Archfiend

Black clouds pressed down on the city, and bats circled about to form a black whirlwind, madly racing towards Xu Yangyi.

Screeeeeech! In flight, each bat was wreathed in ghastly green fire. Their frantic shrieks assailed Xu Yangyi’s eardrums. Wherever they passed, even the air began to burn.

He took a deep breath. Without hesitation, the manifestation of a white tiger appeared behind him and snarled. The muscles of his left and right hands sharply swelled, and streaks of white light instantly flickered.

BOOM! The fire bats came down the street like zombies, sweeping the areas they wandered until only desolace remained. The river of intertwining black, green, and red encroached by 200 to 300 meters in a flash. Xu Yangyi was in the heart of the raging cyclone.

His right foot stepped back. His face was terribly grave. This wasn’t a high Marquis, or even a quasi Grand Duke that went so far as to possess a shred of Core Formation might. This was a Throneless Grand Duke personally taking action, one who had steeled his heart not to let him go.

Right now, he could only fight with his back against the wall!

In his body, the Voidspirit Immortal Physique’s massive vortex slowly turned. In the next second, white light shimmered in the space between his fingers, and a breaking sound was issued.

“Splitting Air!”

Crash! The air flashed with cracks from countless white claw-scars. In the space Splitting Air and the fire globe of bats intersected, a roaring explosion boomed. The ghastly green blaze scattered all over the street. Behind the black tide, Bloody Moon wore a smile on his face. His cloak ceremoniously wrapped around him, and he kneeled gracefully.

“First Act… Hela’s Heel.”

In the next second, he was strangely vanishing from his original position.

Boom boom boom! Xu Yangyi didn’t see any of this. As he was taking advantage of Splitting Air’s display, he exhausted all of his strength to rip apart the giant fire net in front of him.

A single claw just wasn’t able to break through Bloody Moon’s seemingly casual attack!

But on the contrary… the fiery sea of bats only slowed down. Afterwards, they rushed over even faster.

The high-speed display caused an unendurably heavy pain spread through his arms. To him, who hadn’t cultivated physique arts, forcibly using Splitting Air was an overload. Presently, it seemed more likely that his arms were about to break.

Still, he didn’t care. He powered through the pain, his arms already swinging out into afterimages. Thirty to forty meters in front of him, Splitting Air’s white light illuminated the entire space. Unexpectedly, it forcibly ripped out a pure-white world in the boundless black tide.

Crash… The ghastly green flames jetted out everywhere, and the black tide finally receded away. However, there wasn’t a trace of laxness on his face, because he felt… in the scattering fire sea of bats, an incomparably terrible spiritual force, second only to a Grand Duke’s, was now deeply locked onto him.

Furthermore… it was as swift as lightning! It didn’t give him leeway to ponder. Inside the fiery sea of bats that was pulling away layer after layer… he only saw a figure wearing a white shirt and a black suit, whose unfurling blood-red cloak resembled an eagle. With a world-shaking screech, the figure dashed over with a speed he dared not imagine!

The vampire didn’t seem to be rushing over on top of fire bats, but rather like he was treading on top of roses.

Clang! Xu Yangyi only had time to resist with the Fishbowel Sword. In the next second, sparks quickly flashed from where his sword was horizontally pressed against his chest. Bloody Moon looked at where his pale hand and the Fishbowel Sword touched, and he pulled back with an ear-piercing screech.

No fingers or muscles were broken. There was only a scraping noise that caused one’s scalp to numb, flickering sparks, and gentle laughter.

Nonetheless, Bloody Moon’s figure was already gone. His laughter lingered in front of Xu Yangyi, though.

Bloody Moon… was faster than the speed of sound!

In the next moment, a fierce gale attacked behind Xu Yangyi. A pale hand marked by blood-red fingernails was already clawing towards the middle of his back.

“This… is a physique art!” He swiftly realized he still had room to save himself with divine abilities. With physique arts, however, everything was close combat. Life and death was merely between a thought. The sea of fiery bats was just a diversion. If Bloody Moon had the opportunity to close in, the vampire would definitely be able to kill him.

But in kind, he wasn’t an ordinary Marquis!

His eyes couldn’t keep up with the enemy’s terrible speed, but in this instant of great peril he quickly crouched down. Afterwards, five white lights shimmered, and a fierce claw was sent behind him as if it could tear apart the horizon.

He basically couldn’t see Bloody Moon, and once Bloody Moon closed in, divine abilities were all useless. Given Bloody Moon’s speed that could be said to be lightning fast, he wouldn’t even be given half a sliver of time to form seals.

This was the battle instinct he’d gained through years.

Boom! A soft echo was heard from his wrist, and he couldn’t help but loosen up a little. He made contact with Bloody Moon’s hand. As he stood on the brink, he unexpectedly resisted a Throneless Grand Duke’s move!

“Oh?” A voice tinged with a little surprise rang out behind him. But without waiting for Xu Yangyi to sigh in relief, a terrible tremor followed in the next moment and directly spread through his arm.

No good! Xu Yangyi’s heart was shaken, and he hurriedly rushed forward like an arrow shot from the ground. Yet at the same time, a crunch was heard from his arm.

Crack… By the time the sound settled, he was over a dozen meters away. Without the slightest pause, his other hand promptly raised up a sky of white scars. Regardless, there was nothing.

Bloody Moon hadn’t chased after him.

Xu Yangyi’s forehead was seeping out cold sweat. He didn’t make a sound as he covered his arm.

His hand had broken… 

That attack just now seemed like a gentle slap, but from the actual confrontation he knew that it was actually like a landslide. Like a hundred thousand mountains pressing down on his head. If he hadn’t hurried away, perhaps that slap would’ve broken half of his bones.

