Chapter 255: The Might of the Third-Stage Demon King, the Shi Tian Shu!

Qin Ming stood suspended in midair, his hands clasped behind his back.

Hearing Linghu Yang's words, he remained expressionless, his demeanor showing little fluctuation, as he merely stated indifferently:

"I have no need for you to hold back."

Upon hearing this, Linghu Yang across from him was momentarily stunned, then coldly retorted, "Hmph! You are truly arrogant; do you actually possess the strength to deal with a Jin Dan stage cultivator?"

Qin Ming replied indifferently, "I merely fear that after our contest, your state of mind will become even more obstructed."

Hearing this, Linghu Yang felt a surge of anger in his heart; the other party's attitude clearly showed contempt for him.

"Good!"

"Then I shall not hold back; let me see if Fellow Daoist Long is truly as formidable as you claim."

"If I fail to control my force properly and accidentally kill you, do not blame me!"

Having spoken, Linghu Yang released his full aura of magic power.

Qin Ming then raised his hand and swept it, causing a gray-furred mouse demon to appear between the two.

"Defeat this spiritual pet of mine first before saying anything else."

Immediately, the Shi Tian Shu's body suddenly expanded, instantly swelling to a size of several dozen zhang, as an overwhelming pressure from a Demon King descended!

The powerful spiritual pressure even shocked Linghu Yang until his face turned deathly pale, nearly leaving him unable to breathe.

Even at the same third-stage level, the strength of the demon race is several times greater than that of the human race.

Moreover, Linghu Yang had only just broken through to the Jin Dan stage.

"Hee-hee-hee! Kid!"

"I heard you want to challenge my master?!"

"Tell me! What kind of death do you desire?"

The Shi Tian Shu acted with extreme arrogance toward Linghu Yang, baring its cold, sharp fangs.

"A peak early third-stage Demon King!!"

"H-how is this possible?"

Linghu Yang's eyes revealed terror and fear; he simply could not believe that Daoist Long, who was merely at the peak of Foundation Establishment, could possibly possess such a powerful spiritual pet.

Calculating thus, what must Daoist Long's own strength be? Confusion, fear, doubt, and other complex emotions appeared on Linghu Yang's face.

The next moment, he forced an ugly smile onto his face, cupped his fists toward Qin Ming to apologize, and said, "It turns out Fellow Daoist Long possesses such formidable strength; forgive my presumption, I have greatly offended you, please do not take offense!"

Immediately, without another word, Linghu Yang transformed into a streak of golden light and fled away in disgrace.

He ran even faster than when he had arrived.

"Heh! You think you can run?"

The Shi Tian Shu was eager to try; it had not exercised its abilities in a long time and was already impatient.

Its massive demon body strangely merged into the void, vanishing in an instant.

Qin Ming's figure also flickered briefly before disappearing from the spot.

Elsewhere.

Linghu Yang fled at maximum speed, employing a secret technique to travel several thousand li in a single breath.

Drenched in sweat, he continuously released his divine sense to scan the area behind him.

Only when he realized that 'Daoist Long' and his terrifying Demon King spiritual pet did not seem to be pursuing him did he finally exhale a long sigh of relief.

"As long as I return to Moyuan Immortal City, I will be safe."

"There is always someone stronger among the strong; there is always a higher mountain beyond the one you climb!"

"This Daoist Long... is simply unfathomable! This person must harbor a great secret!"

"It seems my state of mind is still too impetuous; from now on, I shall no longer contend with others for superiority."

"This behavior was simply inviting humiliation upon myself!"

"Sigh! I thought breaking through to the Jin Dan stage would allow me to wipe away past shame... never mind, I shall return to the mountains to live in seclusion and cultivate bitterly."

"I will not emerge until I have cultivated to the late stage!"

Just at this moment.

"Is it not a bit late to now think of avoiding the world to cultivate?"

A faint voice suddenly sounded beside him! Startled, Linghu Yang hastily sacrificed a magical treasure, which was a three-foot-long sword filled with golden sharpness.

Whoosh! A silent attack struck.

The hairs on Linghu Yang's back stood on end; he immediately shifted his body, flying dozens of zhang away.

