Cultivation Begins From The Desert-Chapter 713 - 697: Battle of Breaking the City [Part 2]
Ice Wave City.
Concealed by the Ten Thousand Ghosts Soul-Devouring Array, Nie Yushuang, who had entered the city multiple times to investigate, had not discovered that hundreds of feet beneath Ice Wave City, nine blood pools had been established.
Each of these nine blood pools is dozens of feet wide, filled with the blood of tens of thousands of cultivators and millions of mortals from Ice Wave City.
The pools are constructed entirely from a jade-like blood-red stone, carved with countless dark golden runes, and in the center of each pool stands a tall Blood Banner, emitting ominous light, with the faint image of a ferocious evil ghost emerging on it.
When the Nether Bone Old Demon crushed the bone talisman in his hand on the surface, the Blood Robe Elder who was meditating by a blood pool underground suddenly opened his eyes.
"Can't even hold on for such a short period? That old fool Nether Bone truly is useless!"
The Blood Robe Elder frowned, eyes full of disdain as he muttered a curse, then stood up and contemplated the Blood Banner in the pool.
"Oh well, since I gained so many benefits this time, if I don't spill some blood, it won't be easy to explain to the masters over there. After all, there are still things we'll need their help with in the future!"
He muttered to himself, then suddenly waved his hand, and the Blood Banner in front of him flew into his hand.
He grabbed the Blood Banner in one hand, clenched his fist in the other, and struck his chest heavily, spitting out a large mouthful of essence blood onto the Blood Banner.
Immediately, the ghostly figure on the Blood Banner revealed its true form.
Once the evil ghost revealed its true form, it opened its gaping mouth and swallowed the essence blood sprayed by the Blood Robe Elder in one gulp.
After swallowing this mass of essence blood, the evil ghost seemed unsatisfied, its crimson eyes continuing to gaze at the Blood Robe Elder with greed.
Seeing this, the Blood Robe Elder's face darkened, and he coldly scolded the ghost, "You wretched creature, do not act so presumptuously! Quickly, come out and serve me!"
The ghost showed a trace of anger on its face, glaring viciously at the Blood Robe Elder, ready to devour him.
The Blood Robe Elder, unfazed, shouted in anger, "Fine, you defiant creature! If you don't know how to appreciate kindness and only accept harshness, don't blame this ancestor for being merciless!"
As soon as he finished speaking, the Blood Robe Elder formed a Dharma Seal and began reciting a spell.
As the Blood Robe Elder chanted, the Blood Evil Demon Light on the Blood Banner began to rapidly shrink back into it.
This made the ghost within the banner look as if it was undergoing extreme torture, its face contorted in a silent scream, the once fierce eyes showing only fear and pleading.
The Blood Robe Elder, seeing this, felt pleased, yet continued chanting without pause.
He had to teach this ghost a profound lesson; otherwise, it would not learn and might act out again in the future.
Only when the ghost was tormented to the point of nearly losing its form did he stop chanting and looked coldly at the ghost without speaking.
The ghost having learned its lesson, needed no further orders from the Blood Robe Elder. After a brief recovery, it leapt out of the banner, diving straight into the blood pool.
Immediately, like lava hitting water, the entire pool of blood bubbled and surged from the ghost's entry.
Visibly, the level of the blood in the pool quickly fell as it bubbled and surged, and the bright red blood rapidly faded.
Soon, the once overflowing blood was reduced to half a pool of clear water.
In the crystal-clear water, a blood-haired evil ghost, seven zhang tall, had fully formed.
The Blood Robe Elder, seeing this, tossed the Blood Banner forward, and it turned into a streak of blood light, embedding itself into the blood-haired evil ghost.
Then he looked at the blood-haired evil ghost, whose aura surged from the banner within, and ordered in a deep voice, "Go, you know what to do next!"
Roar!
The blood-haired evil ghost let out a low growl, turned its crimson eyes to look at the Blood Robe Elder once more, and then quickly transformed into a streak of blood light, vanishing from this underground space.
Moments later, above another blood pool, the blood-haired evil ghost's figure appeared out of thin air.
It glanced at another Blood Banner standing in the pool, let out a howl, pulled out the Blood Banner, and gave it a forceful shake.
