Chapter 494 : The Demon Race Reveals Itself
494: The Demon Race Reveals Itself
Just as the giant sword was about to land on the top of the tall building, those who had flown out from the building earlier couldn't remain idle.
When one person couldn't stop this sword, dozens joined forces—these people moved swiftly, quickly forming a large formation, then simultaneously made hand seals and released an attack toward the sky, directly colliding with the giant sword.
This attack combined the strength of dozens of people, each with considerable cultivation, resulting in formidable power with a single strike.
As soon as this attack approached the giant sword, the sword energy surrounding the giant sword was immediately affected, becoming chaotic. Just as it seemed the attack would collide with the giant sword in the next moment, neutralizing it before it reached the building, another attack unexpectedly arrived. This time, however, the attack wasn't aimed at the giant sword, but directly countered the strike that was blocking the giant sword.
Another thunderous "boom" echoed, with a force even stronger than when the massive hand had been broken earlier. Those watching the aerial battle intently felt their vision blur momentarily as the two opposing spiritual energies collided in mid-air, producing a dazzling spiritual light.
Cultivators with lower cultivation levels immediately closed their eyes, unable to withstand the brilliance. When they reopened them, the two opposing attacks had indeed neutralized each other.
The collision and neutralization of these two massive forces seemed to distort the surrounding space for an instant, somewhat affecting the giant sword shadow. However, the sword's master possessed profound cultivation and unwavering will, so the sword ultimately descended steadily.
In an instant, the top of the tall building was reduced to powder, and the entire structure would soon collapse with it.
Everyone was waiting to witness that moment, but events suddenly halted at this point—everything seemed as if someone had pressed a pause button; the sound of the building's collapse abruptly ceased, and the building's disintegration stopped spreading in an instant. The giant sword that had struck the building seemed to have encountered enormous resistance; the blade even trembled slightly with effort but could advance no further.
Many people's expressions darkened, including Peak Master Qingyu's, as well as those who had tried to obstruct her earlier. The former was frustrated by her obstructed attack, while the latter were terrified because this strike had ultimately disturbed someone who shouldn't have been disturbed.
Jiang Mo, standing beside her master, frowned at the sight: "It's been blocked."
Upon hearing this, Peak Master Qingyu acted decisively, immediately swinging her sword again—her attacks were extremely powerful, and even those with comparable cultivation might not be able to block them, but such forceful attacks naturally required equivalent consumption. Thus, after merely two sword strikes, Qingyu had already depleted most of the spiritual energy in her body. Her face remained impassive, but her hand had already grasped a spirit stone to replenish her spiritual energy.
Of course, after Qingyu delivered another earth-shattering sword strike, everyone was too preoccupied to pay attention to her. The person who had first moved to block Qingyu turned pale, hurriedly moving to block her again while cursing: "Damn it!"
With some trying to block, naturally others came to assist, and various forces in mid-air quickly became entangled.
The person who had assisted earlier appeared—who else but Sect Leader Zhu Baiyi? Besides Zhu Baiyi, others who had been hiding in the shadows, like Yun Qingyue, and the Buddha Sect Elder who had hurried over, all successively revealed themselves. The previously scattered people had finally all gathered together.
Jiang Mo's eyes brightened when she saw Yun Qingyue, and she instinctively wanted to go over. However, her Senior Sister seemed to have anticipated her intention, and before she could move, she heard her Senior Sister's transmitted voice: "Don't move. Stay there and guard Master."
The cool voice halted Jiang Mo's movement. Being close by, she had naturally seen her master using spirit stones to replenish spiritual energy. However, in her instinctive thinking, the one who should be guarding her master was Sect Leader Zhu, but after searching with her gaze, she discovered that, as a high-end combat force at the Great Achievement stage, the Sect Leader was being targeted just like her master, and was now facing the danger of being surrounded.
Of course, Sect Leader Zhu was still tenaciously trying to move closer, just being slowed down.
Jiang Mo, recognizing the situation, immediately became subdued, not daring to disobey her Senior Sister, and obediently remained by her master's side to help fight the enemy. However, since she wasn't the main target of those attackers, she could still spare a moment to glance upward.
Of the two giant sword shadows in mid-air, only one remained now. The first one had been completely consumed by the building, while the remaining one had barely broken through the encirclement of various attacks to strike the building again. Moreover, her master's aim was quite precise—the two successive strikes had landed at exactly the same point.
In a daze, Jiang Mo seemed to hear a "crack." She thought she had misheard, but upon closer inspection, she discovered that the tall building had finally given way, with an enormous fracture appearing on the structure, splitting it from top to bottom.
Seeing this scene, only one thought emerged in Jiang Mo's mind: splitting firewood.
And now, with the cleaver falling and the wood splitting, those hiding within naturally couldn't continue to hide.
Just as this thought crossed Jiang Mo's mind, a figure shot upward from the damaged building.
· · ─────── ·𖥸· ─────── · · · · ─────── ·𖥸· ─────── · ·
This tall building was so conspicuous that Peak Master Qingyu had chosen it as her target from the beginning, and subsequent events proved she hadn't chosen wrongly. The people who flew out from the building all possessed remarkable cultivation, suggesting their status was likely considerable. Yet despite this, these people still strenuously prevented Qingyu from attacking the building, which could only prove that the person inside the building held an even higher status than they did.
