“Gah!?”
The demonic shadow avatar was instantly frozen in the void, its entire body rigid and motionless.
The Body-Freezing Curse, which seals qi and binds the spirit, can immobilise any tangible or intangible thing in the world. It is simply that unreasonable.
Although the demonic shadow existed between reality and illusion, it still possessed a true spirit and consciousness, and demonic qi still circulated within it. Naturally, it could be restrained by the Body-Freezing Curse.
Despite its considerable cultivation, it had just lost a great amount of demonic qi. Moreover, it was merely one avatar of the demonic shadow, its true spirit relatively weak. In order to possess Lu Zheng, it had also withdrawn its protective demonic qi.
All this gave Lu Zheng the perfect opening. With a single Body-Freezing Curse, the avatar was fixed in place less than ten feet in front of him.
Right before his eyes!
“Arghh!!!”
The demonic shadow avatar’s face twisted instantly as it let out a shrill, furious roar, struggling to break free from the curse’s restraint.
However…
“Golden Tower Heart Sword, slay!”
A dazzling golden mental sword, radiating brilliant light, shot out from Lu Zheng’s sea of consciousness in an instant, then vanished just as quickly, piercing straight into the demonic shadow avatar’s head.
“Aaahhh!”
The avatar’s spirit was struck by the Golden Tower Heart Sword. Its soul rippled violently, the demonic qi throughout its body fell into disorder, and its attempt to escape the Body-Freezing Curse paused for a brief moment.
In the next instant, Lu Zheng raised his hand again. Behind him, a mass of golden light filled with terrifying aura suddenly rose into the sky.
The demonic shadow avatar’s expression changed dramatically.
“Pure Subtle Jade Morning Palace, Nine Yang Jade Primordial Divine Thunder, strike!
This was the Nine Yang Jade Primordial Divine Thunder that Lu Zheng had been condensing for a long time. It was specifically designed to overcome evil demons. At this moment, the demonic shadow avatar was pinned by the Body-Freezing Curse, its protective demonic qi withdrawn, and its internal demonic qi in chaos.
Boom!
The terrifying thunderbolt entered its body instantly, crashing down from the top of the avatar’s skull. In the blink of an eye, it shattered the body completely.
The demonic shadow avatar disintegrated in a flash. The spirit attached to it was annihilated, and all its demonic qi dispersed instantly.
The demonic shadow avatar was dead!
“Arghh!!!”
The demonic shadow clinging to the back of the Silver-Feathered Divine Eagle let out a skyward howl, shaking its head wildly. It seemed to suffer some backlash as well; its form flickered, and the hundreds of chains binding the Silver-Feathered Divine Eagle swayed.
The Silver-Feathered Divine Eagle flapped its wings once more. Demonic power enveloped its body, forming a gigantic silver eagle of pure energy.
The chains piercing its flesh began to withdraw at a visible speed. The black runes on the chains started to flash, crack, and shatter one by one.
Shen Ying’s peach-blossom eyes curved slightly. Of course she would not miss this chance. The endless peach-blossom baleful qi surged forward while the wall of demonic qi flickered and weakened, breaking through in one burst and flooding to the side of the Silver-Feathered Divine Eagle.
“Aaahhh! You shall all die!”
“The one who deserves death is you. Taste this palace’s Supreme Origin Mysterious Light!”
Shen Ying attacked with an air of cool elegance and breathtaking aloofness, addressing herself as “this palace” with every sentence. With a wave of her hand, the Supreme Origin Mysterious Light that had been concealed within the peach-blossom baleful qi suddenly scattered downward, enveloping the demonic shadow on the eagle’s back.
With one sweep of the mysterious light, it tried to pull the demonic shadow straight out.
The demonic shadow was horrified. It had not expected Shen Ying to have this move. It hurriedly circulated its demonic qi to resist while trying to retreat back into the Silver-Feathered Divine Eagle’s body.
However, now that external help had arrived and the demonic shadow was gathered on its back, the Silver-Feathered Divine Eagle, a millennium great demon, would never let this rare opportunity slip.
“Skree!”
A piercing eagle cry split the clouds. Its demonic power circulated through every meridian, forcing the foreign object to leave its body.
“You ambushed this palace just now. Now this palace returns the favour!” Shen Ying laughed coldly.
While urging the Supreme Origin Mysterious Light to extract the demonic shadow, she also drove the peach-blossom baleful qi to erode the chains. For a moment, her momentum soared, actually suppressing the demonic shadow in reverse.
Terrifying indeed!
Lu Zheng laughed heartily. He shielded himself and Shen Ying with clouds of qi, ensuring they remained invincible, then formed seals and cast spells. One after another, Nine Yang Jade Primordial Divine Thunders appeared in the void and crashed down, striking directly at the ends of the chains that extended into the void.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
The demonic shadow, already gravely injured and still trying to outlast Yi Qingtian and Shen Ying, had no attention to spare for this side.
Under the thunder strikes, even these heavily refined, demonic-qi-wreathed, almost solid chains began to flicker unsteadily.
The demonic shadow’s face twisted further. This was adding insult to injury!