In an instant, a phantom of a malicious ghost leapt out from within the Blood Banner, and then, using the power of the Blood Pool, it reshaped its ghostly body, becoming a seven-zhang tall blood-haired evil ghost.
At this time, the first blood-haired evil ghost also imitated the Blood-Haired Old Ancestor by fiercely throwing its own Blood Banner, allowing it to merge into the newly formed blood-haired evil ghost.
Afterwards, the two blood-haired evil ghosts exchanged a few roars with each other and then went their separate ways to the remaining seven Blood Pools in the city.
About half an hour later, nine blood-haired evil ghosts of almost identical appearance suddenly appeared on the battlefield within the city, launching a surprise attack on the cultivators fighting inside the city.
These blood-haired evil ghosts appeared so suddenly and without any prior signs, coupled with their formidable strength and strange methods, each possessing power close to that of a Mid-Stage Nascent Soul Cultivator.
As a result, the moment they appeared on the battlefield, several Nascent Soul Cultivators were injured due to their intervention, with some even perishing on the spot!
At that time, Zhouyang was assisting Xu Tianlin in dealing with a corpse demon cultivator possessing Late-Stage Nascent Soul cultivation.
This corpse demon cultivator not only had a Seventh-Layer Nascent Soul cultivation but had also refined a 'Golden Armor Corpse King' with strength comparable to a Late-Stage Nascent Soul Cultivator, making him extremely powerful.
Although Xu Tianlin practiced a Great Divine Technique called 'Purifying Spirit Profound Light' which restrains demonic divine techniques, he could only manage to hold a draw with him.
When the 'Nine Nether White Bone Array' was launched, two White Bone Demon Kings came to aid the corpse demon cultivator, putting Xu Tianlin at a disadvantage instead.
Having rescued Lv Hongyi, a Beiting Continent cultivator, Zhouyang was nearby the battlefield where Xu Tianlin was, so he came over to help.
Unexpectedly, just as he helped Xu Tianlin refine the two White Bone Demon Kings and was preparing to take down the corpse demon cultivator, two blood-haired evil ghosts suddenly appeared on the battlefield and launched a surprise attack on him and Xu Tianlin.
The situation was quite perilous at the time; the sudden appearance of the blood-haired evil ghosts was accompanied by Granny Ma secretly manipulating the 'Ten Thousand Ghosts Soul-Devouring Array' to obscure and suppress the perception of Zhouyang and others, causing even cultivators with powerful divine senses like him and Xu Tianlin to fail in detecting the approaching danger beforehand.
By the time they realized something was amiss, the blood-haired evil ghosts had already appeared just a few zhang behind them.
For Nascent Soul Cultivators, a distance of a few zhang is almost like face-to-face proximity.
Zhouyang was fortunate to be wearing the 'Exorcism Treasure Robe.' As the blood-haired evil ghost's sharp ghost claw reached for his back, the golden spell texts on the robe, stimulated by the evil aura, automatically flew out, emitting dazzling golden light to protect him.
The blood-haired evil ghost didn't expect its chosen target to be so difficult. Its outstretched ghost claw was illuminated by the golden light, and immediately melted like ice under a scorching sun; over half of its arm was burned and purified into a cloud of red smoke, and its ghost body began to rapidly disintegrate with a sizzling sound.
This frightened it tremendously; after a howl, it transformed into a blood light to hastily retreat, not stopping until it was thousands of zhang away to reveal its form again. 𝘧𝑟𝑒𝑒𝘸𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝘷𝑒𝓁.𝘤𝘰𝓂
Then, with blood light surging around it, using the power of the blood banner within its body, it repaired the lost ghost claw and the eroded wounds on its body.
Having done all this, it glanced at Zhouyang with eyes full of fear and resentment, and unexpectedly, it directly transformed into a blood light and left this battlefield, instead heading towards other battlefields in the city, fleeing without a fight!
As for Xu Tianlin, although he didn't have a protective treasure like Zhouyang's 'Exorcism Treasure Robe,' his cultivation was immensely superior, allowing him to detect the blood-haired evil ghost attempting to ambush him earlier than Zhouyang.
