Chapter 387: Power of the Demonic Ape, the Four Symbols Calamity Evil-Slaughtering Great Formation

Deep within the Beast Cry Mountain Range.

As the sky-filling dust settled, Qin Ming, transformed into a blood-red eight-armed demonic ape, leaped down from the sky; with a 'Boom—', his figure landed not far from the ravine.

Mountain rocks shattered and flew, causing even the earth to tremble several times.

Only a moment passed.

Within the collapsed trench before him, the jet-black demonic serpent struggled and crawled out once more.

Under the full-force collision of the two fierce beasts just now,

whose physical body was stronger became clear with a single comparison.

At this moment,

the jet-black demonic serpent, formed by the surname-Qiu demonic cultivator casting the Heavenly Demon Body Infusion, emitted a withered aura.

The strike he had just unleashed with all his strength not only failed to inflict the slightest harm on the blood-red demonic ape,

but instead resulted in himself being blasted apart by a fist, smashed into the ground, nearly costing him half his life.

What kind of terrifying physical power was this?

The huge head of the jet-black demonic serpent shook; demonic light surged around its body as it once again employed a secret technique to gather a mass of demonic qi.

Simultaneously,

a rare hint of unsettled fear and suspicion appeared in its pair of vertical dragon pupils.

"A blood-red eight-armed demonic ape?"

"Why have I never heard of such a creature?"

Since cultivating the Heavenly Demon Body Infusion, the surname-Qiu demonic cultivator was suffering his first setback, encountering such a perverted body-refining cultivator.

In an instant! The blood-red eight-armed demonic ape stood towering between heaven and earth, radiating an extremely terrifying aura from its entire body.

"Shattered again with a single touch; it seems body-refining demonic cultivators from the Blood Realm aren't that impressive after all?"

Since Qin Ming cultivated the True Extreme Body, he could be said to have rarely met an opponent in terms of physical prowess.

After all, the "Heavenly Demon Body Refining Strategy" was a sacred scripture of the demon race; even among the Wang Zu of demon beasts, in ten thousand years, only a handful had successfully cultivated it.

Qin Ming was a special case.

The blood-red demonic ape slowly nodded its head, its three huge ape eyes glaring at the jet-black demonic serpent on the ground, brimming with murderous intent!

Roar! The blood-red demonic ape spread its eight arms, its explosive muscles bulging; its five fingers made a void grab, its feet pushed off the ground as it leaped up again, pouncing toward the demonic serpent.

The surname-Qiu cultivator opposite, having just suffered heavy injuries, had not yet recovered from his churning blood and qi.

At the same time, he seemingly did not expect the opposing demonic ape to be so formidable; after forcibly clashing with him, it still had strength remaining and acted immediately without hesitation.

It gave him not even a chance to catch his breath.

Startled, the surname-Qiu cultivator was slightly slower in his reaction; although he desperately maneuvered his demonic body to barely dodge two of the demonic ape's giant palms,

in the next instant, six more blood-red ape arms firmly seized him! Roar! The jet-black demonic serpent roared in pain, and six extremely ferocious blood marks immediately appeared on its body where it was grabbed.

Its scales, originally as hard as black iron, shattered and peeled off one after another as dark black demonic blood gushed out wildly.

Shocked and enraged, the black serpent frantically thrashed its body in a desperate struggle; in its urgency, it opened its huge mouth and bit down fiercely on one of the blood-red demonic ape's arms! At this life-or-death moment, the surname-Qiu demonic cultivator's potential was ignited, and he subconsciously began to counterattack immediately.

The demonic serpent exposed its grim serrated teeth and bit down hard on the blood-red demonic ape's arm.

Qin Ming, however, felt not the slightest fear, for the demonic ape was formed from his true qi and blood essence, possessing astonishing defensive power.

The blood-red demonic ape raised its remaining fists and began to pummel the demonic serpent pinned to the ground relentlessly! The demonic serpent was equally unwilling to show weakness; even while injured, it swung its huge serpent tail to smash against the blood-red demonic ape's back, engaging in a fierce struggle.

The great earth trembled, and the Xumi Shanhe collapsed.

The two giant beasts fought and killed each other within the Beast Cry Mountain Range, stirring up waves of violent gale winds around them.

The resulting aftermath shook apart everything nearby, causing it to crumble into dust in an instant.

Even demon beasts a thousand li away, hearing the earth-shaking sounds of the battle from afar, momentarily thought it was form-transformed great demons fighting and all curled up in their lairs, daring not to show their heads.

They feared being caught in the crossfire and dying without even knowing how.

