Cultivation Begins From The Desert-Chapter 734 - 718: Battle of the Immortal Demon [4]
The escape technique divine power of Venerable Thousand Souls is quite bizarre. The countless ghostly shadows fleeing in all directions each carry his own magical power aura, making it difficult to discern the real from the illusion.
Moreover, those ghostly shadows are not mere illusionary projections but are truly formed from ghostly spirits, even Zhouyang, wielding the Profound Light Shadow Mirror, a magic artifact designed to break illusions, can only reveal the true form of ghostly spirits but cannot disperse them.
Despite Master Cyan Yang realizing something was amiss and promptly activating the Great Sun Golden Wheel to release a sky full of Flame Sun Firelight to scour magical evils, he still failed to force out the true form of Venerable Thousand Souls, allowing him to successfully flee the battlefield.
"Elder Cyan Yang, what should we do now? Should we continue the chase?"
Zhouyang put away various magical artifacts and turned his gaze towards Master Cyan Yang and asked.
Although his strength had far surpassed that of Master Cyan Yang, he never exhibited any arrogance in front of the elder who had looked after him many times in the past, always showing respect and consulting him first for opinions.
"It's better not to chase. After all, that demon's cultivation is two small realms higher than ours. Only because he's injured does he avoid a fight to the death with us, fearing others might take advantage. If we engage in a life-or-death battle, even if we could kill him, we might not escape unscathed."
Master Cyan Yang shook his head, clearly understanding the situation, not underestimating Venerable Thousand Souls, thinking that a Late-Stage Nascent Soul demon cultivator really has only a little ability.
After pausing, he added, "Furthermore, if he is set on escaping, we likely wouldn't catch up!"
Indeed, it was true.
Zhouyang nodded in agreement with Master Cyan Yang's analysis.
He pondered briefly before looking at Master Cyan Yang and asked, "So according to the elder's view, should we support other fellow Daoists in battle or look for other demon cultivators?"
Upon hearing this, Master Cyan Yang immediately replied, "I believe we should assist Fellow Daoist Nie. Other demon cultivators can be put aside for now, but the demon Celestial Corpse Ascendant must be annihilated, and the magic technique for summoning True Demons from the Upper Realm must be destroyed!"
His decisiveness showed Zhouyang that he must have thought about this before.
After a brief consideration, Zhouyang nodded and agreed, "What the elder said is reasonable, let's do that then."
Their opinions aligned, and they immediately pursued in the direction where Nie Yushuang had left.
Nie Yushuang had formed a team with Guo Huaiyang, and their goal was solely Celestial Corpse Ascendant, who fled first.
Because they had battled several times before, Nie Yushuang possessed items tainted with Celestial Corpse Ascendant's aura. This time, to pursue him, he borrowed a special spirit beast, Spirit Wind Beast, from a major sect in the Beiting State's Cultivation Realm, which can track enemies by residual magical aura.
Wherever someone passes, traces are inevitably left behind.
Though Celestial Corpse Ascendant's escape methods were quite advanced, he couldn't be completely trace-free in haste.
Nie Yushuang and Guo Huaiyang, guided by the Spirit Wind Beast, tracked for thousands of miles and finally caught up to him.
By then, Celestial Corpse Ascendant was preparing to break through a passage to leave the Demon Abyss. Upon seeing Nie and Guo pursuing him, he could only let his clone continue excavating upwards while fiercely confronting the two to buy time.
With his strength, he had a good chance even facing Nie Yushuang and Guo Huaiyang simultaneously.
However, firstly, his refined Nascent Soul Stage corpse was reduced by a few when the Demon Array shattered. Secondly, his clone had to focus on clearing the escape passage and couldn't engage in the fight. Thirdly, during the Demon Array shattering, he suffered significant backlash, inflicting notable damage.
These three factors combined left him passive and restricted under the combined assault of Nie Yushuang and Guo Huaiyang.
Despite this, Celestial Corpse Ascendant showed no signs of panic or urgency, seemingly unconcerned that being delayed here could impact his escape route.
If he wasn't worried, then Nie Yushuang and Guo Huaiyang certainly weren't worried.
As long as Celestial Corpse Ascendant doesn't escape, once Du Chongyang finishes dealing with the Holy Demon Avatar, it's time for Celestial Corpse Ascendant to meet his end.
Their engagement produced great disturbances, which Zhouyang and Master Cyan Yang sensed from thousands of miles away while tracking.
Soon, the two appeared within the perception range of the three powerful figures.
"It's Fellow Daoist Cyan Yang and Fellow Daoist Zhou. Didn't expect them to finish their opponents so quickly and come over, truly a blessing for us!"
