Chapter 305: The Terrifying Zhou Qing

["What's going on?"]

[You opened your eyes and looked up at the sky, where a massive spatial rift had been torn open.]

[Demon Abyss Banners flew out one after another, taking root in all directions to form a demonic domain.]

[Demon lords with terrifying auras charged out immediately after.]

[Behind the massive rift, a towering figure could faintly be seen.]

["A Void Return Demon Sovereign? A third inter-realm channel has been opened here?"]

[You immediately realized what was happening.]

[Over the past few decades, Heavenly Monarch Xingmang had occasionally mentioned that the Demon Abyss Realm would very likely tear open a third spatial rift large enough to accommodate Rank 5 demon lords.]

[He had long since asked Heavenly Monarch Juezhen of the Array Dao Lineage to prepare for it.]

[Whoosh!]

[With a shift of your thoughts, your Sword Intent surged, covering a radius of hundreds of thousands of miles.]

[After you stepped into the Deity Transformation Middle Stage, all your methods had undergone a qualitative transformation. A sword domain formed at will could span nearly a million miles.]

[Sword qi ran rampant. Without even swinging your sword, you crushed the first batch of Rank 5 demon lords to charge into the Human Realm.]

[The strongest among them was at the Fifth Tier Late Stage, while the rest were at the Fifth Tier Early Stage and Mid Stage.]

[With your current strength, killing Fifth Tier Late Stage demon lords took no effort. Only a demon lord at Tier 5 Consummation warranted a second glance.]

[In an instant, the area around the spatial rift was swept clear.]

[Only the Demon Abyss Banners, which contained the origin of the Demon Abyss Realm, remained rooted in the surroundings. Yet even they struggled to resist the suppression of your sword domain.]

[In a few hundred breaths at most, they would be completely suppressed and obliterated.]

["Interesting."]

[You took a step, arriving near the spatial rift, and examined the inside with great interest.]

[In this simulation, you cherished your cultivation time immensely, so you had ignored the inter-realm channels in the Western Desert and the Northern Plains.]

[After all, Void Return Demon Sovereigns stood behind those two channels. With your current strength, it would be difficult to sever them.]

[Even if you intervened, it would achieve little. You could only temporarily stall the Demon Abyss Realm's offensive, not eradicate it, and doing so would only delay your cultivation.]

[You simply hadn't expected that while you hadn't gone looking for trouble with the Demon Abyss Realm, they would open an inter-realm entrance right on your doorstep.]

[You observed carefully. Through the distorted spatial rift, you could faintly see the vast expanse of the Demon Abyss Realm.]

[The vast Demon Abyss Realm.]

[Demon Venerable Guixu stared blankly for a moment. In his original plan, he was supposed to tear open the spatial rift at top speed to form an inter-realm channel, allowing massive numbers of demon lords to enter the Human Realm and slaughter.]

[If luck was on his side, they could occupy a vast territory in a short time. Even if his luck was poor, they would still inflict massive losses upon the Human Realm.]

[But for things to turn out like this—the first squad of demon lords he sent out had been wiped out without making a single splash?]

[How was this possible? Even the other two channels, which had gathered the strongest forces of the Human Realm, couldn't possibly possess this kind of strength. Over the years, Demon Venerable Guixu had gained a solid understanding of the Human Realm's overall situation.]

["Continue. Attack with full force."]

[Demon Venerable Guixu immediately issued the command. The longer they delayed, the higher the chance that other heavenly monarchs of the Human Realm would arrive. His purpose in suddenly tearing open this spatial rift was to catch them off guard.]

[The other two inter-realm channels were also coordinating with him, launching offensives at the same time to pin down the Human Realm's experts as much as possible.]

["Kill, kill, kill!"]

[Dozens more Rank 5 demon lords squeezed into the Human Realm through the spatial channel.]

[This squad of demon lords was led by a demon lord at Tier 5 Consummation, accompanied by three Fifth Tier Late Stage demon lords. Their strength far exceeded the first squad's.]

["Set up defenses the moment we descend. We will fuse our auras. As long as a demon sovereign doesn't attack, we can hold out for a while."]

[The leading Tier 5 Consummation demon lord was extremely cautious. Demon lords at this realm were only one step away from becoming Void Return Demon Sovereigns, and normally, even demon sovereigns might not be able to command them. It was only this inter-realm war, fought under the gaze of the Demon Abyss Realm's will, that had drawn so many Rank 5 demon lords into service.]

["Understood."]

["Got it."]

[The demon lords nodded. None of them had clearly seen how the previous squad died, but making foolproof preparations was never a mistake.]

[Rumble—]

[The next moment, the dozens of demon lords passed through the spatial rift and descended upon the Human Realm.]

[Dark and profound demonic qi converged, forming a massive sphere that shielded the dozens of demon lords inside.]

[The demon lords fused their auras. Under the control of the Tier 5 Consummation demon lord, the dark and profound sphere surged mightily, squeezing into the Human Realm.]

["Another batch."]

[You reached out with your right hand and grasped the Seven-Foot Heavenly Sword.]

[You could feel the sheer density of the dark, profound sphere. Relying solely on the spontaneously formed sword domain would not be enough to eradicate them quickly.]

