Chapter 655: Demon God Realm Frontline

Li Yi didn't refuse the elixirs Liu Guzi had given him; he simply took all three Three Treasures Pills. Though the bald Daoist's elixirs were made from scraps, their sheer quantity made them more than sufficient.

Li Yi needed these badly right now.

As the two spoke,

suddenly,

a bolt of lightning split the sky in broad daylight, thundering with immense force, shaking the entire building as if it might collapse.

The sheer noise startled Li Yi, and he instinctively turned toward the window.

"What was that? A thunderclap?" But when Li Yi looked outside, he saw no change in the heavens—the thunder had come without warning, clearly not natural.

It was likely the work of some powerful being, summoning this lightning through divine power.

Liu Guzi said, "A mythic creature has taken up residence near Tianchang City. No one knows where it came from, but I believe it's not one of the great demons of the Demon God Realm. I once saw a great demon break through the frontline three hundred li away and reach Tianchang City—only to be cut down by that mythic creature."

"Those Three Treasures Pills you just received? They were forged from the corpse of that great demon. By the way, your AI Lan Ji should have records on this—the mythic creature is called Garuda, said to feed on dragons."

Garuda?

Li Yi immediately remembered.

It had been a night of violent thunder and lightning, when the sky had torn open and Garuda crossed over to Earth, remaining ever since near Tianchang City.

He had once fought the mythic creature Fei and won, but Fei, severely wounded, was later picked off by experts from the Golden Academy.

"So Garuda can kill great demons? But mythic creatures shouldn't be that strong, right?" Li Yi asked.

Liu Guzi said, "Mythic creatures have limitless potential. Since arriving on Earth, Garuda has likely been cultivating too—its power has grown steadily. But the great demon it killed was already wounded, probably from taking a blow breaking through the frontline."

"Will Garuda attack people in Tianchang City?" Li Yi asked.

"It's never attacked ordinary people. It seems proud and only targets powerful foes—it has no interest in weak cultivators," Liu Guzi said.

Li Yi said, "If it doesn't harm ordinary people, then we can ignore it. Sometimes it even helps fight great demons—that's a good thing."

"Exactly. Earlier, Xuan Yuezi, the bald Daoist, and others discussed whether to eliminate Garuda, but Xuan Yuezi ultimately chose to let it live," Liu Guzi said.

"Speaking of Xuan Yuezi, I have something to discuss with her. Where is she now? Do you know?" Li Yi asked.

Liu Guzi said, "She's on the other side of the Demon God Realm. That bald man is carrying the Yin-Yang Creation Cauldron, gathering materials everywhere to forge Dao artifacts. Great demons make the best materials for such weapons. If Taiyi wants to find Xuan Yuezi, I suggest you notify her to come to Tianchang City. Going over there yourself would be extremely dangerous if a great demon attacks."

"I won't be that unlucky. I'm not going into the Demon God Realm—just to the frontline, then find someone to notify Xuan Yuezi," Li Yi said.

"That's safer," Liu Guzi nodded.

Li Yi then asked about his master, Zhao Ge.

Liu Guzi told Li Yi that Zhao Ge, Zhao Qian, Rong Niang, and Skinny Monkey had joined the Investigation Bureau, and that Rong Niang and Zhao Qian had taken Liu Guzi as their master to learn Daoist cultivation and elixir crafting.

After learning this, Li Yi felt reassured.

He didn't linger in Tianchang City but prepared to depart for the Demon God Realm frontline to assess the situation and speak with Xuan Yuezi about the incense offerings.

Soon,

a golden auspicious cloud rose from the rooftop of the building.

After having Lan Ji lock the direction, Li Yi instantly became a streak of golden light and vanished beyond the horizon.

Three hundred li wasn't far.

Soon,

Li Yi arrived at the boundary between the Demon God Realm and Earth. Here, space overlapped and interlinked—the two worlds seemed indistinguishable. Unless you sensed the shift in spiritual energy in the air, you'd never realize two worlds coexisted here.

He immediately spotted Earth's frontline.

The sky was filled with high-tech early-warning devices, while the ground bristled with rows of high-energy beam cannons—specially developed, their power enhanced. A single shot would kill any Qi Refining cultivator without fail.

But unfortunately, these cannons took too long to charge, were limited in number, and could be easily dodged by experts—major flaws. They were only suitable for massive bombardments during large-scale invasions.

Normally, these cannons weren't used at all.

The true backbone of this frontline was people—powerful cultivators, one by one.

As Li Yi neared the frontline, an aerial surveillance drone immediately flew toward him—a spherical device, levitating via anti-gravity, its camera-like lens scanning him repeatedly.

"Identity confirmed: Golden Academy, Li Yi. Welcome to the Demon God Realm Frontline."

The drone spoke, then flew off immediately.

Clearly, through its connection to the AI's database, every visitor was thoroughly checked—any stranger approaching would trigger an alarm.

