446: Chapter 446 True Form

Li Xihe wanted the Peach Blossom Demon Lord to voluntarily acknowledge her as master, while the Peach Blossom Demon Lord harbored her own hidden motives. The two shared a mutual affinity, and their relationship instantly became close—at least on the surface!

"Sister Peach Blossom," Li Xihe looked at Ye Gu in the nearby Star Cage and said, "Sister Peach Blossom, it is currently a critical period of the war. Could we give him a chance to atone for his crimes through service?"

"Since Sister Xihe has spoken, I will do as you say."

Peach Blossom gave a light wave of her hand, and the Star Cage dissipated into starlight power. The oppressive Aura in the main hall also faded away.

Peach Blossom hadn't truly intended to kill Ye Gu in the first place. Li Xihe provided a graceful exit, and she took the opportunity to let him off the hook.

The main reason was that now was not a good time for killing. She didn't think much of a figure like Ye Gu; she could deal with him whenever she pleased.

After Li Xihe and Lu Chen appeared, with the Dao Lord's decree as a guarantee, morale finally stabilized.

The group began discussing defensive arrangements. With the fourth-grade peak Circumference of Heaven Stars Grand Array layered over the Leyline Military Array, the Yao Race would have to pay a price if they wanted to launch a hard assault in the short term.

Several days later.

Rolling demonic clouds flew in from the south of the Peach Blossom Sect, submerging everything like a tsunami. Defensive outposts along the way collapsed upon contact. Had it not been for the need to destroy the Leyline Grand Array, they wouldn't have been able to slow the Yao Race army's speed even slightly.

Due to the lack of time, Demon Saint Xuanyu had only mobilized about half of the Demon Court's army, but this was already terrifying—far beyond what the South Courtyard and the Peach Blossom Demon Lord could block.

In less than a single day, the Yao Race army crossed a hundred-thousand-mile front, reaching the skies above the Star Academy.

The heavens suddenly darkened as demonic clouds rolled in, black as ink. Countless demonic shadows drifted within them; scales, claws, fangs, and strange eyes appeared as shrill shrieks pierced the clouds and a foul wind blew against their faces.

Buzz!

Brilliant starlight descended from the Nine Heavens, merging with the military fiend energy rising from the ground. It transformed into layers of barriers, blocking the demonic clouds south of the Star Academy.

Hiss—

A massive black python poked its giant head out from the demonic clouds and spoke in human tongue: "Peach Blossom traitor, come out and meet your death!"

"Audacious Prodigy, let me teach you a lesson!"

Before the Peach Blossom Demon Lord could move, Li Xihe struck first. She summoned a crimson Spirit Treasure Flying Sword, which turned into a streak of red light and flew toward the black python.

The red light carried both the power of Li Fire and an extraordinary sword intent. Although Li Xihe's cultivation was only at the Early Nascent Soul stage, her strike carried the Aura of the Middle Stage.

As a natural Fire Spirit Body and the successor of a Dao Lord, it was only natural for her to have such a foundation.

"Ah!!!"

Demonic clouds churned as the scales on the black python's back were sent flying. Most severely, his body was covered in a layer of crimson flames. Amidst his roars, his demonic body twisted, and he retreated into the rolling demonic clouds, using them to finally extinguish the fire.

The black python and Li Xihe were both at the Early Nascent Soul stage. He was also of the same clan as the Demon Saint Xuanyu, and his combat strength was in the upper-middle tier of the same rank.

The reason he appeared so pathetic was mainly that the Dao of Li Fire cultivated by Li Xihe and the black python's yin-damp attribute countered each other, magnifying the gap.

Between attributes like Yin and Yang or Water and Fire, it wasn't a matter of who countered whom; they countered each other. The strong countered the weak, and the counter-relationship merely magnified the existing gap between them.

"You seek death!!"

"Brothers, get her!"

The black python emerged from the black clouds again, his vertical pupils cold and filled with killing intent. Following his angry roar, several more snake heads poked out from the demonic clouds, each with an Aura stronger than the previous one.

At the same time, one terrifying Aura after another revealed itself within the demonic clouds. Some maintained massive demonic bodies while others took on human forms—there were nearly a hundred Nascent Soul Demon Lords in total.

