Chapter 1017

Huang Sha Xiao Gao Jie.

Amidst the endless yellow sands, occasional starlike specks of Ling Sand glimmered and vanished—this was the unique Wu Earth Ling Sand of Huang Sha Xiao Gao Jie, with many applications in armament forging and body refinement.

A blood-robed Daoist walked through the sandstorm; the wind and sand passed through his body without effect.

Occasionally, beasts like the Li Ling Lizard and others, famed for their agility and alertness, crawled past, yet none detected anything.

"At the center of Huang Sha Xiao Gao Jie, the strongest place is called Huang Sha Sacred City, controlled by Sha Yi, head of the Yan Shi Clan; this man defected to the Azure Sky Emperor's Son during the later stages of the war."

Jiang Ding walked slowly through the wind and sand, heading toward Huang Sha Sacred City.

At this point, it had been eight years later.

Jiang Ding had continuously observed the Azure Sky Emperor's Son's forces in Mo Teng Xiao Gao Jie and found no sign of dispersion, unable to find an opening, so he departed.

Over several years, his footsteps spread across every Xiao Gao Jie occupied by the Azure Sky Emperor's Son, stirring chaos in each.

This was not because he could teleport, but because he leveraged the Yan Shi Clan's preparations.

The Yan Shi Clan had ruled this star region for tens of thousands of years; it was far from losing control when a Minor Thousand World was breached—numerous hidden hands and spies remained embedded, and whenever external power appeared, these hidden agents would awaken one by one, their depth of foundation immense.

This was the flaw of lacking a Ding Gao Jie Array: it could not fully exert direct control over a Minor Thousand World.

Passing through a region, the wind and sand temporarily vanished.

Before him stretched a vast oasis with no visible boundary, where numerous Desert Slave Tribes labored together, serving their master, the Jiao Mo Emperor Clan family known as the Sha Yan Clan.

Their family's mid-stage Jiang Clan patriarch had been conscripted by the Azure Sky Emperor's Son, becoming a general in the Azure Sky Emperor's Son's army, commanding tens of thousands of troops.

Currently, the family retained only one early-stage Jiang Clan Jiao Mo Emperor Clan cultivator, and a fourth-rank top-tier formation.

Jiang Ding stopped and extended his finger forward.

Drip!

A drop of dark red blood, the size of a fingertip, fell to the ground and mixed with the yellow sand.

It absorbed celestial and terrestrial spiritual energy from all directions, growing steadily into a one-meter-tall blood-robed Daoist, wearing a black jade longsword at his waist, radiating the aura of Nascent Soul early stage.

His magic power and spiritual sense were Nascent Soul early stage.

If combined with sword techniques and Soul Transformation-level insight and foundation, he could slay Nascent Soul peak.

Currently, he possessed three strikes' worth of power—only this much spiritual energy and spiritual sense remained in reserve, for he was not a true avatar, merely a drop of blood endowed with sentience and partial memories.

However, if he slew enough life and absorbed sufficient blood, his lifespan could be extended.

Theoretically, if fresh blood and soul essence were continuously fed into him, this drop of blood could survive

five hundred years.

The one-meter-tall blood-robed Daoist stood like a statue, his eyes hollow and lifeless.

"Awaken…"

Jiang Ding tapped his finger.

Blood Dao, a myriad avatars—this was nearly instinctual, a natural talent; let alone the enhanced power after combining Blood Dao spells.

A streak of spiritual light descended.

The one-meter-tall blood-robed Daoist's eyes gained animation, silently gazing at his own original body before him.

His gaze held no reverence—only equality, even a faint trace of insolence.

This was the flaw of Mo Dao Gong Fa and Mo Dao Fa: deep demonic thoughts, constant risk of backlash—even when just formed, before contact with the outside world, demonic intent was innate.

Under such circumstances, many Mo Dao cultivators chose to implant soul seals on their avatars, granting them instant control over life and death.

"Go, slay the strong of this world, create more chaos."

"Extend your own life as long as possible."

Jiang Ding spoke calmly, with no intention of leaving a soul seal.

Unnecessary.

An avatar cannot surpass him.

If an avatar surpassed him, it meant he had grown lax, weak—he would have long since perished in the myriad dangers of the Cultivation World.

It was not up to an avatar born with such a grave flaw to take his life; those who wished to kill him were countless—get in line.

"I, truly hope, that one day I can slay you…"

Blood Robe 2436 whispered.

His figure gradually vanished.

"Understood."

"Keep dreaming."

Jiang Ding ignored him, sneering: "Damn it, you all say this—what have I done to you?"

"Can you have even a shred of avatar awareness?"

Blood Robe 2436 did not answer, as if he had departed entirely.

Jiang Ding detoured around the Sha Yan Clan, continuing toward Huang Sha Sacred City.

The Azure Sky Emperor's Son remained entrenched.

This was actually excellent.

It gave Jiang Ding the chance to sweep each Xiao Gao Jie one by one, create chaos, breach the ancestral lands of Jiao Mo Emperor Clan families, and spread chaos up to fifth-rank spiritual veins.

Huang Sha Sacred City, this branch of the Yan Shi Clan, would become the second family to fall.

Not long after the blood-robed Daoist departed.

A crimson bloodlight appeared in the Sha Yan Clan's ancestral grounds; a flash of swordlight vanished, then the clan's protective formation shattered.

A one-meter-tall blood-robed Daoist, expressionless, emerged amid the crumbling formation's spiritual light, unleashing countless blood-colored sword threads in all directions, bringing forth a storm of blood and rain.

Screams, cries,

the furious roars of Jiang Clan Jiao Mo Emperor Clan, the sound of bodies tearing apart…

In an instant, the Sandstone Clan became a hell on earth.

After a dozen or so breaths, the entire Sandstone Clan had fallen silent. Only the infants, children, and women who had never raised a hand remained, fixing their hateful, terrified gazes upon that one-meter-tall Daoist in a blood-red robe.

The blood-robed Daoist paid them no heed.

From all directions, countless drops of blood and a vast haul of heavenly materials and earthly treasures flew toward him, bolstering his aura somewhat.

"Now, I can still live another twenty-two years…"

The figure of Blood Demon 2436 slowly faded from sight.

Sudden slaughter, sudden disappearance.

The entire battle and the looting of spoils were wrapped up within twenty breaths—precise, efficient, never lingering over anything.

This recurring combat style brought tremendous trouble to the encirclement-and-killing efforts of Horned Demon Imperial cultivators across the land. Blood flowed like rivers in every Minor Thousand World, with countless dead and wounded, until a dedicated term even began to circulate among the Horned Demon Imperial cultivators.

The Blood Demon Calamity!

This is a Blood Demon Calamity that has spread across the entire starfield!

General-rank Horned Demon Imperial cultivators were utterly incapable of handling such matters. One General-rank clan after another was wiped out in succession, let alone the smaller clans beneath them—a single wave crashing in, and they vanished without a trace.

Under such circumstances, the several-million-strong army of the Cang Kong Imperial Son was accumulating resentment by the day, their hearts drained of fighting spirit, desperate to return to their clans.

Unfortunately, even if they made it home, it would do them no good.

They would still die.

Unless a King stepped in to suppress the Blood Demon avatars across the land.

What enraged the many Horned Demon Imperial cultivators was that no King had come forth for the longest time. The Kings remained gathered in Mo Teng Xiao Gao Jie, unwilling to spare even a single one to head to the various Minor Thousand Worlds and suppress the Blood Demon.