In the end, Lu Xuan slightly raised his chin and gave an almost imperceptible nod.
The next moment, Lu Xuan’s purple divine-thought phantom slowly faded away.
It was as if it had been swallowed by the void, disappearing without a trace in an instant, as if it had never existed in this world.
The cultists of the Pure World White Lotus Sect inside the city, along with the White Lotus Blood Infants and White Lotus Blood Envoys, had all been personally dealt with by Lu Xuan.
High above the vast sky of Feihe Prefecture, Lu Xuan sat cross-legged steadily in the void, his posture calm and composed.
At the same time, a dazzling, scorching purple flame barrier had formed around him, slowly burning in the void and enveloping him completely.
Host: Lu Xuan
Realm: Spirit Mansion True Person
Cultivation Techniques: Annihilating Heaven Saber Technique 3/9, Horizon’s Edge 0/9, Undying and Indestructible 2/9
Points: 75,660
Please confirm, host: consume 16,000 system points to deduce Undying and Indestructible?
Please confirm, host: consume 20,000 system points to deduce Horizon’s Edge?
Please confirm, host: consume 60,000 system points to deduce Annihilating Heaven Saber Technique?
Hmm, the system points increased by 2,700!
That’s 1,500 points from the five White Lotus Blood Envoys and 1,200 points from the twenty White Lotus Blood Infants.
That’s about right—the amount is almost the same as what he’d encountered before.
In the past, these points would have been a massive fortune for Lu Xuan.
But now, this paltry sum wasn’t even enough to cover the cost of a single deduction of his martial arts techniques.
Ah, forget it. Lu Xuan shifted his gaze to the Annihilating Heaven Saber Technique and silently muttered to himself:
Deduce!
With his confirmation, the points on the system panel instantly vanished—60,000 of them, just like that.
Suddenly, within Lu Xuan’s Spirit Mansion, a profoundly mysterious change quietly began to unfold.
The divine-thought avatar, which had been seated deep within the Spirit Mansion, was suddenly enveloped by a dazzling, wondrous golden light.
That mysterious golden radiance seemed to pour down from the highest reaches of the heavens, carrying with it an indisputable, sacred authority.
Bathed in this wondrous golden light, the purple energy within the Spirit Mansion began to flicker and gleam brightly.
The thick purple mist of the mansion swirled like lively dragons dancing around the divine-thought avatar, nourishing it without pause, moment by moment.
The avatar, which had previously emitted a faint purple glow, now shone ever more brilliantly under the combined influence of the purple energy and golden light.
The outline of the avatar, condensed from the shimmering purple mist, began to grow sharper and more distinct.
The dense purple energy within the mansion seemed to have been infused with some mysterious power.
No longer was it just the ethereal, misty gas it used to be—it was undergoing a tangible transformation, as if turning into flowing liquid.
The rich purple energy around the Spirit Mansion churned relentlessly, as if an invisible force was pulling and compressing it.
Threads of shimmering purple mist intertwined and merged, and the once-blurry body of the divine-thought avatar gradually became more solid, its facial features and limbs growing clearer.
And this astonishing change was like a massive boulder thrown into a calm lake.
Centered on Lu Xuan’s physical body, it stirred up terrifying, surging waves.
An extremely dreadful and oppressive force, like a runaway wild horse, burst forth violently, ruthlessly sweeping toward the space around him.
Around his body, the surrounding space began to ripple with intense, turbulent distortions.
The ethereal void itself seemed to be kneaded and twisted by an enormous, unseen hand, contorted beyond recognition.
Even the formless air was compressed to its limit, letting out sharp, piercing screeches.
The originally smooth, invisible space became like a tangled canvas, with lines and light wildly interweaving and distorting.
Is my divine sense strengthening?
Lu Xuan opened his eyes instantly, having already sensed the terrifying changes in the space around him.
After his divine sense grew stronger, it actually began to subtly influence the shifts in the world itself.
From this feeling, Lu Xuan estimated that he wasn’t far from the next realm.
Host: Lu Xuan
Realm: Spirit Mansion True Person
Cultivation Techniques: Annihilating Heaven Saber Technique 4/9, Horizon’s Edge 0/9, Undying and Indestructible 2/9
Points: 15,660
He had 15,660 system points left. Now, it all depended on whether Li Chengxing had found anything worthwhile.
