Cultivation Begins From The Desert-Chapter 732 - 716: Battle of the Immortal Demon [2]
Rumble!
In the depths of the Demon Realm Abyss, the sound of rolling explosions was endless.
The Celestial Spirit Primordial Yang Array, set up by Xu Tianlin and thirty-six Nascent Soul Cultivators, continuously drew Solar Essence Qi from outside the Demon Realm's sky, converting it into Primordial Yang Fire that fell into the Demon Abyss, purifying the Demonic Qi within.
Meanwhile, Du Chongyang, a Tribulation Crossing True Immortal, personally wielded an Immortal Artifact and entered the array, relentlessly bombarding the demon array below.
Under such fierce attacks, the ancient glaciers on both sides of the Demon Abyss began to crack and melt on a large scale, constantly expanding the area of the abyss.
Zhouyang, Nie Yushuang, and other cultivators did not participate in the attack but instead conserved their energy, waiting to take the stage as the assault force once the array was broken.
This allowed them to calmly observe the battle of the Tribulation Crossing True Immortal from a spectator's perspective.
Since Du Chongyang himself had already ventured deep into the Demon Abyss, under the cover of Demonic Qi and the endless Primordial Yang Fire, even with Pupil Technique Divine Techniques, Zhouyang and others could not see his figure.
However, this did not hinder them from directly feeling the formidable power of the Tribulation Crossing True Immortal.
Using the Vermilion Bird Fan, a Tier Seven Immortal Artifact, when Du Chongyang wielded this magical weapon to attack, the power was vastly different from when it was in Zhouyang's hands.
Every time Du Chongyang used this Tier Seven Immortal Artifact for an attack, Zhouyang and others could clearly sense the intense fluctuation of the Fire Law emanating from within the Demon Abyss, and with each attack, the entire ice field would shake, creating vast cracks.
The most crucial part was that when Du Chongyang used this Tier Seven Immortal Artifact, he did not need to charge up for a long time like Zhouyang, nor did he become exhausted after a single use.
Under his attacks, the demon cultivators hosting the magic array, such as the Celestial Corpse Ascendant, were all under great backlash pressure, with their Blood and Qi in turmoil.
Several demon cultivators with only Early-Stage Nascent Soul Cultivation were already injured, with threads of blood oozing from their eyes, ears, mouths, and noses.
"Hold on for me! Even if you die, you better die on the array base!"
With his profound cultivation, the Celestial Corpse Ascendant merely took a deep breath to regulate his turbulent Blood and Qi, then fiercely intimidated the other demon cultivators with a severe tone.
Being a demon cultivator himself, he knew very well what kind of character his companions had.
Upon realizing the enemy's strength and the improbability of resisting, these guys would definitely not want to risk their lives, preferring instead to quietly let the array collapse.
In the past, even if the Celestial Corpse Ascendant acknowledged this, he wouldn't intervene much since he could escape faster than anyone else.
But not this time!
He had bet everything on this occasion, and if he failed, even if he managed to escape with his life from Du Chongyang, he would succumb to old age and perish within a century.
He couldn't accept such a fate and wouldn't allow it to happen.
Only his eerie warning to the demon cultivators was heard: "I warn you, do not forget the blood oath you've taken. If anyone tries to dodge responsibilities, be wary of the blood curse backlash, leading to your demise!"
Demon cultivators did not abide by principles of loyalty or honor, and betrayal was commonplace among them.
Thus, to prevent these demon cultivators from being lazy, after the Holy Demon Avatar dispersed Zhouyang and his group on their first expedition to the Demon Realm, revealing itself, the Celestial Corpse Ascendant coerced the demon cultivators into the Demon Realm and threatened them into taking a blood oath of allegiance under the Holy Demon Avatar's oversight.
This blood oath, personally supervised by the Holy Demon Avatar, used the essence blood and a wisp of the soul fragment of the swearing demon cultivators as the medium, providing a strong restraining force.
Upon hearing the Celestial Corpse Ascendant mention the blood oath, those demon cultivators with doubts had no choice but to extinguish such thoughts, gritting their teeth to continue channeling magical power into the magic array to resist external offensives.
"It seems unrealistic to break that demon array below short term. Elder Du, although powerful, cannot sustain such a high-intensity attack for too long, and he surely needs to preserve at least half of his magical power for unforeseen events!"
Above the Demon Abyss, Nie Yushuang sighed softly after observing for half a day and spoke of her conclusions.
These idle cultivators had also made predictions on when to break the demon array below during this half-day, with many believing that with a Tribulation Crossing True Immortal's intervention, success should be achieved within a day, some said no more than three days.
But from what Nie Yushuang observed now, everyone's predictions seemed to be wrong.
