Chapter 284

Sword-Wielding Officers—Xu Qing had heard of them from the Captain before. He knew they belonged to one of the five Upper Profound Departments within the Imperial Capital Domain. They had Sword-Wielding Palaces set up in the seven commanderies of the human region, and in every province, there existed a Sword-Wielding Court.

But he had never seen one.

Hearing the Captain's words, Xu Qing focused his gaze, his heart sinking slightly. The two people in the sky, regardless of who was in front or behind, both emitted terrifying combat power, and the fluctuations were astonishing.

Any one of them, with a single palm strike, would surely kill him if he didn't have the protection given by Seventh Uncle.

"Two heavenly palaces..." Xu Qing murmured. The two people chasing each other in the sky passed by the Eternal River of Immortals. The old demon in front was about to cross the river and flee to the Taisi Mountain of Calamity.

But he lowered his head and swept his gaze across the Alliance ships below, his eyes filled with thick ferocity.

He was currently injured and urgently needed to devour blood qi to heal. Thus, he didn't care that these ships belonged to the Eight Sect Alliance. With a flash of his body, he transformed into over a dozen clones, whipping up a black wind and heading straight for the ships below, attempting to break them open and devour them.

But the moment the old demon approached, the Seven Blood Eyes' ships hummed, and the formation opened instantly, forming an astonishing power that turned into a layer of protection.

Amidst the rumbling, the old demon's clones landed one by one, all striking the ships, causing the ship's protection to twist violently. The disciples inside all changed color, and some even spat out blood.

Especially their eyes.

Because in their eyes, the red-haired old demon at this moment was like a giant black hole, twisting everything around him. Just looking at him made them feel as if the world was spinning.

Only those with cultivation levels like Xu Qing and the Captain could ignore this pressure. When the opponent's clone struck their ship with a palm, they both made their moves.

Xu Qing didn't hesitate at all and immediately released his poison. He had been releasing some poison on this ship every day whenever he had free time. Before being triggered, these poisons had no harm; on the contrary, they were beneficial and could enhance one's blood qi.

If left untreated, they would dissipate on their own in half a month, leaving no hidden dangers.

By now, Xu Qing had released nearly 170 or 180 types, all for the sake of being able to instantly detonate the poison effect when a crisis appeared, causing the intruder to be deeply poisoned.

At this moment, almost the instant the old demon arrived, Xu Qing didn't hesitate to punch toward the old demon outside the protection, and with the force of the punch, he spread a trace of poison that was not easily volatile.

At the same time, his left hand formed a seal, and the sky changed color. Black clouds appeared, and a withered finger fell directly from the sky, carrying immense weirdness, straight toward the old demon outside the protection.

The Captain also formed a seal and waved his hand, forming an ice spear. With a fierce flick, the spear broke through the air, carrying an indestructible power—unstoppable and crushing—straight toward the old demon.

In an instant, the withered finger fell, and the ice spear pierced through. The old demon's clone collapsed with a bang, turning into mist and rolling backward.

At this moment, the old demon's clones on other ships couldn't break the protection in a short time and retreated one after another, but they didn't suffer any damage. Only the clone heading toward Xu Qing and the Captain collapsed into mist.

In the blink of an eye, the mist merged with the other clones, forming the old demon's figure. He turned his head abruptly, swept a fierce glance at Xu Qing and the Captain, his eyes filled with killing intent. But with the Sword-Wielding Officer chasing from behind, he snorted coldly and accelerated his escape, heading straight for the Taisi Mountain of Calamity.

But just at this moment, a large amount of icy cold aura suddenly appeared around him. With a crackling sound, it began to freeze, forming countless ice mirrors that refracted eerie shadows, emitting silent roars at him.

The red-haired, black-faced old demon's expression changed, and his soul became blurred for an instant. Fortunately, the heavenly palace above his head descended, blasting everything away, but his speed was still affected, and the Sword-Wielding Officer behind him drew closer.

"Damn it!" The old demon was furious, realizing it was the work of the Alliance people below. But there was no time to deal with them now. After keeping it in mind, he was just about to accelerate, but the next instant, his already black face turned even blacker.

"Poison!" The old demon spat out a mouthful of black blood, his expression changing again. Although this poison couldn't be fatal to him, it had many negative effects, making his blood qi unstable, his cultivation intermittent, and his whole body unbearably itchy. At the same time, his throat was the same, and he couldn't help but cough.

As a result, his speed slowed down again.

The next instant, a streak of sword qi arrived instantly. The old demon couldn't dodge in time and was directly pierced through the chest, letting out a shrill sound as he fled frantically toward the Taisi Mountain of Calamity.

And the Sword-Wielding Officer didn't stop at all, continuing the pursuit. Gradually, he and the old demon's figure disappeared into the Taisi Mountain of Calamity. With rumbling sounds coming from afar, a moment later, a streak of sword light flew out from the Taisi Mountain of Calamity.

It was the Sword-Wielding Officer. He was carrying a head in his hand, walking into the sky. When he reached the mid-air of the Alliance fleet, he lowered his head to look at Xu Qing and the Captain, nodded slightly, and then, whether intentionally or not, looked at the Taisi Mountain of Calamity where the old demon had been killed, before flying away in an instant.

Inside the Taisi Mountain of Calamity, where the Sword-Wielding Officer had just fought, one could see a headless corpse lying there. But at this moment, its fingers moved slightly.

It was just that he didn't notice that under the sunlight, an eye had opened in the shadow beside the corpse.