He rapidly formed a sword seal with his fingers and slashed horizontally at the void before him! The golden sword magical treasure emitted an unparalleled sword intent, instantly splitting into thirty-six golden flying swords that struck an object in the air.

Clang! Swish! Several huge black earth spikes suddenly erupted from nowhere, colliding with the numerous golden flying swords.

Under a single strike from the Shi Tian Shu, Linghu Yang's magical treasure, the Jin Jian, was knocked waveringly back, suffering severe damage to its spirituality.

With his natal magical treasure damaged, Linghu Yang's complexion instantly withered, and he opened his mouth to spit out a large mouthful of fresh blood.

The Shi Tian Shu, with merely one strike, had nearly taken half of Linghu Yang's life.

Clearly, the strength levels of both parties were not on the same plane at all.

Qin Ming's gaze turned slightly cold; he had originally intended to let the matter rest, but he had not expected Linghu Yang to haunt him like a lingering spirit.

In that case, he could not be blamed.

Besides, he also wished to see exactly how strong the Shi Tian Shu Demon King was, now that it had surpassed its peak period.

The Shi Tian Shu could be seen shuttling back and forth within the void, making it impossible for Linghu Yang to lock onto its whereabouts.

Suddenly!

He was caught off guard and struck by the mouse's tail, sending his entire body flying far away like a sandbag.

Linghu Yang scrambled up in a sorry state, clutching his chest and coughing violently several times, before realizing he could not escape.

Especially with Daoist Long glaring at him like a tiger eyeing its prey from the side.

A look of madness crossed his face as he prepared to fight to the death.

Linghu Yang once again drove the golden flying sword treasure in his hand, pouring his magic power into it continuously without holding anything back.

"Rise! Golden Sun Sword Formation!" Buzz! Swish, swish, swish! In an instant, the flying sword treasure in Linghu Yang's hand shot out, transforming into a rain of swords filling the sky, totaling seventy-two blades, each golden sword beam dozens of zhang in size.

Linghu Yang unleashed all his tricks, and the Golden Sun Sword Formation exuded an earth-shattering, heaven-destroying momentum.

Golden sword beams interwove, enveloping all the void in the vicinity.

The next moment.

The Shi Tian Shu's figure reappeared; though it stood at the center of the sword formation, it showed not a shred of fear.

It simply opened its mouth and spat out a burst of black mysterious light that suddenly spread through the air like a giant black net, instantly trapping Linghu Yang's Golden Sun Sword Formation.

The moment the sword beams touched the black mysterious light, they shattered into countless bubbles.

Among them, a few sword beams that slipped through the net flew straight toward Qin Ming.

He immediately circulated his blood and true qi, causing countless spirit runes to flicker across his skin; this was precisely the True Extreme Body!

Clang, clang, clang! The flying sword treasures unleashed by Linghu Yang struck Qin Ming's body, leaving only a few white marks, with him remaining virtually unharmed!

"This..." Seeing this scene, Linghu Yang was terrified to his core; not only had his strongest trump card, the sword formation, been broken.

It was also the first time in his life he had witnessed someone relying solely on their physical body to withstand a treasure attack, completely overturning the three views and cognition of a Jin Dan True Person like himself! Before he could even feel regret, his entire being was swallowed by the black light emitted by the Shi Tian Shu.

"Aaaah!"

A mournful, piercing scream erupted from within the black light.

Whoosh! A soul form shot out from the black light; Linghu Yang, unwilling to sacrifice his physical body, fled for his life.

Just then.

The Shi Tian Shu sneered and slashed its sharp claws at the void ahead.

An invisible force split the void, shredding the fleeing soul form of Linghu Yang.

Thus, this newly promoted Jin Dan True Person, before he could even make a name for himself in the Immortal Realm.

Was killed on the spot by the Shi Tian Shu in no time at all, his soul scattered and his spirit destroyed.

This battle demonstrated the strength of the Shi Tian Shu as a peak early stage third-tier Demon King.

After killing Linghu Yang, the Shi Tian Shu excitedly sucked at his corpse, then dug out a glittering golden Jin Dan from his dantian! Upon seeing this, its drool practically hit the ground.

"Don't swallow it yet!"

