Chapter 77: Futility (2)

Whoosh!

The immense demonic aura and sword qi spreading from the hilltop left the disciples stunned.

Madongfil, who had been staring blankly at the scene, quickly shouted.

"Third Squad, secure the area! The Young Master is in battle!"

"…What?"

They still didn't know who this mysterious expert was.

He felt a bit awkward, but now wasn't the time to explain.

"Move quickly! Hurry up!"

"Understood!"

After issuing orders to his squad members, Madongfil hurriedly approached Zhuhua.

"Are you alright?"

"Ugh, I'm fine."

Though she tried to sound fine, she clearly wasn't.

Not only was there internal bleeding, but uncontrolled fragments of demonic aura were seeping out. One side of her face was a mess.

But Zhuhua remained composed. The Third Young Master had suddenly appeared and obliterated the monsters; she couldn't just collapse from injuries.

With Madongfil's support, Zhuhua's vision blurred as she saw Lian's body, which now had only two legs left.

Biting her lip, she shouted.

"Transport team, check the surroundings! The items we were supposed to transport must be nearby!"

It was a heartless command. The bodies of their comrades were all around, yet she was telling them to search for the items before dealing with the bodies.

But the disciples understood her. Or rather, they didn't need to understand her.

They lived and died by orders. They were the demons of the New Sect.

Crack!

The Law Enforcement Hall was clearing the area, and the transport team disciples were searching the surroundings.

"Huff!"

Zhuhua slightly bent her waist. Her complexion was becoming increasingly pale.

Madongfil took a pill from his pocket.

"This is a Life Continuation Pill. Take it quickly."

"That's…"

"Now isn't the time to be stubborn. I can get another one when I return."

Zhuhua nodded.

"Thank you."

There was no need for further words. She understood the gravity of the situation better than anyone.

Madongfil quickly took the Life Continuation Pill and entered a meditative state to channel his energy. Standing guard, he looked up at the hill.

Flash! Flash!

The red demonic light weakened. Xuliang had lured the opponent away.

'Damn it.'

He clearly heard the Young Master call out the opponent's name, but the overwhelming aura had left him unable to remember it.

In any case, it was undoubtedly a formidable opponent. The fragments of aura alone were enough to make his hair stand on end.

In other words, the Third Young Master was expending a great deal of inner energy to kill the monsters and was now fighting another powerful opponent.

He himself could do nothing but hold his ground.

He wanted to go there immediately and help the Young Master, but he knew the Young Master didn't want that.

'So frustrating.'

As a Law Enforcement Officer, his abilities were undoubtedly on par with anyone's. As a martial artist, he was also highly regarded.

But what good was that? He had failed to protect anyone in a crucial moment. Not only that, he had to rely on the Young Master for help again.

Drip.

Blood trickled from her tightly bitten lip. The overwhelming sense of self-loathing almost caused her to lose control of her demonic aura.

He looked down at Zhuhua.

'Finish it quickly.'

Once the situation here stabilized, he would immediately rush to the Young Master. For now, all he could do was wait and wait.

* * *

Whoosh!

There was no increase in the amount of inner energy or a few times stronger aura.

But Zheng Yilong felt it. The opponent was completely different from before.

Most importantly, the demonic aura was entirely different. It wasn't just a matter of concentration but of quality.

Though it was already malevolent before, the demonic aura now emanating from the young demon was filled with wickedness.

A demonic aura so intense that it seemed to destroy the mind upon contact, as if the young demon had come much closer to the essence of demons.

Zheng Yilong shouted.

"The Demon Sect has created another absurd demon!"

"Shut up!"

Woo! Woo!!

The sound waves were so intense they seemed to tear the eardrums. It was a demonic voice that resembled sound techniques.

Bang!

Zheng Yilong's eyes wavered. Without any preparatory movements, the opponent shot out from the spot, and his shoulder flinched for a moment.

'So fast!'

Whoosh.

Xuliang's left hand sliced through the air. A powerful strike from the bottom to the top, the Heaven-Cleaving Technique's Strong Wall.

Squeak!

He tried to dodge, but it was too fast and too strong. Zheng Yilong's sleeve was torn to shreds.

Bang!

That wasn't the end. The opponent spun around and kicked, with a flexibility that was truly dazzling.

If he hadn't been careful, he would have been thoroughly humiliated. Zheng Yilong focused his inner energy in his feet.

Bang!

His body was pushed back. He was taking a moment to regroup before re-engaging.

Then.

'…!'

The opponent's body turned into afterimages and scattered.

'Is this Shape-Shifting Technique?'

No, the speed at which the afterimages scattered was too fast.

But it was a movement so impressive that it instantly brought to mind that technique. Zheng Yilong sharpened his senses.

'Up!'

Clang!

He didn't even have time to raise his head, but he raised his sword to block.

'Suck!'

His joints creaked. The dense energy that had been supporting his aged and weakened body almost faltered.

'This guy?'

The veins on Zheng Yilong's forehead bulged.

It had been over thirty years since he changed his focus from martial arts to politics.

It had been over twenty years since he last engaged in real combat, except for a brief period a year ago. And even then, it wasn't real combat but a web of intrigue.

Still, he was the Grand Elder of the Righteous Heaven Alliance. While the young demon was unexpectedly strong, it was absurd that he was being overpowered by a mere junior.

Bang!

A powerful shockwave accompanied the white sword, which spun like a windmill.

Clang!

Countless clashes of swords and blades.

Zheng Yilong's sword pointed upwards.

Boom!

Xuliang's body spun and retreated. A small hole was visible in his robe.