Every Nascent Soul Demon Lord was a regional overlord. Ordinary Cultivators would find it difficult to see such a scene in their entire lives. Their mere presence exerted an Aura that crushed the Battle Intent of many Cultivators.

"How shameless! If you have the guts, fight me one-on-one!"

Li Xihe threw out a harsh remark, retracted her Flying Sword, and retreated into the Star Array to hide.

"Sister Peach Blossom, I can't do it anymore. You take over!" Li Xihe said, panting as she reached the Peach Blossom Demon Lord's side.

She had rushed out to fight the black python just now specifically to show off her strength in front of Peach Blossom, hoping to make Peach Blossom look at her in a new light.

The Peach Blossom Demon Lord smiled and nodded slightly. Myriad beams of starlight descended upon her, and then a speck of blood-colored light lit up in her hand. A massive black tree grew from the blood-light and starlight, reaching thousands of feet in height in an instant.

With a pitch-black trunk, densely packed blood-colored branches, and slender leaves condensed from translucent white starlight power, this strange giant tree connected to the starlight above and the military fiend and leyline Spiritual Qi below. Its Aura was as deep as an abyss and as vast as the sea.

Using this tree, the Peach Blossom Demon Lord condensed the phantom of a goddess that merged with the giant tree. She looked down toward the southern demonic clouds, her majestic voice ringing out without a hint of emotion: "Who comes to die? Or will you all come at once?"

With the power of the fourth-grade peak Circumference of Heaven Stars Grand Array added to her body, the quasi-fifth-grade secret treasure blood fiend tree heart activated, and the Spiritual Qi and military fiend of the Leyline Military Array converging, the Peach Blossom Demon Lord felt that her current self was terrifyingly powerful.

Buzz—

With a wave of her hand, a chain formed from translucent white starlight power lashed out toward the Yao Race army.

Boom!!

The demonic clouds were directly split open, creating a hundred-meter-wide chasm. Many low-to-mid-tier Yao Beasts caught in the clouds exploded into a mist of blood, which was then instantly annihilated and evaporated.

"This... is this a Demon Sage?!"

"The Peach Blossom Demon Lord has ascended to Demon Sage!!"

"How can she be this strong?!"

...

The group of Demon Lords who had been aggressive just a moment ago retreated in a frenzy, terrified by the Peach Blossom Demon Lord's casual strike.

Under multiple enhancements, the current Peach Blossom Demon Lord had already surpassed the level of a Nascent Soul Demon Lord. Her combat power was at least on par with a Demon Sage's Dharma Incarnation.

To charge forward and meet her head-on now would truly mean death! As for uniting in an array to face the enemy, although they had come under orders, it was impossible for them to be truly of one heart.

Since the Demon Saint Xuanyu had not appeared, the Peach Blossom Demon Lord drove countless branches, turning them into a sky full of 'whips' that lashed out wildly. In a short while, the Yao Race army within a hundred miles of the Star Academy was scattered—some fled, while others died.

The blood, Qi, and souls of the deceased Yao Race were not wasted; they were directly absorbed by the whips condensed from starlight and then drawn into the blood fiend tree heart.

"Enough!"

"Peach Blossom junior, you have truly enraged this seat this time!!"

Hiss, hiss, hiss—

A raspy voice suppressed with extreme rage rang out from the rolling demonic clouds. Two green lights lit up as a ten-thousand-foot ferocious python flew out. Those two green lights were emitted by his eyes, which were as large as buildings.

Clatter—

The massive snake body moved slowly, and pitch-black Demonic Qi surged from between its opening and closing scales. Damp cold, sinister evil, Death Qi... various negative Auras swept out. Ordinary Cultivators would die instantly upon the slightest contact.

From the perspective of the Cultivator army in the underground city, they only saw a black rainbow crushing the firmament. That was no snake demon; that was a natural disaster walking the world!

The Peach Blossom Demon Lord retracted all her branches and the whips condensed from starlight. All the offshoots withdrew into the goddess phantom's body as she assumed a defensive stance.

A look of extreme shock and disbelief appeared on her face as she exclaimed, "What came is not a Dharma image, but the true body!!"