Cultivation Begins From The Desert-Chapter 715 - 699: Battle of the Siege [End]

Boom! Boom! Boom!

Violent explosions repeatedly erupted from within the Demon City, with flames soaring skyward, incredibly dazzling.

Zhouyang's taunt of "beast" completely ignited the fury of that Demon Dao Demonic Cultivator.

Demonic cultivators who cultivate the Demon Dao usually have compelling reasons for doing so—not all, but at least most. As such, they are extremely sensitive to this aspect.

Moreover, the fusion of monster body and human soul makes their temperament easily influenced by beastly characteristics, becoming irritable and cruel, unable to endure much grievance.

Zhouyang's direct taunt pierced the reverse scale in his heart, how could he bear it?

This demon indeed had some skills.

The demon beast he possessed was unknown, granting him a teleportation-like small-range relocation divine technique, allowing him to easily appear anywhere within a twenty-mile radius.

Additionally, the bone staff demon artifact in his hand was quite extraordinary. Once it hit a target, it unleashed a peculiar shock force, not only dispersing the power infused by enemies into their magical artifacts but also effectively countering shielding divine techniques.

Combined with his extraordinarily powerful demonic body, the synergy of the three created an unparalleled might, almost flawless.

Zhouyang initially underestimated the danger and suffered quite a bit, almost having his defense broken and his head smashed by that bone staff.

But once he understood the profoundness of this demon's divine abilities, he immediately thought of a way to deal with it.

At that time, he first summoned the Qianyang Golden Tower to hover above his head, casting down golden light to protect himself, luring the demon to attack.

When the demon used the teleportation divine technique to appear beside him again and raised the bone staff to strike, Zhouyang suddenly transformed into a half-human, half-dragon, roaring as he raised his fists to block the descending bone staff.

The demon was unprepared for such a counterattack. In a panic, he tried to use the divine technique to retreat again.

But at that moment, a violet-blue four-legged treasure cauldron suddenly appeared. The four-clawed flood dragon on the cauldron raised its head and roared, spreading a space-restricting power that instantly rendered the teleportation divine technique useless and caused the demon's entire body to plummet rapidly to the ground.

The previously flustered demon was further terrified, soul almost escaping his body.

He was not afraid of injuries from the fall; given the robustness of his body, that was impossible.

However, as a Nascent Soul Stage Demonic Cultivator, he knew all too well what losing the ability to fly meant.

After all, he was a battle-hardened Nascent Soul Stage Cultivator. Despite his current panic, his battle instincts prompted him to make the correct response.

As his body fell, his entire body, covered in thick and long fur like steel cables, instantly tangled and intertwined, quickly weaving into a fur armor covering him. Simultaneously, his entire body erupted with demonic qi, faintly forming a jet-black True Demon projection to shield himself.

Yet he still underestimated Zhouyang's true power.

With a flash of lightning, an external incarnation summoned by Zhouyang unknown when had already sacrificed the Wood Thunder Element Token, unleashing a sky full of thunder towards the demon.

The True Demon projection was shattered after a few struggles under the onslaught of "Wood God Thunder," and the remaining thunder that fell on the demon made his whole body tremble, causing him to let out painful and angry howls.

But it was not over yet.

"Fall!"

In the sky, Zhouyang let out a low command, pointing at the demonic cultivator about to crash into the ground, and the golden treasure tower hovering above began to descend, with the tower door wide open, pressing down on the demonic cultivator.

Rumble!

After an earth-shattering loud noise, a small mountain tens of feet high collapsed into flat ground.

In the flattened ground, half of the golden treasure tower sank into the earth while half remained exposed, the entire tower ablaze with golden light, shaking incessantly, as if striving to suppress something.

In the sky, Zhouyang, seeing this, couldn't help but scoff coldly, "Hmph, once inside my treasure tower, how could you escape? Be refined!"

Before his voice fell, a golden lotus treasure lamp was cast from above, landing directly into the golden treasure tower.

Then, inside the tower, flames suddenly blazed brightly, and the heart-wrenching screams of the demon cultivator erupted.

