55: Slay the False Demon Lord and condense the sword soul.

"Who is skulking about!"

Li Jiangchen let out an angry shout. Sword Qi whistled through the air, causing the ground to shatter inch by inch. At the far end, a bluestone slab exploded, and the figure of an ancient beast darted out from within.

It had an eight-foot horn on its forehead and semi-transparent, rippling skin that seemed to blend perfectly with the surrounding environment.

If not for the recent boost to his Spiritual Sense, he would have barely noticed it.

"Xuzhen Demon Lord..."

Li Jiangchen recognized it immediately.

He had long since obtained intelligence on the nine great Demon Lords from the Senluo Demon Lord.

The Xuzhen Demon Lord was quite different from the other Demon Lords; it was not a plant-based Demon, but an ancient, color-changing beast that roamed the mountains and forests.

Its movements were ghostly, it excelled at concealment, and it rarely showed itself.

Unexpectedly, it was the one spying in the shadows this time.

"The Human Race... how did one appear in the Tree King Domain?" The Xuzhen Demon Lord looked confused, but turned its head toward the direction where Ancient Spirit was located.

"Is it her?"

The next moment, a slit opened in the center of its forehead, revealing a giant blood-colored eyeball that emitted a voice.

"This is... the aura of the same clan..."

"Not good, it's an Ancient Demon!" Ancient Spirit exclaimed.

Boom—

A mental projection radiated from the blood-colored eyeball, sweeping toward Li Jiangchen like an invisible storm.

The mental force instantly surged into his Soul Sea, stirring up monstrous waves and faintly causing cracks to appear on the surrounding Soul Sea aperture walls.

"Immortal, Suppress!"

The Peak Tier 2 Immortal Sword Intent within his Soul Sea vibrated, transforming into a golden shield that steadily blocked the mental projection.

"Die!"

Li Jiangchen used his finger as a sword and pointed it out. The power of heaven and earth in the Void Realm condensed, faintly manifesting four phantoms—a palm, a fist, a finger, and a sword—which all eventually merged into the phantom of a giant sword.

Clang—

A faint line streaked across the world, followed by a thunderous explosion, and a violent Sword Qi storm shredded everything in its vicinity.

Hun-Tian Sword, Slash!

Under the shroud of Sword Qi, the Xuzhen Demon Lord's body cracked inch by inch, falling to the ground like broken porcelain.

Li Jiangchen frowned and stepped forward. The Xuzhen Demon Lord's remains rapidly withered, turning into a hollow skin.

"Do you think you can escape?"

The next instant, Li Jiangchen stomped his foot and flashed through the air repeatedly.

On the horizon, the Xuzhen Demon Lord's eyes filled with terror. It spat out a large mouthful of blood, and a thirty-foot-long wound appeared on its abdomen. Gray Sword Qi at the edges of the wound continuously shredded its flesh, devouring its vitality.

"That was close. That Human Race is wrong; an Aperture Opening Realm cultivator shouldn't be able to unleash such a terrifying sword move, one that almost rivals a Divine Ability. He is simply a god of slaughter."

"You said you smelled the aura of our clan earlier, and I thought it was an Opportunity. Now... heh, if not for my shedding technique, we would have died on the spot."

Hearing this, the blood eye on the Xuzhen Demon Lord's forehead writhed, emitting a mental fluctuation: "That Human Race is an anomaly. It seems that besides us, other forces have become involved. However, as long as we follow the plan and rendezvous with the others, we can rest easy."

Suddenly, the sky ahead darkened. Endless black fog descended, and an invisible force field, heavy as a mountain, caused the Xuzhen Demon Lord's speed to plummet.

"I have never had the habit of taking losses. Since Your Excellency spied on me and launched a sneak attack, let this Karma be repaid with Your Excellency's life."

Li Jiangchen's figure suddenly appeared in front, startling the Xuzhen Demon Lord until its eyes nearly split from their sockets.

"Wait..." The Xuzhen Demon Lord looked terrified. "Martial Artist of the Human Race, you infiltrated the Tree King Domain, so you must also be here for the dying Great Compassion Tree King. We can fully cooperate."

'Great Compassion Tree King... dying...' Li Jiangchen thought of the withered branches of the Tree King he had seen earlier, and a storm surged in his heart, yet he remained calm on the surface. "Oh, cooperate?"

