Chapter 165 - 164: Counter-attack

Chapter 165: Chapter 164: Counter-attack

"What is this heretical True Skill?" Liu Tao, following closely behind Chen Qingyang, quickly noticed what was happening.

"The Nine Abyss Demon Devouring Skill."

Liu Tao said in amazement, "The skill truly lives up to its name. It only devours demons and doesn’t attack us."

As they spoke, another person was cut down by Zhang Jiu. As if making a show of force, he glanced over at Chen Qingyang before pouncing on his next victim. A scream quickly followed.

It seemed more Demon Sect Disciples had died at his hands than at the hands of the Daoist Sect.

Chen Qingyang wanted to use this opportunity to steal Immortal Seedlings, and this man also wanted to use the chaos to raise his Cultivation. Their goals were remarkably similar.

"Senior Sister, stay with me. All we need to do is survive."

Liu Tao scanned the battlefield. The fighting was exceptionally brutal. The Daoist Sect Disciples were already less experienced in combat than their opponents, and now they were suppressed by the Array. Soon, their casualties reached nearly fifty percent.

"That’s easier said than done. Why don’t you escape?"

A Master had given the order: for a Tai Xu Sect Disciple, fleeing in the face of battle was a death sentence. Chen Qingyang, with only his Qi Refining Cultivation, was not bound by this rule.

"No need."

The words had barely left his lips when another Essence Condensation Second Realm disciple charged toward Chen Qingyang.

The two of them stood there alone—one an obviously heavily injured Essence Condensation First Realm cultivator, the other a mere Qi Refining cultivator. To the Demon Sect Disciples, they were the perfect bait.

With bloodshot eyes, the man charged forward, wrapped in a whirlwind. Yet this immense power came to an abrupt halt as he neared Chen Qingyang. The Qianxue Sword was unsheathed once more, severing his life force with a single strike.

Immortal Seedlings Stolen: 2,419.

Unlike Zhang Jiu’s bizarre method, which he used without any regard for being exposed, Chen Qingyang didn’t dare to reveal his techniques in a crowd, wary of his Cultivation being discovered.

So, he used himself and Liu Tao as bait, waiting right here.

Seeing that no one else was approaching, he sent out his Conscious Fish. It targeted an Essence Condensation Fifth Realm disciple from the Demon Sect who had already forced a Daoist Sect disciple of the same realm into a desperate situation. Just as the Demon Sect Disciple was about to take his opponent’s life, a burst of fire erupted in his mind.

Intense pain flared and burned through his body, causing his strength to drain away. The Daoist Sect disciple before him seized the opportunity and dealt a heavy blow.

The notification appeared in Chen Qingyang’s mind again. Immortal Seedlings Stolen: 1,156.

He repeated the process, injuring another person. Immortal Seedlings Stolen: 756.

Seizing victory from chaos was truly the ultimate path.

"Junior Sister, Junior Brother, we can’t go on like this!"

High in the sky, Zhu Qi, who had yet to determine a victor against the Demon Sect man surnamed Yu, let out a great shout. Below, the three Daoist Sect Masters fighting four opponents all feigned an attack and pulled back.

Then, they formed hand seals in mid-air. Three never-before-seen Magical Artifacts materialized out of thin air. Each was hundreds of feet wide, blotting out the sun and sky and shimmering with golden light the moment they appeared.

Chen Qingyang instantly felt his body lighten as the pressure from the Array began to decrease.

The three Magical Artifacts were the Sun, the Moon, and the Stars. Under the Sacrificial Refinement of the three Masters, the light of the Sun, Moon, and Stars linked together, instantly repelling the four Demon Sect Masters who had surrounded them.

Then, they slammed the Magical Artifacts downward, instantly killing five of the Demon Sect’s Half-Step Foundation Establishment Disciples.

Next, the three Masters each spat out a mouthful of their Lifebound True Fire, sending the Sun, Moon, and Stars crashing toward the stone pillars on the ground.

Like an Earth Dragon stirring, the heavens and earth trembled. The stone pillars crumbled with a thunderous roar. Aided by this, the Tai Xu Sect’s Half-Step Foundation Establishment Disciples charged into the Demon Sect’s ranks, instantly rescuing many of their martial brothers.