When a demon cultivator was trapped by Zhouyang, facing the refinement of the Qianyang True Flame, a fire for refining demons, almost no one could survive.

This demon cultivator from the Demon Demon Dao might have some trump card or technique that he hadn't used, but once he was trapped inside the Qianyang Golden Tower, the final outcome was already determined.

From the moment this demon cultivator launched an attack against Zhouyang, less than a quarter of an hour had passed.

In such a short span of time, he had taken down an opponent with the same cultivation level as himself—this scene, in the eyes of the Blood Robe Ancestor, was truly shocking.

As a fellow demon cultivator, he was well aware of the strength of that demon cultivator from the Demon Demon Dao; previously, during the attack on the Liuyun Continent Cultivation Realm, this demon had killed an Early-Stage Nascent Soul cultivator in direct combat, preventing the opponent's Nascent Soul from escaping.

But when this powerful demon cultivator encountered Zhouyang, who was also only at the Early-Stage Nascent Soul cultivation level, he was taken down in less than a quarter of an hour.

This change truly left the Blood Robe Ancestor puzzled.

Was Zhouyang's strength too overwhelming, or had he overestimated the strength of that demon cultivator from the Demon Demon Dao?

He looked at Zhouyang, who was focused on refining the demon cultivator inside the tower, with a gaze full of dread, and a retreating intention already formed in his heart.

No matter which situation it was, with the loss of a helper now, he could no longer contend with Master Cyan Yang and Zhouyang together. 𝘧𝓇ℯ𝑒𝓌𝑒𝑏𝓃𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘭.𝒸ℴ𝓂

Once Zhouyang finished refining that demon cultivator from the Demon Demon Dao, it wouldn't be easy for him to leave.

The Blood Robe Ancestor, having survived to present as a demon cultivator, certainly knew what to do at this moment.

And because he didn't conceal this, Master Cyan Yang, upon noticing it, became greatly indignant, feeling underestimated and insulted.

Originally, he always considered himself a senior in front of Zhouyang, and now, to enhance his prestige in the Exotic Realm, he had even persuaded fellow sect members to agree to take many Demon Subduing Artifacts from the Ancestor Hall.

But now, while the two were jointly exterminating demons, Zhouyang, as the junior, had already taken down his opponent, whereas his opponent dared to be distracted by others during the fight, causing him great anger.

He cared about his reputation!

"Arrogant demon! While fighting with me, you dare to be distracted? Do you truly think I can't handle you?"

Master Cyan Yang shouted loudly, suddenly forming a spell with both hands, which immediately caused the Demon Subduing Treasure, the Great Sun Golden Wheel, under his control, to shine with intense golden light and erupt with fierce Yang Flame Power toward the Blood Robe Ancestor.

Under the sweeping force of this domineering and fierce Yang Flame Power, the Blood Robe Ancestor's attack and protective artifacts, as well as his physical magical power, all emitted a blood-red mist, as if being roasted by flames.

"Ahhh, it's killing the Ancestor! You damn bastards, one day the Ancestor will dig up your Profound Sun Immortal Sect's ancestral tombs, and refine all those old guys who made these Demon Subduing Treasures into blood corpses under his control!"

The Blood Robe Ancestor couldn't help but scream in agony and frustration as he desperately injected magical power into the blood robe he wore, igniting a dense blood light to protect himself from the Yang Flame Power's burns.

But this was undoubtedly a futile effort, treating the symptoms rather than the root cause.

The Great Sun Golden Wheel, this artifact, had been enshrined in the Ancestor Hall of the Profound Sun Immortal Sect for countless years, usually kept within a special array to absorb and store Solar Essence Qi, and when used, it only required the cultivator to use a small amount of magical power to transform the stored Solar Essence Qi into various divine techniques to defeat enemies.

Master Cyan Yang had now transformed several portions of the stored Solar Essence Qi into Yang Flame Power, and the Blood Robe Ancestor's attempt to block it with just a protective blood robe was impossible.

Amid the confrontation between the two, the blood robe that the Blood Robe Ancestor wore, made from the skin of a Nascent Soul stage cultivator, soon faded rapidly and showed holes.