Not far away, the emaciated surname-Meng man, who was currently battling the Shi Tian Shu, also witnessed this scene, his face displaying an expression of disbelief.

"How is this possible?!"

"Among lower-realm cultivators, there is actually someone capable of relying solely on physical strength to contend with Senior Brother Qiu's Heavenly Demon Body Infusion technique?"

Not only that, the surname-Meng demonic cultivator also realized that at this very moment, his highly relied-upon Senior Brother Qiu had completely fallen into a disadvantaged position, being rubbed into the ground by that cultivator. "Hey! You kid, still have time to look around?"

"It seems the intensity I've given you isn't enough yet!"

"Damn it! Take this divine ability from me, the Great Master!"

The Shi Tian Shu cursed loudly, waving the Zhu Que flag in its hand; instantly, countless heavenly fires descended, forming a sky-high sea of flames at the location of the opposing demonic cultivator! The emaciated man let out a startled shriek and hurriedly employed methods to respond.

Meanwhile, on Qin Ming's side, the battle had reached a white-hot stage.

It had to be said, the true disciples of the Blood Refinement Demonic Sect did possess some skill.

That surname-Qiu demonic body-refining cultivator, under the storm-like relentless pummeling of the blood-red eight-armed demonic ape transformed by Qin Ming, had surprisingly not yet died completely; like an arrow at the end of its flight, he continuously launched desperate counterattacks.

The black serpent demon's head, with eyes scarlet red, bit死死 onto the blood-red demonic ape's arm, utterly unwilling to let go.

Suddenly!

A flash of murderous light flickered in the demonic serpent's vertical pupils; taking advantage of the gap while the blood-red demonic ape swung its fist, it spewed a large patch of jet-black demonic qi from its mouth, shrouding Qin Ming's face.

This demonic qi was extremely foul-smelling, seemingly some kind of troublesome demonic poison divine ability.

Faster said than done.

The Law-Breaking Heavy Pupils on the blood-red demonic ape's forehead suddenly opened wide!

From them shot a beam of crimson mysterious light, freezing all the demonic qi and poisonous mist spewed by the demonic serpent in mid-air.

In the next instant, the power of the heavy pupils erupted fiercely, sweeping away and extinguishing all of the demonic serpent's demonic qi and poisonous mist in an instant!

Seeing such heaven-defying divine ability and means, Senior Brother Qiu displayed an expression of disbelief, his heart already growing cold by a large margin.

His physical body, of which he had been so proud, was no match for his opponent, and even his trump-card magical arts and divine abilities were broken by him.

Where the hell did this freak come from? In a duel between experts, life and death are often decided in an instant.

Taking advantage of the opponent's momentary stupor, the Blood-Colored Eight-Armed Demon Ape freed two of its eight arms, suddenly exerting force to grab the serpent's head.

Roar! The demon ape let out a furious, wild roar from its mouth, and the power of its blood and true qi explosively erupted!

Its thick, blood-colored arms suddenly pulled with tremendous force! 'Puchi!'

Black scales peeled off the demon serpent's neck, torn open by several terrifying blood trails, and within its eyes, a rare look of terror appeared.

Yet the blood-colored demon ape gave it no chance, flipping over in a single stride to directly straddle the pitch-black demon serpent.

Immediately, its eight arms clenched into fists, and a sky-covering barrage of blood-colored fist shadows crisscrossed, smashing down upon the serpent head beneath it like falling meteors.

Roar! The blood-colored demon ape was exceedingly vicious; mere smashing was not enough, so it directly opened its abyssal giant mouth and viciously bit down on the black serpent's neck, causing countless sprays of dark demonic blood.

The demon serpent let out miserable howls, wailing incessantly.

Then.

The blood-colored demon ape embraced the demon serpent's head with its eight arms, forcefully twisted with a sudden surge of strength, and tore the massive serpent head clean off, causing it to fall to the ground nearby like a great mountain.

With the death of the demon serpent, the demonic qi on its surface gradually dimmed and lost its luster, slowly dissipating.

Revealing the true form of the surname Qiu demonic cultivator from the Blood Refining Demon Sect.

Yet he too had his neck snapped, his head separated from his body.

Suddenly!

But just at this moment.

A spiritual soul 'whooshed' out from the corpse on the ground, pierced through the void, and in a panic sought any path to escape with its life.

Qin Ming withdrew his True Qi Transformation divine ability, focused his gaze, and a trace of contempt inevitably appeared at the corner of his mouth.

"Only now thinking of fleeing? Isn't it a bit too late?"

His divine sense explosively erupted, directly solidifying into substance to block the path of the surname Qiu demonic cultivator's soul.

