Walking alone with a sword, slaying ghosts and gods

Chapter 536 The Demon Descends, Causing Calamity; Who Can Save the World and Continue the Dao's Fate? (4,000 words added)

In the eastern border region of the Yin-Yang Realm, a majestic mountain range coils like a giant dragon, with pavilions and towers appearing amidst swirling clouds and mist, accompanied by the clear sounds of bells and chimes.

This place is the Yunya Sect, a primordial spirit sect with a history of over ten thousand years.

Outside the mountain gate, the celestial city beneath it is brightly lit and named Jade Dew City. It is a prosperous commercial city with a large population. The people here have enjoyed peace for thousands of years thanks to the existence of the Cloud Cliff Sect.

That night, in a secluded cave in Jade Dew City.

Qi Lingyun, the law enforcement elder of Yunya Sect, a cultivator with white hair and beard and in the late stage of the Nascent Soul realm, sat in silence for a long time in front of a dark red pill lying quietly in a jade box.

This pill was the size of a longan, with faint blood-red patterns on its surface, and emitted a sweet, fishy smell. Just by looking at it with one's divine sense, it transmitted an extremely dangerous signal to me:

Destroy it, destroy it, destroy it! Otherwise it will destroy you!

This was an instinctive reaction accumulated over thousands of years of cultivation; however, Qi Lingyun forcibly suppressed this instinctive vigilance and fear.

The Demon Blood Pill, hailed as a demonic elixir capable of defying fate, can extend a cultivator's lifespan by a quarter. For a Nascent Soul cultivator, it can extend their life by five hundred years, far surpassing the efficacy of normal life-extending spiritual items and pills.

However, demonic items come with their own price. It is said that there are hidden demons lurking within this pill, and after taking it, it will gradually change the cultivator's mindset and personality, and in the end, it is hard to say whether it will still be the original self.

When Qi Lingyun had plenty of lifespan, he would have scoffed at this pill. But when he was truly on the verge of death, he finally understood why so many senior cultivators in the world couldn't resist its temptation.

The path to immortality is long and winding. Throughout history, countless heroes have dominated the world, achieving great feats and leaving their names in history.

However, the ways of Heaven are unpredictable. Even those with a thousand years of achievements and heroic deeds cannot escape the erosion of time and the end of their lifespan. Once their lifespan is exhausted, if there is no opportunity to extend their life, even those who once stirred up the winds and clouds will inevitably fall into the cycle of reincarnation and be buried in the yellow earth.

On their deathbed, various demonic obstacles arise. Some see their former heroes, unwilling to succumb to this fate, exhausting all the secret arts of the heavens and searching for ways to prolong life, going mad in their final moments. Even worse, they are possessed by inner demons, attempting to stir up the universe, unleashing boundless carnage, and seeking to take countless lives before and after them to the underworld.

The greatest hardship throughout history is death.

Qi Lingyun had dominated his world, cultivating to the Nascent Soul realm and making countless contributions to his sect. But now, looking at the demonic core before him, his Dao heart had been gnawed open by despair, and demonic thoughts grew like weeds.

"Master..." Just then, a soft voice rang out from the shadows, carrying a seductive tone.

"Take it. Five hundred years is enough time for you to find another opportunity for breakthrough. Achieving the Great Dao of the Primordial Spirit is not an empty dream. When you live a long and healthy life, you will not have wasted your life of hard work. Although the sect is large, apart from us disciples, who really cares about the desolation of you, the Enforcement Elder, after your lifespan is exhausted? You have protected the Cloud Cliff Sect for nearly a thousand years and made countless great contributions. Don't you deserve to fight for yourself once?"

The person speaking at this moment was Liu Feng, Qi Lingyun's closed-door disciple. If it were any other day, such blatant incitement would have been met with a swift and deadly strike from Qi Lingyun.

However, at this very moment, it was Qi Lingyun, the Nascent Soul True Monarch, who was drenched in sweat.

The old Taoist's withered fingers trembled violently, veins throbbed on his forehead, and a deep struggle lingered in his cloudy old eyes.