Seeing this, the Blood Robe Ancestor finally stopped hesitating, and immediately pointed to the blood robe, sacrificing the artifact completely to unleash its full power, releasing even more concentrated blood light to protect himself, then transformed into a blood shadow to escape.

However, Master Cyan Yang was well-versed in dealing with Blood Demon Dao cultivators and had prepared for his Blood Escape Technique.

Just as he initiated the escape technique, a bolt of purple divine lightning struck him, knocking him down from mid-air.

"You damn bastards! I merely don't want to waste effort, do you really think the Ancestor fears you?"

Having been hit by the Profound Sun Purple Sky Divine Thunder, the Blood Robe Ancestor's anger surged to the peak as he glared ferociously at Master Cyan Yang, shouted in anger, and then waved his sleeves, sending several dark red Thunder Pearls towards the Great Sun Golden Wheel.

Seeing this, Master Cyan Yang merely moved his mind, and the golden circular wheel hanging high in the sky suddenly shot several rays of light, detonating all the Thunder Pearls mid-air.

Yet upon witnessing the spreading blood mist magical fog caused by the Thunder Pearl explosions, he inwardly uttered a silent curse for trouble, promptly utilizing the Great Sun Golden Wheel's powers to condense a Yang Flame Firebird to pounce onto the blood mist magical fog.

When the Yang Flame Firebird finally incinerated and purified those bloodlight demonic fogs, the figure of Blood Robe Ancestor had completely vanished from his sight.

"Damn it, that old demon still escaped!"

With a grim expression, Master Cyan Yang cursed hatefully, and could only helplessly put away the Great Sun Golden Wheel, directing his gaze towards Zhouyang.

Zhouyang was almost done refining that demon path demon cultivator by now. Seeing Master Cyan Yang's gaze, he did not speak personally, but rather had his guardian's external incarnation speak on his behalf: "Elder Qingyang, you don't need to worry about this junior. I'll soon finish refining that demon. If you still have strength to fight, you might as well go support other fellow Daoists. I'll join you later."

"Very well, Fellow Daoist Zhou, do be careful on your own. I'll go ahead first."

Master Cyan Yang nodded, took a deep look at Zhouyang's incarnation, and immediately rushed to another battlefield.

At this moment, Master Cyan Yang felt extremely complex.

Despite knowing early on that once Zhouyang succeeded in forming his nascent soul, surpassing him in strength was only a matter of time.

But now that this day had come, truly seeing the gap between them left him feeling melancholic.

The demon path demon cultivator had fought him for quite a while before Zhouyang arrived, and he was well aware of its strength.

Yet Zhouyang easily subdued this demon in merely a quarter of an hour without even employing the Vermilion Bird Fan, a tier seven immortal artifact.

This outcome in Master Cyan Yang's eyes brought forth feelings far more profound than a simple "new wave surpasses the old".

He needed some time to calm his mind. Separating from Zhouyang was clearly more beneficial for soothing his emotions at this time.

Not long after Master Cyan Yang left, the demon path demon cultivator suppressed within the Qianyang Golden Tower by Zhouyang was utterly reduced to ashes through refinement.

Afterward, he stowed away the golden treasure tower and pursued in the direction where Master Cyan Yang had departed.

However, before he reached the battlefield, the demons within the city, as if duly agreed, each employed their techniques to flee from the battlefield.

Soon afterward, not a single trace of a demonic cultivator was left in this Demon City.

"This is not right; this event is very peculiar. It seems these demonic cultivators did not care much about the gains and losses here. They evacuated their disciples early, as if knowing from the start they couldn't hold this place."

Within the Demon City, when the surviving cultivators gathered together, Nie Yushuang, a ninth-layer nascent soul with "half-step true immortal" status, was the first to voice his speculation.

Hearing this, neither Zhouyang nor the others refuted.

It was not because they feared his status, but because the situation was indeed strange and suspicious.

Seeing everyone silent and without any joy of victory, Nie Yushuang suddenly realized he said the wrong thing and should not speak demoralizing words right after the triumph.

He quickly amended, "But everyone need not worry about these demonic cultivators playing any tricks. At the very least, Ice Wave City has indeed been recaptured by us, and the few nascent soul stage demons slain in this battle are indeed true achievements!"