Hence, when the blood-haired evil ghost prepared to assassinate him, he instead first activated the 'Purifying Spirit Profound Light' divine technique to force it out, then waved his hand to summon a azure 'Wood God Thunder' which struck the blood-haired evil ghost.
Although not an advanced secret technique, 'Wood God Thunder' unleashed by Xu Tianlin, an Eighth-Layer Nascent Soul cultivator, exhibited power unmatched by when wielded by a Golden Core Stage cultivator.
The blood-haired evil ghost was struck by his Thunder Technique, its body cracked open, only able to recover thanks to the blood banner within providing power to prevent it from shattering entirely. It dared not strike him again, mimicking the other blood-haired evil ghost in ambushing Zhouyang by proceeding to other battlefields.
However, these two blood-haired evil ghosts served some purpose; at the very least, their interference allowed the corpse demon cultivator a reprieve, seizing the opportunity to rescue the 'Golden Armor Corpse King' trapped by Zhouyang's 'Fire Dragon Shield.'
This 'Golden Armor Corpse King' had been refined by this demonic cultivator as a lifebound spiritual artifact for over a thousand years, possessing even greater divine techniques than the 'Profound Armored Celestial Corpse' Zhouyang had dealt with earlier. Its well-tempered corpse king body possessed some "Undying Body" capabilities, quickly restoring damage by absorbing demonic magical power or Yin Sha Demonic Qi.
In Ice Wave City, which had turned into a demon realm, unless Zhouyang could trap it as he did with the 'Profound Armored Celestial Corpse' and continuously refine it with 'Qianyang True Flame,' there was almost no way to kill the fiend.
Zhouyang had managed to use the 'Fire Dragon Shield' to temporarily trap it, preparing to refine it while Xu Tianlin held off the demon cultivator, but the intervention of the two blood-haired evil ghosts caused that opportunity to slip away.
Now that the two troublemaking ghosts fled the battlefield, and the demon cultivator reclaimed his lifebound demon corpse, all the previous efforts were in vain, making both Zhouyang and Xu Tianlin's expressions quite grim.
"Fellow Daoist Zhou, those two blood-haired evil ghosts just now must be means of the Blood Demon Dao. Once these demon cultivators unleash their hidden stratagems, it surely won't stop there. Perhaps you should go aid other fellow Daoists here; leave this to Xu," Xu Tianlin suggested, glancing with displeasure at the direction of the fleeing blood-haired evil ghosts, then turned to speak privately to Zhouyang with a transmission of sound.
He clearly saw that even if Zhouyang continued to stay and help him, the two of them together could scarcely defeat and kill the corpse demon cultivator in a short period.
Moreover, with the appearance of the blood-haired evil ghosts, other cultivators who entered the city were likely at risk.
In this case, rather than wasting time here with Zhouyang, it would be better to first let Zhouyang go save others.
Zhouyang understood this reasoning too, so upon hearing the transmission, he only pondered for a moment before nodding and saying, "What Master Xu said makes sense, so I shall go help other fellow Daoists first."
After saying this, he put away his magical artifact and directly pursued in the direction where the Blood-haired Evil Ghost that had previously ambushed him went.
The Corpse Demon Dao cultivator, seeing this scene, hesitated for a moment in his eyes, but ultimately did not stop Zhouyang from leaving.
His task was to keep Xu Tianlin occupied, preventing him from breaking free to help others.
So even though he knew that other demonic cultivators would certainly be in trouble after Zhouyang left, he did not have the noble courage to sacrifice himself for others and willingly increase his own burden.
Actually, Xu Tianlin was right; because of the appearance of the Blood-haired Evil Ghosts, the cultivators' side, which originally held an advantage in Demon City, suddenly faced a drastic reversal of the situation.
Perhaps for him and Zhouyang, the Blood-haired Evil Ghosts weren't particularly difficult adversaries.
However, for many other cultivators, these Blood-haired Evil Ghosts were truly life-taking fiends.
The various demonic sects each had their strengths, with the Blood Demon Dao excelling in recovery and speed.
Those Blood-haired Evil Ghosts might not seem powerful, but they possessed recovery abilities akin to the Golden Armor Corpse King.