Sect rules, teachers' teachings, the dignity of the righteous path… all pierced his heart like sharp thorns. Yet, the chilling aura of death so close at hand contrasted horribly with the surging life force emanating from the blood pill before him!

"I...I, Qi Lingyun, have lived an upright life..." The old Taoist's voice was hoarse, as if he were squeezing the words out from the depths of his throat.

"Upright? Can uprightness buy you longevity?" Liu Feng's voice suddenly became sharp.

"Look at your fellow disciples! True Monarch Yunliu has already died of old age! Elder Kumu has not returned from his travels! Who still remembers you, the meritorious and hardworking Law Enforcement Elder, who is on your deathbed?! Take this! If you live, you will still be the high and mighty Law Enforcement Elder! If you die, you will be nothing but a handful of yellow earth! In the future, which of your disciples will still recognize True Monarch Qi Lingyun?!"

The last sentence was like a heavy hammer, shattering Qi Lingyun's last defenses. Despair and resentment gnawed at his heart like a venomous snake.

"Enough!" With a mournful roar, the old Taoist priest suddenly reached out, grabbed the pill, closed his eyes, and stuffed it into his mouth.

The dark red pill melted instantly upon entering the mouth, and a medicinal power as hot as lava, yet with an extremely sweet aroma, exploded forth, instantly coursing through the entire body.

Qi Lingyun's body trembled violently, as if his flesh and blood, which had been almost withered, were rejuvenated and bursting with amazing vitality.

His white hair turned black, his wrinkles smoothed out, and the lingering aura of aging on his body vanished. A surge of power filled his body, making him let out a long, satisfying sigh.

However, deep within this vitality, a cold, slippery, parasitic demonic thought, along with the immense medicinal power, quietly seeped into the deepest part of his soul, rapidly parasitizing and growing.

After the initial euphoria, Qi Lingyun's eyes quickly became empty and cold. The last trace of struggle in his gaze towards Liu Feng vanished completely, leaving only a deep sense of submissive obedience.

"Congratulations, Master, on your rebirth!" Liu Feng smiled and bowed, saying:
"The Holy Lord has already issued a decree, and the time has come. We should use the Eastern Sun Divine Lord as a guide to help the Holy Lord heal and recover! The key to breaking through the Mysterious Origin Divine Array of the Cloud Cliff Thousand Mountains and Valleys lies in the third watch of the night tomorrow, when you, Master, are on duty!"

The next day, at the third watch, all was quiet in Jade Dew City.

On the main peak of the Yunya Mountains, Qingtian Peak, an invisible array of light, like billions of star belts, slowly rotated, emanating a majestic and profound aura.

This "Thousand Mountains and Valleys Profound Origin Divine Qi Grand Formation" was formed by the founding ancestor of the Yunya Sect using the earth's veins as a foundation and condensing the Nine Heavens Profound Qi. After being reinforced for ten thousand years, its defensive strength is enough to withstand the siege of several Nascent Soul cultivators without collapsing. It is the foundation upon which the sect stands.

The cultivator responsible for guarding the core array point tonight is none other than Elder Qi Lingyun, the Law Enforcement Elder.

The moonlight was obscured by thick mountain fog, with only the flowing light of the array illuminating the cliff face and stone steps.

Qi Lingyun stood expressionlessly on a secluded array platform, his hand gestures seemingly drawing upon the earth's spiritual energy to reinforce the array.

But hidden beneath its sleeves, a black bone cone, the size of an arm and covered in barbed demonic patterns, was quietly emanating demonic energy.

Midnight!

Qi Lingyun's eyes gleamed with a dark light, and he hesitated no longer. He bit his tongue and spat out a mouthful of blood containing his life essence onto the black bone cone.

"Om-!"

The bone cone trembled violently, emitting a humming sound that sent chills down one's spine.

The jet-black color instantly turned as deep as ink, as if it had swallowed all the light.

The cone-shaped demonic runes glowed with a dazzling scarlet light, and an intense, extremely filthy, decaying, and disintegrating aura suddenly erupted!
"Go!" Qi Lingyun shouted, stabbing the black bone cone fiercely into the core hub of the array platform beneath his feet!

"Snap!!!"