He then immediately bowed deeply to Zhouyang and others who had killed nascent soul stage demonic cultivators in this battle and said sincerely, "Fellow Daoists who slew demons, you have removed a great scourge from the cultivation realm, and I, Nie Yushuang, sincerely thank you on behalf of the innocent cultivators and mortals who died at these demons' hands!"

"Moreover, the various major sects of the Beiting Continent's cultivation realm had long issued a bounty: anyone who can slay a nascent soul stage demon cultivator can redeem a piece of top-grade spirit stone for their merits or receive spiritual objects of equivalent value owned by our various sects!"

Zhouyang promptly leaned his body sideways, unwilling to directly accept the gesture, and humbly said, "Master Nie, you speak too highly of me. Demon extermination and dao protection are everyone's responsibilities. I merely did what I should have done, and truly cannot accept such praise from a fellow Daoist!"

"What Fellow Daoist Zhou said is indeed true. Evil demons and monsters are to be exterminated by all. We came to the Beiting Continent cultivation realm to slay demons not for fame or gain, but for the justice in our hearts and the greater good of the cultivation realm!"

Similarly, having killed a ghost demon path's nascent soul demon cultivator in this battle, Master Cyan Yang also righteously agreed with Zhouyang's words.

Both depended on their strength alone to slay demonic cultivators. As for the other two cultivators who only managed to kill one nascent soul stage demon with combined efforts, whatever they thought, they could only follow along publicly.

While Nie Yushuang wouldn't act like this.

Otherwise, if it's known that upon coming to the Beiting Continent cultivation realm to help them eliminate demonic cultivators, they showed no gesture of appreciation, the enthusiasm of those aiding would certainly diminish greatly.

He then waved his hand and said, "Fellow Daoists need not be so polite. Since the major sects of Beiting Continent's cultivation realm have issued a joint bounty, we're not afraid of fellow Daoists claiming this bounty. We even hope you can slay more demons to help us quell this demonic calamity swiftly!"

"Master Nie is absolutely right, Fellow Daoist Zhou, there's no need for you to be modest. Without your support and that of all fellow Daoists traveling thousands of miles to aid us, who knows how many innocents in the Beiting Continent's cultivation realm might still fall victim to these demons, or how many resources might get plundered by them!"

The cultivator of Beiting Continent, Lv Hongyi, who was saved by Zhouyang earlier, survived thanks to him. At this moment, whether he wanted to return the favor or he had a good relationship with Nie Yushuang, he was the first to come out and support Nie Yushuang's words.

After speaking, perhaps thinking of something else, he sighed with emotion and said, "If we could exchange some treasures for the heads of those demons, how could we begrudge these external belongings!"

At this moment, Xu Tianlin also spoke up, "I think what Fellow Daoist Nie and Fellow Daoist Lv said make sense. Fellow Daoist Zhou and Fellow Daoist Qingyang, you don't need to be modest. We cultivators are the least willing to owe personal favors. If you are too modest, it will only cause Fellow Daoist Nie and others to feel uneasy, and result in unnecessary misunderstandings!"

Zhouyang and others were not completely unmoved by the rewards mentioned by Nie Yushuang; they just didn't want to leave an impression of being driven purely by profit.

Seeing that the moment was about right, after hearing Xu Tianlin's words, Master Cyan Yang's expression changed drastically, and he bowed to him with clasped hands, saying, "Thank you for the reminder, Fellow Daoist Xu. We almost made a big mistake!"

After speaking, he bowed once more to Nie Yushuang, saying, "In this case, we'll accept with gratitude."

"You're being polite, fellow Daoist. This is what everyone deserves!"

Nie Yushuang hurriedly returned the bow without any sign of displeasure.

After discussing the rewards for defeating enemies, another rather heavy topic had to be brought up, which was the handling of the remains and relics of Nascent Soul Stage cultivators who had fallen in this battle.