Bifeng Valley, Feihe Prefecture!
As for what had happened over at Bifeng Valley, Lu Xuan had already received word through Li Chengxing’s token when he first arrived in Feihe Prefecture.
However, he had prioritized coming to the prefectural city first to eliminate the White Lotus Nightmare Flower and the followers of the Pure World White Lotus Sect.
A demonic beast at the peak of the Demon King realm?
Lu Xuan recalled the enemy Li Chengxing had mentioned, and a glint of surprise shone in his eyes.
This peak-level Demon King beast was likely even more powerful than the Tiger Fiend Demon King that had appeared in Liusha County before—and Lu Xuan had absolutely no intention of letting it slip away.
That previous Tiger Fiend Demon King in Liusha County had netted him a full 10,000 system points.
In an instant, Lu Xuan’s eyes blazed with brilliant purple light, his gaze sharp and unwavering, fixed on the distant horizon. His majestic aura suddenly condensed.
His body swayed slightly—like a gentle breeze passing by, leaving no trace behind.
Then, as if he were a ghost merging into the void, he instantly transformed into specks of starlight and vanished from sight.
After his body had left, only the faintly rippling air remained where he had been—a silent testament that he had been there.
Inside Bifeng Valley.
After more than a day of fierce fighting between the Xuan Niao Wei and the Pure World White Lotus Sect, the area within a dozen miles of Bifeng Valley had become a terrifying battlefield.
The ground was riddled with scars—deep, shocking ravines crisscrossing in every direction, as if torn apart by some unimaginably fearsome force.
The closer one got to Bifeng Valley, the more remnants of powerful attacks radiated outward like surging waves.
Wherever these terrifying shockwaves passed, giant trees that had once blotted out the sky were uprooted, and massive boulders were shattered into dust.
Even the once-towering peaks surrounding Bifeng Valley became as fragile as paper under the onslaught of these violent forces.
Countless boulders cracked and tumbled down the mountainsides, producing deafening roars.
Huge fissures spread rapidly across the rock faces, like scars left by divine wrath.
Each mountain collapsed in an instant, crumbling into countless stones that were scattered by the fierce winds.
Countless fragments, carrying immense momentum, shot out in all directions like deadly projectiles.
And this apocalyptic scene—like the end of days—continued relentlessly across the dozen-mile radius around Bifeng Valley.
Faced with this display of “gods at war, mortals suffer,” neither passing martial artists nor birds and beasts dared approach.
They all fled far from the area, terrified that in the next moment, they’d be killed by some stray blast of residual power.
Near the very heart of Bifeng Valley.
The air was thick with the pungent stench of blood, mingled with dust—almost suffocating.
The Azure Serpent Demon King, coiled just outside the valley, had its massive body covered in countless wounds of varying depths.
Its once-smooth scales were now in disarray, with some wounds turned inside out, blood gushing out, and white smoke hissing from them as if an invisible force was constantly searing the injuries.
Deep-green blood seeped from the wounds, flowing down through the gaps between scales and pooling into a dark green puddle beneath it.
A closer look revealed that the dark green blood had a strange corrosive effect, steadily eating away at the hard ground.
Some wounds were so deep they exposed bone, and the stark white bones looked especially horrifying against the backdrop of the greenish blood.
At this moment, the Azure Serpent Demon King raised its massive head, its golden vertical pupils burning with fury and defiance.
Floating in midair before it stood Deputy Commander Mu Yun, gripping a sword that glimmered with a soft luster.
The wind howled, sand and stones flew everywhere, yet Mu Yun—clad in a flowing red robe—remained completely unruffled.
He paid no heed to the chaotic, almost apocalyptic scene around him. His expression was calm and composed, showing not a single ripple of unease.
“These damned things again!”
The Azure Serpent Demon King suddenly raised its enormous head and opened its gaping maw, speaking fluent human language.
Its golden vertical pupils were filled with venomous hatred—like two burning ghostly green flames—as it glared at the sword in Mu Yun’s hand.
That look seemed as if it wanted to devour Mu Yun alive, and even the surrounding air grew colder under the weight of its murderous intent.
These damned things—of course, it meant what human warriors called “ritual vessels.”
As a demonic beast at the peak of the Demon King realm, infinitely close to the Celestial Demon realm—which corresponded to the human Spirit Mansion realm—the Azure Serpent Demon King was far from afraid of Mu Yun, who was only at the half-step Spirit Mansion realm.
