Chapter 1023 - The Heavenly Demon Hall

The man wore ornate black robes embroidered with golden threads. Its fitted cut made his tall, slender figure look even more imposing. He was strikingly handsome, with narrow eyes that tilted slightly upward at the corners. His lips were thin without looking harsh, and his high nose lent his deep-set eyes an inscrutable air.

He sat in the seat of honor with one leg crossed over the other. “Ah, I should introduce myself. I’m Lu Tian, Pavilion Master of the Heavenly Demon Pavilion.”

Cold sweat beaded on Yu Hua’s forehead. She kept her hands pressed against the doors, afraid to move, let alone turn around.

The pure demonic qi surging through the hall had left everyone pale.

Yu Hua regretted coming. If she opened the doors, she would die. If she stayed, she would be caught in a conspiracy she could never escape.

Damn you, Zhao Pei! You tricked me!

Zhao Pei stood behind Lu Tian with his crescent saber in hand, deferential as a servant. Lu Tian regarded Yu Hua with interest. A moment later, he was behind her, his long, pale hand resting on her abdomen. He stood close against her back and tilted his head toward her, the corner of his mouth curling into a smirk.

“Leaving?”

Yu Hua tensed. His touch disgusted her, but she dared not show it. She swallowed hard and let him turn her head with one finger. For an instant, his deep eyes left her dazed. Then her senses returned, along with a fear she could not explain. One look had been enough to overwhelm her divine consciousness.

Lu Tian’s fingers slid up her waist until his hands closed over hers. He gently lowered her hands from the door and spoke beside her ear. “There you go. Hear me out before you decide whether to leave.”

Yu Hua clenched her teeth. She could only turn back, walk to her chair, and sit down. Lu Tian smiled faintly, closed his eyes, and leisurely inhaled the lingering scent on his fingertips.

Lu Tian stood in the center of the hall and looked calmly over the gathering. His voice held an allure that seemed impossible to resist. “The Heavenly Demon Pavilion could use more people. You’ll do nicely.”

With one sentence, he had swallowed six ancient powers.

Lu Tian lifted the hem of his robe and sat down again, seeming quite pleased with his body. His Heavenly Demon Body had finally reached its initial stage of completion.

He looked around and smiled. “What? Unhappy?”

No one dared answer. They were at his mercy, and none dared oppose him.

Lu Tian seemed satisfied. With a wave of his hand, six black threads shot into their brows.

The threads writhed as though alive, then burrowed into the six cultivators’ seas of consciousness. None of them could stop the threads. A cold glint flashed in Yu Hua’s eyes, and her vital force surged, but the wormlike thread forced its way into her sea of consciousness anyway.

In an instant, everyone felt a powerful force erupt within their bodies. Each of them advanced an entire minor stage, and Yu Hua’s cultivation surged to the threshold of the peak Combined Body Realm.

She immediately turned toward Zhao Pei. Now she understood how he had grown so strong in so little time.

Lu Tian leaned back, a playful smile on his lips. “Haha! Don’t be afraid. It’s only a little thing. A precious little thing, of course, and I don’t have many. You have no idea how many resources it takes to refine them.”

He straightened, his expression darkening. “Now, let’s get down to business. From this moment on, use every resource at your disposal to find Li Guanqi’s sword coffin. Tomorrow, gather the forces of all your sects and attack the Daxia Sword Sect. Capture Li Guanqi. I want him alive! Once you’ve done that, you may divide the sect’s resources among yourselves.”

Lu Tian stood with his hands behind his back. With a single step, he vanished into the sky.

Buzz!

The Blood Blade Hall’s domain returned to normal as soon as he disappeared.

Boom!

Yu Hua suddenly sprang into action and attacked Zhao Pei, sword in hand. Zhao Pei’s expression changed as he swung his curved saber again and again. Her attacks came like a furious storm, swift and relentless.

Clang! Clang clang clang!

Boom!

Their clash tore the great hall apart. The two crossed paths in midair and separated. Zhao Pei’s chest heaved, his body streaked with bloody wounds. Yu Hua landed dozens of zhang away with a saber wound across her waist and abdomen, deep enough to expose bone.

Zhao Pei narrowed his eyes and spoke coldly. “Bitch, have you gone mad?”

Blood dripped steadily from the sword in Yu Hua’s hand. “Go to hell! You bastard! You actually schemed against me? You spineless piece of trash! I never should have come here!”

Dozens of spirit swords formed around her and shot toward the Blood Blade Hall disciples. They plunged down from above, exploding the moment they struck their targets. Pavilions collapsed, and dozens of disciples burst into clouds of blood.

Zhao Pei’s face changed drastically. He flew up to stop her, shouting, “Have you gone insane?!”

Yu Hua blurred out of the path of his fierce saber strike. More spirit swords formed around her as she shouted, “That’s right! I’ve gone insane! You schemed against me, so I’ll send the entire Blood Blade Hall to the grave with you! You damned beast! What kind of animal did your mother breed with to produce something like you?!”

Yu Hua’s words were vicious. Her hair was disheveled and her eyes were bloodshot. Nothing remained of her earlier composure and elegance. She struck again and again, her sword light nearly razing the Blood Blade Hall’s pavilions and mountain peaks.

A burly, bearded man sat cross-legged in midair, desperately trying to expel the black worm from his body. The others looked at Zhao Pei with grim faces and undisguised hostility.

Rumble!

Boom!

Clang clang clang! Clang! Boom!

Weapons clashed without pause above them. Yu Hua and Zhao Pei held nothing back; every attack was meant to kill.

Suddenly, a look of terror appeared in the bearded man’s eyes. His body began expanding rapidly, completely beyond his control. A terrifying aura swept through the heavens and earth.

Zhao Pei’s pupils dilated. There was no time to keep fighting Yu Hua. He waved his hand, teleporting the remaining disciples away.

He shot back several thousand zhang. He wrapped himself in layer upon layer of vital force barriers and threw several defensive treasures into the air. The others fled as fast as they could.

The bearded man let out a despairing howl, and a deafening explosion followed.

Boom!

The force tore through the Blood Blade Hall’s entire domain. Mountains and rivers shattered, and the devastation spread across tens of thousands of zhang.