"Perhaps, after Elder Du emerges, we can suggest to him that we join the offensive. Now those demon cultivators are desperately maintaining the array, and once we break it, just the array's backlash will be enough to make them suffer. Then, even if we're not in perfect condition, dealing with them won't be an issue!"
Master Cyan Yang seemed to understand the situation and quietly shared his perspective.
"Don't be too optimistic. It's important to know that the strength of these demon cultivators partly comes from themselves and partly from the refined corpses and ghosts they've cultivated. Those items cannot be utilized now while they're hosting the array, but once we engage in battle, they could be a significant aid."
Nie Yushuang slightly shook her head, not quite agreeing with Master Cyan Yang's perspective.
He had fought against the Celestial Corpse Ascendant many times, often losing and knowing full well the prowess of his refined corpses.
Moreover, from the results of the Ice City battle, it was evident the demon did not exert full strength in previous encounters.
"Being extra cautious is not wrong. Since Elder Du has us here to observe, he must have his considerations."
Zhouyang, too, did not side with Master Cyan Yang this time, cautiously choosing to observe.
The group discussed and finally decided to prudently wait and follow Du Chongyang's instructions.
As Nie Yushuang predicted, after attacking for most of the day, Du Chongyang retreated outside to restore his magical power.
Only Xu Tianlin and the other cultivators continued to operate the Celestial Spirit Primordial Yang Array, attacking the Demon Abyss and consuming the accumulated Demonic Qi inside.
After resting for half a day and recovering his magical power by refining a large number of Spirit Marrow Stones, Du Chongyang jumped back into the Demon Abyss to resume his assault.
After repeating this process several times, three days later, the demon cultivators within the Demon Abyss could no longer hold.
First, several demon cultivators with Early-Stage Nascent Soul Cultivation, unable to withstand the array's backlash and without adequate time to recuperate, exploded on the spot, leaving behind only one Nascent Soul gravely injured and lucky to survive.
The incident alerted Du Chongyang, causing him to intensify the offensive once he sensed the weakening of the magic array's power.
This directly led to the Mid-Stage Nascent Soul demon cultivators showing signs of collapse, unable to continue.
"You worthless creatures are utterly useless. Since you are of no use, why keep living? Use your lives to atone for the mistakes you've made!"
The Celestial Corpse Ascendant's eyes flashed fiercely as he cast a spell on the dominant object controlling the magic array. Instantly, the Early-Stage Nascent Soul demon cultivators who had exploded were swallowed up by a sudden devouring force from the array base, devouring their Nascent Souls.
Suddenly acquiring several Nascent Souls of Nascent Soul Stage Cultivators as sacrifices, the shaky Demon Array miraculously held up against Du Chongyang's fierce attack.
And after weathering this wave, the "Celestial Corpse Ascendant" released several Corpse Refinements of Nascent Soul Stage cultivation to replace those Nascent Soul Stage Cultivators in hosting the array, once again stabilizing the Demon Array.
However, his previous act of discarding allies after their usefulness had ended undoubtedly left a shadow in the hearts of other demon cultivators, causing the remaining ones to worry about becoming the next sacrifice, subtly weakening their control over the array.
The "Celestial Corpse Ascendant" quickly discovered this but could do nothing besides feeling upset at their lack of understanding for the bigger picture.
Firstly, using Corpse Refinements to replace cultivators in hosting the array required him to divide much of his mind. After all, Corpse Refinements couldn't fulfill this role like cultivators, requiring his Divine Fragment control, essentially acting as energy providers and sharing backlash forces, while he provided mental technique support.
Secondly, his Nascent Soul Stage Corpse Refinement numbers were not infinite, making it impossible to completely replace all people hosting the array, and internal strife at this moment would only accelerate the array's collapse.
Now, he could only hope that before the array broke, that Holy Demon Avatar could successfully condense a True Demon Body, and then everything would be still in time.
But this was merely his wishful thinking!
The reality was, once Du Chongyang noticed the weakened power of the Demon Array, he immediately sent a communication to Xu Tianlin above, urging him to unleash the true killing move of the Celestial Spirit Primordial Yang Array.
Those watching from the Demon Abyss, including Zhouyang, saw Xu Tianlin and the array-forming cultivators simultaneously bite their tongues, spraying essence blood onto the array banners, each performing a type of spell.
Then thirty-six dazzling flames shot out from the thirty-six array banners, merging into a massive fireball with a diameter of two or three hundred zhang, which plummeted into the Demon Abyss.
Rumble!
The earth-shattering sound of explosion echoed throughout the Demon Realm.
Terrifying explosive force spread from the Demon Abyss outward, quickly collapsing and destroying hundreds of miles of ice fields on both sides, turning the previously fissure-like Demon Abyss into a massive pit over a thousand li wide.
After this attack, the already barely supported Demon Array instantly broke completely.
Escape!
After the Demon Array broke, the first thought of the "Celestial Corpse Ascendant" was to flee immediately.