As long as they weren't killed in one blow or exhausted of their Blood Banner's power, they could swiftly recover their injuries and strength by absorbing the power of the Blood Banner within them.
This ability allowed them to fight fearlessly with enemies, exchanging injury for injury in desperate combat.
When Zhouyang chased that Blood-haired Evil Ghost to a battlefield, he saw a Nascent Soul Stage cultivator with the surname Wang, who had come to the Beiting Continent cultivation realm to aid alongside him, being torn open defensively by another Blood-haired Evil Ghost, even having his Nascent Soul pulled from his body.
Usually, when a cultivator's Nascent Soul leaves the body, it can immediately activate the teleportation technique to escape.
But once that cultivator's Nascent Soul was grabbed by the Blood-haired Evil Ghost, it was directly contaminated by the Blood Evil Demon Light emanating from it, losing even the ability to perform the teleportation technique, not to mention the potential to self-destruct the Nascent Soul.
The Nascent Soul cultivator thought he was doomed, but upon seeing Zhouyang, he cried out for help with all his might, clinging to desperate hope like a drowning person to a lifeline.
"Fellow Daoist Zhou, save me! Fellow Daoist Zhou... ah..."
The cries for help quickly turned into screams of agony.
Before Zhouyang could act to save him, the Blood-haired Evil Ghost had already stuffed the Nascent Soul into its mouth and started to chew.
Since the Nascent Soul is a pure energy form, it wouldn't produce any sound, but Zhouyang knew this didn't mean the pain inflicted on the Nascent Soul was less severe than if a physical body were chewed; in fact, it would be exponentially more intense.
Because the cultivator's Primordial Spirit had long fused with the Nascent Soul, as the evil ghost chewed and destroyed the Nascent Soul, it was equivalent to tearing apart the Primordial Spirit, a pain surpassing even the splitting of the Divine Soul during the refining of an external incarnation.
It's hopeless!
Zhouyang looked at the Nascent Soul that could only scream in despair within the mouth of the Blood-haired Evil Ghost, shook his head slightly, knowing this person was beyond salvation.
Even if he could immediately rescue him from the Blood-haired Evil Ghost's mouth, the collapse of his Nascent Soul could not be reversed; at best, it would be marginally better than being devoured outright, allowing him to self-dissolve into meditation to retain a sliver of True Spirit to enter the Netherworld.
He no longer looked at the Blood-haired Evil Ghost and the Nascent Soul of the Wang-named Nascent Soul cultivator, but turned his gaze to the only other living person present aside from himself.
She was an exquisitely beautiful woman, at first glance appearing as a mature thirty-year-old beauty, but upon closer inspection seemed like a youthful eighteen or nineteen-year-old, and with another look, she appeared to be a lady in her early twenties!
Regardless of her appearance, she was immensely beautiful and alluring, enough to stir unbecoming thoughts in any normal man who saw her.
Even Zhouyang was no exception.
But Zhouyang was fortunate in that, while momentarily dazzled by her beauty, he was not enchanted by this Charm Technique emanating naturally from her, maintaining a clear mind throughout.
"It's said that within the Illusion Demon Dao, there are two factions, one specializing in Illusion and Hidden Killing Techniques, capable of transforming into the likeness of anyone or any creature to approach others, then striking in a lethal blow; the other specializes in Illusion and Enchantment Skills, preferring to transform into one's beloved to charm others, even to the point of making them willingly sacrifice themselves!"
"Judging by your appearance, Fellow must belong to the latter faction. I reckon Fellow Daoist Wang was charmed by you, hence allowing the evil ghost to catch him unawares!"
Zhouyang's eyes were icy as he looked at the woman, revealing her identity and origins without a hint of emotion.
Among the various Demon Dao sects, the Illusion Demon Dao has the smallest influence and threat. They do not need, like the Corpse Demon Dao cultivators, to use the corpses of cultivators to refine demon corpses; nor do they, like the Ghost Demon Dao cultivators, extract the divine souls of cultivators to refine evil ghosts; nor do they, like the Blood Demon Dao cultivators, absorb the essence blood of cultivators for practice; nor do they, like the White Bone Demon Dao cultivators, use the bones of cultivators for practice and artifact sacrifice.
Zhouyang is least afraid of the Illusion Demon Dao cultivators.
