The Cold and Aloof Palace Master's Daily Demon-Slaying Life

When Zuo Qingqiu finally stepped onto the last stone step and stood before the enormous, ferocious bronze gate of the Diluo Sect, forged from the bones and metals of countless living beings, time seemed to have passed for a long time, yet it also seemed to have only been a short moment.

The mountain gate is ten zhang high, with a dark bronze color throughout. Its surface is decorated with countless painful and distorted faces, ferocious and howling monsters, and some incomprehensible evil runes.

The two doors were tightly closed, exuding a cold, heavy, and aloof atmosphere.

Behind the gate lay a vast plaza, upon which stood a massive, imposing army of demonic cultivators, ready for battle.

Zuo Qingqiu stopped in front of the mountain gate.

She didn't look at the door.

She simply tilted her head slightly, as if listening to the sound of the wind and rain, or as if sensing something.

Then, she raised her right hand and gently grasped the hilt of the steel sword at her waist.

There was no build-up, no preparation.

It was very simple: he drew his sword, stepped forward, and swung it.

"Clang—!"

A clear, melodious sword cry suddenly rang out in the rainy night, but it was not high-pitched or loud; rather, it was an extremely condensed, sharp sound that seemed capable of severing the soul.

A purplish-black sword light, condensed to its extreme and almost invisible, burst forth from the blade, carrying a terrifying aura of being able to cut through anything and destroy everything. It lightly struck the incredibly heavy bronze gate.

There was no earth-shattering roar, no dazzling explosion.

There was only a faint, almost inaudible "hiss" sound.

It was as if a hot knife had cut into solidified butter.

The purplish-black sword light, as if without any hindrance, silently entered the bronze door, tracing a perfect arc from left to right.

Then--

"Boom—!"

The ten-zhang-tall bronze gate, following the path of the sword light, was neatly... split into two halves at an angle.

The upper half, along a smooth, mirror-like cut, slowly tilted forward and slid down, finally crashing onto the bluestone ground in front of the door with a dull, thunderous roar, stirring up a cloud of dust and gravel.

The cut was as smooth as a mirror, reflecting even the horrified faces of the demonic cultivators in the plaza behind.

This is not over yet.

Zuo Qingqiu flicked her wrist slightly, and the steel sword twirled in a flourish.

"Bang—!"

The remaining lower half of the bronze door, along with the thick door frames and stone walls connecting to the mountains on both sides, seemed to have countless explosives buried inside. At the same time, they exploded from the inside out, turning into countless bronze blocks and pebbles of varying sizes, shooting towards the interior of the square like a torrential rain.

Smoke and dust billowed into the sky, mixing with rainwater to form a murky fog.

As the smoke and dust dissipated slightly, the scene inside and outside the door was finally exposed to each other without any obstruction.

On one side stood Zuo Qingqiu, alone, dressed in a blue robe and bamboo hat, holding an ordinary steel sword, quietly standing in front of the ruins of the broken door.

On the other side was a vast, dark army of tens of thousands of demonic cultivators, standing ready for battle.

Qi was gathered like a forest, and foundation-building was like clouds. Seven Purple Mansion Demon Lords floated in the sky, like seven demon god mountains.

Further back, on the throne, the Blood-Stained Witch, the Pink-Stained Female Cultivator, and the withered old man exuded a chilling sense of oppression.

On one hand, there is absolute "scarcity".

On one side is the ultimate "masses".

However, the invisible pressure emanating from that "lonely" side, with just one person and one sword standing there quietly, seemed to be a thousand times heavier than the scene of "thousands of troops" opposite them.

The air froze.

The sound of rain seemed to have disappeared.

All that remained were the heavy breathing sounds and the uncontrollable pounding of countless eyes fixed on the blue figure.

Perhaps the fear that had been building up slowly along the mountain path had reached its peak, or perhaps the sheer power of Zuo Qingqiu's sword strike that shattered the door was too terrifying, or perhaps the mysterious and swift deaths of the three fellow disciples from the Purple Mansion Sect had given them the most direct warning—

This time, the demons left behind by the Diluo Sect did not, like ordinary villains, start by spouting nonsense to assert their presence or try to intimidate or coerce people into surrendering.

