Chapter 195   On the Brink of Death

The man was in a blood-red robe, his hair disheveled, with a face so haggard that one could clearly discern his cheekbones. His eyes were bloodshot and full of ruthless cruelty.

The man was emanating an aura of someone who feasted on blood. He so shocked his two disciples that their legs began to wobble. They slumped onto their knees with a thud. “Our respects to Sect Leader!”

“You mean... they are all dead?” The man asked coldly. His voice resounded as if from the depths of hell, shuddering the heart.

“Y... yes...”

The man was the Venerated Supreme Devil. He had just broken into the Great Completeness of Round Sun. During his cultivation, he felt extremely uneasy, as if something momentous had happened.

Therefore, the moment he broke into the Great Completeness of Round Sun, he emerged from his retreat, although he had not consolidated the level.

He did not expect such astounding news the moment he emerged. Instantly, the rage in his chest began to surge. He gave a loud growl. “Ignorant, insolent fellows! Hand over your lives! I’ll make you all pay with blood!”

The moment the voice of the Venerated Supreme Devil faded, heavy footfall emerged from within the cave.

The two kneeling disciples glanced behind him, terrified. Under the slanting sunlight, several towering Soul Puppets emerged, expressionless, with lifeless, inert eyes.

Although their souls were under control, their bodies emanated a heavy, malicious murderous aura. It made the two disciples shiver incessantly. Their footsteps were as heavy as mountains, each step quaking the heavens and the earth.

The Venerated Supreme Devil gave a wild laugh, his eyes full of blood lust. There seemed to be clouds under his feet as he leaped down, disappearing into the towering summits of the mountains...

These top-grade Soul Puppets, some of which were at the Great Completeness, Round Sun Realm, all followed him closely and leaped down after the Venerated Supreme Devil...

The two disciples broke out in cold sweat. “Good heavens, what... what powerful Soul Puppets.... This time, we won’t die!”

At the foot of the mountain, Hua Qiyue and the others had long retreated. They had returned to the level plain in front of the mountain.

This was the terrain most advantageous to them. After all, if they were positioned at the foot of the mountain, their enemies would have a greater advantage on the high terrain against theirs.

They were taking in pills to replenish their lost spiritual and physical energies. Suddenly, an earth-shattering Qi aura billowed to their faces!

“He... has emerged from his retreat!” The hare’s eyes immediately began to narrow.

What a powerful Qi aura!

The hearts of the company were in their mouths, as they watched intently the demonic figures surging toward them.

There were 11 of them. Its leader obviously would be the Venerated Supreme Devil. With the monstrous, murderous aura emanating from his body, the few thousand who were his target started to convulse in horror.

He was too powerful. Even one stroke from him would annihilate them all!

Hua Qiyue immediately started to draw rune inscriptions in the air and hit them onto the ground, injecting into them all her spiritual energy. “Array of Jade Seal—open!”

Instantly, a ring of light began to materialize from the ground, encircling these few thousand Qi Artists. Countless light columns soared into the sky, forming a dome which enveloped them from mid-air, shielding them in the midst.

“Quick, give me some super-strong Recovery Pills!” Hua Qiyue said. Yun Shimo immediately slipped a large pill between her lips.

After all, it was a massive array and needed much spiritual energy to maintain it. Hua Qiyue had made a frantic, last-ditch effort to learn a Protection Array from Tianpi.

This massive array which required spiritual energy would be even more powerful—much more so than an array using crystals. But it would also expend lots of spiritual energy.

Hua Qiyue immediately swallowed that large pill. The anima energy inside her body immediately started to gush out from under her abdomen, like a spring.

The light columns of this Array of Jade Seal began to glow even more brightly.

The company was astonished. This was the first time they had seen such a massive array.

“Are you alright?” Huangfu Shenglin asked in a worried voice. He saw Hua Qiyue’s pale face, with beads of cold sweat breaking out on her forehead. She was suffering horrendously from the strain.

“Don’t speak to her. Let her concentrate on supporting the array!” Yun Shimo said quietly.