“Hahaha! Black-Hearted Fiend, you have no chance left!”
For the first time, the Silver-Feathered Divine Eagle spoke in human tongue. Its voice carried a metallic rasp, sharp and resonant, like clashing blades.
In the next moment, the demonic power within the Silver-Feathered Divine Eagle finally completed a full circulation. Its spirit stabilised, expelling the demonic intent from its true spirit sea of consciousness.
Then, demonic power gathered and swept through its body, uprooting every invading demonic chain and grinding away every trace of scattered demonic qi.
In this battle for control of the body that had lasted who-knows-how-long, Yi Qingtian finally gained the upper hand and suppressed the demonic shadow.
The demonic shadow was enraged beyond measure, yet the struggle against Yi Qingtian had already turned against it, and two more opponents harassed it from outside.
“Detestable!”
It had only managed to possess Yi Qingtian this time because he let his guard down. If it gave up now, when would it ever get such a perfect chance again?
Yet…
It glanced at the man overhead who was hurling Nine Yang Jade Primordial Thunders as if they cost nothing, then at the pink-skirted woman beside him who had locked it in place with Daoist mysterious light, and finally at Yi Qingtian beneath it who was about to break free.
If it did not flee now, it might never be able to leave…
A twisted expression appeared on the featureless black face of the demonic shadow. It let out a hoarse roar, then voluntarily followed the mysterious light and flew out from the Silver-Feathered Divine Eagle’s body.
The next instant, demonic qi exploded outward, broke through the Supreme Origin Mysterious Light, turned from solid to ethereal, and merged into the chains that connected the void to the eagle.
In the following heartbeat, hundreds of chains ripped free from the Silver-Feathered Divine Eagle, straightened like swords, and shot off in every direction.
“Trying to escape?”
Yi Qingtian shouted sternly. With a sudden flap of his wings, countless silver feather projections burst from his wings and pursued the hundreds of chains.
Lu Zheng waved his hand as well. Bolts of Nine Yang Jade Primordial Divine Thunder flew toward the furthest chains.
Shen Ying twirled her spell seals between her fingers. Peach-blossom baleful qi and Supreme Origin Mysterious Light worked in concert, holding back the nearer black chains.
Crackle! Crack!
A black light leapt frantically among the countless black chains. Dense demonic qi concentrated in one portion of the chains, swirling madly.
Then, under the combined assault of the three, some black chains shattered, some were severed as rear guards, and some ultimately escaped destruction.
“Yi Qingtian! I shall return!”
This Black-Hearted Demon was powerful and profoundly cultivated. Though gravely wounded now, it had decided to flee and sever its tail to survive. No one had expected it could not escape.
However…
When had Lu Zheng ever let an enemy slip away right under his nose? He had no habit of allowing opponents to come back for revenge later.
Severing its tail to live meant a drastic loss of strength. Was this not the perfect moment to kick a dog while it was down?
Lu Zheng changed his seal. The white clouds that had spread outward suddenly gathered again, enveloping the sky for dozens of miles around.
Cloud qi filled the air, sealing space, weaving illusions, blocking spiritual senses. Within this domain, Lu Zheng reversed up and down, left and right, east and west. The demonic qi chains had nowhere to hide.
“What!?”
The Black-Hearted Demon cried out in shock. It had not expected Lu Zheng to have yet another trump card.
Yi Qingtian’s eyes lit up. Ignoring his still-recovering body, he forced out his divine ability. Countless flying feathers shot into the clouds and, guided by Lu Zheng, rapidly eroded the black chains.
“Want to kill me? Not so easy!”
The Black-Hearted Demon snarled viciously. Then all the remaining black chains exploded. Countless strands of demonic qi surged and scattered in every direction, each carrying waves of desire that bewitched the mind, spreading outward along the cloud layer.
The cloud mass churned violently, looking as though it might disperse at any moment.
“The Ancestor of Heartless True Desire can dissolve into formless desire to escape. Who do you think you are?”
Lu Zheng gave a cold laugh. He saw everything clearly. This Black-Hearted Demon still required a true spirit and demonic qi as its foundation. So long as he blocked these tangible things, it absolutely could not escape.
Earlier, in order to flee, it had already abandoned the majority of its power. It had believed it could leave safely, only to be stopped. That meant it no longer had any chance to turn the tables.
Lu Zheng attacked with his full strength, urging the True Scripture of Innate Cloud Transformation Qi within his body to envelop the surrounding space with cloud qi, determined to let not a wisp of demonic qi escape.
The rest he left to Yi Qingtian and Shen Ying…
Buzz!
Over a thousand strands of destiny light flowed into his account. Lu Zheng’s eyes widened, his heart raced. He had not expected this demon to yield so much destiny, clearly far exceeding its own cultivation level.
Buzz!
Another three hundred-plus strands of destiny light poured into the jade seal in his mind. This was…
Lu Zheng turned and saw the Silver-Feathered Divine Eagle stretch its wings wide. Light flashed over its body, and it transformed into a handsome, silver-haired middle-aged man.
“Yi Qingtian greets the two daoist friends. Many thanks to both daoist friends for saving my life!”