"Master Xu, these are the remains and relics of Fellow Daoist Wang that Zhou has found. Fellow Daoist Wang was first charmed and entrapped by a female demon from the Illusion Demon Dao, and then besieged by two blood-haired evil ghosts, unfortunately losing his life to one of the blood-haired evil ghosts. When Zhou arrived, he only managed to save his body!"

Zhouyang took out from his storage ring the remains and relics of the Nascent Soul cultivator with the surname Wang, whose Nascent Soul had been devoured by the blood-haired evil ghost. He spoke heavily about the cause of Wang's death while handing them over to Xu Tianlin, the person in charge of the Liuyun Continent Cultivation Realm reinforcement troops.

The cultivators who came to support the Beiting Continent Cultivation Realm this time, regardless of their personalities, were all worthy of respect in terms of great righteousness and integrity.

For these cultivators who sacrificed for the cause of justice, Zhouyang absolutely would not take away their relics; he still had this baseline of integrity.

In fact, including the Beiting Continent cultivator who self-destructed his Nascent Soul, a total of four Nascent Soul cultivators perished this time, among whom only the body of the Nascent Soul cultivator with the surname Wang was brought back by Zhouyang.

Additionally, the remains of another Liuyun Continent Nascent Soul cultivator and another Beiting Continent Nascent Soul cultivator were missing, most likely fallen into the hands of the demonic cultivators who killed them.

The remains of these Nascent Soul cultivators are, for the demonic cultivators, the best cultivation resources. Being able to retrieve them from the demonic cultivators equates to curbing the potential for demonic cultivators to enhance their strength.

"Alas! Didn't expect Fellow Daoist Wang ultimately could not escape this calamity!"

Xu Tianlin looked at the remains and relics of the Nascent Soul cultivator Wang, which Zhouyang had brought out, and couldn't help but sigh long. He had to ask Nie Yushuang to make an ice coffin to store the remains and relics. After the war ended, they would be returned to their sect on their way back to the Liuyun Continent Cultivation Realm.

"These fellow Daoists will not have died in vain. Though they perished at the hands of the demons, they ultimately died to save our Beiting Continent Cultivation Realm. We, the various sects within the Beiting Continent Cultivation Realm, will certainly send a significant compensation to their sects and families, ensuring that their blood was not shed in vain!"

Seeing that the cultivators from the Liuyun Continent Cultivation Realm led by Master Cyan Yang were somewhat low in spirits, Nie Yushuang hurriedly spoke up in a righteous tone about compensation, trying to use this to inspire the cultivators.

However, these words were not very effective for the group of Nascent Soul Stage cultivators.

Besides Zhouyang, the majority of Nascent Soul Stage cultivators present no longer had direct descendants, nor did they have true life-partners.

Therefore, they weren't concerned about whether the descendants that were generations apart or simply the disciples of their sects would receive compensation after their demise.

Furthermore, before coming to the Beiting Continent Cultivation Realm, they had almost all made arrangements for their posthumous affairs, leaving behind most of their wealth at their cave residences, except the treasures they might need.

Even if they perished outside, the inheritance they left behind would be enough for their juniors to use for many years.

The compensation mentioned by Nie Yushuang, in their eyes, was a nice-to-have but not something they particularly valued.

They simply hoped to survive and go back to continue being high-ranking and carefree Nascent Soul Ancestors, instead of perishing in an exotic realm, their bones never to be found!

In the end, it was still Zhouyang who felt that this atmosphere couldn't be maintained any longer, suddenly speaking up to draw everyone's attention.

"By the way, I forgot to mention one thing. The Illusion Demon Dao witch who killed Fellow Daoist Wang has already been captured by me. We might be able to interrogate her to find out those demonic cultivators' plots, or even the true reason behind this demonic calamity outbreak!"

He suddenly shouted, waved his hand, and then released the Illusion Demon Dao witch he had captured and held within the Dongxuan Pearl.

At this moment, less than half a day had passed since he captured the witch. The witch, whose primordial spirit was severely injured and unconscious from the "Godslaying Sword," had not yet awoken. Even when she was thrown to the ground violently, she showed no signs of movement.

Seeing the naked witch on the ground, Nie Yushuang and the others were indeed rejuvenated, their Essence, Qi, and Spirit instantly invigorated.