Chapter 345 : Relentless Pursuit
"Look, there's light!" Yun Qingyue's voice came from beside her. Jiang Mo immediately raised her head at the sound.
In the darkness, a faint point of light flickered, existing for only a few breaths before being engulfed by the churning darkness. Comparing it with the swirling demonic energy around them, the two quickly realized that they hadn't seen the exit's light before not because it didn't exist, but because the surrounding demonic energy was simply too abundant and too thick. When the black mist, solid as substance, blocked the exit, all they could see was darkness.
This discovery immediately invigorated the two of them. After all, fleeing without a destination was completely different from escaping with a clear target. Even if the goal was distant, as long as it existed, it could inspire greater potential in a person.
This was precisely the case for Jiang Mo and Yun Qingyue at this moment. The typically composed Yun Qingyue gripped Jiang Mo's hand more tightly: "The exit is right ahead. Let's hurry and leave this place in one go."
Jiang Mo responded with a "good," squeezing her hand back with equal force. Then suddenly, her body erupted with golden light.
A divine beast's protective golden light was different from Buddha-light; it had no suppressive effect on the demonic energy that had been trapped for ten thousand years. However, the naturally auspicious divine beast's protective golden light inherently carried blessed energy that was naturally incompatible with yin, evil, and strange entities... Perhaps intimidated by the blessed energy, or perhaps mistaking the golden light for Buddha-light, the surrounding demonic energy that had been hindering the two suddenly recoiled as if shocked.
Faintly, the two seemed to hear shrieks like ghost wails. However, sounds produced by demonic energy inherently had mind-bewitching effects. Having gained some experience in the underground world, the two didn't dare to listen or look any further.
Their objective was very clear—break out and leave this place!
Jiang Mo's protective golden light temporarily intimidated the surrounding demonic energy. She didn't let this good opportunity slip away, grabbing her Senior Sister's hand and shooting upward rapidly, her speed even three times faster than before.
Even though Yun Qingyue's cultivation level was not low and her speed was good, she could barely keep up and was practically being dragged along as they flew.
As soon as the two left, the previously intimidated demonic energy immediately began to riot—perhaps out of shame from being frightened, or perhaps out of anger at being deceived by the "false Buddha-light." The face formed by the concentrated demonic energy became increasingly ferocious and terrifying. It raised its head, roaring silently, and the surrounding demonic energy was instantly drawn toward it, converging rapidly.
In just a few breaths, the swelling demonic energy grew a body and limbs, and even added two more snarling heads. If Jiang Mo had looked back at this scene, she would probably have cried out "Cerberus!"
But what appeared before them clearly wasn't the mythical beast she knew—it was merely a demonic entity formed of demonic energy. The three-headed dog was also a specialty of the demonic realm, and though its rank wasn't particularly high, its destructive power when charging into battle was not to be underestimated.
After the demonic energy coalesced into the three-headed dog, its entire body was pitch-black with swirling dark mist, and suddenly red light flashed from the positions of its eyes. Those six eyes glowed blood-red, emanating an eerie and terrifying light as they gazed at the two fleeing figures. Then all three heads growled simultaneously, and the three-headed dog pushed off with its four limbs, rushing forward rapidly.
Perhaps because the demonic energy had no physical form or weight, the three-headed dog's running speed surpassed that of Jiang Mo and Yun Qingyue. Though the two had already run far ahead, the three-headed dog pursued with all its might and soon caught up.
Jiang Mo had been pulling Yun Qingyue along as they flew rapidly, when she suddenly sensed a sinister wind approaching from behind. Every cell in her body screamed danger.
A beast's instincts are always sharp. Jiang Mo immediately pulled hard, bringing her Senior Sister who was half a step behind to her front, then pushed her forcefully. With the reaction force, one flew upward while the other fell downward, instantly creating a large gap between them. In the darkness, only a ribbon connected the two, and as the distance between them grew, the ribbon stretched longer.
Suddenly, a ferocious dog head appeared in their field of vision, followed by a second and a third... The three dog heads lunged forward, originally aiming for the two of them, and due to uneven distribution, two of the heads even bit each other.
Unfortunately, they were half a step too late and completely missed their targets!
To say they completely missed wouldn't be entirely accurate. Although the middle head didn't bite anyone, it happened to catch the ribbon connecting the two. When Jiang Mo saw this, her heart tightened, and then she felt the pressure on her wrist ease—the ribbon had been bitten through by the three-headed dog in one snap!
Jiang Mo was immediately shocked, and Yun Qingyue even more so—no one knew better than she who had produced the ribbon how high its grade was. Not only could she, a Spirit Division cultivator, not break it, even a Fusion stage cultivator would find it difficult to sever. Yet such a tenacious magical treasure couldn't withstand a single bite from the three-headed dog, which showed just how sharp its teeth were.