In an instant, the tables turned. The Demon Sect was in full retreat.

Seeing this, the man surnamed Yu above was filled with immense hatred. Another eye formed in the sky, identical in appearance to the Eye of Demon Luo from before.

Gritting his teeth, he launched a desperate attack at Zhu Qi.

Zhu Qi’s expression was extremely grave as he used his Dragon and Tiger Aspect to block. Unfortunately, he was no match for the man and was struck down to the ground.

The man, in turn, was also clearly suffering. He spat out a mouthful of blood that stained the front of his robes.

Seeing Zhu Qi fall, two other Demon Sect Masters acted with swift decisiveness, quickly adding another blow. The Dragon and Tiger Aspect grew even dimmer, and Zhu Qi slammed heavily into the dirt.

The Tai Xu Sect Masters above, who controlled the Sun, Moon, and Star Array, saw this and hastily used the Array to repel the two attackers, barely managing to save Zhu Qi’s life.

When he climbed out of the dirt, he was a sorry sight. His face was deathly pale, and he was gasping for breath, unable to speak without wheezing. It was clear his injuries were severe.

Unfortunately, Chen Qingyang had no way to interfere with an Immortal Seedling opportunity of this magnitude.

Seeing that the Array was broken, the Demon Sect Masters ordered their disciples to pull back completely. In the blink of an eye, the two sides were once again at a standoff.

Chen Qingyang took a quick glance. The Tai Xu Sect had started with seven hundred people; now, there were at most three hundred left. In contrast, the Demon Sect’s forces were still strong and numerous, with relatively few casualties.

At the Master level, all five Demon Sect Masters had only light injuries. On the Tai Xu Sect’s side, the three controlling the Array were drained but completely unharmed, leaving only Zhu Qi, who had almost completely lost his ability to fight.

"COUGH, COUGH..." He coughed a few times, then pointed a hand at his opponent. "Senior Brother Yu, what formidable skill. To think you’ve trained the Eye of Demon Luo to the point where you can summon a pair. I’m truly impressed!"

"Hmph!" At this, the man’s scholarly demeanor vanished. "You people are quite ruthless yourselves, borrowing all three of the Sun, Moon, and Star Artifacts. I suppose you’ve already decided not to let any of us leave here alive."

Zhu Qi coughed again. "Of course. Why else would we come charging in with such fanfare, knowing full well there was no Cyan Nether Sword Embryo here? The entire point was to leave all of you behind and uphold the prestige of my Tai Xu Sect! Otherwise, if word got out that my sect’s disciples were plotted against and we didn’t even dare to retaliate, wouldn’t that be a disgrace!"

His words stunned not only the Demon Sect, but also many of the Tai Xu Sect’s own disciples.

After all this time, it turned out to be a counter-plot. There was never any treasure to be seized in the first place.

Chen Qingyang was once again reminded of Lu Qingyu’s words—Mirror Flower Water Moon. ’How does he know everything?’

"When it comes to being ruthless and insidious, no one can match you disciples of the Tai Xu Sect. Whatever skills you have, bring them out! Let me see how much you’ve improved!"

The remaining disciples of the Tai Xu Sect all took their cues from the Half-Step Foundation Establishment senior brothers. If they didn’t move, no one moved. The same was true for the Demon Sect Disciples on the other side.

Now, it had become a battle between the Masters!

’This feels like an organized, premeditated, small-scale battle with a controlled scope,’ Chen Qingyang thought. ’It seems neither side wants a true war, they just want to make a show of force!’

The Tai Xu Sect had its Sun, Moon, and Star Array, and the four on the other side had their Four Directions Technique. This technique consisted of a Four-sided Array Banner in red, white, yellow, and black. It stirred up four whirlwinds from the ground to counter the light of the Sun, Moon, and Stars.

The battle now had no more intricate techniques, no more dazzling colors. It was just both sides going all out, clashing with their own True Essence and Magical Treasures.