The advantage demonic beasts had over human warriors lay in their overwhelmingly powerful physical bodies.
At the same cultivation level, a human warrior could never match a demonic beast.
But these humans had somehow gotten their hands on these cursed weapons.
These weapons contained terrifying amounts of natural power—the power of heaven and earth.
Even a creature as powerful as the Azure Serpent Demon King could only retreat in defeat under the might of these ritual vessels, unable to withstand their attacks.
Though the Azure Serpent Demon King’s eyes seemed fierce, a trace of fear lurked deep within them.
Its body even began to instinctively recoil—with its keen senses, it could clearly feel that if this stalemate continued, it might very well die at this human’s hands.
But before the demon king could catch its breath, several brilliant beams of light lit up the distant sky—sword lights spanning heaven and earth, carrying sharp, overwhelming momentum, shooting toward it like lightning.
Not willing to back down, the Azure Serpent Demon King’s golden pupils blazed with radiance.
It opened its maw wide, releasing several streams of icy, sinister green demonic energy that surged toward the incoming sword lights.
The fierce battle inside Bifeng Valley was no less intense than the fight between the Azure Serpent Demon King and Mu Yun outside.
Li Chengxing, wielding the lunar-grade, eight-pattern ritual vessel Xuan Niao Heaven Seal, clashed head-on with Hong Ying, who held a lunar-grade, seven-pattern ritual vessel.
Because Li Chengxing also had to protect the Xuan Niao Wei members behind him, he was momentarily locked in a stalemate with Hong Ying.
As for the Pure World White Lotus Sect cultists on the other side, under the impact of those two terrifying ritual vessels, they had all been reduced to dust.
Only Hong Ying and the white-robed elder remained, clinging stubbornly to Li Chengxing.
Seeing this deadlock, Hong Ying’s wrinkled old face broke into an unbridled, gleeful smile.
The lines on his face deepened as he laughed.
“Hehehe!”
“Li Chengxing, it looks like we win this round.”
The white-robed elder beside him also burst into hearty laughter.
Years ago, Li Chengxing had blinded one of his eyes—and now, finally seeing the old bastard get cornered was nothing short of satisfying.
There was nothing quite like watching your enemy suffer to lift your spirits.
However, faced with the open mockery of Hong Ying and the white-robed elder, Li Chengxing showed no sign of panic or embarrassment.
Instead, the corners of his mouth slowly turned upward, and a deeply strange smile—as if rising from a dark abyss—spread across his face.
But there was something about that smile—something that seemed to hide a bone-chilling intent.
That peculiar expression made Hong Ying and the white-robed elder’s laughter falter and abruptly stop.
A sudden unease crept into their hearts, a foreboding they couldn’t shake.
For them, Li Chengxing’s meaningful smile was anything but a good omen.
It felt like a death warrant, making their dread surge uncontrollably.
Hong Ying’s heart turned cold—he could sense Li Chengxing’s aura rising sharply, like an overwhelming tsunami, layer after layer, soaring upward.
“Li Chengxing!”
“Stop playing tricks! I’ve roamed this world for over two hundred years—you old bastard won’t fool me!”
Hong Ying’s eyes widened, nearly splitting, and he roared hysterically.
He tried to bolster his resolve by shouting, gripping his lunar-grade seven-pattern ritual vessel, the Pure Extremis Lotus, tightly in his hands, ready to counter any surprise attack from Li Chengxing.
In the blink of an eye, Li Chengxing stopped holding back. His smile bloomed freely, radiating an oppressive pressure that was almost suffocating.
It was as if their positions had suddenly reversed—as if they were the ones Li Chengxing had been stalling all along.
“Hong Ying, your old life ends here.”
“As it happens, our Xuan Niao Wei has a new deputy commander—and he’s quite interested in your Pure World White Lotus Sect.”
“He’s on his way right now, so I’ll have to trouble you two to wait here for a bit!”
After his mocking taunt, Li Chengxing clenched his fingers and squeezed the Xuan Niao Heaven Seal hard.
“Xuan Niao Heaven Seal!”
With that low cry!
In an instant, a dazzling, almost eerie black radiance burst forth—like a dark blade tearing through the heavens, piercing through layers of smoke and reaching straight into the highest skies!
