Chapter 33: Chen Yuan, Chen Yan, Chen Feng.

Chapter 33: Chapter 33: Chen Yuan, Chen Yan, Chen Feng.

Zhao Lianyu’s scream echoed across the sky.

Her body trembled violently as she desperately tried to move, but the pressure released by the three High Lords had already sealed the space around her.

The air itself seemed to have hardened into an invisible cage, pressing against her from every direction and pinning her body in place.

Even the spiritual energy within her seemed to move sluggishly under their combined pressure, making it difficult for her to gather enough strength to break free.

Zhao Lianyu immediately circulated her spiritual energy, attempting to force the demon’s hand out of her body.

However, the moment her spiritual energy surged, the demon’s aura descended upon her.

The pressure was overwhelming.

Her spiritual energy was instantly suppressed, and the strength she had gathered dispersed before it could reach her limbs.

"Get your filthy hand out of me!!!"

Her voice trembled with pain and anger.

The burly Demon High Lord didn’t answer.

His fingers continued moving inside her abdomen as though he were searching for something. His expression remained completely calm, and his movements were almost casual despite the woman’s screams echoing beside him.

Zhao Lianyu gritted her teeth and suddenly made another attempt to circulate her spiritual energy.

This time, she gathered everything she had left inside her dantian. A violent fluctuation immediately spread from her body.

The three demons noticed her attempt, and their eyes lowered toward her abdomen.

"Trying to destroy yourself?"

Zhao Lianyu’s expression was filled with fury.

"If I die, I’ll take you with me!"

The burly demon stared at her for a moment before letting out a quiet laugh.

"Can you?"

His fingers moved slightly, seemingly teasing in his own mind, but to her, every slight movement caused unbearable pain.

The spiritual energy inside Zhao Lianyu’s dantian suddenly became chaotic. The power she had gathered was forcefully suppressed before she could ignite it.

Her eyes widened.

"No..."

She tried again.

Nothing happened.

Her body remained completely immobilized beneath the overwhelming pressure, and even the spiritual energy within her dantian could no longer respond properly to her will.

The High Lord looked directly into her eyes.

"You can’t even control your own body anymore, yet you still believe you can choose how you die?"

Zhao Lianyu’s face became pale. She wanted to curse him again, but the pain made it difficult for her to even speak.

The burly demon slowly turned his head toward the city below.

"Look."

Zhao Lianyu didn’t want to.

She had no desire to look at what was happening below her, but the High Lord’s hand remained inside her abdomen while his aura kept her body completely pinned in place. Her eyes were eventually forced downward.

The sight below made her heart sink.

Blue Cloud Mist City had completely descended into chaos.

Demons flooded the streets from every direction, crawling across rooftops and climbing over the ruins of buildings that had been destroyed during the earlier fighting.

Cultivators desperately fought back wherever they could, but the sheer number of demons continued overwhelming them.

A young cultivator swung his sword at a demon rushing toward him. The blade struck its neck and severed its head cleanly from its body.

Before the head even hit the ground, however, the cultivator heard movement all around him.

He turned his head and froze when he noticed that they were everywhere.

Demons poured into the street from every direction, crawling over rooftops, climbing out from between the ruined buildings, and rushing toward him with their twisted limbs dragging across the ground.

There were too many.

Far too many.

The human side was easily outnumbered a hundred to one.

Before his eyes, an entire ocean of demons surged forward, swallowing the street beneath their bodies.

The cultivator raised his sword and desperately tried to defend himself.

He managed to cut down one, but the demons kept coming.

One grabbed his leg, another clawed into his back, and several more crashed into him from the sides, dragging him to the ground beneath their weight.

"Get off me!"

His scream lasted only a few seconds.

The mass of demons completely covered his body, their claws tearing through his robes and flesh as more continued to climb over the pile. Within mere seconds, his body was ripped apart and scattered across the street.

The demons did not stop.

They simply crawled over what remained of him and continued toward the next group of cultivators.

Elsewhere, a group of mortals ran through a narrow road while carrying children in their arms. They desperately searched for somewhere to hide, but the demons had already begun spreading throughout the residential districts.

A woman clutched her young son’s hand as they ran.

"Keep running!"

"Mommy, where are we going?"

"Don’t stop!"

The woman’s voice trembled as she pulled him around a corner. Something dropped from the roof above them.

The woman froze as the demon slowly raised its head. The boy began screaming, and the woman’s scream followed.

Similar scenes unfolded throughout the city.

Some cultivators fought until their bodies were covered in wounds, refusing to retreat even as demons surrounded them.

