Chapter 2416 - 2416: Demonic Essence Qi

Hearing Ye Qing's words, the old man's face immediately changed. He pointed at Ye Qing and exclaimed, "You... you actually dare to come to Shenchuan City!"

Ye Qing's name has now been spread by the Wan Yan family, and the world knows that the Wan Yan family has offered a heavy reward to capture Ye Qing. While everyone was tracking Ye Qing, thinking that Ye Qing would surely hide, Ye Qing unexpectedly ran to Shenchuan City, to the manor of the Wan Yan family. No wonder the old man was shocked, even others couldn't think of such a thing happening.

"What is there to be afraid of?" Ding Lianshun attacked the old man while speaking coldly, "We not only came to Shenchuan City this time but also plan to thoroughly take down your Wan Yan family's manor and sweep away you who collude with tigers!"

While speaking, Ding Lianshun had already attacked consecutively seven times. Although the old man evaded each move, he couldn't avoid Yin Xianzi behind him who struck him heavily on the back with a palm, causing the old man to stagger forward, a trace of blood seeping from the corner of his mouth, indicating internal injuries.

The real strength of the old man, even if stronger than Ding Lianshun, wasn't much stronger. With Ding Lianshun's Carefree Movement Qinggong, the two could at most tie. But with Yin Xianzi added, the two attacking together, the old man's strength fell short. After suffering internal injuries, his strength naturally declined, and soon he was completely subdued by Ding Lianshun and Yin Xianzi, lacking his previous arrogant demeanor.

"This old fellow is really hard to deal with!" Ding Lianshun turned to Ye Qing and said, "Ye Zi, how did you know the flaw in his Protective Gang Qi? Furthermore, what is that Demonic Essence Qi you mentioned earlier?"

Ye Qing said, "I've been to the Demon Hideout Cave many times, so I'm familiar with the situation inside. I've seen records of this Demonic Essence Qi there. The Demonic Essence Qi is a secret technique from the Demon Sect, it's the Inner Strength cultivated to a high level by masters of the Demon Sect. Even if a demon master dies, this Demonic Essence Qi won't dissipate. Should another demon sect individual absorb this Demonic Essence Qi, it allows the formation of such Protective Gang Qi that is hard to breach unless you disrupt the meridians through which the Demonic Essence Qi circulates, otherwise, it's impossible to crack this Demonic Essence Qi!"

Ding Lianshun and Yin Xianzi exchanged a look; although they have also entered the Demon Hideout Cave, they were totally unfamiliar with the happenings inside it. The matter of Demonic Essence Qi was something they were hearing for the first time. However, it wasn't surprising that Ye Qing knew of it, as he had been to the Demon Hideout Cave many times and was quite familiar with it.

"According to what you're saying, there must be countless Demonic Essence Qi left by many former masters of the demon sect. If someone could absorb a lot of Demonic Essence Qi, wouldn't his strength surpass those predecessors?" Yin Xianzi asked.

"Not necessarily!" Ye Qing shook his head, saying, "Demonic Essence Qi is ultimately external force, not produced through one's own efforts. Overreliance on Demonic Essence Qi will only cause one's cultivation level to stagnate. Hence, those who absorb Demonic Essence Qi are usually individuals of average talent within the Demon Sect, unable to significantly advance throughout their lives, relying only on external means to enhance their strength. Truly talented individuals wouldn't absorb Demonic Essence Qi but instead cultivate it themselves. In fact, the so-called Demonic Essence Qi should be the Transformation Power of beyond peerless masters of the Demon Sect. After all, only Transformation Power can exist externally!"

"Is that so?" Ding Lianshun and Yin Xianzi inhaled deeply, turning to look at the old man, saying, "So no wonder we can't breach his Protective Gang Qi, it turns out it's Transformation Power, a beyond peerless strength!"

The old man now knelt on the ground, looked at Ye Qing, and said deeply, "I never thought that the Demonic Essence Qi I diligently cultivated for so many years would be defeated by you. Ye Qing, since you've ruined my divine power, I will not let you off!"

"What do you intend to do?" Ding Lianshun glanced at him, suddenly reached out, and tapped the Qihai Acupoint of the old man.

"What are you doing?" The old man's face changed drastically. The Qihai Acupoint is where a person's Inner Strength resides. If the Qihai Acupoint is damaged, one's Inner Strength is greatly diminished. If the Qihai Acupoint is completely destroyed, one's Inner Strength is entirely gone. The Seventh Elder of Iga-ryu, the Lao Qi of the Yan family, was rendered useless for this reason.

