Chapter 442 - 441: As Expected of the Demon Sect Holy Saint’s Lover

Chapter 442: Chapter 441: As Expected of the Demon Sect Holy Saint’s Lover

Chapter 441: As Expected of the Demon Sect Holy Saint’s Lover

Royal City, northern district.

Seated cross-legged atop the formation formation in the north, the lovely Sword Fairy slowly opened her eyes and exhaled softly.

Before her floated a sword sheath radiating dazzling golden light. That golden radiance spread along the strange formation patterns beneath her feet, branching outward and extending across the entire royal city.

"Phew~ I finally managed to fully suppress this sword sheath. That guy really loves making things difficult for others."

The young girl muttered under her breath, though a faint smile lingered at the corners of her lips.

In this Netherkin race chaos, her task was something that only she could accomplish.

To draw out the full power of a Divine Artifact’s sword sheath with cultivation below the Nascent Soul realm was nearly impossible.

Yet Lu Yuliu had done exactly that, relying purely on her extraordinary talent in the Way of the Sword, she turned the impossible into reality... and went even further, fully activating the Divine Artifact’s sheath and using it to anchor the royal city’s formation.

And through this process, her own gains had been tremendous.

Even for a sword immortal in training, wielding a divine artifact sword sheath brought entirely new insights.

"Just a little bit more, and I can start considering the Sword Core realm..."

The rewards from this Human Immortal List were far beyond what she had expected.

Yes, she was still participating in that competition.

Though she had no idea what the Immortal Nation was planning, the contest taking place within that other-dimensional space hadn’t stopped even amidst the chaos of the Netherkin race invasion. In fact, those within that realm might not yet know how dire the situation outside had become.

Nor did anyone there know that among the contestants, the states of two young women had quietly changed.

Just then, a small portion of the formation beside Lu Yuliu lit up, casting out a glow.

From within the light stepped out another stunning girl dressed in white.

"Any news about my Senior Brother?" Bai Xiaoyao asked casually as she approached, her graceful steps light as lotus petals.

"There’s only five more rounds left until it’s your turn."

Lu Yuliu shrugged. "There’s still no reply from that guy. But from the looks of things, I don’t think we need to worry. Even if he’s tangling with that so-called new leader of the Netherkin race right now, I doubt anything will really happen to him."

After all, before disappearing, that man had already arranged all their duties under the Immortal Nation Empress’s command.

The Sword Fairy unconsciously ignored the offhand remark Bai Xiaoyao had made afterward.

Under the Empress’s arrangement, the two of them had left imprints within the Ascension Platform’s formation. As long as they remained within the royal city, they could enter the platform and join the competition at any time. Once it was their turn to fight, they would sense it in advance, and the power of the platform would restore their spent energy.

Moreover, if they ever faced a danger they couldn’t withstand in the outside world, they could use that same imprint to instantly transmit themselves across space and escape.

Beyond that, leaving their marks within the Ascension Platform brought even greater benefits. The two girls were constantly nourished by the platform’s mysterious power, as though they were always sparring upon it. The energy refined their spiritual essence, and from time to time, fragments of profound knowledge—beyond their current comprehension—would flash through their minds.

All in all, by agreeing to the Immortal Nation’s arrangement, Lu Yuliu and Bai Xiaoyao had taken on some added risk—but the rewards were far greater.

As for what truly motivated the two young ladies to accept the deal... that was anyone’s guess.

Meanwhile, Bai Xiaoyao blinked after hearing Lu Yuliu’s reply.

"You’re right. Senior Brother did make plenty of preparations for this Netherkin crisis. Thanks to him, the Immortal Nation’s burden has been greatly reduced."

Compared to worrying about her Senior Brother’s safety, Bai Xiaoyao found herself oddly more concerned about what might happen after the Netherkin chaos was over—specifically, that the Immortal Nation Empress, unable to properly repay her debt of gratitude, might decide to offer herself to him instead...

’That shouldn’t happen... right? Senior Brother and the Empress have only met a few times. This whole thing is just a cooperative arrangement...’

The young demoness lifted her gaze toward the upside-down phantom image of the royal city. Amidst the radiance of countless Nascent Soul and Divine Transformation realm spells, even her sharp eyesight couldn’t discern where the Empress currently was. So she turned her attention toward the glowing screen beside her.

Now that she thought about it, the Empress’s incarnation inside that spatial realm truly was mysterious—utterly indistinguishable from the real one.

She shook her head to clear her thoughts.

"I’ll head back to the southern district to deal with those Netherkin spilling out of the formation there," she said.

Having a chance to battle numerous Netherkins of her own realm without restraint had been quite the boon. She was also planning to test out a new spell of her own creation on them.

But still, something about the Netherkins’ side didn’t sit right with her.

So far, the well-prepared Immortal Nation cultivators had been crushing the Netherkins emerging from the southern formation with overwhelming ease. The fights were one-sided. Especially the Qi Refining realm Netherkins—there were many of them, but against the terrifying weapons produced by the Demon Artifact Pavilion, they didn’t even have a chance to resist.