Huangfu Xuan, Ji Feng and the others stared at one another. They immediately moved forward a few steps, shielding Hua Qiyue and her helpers behind their bodies.

In a flash.

The Venerated Supreme Devil had arrived.

The 10 Soul Puppets behind him were scintillating with a black radiance. They carried in them a heavy, lifeless aura. The massive pressure from their bodies were making Yun Shimo and his allies feel the strain.

They were at the Great Completeness of Round Sun! A complete realm higher than the medium level of Moon Eclipse. Of course, they were brutally powerful—and there were 11 of them.

No matter how one looked at it, Hua Qiyue and her allies would be the defeated party.

Some of the Qi Artists thought of this and began to secretly regret joining the alliance. Although Hua Qiyue and her allies had defeated Chou Tianhen without losing a hair, their Sect Leader wasn’t in the same inferior class as that minion!

“Hey hey hey, so someone knows the Array of Jade Seal... but it’s too shabby, I can break it with one finger. Hey hey... you shameless thieves, how dare you exterminate my Gnawing Devils Sect. I’ll make you yearn for death and yet cannot die!”

The Venerated Supreme Devil’s entire body was emanating a black aura of death. He was cultivating the Devil’s Path, and its evil nature was generated from this death aura. It made him even more brutally powerful. No one from the Changjing Kingdom could challenge him.

“Venerated Supreme Devil, the Gnawing Devils Sect has committed all sorts of atrocities over the past years. I was ordered by my Royal Father to exterminate all of you!”

Huangfu Shenglin was speaking in a bureaucratic tone. Huangfu Xuan snorted coldly but his countenance was extremely solemn. After all, their enemy was so exceptionally powerful.

To speak to this enemy in a bureacratic tone was a complete waste of breath.

“Haha, impudent young fellow, die!”

The Venerated Supreme Devil gave two manic guffaws. From mid-air came his palm. The palm colaesced with its massive anima energy. The anima energy formed a Qi palm, detonating loudly upon the light pillars of the Array of Jade Seal!

A tremor was felt in the heavens and the earth. Although the Array of Jade Seal was not shattered, its light columns began to totter as its lights began to dim!

Hua Qiyue felt the savory taste of blood in her throat. She had been hit by the rebounding force of the Venerated Supreme Devil’s palm blow and had sustained some internal injuries.

“Qiyue!’ Yun Shimo cried with heartache. He immediately started to wipe away the bloodstains on her mouth.

His profound eyes were full of an icy chilliness. Hua Qiyue shut her eyes, unable to speak, desperately trying to ingest the anima energy of the heaven and the earth to maintain this Array of Jade Seal.

Zhen Ruyi and Yun Yang stared at each other. They both felt that this young girl was truly quite formidable.

“Alright, let join forces and strike! Shielded by the Array of Jade Seal, we can hit out at the enemy. But his strikes will only land on the array!” Yun Shimo said succinctly. He immediately stood out.

The company all united with one accord, each executing the most powerful strokes they had mastered. They hit out at the Venerated Supreme Devil in the near distance.

“Annihilation—Dissipate the Soul!”

“Icy Shield—”

“Imprint of Mountain and River—”

“Heaven and Earth Eradication!”

“Deity Extermination!”

“...”

The company unleashed blow after blow on the Venerated Supreme Devil’s body. He did not dodge, allowing their strikes to land on him. He began to chortle maniacally. “Haha, insolent young wretches! I will let you hit me!”

This sort of manic arrogance was a total disregard of Hua Qiyue and her allies. He believed firmly that they could never hurt him!

It was only after the Qi Art unleashed by Yun Shimo and the others landed on him that he gave a surprised gasp. He discovered his soul had trembled a bit, as he experienced a slight, dull pain.

The Venerated Supreme Devil started to raise his eyebrows, slightly intrigued. Then, he snickered quietly. “I didn’t expect anyone to be able to hurt my soul. But my injury’s almost negligible... it isn’t worth wasting my time with these young juniors! I need to unite the world and I don’t have time to waste. Undue delay is fraught with uncertainties. So, let’s have done with it!”

