533: The Celestial Demon Sect Leader
The one-month deadline hadn't yet arrived, but Xuanqing Sect's counterattack against the demon race had already begun.
As everyone had expected, Sect Leader Qingxiao's so-called hunting had been thoroughly prepared in advance. The Nine Abyss Sect Leader was indeed cooperating, daily transmitting the movements of Fusion stage demons, allowing Sect Leader Qingxiao to arrange for their systematic elimination.
Jiang Mo and Yun Qingyue participated together in this operation, and within just a few days, they had joined with companions to encircle and eliminate dozens of Fusion stage demons. Even though the demon race cared little for human life and had numerous hastily-created Fusion stage cultivators, they had to acknowledge their significant casualties. Meanwhile, with the advantage of foreknowledge, Xuanqing Sect's side suffered almost negligible losses.
Yun Qingyue shook her long sword, the black blood on the blade flying off with the momentum. The viscous blood landed on the ground, which had already turned sandy due to the death of vegetation and the extraction of spiritual energy. Immediately, black smoke began to hiss from the spot.
Seeing this, Jiang Mo vigilantly pulled her Senior Sister away, and then watched as that area was directly corroded into a small pit.
"Tsk, this is truly toxic," Jiang Mo couldn't help but remark, while Yun Qingyue looked worried.
This was just a single drop of demon blood, yet it had corroded a hole in the ground. What if a demon died here? They didn't need to speculate—they had already witnessed the results. The blood flowing from the demons would corrode the earth, then their bodies would rapidly decay, emitting plumes of black demonic energy. After killing many demons, they would experience a suffocating sensation when surrounded by this energy, even though they had taken medicinal pills.
This demonic energy had considerable impact on cultivators, but its effect on the environment was even greater. Jiang Mo and the others had discovered that within areas enshrouded by demonic energy, spiritual energy became scarce. The heavier the demonic energy, the less spiritual energy remained, making the area increasingly unsuitable for living organisms.
Jiang Mo even had a feeling that even if they won this great battle, this place would likely become a dead zone—despite once being rich in spiritual energy, despite the powerful spiritual veins converging beneath Xuanqing Sect, who knew how many demons would die here during the great battle? Even without that strange rain that eroded spiritual energy, the harm from the demonic energy released by these demons would be enough to destroy everything.
Perhaps Sect Leader Qingxiao should already be considering relocation?
Jiang Mo thought aimlessly as she casually formed a hand seal to help her Senior Sister cleanse her sword. After finishing, she checked the time of day and said, "We've killed enough today, there shouldn't be another batch. Shouldn't we head back?"
Yun Qingyue had grown accustomed to Jiang Mo's casual gestures. She looked at those who were healing: "Yes, once everyone has finished healing, we'll return."
These days, everyone had been dealing with Fusion stage demons. Others might be injured in battle, but Jiang Mo, having broken through to Grand Achievement, handled them with ease. With her protection, Yun Qingyue naturally remained unharmed, so while others were busy healing, the two had time to clean their swords and chat... of course, ostensibly, they were guarding those who were healing.
Hearing Yun Qingyue's words, Jiang Mo also glanced at those who were healing, seeing that most had taken medicinal pills and were currently absorbing their effects. Estimating that it would take some time, she turned her attention back to her Senior Sister, casually asking, "Ah Yue, how many more days do you think our hunting can continue?"
Yun Qingyue's gaze was clear, her thoughts exceptionally lucid as she answered, "Probably not many."
The time until the great battle wasn't long to begin with, and now with them so blatantly depleting the enemy's strength, even if the demon race didn't care about the lives of their demon subordinates, they couldn't possibly allow this to continue if they weren't completely foolish. So the great battle would definitely be advanced, but was the sect leader prepared to respond? And that demon, what level of cultivation had it reached now?
It must be beyond Grand Achievement, right? Perhaps like Divine Lord Zhiming, at the Tribulation Crossing stage?
Otherwise, when they encountered it in Xuanqing City before, Sect Leader Zhu, at mid-stage Grand Achievement, wouldn't have fled without fighting.
Yun Qingyue had many thoughts but didn't voice them. Jiang Mo, however, completely trusted her words. She glanced again at the healing crowd and said to her Senior Sister, "In that case, when we return, we should remind the Sect Leader..."
Before she could finish, she suddenly sensed an approaching danger and instinctively pushed Yun Qingyue away.
Sure enough, in the next moment, a great blade wreathed in black demonic energy cleaved downward, its momentum powerful enough to split mountains... Fortunately, Jiang Mo acted in time to intercept it. Otherwise, even though she had pushed her Senior Sister away, this strike would have been enough to slaughter all the cultivators healing behind her. The human faction already lacked fighting power, and the loss of these people would be unimaginable.
"Be careful!" Yun Qingyue had been pushed several yards away, and by the time she spoke, the blade had already descended. However, her warning wasn't completely useless—at the very least, it awakened all those cultivators who had been absorbing medicinal power.
Opening their eyes to the scene before them, these people were startled.
One of them happened to recognize the newcomer and couldn't help but exclaim: "Celestial Demon Sect Leader?!"