They chose the most direct approach, which also best suited the style of the demonic path—

Do it.

kill!

Almost at the same instant that Zuo Qingqiu's figure was fully revealed in front of the square.

The seven mid-stage Purple Mansion demons hovering above the Foundation Establishment cultivator seemed to have rehearsed countless times beforehand, and they erupted simultaneously with perfect coordination.

"boom--!"

Seven different colored but equally powerful and violent auras from the Purple Mansion erupted like seven dormant volcanoes at the same time.

The terrifying power of the Purple Mansion stirred up the wind and clouds, tearing open seven huge holes in the rain curtain above.

Seven emanations of the Purple Mansion, each over four hundred feet tall and of different shapes, yet all equally ferocious and terrifying, condensed and manifested behind them almost simultaneously.

The overwhelming demonic power was like seven ancient demon gods awakening from their slumber and descending upon this place.

Even the earth beneath their feet trembled with a heavy, rumbling sound the moment the Dharma appeared.

The rain fell on these enormous Dharma images, instantly evaporating into billowing white vapor that swirled and rose, adding to the terror and mystery of the demon god's descent into the world.

The seven Dharma images, each with a distinct form, were all imbued with the eerie and ferocious aura unique to demonic sects:

There was a water-based demonic cultivator whose entire form was composed of dark blue to almost black water waves. He stood on a ferocious phantom of a black tortoise, and a huge python with gleaming scales and a single horn on its head was coiled around his waist.

The water-wave-like appearance was indistinct, except for its eyes, which resembled two swirling, deep vortexes that seemed capable of devouring all souls.

There is a type of earth-based Taoist demon cultivator whose physical form is composed of grayish-yellow earth and stone, resembling thick mountain rocks, reaching a height of over 450 zhang, making it the most magnificent.

Faxiangsheng has three heads: a majestic human face on the front, a furious lion face on the left, and a sinister eagle face on the right.

Its body has six incredibly thick arms, each wielding one of six weapons: a knife, a sword, a shield, a hammer, an axe, and a battle-axe. As it swings its arms, phantom images of mountains collapsing and the earth splitting appear.

It is a demonic cultivator with a fire-based cultivation lineage. Its physical form has two heads and four legs, and its entire body is crimson. It is composed of flowing lava and inextinguishable black fire, and has eight arms. In the palm of each arm is a ferocious, open, fiery evil eye that spews out twisted black fire rays.

There is a demonic cultivator of the Golden Law lineage. His Dharma form is an iron man clad in iron armor, with a body that is half human and half demon. His entire body is covered with countless constantly snapping iron mouths, composed of countless twisted shadows and sharp metallic energy. In his hand, he holds an enormous death scythe.

There is a lineage of demonic cultivators with a wooden magic, whose Dharma form is a tree-man composed of countless wildly dancing thorns and brightly colored, eerie flowers. The thorns are covered with colorful flowers that exude a deadly sweet fragrance, and distorted human faces can be vaguely seen deep in the flower stamens.

There was a heretical corpse-wielding demon cultivator whose Dharma form resembled a giant corpse of Longbo, magnified countless times and mostly rotten. Dark green pus flowed from the corpse's body, emitting a nauseating stench of decay and disease. Wherever it passed, even the air was polluted.

There are heretical and demonic cultivators whose appearance is the most bizarre. They are composed of countless mirrors that are constantly breaking and reassembling, forming a mirror figure with astigmatic light. The mirror reflects bizarre, distorted, and crazy scenes, making people dizzy and unstable when they look at it.

Seven different yet equally terrifying Purple Mansion Dharma Images stood on the ground at the foot of the mountain, their figures, even more imposing than the mountain range, surrounding the entire Yanfu Mountain. Like seven resurrected ancient demon gods, they looked down at the "tiny" Zuo Qingqiu standing in the square, just as giants looked down at ants on a table.

The overwhelming demonic power surged forth like a tangible tide, crashing against her immortal energy field in waves, seemingly intent on crushing and submerging this "dust" of hers.

This is not over yet.