Qin Ming immediately stopped the beast's action; once this creature consumed this human Jin Dan, with its peak early third-tier cultivation, it would be just one step away from advancing again.

A third-tier Demon King's demon core from the demon race, if given to a complete Foundation Establishment cultivator, could create a False Dan cultivator.

Conversely, a human Jin Dan is the same, an extremely rare and highly nourishing item for demon beasts.

Inside the Jin Dan lies the essence of a cultivator's lifetime of cultivation.

If the Shi Tian Shu swallowed it, it would definitely be able to break through to the mid third-tier.

Even the Black Water Crocodile and the Silver-Yin Yi Shuangfeng could break through to the third-tier Demon King level if they consumed it.

Moreover, the Jin Dan condensed by Linghu Yang was of superior quality.

However, if that happened, the Shi Tian Shu would inevitably need a long period to digest this Jin Dan for its breakthrough.

Qin Ming still had matters to attend to; at this critical juncture, he could not allow his capable general to fall into slumber.

Although the Shi Tian Shu desperately craved the Jin Dan, it still obeyed Qin Ming's order and handed the Jin Dan in its paw over to him.

"Now is not the time."

"After I finish handling the matter of searching for the artifact spirit, I will let you breakthrough."

Qin Ming stored the Jin Dan, then reached out to grab Linghu Yang's storage pouch and that golden flying sword treasure as well.

Without even glancing at them, he put them away.

He then cast a Thorn Technique on Linghu Yang's corpse; countless black vines surged out, wrapping and engulfing the body, and within moments, it transformed into a blood bead the size of a fist.

Which Qin Ming grabbed into his hand.

Gazing at this Jin Dan-level blood bead, Qin Ming thought his innate spirit plant, the Yin Yang Xuanteng, was in for a treat; feeding it this blood bead would likely cause it to grow significantly, and perhaps even his innate treasure, the Wood Emperor Nail, could advance?

Having done all this.

Qin Ming then flicked a Fireball Technique at the dried corpse, and after destroying the body and erasing all traces, he departed from the place.

Three days later.

Riding the Silver-Yin Yi Shuangfeng, Qin Ming arrived in Jingzhou of the Liang Kingdom; his destination for this journey was the Xiao family of Taihu.

According to what was recorded on the silk, the artifact spirit of that Hooked Jade Jin Guang Mirror was hidden within the Xiao family's ancestral hall.

Half a day later.

A vast lake appeared in Qin Ming's line of sight, resembling an emerald gemstone embedded in the earth.

The surface of Taihu stretched with a thousand qing of green waves, where sky and water merged into one color, featuring beautiful mountains and clear waters, strange peaks and unusual rocks, possessing a unique splendor.

Countless fishing boats drifted upon the green waves; people moved around the water, mountains shifted with the people, humans seemed to walk within a painting, and mountains appeared to float upon the water, filling one with a sense of relaxation and joy.

Surrounding Taihu, dozens of immortal cultivation families, large and small, had inherited their lineages here to this day.

And the Xiao family was one of them.

Qin Ming could not understand why such an important artifact spirit would be hidden within a small Qi Condensation family like the Xiao clan.

However, that was a matter from the ancient era; times had changed and circumstances shifted, so the family existing there at that time might not necessarily have been the Xiao family.

Qin Ming put away the Silver-Yin Yi Shuangfeng, cast the True Demon Illusion, transformed into an ordinary-looking rogue cultivator, and descended toward a nearby small market.

He planned to investigate secretly from the periphery before making any decisions.

The cultivation forces surrounding Taihu were mostly insignificant, with only two Foundation Establishment families, and the highest cultivation among them was merely at the early stage of Foundation Establishment.

The Xiao family's lineage was not flourishing; their clan leader, Xiao Zhongren, possessed only late-stage Qi Condensation cultivation.

However, the Xiao family did possess an antique-style ancestral hall.

Qin Ming did not become careless because of this; instead, he roused himself to twelve parts alertness.

After all, this involved the matter of a top-grade magical treasure's artifact spirit.

Under cover of night, he infiltrated the vicinity of the Xiao family, released the Shi Tian Shu, and asked it, "Have you discovered anything abnormal?"

(End of Chapter)