Cultivators enjoy long lifespans, especially those who have reached the level of Peak Master Qingyu and her peers, allowing them to recognize nearly everyone throughout the cultivation world. Therefore, when people emerged from the tall building to block them, Qingyu and the others recognized them as high-ranking members of the demonic sects.
The leader was from the Celestial Demon Sect, and among the rest, the vast majority were also from the Celestial Demon Sect, suggesting this place was likely Celestial Demon Sect territory.
Thinking this, and seeing how these people were protecting the building, Qingyu and the others assumed that the person inside must be the Celestial Demon Sect Leader. However, when the building was destroyed and the person inside finally revealed themselves, what everyone saw was not the familiar face of the Celestial Demon Sect Leader.
"Who is this person?" one of the elders who had come with Peak Master Qingxu wondered aloud, being the first to ask.
The others looked carefully and saw that the person was wearing a black robe with gold patterns, and their appearance was indeed unfamiliar. After a good while, someone said: "That looks somewhat like the Deputy Sect Leader of the Celestial Demon Sect."
Jiang Mo had seen the Deputy Sect Leader of the Celestial Demon Sect eighty years ago at Mount Mingzong. At that time, after Sect Leader Zhu appeared, the Deputy Sect Leader had been extremely cautious, not daring to provoke Sect Leader Zhu at all. However, that wasn't the main point—the key was that this person's appearance differed greatly from the Deputy Sect Leader of the Celestial Demon Sect in Jiang Mo's memory. Apart from about thirty percent similarity in the eyes and brows, they could hardly be connected.
However, cultivators don't identify people solely by appearance. There are also cultivation level, techniques, aura, and a series of other identification methods. Therefore, although this person didn't look like the Deputy Sect Leader of the Celestial Demon Sect, after someone suggested it, no one refuted it.
The crowd had barely recognized the person's identity, but the other party had no intention of engaging in idle chat or reunion. Having been forced out of the tall building, he was clearly very angry, and with a glance, immediately fixed his gaze on Peak Master Qingyu, the "culprit." Without further ado, with a flick of his wide sleeve, a stream of black energy, substantial as if solid, rushed toward Qingyu.
Since the demon race had emerged, Jiang Mo and the others had seen plenty of black energy lately, and now they knew without thinking that this was certainly nothing good. But despite being mentally prepared, when the black energy approached, Jiang Mo still felt extreme pressure.
This pressure came not only from the force carried by the black energy but also because Jiang Mo keenly sensed its nature—darkness, ferocity, malevolence, brutality, and other negative emotions all intermingled within it. As soon as it appeared, it made everyone present feel uncomfortable. Jiang Mo, having been immersed in Mount Xuanyin's blood pool, could even assert that the negative energy contained in this small mass of black energy exceeded that of the enormous blood pool!
In a flash, a thought emerged in Jiang Mo's mind: "Peak Master, be careful, that person is from the demon race!"
This statement was truly earth-shattering, shocking many people, though Qingyu, facing the attack directly, had guessed this fact earlier than Jiang Mo. Her expression remained unchanged, but Jiang Mo's warning reminded her that there were others nearby, so without hesitation, she extended her palm and pushed Jiang Mo away.
The suddenly airborne little tiger: "???"
Jiang Mo was truly bewildered when pushed away. Her Senior Sister had instructed her to stay and assist her master, and now facing such a crisis, she had naturally intended to help share her master's burden. But before she could act, she was pushed away by her master.
The little tiger felt inexplicably dejected, but quickly stabilized herself by circulating her spiritual energy. She had no time to complain about her master's actions and immediately formed hand seals, casting a spell toward the black energy—while spirit beasts prefer to rely on their formidable bodies in battle, this doesn't mean they aren't proficient in spells. As the White Tiger is both a war god and an auspicious beast, it naturally has an inherent restraint against evil demons.
As Jiang Mo concentrated her power and thrust her palm forward, golden spiritual light accompanied by faint tiger roars flew toward the black energy. This golden light was ten times more brilliant than Jiang Mo's usual attacks, and even from a distance, one could feel the tremendous power contained within it.
Jiang Mo's move was launched later, naturally half a step slower than the demon race member's attack, but fortunately, it didn't arrive too late.
Peak Master Qingyu herself possessed remarkable cultivation and wasn't entirely without means to counter the attack. She pushed Jiang Mo away with one move and then flew backward herself, while her sword moved rapidly, delivering hundreds of strikes in an instant, forming a sword array before her.
The demon race member's attack followed, and that pure black demonic energy was unstoppable, making consecutive "puff" sounds as it easily penetrated the sword array set up by Peak Master Qingyu... There was consumption, of course, but this pure demonic energy was extraordinarily powerful, breaking through seven layers of Peak Master Qingyu's sword array while depleting less than a third of its power. Meanwhile, Qingyu, who had deployed the array, was excessively drained of spiritual energy and gradually found it difficult to continue.
Jiang Mo's attack arrived at this moment, just in time to block the demonic energy.
The golden light imbued with auspicious energy clashed with the demonic energy full of evil, naturally restraining each other. Like ice and fire negating one another, they instantly neutralized each other. In the end, only a wisp of demonic energy reached Qingyu, which was blocked by Zhu Baiyi, who had arrived just in time.