Meanwhile, the three-headed dog clearly didn't think much of this small ribbon. Its six crimson eyes looked at the two women separately. Clearly, both were its targets, but although it had three heads, it truly had only one body.
After a brief hesitation, the three heads reached a consensus and turned in unison to lunge at Jiang Mo.
It was normal for Jiang Mo to be targeted since her cultivation level was higher than Yun Qingyue's. Seeing the three-headed dog coming for her, she even secretly sighed in relief. However, this sigh was for Yun Qingyue—facing the three-headed dog herself, she didn't dare relax her vigilance one bit.
"Senior Sister, you go first," Jiang Mo called out, then turned and ran.
The three-headed dog's speed was much faster than Jiang Mo's, and it caught up in just a few breaths. But just as it was about to excitedly open its mouths to bite, it unexpectedly saw the fleeing person ahead suddenly brake and turn around. Before it could react, an iron fist wrapped in golden light smashed toward it—this was truly an iron fist, as Jiang Mo's delicate hand was covered with a layer of metal, forming a hard and quite destructive gauntlet.
This attack came so swiftly and suddenly, and with the three-headed dog rushing forward, it was struck solidly by the punch.
After the punch, Jiang Mo's arm was numb from the impact, and she was forced back several steps by the force. The three-headed dog on the other side wasn't faring well either—the head on the left took the punch, and its entire dog face was caved in, with even its tendons and bones broken.
Fortunately, this three-headed dog was formed from demonic energy. Although after transformation it possessed all the characteristics of a three-headed dog, its body composition hadn't changed. Otherwise, with such a punch, its brains would have been splattered on the spot. Now, in the caved-in head, one could only see a deep, swirling black mist, which seemed to be constantly repairing the dented dog head.
Seeing this, Jiang Mo immediately felt that this opponent would be difficult to deal with. The three-headed dog, having taken this loss, became even more ferocious. If before it had one eye watching Yun Qingyue, now all four remaining eyes were fixated on Jiang Mo.
Two dog heads howled in unison, and though the effect wasn't as intimidating as three would have been, it still made one's heart tremble.
Jiang Mo immediately became extremely vigilant. A golden light flashed in her hand, and the gauntlet on her hand instantly transformed into a sharp short blade. She glanced behind the three-headed dog and saw that Yun Qingyue hadn't taken the opportunity to leave but had also drawn her sword to face the enemy.
Her Senior Sister hadn't left but had chosen to stay and fight alongside her. Jiang Mo felt both joy and worry. However, before she could develop more complex emotions, the three-headed dog in front of her lost patience and pounced.
Having learned from its previous mistake, this time the three-headed dog clearly learned its lesson. The two dog heads opened their mouths and bit toward Jiang Mo's wrist.
Jiang Mo naturally wouldn't sit and wait for death. While quickly dodging, she also swung her blade to attack—the blade formed by the White Tiger was extremely sharp, no inferior to a master craftsman's careful creation. But she wasn't facing a real demonic beast with a physical body, but a mass of concentrated demonic energy. Therefore, whenever Jiang Mo's short blade cut through the three-headed dog's body, those wounds would quickly close and heal.
In comparison, Jiang Mo's initial punch seemed to have the best effect. So she quickly abandoned the short blade and returned to using the gauntlet, trading blows with the three-headed dog.
Yun Qingyue provided assistance from the side, occasionally helping with a sword strike or two, but the effect wasn't particularly good.
First, her cultivation level was still lower, and her bloodline hadn't fully awakened. Second, although the surrounding demonic energy had once been depleted by the three-headed dog, more demonic energy gradually gathered from the surroundings. They either were absorbed by the three-headed dog to repair its injuries, or they coalesced into black hands, constantly hindering Yun Qingyue's movements, entangling her to the point of extreme frustration.
After Yun Qingyue once again swung her sword to scatter two black hands trying to grab her arms, she suddenly heard a tiger's roar from behind. She immediately looked back and saw a majestic white tiger lunging at the three-headed dog in a flash of golden light.
For divine beasts, their original form is naturally when their strength is greatest, and Jiang Mo was clearly prepared to make her final stand.
Yun Qingyue's heart inexplicably tightened, and then she saw the white tiger pounce, first pressing down firmly on one of the three-headed dog's heads with a paw, then opening its mouth to bite another...
The White Tiger's strength was formidable, but this three-headed dog formed from demonic energy was incredibly tenacious—the White Tiger's spiritual energy would eventually be depleted, but the demonic energy clearly would not. What was more troubling was that this three-headed dog was constantly absorbing demonic energy to repair itself. In a short time, it not only healed the wounds on its body but also gradually restored the dog head that had been initially shattered by Jiang Mo.
Tangling with demonic energy seemed endless and unwise, yet it was difficult to break free.