[Holding the Seven-Foot Heavenly Sword, you swung a gentle slash.]

[This slash was silent and formless. The resulting sword light didn't even tear through space; it was simply fast to the extreme, landing on the dark, profound sphere in an instant.]

[The dark, profound sphere rapidly collapsed and disintegrated. The defense formed by dozens of Rank 5 demon lords was as fragile as a thin sheet of paper beneath your sword, tearing effortlessly before the sword light slashed toward every single demon lord.]

["No!"]

[Terror surged in the heart of the strongest Tier 5 Consummation demon lord. A deafening roar erupted from within his body as his aura skyrocketed in a desperate bid to block your sword strike.]

[But unfortunately, the sword strike you unleashed could annihilate all things. No matter how strong the demonic qi was, it could not stop it. The Tier 5 Consummation demon lord's eyes bulged wide as his body was cleaved in two, his flesh and divine soul rapidly obliterating as the Sword Intent permeated them.]

[If a Tier 5 Consummation demon lord met such an end, the other Fifth Tier Early Stage, Mid Stage, and Fifth Tier Late Stage demon lords naturally stood no chance of resisting. As the sword light swept past, they too were cleaved in two. From a distance, one could see that before the dark, profound sphere formed of endless demonic qi had even fully collapsed, the dozens of demon lords inside had already perished completely, leaving not a single shred of their divine souls behind.]

[By the time the dark, profound sphere dispersed, the lifeless corpses of dozens of demon lords were plummeting downward.]

["A demon lord at Tier 5 Consummation..."]

[You looked at the corpse of that Tier 5 Consummation demon lord and could faintly sense an unformed embryonic world within his body rapidly collapsing.]

[This was your first time killing a demon lord at the Tier 5 Consummation level. The White-Haired Demon from the near-ancient era should have also been at Tier 5 Consummation, but you had never exchanged blows with him.]

["A very ordinary embryonic world. It isn't fully formed, and it was structured using the Demon Abyss Realm as its foundation."]

[You evaluated inwardly. The Purgatory Demon Sovereign from the near-ancient era had been the same; his inner world was modeled after the Demon Abyss Realm.]

[This was also the current state of almost all demon sovereigns in the Demon Abyss Realm. After all, living in the Demon Abyss Realm, if they didn't use it as the embryonic form for their inner worlds, what else could they use?]

[It was just that the inner worlds of these demon sovereigns only contained certain aspects of the vast Demon Abyss Realm. For example, the inner worlds of some demon sovereigns only held the tyranny of the Demon Abyss Realm, while others only possessed its erosive nature.]

[The vast Demon Abyss Realm.]

[The towering Demon Venerable Guixu stared at you through the distorted spatial rift, falling into a brief silence.]

[If the first time was just a coincidence—perhaps Demon Venerable Guixu had extremely poor luck and accidentally connected the inter-realm channel's entrance to some lethal forbidden zone in the Human Realm...]

[...leading to the rapid annihilation of the first squad of demon lords to enter the Human Realm.]

[Then what about the second squad just now? That squad was led by an extremely cautious Tier 5 Consummation demon lord, yet it still met the exact same end. Moreover, Demon Venerable Guixu had clearly seen that it was your attack that caused their slaughter.]

["What kind of method is this? A killing move at the demon sovereign level?"]

[Demon Venerable Guixu was alarmed. Because his senses were distorted through the inter-realm channel, he couldn't discern the true nature of your sword strike, but its might was absolutely terrifying—so many Rank 5 demon lords had failed to block it.]

["What should be done now?"]

[In a flash, this thought surfaced in Demon Venerable Guixu's mind.]

[Give up?]

[He had painstakingly endured the realm's backlash to tear open this spatial rift. Was he supposed to just give up after accomplishing absolutely nothing?]

[Not only would he be mocked and ridiculed by the other demon sovereigns, but wouldn't all those demon lords have died in vain?]

["Even if it's a killing move at the demon sovereign level, how many times can it be used?"]

[Demon Venerable Guixu made a decision in an instant. He looked at his remaining subordinates: there was one more Tier 5 Consummation demon lord, as well as several Fifth Tier Late Stage, and nearly a hundred Fifth Tier Early Stage and Mid Stage demon lords.]

["This item is the Myriad Demon Mountain. You will control it."]

[Demon Venerable Guixu looked at the sole remaining Tier 5 Consummation demon lord. With a wave of his right hand, a black mountain a hundred zhang in size materialized.]

["Thank you, Demon Venerable."]

[This Tier 5 Consummation demon lord had originally abandoned all intentions of entering the Human Realm; the previous Tier 5 Consummation demon lord had been a clear warning. But upon seeing the Myriad Demon Mountain bestowed by Demon Venerable Guixu, his heart immediately settled. The Myriad Demon Mountain was a demon sovereign-level demonic treasure with boundless might. Even though he couldn't unleash its full power, just a negligible fraction of it would be unbreakable to anyone below a demon sovereign.]

["Go."]