Others were forced into alleys and buildings, desperately trying to protect the civilians hiding behind them.

Families were dragged from their homes, merchants abandoned their shops, and ordinary people ran through the streets while the demons hunted them.

The sounds reached even the highest layer of the city.

Zhao Lianyu watched everything from above. Her fingers trembled, and the burly demon noticed her expression as he gave a faint smile.

"Do you understand now?"

His voice remained strangely calm.

"You humans cling to your families because you fear losing them. You cling to your kingdoms because you fear losing your lands. You cling to your laws, your morality, and your precious sense of justice because you believe those things give meaning to your lives."

His fingers slowly moved again inside her abdomen, causing another wave of pain to spread through her body.

"And yet, when everything is taken away from you, what remains?"

Zhao Lianyu’s breathing became heavier as she glared at him.

"You..."

The burly demon looked into her eyes.

"Nothing."

His voice was quiet, almost gentle.

"You call us evil because we kill. You call us monsters because we enjoy the suffering of others."

His gaze slowly moved toward the city below.

"But what is evil to us?"

He smiled.

"It is prayer."

Zhao Lianyu’s expression hardened.

"Prayer?"

"Every life we take is an offering. Every scream is a hymn. Every drop of blood spilled beneath the heavens is another prayer sent to our God."

His fingers moved slightly again.

"And humanity is the perfect offering."

Zhao Lianyu’s eyes narrowed.

"You are the sinners."

The demon looked back at her.

"Your people have committed countless sins. You kill each other for land, wealth, power, revenge, and hatred. You betray your own kind when it benefits you. You build kingdoms upon the corpses of those who came before you, then call yourselves righteous because you wrote laws to justify it."

His smile widened.

"Humans were never innocent."

Zhao Lianyu gritted her teeth.

"Don’t pretend your kind is any better."

The burly demon gave a quiet laugh.

"We never said we were."

He tilted his head slightly.

"We were born for evil."

His eyes remained fixed on hers.

"You were born plain."

The smile disappeared from his face.

"And then you chose to adopt evil."

Zhao Lianyu’s expression changed.

The demon turned his gaze back toward the city.

"That is the difference between us."

"We do not hide what we are. We do not pretend our hunger is justice or dress our violence in noble words."

His voice became softer.

"We simply offer what we were born with."

"To our God."

"And perhaps, when enough blood has been spilled..."

His eyes narrowed as he watched the city below.

"...He will finally answer our prayers."

The first drop of rain landed against the stone roof of the City Lord Mansion. Another struck Zhao Lianyu’s white robe.

Then the rain suddenly became heavier.

Dark clouds rapidly gathered across the entire sky, swallowing the sunlight that had remained above the city. The clouds began rotating slowly, forming a vast spiral above Blue Cloud Mist City as a cold wind swept through the streets.

Rain poured from the sky.

It struck rooftops, streets, burning buildings, and the countless demons crawling through the city. The flames that had spread across several districts began hissing beneath the rainfall, while blood and rainwater flowed together through the streets.

The three demons slowly lifted their heads.

Their auras continued rising.

The pressure that had already covered the city became even heavier, spreading outward from their bodies like an invisible tide. The air itself seemed to distort around them, while the rain falling nearby was pushed aside by the overwhelming force.

Zhao Lianyu’s expression changed. Yet before she could make another attempt to resist, something strange happened.

A voice came from above.

It wasn’t loud. It didn’t need to be. The voice simply appeared across the dark sky, carrying through the rain as though the entire world had suddenly become silent just to hear it.

"Is that so?"

The High Lord’s expression changed.

Zhao Lianyu’s eyes widened.

The rain suddenly stopped in midair. Every droplet hanging above the City Lord Mansion remained suspended.

Then the clouds above the city began to move. They did not disperse slowly.

Instead, the entire mass of dark clouds suddenly burst apart from the center, pushed outward by an invisible force. Thunder rolled across the heavens as a vast opening appeared between the clouds, revealing the sky above.

The countless demons throughout the city also slowed, their movements becoming strangely sluggish as an invisible pressure spread across the heavens.

Then a figure slowly descended through the gap.

He wore a simple white cultivator’s robe, his long hair moving gently behind him. His face appeared calm, almost indifferent, but his eyes carried a depth that made the surrounding space feel strangely quiet.

Another figure stood beside him.

His silver-black hair hung over his shoulders, and his calm grey eyes swept across the ruined city. His expression remained composed, but his gaze became colder when he saw the countless demons crawling through the streets.