His Divine Sense has always been far superior to his peers, he has numerous protective talismans, and his physical defense is exceedingly strong, making it difficult for the tactics of Illusion Demon Dao cultivators to work on him.
When confronting Illusion Demon Dao cultivators, the main concern is how to keep them from escaping, as these demon cultivators are even better at escape than the Blood Demon Dao cultivators.
Despite this, he had never encountered a cultivator from the Illusion Demon Dao before.
Clearly, these were things that the female demon from the Illusion Demon Dao did not know.
She knew Zhouyang mastered the Qianyang True Flame, a kind of Demon Refining Fire, but so what?
Though the Demon Refining Fire is formidable, it cannot affect her Charm and Enchantment Skill at all, nor can it harm her, who is skilled in Clone Illusion Techniques.
So when Zhouyang exposed her identity, she instead gave Zhouyang a coquettish smile, charmingly laughing, "Hehehe, Fellow Daoist Zhou seems to understand me quite well, could it be that you've had your eye on me for a while? If so, what an honor for me!"
"Foolish!"
With a reprimand escaping Zhouyang's lips, a flash of fire appeared in his eyes, and two beams of golden-red light shot out, landing on an empty spot.
Instantly, from that supposedly empty spot, a woman's scream sounded as she appeared from her invisible state.
"Mere tricks, how dare you show off before an expert, be suppressed by me!"
Zhouyang uttered in a low voice, waving his big hand, the Golden Treasure Tower flew across the sky, heading straight to suppress the screaming woman.
Interestingly, during their confrontation, the two blood-haired evil ghosts chose to flee the battlefield, leaving the woman behind without any intention to assist.
However, the woman did have some skills. After being hit by Zhouyang's Silent Extinction Soul-Burning Divine Light, she could still muster her magical power and use her divine techniques. Before the Golden Treasure Tower could fall upon her, she transformed into dozens of shadows and scattered away.
But since Zhouyang decided to act, he wouldn't let her escape so easily.
A flash of white light, and a pale-gold ancient mirror suddenly appeared above Zhouyang's head. The mirror reflected dazzling white light, sweeping over the fleeing shadows of the woman.
Swept by the white mirror light, all the shadows of the woman instantly vanished from Zhouyang's sight, revealing her true self.
"Strike!"
With a low shout from Zhouyang, a flash of purple light appeared in his hand, and a purple-gold ruler, about a foot long, suddenly materialized behind the woman, striking her back directly.
Surprisingly, to Zhouyang, this seemingly lethal strike did not actually kill the woman.
When the Purple Gold Qiankun Ruler landed on her body, a Substitute Life treasure helped her block the fatal blow, leaving behind a shattered human skin spiritual artifact in her stead.
"Golden Cicada Sheds Its Shell, is it? Let's see how many more such treasures you have!"
A cold gleam flashed across Zhouyang's face, and suddenly, a golden lotus treasure lamp floated above his head. Then, he seized a wisp of the woman's remaining magical power and embedded it into the lamp, forming a spell with his hands.
In an instant, on the woman's body, who had escaped thousands of feet away, golden true flames ignited abruptly.
This woman, being decisive, did not panic and attempt to extinguish the golden true flame; instead, she performed a spell, spat a mouthful of essence blood onto herself, and used a transference secret technique to transfer the flame onto her clothes, continuing her naked escape.
Witnessing this, Zhouyang's expression turned a few shades darker.
Though the Qianyang Golden Lamp can attack enemies from afar using their residual aura, it inherently controls the ignited golden true flame weakly since it relies on the enemy's aura as a medium.
The woman's attire bore much of her aura, and aided by her use of demonic secret techniques to transfer the damage, the golden true flame mistook the clothes for her and concentrated all its power there.
Having let the woman slip away repeatedly from lethal attacks, Zhouyang felt a surge of anger swell within him.
He gazed coldly at the woman's silhouette and seemed to decide something, suddenly shouting loudly, "Leave your life for Zhou!"
Before the shout faded, Zhouyang closed his eyes, and an invisible and intangible spiritual sword suddenly crossed the space, dropping onto the woman and piercing directly into her Purple Mansion Nascent Soul.