“Physique Art?” Bloody Moon looked at his hand with a little surprise. “A master spirit-technician actually trains in physique arts? And one of such an extremely high level?”

He raised a brow and glanced at the fire sea of bats that was exploding like a firework. “But not only that… your essence is also quite formidable. To be able to receive my attack means that your actual strength right now infinitely approaches a quasi Grand Duke. An ordinary Marquis would’ve undoubtedly died just now. And.. you were surprisingly able to break through my ‘Inferno’...” he laughed and bowed. “I think I underestimated you.”

“Your true strength is that of a super genius-rank mid Marquis—such a mid Marquis could even counter-kill a high Marquis. And moreover… Mr. X, that’s not all. Your essence reserves instantly explode with one and a half times more power. That means you have the chance to even counter-kill a quasi Grand Duke. Still… this kind of game is even more attractive, isn’t it?”

It was two times.

The doubled qi of the Voidspirit Immortal Physique was equal to a doubled explosion.

Xu Yangyi didn’t reply. He never dared to look down on a Throneless Grand Duke. He couldn’t even split his attention to speak.

He only trained his eyes on Bloody Moon’s movements.

“Loosen up.” In his black cloak, Bloody Moon smiled and said, “Resistance will only bring pain in death, instead of peace. In any case, the conclusion is foregone. Is there any need to suffer before you die?”

“I won’t talk about the Holy Coffin,” Xu Yangyi finally gritted out.

He had no choice but to say these words.

Everything was due to the Holy Coffin. He absolutely hadn’t expected that the Holy Coffin was related to the Holy War, the Holy War was related to the Holy Relic, and the Holy Relic was related to a Secondary Realm Anchor!

All of this was closely interlinked. Even if he spoke, he didn’t think that Bloody Moon would let him go.

Bloody Moon didn’t reply. He indifferently studied Xu Yangyi for three seconds and soon shook his head in regret. “Only one kind of person can keep a secret, you know, Mr. X.”

Xu Yangyi didn’t answer. Only his fists clenched a little tighter.

Yes, a dead person.

Could it be that he really wouldn’t be able to break out of this situation?

But just as Xu Yangyi was on the edge of losing spirit, his pupils abruptly needled in the next second.

A streak of red light fired out of Bloody Moon’s long gown. Xu Yangyi couldn’t clearly see it. It was only a blur in his eyes. His heart hitched up to the peak.

What was this? Where was it going to attack?

All his battle instincts were unleashed, and he speculated the red light’s each movement trajectory. He seemed to be able to hear his heartbeat.

A tenth of a second later, his sword swung out. Following a sharp sound, he fell back over a dozen meters with a crash. Two long gorges filled the ground, but he still couldn’t see clearly.

He only sensed that he’d managed to resist. That strike just now was aimed at his qi sea. If it weren’t for his state of imminent peril and Fishbowel’s obstruction, his stomach would’ve already been pierced.

His hand was dreadfully numb.

However, he didn’t have time to think about his hand… because in the air, a semicircular curve of red light was wandering like a snake, charging at him as if it wanted to devour everything!

Swish swish swish! Wherever the red light passed, a half-meter deep trench was cut out from the ground, causing a strange hum. It was like a dancing red snake, exploding around Bloody Moon like lightning.

“It call it the Waltz. What do you think? Isn’t it beautiful?”

Xu Yangyi retreated at extreme speed. Like a star chasing after the moon, the curving red light rushed over. He gnashed his teeth. He still couldn’t see what this was, and he couldn’t make out the trajectory.

Bang! Amidst his explosive retreat, he suddenly stopped. He reached out behind him and felt a wall of air.

“Oh.” Bloody Moon snapped his fingers. He was like a cat chasing a cornered mouse, wearing a ridiculing smile on his face. “I forgot to tell you.”

“A boundary field has a limit. I believe that with your realm, Mr. X, you still won’t be able to break the boundary field I specifically created for you.”

Taking a deep breath, Xu Yangyi raised the Fishbowel Sword flatly in front of him. In an instant, ten purple lights loudly erupted.

“Ten Cardinals Purgatory!” He finally made a move. He was facing a Throneless Grand Duke. The other only needed to see any of his moves once and he would have a defense. He didn’t want to use them now, but the situation didn’t allow him not to.

“ROAR!!!” Purple fire-dragons screamed. However, the all-winning Ten Cardinals Purgatory didn’t even manage a resistance. Bloody Moon’s several red spirit lights were even more berserk than the purple fire-dragons. As soon as they touched, and after the red light and purple fire frantically flashed, the purple fire entirely disappeared. The red lights weren’t stopped by a hair!

“I can’t see it… I still can’t see it… If I could…” Xu Yangyi was a bundle of nerves. The Ten Cardinals Purgatory was actually ineffective. By now, his sword was dancing through the air to form a silver orb. Soon, a series of crisp echoes rang out. It was similar to the sound of small and large pearls falling on a jade platter. Outside the silver orb, the song continued without interruption.

Thump… Thump… Thump… With each sound, the ground under Xu Yangyi’s feet cracked by a fraction. In less than ten seconds, an explosion boomed underneath him, and he was actually forced into the ground.

It wasn’t that he wanted to take these kinds of actions, but each strike was like thousands of thousands of catties pressing him down!

“I’ll ask you again.” At this moment, separated by the light screen weaved from red rope, Bloody Moon curbed his smile and said lowly, “Mr. X, I sincerely invite you, for the last time, to join the House of Dracul.”

“Take out your spiritual sense and allow the Dracul’s Grand Dukes to brand you. Agree to a lifelong soul contract.”

“Be at ease. As long as you do this, we will grant you the full treatment of a master spirit-technician, and bring you to America’s summit.”