"Correct. The Great Compassion Tree King is currently refining the remains of an Ancient Demon, suffered a backlash, and has fallen into a deep sleep. If we join forces to bury this King and divide its Tree Heart Origin, it will absolutely be a massive Opportunity." The Xuzhen Demon Lord said hurriedly.

Hearing this, Li Jiangchen snorted coldly and mocked, "Is Your Excellency playing with me? The Great Compassion Tree King is at the Peak Demon King level. Even if it suffered a backlash and has less than one-tenth of its strength left, a single breath would be enough to annihilate hundreds or thousands of Demon Lords."

"Your Excellency, rest assured. That old thing was greedy for heaven-defying merit and attempted to refine the Ancient Demon to steal its Divine Soul Legacy, but instead suffered from Primordial Spirit poison. It has now fallen into a deep sleep. I can guarantee this with my life."

'The Great Compassion Tree King has fallen into a deep sleep... No wonder it let the Death Qi spread and destroy the Tree King Domain. Viewed in this light, what this Demon says has some possibility.' Li Jiangchen rested his chin on his hand, his gaze falling on the Xuzhen Demon Lord. He said indifferently, "Cooperation is possible. However, you still need to lend me one thing to show your sincerity."

"What thing?" The Xuzhen Demon Lord looked pleased.

"Your Excellency's... life."

Clang—

His Demon realm contracted, and he unleashed the Hun-Tian Sword, which transformed into a thin line that swept across the Xuzhen Demon Lord's body, slicing it in two as if it were tofu.

Sword Qi erupted, and the body exploded.

[Slayed Xuzhen Demon Lord * 1, gained 5,300 years of Demon cultivation.]

Amidst the sky full of blood mist, a blood eye floated in the Void Realm and darted outward.

At this moment, Demon power transformed into a sky-covering hand, instantly grasping the blood eye.

The sky-covering hand shrank inch by inch and landed on Ancient Spirit's hand. The blood eye's soul thought emitted ripples of begging for mercy.

"It actually chose symbiosis..."

Ancient Spirit stuffed the blood eye into her mouth, burst it with one bite, and swallowed it down her throat.

"That thing, is it also an Ancient Demon?" Li Jiangchen asked, puzzled.

Such Ancient Demons were completely different from the previous ones.

"Correct." Ancient Spirit clapped her hands, wiped the remaining slime from the blood eye, and explained, "Usually, when an Ancient Demon burrows into a host's body, it will slowly devour their Divine Soul and take their place."

"However, there are exceptions."

"If the host's strength is too strong and the Ancient Demon cannot devour it, it will achieve symbiosis with the host and become an organ of the host."

"This is the case right before us."

"The Ancient Demon manages to survive, and the host also gains the Divine Ability of the Ancient Demon lineage; the soul-howling Daoist Magic from before was one such example."

"I see." Li Jiangchen nodded. It seemed that when the Ancient Demon split its soul into ten thousand pieces, quite a few ended up parasitizing the Demons of this Suspended Mountain.

Perhaps other Demon Lords were the same.

Several hours later.

Boom—

The Death Qi receded, and the surrounding Yimu Essence Qi surged in, revitalizing the withered trees and vines.

"Solved another one."

Ancient Spirit skillfully picked up the nether crystal, absorbing the Death Qi contained within, a look of pleasure appearing on her face.

Having consumed nether crystals one after another, plus the previous Ancient Demon blood eye, her cultivation was now approaching the Peak Demon Lord level, far outpacing Li Jiangchen.

'Ancient Demons devouring their own kind and nether crystals is indeed a shortcut to increasing cultivation...' Li Jiangchen observed.

At this moment, Ancient Spirit walked over prettily, offering a soybean-sized nether crystal with both hands.

The nether crystal was now nearly clear; the Death Qi, resentment, and various Impurities within had been completely absorbed, leaving only pure Soul Power.

"Master, here you go." Ancient Spirit blinked her large, watery eyes.

Li Jiangchen took the nether crystal, pressed it against his forehead, and devoured the Soul Power contained within.

At this moment, his Soul Sea was like an ocean, having doubled in size compared to before.

In the center of the Soul Sea, the Peak Tier 2 Sword Intent vibrated continuously, becoming increasingly condensed and emitting wisps of Sword Qi.

Finally.

Clang—

The surrounding trees snapped inch by inch, as if sliced by invisible Sword Qi.

Within the Soul Sea, the Sword Intent transformed, becoming an incredibly solid sword soul.