Saying this, he sneered coldly. He did not want to squander more time with Hua Qiyue and the rest.

“Palm of Uppermost Heaven!”

The Venerated Supreme Devil bellowed coldly and struck out a palm. The anima energy turned in a palm print and struck heavily upon the Array of Jade Seal.

Boom—

The light columns of the Array of Jade Seal dimmed farther, slowly disappearing.

The company had a big shock. Hua Qiyue was hit by the backlash of the Devil’s powerful spiritual energy. Blood and Qi churned inside her body and she instantly threw out a few mouthfuls of blood.

Yun Shimo saw the scene and his face turned ashen. He quickly made Hua Qiyue ingest a Qi-Recovery Pill and a Blood-Cleansing Pill. One of these two pills was to replenish the anima energy inside her body quickly. The other was to treat her internal injuries.

“Everybody, let’s fight! It’s a crisis!”

Yun Shimo gave a loud cry. Huangfu Shenglin immediately led several hundred Qi Artists to dash forward, tussling with the Soul Puppets.

But these 10 Soul Puppets were all at the Great Completeness of Round Sun. They were of the Moon Eclipse realm. They simply could not win.

Within a quarter of an hour, these several thousand Qi Artists had either run away, or were injured or slain. Clouds of dust enveloped the entire level plain. Piles of corpses were everywhere. Some of their maimed bodies were horrifying, a ghastly sight.

Hua Qiyue sat there, desperately trying to recover her anima energy. She opened her eyes. They were left with fewer than 60 fighters.

“Strike! Shred these shameless juniors into a thousand pieces. Avenge our dead Gnawing Devils Sect comrades!” The Venerated Supreme Devil snickered cruelly. The 10 Soul Puppets which had stopped for a while now dashed quickly out again.

“Soul Puppets, come!”

Hua Qiyue gave a cold bellow. She had to summon the Soul Puppets from the forest.

Those Soul Puppets were still trying to ingest the heaven-and-earth primordial energy. Hua Qiyue had asked for a secret remedy from Tianpi to rapidly increase their Qi Art powers. But she still needed time.

Which was why she did not summon them at first. But now, she had no choice.

Whiz, whiz, whiz...

Ten dark shadows immediately streaked out from the woods on the other side. They landed before the Soul Puppets.

“Hmm... so Tianhen’s Soul Puppets are now all controlled by you. Well done, girl. You must have been tutored by some supreme master!” The Venerated Supreme Devil did not seem to care. Although he was a little surprised, he showed no fear whatsoever.

The attraction between the Soul Puppets was extremely strong. The moment they saw the other group of Puppets, they started to fight.

“Such a pity... they’re only at the medium level of Round Sun. But they can resist for some time.” Hua Qiyue gave a gentle sigh.

Yun Yang and Zhen Ruyi, however, were very satisfied. “These Soul Puppets have all reached the medium level of Round Sun, and in three days. It’s terrifying!”

“If time permits, they might have reached the Great Completeness of Round Sun. Then, they would be a match for these 10 Soul Puppets!” Ji Feng also felt it a great pity. He had earlier fought with one of those Puppets and sustained some internal injuries.

But since these 10 Soul Puppets each had a Puppet to contend with, the others felt a great load off their shoulder.

Although a few hundred had died, the rest who had remained were all the elite. The Leaders of all the sects were also here. If no one had paid this matter any attention, they would all end up as a faction of the Gnawing Devils Sect!

“Girl, I must admit you are very smart. But that’s about all!”

The Venerated Supreme Devil gave a cold snicker. He stretched out his hand slowly. A growing ball of anima energy was colaescing just above his upturned palm.

“Strike!” Blood was trickling down Huangfu Shenglin’s mouth, but he did not show any fear.

“Your Royal Highness! Please retreat to one side!” One of the elderly Qi Artist beside him suddenly gave a loud cry. He seemed to have summoned some mesmerizing art, causing Huangfu Shenglin to freeze instantly, unable to move.