According to rumor, the Celestial Demon Sect Leader was obsessed with cultivation, even entrusting sect affairs to the vice-leader. Now that the demon race had occupied the Celestial Demon Sect Vice-Leader's body and emerged, the Celestial Demon Sect had long since defaulted to his control. Under these circumstances, the already inconspicuous Celestial Demon Sect Leader had been completely forgotten. Occasionally, when someone remembered him, they assumed he had long been eliminated by that demon, never expecting to see him here.
Including Yun Qingyue and Jiang Mo, everyone was shocked upon hearing this title. The reason was simple—his strength was too formidable. The strengths of the various demonic path sect leaders didn't differ greatly, but the Celestial Demon Sect Leader was devoted to cultivation, with rumors suggesting he had broken through to late-stage Grand Achievement. Whether these rumors were true or false, even if his strength merely matched Sect Leader Zhu's, he wasn't someone the little tiger, who had just advanced to Grand Achievement, could handle.
Yun Qingyue's heart immediately sank, and she hurriedly contacted Sect Leader Zhu and others—recently, while encircling and eliminating Fusion stage demons, they had divided into teams to prevent accidents, with each team led by a Grand Achievement cultivator. Their team was led by Jiang Mo, while Sect Leader Zhu naturally went elsewhere.
Sect Leader Zhu's current whereabouts were unknown, but Jiang Mo clearly couldn't wait for her arrival.
The Celestial Demon Sect Leader moved swiftly, one attack following another, without the slightest pause even when his identity was revealed. Others only sensed the sharp killing intent, and despite their desire to help, the disparity in strength meant they couldn't intervene.
For Jiang Mo, it was as if she had entered hell—countless blade shadows cleaved downward, seemingly illusory yet each carrying a piercing aura, as if forming a domain that trapped her within, subjecting her to a thousand cuts... This wasn't merely a figure of speech but reality, for even with a divine beast's strong defenses, blood-colored wounds began appearing all over the little tiger's body.
Jiang Mo was forced into a desperate situation, barely able to deal with the attacks, let alone counterattack. Even more troublesome was the black energy entwining the blade edge. Perhaps due to the opponent's formidable strength, this demonic energy seemed much more potent than any she had encountered before.
This wasn't an illusion, as she soon received a system alert:
"Ding, detecting unknown energy invading host's soul, system automatically initiating virus removal program..."
The familiar mechanical notification made Jiang Mo both alarmed and slightly reassured—at least she still had the system as a final layer of protection. However, while the system could effectively protect her soul, it couldn't participate in physical combat. If she were killed by this person, she would truly die. And then there was her Senior Sister—they had just refined and bound the heart jades, and she couldn't burden her in return!
Thinking of her Senior Sister, Jiang Mo suddenly found courage welling up—even if only for her Senior Sister, she absolutely couldn't die here! Besides, what was so frightening about a Grand Achievement cultivator? She was also at Grand Achievement, and she was the war god White Tiger!
Jiang Mo, who had been continuously on the defensive, suddenly changed her expression. She abruptly transformed back into her original form. The enormous White Tiger, as large as a small mountain, swiped with a paw that carried sharp energy, tearing through space and stirring the winds and clouds.
The black blade shadow also struck at this moment, golden light and black energy colliding with a tremendous "boom" that sent ripples of energy outward.
The cultivators who had been waiting on the sidelines, eager to help Jianbing, now could barely stand as the energy waves pushed them back repeatedly. Only Yun Qingyue remained firmly in place. Having contacted Sect Leader Zhu, she put away the communication jade token and raised her long sword toward the Celestial Demon Sect Leader.
Perhaps to the Celestial Demon Sect Leader, Yun Qingyue's attack was negligible. He didn't even specifically divert attention to counter it, remaining focused on dealing with the White Tiger's assault. But for Jiang Mo, fighting alongside her Senior Sister was definitely a buff.
She grew increasingly ferocious in battle, eventually intercepting every blade shadow that the Celestial Demon Sect Leader sent down. Though her injuries increased, she occasionally found opportunities to counterattack. Just like now—the White Tiger's front paw had just pinned down the Celestial Demon Sect Leader's demonic energy-wrapped blade, while her tail whipped toward the back of his head.
The tiger's tail was incredibly powerful, like a steel whip cutting through the air, audible to anyone who wasn't deaf. The Celestial Demon Sect Leader naturally didn't ignore this sneak attack and calmly tilted his head to evade it, only to discover a sword light approaching from the side of his face.
Yun Qingyue's cultivation level was certainly far inferior to the Celestial Demon Sect Leader's, and her attack power couldn't compare to Jiang Mo's. Normally, choosing between two evils, the Celestial Demon Sect Leader should have first avoided Jiang Mo's attack before dealing with hers. However, Yun Qingyue possessed a special technique—her phoenix true fire, which had mutated into ice flame, was particularly effective against demonic energy, causing the Celestial Demon Sect Leader to instinctively sense danger.
In that moment of hesitation, the back of his head was heavily struck by the tiger's tail. Despite the Celestial Demon Sect Leader's profound cultivation, he was momentarily dazed.