"What do you think I intend to do?" Ding Lianshun's words were followed by a surge of Inner Strength directed at the old man's Qihai Acupoint.

"Ah!" The old man screamed miserably, unable to resist, his Qihai Acupoint was directly crippled by Ding Lianshun.

"You... you've actually ruined me..." The old man fell slowly to the ground, his body rapidly aged. His age wasn't young, without strong enough power preserving it, he would have died of old age. Now, even though he wasn't dead, his body had aged to the extreme and was close to death.

"Who told you to keep shouting about seeking revenge against us…" Ding Lianshun glanced at him, saying, "Instead of letting you seek revenge, better to cripple you directly first!"

"Why do you... why don't you kill me…" the old man said tremblingly, his whole body shivering from anger.

"I am not a butcher, why would I insist on killing people?" Ding Lianshun laughed coldly, saying, "Besides, I find this appropriate too. Someone like you surely has done many bad things. After crippling your Martial Arts now, you'll repent for the evil deeds you committed earlier. I'm actually doing you a favor!"

Listening to Ding Lianshun's words, the old man was so angry that he rolled his eyes, lips trembling yet unable to speak. Rapidly aging, his body began failing like elderly people close to death, drool even started flowing from the corner of his mouth. Being an accomplished master, ending up like this is indeed lamentable.

And similar incidents were happening all around the manor. Now in the Wan Yan Manor, Peak Masters were not many. Ye Qing and a group of people on one hand, Helian Tiehua on the other, intercepted most Peak Masters mid-way, eliminating many. Those who managed to reach the front gate suffered worse, since Nalan Jingwei's forces were even more substantial.

The chaotic battle lasted for about half an hour before the three groups met. They encountered nine Peak Masters in total, three were killed, two had their Martial Arts crippled, four severely wounded and captured. As for other Top-Level Masters, no telling how many died. In any case, after the battle, this manor was completely seized by everyone, the former territory of the World Alliance returned again to Ye Qing and the others.

Nalan Jingwei was most excited. His Nalan family made the boldest entrance through the main gate but, in reality, they didn't face many adversaries, thus the Nalan family barely suffered any loss while gaining fame, exactly the outcome Nalan Jingwei desired.

"Everyone worked hard for this battle, but our efforts were worth it. This time we achieved a great victory and finally avenged our brothers who died at the hands of the Wan Yan family!" Nalan Jingwei shouted from a high place, trying to win over hearts at this moment. However, Ye Qing and Helian Tiehua and their allies were not easily swayed by him.

Ye Qing and Helian Tiehua ignored Nalan Jingwei. They were busy counting the Peak Masters they had encountered. When they calculated, they found Wanyan Hongsheng was not among them, which surprised both Ye Qing and Helian Tiehua.

Currently, the Wan Yan family is governed by Wanyan Hongsheng. It was logical for him to hide in Shenchuan City after suffering losses at Panlong Valley last time. But why wasn't Wanyan Hongsheng found in this battle? Did he leave amid chaos?

Due to Wanyan Hongsheng's special status and crucial position, Ye Qing and Helian Tiehua had no time to hear Nalan Jingwei's boasting, but left the manor with several masters to search for Wanyan Hongsheng. Yet, after circling around the vicinity, they couldn't find Wanyan Hongsheng, leading to a disappointed return. Without finding Wanyan Hongsheng, the victory couldn't be deemed complete.

In fact, while Ye Qing and others were searching around, several people were hiding in a basement of a room in the main building. Leading them was none other than Wanyan Hongsheng.

Wanyan Hongsheng didn't fail to return to the Wan Yan Manor, he returned a long time ago. Upon noticing the unfavorable situation, he decisively led people to hide in the basement. This basement was dug by the Wan Yan family after gaining control of the World Alliance's manor, so even Ye Qing wasn't aware of its existence, allowing Wanyan Hongsheng to escape a disaster.

The basement has ventilation and can clearly hear events outside. Wanyan Hongsheng and others hiding inside listened to the chaotic fighting outside, their hearts pounding. Even as the sound of fighting stopped, their racing hearts didn't calm. Nalan Jingwei's voice revealed the situation outside, making them afraid to leave, knowing they'd face certain death.

Listening to Nalan Jingwei boasting outside about his leadership defeating the Wan Yan family, Wanyan Hongsheng couldn't stop gritting his teeth. He clenched his fists, gritting his teeth, saying, "Nalan Jingwei, while the Wan Yan family wasn't seeking trouble with you, you instead bullied us first. When my big brother returns from the Sword Saint Sect, the first task will be to destroy your Nalan family, and I will personally scatter Nalan Jingwei's bones to ashes!"