Guo Huaiyang, the weakest among the three, though just assisting Nie Yushuang in besieging Celestial Corpse Ascendant, deeply felt the demon's fierce power, feeling immense pressure.
Upon sensing Zhouyang and Master Cyan Yang's presence, he couldn't help but happily exclaim.
Though Nie Yushuang didn't lose composure like him, he nodded with joy, "With the assistance of Fellow Daoist Cyan Yang and Fellow Daoist Zhou, perhaps we won't need to wait for Elder Du's return to take down this old demon ourselves!"
Talking this way so casually sounded grating to Celestial Corpse Ascendant.
Being a demon who has slain countless individuals, Celestial Corpse Ascendant was evidently not of a good temper and, hearing their words, coldly voiced, "Just two Early-Stage Nascent Soul cultivators, though having some means, how strong could they be? Nie Yushuang, you seem to forget previous times eating bitterness under my hand!"
His words immediately triggered unpleasant memories for Nie Yushuang, freezing his expression into a very unpleasant scowl.
With a face as dark as the abyss, Nie Yushuang still stared firmly at Celestial Corpse Ascendant without uttering any sharp retorts, speeding up his spellcasting and no longer conserving any magical power.
Seeing this, Guo Huaiyang, though curious about the "bitterness" Celestial Corpse Ascendant referred to, wasn't foolish enough to ask but instead followed Nie Yushuang's lead in intensifying their assault.
After about half a period of time, Zhouyang and Master Cyan Yang officially arrived at the battlefield.
"Two fellow Daoists arrive just in time. This demon is fierce; please aid Nie in beheading this monster, to comfort the spirits of thousands of cultivators and mortals who died by its hands!"
With a thundering voice, Nie Yushuang invited Zhouyang and Master Cyan Yang to join the demon extermination.
"Fellow Daoist Nie, with such ambition, we naturally will assist to the fullest."
After exchanging glances, Master Cyan Yang and Zhouyang declared their stance loudly and then directly performed spells to invoke the Profound Sun Thunder-Attracting Sword, drawing celestial thunder down upon Celestial Corpse Ascendant.
Zhouyang was even more thorough. Not only did he summon several magical artifacts to join the assault, but he also released his external incarnation and Water-Resistant Golden-Eyed Beast, using them as distraction forces against the refined corpse controlled by Celestial Corpse Ascendant.
"You dare to seek death!"
A sharp, furious roar suddenly burst from the mouth of the "Celestial Corpse Ascendant." After Zhouyang and Master Cyan Yang, the two major forces, joined the attack team, he could no longer resist on his own.
With a furious roar, he quickly pinched a spell with both hands, and his originally gaunt body instantly swelled into a several-zhang tall three-headed six-armed monster.
Compared to the three-headed six-armed monster that the demon corpse transformed into in Ice Wave City, the monster that the "Celestial Corpse Ascendant" turned into was more than one or two times stronger in aura.
When the transformation was complete, just the emanated aura made Zhouyang's heart pound with fear.
This powerful demonic aura was something he had only felt on the Heaven-Sundering True Demon in the past.
However, what concerned him more was the magic weapons held in the six arms of this three-headed six-armed monster.
When the demon corpse transformed, the three-headed six-armed monster only held a black long halberd that it originally used.
But the three-headed six-armed monster transformed by the "Celestial Corpse Ascendant" had each of its six arms holding a different magic weapon, totaling six.
What was rarer was that all six magic weapons were Tier Six Demon Spiritual Artifacts!
The six magic weapons were respectively a long spear burning with black demon fire, a ghost head long saber emitting a ghastly ghost howl, a white bone shield made from an unknown exotic beast skull, a purple-black bell emitting a sinister purple light, a dark green treasure bottle with patterns of numerous evil ghosts on its surface, and a demon banner exuding ominous demon aura.
"Fellow Daoists, be cautious. In this form, not only does his magical power increase greatly, but he can also simultaneously wield various magic weapons and unleash several bizarre and powerful Demonic Divine Techniques. Should anyone fall under its influence, other fellow Daoists must rescue them immediately," Nie Yushuang urgently warned Zhouyang and others with a worried look.
Zhouyang and the others had already reviewed the information about the three-headed six-armed transformation technique of the "Celestial Corpse Ascendant." Yet, including Nie Yushuang himself, this was their first time witnessing the opponent use this technique in person.
Seeing is believing indeed.
No matter how much they had heard about this technique before, it couldn't compare to the profound impact of experiencing it in reality.
Not to mention those six Tier Six magic weapons with extraordinary power at a glance, just the formidable magical power aura now far exceeding an ordinary Ninth-Layer Nascent Soul cultivator was enough to warrant attention from any Nascent Soul cultivator.
