated the Scripture of Severing All Manifestations, successfully neutralizing the mental strike.

When the two swords collided, Shen Moyan felt his magic power covering the heavenly demon sword melting and evaporating instantly, like snow thrown into a blazing sun.

"Is this the sword technique of the Biyang Sword Sect?"

Shen Moyan was startled and quickly made a judgment.

"It seems you were a Disciple of the Biyang Sword Sect when you were alive."

"Let me take you down and study you properly." The corners of Shen Moyan's mouth curled up slightly.

This Demonic Fiend's Realm was certainly higher than his when it was alive, but now only a remnant consciousness remained, its Dharma body shattered; it was nothing more than a plucked Phoenix.

Sword Qi collided with the black shadow, making a piercing sound like a branding iron dipped in water.

The Demonic Fiend's figure fluctuated violently, letting out a painful roar, and its lunging momentum came to a halt.

Shen Moyan took the opportunity to launch a heavy blow.

The Demonic Fiend was wounded, and its form changed abruptly.

It suddenly scattered, turning into dozens of smaller black shadows that coiled toward Shen Moyan from different angles like agile venomous snakes.

These black shadows could not only physically entwine but also constantly emitted a force field that disrupted magic power, making Shen Moyan feel that the magic power circulation around his body was sluggish.

The surrounding stone walls seemed to turn into squirming flesh, and curses capable of disturbing the mind rang in his ears.

"Six Hells Demonic Sect! Six Hells Demonic Sect! Damn it! Damn it!"

The venomous murmurs echoed in Shen Moyan's ears, carrying the hatred of that Biyang Sword Sect Disciple from when he was alive.

Shen Moyan picked his ear, looking indifferent.

Silently operating the Scripture of Severing All Manifestations, Shen Moyan's heart was as clear as a mirror, instantly seeing through all falsehoods.

His figure moved like a ghost, performing the Azure Wave Stillness Step to its limit, leaving trails of afterimages in the narrow space.

His sword fingers tapped repeatedly, and strands of transparent Sword Qi wove into a dense sword net, cutting down the approaching black shadows one by one.

Every clash erupted with a brief light of magic power annihilation, making the cave flicker between light and dark.

The battle ended, and the catacombs returned to dead silence.

"Six Hells Demonic Sect... Damn it..." The Demonic Fiend, now turned into fragments, was still roaring unwillingly.

Shen Moyan held the remains of the Demonic Fiend in his palm, about to perform a soul search.

Suddenly, he felt a cool sensation spreading through his palm to his entire body.

"Demonic Seed... infection?!"

Shen Moyan's expression changed drastically, and he hurriedly shook his hand, throwing the lump of Demonic Fiend away.

He operated the Heavenly Demon Transformation Art, concentrating the parts of his body already infected by the Demonic Seed onto his left thumbnail.

Shen Moyan's left fingernail instantly became sharp and elongated, transforming into a hideous claw.

His eyes turned solemn as he unhesitatingly tore off the sharp claw carrying the Demonic Seed.

"This Demonic Seed thing is truly disgusting; no wonder no Yao Beasts take this cave path." Shen Moyan showed a look of disdain, and as his magic power circulated, his left hand returned to its original state.

The Demonic Fiend was not strong, but it carried a Demonic Seed.

It was like a broom stained with excrement; anyone would stay far away from it.

Although Shen Moyan cultivated the Heavenly Demon Transformation Art, he could be said to both like and dislike this technique.

What he liked was being able to fleece true blood and Magic Treasures from the Heavenly Demon, but what he disliked was the Demonic Seed.

The Demonic Seed was decent as a weapon, able to attack the enemy's state of mind.

However, this kind of attack was borrowing power—borrowing the power of the Heavenly Demon.

In other words, a Demonic Seed was something locked on by the Heavenly Demon.

Heavenly Demons were not good things; Shen Moyan still remembered that eerie glance during the ritual back then.

He did not want his Divine Soul to be occupied by that Heavenly Demon in the unseen.

Even if there was a one-in-ten-thousand chance, it could not be ignored.

"By the way, this Demonic Fiend was constantly muttering about the Six Hells Demonic Sect before it died."

"Just how much hatred is there?"

Shen Moyan walked in the direction from which the Demonic Fiend had appeared and soon came to a half-closed stone door.

The surface of the stone door was pitted and covered with sword marks.

He looked up and saw sixteen large characters written on both sides of the stone door:

[Soul ascends to the Nine Heavens, spirit falls to the Nine Abysses; without crossing the Wangchuan, one is not a Mountain and Sea Immortal]

Shen Moyan understood, but then his face stiffened and he clicked his tongue:

"Unlucky, it's actually a graveyard."