The third figure was an old man dressed in a dark green cultivator’s robe. His long, snow-white hair was tied loosely behind his head, with several strands hanging around his face.

Unlike Chen Yuan’s indifferent calmness or Chen Yan’s cold silence, the old man’s face carried a relaxed smile, and a neatly trimmed white beard covered his chin.

Yet there was something strange about him. A slender ancient sword hung from his waist, its scabbard covered in faint, weathered markings that seemed to have existed for countless years.

His right hand rested casually against the hilt while his left hand slowly stroked his beard. He looked like an old scholar who had wandered into the wrong battlefield.

But the moment his eyes fell upon the demons below, that relaxed smile became slightly wider.

Chen Feng.

The three figures descended side by side from the shattered clouds, their robes moving gently as they slowly approached the three demons.

The three demons stared at them.

"Human High Lords?"

One of them spoke in confusion, while another narrowed his eyes and carefully spread his spiritual sense across the three figures.

"Did the other regions fail?"

The burly demon’s expression slowly twisted into a grin.

"Doesn’t matter."

His claws tightened.

"We will just kill them."

The burly demon suddenly released his grip.

Zhao Lianyu’s eyes widened as her body was thrown downward without warning.

She fell like a discarded toy.

The wind rushed violently past her ears as her white robe fluttered wildly behind her. Her long black hair scattered across her face, and the moment she realized the demon had released her, she immediately tried to regain control of her body.

But her spiritual energy was still in complete chaos.

She gritted her teeth and desperately circulated what remained within her dantian, forcing the scattered spiritual energy through her meridians.

Move...

Her body refused to respond properly.

The pain in her abdomen made it difficult to concentrate, while the chaotic spiritual energy repeatedly collided with itself inside her meridians.

The ground was rapidly approaching.

She could already see the shattered stone platform of the City Lord Mansion growing larger beneath her. If she struck the ground in her current condition, the impact alone could seriously injure her.

Zhao Lianyu clenched her teeth.

"Come on..."

She forced another strand of spiritual energy through her meridians.

Her fingers finally moved.

She immediately twisted her body and brought both arms in front of herself, preparing to brace against the impact.

The distance disappeared in an instant.

BOOM!

Zhao Lianyu hit the ground.

Stone shattered beneath her.

Dust erupted around her body as the impact created a shallow crater beneath her.

She rolled across the broken stone before finally stopping.

For several seconds, she remained motionless.

Her breathing was heavy as pain spread throughout her body. She slowly opened her eyes, then she froze.

Something was glowing around her.

Crimson-golden light surrounded her body, forming several layers of Flaming Fireflies that hovered closely around her.

The tiny fireflies moved in circles around her, their wings giving off a warm crimson glow. They were so numerous that they formed a protective barrier around her body, completely separating her from the shattered stone surrounding her.

Zhao Lianyu stared at them in confusion.

One of the fireflies drifted past her face. The heat it gave off was surprisingly gentle as it did not burn her. Instead, the spiritual energy surrounding her body became slightly calmer.

The chaotic spiritual energy within her meridians seemed to slow down as well.

Zhao Lianyu’s lips parted slightly.

"W-what are these?"

Over the sky, Chen Yuan looked down at the countless demons spreading throughout the city, his expression remaining calm.

His voice wasn’t loud, and it carried across the entire city clearly.

"So it seems the Blackmoon Kingdom wishes to launch a full invasion upon the Great Yan Kingdom..."

"Hahaha, then what of it, human High Lord?" The burly demon laughed, waving his hand as though inviting Chen Yuan to come and attack him.

Chen Yuan didn’t mind the aggression. Instead, he simply replied in a calm manner, "Then stay here forever."

The moment those words fell, the heavens suddenly changed. It was negligible at first, as a crimson glow appeared in the darkness over the city. But as time passed, another appeared.

Then hundreds.

Thousands.

Tens of thousands.

Hundreds of thousands of crimson points of light began appearing throughout the sky.

"Flaming Fireflies..."

They emerged from every direction, filling the heavens above Blue Cloud Mist City until the darkness itself seemed to have been replaced by a sea of crimson light.

Each tiny firefly radiated an intense heat.

The rain suspended in the air began evaporating around them, turning into countless wisps of steam. The temperature across the entire upper layer of the city rose rapidly as the fireflies slowly drifted around the three figures.

The crimson-golden fireflies were not only gathered around Chen Yuan. They had appeared throughout the entire city, filling the streets, rooftops, and even the spaces between the countless demons.