The ear-piercing sound, like glass shattering, instantly pierced through the entire silent mountain peak!

Centered on the point where the black bone cone pierced through, the originally flowing and indestructible Xuan Yuan Divine Qi suddenly stopped. Then, countless spiderweb-like dark cracks spread wildly in all directions as if they were alive. Wherever the cracks passed, the Xuan Yuan Divine Qi emitted a piercing wail, melting and dimming rapidly like snow hitting a hot iron.

The light barrier that had protected the entire Cloud Cliff Mountain Range for ten thousand years was torn open at this moment, creating a huge gap with a diameter of tens of feet. At the edge of the gap, thick, viscous demonic energy hissed and constantly corroded the surrounding aura.

Almost at the same instant the formation broke, a blurry demonic figure that enveloped the heavens and the earth suddenly became clear in the pitch-black void outside the breach! An unimaginable sense of oppression, like a mountain collapsing and a tsunami crashing, swept across the entire Cloud Cliff Sect!
"Hahahahaha... Die!!!"

A death utterance, so violent and cruel as to defy description, shook the entire northeastern corner of the Yin-Yang Realm. Countless cultivators in Jade Dew City at the foot of the mountain were deeply shaken, and countless low-level cultivators coughed up blood and fainted.

The demon god Gara has descended.

The demonic shadow flashed, condensing into a long, dark beam of light that was so fast that divine sense could hardly detect it. Ignoring all spatial obstacles, it pierced straight into the core of the Cloud Cliff Sect's forbidden area—the "Spirit Source Cave," the secluded cave of the Eastern Sun Divine Lord.

Deep within the cave, the stone walls are all made of meteorite rock containing the essence of stars and gold, and are covered with layers of restrictions.

The only Nascent Soul cultivator of the Yunya Sect, the Eastern Yang Divine Lord, an old man with white hair and beard and a withered appearance, was sitting on a futon, breathing in and out the primordial energy of heaven and earth, trying to capture the faint spiritual energy of the upper realm in order to make further progress on his path of cultivation.

A faint, ethereal aura of blue swirled around him, his aura as deep and unfathomable as the sea, yet carrying an undeniable air of decay and decline. Just as Gara tore apart the protective mountain array and unleashed his demonic roar!

The Eastern Sun God suddenly opened his tightly closed eyes, his cloudy old eyes instantly flashing with a sharp light, while his pupils shrank to pinpoints!

"What kind of demon are you?! How dare you invade my Cloud Cliff!" The old man's angry roar echoed throughout the cave, carrying the majestic majesty of a primordial spirit lord.

However, because the protective mountain formation was broken from the inside, the warning was ultimately a step too late!

A thin, pure black rift thread appeared out of thin air a hundred feet above his head!

Silent and stealthy, yet displaying terrifying characteristics of cutting through laws and tearing apart the void, its speed is so fast that even divine sense cannot keep up!

As Dongyang Shenjun's mind raced, he suddenly felt a jolt of fear. His primordial spirit shone brightly in his sea of ​​consciousness, and in the next instant, a simple and heavy tortoise-shell black iron divine shield was instantly summoned to block in front of him. At the same time, a flying sword with a crimson body and a dragon shadow wrapped around it transformed into a ring of blazing fire to protect his body.

The movements were executed in one smooth motion, revealing the fighting instincts that the Primordial Spirit Lord had accumulated over thousands of years.

"Clang—!!!! Sizzle—!!!"

The expected earth-shattering impact did not occur. Instead, the rift thread struck the Thick Virtue Black Tortoise Shield, producing a piercing, teeth-grinding cutting sound!

The surface of the Xuan Turtle Shield was plowed with deep dark marks, and the powerful magic contained within the shield was eroded and annihilated by the magic threads, just like pure white snow in spring.

It only lasted for less than a tenth of a second before this top-tier defensive magical artifact was forcibly sliced ​​in half.

The magic silk, its momentum undiminished, pierced fiercely into the crimson fire ring protecting Dongyang Divine Lord!

"puff!"

The dragon-shaped ring of fire, as blazing as the sun's true flames, shook violently, and its core suddenly dimmed! The dragon let out a mournful cry, and the sword light instantly dissipated by more than half!