At the same time, on the Eternal River of Immortals, Xu Qing narrowed his eyes. The feedback from his shadow let him know that the red-haired, black-faced old demon had faked his death. And since the other party had attacked first, it showed that this person was cruel. Once he recovered, he could be a hidden danger on the road ahead.

Thus, Xu Qing looked at the Captain, and the Captain also fixed his gaze on Xu Qing. The two looked at each other.

"He's a hidden danger."

"He has treasures on him."

The two spoke almost simultaneously, then both revealed deep meaning in their eyes, stood up instantly, and turned into two long rainbows, heading straight for the direction of the Taisi Mountain of Calamity.

After getting close, the Captain twitched his nose and sniffed around. Just as he was about to find the specific location, Xu Qing had already rushed out first, his target clear.

The Captain raised his eyebrows and followed quickly. Soon, the two of them continued to move forward within the Taisi Mountain of Calamity, entering the dense forest. After spreading into the depths for a while, they saw a valley.

Inside the valley, there was a headless corpse currently struggling to sit up. His whole body was extremely weak, and he was trembling, but he still insisted on forming seals with both hands.

Flesh and blood were squirming on his neck, as if trying to grow a new head. But the next instant, his body trembled violently, and an eye poked out from the flesh on his neck, looking in terror at the two figures walking toward the valley.

It was Xu Qing and the Captain.

"You were running for your life, why come and provoke us? We wouldn't have attacked you otherwise."

"Why bother?" The Captain grinned, a ghostly light appearing in his eyes. A face identical to his own appeared in his pupils, also grinning ferociously, and his whole body emitted terrifying fluctuations, causing the headless old demon's body to shiver.

As for Xu Qing, he was expressionless, his gaze as calm as looking at a dead person. From the moment the other party attacked, he had prepared to kill this person.

At this moment, as Xu Qing's cultivation fluctuated, although he appeared to have only three fires inside, to the old demon, it felt no weaker than a heavenly palace, which made the old demon's heart tremble again.

It was truly because he was extremely weak now. One heavenly palace had already collapsed, and the other was tottering. Although his Golden Core was still there, his combat power had fallen to the bottom.

His storage bag and magic tools were all gone, taken away by the Sword-Wielding Officer along with his head.

And he had originally thought he had truly fooled that Sword-Wielding Officer. Looking at it now, it was clearly that the Sword-Wielding Officer couldn't be bothered to kill him and left him for these two kids to report their earlier attack.

Thus, just as he was about to send out divine sense, Xu Qing and the Captain moved simultaneously, instantly approaching the headless old demon.

The old demon jumped up abruptly, wanting to flee, but ice walls appeared behind him instantly. Behind the walls, a vast ocean was conjured, roaring and raising waves like a tsunami, bombarding him.

It wasn't just one bombardment, but nine in a row, causing the severely injured old demon to shake violently. As his body rolled backward, amidst the nine layers of the roaring sea, a giant ice hand stretched out rapidly from the seawater, grabbing the old demon fiercely. Inside the ice hand was the Captain's face, eyes closed, mouth wide open, swallowing fiercely.

The old demon's whole body shook, and he retreated again. The eye that had grown on his neck was filled with even more intense fear and anxiety, and he hurriedly sent out divine sense.

"Two little friends, it was my fault just now, I..." Before he could finish, Xu Qing's body rushed out abruptly, his speed so fast he approached in an instant. Raising his right hand, he punched out. The old demon's whole body shook, and as his body rolled backward in a bloody mess, Xu Qing formed a seal with his left hand. Instantly, black clouds filled the sky, and the withered finger fell with a bang, directly touching the flesh on the old demon's neck.

The old demon's divine sense was shrill, and his body was about to shatter. The next moment, a vortex appeared behind him, turning into a giant mouth, swallowing him fiercely.

With a crack, half of the old demon's body was directly submerged into the giant mouth. Following the chewing, the next instant, a retching sound came out. The giant mouth spat outward, vomiting the old demon out.

The old demon was miserable, his waist almost broken. At this moment, his divine sense was extremely weak; it seemed that in that instant, most of his divine sense had been swallowed.

Xu Qing glanced at the vortex. He had seen Seventh Uncle use this technique before, swallowing three Golden Cores in one gulp.

"Doesn't taste good!" The vortex disappeared, and the Captain walked out, retching as he walked.

"Too sour! I need to soothe it. Sigh, if only there were some snacks, so disgusting!" As he spoke, he hurriedly took out an apple and ate it with a crunch, as if he couldn't get snacks and had to use the apple to soothe it.

Xu Qing ignored him and walked to the dying old demon. Raising his right hand, he pressed it on the old demon's forehead. Malevolent fire erupted, burning directly. Soon, soul power gathered, and with a crackling sound, his 103rd, 104th, and 105th magic apertures opened instantly.

It didn't end there. Next were the 106th, 107th... until the 108th magic aperture also opened. The old demon's body trembled, and the Golden Crow behind Xu Qing materialized, sucking fiercely, devouring the flesh and blood qi of the old demon who had lost his soul and divine sense power.

He turned into fly ash and dissipated, leaving nothing behind.

After doing all this, Xu Qing stood up. The Captain looked at the place where the old demon had dissipated and smiled at Xu Qing.

"Little Ah Qing, you say he's an old demon, or are we the old demons? This... is so clean."

Xu Qing thought about it seriously after hearing this and was about to speak, but just at this moment, in this dense forest, suddenly... fog rose!

Yin wind, gust after gust!