And yet, the Nether Formation continued to churn out wave after wave of these suicidal low-level Netherkin.

Just as Bai Xiaoyao was about to leave, Lu Yuliu called out to her.

"Wait—I’ll go with you."

Patting the dust off her dress, the young sword cultivator rose gracefully, puffing out her chest with pride.

"I’ve already stabilized the sword sheath. For at least the next hour, there won’t be any problems with the formation. Hmph! Aside from me, there’s probably no one below Nascent Soul realm in the entire world who could manage this. No wonder your Senior Brother specifically emphasized that I be the one to handle it!"

"..."

Bai Xiaoyao opened her mouth as if to say something, but as her gaze involuntarily fell on the proud swell of her friend’s chest, she suddenly remembered that "slip of the tongue" that one of her Demon Artifact Pavilion subordinates had made when mentioning a certain Lu Yuliu’s identity... and for some reason, she decided against speaking.

Forget it, her best friend really had done a good job. Might as well let her enjoy the moment.

The two girls left the formation’s inner area. Outside, a squad of Immortal Nation cultivators stood guard, surrounded by heaps of Netherkin corpses that had tried to break through.

After briefly explaining the situation, the two girls gathered their spiritual energy and soared into the sky toward the southern district, where the Nether Formation was located.

The royal city’s flight restriction for cultivators below the Nascent Soul realm had already been lifted.

But the moment they crossed into the southern area, Bai Xiaoyao suddenly halted midair.

"Stop, something’s wrong."

Even before she spoke, Lu Yuliu had already sensed it. Her expression turned grave as her gaze locked onto the Netherkin-filled direction of the southern formation.

She could feel it—ten powerful auras had appeared there all at once.

’Weaker than that annoying bully... but unless I’m mistaken, these are Netherkins at the peak of the Golden Core realm?’

Ten peak Golden Core realm Netherkins arriving as reinforcements?

That alone wasn’t alarming, there were already more than that number of peak-stage combatants on both sides.

But in the next instant, the ten Netherkins appeared.

They emerged from the thick, sinister fog of nether energy, hovering above the boundary line that divided the battlefield, gazing down coldly upon the chaos below.

All ten had identical appearances—humanoid in shape, with pitch-black skin, disproportionately large heads, and short limbs. Animal-skin garments covered their private parts, while the rest of their bodies were painted with strange golden markings that gleamed like molten metal.

The moment they appeared, those golden symbols lit up. From their mouths came a series of bizarre, guttural syllables.

The Immortal Nation cultivators who heard them felt an icy dread surge through their hearts. One of the peak stage Golden Core experts immediately snapped out of his daze and moved to stop them, but the Netherkins’ own Golden Core elites suddenly went mad, throwing themselves into suicidal attacks to block the humans’ advance.

That moment’s delay was enough.

The ten strange creatures above finished their preparation.

"Uwa-hala!"

The one with the most golden markings raised its hands and cried out loudly.

In the next moment, the other nine followed in perfect unison—

"Uwa-hala!"

Down on the battlefield, the cultivators who were still clashing with the Netherkins suddenly shuddered violently, goosebumps spreading across their skin.

Then, they widened their eyes in shock.

In the eyes of the cultivators, the Netherkin corpses that had already fallen lifeless to the ground suddenly began to emit eerie wisps of white light.

From within that ghostly glow came shrill, tormented wails—like the cries of malevolent spirits echoing out of the underworld itself.

In an instant, the entire southern district of the royal city seemed to transform into a haunted realm of death and ghosts.

. . .

"Hehehe~ so many offerings prepared in advance—finally, they can be put to use."

"I’d like to see how the Immortal Nation’s low-level cultivators intend to resist the spirit fiends born from the Lich sacrificial soul ritual!"

High above the royal city, in the battlefield of the Divine Transformation realm combatants, the peacock Netherkin in blue robes smiled cruelly. Its face, delicate and androgynous like that of a woman, twisted with satisfaction.

Beside it, the burly black bear Netherkin covered in earthen markings swung its massive paw, scattering lightning in all directions, and gave a slow nod of agreement.

Spirit fiends were abominations forged by the Liches through the sacrifice of countless fresh souls. They resembled vengeful ghosts, but unlike ordinary spirits, they feared neither sunlight nor yang energy. Ordinary spells had little to no effect on them, and their ferocity was unmatched.

The Immortal Nation cultivators might be protected by the sheath of the Human Emperor Sword, but even that had its limits.

All it would take was enough casualties on the Immortal Nation side to break through those limits.

And once born, a spirit fiend could exist for seven days—seven full days of near-immortality, during which it would serve as the perfect executioner.

What’s worse, spirit fiends carried the will of the Lich who created them. Even if the Lich were slain, the spirit fiends would continue to exist, entirely unaffected.

Given that, how could a group of cultivators below the Nascent Soul realm possibly come up with an effective countermeasure in such a short time?

The only drawback was that the sacrificial offerings had been relatively weak, and the Liches power limited—so at most, they could create around thirty Golden Core realm spirit fiends.

But that was more than enough.