"Hiss!" Dongyang Divine Lord gasped, his mind reeling. His two life-saving magic treasures, one for defense and one for offense, were both damaged by the opponent's seemingly casual strike! The Thick Virtue Black Tortoise Shield, in particular, was almost destroyed in a single blow!
"What a fiend!" Dongyang Shenjun's hair and beard bristled, his withered face displaying terrifying rage and determination. He now understood that this demonic calamity was unprecedented, and only by fighting to the death could he carve out a sliver of hope.

Dongyang Divine Lord formed a hand seal in his dantian, then opened his mouth and spat out a radiant treasure seal: this was his most fundamental natal magic weapon, the "Primordial Spirit Treasure Seal" condensed from his natal spirit!
As soon as the Dongyang Treasure Seal was unleashed, the primordial energy within the entire Lingyuan Cave surged wildly, and countless golden rule symbols appeared out of thin air, intertwining and evolving!
"All celestial gods, heed my command! Unleash the divine light of the stars to annihilate demons!" The Eastern Sun God Lord chanted the incantation, and his primordial spirit seal erupted with boundless brilliance!

Countless starlight chains, condensed to the point of being tangible and imbued with the will to destroy stars and annihilate demons, surged forth from the treasure seal!

The chains intertwined into a giant net of starlight covering the entire cave, carrying the purifying power to annihilate the demonic path, and went against the rifting thread to strangle and suppress it!

This was his trump card, a powerful and deadly technique that consumed a great deal of his mental and spiritual energy, drawing upon the power of the stars in the heavens. Its immense power was enough to annihilate cultivators of the same level.

However, facing this earth-shattering attack that would make any Nascent Soul cultivator in the world change color, a disdainful, icy laugh, seemingly emanating from the depths of the netherworld, came from the ripples in space:

"A mere trick, yet you dare to flaunt it before me?"

The dark shadow finally revealed its true form, not a ferocious and terrifying demon god, but a tall, aged-looking man in black robes with a scarlet vertical eye between his brows and white hair.

It was the human form of the demon god Gara. He merely extended his pale, slender right index finger and pointed it at the starlight chains that were coming from all directions!
At its fingertips, a tiny, almost imperceptible black dot suddenly appeared, then expanded wildly, transforming into a swirling, bottomless dark vortex!

The Demon-Slaying Divine Light, powerful enough to annihilate the vast majority of Nascent Soul cultivators in the world, was devoured, decomposed, and absorbed completely by the vortex the moment it came into contact with the black vortex, just like a hundred rivers flowing into the sea or ice and snow entering a furnace. Without even a ripple, it was greedily swallowed, decomposed, and absorbed by the vortex!

Immediately afterwards, the vast stellar energy that had been drawn into the entire Spirit Source Cave was also frantically sucked in!

The Eastern Sun God Lord's body trembled violently, his face instantly turned ashen, and he could no longer suppress a mouthful of his life essence blood, which he then spat out with a "whoosh".

The light of the Primordial Spirit Treasure Seal dimmed violently and became cracked. The Star God's Demon-Slaying Divine Light was broken and directly backfired on its origin.

"My Lord, let's talk this out..." Lord Dongyang was utterly horrified, his fear and alarm reaching their peak. After saying this, he slammed his hand on the top of his head without hesitation.

"Whoosh!"

A condensed, azure figure, identical to his appearance, instantly broke through the ceiling of the cave. This was the last life-saving technique of a high-level cultivator—astral projection!
Having shed the burden of the physical body, the speed of the primordial spirit's escape light far exceeded that of usual, almost covering tens of thousands of miles in an instant!
"Trying to leave?" A cruel smile, like a cat toying with a mouse, spread across the face of the demon god Gara. He opened his mouth and spat out...
"call out!"

A long, dark red tongue, as fast as a blood-red lightning bolt, instantly wrapped around Dongyang's fleeing primordial spirit! The tongue was covered with chilling suction cups and sharp teeth, which was the manifestation of his innate demonic power—the Soul-Devouring Demon Tongue!
"No!!!" Dongyang's primordial spirit let out a desperate and shrill scream, his soul light struggling and flickering wildly as he desperately activated the Divine Will Rainbow Escape Technique, trying to break free and escape.