He didn't even care about the Corpse Refinements he had sent to host the array, forcibly suppressing the backlash damage from the broken array, and fled.
His thought was simple: now that the Demon Array was broken, he needed to save his life first for a chance at other plans later.
In fact, this decisive decision saved his life again.
Originally, Du Chongyang planned to break the Demon Array and then conveniently deal with the Ninth-Layer Nascent Soul Demon Cultivator "Celestial Corpse Ascendant" before facing that Holy Demon Avatar.
But due to the "Celestial Corpse Ascendant's" cautiousness, Du Chongyang lost track of him before he could act, leaving him to vent his fury on those demon cultivators who didn't escape in time.
These demon cultivators lacked the "Celestial Corpse Ascendant's" ability to instantly suppress the backlash force from the broken array. Even if they wanted to run like him, they couldn't match his speed.
So when Du Chongyang attacked, within a few breaths, he killed three Nascent Soul Stage Demon Cultivators, including the Corpse Demon Dao Late-Stage Nascent Soul Cultivator who once resisted Zhouyang and Xu Tianlin in the Demon City.
This person, upon seeing the "Celestial Corpse Ascendant" flee, wanted his refined Golden Armored Corpse to carry him away.
But he didn't expect that upon seeing his Golden Armored Corpse, Du Chongyang considered it a significant threat to other Nascent Soul Stage Cultivators and deemed him the "Celestial Corpse Ascendant's" successor, instantly cutting him and the Golden Armored Corpse into two, annihilating him before his Nascent Soul could escape.
After slaying three Nascent Soul Stage Demon Cultivators, Du Chongyang didn't pursue other fleeing demon cultivators.
Without the Demon Array's obstruction, he clearly sensed the strong aura on the distant altar rising.
Although he felt that aura was still far from the Tribulation Crossing Stage, out of respect for a Returning to Void Stage's Great Power, he thought it best to interrupt the opponent's ascension quickly.
He'd already arranged for Nie Yushuang, Zhouyang, and others to purge fleeing demon cultivators, and with Xu Tianlin and others' Celestial Spirit Primordial Yang Array sealing from outside, he wasn't afraid of those demon cultivators actually escaping.
Meanwhile, as Du Chongyang descended to the Demon Abyss's bottom to confront the Holy Demon Avatar, Zhouyang, Nie Yushuang, and others watching outside received his message.
"Elder Du commands us to enter the Demon Abyss immediately to eliminate the remaining demon cultivators."
Nie Yushuang raised the communication Flying Sword and loudly announced Du Chongyang's order.
Then he put away the communication Flying Sword and was the first to leap into the Demon Abyss.
Re-entering this Ice Sea Demon Abyss, Zhouyang felt the most significant difference was the weakening demonic Qi.
After the previous battle's consumption, and with Xu Tianlin and others continuously purging with Primordial Yang Fire, much of the centuries-accumulated demonic Qi in the Demon Abyss had been expended and cleansed, unlike the terror when they first arrived.
Originally, because of the heavy demonic Qi and cold aura, even Nie Yushuang, a Ninth-Layer Nascent Soul "Half-Step True Immortal" Cultivator practicing Cold Element Techniques, struggled to reach the abyss's bottom.
But now, with much demonic Qi purified and continuous high temperatures from falling Primordial Yang Fire dispelling the cold, combined with the residual effects of Du Chongyang's Vermilion Bird Fan's Fire Law influence, even Early-Stage Nascent Soul Cultivators could easily reach the abyss's bottom.
As they descended, Du Chongyang had already arrived outside the altar and saw the black beast on it, condensing a True Demon Body.
"I didn't expect those worthless to fail so quickly; seems I must make choices!"
On the altar, the black beast opened its eyes to look at the blue-robed middle-aged man below, its gaze neither happy nor sad, appearing unsurprised by his arrival.
Upon hearing the black beast's words, Du Chongyang solemnly said, "You shouldn't have come here; after that great battle in ancient times, it was confirmed as part of the True Immortal Realm. The great powers of the True Demon Realm should have known and approved!"
The black beast laughed, "Heh, heh, this realm isn't officially True Immortal Realm territory until the Ascension Platform bridging both realms is rebuilt, as True Immortals can't descend easily here, regardless of what a mere Tribulation Crossing True Immortal thinks!"
Du Chongyang's face changed, seemingly touched upon a sore point, his eyes flickering with a shadow, his expression shifting unpredictably.
After a while, he regained calmness, coldly eyeing the black beast, "So it seems you know much about this realm; perhaps a descendant of those ancient arriving demons, or one who came during ancient times?"
The black beast didn't answer, instead giving him a strange look and saying, "Let's make a deal!"
What?
Du Chongyang looked at the black beast in astonishment, almost thinking he'd misheard.