’These Liches are a new clan the Netherking has been secretly nurturing for the past three years. Even among the Netherland major players, few know of their existence. The Immortal Nation couldn’t possibly have prepared for this!’

Unless, by some miracle, one of the lower-realm cultivators below happened to possess an exceedingly rare Soul-Dividing Artifact—but that was impossible. Even the Immortal Nation itself might not have a single one.

Qing Yan turned its gaze toward the Immortal Nation Empress, who stood silent and composed, guarded on both sides by two Divine Transformation realm cultivators.

"Hahaha~ proud little Empress of the Immortal Nation. Weren’t you feeling quite pleased with yourself earlier? Very well, we won’t attack you. Just stand there and watch as your ’ants’ are slaughtered by our Netherkin—"

"Ah, so that’s what the Liches and the so-called spirit fiends look like."

The peacock Netherkin’s gloating was cut short by the calm, almost indifferent voice of the Immortal Nation Empress.

Her tone wasn’t loud, yet no Divine Transformation realm cultivator could possibly miss her words.

Her eyes, serene and unreadable, gazed through layers of radiant spells at the turmoil below.

’It’sjust as he predicted... and that girl, Lu Yuliu, has reached the southern district as well. The Human Emperor Sword’s sword sheath has been fully stabilized, just as he said it would be.’

A faint light flickered in the Empress’s eyes.

If not for the problem with her Mortal Alter Ego, she might have felt far more at ease right now.

She could still sense that her Mortal Alter Ego hadn’t been destroyed, but the unease in her heart was growing stronger by the moment, as though this disappearance might somehow affect even her other Alter Ego.

At a time like this... if only Daddy were here—

’—Daddy?’

The Empress froze.

Why did that word suddenly surface in her mind when she thought of that man?

What nonsense!

"Your Majesty?"

"Why," she asked evenly, "do you believe that We would be ignorant of your Netherkin race’s arrangement? And why would you think We would come unprepared?"

Her tone was tranquil as ever, her expression composed and unshaken.

The peacock Netherkin—Qing Yan—sharply narrowed its eyes.

How?!

The existence of the Lich was a secret held tightly by the Netherking.

How could this Immortal Nation Empress possibly know of them, much less the name spirit fiend itself?

Could it be... the Immortal Nation had actually prepared a way to counter them?

It was no wonder the peacock’s composure faltered. It didn’t even think to deny or mock her words.

From the very start of this uprising, every move the Netherkin race made had been met with a precise and preemptive response from the Immortal Nation—as if everything they did was already within the Empress’s grasp.

’That useless flood dragon—why hasn’t it appeared yet? Wasn’t it supposed to act after completing the Netherking’s orders, to force the Immortal Nation into revealing their trump cards?’

A sense of dread welled in the peacock Netherkin’s chest. Instinctively, it glanced down toward the city below—and what it saw made its heart freeze.

A spirit fiend, born of the Lich’ dark sacrifice, hovered there like a giant pale specter, gripping a scythe forged from the same ghostly substance as its body.

But instead of rampaging across the battlefield, that monstrous weapon of war was trembling—actually recoiling in fear.

The reason soon became clear.

Two young girls were already in motion.

One of them spread her fingers, sending out countless fine threads that instantly halted the movements of the surrounding Netherkin.

The other dashed forward without hesitation, her sword radiating light that contained endless, shifting variations.

Finally, her sword tip came to rest against the spirit fiend’s brow.

Hiss

The sound was almost pitifully small.

The spirit fiend’s vast, ghastly form deflated like a punctured balloon, shriveling and collapsing into nothing within moments.

And beneath the fading sword-light, what she held in her hand was finally revealed—a simple-looking wooden sword.

A Soul-Dividing Artifact.

Qing Yan’s vision went black.

. . .

"Woooooaaah!"

In the southern district of the royal city, the Immortal Nation’s lower-realm cultivators erupted into cheers.

When the spirit fiends first appeared, the Immortal Nation forces had quickly attempted to counter them, only to discover those twisted creatures were impervious to every spell and technique they tried.

Within mere seconds, hundreds of cultivators had been struck down.

If not for the protective power of the Human Emperor Sword’s sheath, the casualties would have been catastrophic.

But everyone knew even that Divine Artifact had its limits.

Facing thirty Golden Core realm foes that could not be harmed, despair had already begun to spread through their ranks.

When one of their own Golden Core elites finally managed to slay a Lich, only to realize it made no difference at all, that despair turned near-total.

Then, two figures descended like saviors.

"One strike! That thing died with just one sword strike!"

"They are... the girl in white—that’s the Demon Sect Holy Maiden!"

"And the one beside her... wait, I’ve seen her before!"

"I know! I went to the northern district just now to restock ammo—she was the one stabilizing the royal city formation with Her Majesty’s Human Emperor Sword sheath! She’s the one that Demon Artifact Pavilion guy accidentally called... the ’Pavilion Head Wife’?"

"So one’s the Demon Sect Holy Saint’s Junior Sister, and the other’s... ha, no wonder! Both of them are connected to that man!"

"As expected of the Demon Sect Holy Saint’s lover!"

Above the battlefield, before a drifting cloud of dissipating white mist—

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