In an instant, the valley was enveloped in black demonic energy. Sun and moon vanished from sight.
Lu Zheng looked towards the four from Yun Yi’s group. Their demon bodies had burst open under the strain of demonic forms, revealing four demonic creatures whose cultivation clearly surpassed the originals.
It was obvious that the four had long been slain and replaced by demons, just like Yi Qingtian’s encounter back in Chuandong Dao.
The difference was that Yi Qingtian had met Lu Zheng and Shen Ying, while these four had enjoyed no such fortune.
“Kekekeke.”
A strange laugh echoed through the valley. “Si Lingxi, hahaha.”
Si Lingxi looked down at the red-clothed woman and found that the woman had perished the moment the foreign power fully surged into her body.
Releasing the corpse, Si Lingxi’s face took on an eerie crimson hue. Her expression darkened. She spoke coldly. “Great Black Heaven Wuxin True Desire Demon Ancestor.”
“Hehehe. It is I.”
The voice reverberated through the valley, yet no true form appeared.
“You dare plot against me?”
“Kekekeke. You are merely the direct descendant of the phoenix bloodline left in this realm. Why would this ancestor not dare to plot against you?”
The voice of Great Black Heaven Wuxin True Desire Demon Ancestor carried soul-seizing demonic charm. Merely hearing it, Lu Zheng felt his divine soul reel.
Si Lingxi waved her hand. Phoenix power flowed into the three of them, steadying their divine souls.
“Hehehe. You can scarcely protect yourself, yet you still try to shield these three little insects?”
Wuxin True Desire Demon Ancestor laughed strangely. “This ancestor used bluebird bloodline to counterfeit phoenix blood, enough even to deceive your bloodline instinct. I refined eighty-one drops of demonic desire divine blood and mixed them within. Now they have all surged into your body, fusing with your phoenix blood. Outside lies the Six Desires Heavenly Demon Grand Array. Inside and outside combine. Si Lingxi, you cannot withstand it.”
Si Lingxi narrowed her eyes. Dense flames rose from her body, burning in all directions.
The four demons each shook a banner. Endless black energy linked to the earth veins below, as though turning the entire valley into a demonic domain. Countless runes formed within the valley, firmly blocking the phoenix divine fire.
“Kekekeke. This Six Desires Heavenly Demon Array took this ancestor ten full years to lay. I converted these earth veins into a true desire demonic realm, severing all connection to heaven and earth.
Add to that the demonic desire divine blood refined from this ancestor’s origin demonic thoughts…”
Wuxin True Desire Demon Ancestor laughed. “This ancestor naturally knows how formidable you are as a phoenix descendant. I have clashed with phoenixes in the upper realm often enough to understand your foundations. A single method might indeed fail against you. What a pity. You were too confident…”
Countless phoenix divine flames scorched heaven and earth. Countless demonic runes burned away. Yet this space had already been refined into a demonic domain, as if severing Si Lingxi’s link to heaven and earth.
Her foundation was profound, but how could she contend against heaven and earth themselves?
Unless…
She shattered heaven and earth.
“A mere demonic domain thinks it can trap me?”
Si Lingxi’s voice was icy. She shielded the three behind her. With a wave, boundless phoenix divine fire surged forth, blanketing every direction.
Yet in the next instant, a tyrannical aura suddenly erupted from her body. She paused involuntarily, her face paling. She even staggered.
Liu Qingyan and Shen Ying quickly supported her, one on each side. Lu Zheng gripped his lightning-struck peachwood sword and stood in front of Si Lingxi. He pinched a seal. A Taiyi Five Thunder Curse gathered and crackled at his fingertips.
“Thunder arts?”
Thunder arts were naturally the bane of all evil demons, especially the Qingwei thunder lineage passed down directly from the Three Pure Ones.
“A pity the cultivation is too weak…” Wuxin True Desire Demon Ancestor paid it no heed.
Lu Zheng’s gaze sharpened. He said nothing, only silently intensified the Taiyi Five Thunder Curse in his hand.
“Hehehe. Si Lingxi, cease the act. Do you think to lure this ancestor into revealing himself first?” Wuxin True Desire Demon Ancestor laughed. “With your cultivation, a single drop of demonic desire divine blood would not affect you so greatly.”
Divine light flashed in Si Lingxi’s eyes. Her complexion returned to normal. She gave a cold laugh. “With only demonic desire divine blood and the Six Desires demonic realm, you think to refine me? I fear you cannot. How long can your demonic realm endure?”
“It will not endure long. Combined with the blood, only eighty-one days.” Wuxin True Desire Demon Ancestor smiled. “But how many days can you last? An illusion array cloaks the outside. The world remains utterly unaware.
Si Lingxi, escape is impossible. Surrender obediently. Merge with this ancestor. Offer up all your phoenix divine blood. Let this ancestor refine phoenix demonic flame, burn this realm’s spiritual energy to nothingness, and transform it into an endless demonic domain.”
“Court death.” Si Lingxi shouted in fury.
Given her status and position, when had anyone ever dared to covet her so brazenly?
A phoenix phantom rose behind her. A single light cry resounded through heaven and earth. The entire Six Desires Heavenly Demon Realm seemed to tremble.
The phoenix flapped its wings. Countless sparks scattered from between them, infinite and unending in every direction.
“Boom. Boom.”
Collisions between phoenix sparks and the Six Desires demonic realm unleashed waves of spiritual fluctuation. Phoenix power and true desire demonic power surged chaotically. Without Si Lingxi’s protection, Lu Zheng might endure, but Liu Qingyan and Shen Ying certainly could not.
To ease her burden, Lu Zheng brought out the Baiyun Flag. With a shake, boundless cloud energy gathered, shielding himself, the two women, and Si Lingxi. Liu Qingyan summoned her fox-tail phantom. Shen Ying scattered endless peach-blossom malignance, resisting the erosion of demonic energy from the Six Desires realm.
Though their cultivation lagged far behind Si Lingxi and Wuxin True Desire Demon Ancestor, their deep foundations still allowed them to contribute somewhat against the sheer volume of demonic energy.
Si Lingxi nodded. Her phoenix eyes flashed like lightning. “Old devil, come forth. With the boost of demonic desire divine blood and the Six Desires realm, you still dare not face this palace in open battle? Are all heavenly demons of the upper realm shameless cowards who hide their heads and show only their tails?”
At this, Si Lingxi glanced disdainfully at the four demons lurking beyond the array. “A pack of sewer rats.”
The four demons bared fangs and glared at Si Lingxi. They shook their banners fiercely in threat.
Yet a wave of demonic thought passed over them. They calmed as if soothed, resuming only the shaking of banners to drive the earth-vein array.
“This ancestor is merely a divine thought descended to the lower realm. I have no interest in clashing directly with you.”
Wuxin True Desire Demon Ancestor smiled. “If my true body were here, such trouble would be unnecessary. Still, letting you savour the helplessness of awaiting death is pleasant enough.
When the demonic desire divine blood and Six Desires realm ignite your phoenix divine fire into phoenix desire fire, the flames of desire will burn your body. You will incinerate yourself. Then the remaining drop of pure phoenix divine blood will aid this ancestor in advancing further.”