From within the crowd, Chen Qingyang watched closely. The Tai Xu Sect’s Magical Treasures were clearly superior. After a short while, the four on the other side were struggling to keep up, their momentum long gone.

"Junior Brother, we’re going to win! If something had really gone wrong, we’d all have been buried here!" Liu Tao’s words were filled with the joy of having survived a disaster.

A sudden understanding dawned on Chen Qingyang. The Inner Sect Disciples, normally so majestic and imposing, found their lives completely out of their own hands in a situation like this.

Big fish eat small fish, and above the big fish, there are even bigger fish. Who wasn’t prey? And who could truly escape the net?

"Senior Sister, in the future, we should take fewer of these missions that lead us outside the sect. Even if we do, we must never get involved in conflicts between the sects," Chen Qingyang said earnestly.

"Sigh!" Liu Tao sighed. "Junior Brother, you should understand. Our hands are tied. Perhaps only when we reach the Foundation Establishment Master level will we truly have any freedom."

Hearing this, Chen Qingyang said no more and simply glanced up at the sky.

"COUGH, COUGH..." Zhu Qi finished coughing and then burst into laughter. "Senior Brother Yu, you’re about to lose!"

The Sun, Moon, and Star Array was indeed formidable. The four Demon Sect Masters were completely suppressed, able only to endure with their lives on the line, with no chance to fight back.

The man surnamed Yu sneered, "You’re celebrating too soon."

With that, he tore away his shirt with one hand, revealing the embroidered head of a vicious ghost on his chest.

It resembled a Yaksha, with a blood-red face, colorless eye sockets, and a mouth full of sharp fangs.

Zhu Qi turned his head and shouted, "Be careful! It’s the Divine Power Dead Spirit!"

The man then raised the Soul Banner into the air, drawing a powerful, dark green aura into his body.

High in the sky, the twin Eyes of Demon Luo reappeared. Above them, the vicious ghost’s head had swelled to a thousand feet in size, resembling a dark cloud. Its pair of eyes, like two red lanterns, looked down upon the world, and the very air suddenly turned frigid.

"Junior Brothers and Sisters, be careful!"

Zhu Qi had just shouted his warning when the twin eyes and the vicious ghost slammed down. Instantly, the starlight dimmed to almost nothing, and the mountains and rivers trembled.

Through the black fog, in the hazy chaos, Chen Qingyang saw the Sun, Moon, and Star Magical Artifacts all fall from the sky. The three Masters plummeted along with them, thankfully caught by the Half-Step Foundation Establishment Disciples. Their Qi Mechanisms were in disarray, and their earlier imposing manner was long gone.

Looking at the Demon Sect man, his expression was listless, as if he had lost all his Essence Qi in an instant. But the other three Masters were still standing.

Seeing this, the many disciples of the Tai Xu Sect were panicked. Every one of them understood that if the Masters were defeated, it meant certain death for them all.

Even Chen Qingyang began to consider how he could escape with Liu Tao. At worst, he just wouldn’t return to the Tai Xu Sect. He could go straight to the Demon Sect, or the Nine Nether Mechanic Divine Palace, or some other power.

The main thing was to survive. He certainly wasn’t going to be buried alongside the Tai Xu Sect, nor was he going to be hunted down by them for deserting.

"You... I really underestimated you!" Master Zhu Qi seemed to realize the situation was lost, his expression grim as he spoke.

The man clutched his chest and shoved away the people supporting him. His scholarly demeanor had transformed into one of extreme tyranny. "I’m not like you people, wasting all your thoughts on petty schemes and plots! In the face of absolute power, everything else is an illusion. You will all die!"

The Demon Sect Disciples behind him were getting restless, already beginning to encircle them from the flanks. Chen Qingyang’s Conscious Fish, four hundred li away, had already mapped out a relatively safe escape route.

At this most critical moment, a figure drifted in from the horizon. It moved silently, yet it captured everyone’s attention.

A snow-white Daoist Robe, long black hair, a sword like White Jade on its back, and a petite frame.

Soldiers fight soldiers, generals fight generals.

The enemy had sent out four Foundation Establishment Masters. Chen Qingyang had been wondering, why were they one short?