Boom! The surname Qiu demonic cultivator's soul, fleeing in panic, finally revealed an expression of extreme fear.

In the direction of his escape, an invisible wall abruptly appeared out of thin air.

His soul slammed violently against the wall of divine sense, nearly scattering apart, and a pain originating from the soul instantly spread through the depths of his spirit.

"Divine Sense Manifestation!"

"Why is the divine sense of a Nascent Soul stage like this?!"

"I am not resigned!"

Before he could react, Qin Ming's divine sense changed once more, transforming into a giant hand that seized his soul and pulled it before him.

The surname Qiu demonic cultivator lost his previous calm composure, replaced entirely by a face full of terror.

Having roamed the demonic path for many years, he needed no second thought to know what fate awaited him next; he had inflicted the agony of soul-extraction and spirit-refining upon others countless times, but now it was his turn, and he did not wish to personally experience such pain.

He hastily opened his mouth to beg for mercy: "Fellow Daoist, spare my life! Could you at least grant me a quick death? I possess many treasures that I can offer to you in their entirety; beyond that, whatever conditions you demand, feel free to name them!"

"Hmph! Would I not obtain them myself?" Qin Ming snorted coldly, dismissing him with contempt.

He immediately began to employ the Soul-Searching Technique upon him.

But the next moment.

"Ah!!!"

A piercing, miserable scream arose, grating on the teeth.

Qin Ming had only just initiated the soul search when the surname Qiu demonic cultivator's soul began to swell up like a sphere.

The surname Qiu demonic cultivator's face became hideous, filled with unbearable agony.

Then, with a 'bang', it exploded, instantly scattering his soul and dispersing his spirit, leaving no trace of qi; clearly, he had lost even the chance to reincarnate.

Seeing this, Qin Ming's face turned gloomy; he had originally intended to search this person's soul to obtain detailed intelligence about the Blood Ring Realm.

Yet who could have expected that the Blood Refining Demon Sect had tampered with the souls of disciples descending to lower realms; it seemed that anyone attempting a soul search would trigger a soul prohibition, causing immediate annihilation and dissipation.

This was done to ensure that the Blood Refining Demon Sect's intelligence would not be leaked.

Qin Ming had not anticipated that the demonic path would have such a backup measure.

He shook his head, gave it no further thought, and collected the storage bag from the surname Qiu demonic cultivator's corpse.

Then he employed the Thorn Technique; countless black vines danced wildly, instantly engulfing and submerging the demonic cultivator's corpse.

After refining it, a dark red blood pearl fell into his hand.

The demonic cultivator's corpse was not wasted either; Qin Ming directly tossed it into the Small Xiao Lingjing to serve as fertilizer for the Fengyou Ghost Jujube Tree.

After accomplishing all this, Qin Ming then cast his gaze toward a spot not far away.

"This true disciple of the Blood Refining Demon Sect actually possesses quite some methods."

"If any other cultivator had faced this person, few within the Jin Dan realm would likely have been a match."

"It is a pity that he encountered me."

Having broken through to the late stage of Jin Dan, Qin Ming's strength had surged greatly; apart from Nascent Soul True Lords, there was basically no opponent left.

Qin Ming harbored absolutely no misgivings or psychological burdens about exterminating the demonic sect disciple.

Because he had learned from Yue Lingyan that there were restrictions on these demonic cultivators descending to the lower realm.

He simply had no fear of retaliation from the Blood Refining Demon Sect.

Furthermore, once the ten-year period ended, the remaining demonic sect disciples would be forcibly returned to the upper realm.

The only pity was that he had hoped to obtain some useful information from the demonic cultivator.

Yet the Blood Refining Demon Sect's secrecy methods were quite bizarre; as soon as a disciple fell into another's hands and a soul search was attempted, their soul would scatter and spirit disperse in an instant, yielding nothing.

This was precisely the cruel and vicious nature of the Blood Refining Demon Sect.

Not far above the Beast Cry Mountain Range, that emaciated demonic cultivator surnamed Meng witnessed his Senior Brother Qiu being ruthlessly crushed and killed by Qin Ming.

Panic instantly seized his mind; a single careless moment allowed the Shi Tian Shu to exploit an opening, striking him with an earth spike that pierced straight through his abdomen, spraying blood like rain.

"Ah! Ah! Ah!"

The Meng-clan demonic cultivator, terrified and furious, cursed loudly: "Rat scum! How dare you ambush me!"

"Hmph! Childish words. This Great Lord is inherently a rat demon. Facing death, you still dare to speak disrespectfully? Your fellow disciple Qiu has already gone cold; this Great Lord will now send you to reunite with him!"

