Chapter 375 - The Third Calamity
The Golden Peng Sword soon found its way out, turning into a light feather, bringing Zhong Yue toward the mountain beside the sea.
But not long after he flew away, the sky turned into an ocean of fiery clouds – a three-taloned Golden Crow suddenly flew and clawed at him from behind!
“Asura’s magnate?”
Zhong Yue's heart skipped a beat. This three-taloned Golden Crow was different from his Great Sun Golden Crow; it wasn't the pure sun spirit. It would most probably be a variation from the Asura Saint Clan, formed by accumulating a certain amount of sunfire and worshipping it for an extended period of time for it to manifest a sun spirit.
Its three talons were sharp, and each of them was about 700 square meters as they clawed down from the fire clouds.
Zhong Yue sneered coldly. He suddenly turned around and morphed into a body with eight arms, four of which grabbed onto the Golden Peng Sword with the other four holding Demon Saint's emerald leaf. He raised the two swords and slashed right at the incoming talons!
Zheng! Zheng!
Two loud voices resounded throughout the sky, and two of its three talons had their scales broken away as they began to bleed.
Meanwhile, the third talon clawed toward his head.
The Asura magnate's blood turned into the burning demonic sunfire with incredible power that violently surged into Zhong Yue's body as it tried to burn his Yuan Shen.
Zhong Yue let the demon sunfire into his body while he plummeted to the ground. He controlled the path of his descent to cross paths with the falling swords so that he could retrieve them on the way down. He reached the two swords and took a breath of deep air and sucked the swords into his mouth.
Dong!
Zhong Yue landed on the ground, and the impact force cleared the sand surrounding him while simultaneously raising a sound storm around him.
The Asura magnate reached his talon down toward the center of the sandstorm. All of a sudden, a loud roar, "Mangu!" came from the middle of the sandstorm and a six-eyed toad leaped out and sprinted away.
The six-eyed Star Toad was none other than Zhong Yue – the Star Toad form allowed him to travel tens of miles away in one leap and the six moon-like eyes could disrupt the dimension. Everywhere he landed, a mini sandstorm would be incited.
The Asura magnate missed his target, and he then flashed into the sandstorm to pursue Zhong Yue, but as of now, the sandstorm was already dense to the point of severely hampering his visibility. Furthermore, Zhong Yue didn't travel in a straight line, but zigzagged in randomly different directions, making it all the more difficult to find him.
The few magnates that had been in play were all unable capture him; this was a humiliation to them as they exerted even greater efforts to find him. They dove into the sandstorms with increased fervor, but they still couldn't find any trace of Zhong Yue inside of them.
The magnates opened their eyes, and the godly rays shot out like light pillars, ravaging through the dark sandstorm.
While from the Demon Saint’s secret realms, the giants rushed out one by one into the sandstorm.
“Zhong Shan Clan member!”
Zhong Yue leaped around like a flying fish, bringing heavier sandstorm wherever he went. But all of a sudden, a Heavenly Dharma Qi Practitioner appeared before him, saying, "Zhong Shan Clan member, let's see how can you run away from my hands!"
Zhong Yue's body flickered for a split second and morphed into the six-eyed three-legged celestial being. It ran with three legs as he rammed over at the incoming Heavenly Dharma giant cultivator.
The Heavenly Dharma Qi Practitioner roared while chanting out a sentence of ancient demon language, "Agouzasil!"
His mortal body was then enlarged into a 1000 feet demon ape which was his Yuan Shen's form. Aureate lights then condensed in his hand to form a 1000 feet long scythe that he used to attack Zhong Yue!
Zhong Yue morphed into the eight-armed form and shot out Sword Qi from his fingertips before once more disappearing into the sandstorm.
Meanwhile, the Golden Peng Sword and the emerald leaf was clenched in the eight arms as he assaulted the Heavenly Dharma giant cultivator.
The two clashed for a round before they both retreated backward, Zhong Yue's skin was bursting out as the impact force from the demon ape ravaged his body. But even so, the blood that he shed would miraculously surge back into his body like sentient little snakes.
On the other hand, the Heavenly Dharma's scythe broke, and the emerald leaf sword was pierced into his chest that was bleeding a waterfall of blood from the terrible wound.
“Agouzasil!”
The Heavenly Dharma giant cultivator then shouted another war cry, and the broken parts of the scythe then flew back and reattached back together. His soul weapon was refined to an incredible state, having the ability to be restored from any state of disrepair regardless of how severe.