"Not just Golden Academy experts—there are military personnel too," Li Yi noticed squads of soldiers in camouflage uniforms marching past.

They were strong and disciplined.

Clearly, in this war between two realms, elite soldiers had been deployed. They refused to let Earth be invaded, hence the frontline, built to resist great demons.

Beyond the frontline, the land was a wasteland—cracked earth, countless craters, lava spewing in places, lakes flooding backward, lightning and gales raging endlessly. Residual battle energies lingered in the air, still distorting the weather. Merely glancing around, Li Yi could sense how brutal the fighting here had been recently.

He continued flying toward the frontline.

At this moment, Li Yi noticed the ground nearby was unlike soil—it resembled steel, incredibly hard and indestructible, infused with Daoist power.

Clearly, the work of a Three Flowers Realm expert.

Yet as he racked his memory, he couldn't recall any Daoist technique capable of turning such a vast expanse of earth into unbreakable steel.

Li Yi landed and stepped on it.

Even with his Long Hu strength, he left only deep footprints—he couldn't budge the ground at all.

This surprised him. His power wasn't weak—and if even he couldn't break it, how could the demons of the Demon God Realm?

"That's the technique of a man called Qian Dao Ren—'Point the Ground to Steel.' It turns soft soil into unbreakable steel. Otherwise, after countless battles, hundreds of li around here would've collapsed long ago, and Tianchang City would've been reduced to ruins."

Suddenly, a figure spotted Li Yi and flew from the frontline, halting midair.

!

Li Yi looked up and saw a young man standing with his hands behind his back, a faint smile on his face.

"Li Yi, long time no see. You came here too," the man said—it was Bai Sinan, whom Li Yi had dealt with before.

"Bai Sinan? You're here too?" Li Yi was surprised.

Bai Sinan said, "Not just me—all the named experts of the Golden Academy are here. But what can we do? If we don't repel the Demon God Realm's invasion, Earth is finished. We could flee across realms, but some things you just can't abandon."

"True. Those who wanted to run already did—they wouldn't stay on Earth to die," Li Yi said.

"Li Yi, though you've crossed realms many times, I know you're not the type to abandon everything and flee. You came here because you want to do something," Bai Sinan said. "How about forming a team? The Demon God Realm's assaults are growing fiercer. Fighting alone is dangerous. Only a large group of experts can hold back their attacks."

"I need to understand the situation first. Team up later," Li Yi shook his head slightly.

"Fair enough," Bai Sinan nodded, unoffended by the refusal.

But as the two spoke,

suddenly,

the distant surveillance drones blared—an alarm like a war horn, unmistakable even without knowing why: another battle was about to begin.

Simultaneously, streaks of light shot from the direction of the Demon God Realm, moving at blinding speed, arriving almost instantly.

"That speed—bad. These are Heavenly Demons from the Demon God Realm," Bai Sinan's face darkened.

Li Yi asked, "How do they compare to the beasts we killed when we took down Du Bai Zhi?"

"The ones we killed last time were Earth Demons. These are Heavenly Demons—far stronger than the three great demons we faced before. Above them are the Great Demons, requiring experts like Li Yue or Wu Yong to fight," Bai Sinan said.

Li Yi immediately understood.

These Heavenly Demons were just below Great Demons—and Great Demons were equivalent to Three Flowers Realm experts. So these Heavenly Demons were likely around Chao Yuan Realm.

As the two spoke,

the group of Heavenly Demons from the Demon God Realm struck. They unleashed their demonic energy in devastating blows, effortlessly destroying the high-energy beam cannons and wiping out all the aerial surveillance devices.

Some attacks even slammed directly into the camp.

The camp struck by demonic energy exploded into fragments—faint screams echoed, clearly some cultivators had been caught and killed instantly.

"Die."

But from within the camp came a roar of fury. Above, five-colored light wove into a vast net, instantly engulfing the Heavenly Demons.

Instantly,

four or five Heavenly Demons were caught, and the five-colored light surged, trying to annihilate them.

But at that moment, one Heavenly Demon roared to the heavens, its power surging to its peak, breaking past the Heavenly Demon realm and reaching Great Demon level—then effortlessly tearing through the five-colored net, shielding the others as they retreated.

"No! One of them concealed their power—there's a Great Demon hiding among them!" Bai Sinan gasped in shock.

Because of the surprise attack, several Heavenly Demons had already breached the frontline and were flying toward Earth.

Wu Yong, stationed at the camp, couldn't chase these escapees—he had to stop the Great Demon, or the consequences would be endless.

"Quick! Stop these Heavenly Demons! Don't let them enter Earth!"

"Kill them all!"

Shouts rang out as Qi Spirit Realm cultivators rushed to intercept—but their power was useless against Heavenly Demons.

Only those who had crossed the Qi Tribulation could even hope to fight them.

(End of Chapter)