[Demon Venerable Guixu was heavily investing his capital. To a demon sovereign, no matter how many subordinates died, more could always be recruited. But the Myriad Demon Mountain... although it wasn't his primary combat weapon, it was still incredibly valuable.]

[The Tier 5 Consummation demon lord accepted the Myriad Demon Mountain. After briefly refining it, he led the nearly one hundred other demon lords into the inter-realm channel to descend upon the Human Realm.]

["There's more?"]

[You were also observing the spatial rift, and you soon saw another group of demon lords descending into the Human Realm, holding up a Small Black Mountain.]

[The aura of the Small Black Mountain was profound. It draped down heavy layers of black light, carrying an implication of being indestructible through myriad tribulations as it shielded all the demon lords.]

["A Void Return-grade treasure?"]

[You only needed a glance to know that the Small Black Mountain wasn't an item at the Tier 5 Deity Transformation level. With a slightly solemn expression, you gripped the Seven-Foot Heavenly Sword and slashed toward the entrance of the spatial rift once again.]

[Hum—]

[This streak of sword light was already your full-powered strike. It was also your first time attacking with your full strength since stepping into the Deity Transformation Middle Stage.]

[The might of the sword light was restrained, arriving in the blink of an eye.]

[Clang!]

[The sword light landed on the Small Black Mountain, emitting a fierce sound of collision.]

[The Small Black Mountain shuddered. It was unable to perfectly block this sword strike, and this single shudder caused a slight flaw to appear in the overlapping black light screens.]

[You slashed several more times. Several streaks of sword light flashed and vanished, tracing the flaw exposed by the Small Black Mountain to enter within the black light screens.]

[Sword light ran rampant.]

[One demon lord after another, including that brimming-with-confidence Tier 5 Consummation demon lord, had their divine souls entirely annihilated amidst the sword light.]

[The Small Black Mountain lost control and began to plummet.]

[With a shift of your thoughts, your sword domain swept out, directly pulling the Small Black Mountain in front of you.]

[In an instant, you planted dozens of restriction seals, somewhat suppressing this Small Black Mountain.]

[Void Return-grade treasures could be counted on one hand in the entire Human Realm. Even in the ancient era, there had only been a few, such as the Upper Realm heritage items of the Ethereal Peak and the Extreme Dao Hall.]

[Being able to obtain one, even if only to comprehend its profound mysteries, might prove helpful to you.]

["Myriad Demon Mountain!"]

[In the vast Demon Abyss Realm, the towering Demon Venerable Guixu felt a chill in his heart as he watched helplessly while the Myriad Demon Mountain fell into your hands.]

[Because they were separated by two realms, and to allow his subordinate demon lord to activate it smoothly, he had erased his own mark from the Myriad Demon Mountain. This meant he could only watch helplessly as this demonic treasure fell into your hands.]

["To knock back the Myriad Demon Mountain with a single strike... does this realm also have a Void Return Realm existence? No, it's not the Void Return Realm..."]

[Demon Venerable Guixu was filled with doubt and astonishment.]

[If an existence at the Void Return Realm truly resided in the Human Realm, they would have likely found the Heart of Heaven and Earth long ago and refined it.]

[By then, they would have become the true master of this great realm, able to eradicate all spatial rifts with a single thought. How could an invasion by the Demon Abyss Realm even be possible?]

[For different great realms, the difficulty of refining the Heart of Heaven and Earth varied. Based on the heritage and status the Human Realm displayed, a creature at the Void Return Stage would be able to lock onto its Heart of Heaven and Earth and refine it.]

[Therefore, you couldn't possibly be a creature of the Void Return Realm.]

[Meanwhile.]

[Above the sky of the Demon Abyss Realm, a Black-Red Moon looked down. Its internal black silhouette faintly formed a pupil, resembling a massive eye that gazed upon the entire Demon Abyss Realm.]

[At this moment, the pupil within the Black-Red Moon rotated, looking toward where the twelve demon sovereigns stood. It looked through the spatial rift, into the Human Realm, and locked onto you as you suppressed the Small Black Mountain after having just slashed out your sword.]

[From the moment Demon Venerable Guixu tore open the channel connecting to the Human Realm, to when you slashed out, killed the final squad of demon lords, and suppressed the Small Black Mountain, everything had happened in a flash. In total, only a few dozen breaths had passed.]

[Demon Venerable Guixu knew that faster was better. Through the three waves of demon lord squads, he hadn't wasted a single fraction of time.]

[The Human Realm.]

["Oh no, the new inter-realm channel is in the Soul Capital?"]

[Heavenly Monarch Xingmang held down the fort at Ethereal Peak, monitoring the entire Human Realm. He noticed the spatial fluctuations near the Soul Capital immediately.]

[A spatial rift personally torn open by a Void Return Demon Sovereign was naturally different from miniature spatial rifts that could only accommodate Tier 3 and Tier 4 demons. The spatial ripples it caused were worlds apart.]

["The Soul Capital... Sword Lord... Juezhen, head to the Soul Capital at top speed. We cannot let the Sword Lord come to any harm."]

[Heavenly Monarch Xingmang immediately contacted Heavenly Monarch Juezhen, anxious in his heart. 'I hope the Sword Lord is alright. If he can't block it, he should just run.']