He then brandished his soul weapon and struck at Zhong Yue again. Zhong Yue then responded in kind and swung his swords again.
Bom——
The two clashed together once more, and Zhong Yue was struck to the floor as blood trickled out from his mouth. He had suffered even greater wounds from the last bout. After all, the 1000 feet Heavenly Dharma demon ape was stronger than him in terms of strength!
However, the Heavenly Dharma Qi Practitioner did not manage to come out of the exchange unscathed either; a new wound was left on his chest, and he started coughing blood out while pressing his hand on his chest.
In the next second, the two clashed again, crossing shoulders this time. The demon ape struck the scythe's heft back at Zhong Yue, nearly piercing through his chest from behind while Zhong Yue slashed his swords backward and nearly severed the ape in half at the waist.
The demon ape landed on the ground, and just right before he was about to spring into action again, inexplicable sounds started emanating from the sandstorm. Sixty-four strands of Sword Qi flew to his flanks in just the blink of an eye before curling around him and tightening around him like a sinister cocoon.
The demon ape could only exclaim in disbelief, "Shui Zian's【Sixty-Four Sword Styles】?"
Hua-la——
His mortal body and Yuan Shen was then diced into pieces and scattered across the ground.
"As I haven't managed to attain the full【Sixty-Four Sword Styles】, I had to incorporate the【Great Boundless Sword Qi】into the sword array to kill you. If it really were the【Sixty-Four Sword Styles】, I wouldn't even need to resort to misdirection to attack you with the Sword Qi."
Zhong Yue coughed out a mouthful of blood, and his six eyes turned even more nefarious as he caused the sandstorm to grew even fiercer to cover a total radius of over 800 miles.
He then transformed again, turning into the three-taloned Golden Crow as he flew away from the sandstorm into the sky.
As long as he was able to escape the desert and make it across the mountain ridge into the sea, he would arrive at the dragons' territory. However, the desert was incredibly huge, and he was now still over a thousand miles away from the border – it was a distance nearly impossible to cross.
All of a sudden, a 100-mile long painting scroll opened before him, and 16 heavenly demons lunged out from its canvas. They were beautiful and seductive. Each of them was donned in provocative garb that barely even covered their nether regions.
Although these 16 beauties seemed to be benign, Zhong Yue felt the terrifying demonic godly aura that emanated from them.
The Sixteen Heavenly Demon Art, Ji Xiang Saint Clan’s greatest treasure!
Zhong Yue raised his brows, and he immediately took a detour away from the Sixteen Heavenly Demon Art. Then, a seal stamp dropped from the sky, enlarging as it fell. By the time it landed on the ground, it had grown to the size of a mountain, and it was shaped like a perfect cube that blocked his path.
Tian Xiang Treasure Seal, Tian Xiang Clan’s greatest treasure!
Zhong Yue then turned around again, and before he could fly far enough, a sky-scraping verdant tree rose within the dreary desert; its evergreen leaves grew crazily, waving as the breeze swept over them. The leaves were sharp like blades, each of resonated with a slight surge of demonic Qi cutting little cracks on the ground.
Thousand Wood Demon Saber, Yan Mo Saint Clan's greatest treasure!
Zhong Yue gritted his teeth and turned in another direction. Unsurprisingly, a lute that was playing on itself flew over. Its sounds formed a wall of visible musical totem patterns that served to close off his path of escape from the West.
Pearly Tears Lute, Raksha Saint Clan’s greatest treasure!
Zhong Yue raised his brows, and he kept the Golden Crow Wings. He turned into the three-legged celestial being and stood on the Golden Peng Sword, hovering in mid-air.
Behind him, the magnates finally rushed out from the sandstorm and caught up to him.
“Hmph! Sun Innate Spirit Body, you are the human Zhong Shan Clan member! Shura Parasol!”
The Shura Saint Clan's clan master strode forward, and he threw a golden umbrella into the sky. The umbrella spun as it grew larger and larger while the demon god-leveled totem patterns sealed the sky and locked them all inside a dome.
All of a sudden, a dark ray flashed into the dome through the sky-sealing seals —Chi— A trident pierced into the ground and painted the yellow sands pitch-black.
Yaksha’s clan master was standing on the end of the trident, sealing the desert ground.
Zhong Yue looked around, the magnates from the eight saint clans and the eight clan masters themselves were all here, looking at him emotionlessly as if he was already a dead man.
More demon Heavenly Dharma giants were coming in, surrounding the perimeter to prevent him from running again.
