In Ling Xiao’s view, the Plague Demon King’s true form was worth more than any treasure.
As long as he obtained this true form, he would have completed one-tenth of his goal.
Why one-tenth?
Not one-ninth?
Because, according to Ling Xiao’s deduction, he would likely need to obtain the True Demon Emperor’s true form after advancing to forge the truly complete divine technique.
“This king will fight you to the death! Even if my strength is inferior, I’ll take you down with me!”
The Plague Demon King was utterly enraged.
He hadn’t expected that his humble pleading would be met with such words. If he couldn’t live, he would ensure Ling Xiao didn’t either.
In that instant, the abyss-like maw behind him reappeared, opening wide and continuously absorbing the plague from the entire Plague Valley.
The Northern Han Kingdom’s troops stationed outside the valley were astonished to notice that the plague in the valley was shrinking rapidly, the thick fog gradually dissipating, revealing everything within.
“Could it be that the masters from the Moonlight Sect have succeeded?”
“Great, this valley is finally saved, and we won’t have to stay in this eerie, ghostly place anymore!”
The plague in the Plague Valley receded astonishingly fast, almost instantly merging into the abyss-like maw of the Plague Demon King.
Then, a dark green orb emitting a green glow appeared within that maw.
Ling Xiao could sense that this dark green orb had condensed the entire valley’s plague power, terrifyingly potent.
Thus, while his opponent was gathering this move, he wasn’t idle either.
The Ice Dragon Sword appeared in his hand.
A surge of energy continuously gathered around the blade.
“Gaga, die, die, let’s perish together!”
Moments later, the Plague Demon King let out a piercing, eerie laugh. The dark green orb shot out from the abyss-like maw, carrying an aura of utter destruction as it hurtled towards Ling Xiao.
“Is that so? Let’s see who dies!”
Ling Xiao slowly raised the Ice Dragon Sword, channeling all the Broad Cold True Essence from the Broad Cold Heavenly Venerate into it.
Ultimate Move—Ice Storm!
All along, Ling Xiao had never given up on comprehending the final move of the Snow Lotus Sword Art. When he left the Moonlight Sect, this move was already sixty to seventy percent mastered.
After arriving at the Plague Valley, through the experience gained in battle, he had brought this move’s completion to nearly ninety percent.
Though he hadn’t fully mastered it.
He firmly believed this move would be far more terrifying than any previous technique.
He didn’t infuse it with the power of celestial phenomena, mainly because his control over this move wasn’t proficient enough, and doing so might cause unnecessary complications.
Moreover, to counter the Plague Demon King’s desperate move, this technique was more than sufficient.
This was the Ice Storm in human-dragon form!
In an instant, the entire underground palace’s scenery transformed completely. Howling cold winds and dancing snow dragons made it seem as if the scene had turned into a doomsday winter landscape.
The moment that sword struck, it was as if one could see a terrifying ice storm ravaging the entire world, a nightmare vision of destruction.
Boom!
The Ice Storm met the dark green orb.
In just an instant, countless cracks appeared on the orb, and it shattered into dust.
After obliterating the dark green orb, the Ice Storm continued its frenzied rampage, leaving devastation in its wake, everything either frozen or destroyed.
Fortunately, this place was far from where Shangguan Lei was hiding, and there were no slaves; otherwise, they would all have perished.
This was the Ice Storm, a fearsome technique!
“No—!”
The Plague Demon King tried to flee, but it was futile. The Ice Storm seemed slow, but its range was vast. Even without getting close, a terrifying suction pulled the Plague Demon King’s body toward the storm’s center.
He couldn’t escape.
Buzz~~
Ah~~
The roaring wind, mixed with continuous screams, formed a terrifying melody.
After a full ten breaths, the Ice Storm gradually subsided.
A green crystal stone fell to the ground and was swallowed by the shadow behind Ling Xiao.
“I didn’t expect the Plague Demon King’s true form to be such a crystal stone.”
Having killed the Plague Demon King with one move, Ling Xiao showed no trace of a relieved smile.
A Plague Demon King who had only recovered to the early fourth stage of the Mortal Realm had caused such immense slaughter.
What about the other eight Demon Kings?
And each Demon King had seventy-two terrifying Demon Generals under their command!
Where were they now?
To what extent had they recovered? It was impossible to know.
This feeling made him feel somewhat powerless.
After all, his strength alone was too weak to save the world. Perhaps outstanding human geniuses would continue to emerge.
The Heavenly Dragon Continent he was on was still too small, too weak!
“Master!”
Suddenly, the green shadow behind him spoke.
A talking Martial Soul?
This was an “Out-of-Body” level Martial Soul!
Ling Xiao hadn’t expected that after absorbing the Plague Demon King’s true form, his Plague Demon King Martial Soul would advance to the third level of Martial Souls—“Out-of-Body.”
Residual Soul—Complete Soul—Out-of-Body, with even higher realms above.
Cultivating a Martial Soul was no easy task.
Once it reached the Out-of-Body level, it required further cultivation to achieve the nine stages: One Breath, One Minute, One Quarter, One Hour, One Day, One Week, One Month, One Season, One Year.
Ling Xiao’s current Plague Demon King Martial Soul was at the “One Minute” stage of the Out-of-Body realm.
The so-called One Minute was sixty breaths.
This was a way of measuring time in the Mysterious Realm.
In other words, the Martial Soul could remain out of the body for at least sixty breaths, or one minute.
An Out-of-Body Martial Soul not only continued to enhance the martial artist in various aspects but could also fight independently, completely different from the soul separation of the Complete Soul stage.
“Oh, great, since you can talk, that makes things easier. Where is the Plague Demon King’s treasure hidden? Also, he said something before he died—what was it, and what did he mean?”
Ling Xiao asked excitedly.
He had been wondering how to thoroughly search this underground palace to find the Plague Demon King’s treasure.
Now, that was much simpler.
“Of course, Master, follow me!”
The Plague Demon King Martial Soul flew in front of Ling Xiao.
As they headed toward the Plague Demon King’s treasure location, the Martial Soul continued, “Before he died, the Plague Demon King shouted four words in terror: ‘Primordial Martial Soul’!”
“Primordial Martial Soul? What does that mean?”
Ling Xiao asked, puzzled.
The Plague Demon King Martial Soul explained, “Primordial Martial Souls are those inherited from the Primordial Era, often carrying the aura and inheritance of Primordial martial artists. Once obtained, they are far more terrifying and powerful than awakened Martial Souls.”
“Oh? He probably mistook the aura of the Primordial Golden Dragon in my body for a Primordial Martial Soul.”
Ling Xiao thought to himself.
The boundless, ancient aura of the Primordial Golden Dragon in his body did somewhat resemble a Martial Soul inherited from the Primordial Era.