Wherever they passed, the surrounding air grew hot enough to make the rain evaporate before it could touch the ground.

The demons below began looking upward, but their bodies had already started burning. A firefly landed on the shoulder of one demon, and its flesh immediately blackened.

Another landed on its back, and flames spread across its body before it could even react. The demon screamed and desperately clawed at itself, but more fireflies drifted toward it, covering its arms, legs, and torso.

Within seconds, its body was engulfed in crimson-golden flames.

"AAAAAAAH!"

Its scream echoed through the street before its body collapsed into a pile of ashes.

The same scene began unfolding throughout the city.

Countless demons were swallowed by the sea of fireflies, their grotesque bodies burning rapidly as the flames consumed their flesh. Some tried to crawl away, while others desperately struck at the tiny creatures surrounding them, but there were simply too many.

The temperature continued rising across the entire city as the fireflies filled the darkness with crimson-golden light, rapidly burning through the demon swarm.

Chen Yan quietly reached out his right hand.

A small bell appeared in his hand. It was completely black, with several faint silver markings running across its surface. He held it loosely with one hand while keeping his other hand behind his back.

Then he shook the bell.

Ring...

The sound was not particularly loud. Yet the moment it spread through the sky, a visible ripple emerged from Chen Yan’s body.

A translucent ring formed around him, composed entirely of dense spiritual energy. It expanded outward slowly, passing through the suspended rain and pushing the surrounding mist away.

At the same time, Chen Feng finally moved. He slowly drew the ancient sword from his waist.

Shing!

The moment the blade left its scabbard, a deafening sword cry erupted across the heavens.

WOOOOOOONG!

The sound swept through the entire city. The three High Lords watched him carefully.

None of them understood what the old man was doing. The burly demon’s eyes narrowed as he slowly raised his claws. The other two shifted their bodies as well, preparing to attack at the same time.

Chen Yuan looked at them from a distance.

Then...

He raised his hand.

"Let’s bring this outside the city."

He simply waved.

That single gesture caused the entire sky to move.

The hundreds of thousands of Flaming Fireflies that had filled Blue Cloud Mist City suddenly began flying toward the same direction.

The crimson-golden lights gathered from every corner of the city, pouring through the sky like countless streams flowing toward an enormous river.

The fireflies continued gathering as more and more joined the mass. Soon, the sky above the three demons had become completely covered by crimson-golden light.

Then...

"Fall."

The entire mass descended. It looked like an ocean falling from the heavens.

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!

The ocean of fireflies crashed downward.

The three Demon High Lords reacted immediately.

The burly demon planted both feet against the air and roared as the pressure descended upon him. His muscles swelled, his shoulders expanded, and countless veins bulged beneath his pale skin.

"GET AWAY!"

Blood erupted from his body.

Rather than forming a technique, the blood simply covered his arms and hardened around them, reinforcing his flesh as he raised both arms above his head.

The ocean of fireflies crashed into the sky above the city, leaving no space for anyone to maneuver.

No space to escape!

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!

The impact pushed him downward, and the air beneath his feet exploded. His body dropped hundreds of meters before he managed to stop himself.

The bald High Lord and the thin female demon suffered the same fate. They did not attempt to form any elaborate technique. Their bodies were their weapons.

The bald demon dropped onto all fours, his long arms digging into the air as though he were gripping an invisible surface. Blood poured from his palms and spread across his arms, strengthening the flesh as he resisted the crushing wave of fireflies.

The thin demon twisted her entire body sideways, her fingers digging into the air. The three demons resisted the enormous attack with everything they had.

Sun Qian and Zhao Mingyuan attempted to resist as well.

The two Early Foundation Establishment demons immediately released their blood, coating their bodies in a thick crimson layer as they tried to withstand the overwhelming heat of the Flaming Fireflies.

At first, their bodies managed to hold together. But the flames were simply too intense for them.

Transcendent mastery over the skill meant it wasn’t meant to be treated casually, especially since Chen Yuan was a Peak Foundation Establishment expert himself right now.

The crimson blood covering Zhao Mingyuan’s body began boiling almost instantly, evaporating into clouds of steam as the fireflies swarmed around him. His skin quickly blackened, and flames spread across his arms and chest.

"NO!"

Zhao Mingyuan desperately clawed at the fireflies surrounding him, destroying dozens at a time. Yet for every firefly he destroyed, hundreds more immediately replaced them.

His flesh began burning away.

It regenerated.

Then burned away again.

"HELP!"

His scream echoed across the battlefield.

"HELP ME!"