Jingle! Jingle!
The crisp sound of bells rang out. While Zhouyang was still thinking about observing the situation more closely, the transformed three-headed six-armed monster "Celestial Corpse Ascendant" had already launched an attack on all of them simultaneously.
The arm holding the purple-black bell shook the bell vigorously, an eerie power invisible to the naked eye instantly fell upon Zhouyang and the others.
Under the influence of this eerie power, their vision, hearing, smell, taste, and touch seemed to be covered with a layer of veil, all five senses lost their original function, and even their Divine Sense was severely disrupted, no longer as agile as before. 𝑓𝑟ℯ𝘦𝓌𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝑐ℴ𝓂
In this situation, the black magic spear and ghost head long saber in the other two hands of the three-headed six-armed monster flew out simultaneously, heading straight for Zhouyang and Master Cyan Yang.
He picked the softest fruit to squeeze; compared to Guo Huaiyang and Nie Yushuang with Late-Stage Nascent Soul cultivation, Zhouyang and Master Cyan Yang, only with Early-Stage Nascent Soul cultivation, were undoubtedly easier to deal with in the eyes of the "Celestial Corpse Ascendant."
His "Five Decays Demon Bell" was refined in reference to a famous Tier Seven Demon Spiritual Artifact. Once it rang, even a Late-Stage Nascent Soul cultivator couldn't avoid being affected, and the lower the cultivation, the greater the influence.
If one did not possess Nascent Soul cultivation, merely the bell's sound could strip them of all five senses, leaving them ignorant of how they had died.
Unfortunately, this time, he miscalculated.
When Zhouyang felt his five senses impacted, he immediately realized something was wrong and promptly activated the Exorcism Treasure Robe to protect himself while mobilizing the power of the Primordial Spiritual Treasure within him to shield his Primordial Spirit, quickly dispelling the influence of the bell's sound on him.
Thus, when the black magic spear thrust at him, he had already timely summoned his Lifebound Spiritual Artifact, the Qianyang Golden Tower, to block it halfway.
Compared to Zhouyang, Master Cyan Yang handled things even more effortlessly.
The Profound Sun Immortal Sect's Sect's Foundation Artifact, the Pure Yang Heart Purifying Pendant, was originally the supreme treasure to protect a cultivator's mind. Upon realizing something was amiss, he simply infused it with magical power to activate the artifact's power, instantly eliminating the bell's influence, and effortlessly used the Great Sun Golden Wheel protecting his head to blast away the ghost head long saber.
"Demon, don't be arrogant, face this!"
Nie Yushuang's stern shout quickly overshadowed the sound of the demon bell. Compared to Zhouyang and Master Cyan Yang, he relied entirely on his own cultivation to break free from the influence of the bell's sound.
Seeing the three-headed six-armed monster, he shouted with great force, and with a spell cast, a group of eerie blue divine light exuding a deathly cold aura emerged behind him.
The three-headed six-armed monster transformed by the "Celestial Corpse Ascendant," upon seeing that eerie blue divine light, had a hint of dread flashing in all six of its eyes, seeming to recognize its power.
Roar! Roar! Roar!
All three heads roared simultaneously, and first, the arm holding the white bone shield tossed the shield magic weapon forward, transforming into a huge shield to cover itself entirely behind it. Simultaneously, the arm holding the pitch-black demon banner vigorously waved the banner, releasing a dense black demon fog to shroud its figure within.
Almost by the time it finished all this, the group of eerie blue divine light had already illuminated it under Nie Yushuang's spell command.
Wherever the eerie blue divine light passed, the void seemed to freeze as if faint silver-gray thin lines appeared.
When it fell upon the white bone shield, this Tier Six magic shield refined from an unknown exotic beast skull was immediately filled with cracks with sounds of cracking, almost on the brink of complete destruction.
Even with the white bone shield buffering most of the power of the eerie blue divine light, the remaining force still injured the three-headed six-armed monster hiding within the demon fog behind.
A muffled groan filled with pain emanated from the demon fog, and the three-headed six-armed monster, half of its body covered in eerie blue frost, ferociously charged out of the demon fog.
It glared fiercely and savagely at Nie Yushuang, whose face was slightly pale, and with an icy voice tinged with coldness, it said, "Nie Yushuang, beside this one Divine Power Technique, Silent Extinction Profound Nether Divine Light, the rest of your skills are mediocre and not worth mentioning!"
"Now that you have unleashed this technique, I have no reservations left; today, I shall engrave a deeper lesson upon you!"
Before the words even settled, he forcefully initiated a counterattack.
