Chapter 392: The Winner

As Daoist Qingyu's words fell, a thread of demonic sound rose quietly throughout the Qingxuan Temple's surrounding air.

The sound was soft and bewitching, like a dream and yet not, like the low murmur of a demonic god, carrying a force that was difficult to resist and deeply entrancing.

Even the seven major sects' experts at the foot of the mountain, upon hearing it, felt dark thoughts rising involuntarily within them, their faces gradually twisting and their tempers sharpening.

Even Theft Saint Bai Wuying showed an alarmed expression and could only strain to circulate his true qi to block out the demonic sound flooding his ears.

But Li Musheng, hovering in the air, remained entirely composed throughout, showing not the slightest reaction as thread after thread of demonic sound reached him.

"You are trying to stir the demonic nature within me?"

At that point, Li Musheng looked at Daoist Qingyu calmly and spoke.

At those words, Daoist Qingyu looked at Li Musheng in return. Seeing that he was completely unaffected, her pupils contracted very slightly.

She was about to open her mouth to explain, but Li Musheng raised a hand and reached toward her from a distance, "I said I would not kill you, but I did not say I would leave you intact."

At those words, Daoist Qingyu's expression changed at once. Sensing a terrifying aura wrap around her, she immediately struck back with full force without any hesitation.

In an instant, all ten devouring demonic vortices shook simultaneously, the void trembled, and countless dense demonic lines surged from her eyes, wreathing her body in an instant and forming a barrier around her.

At the same time, Daoist Qingyu's figure transformed into a concealing demonic light and immediately pulled back.

It was clear that having witnessed the power Li Musheng had demonstrated, she had no intention whatsoever of engaging him directly.

But before Daoist Qingyu had retreated very far, a rotating dark void abyss came from above her before she had even moved, arriving ahead of her and swallowing her completely.

Daoist Qingyu, even transformed into demonic light for her escape, had not had a single moment to react, and could not even dodge out of the way in time.

Once the void abyss had swallowed Daoist Qingyu, the ten devouring demonic vortices she had gathered around her body collapsed and dissolved, absorbed entirely by the void abyss.

And the void abyss devoured more than just that. It also consumed the demonic cultivation within Daoist Qingyu's body.

The powerful demonic cultivation she had kept so deeply hidden was completely drained in a handful of breaths, devoured entirely by the void abyss without leaving a trace.

Having done all of this, the void abyss that had swallowed Daoist Qingyu then released her.

Daoist Qingyu tumbled from the air and fell toward the mountain of the Qingxuan Temple below, and in those few brief moments she had gone from a supreme demon lord of peak cultivation to a complete and utter waste without even a sliver of power remaining.

Even so, Li Musheng had no intention of letting her fall to her death. He raised a hand and gave a wave, and Daoist Qingyu drifted down smoothly to settle at the edge of the dark pool.

Li Musheng then stepped forward and also descended from the air, coming to stand beside Daoist Qingyu.

Visible to the naked eye, the void abyss that had been floating above the Qingxuan Temple drew back rapidly and vanished entirely, as though it had never existed.

At the same time, the seven major sects' experts who had been affected by the demonic sound all came back to their senses, and catching sight of Daoist Qingyu, whose demonic cultivation had been so formidable, being disposed of so casually by Li Musheng, every one of them showed an unusual expression. Their mental picture of Li Musheng's terrifying power was revised yet again.

Even demon lords like the Sun and Moon Demonic Empress and Daoist Qingyu, who had obtained the Demonic Patriarch's legacy, could not hold out more than a few exchanges against him. That told the full story: Li Musheng was a truly unrivaled supreme demon lord.

But at this point, everyone's feelings were extremely complicated. Though they were deeply afraid of Li Musheng as a demon lord, he had just now acted only against the three demonic sects' experts and had not harmed any of them.

That left everyone feeling fortunate to have survived while also realizing, with a quiet jolt, that this demon lord seemed somewhat different from the truly wicked demons of the demonic path.

And so the assembled seven major sects' experts at the foot of the mountain waited uneasily for a while longer, and seeing that Li Musheng truly had no intention of turning on them, they exchanged glances, then carefully and quietly withdrew, putting distance between themselves and the Qingxuan Temple.

Only when they had moved a good stretch away from the mountain's base did the seven major sects' experts all let out a long, heavy collective breath. At that point, every one of them found their backs soaked through with cold sweat.

"We should not linger here. Even so, tonight the three demonic sects' experts have been all but eliminated by that Eighth Prince of Great Li. The three demonic sects of the Great Xuan martial world will no longer be a threat from here on."

The lead elder from the Heaven Blood Palace spoke, letting his gaze rest one final time on the Qingxuan Temple in the darkness before his expression turned to concern, "Even so, though the three demonic sects have been crippled, that Eighth Prince of Great Li has absorbed the cultivation of so many demonic experts, and his demonic power must have now reached unimaginable heights. He has become a demon lord the like of which has never existed before."

At those words, a chill passed through the other seven major sects' experts. What the Heaven Blood Palace elder had said was precisely the concern that everyone shared.

Having produced a demon lord like this was not good news for the righteous martial world.

"And yet... that Eighth Prince of Great Li seems somewhat different from the demon lords the martial world knows."

At that point, someone spoke up, and the others furrowed their brows as well. The fact that Li Musheng had spared them was, when it came down to it, a life-saving grace.

Had they fallen into the Sun and Moon Demonic Empress's hands, they would probably have been drained to husks long since.

"This is difficult to say. That he spared us tonight does not mean he will spare us in the future."

"For now perhaps he can still hold his demonic nature in check, but that may not remain true going forward. Perhaps before long, this demon lord will make the martial world run red with blood and bring unimaginable disaster upon everything under heaven."

One of the seven major sects' experts spoke with deep worry.

Li Musheng was undeniably tonight's winner. Not only had he absorbed the demonic cultivation of the Sun and Moon Demonic Empress and the three sects' assembled experts, but the Demonic Patriarch's cultivation that had been sealed within the Demonic Cores was also ultimately absorbed by him.

An unrivaled supreme demon lord who had consumed such an enormous quantity of demonic cultivation, to be honest, was something that even if all seven major sects fielded their full strength, they probably would not be able to match.

"Whatever the case, we cannot stay in Taixuan City any longer. Tonight's events must be passed back to our respective sects as quickly as possible, so they can prepare countermeasures."

The Heaven Blood Palace elder spoke, sweeping a final look over the assembled seven major sects' experts.

At those words, everyone gave a collective nod. They took one last look at the distant Qingxuan Temple, then dared not linger a moment longer, each of them slipping away into the night and preparing to leave Taixuan City before dawn.

At the same time, Theft Saint Bai Wuying, his figure concealed in the darkness, stood with an expression that shifted through a range of thoughts.

When Li Musheng had acted against Daoist Qingyu, the seven major sects' people, having been affected by the demonic sound, had only caught part of it.

But Bai Wuying had watched the entire process from beginning to end. His heart told him clearly that with the level of demonic power Li Musheng had now revealed, even a Martial Saint going up against him would be suppressed with a single hand.

And as for stringing Bai Wuying himself up and beating him, that would be entirely without effort.