"You dodged that."

Zheng Yilong's eyes turned cold. He no longer underestimated the opponent as just a young expert.

Swoosh.

Xuliang, who was about to charge, hesitated. A white mist had already enveloped Zheng Yilong's body.

The mist was emanating from Zheng Yilong's sword, the White Crane Sword.

'Sword Mist?'

A technique that creates a defensive barrier around the body by fragmenting the sword energy to its extreme.

But it wasn't just for defense. Since it was fragments of sword energy, not just inner energy, it could also serve as a powerful attack.

Zheng Yilong said in a sinister voice.

"I didn't want to go this far."

Whoosh.

As he slowly swung his sword, the sword mist rippled.

A truly beautiful sight, but the killing intent within was as sinister as a venomous snake's fangs.

"Die…"

Bang!

Xuliang charged straight in.

Zheng Yilong was furious. Being attacked without reason was frustrating, but this guy was also extremely rude.

He hadn't even finished speaking, and the guy was already charging.

"You brat!"

Whoosh!

The white sword mist shot towards Xuliang.

It moved like a swarm of countless insects, faster than an arrow.

Crack!

Xuliang's grip on his great sword tightened.

Crackle!

A dark thunder, burning red, enveloped the entire blade. He swung the sword with that momentum.

Bang!

Xuliang spat out a mouthful of blood.

Despite the collision between a thirty-jin heavy sword and a sword that weighed less than five jins, Xuliang was the one who suffered.

His enlightenment surpassed Zheng Yilong, but the inner energy accumulated in his body was still lower.

But Xuliang was not at all flustered.

Bang!

Shock appeared in Zheng Yilong's eyes.

The sword mist, which should have engulfed and crushed the retreating opponent, was shattered. It was the explosion created by the Heaven-Cleaving Technique.

Whoosh!

Xuliang emerged from the thick dust.

His eyes glowed like a ghost's, and a hellish wind blew from the great sword in his hands.

"Die!"

Zheng Yilong swung his sword again. It was his ultimate technique, the White Funeral Sword Technique.

Bang!

Xuliang's upper body and shoulder were drenched in blood. He had been hit before he could even use his sword technique. It showed how fast Zheng Yilong's sword was.

Whirl!

He didn't retreat. The wind from all directions was channeled into his great sword.

Urgency appeared on Zheng Yilong's face.

Xuliang bared his blood-soaked teeth and smiled.

"Die, you bastard."

Rumble!

The Sixfold Hell Wind, followed by the Ultimate Hell Wind, swept away the sword energy of the White Funeral Sword Technique.

It didn't stop there.

Rumble!

The Eightfold Hell Fire, covering the heavens and earth, followed the hellish wind.

The heated great sword became a fire dragon, sweeping over Zheng Yilong. It was the ultimate technique of the Nine Nether Fiery Disaster Sword Technique, the Ultimate Hell Wind.

Zheng Yilong's eyes widened.

'This sword technique?'

A technique he had seen somewhere before.

There were very few martial arts that could actually form high-temperature flames.

Even if the technique was great, one needed enough inner energy to produce such heat, or it couldn't even be attempted.

The red sword energy and white sword energy clashed head-on.

Rumble! Boom!

A massive pillar of fire and black smoke shot up into the sky.

The unexpected change happened then.

Clang!

Frost instantly covered the ground.

The scorching flames were replaced by bone-chilling ice flowers. The temperature dropped sharply as the cold air was intensified by the inner energy.

The Sixfold Hell Wind, followed by the Ultimate Hell Wind, and then the third chapter of the Fiery Disaster Sword Technique.

The blood-red lotus filled with the cold of the Eightfold Hell, the Blood Roaring Great Red Lotus.

'Ah!'

Zheng Yilong's face turned red. He was trying to block the cold with all his might, drawing up his inner energy.

Crack.

His clothes shattered. The cold that he couldn't block had penetrated and damaged his clothes.

Whirl!

A bone-chilling wind suddenly blew from the front.

The final technique of the Eightfold Hell, the Great Red Lotus Hell Wind, carrying无形的刀气.

Urgency appeared on Zheng Yilong's face. He had blocked the internal injuries caused by the cold, but he didn't expect such continuous attacks.

'...!'

In the split second of a split second.

A scene flashed in his mind.

The traces of the overwhelming sword wind that swept a radius of over ten meters.

The trees turned to ash, and countless weapons of martial artists were charred black.

The countless bodies, frozen solid as if preserved in a thousand-year-old snow.

His own figure, cutting through that living hell and finally severing a man's leg.

And the freezing wind of the same technique that had swept from the dying man's sword.

'This is the technique used by the Death King, that guy!'

The worst secret weapon of the Righteous Heaven Alliance, who had assassinated countless experts under the command of the Alliance Leader.

The words the young demon had spat out also came to mind.

- Give me your leg, you bastard!

Zheng Yilong's eyes wavered greatly.

Rumble!

The ground where the Blood Roaring Great Red Lotus had swept was frozen and shattered.

"Huff! Huff!"

Xuliang panted. The attack, which was only about thirty percent of his peak power, was enough to sweep away any decent expert without leaving a trace.

A cold mist enveloped the hill.

Crack!

The sound of ice breaking came from the cold mist. It was Zheng Yilong.

"What are you? Who are you?"

Zheng Yilong's appearance slowly revealed itself.

His upper body, which should have been frail for an old man, was surprisingly well-built, with red sword marks etched all over. The wounds were frozen, and no blood flowed.

"How can you use that technique?"

Xuliang smiled.

"Does it finally come back to you?"