Unfortunately, how can ants shake a god? As a demonic cultivator from the upper realm, Gara has devoured countless primordial spirit cultivators.

"Delicious food, my injuries just need nourishment..." Galo's eyes blazed red, and his demonic tongue twisted and sucked fiercely.

Sizzle! The Dongyang Primordial Spirit Dharma Image seemed to be thrown into strong acid, emitting a piercing melting sound.

The soul light peeled away and disintegrated bit by bit, and the most refined original soul power and primordial spirit Dao charm turned into a gushing torrent, which was frantically absorbed by the demon tongue.

In the blink of an eye, the primordial spirit cultivator who had dominated the clouds for thousands of years was completely dimmed and shattered, vanishing like a candle in the wind, leaving only a mournful wail echoing in the broken spiritual source cave.

The lifeless body inside the cave (the shell of the Eastern Sun God) instantly lost all its luster, like a withered wooden carving.

The moment Dongyang Shenjun fell, the entire mountain gate and Dao domain of Yunya Sect trembled violently, spiritual energy mourned, the celestial phenomena changed drastically, and the stars in the sky seemed to dim suddenly!

"The Divine Lord... the Divine Lord's aura... has disappeared?!" Several Nascent Soul elders who were gathering sect disciples outside to try to organize a resistance, as well as countless core disciples of the Cloud Cliff Sect who sensed this, were instantly enveloped by boundless fear and despair.

The core of the mountain-protecting formation was breached by Qi Lingyun's inside-outside attack, and then completely torn apart by Galo's subsequent arrival.

At this moment, the Cloud Cliff Mountain Gate is a completely undefended hunting ground for the demon god Gara.

"Hahahaha, fellow Daoists, I trouble you all to offer your flesh and souls as the foundation for my return to the Holy Body!" The voice of the Demon God Galo, as cold as the deepest spring in the netherworld, resounded in the hearts of every disciple of the Cloud Cliff Sect.

Driven by extreme fear, many Yunya Sect disciples even committed suicide by sword in an attempt to free their souls.

The next moment, a demonic shadow flashed, and the true form of the demon god Jialuo appeared above the main peak of Qingtian Peak.

At this moment, his white hair turned black, his face was young and sinister, his hands were outstretched, palms facing the sky, and an indescribable terrifying suction force was instantly generated!
"Whoosh—whoosh—whoosh—!"

Centered on Gara, a massive black storm vortex covering half of Cloud Cliff Mountain appeared out of thin air! The center of the vortex was as black as ink, while the edges were filled with deep purple demonic fire.

"what!"

"Help!"

"Master... Waaah..."

Under the terrifying suction force, disciples in the mountains, palaces, medicinal fields, and mine caves, regardless of whether they were at the Qi Refining, Foundation Establishment, or Purple Mansion stages, would be uncontrollably lifted off the ground as long as they were within the suction range, flying backwards towards the all-consuming vortex like fallen leaves in a raging wind.

They let out heart-wrenching screams and terrified cries. Their protective magic artifacts, talismans, and even their natal flying swords melted instantly like wax when they came into contact with the Azure Phosphorous Demonic Fire at the edge of the vortex. Countless colorful magical lights vanished like bubbles in the demonic fire!

In this battle, the Yin-Yang Realm Cloud Cliff Sect, which had a history of ten thousand years, was completely wiped out. The Eastern Yang Divine Lord perished in both body and soul, and only one or two out of ten cultivators of the entire sect survived by sheer luck.

The city of Yulu was destroyed, and the entire city was sacrificed in blood. The scene resembled a living hell.

At this time, it had only been a little over a month since the warning was issued by Lu Cheng, the Divine Lord of the Heavenly Dao Palace in the Tongxuan Realm. People already knew that the calamity of heaven and earth had begun and demons had descended upon the world. Demon cultivators all over the world followed suit, and some even predicted that this was the day when the Dao would decline and the demons would rise, and the day when the demonic path would flourish.

(End of this chapter)