Zhong Yue laughed out loud, and he stood still on the Golden Peng Sword, wiping off the blood trickling down his mouth as he mocked, "The honorable eight saint clans, surrounding a mere Inner Core Qi Practitioners with so many giants and magnates, even the clan masters themselves with the divine demon weapons. You really think so highly of me."
The eight clan masters were all here, other than the Asura Saint Clan had their Sun Chariot plundered away by Feng Xiaozhong, and the other seven saint clans brought their clans' greatest demon divine weapons!
These divine demon weapons were the soul weapons of Shura, Ji Xiang Heavenly Lady, and the others. Their powers alone were appalling enough, and any one of the eight was among the best of the best of divine weapons, no inferior to the Azure Dragon Marked Banner that Zhong Yue had in his hands!
“Zhong Shan Clan member, don’t be too full of yourself.”
The Yaksha clan master shook his head gently and said mildly, "Us and the divine demon weapons are here for Demon Saint. As for you, you are still too weak for us to act ourselves. Any one of these giant cultivators could easily kill you on the spot."
Laughed, Zhong Yue replied, "Any one of these giant cultivators could easily kill me on the spot? Then why are all of you here? Moreover, with the greatest demon divine weapons of your clans? Why don't the clan masters send a few giant cultivators to kill me?"
The Yaksha clan master's face became strained. Zhong Yue had killed Demon Saint, and his prowess was already peerless among those at his level. In terms of overall prowess, he already stood on par with Heavenly Dharma cultivators, able to contend with the giant cultivators.
If a few Heavenly Dharma giant cultivators were sent to kill him, not only would they be unable to do so and allow him to escape, but he might even manage to turn the situation around and kill them instead, considering that he had the Golden Peng Sword and Demon Saint's emerald leaf sword!
"Human Zhong Shan Clan member, words are meaningless."
Tian Xiang clan master said leisurely, "You, will die today. Hand over the cultivation technique that has allowed you to achieve the state of [Celestial Demon as One], and the eight saint clans shall show you mercy by gifting you a quick death. You should know that even if you refuse to give it up willingly, we still have ways to search your soul and memory."
The other magnates were alerted as they all had their own agendas on their minds.
Zhong Yue had achieved the state of [Celestial Demon as One] and had defeated Demon Saint with it. Such a cultivation technique would surely be way stronger than Demon Saint's【Heavenly Saint Godly Radiating Art】!
Ever since history had begun being recorded, not a single talents nor geniuses had been able to unify the fortes of both celestials and demons. No one was able to surmount the deeply rooted antipathy that was intrinsic between the two races. But right now, standing right before them was the first person to have ever achieved such a feat. He had the secret to the state of [Celestial Demon as One] in his hands, and they couldn't help themselves but lust for his technique!
As long as they got their hands on his cultivation technique, it would supplant every other cultivation technique in their respective clans to become to the greatest cultivation technique of all!
Zhong Yue clasped his hands, and he greeted the demons. He said sincerely, "I've killed Demon Saint for you demons, this is a meritorious contribution to the whole demon race. So, why do you all have to force me into a dead end like this? It is not a wise choice to do so, after all, the demon race will not want to and is also unable to bear the consequences. Why not you all let me leave in peace, and the human race will work with the demon race in an alliance against the celestial race."
The demon experts looked at one another and saw the disbelief in each other. Then, clamorous laughter resounded throughout the sky. There was even a magnate that had choked himself from his own laughter. He pointed his finger at Zhong Yue and said in tears, "He said that the demon race will have to bear the consequences if we kill him…."
Another giant cultivator was also in tears as he continued, "He also said that the demon race won't be able to bear the consequences! Is he an idiot? Does he really think that the eight saint clans will step back just because of a few empty threats?"
"An alliance between the humans against the celestials?"
The Ji Xiang old lady laughed ear to ear that Zhong Yue could even count the number of teeth she was missing. She said, "Does he not know that the humans are nothing more than walking herbs to us demons? The humans I've eaten and killed are more than I can count!"
But Zhong Yue continued to hold the same smile, and he removed a little puppet from his Yuan Shen secret realms as he sighed, "The demon race is really plagued with misfortune. It seems like the third calamity is now unavoidable … Although I'm a man of kindness and I usually don't kill for no reason, for my survival, I have no choice but to do so…."
The little wood puppet had three faces, of which two of the three were laughing nefariously, and the other one was closing its eyes in a solemn and dignified manner.
Zhong Yue's smile suddenly disappeared, and his face stiffened up as he surged his soul into the little wooden puppet and activated the Demon God Contracted Puppet.