He desperately tried to escape the ocean of flames, but the fireflies followed him from every direction. His regeneration could no longer keep up with the speed at which his body was being destroyed.

Nearby, Sun Qian suffered the same fate.

He twisted his body desperately, trying to crawl away through the air while blood poured from his skin. The blood was immediately ignited by the surrounding flames, causing his entire body to become engulfed in crimson-golden fire.

"AAAAAAAH!"

Sun Qian screamed as he desperately struck at the flames.

His hands were burned to the bone.

They regenerated.

The flames consumed them again.

"Please!"

His voice became filled with panic.

"Someone help me!"

But there was no one left to help them.

The Flaming Fireflies continued pouring over their bodies, burning through their flesh faster than their demonic regeneration could restore it.

Within seconds, their screams became weaker.

Zhao Mingyuan’s body finally collapsed, his flesh burning away until only fragments remained.

Sun Qian attempted to crawl away one final time, but countless fireflies surrounded him from every direction. His body disappeared beneath the crimson-golden flames.

Both demons were completely consumed before they could even reach the three High Lords for help.

Yet the ocean of fireflies continued pressing down. The sky trembled beneath the sheer scale of the attack. The rain evaporated before reaching the battlefield, and the clouds were pushed away.

The city below groaned as loose stones began rolling down their slopes. Eventually, the three demons were gradually forced backward.

The enormous mass of Flaming Fireflies continued crashing against their bodies, surrounding them from every direction and forcing them farther and farther away from Blue Cloud Mist City.

The burly demon roared as he punched through the swarm.

"Shameless!"

His fist struck thousands of fireflies.

BOOM!

A portion of the crimson ocean exploded apart.

Yet the empty space immediately filled again.

"You call yourself a High Lord and fight like this from hundreds of meters away?!"

Chen Yuan’s laughter came from beyond the sea of fireflies.

"Hahaha!"

His voice carried clearly through the burning sky.

"Why should I fight you at close range?"

"Do I look like a brute?"

The burly demon’s expression twisted. Chen Yuan raised his hand again. The ocean moved. The fireflies surged forward, and the three demons were forced even farther away.

The burly demon was finally lifted from the air and hurled backward, crossing several kilometers before crashing into a mountain.

BOOOOOOM!

The mountainside exploded. The demon disappeared beneath the collapsing stone.

The bald High Lord was thrown toward another mountain. His body struck the cliff face sideways.

BOOM!

An enormous section of the mountain collapsed.

The thin female demon was forced through the air, her body twisting desperately as countless fireflies surrounded her.

She screamed.

"RRRRAAAAAAH!"

The ocean of crimson-golden flames continued moving.

The three High Lords were eventually driven completely outside the city. Only after they had been forced far enough away did Chen Yuan finally raise his hand and stop the fireflies.

The enormous ocean halted. It remained suspended in the sky behind him, still burning brightly.

Chen Yuan exhaled, his breathing slightly hastened as he murmured under his breath, "Now we can go all out without having to worry about destroying the city."

The three demons slowly emerged from the destroyed mountains. Their bodies were covered in burns. Chunks of flesh had been consumed from their arms and shoulders, and their regeneration was much slower compared to before.

The burly demon spat blood onto the shattered stone below. His eyes were filled with fury.

"You coward!"

He stared toward Chen Yuan.

"You hide behind that ridiculous technique and refuse to fight us properly!"

Chen Yuan laughed.

"Properly?"

He looked at the three demons as though he had heard something ridiculous.

"Who decided that fighting properly means standing close enough for you to bite me?"

The fireflies around him slowly drifted.

"You’re demons."

He smiled.

"And I’m not stupid."

Chen Feng smiled faintly beside him.

Chen Yan’s expression remained calm.

The three Chen cultivators slowly advanced through the air. Their robes moved gently despite the destruction surrounding them.

The three demons immediately became more cautious, and the burly demon raised his claws. This time, he did not charge immediately. After seeing how easily they had been forced away, he knew that blindly rushing forward would be dangerous.

Chen Yuan looked at the three demons.

Luckily, they exposed themselves after the Imperial Court arrived.

His eyes moved briefly toward Blue Cloud Mist City.

’And luckily, Chen Feng was summoned in time. Or else, I would’ve packed up already and left this kingdom.’

He looked back at the three High Lords.

Three Peak Foundation Establishment demons are already a serious loss for the Blackmoon Kingdom. If these three die here, the demons will have to reconsider how much force they can afford to send into other regions. And possibly, the war can be halted directly.