The Shi Tian Shu's eyes turned cold; five command flags in its hand flew out, landing at five positions in the void.

Immediately after, it mobilized its demonic power, muttering incantations under its breath.

"Four Symbols Calamity Killing Great Formation!"

Boom! From atop the five command flags, five-colored brilliant pillars of light erupted, shooting straight into the sky!

An aura capable of destroying heaven and earth firmly locked onto the withered demonic cultivator struggling for life within the formation.

The Meng-clan demonic cultivator's face turned pale, his expression filled with great shock: "Th-this is..."

Then, within the great formation, a terrifying black gale whipped up, seeming capable of blowing out a cultivator's divine soul.

Heavenly lightning drew forth earthly fire; within the black gale were赫然 mixed terrifying black flames, amidst which Lei Ting flickered and vanished unpredictably.

That withered demonic cultivator was like a lone leaf boat in a boundless Wang Yang, swaying uncertainly in the giant waves formed by the gale, in danger of capsizing at any moment.

In merely an instant, despite unleashing all his methods, he could not withstand the terrifying black wind and was instantly submerged within it.

He could not even let out a final scream.

The Shi Tian Shu immediately ceased casting, raised a hand to summon the Five Elements command flags back.

The gale dispersed.

A charred black corpse fell dejectedly from mid-air; the Meng-clan demonic cultivator's eyes were hollow and lifeless, clearly blown by the earlier black gale until both his form and spirit were extinguished. "Seems I went a bit too hard... Master still wanted to search his soul, but now there's not even a soul left..."

Realizing it had overstepped, the Shi Tian Shu was silently pondering how to explain this to Qin Ming.

Qin Ming's figure had already appeared beside it.

"Master, this demon has been slain by me, hehehe!"

"It's just that the soul seems... to have been scattered."

The Shi Tian Shu puffed out its chest, seeking credit from Qin Ming.

After collecting the storage pouch from the man's body, Qin Ming followed the same procedure, casting the Thorn Technique to drain the corpse dry, transforming it into a blood pearl.

He then threw the withered man's corpse into the Small Xiao Lingjing as fertilizer.

Subsequently, he directly fed the two blood pearls from the late-stage Jin Dan demonic cultivators to his本命 spiritual plant, the Yang Xuanteng.

After absorbing the essence within the blood pearls, the Xuanteng once again began growing wildly and savagely at an astonishing speed.

Rows of silver, profound runes circled and danced around the spiritual plant.

Until, among the black vines, dozens of black-and-white patterned flower buds bloomed once more.

Having finished these tasks, Qin Ming turned his head and spoke to the Shi Tian Shu.

"It matters not; some sect prohibition was placed upon the divine souls of these two Descended Realm cultivators, making soul-searching and interrogation impossible."

He did not blame the Shi Tian Shu for this.

Instead, he felt quite impressed by the method it had just employed in the end.

"This place is not safe to linger; the commotion just now will likely attract nearby great demons to investigate. Let us leave this area."

Immediately, Qin Ming erased all traces of aura from the scene; confirming nothing was left behind, he took the Shi Tian Shu and vanished from the spot as a green rainbow.

At the exact same moment he slew the two demons.

Within the three major Immortal Realms, the ten-plus demonic cultivators who had descended from the Blood Universe Realm suddenly underwent drastic changes in expression.

Each hastily pulled a demonic-patterned blood token from their robes, only to see that the divine soul imprints of two fellow disciples upon it had already vanished.

"How is this possible?"

"Fellow disciples Qiu and Meng have actually perished simultaneously?!"

"Could they have encountered an Nascent Soul old monster?"

"..."

Within the Great Zhou Immortal Realm, inside the Xuanqing Temple occupied by the demonic path.

Jiang Yuan, the Holy Son of the Blood Refinement Demonic Sect, appearing frail and weak, toyed with a demonic-patterned blood token in his palm; on his paper-pale face appeared a hint of confusion as he spoke in a yin-soft tone to the person sitting opposite: "Fellow disciple Lan Bing, who do you suppose did this?"

"Fellow disciple Qiu's Heavenly Demon Infusion Technique refines that Gengchi Mojiao suppressed beneath the eighteenth layer of the Demonic Abyss; apart from a Nascent Soul cultivator... I fear no one could slay both fellow disciples simultaneously."

"Could it be that a Nascent Soul from Great Jin has made a move?"

Holy Maiden Lan Bing's expression did not change in the slightest; she replied in an extremely cold voice: "Just two worthless wastes; dead is dead, what does it have to do with me?"

"Cough! While that is true, yet someone dares to provoke the dignity of our Holy Sect."

"It insults our Holy Sect's reputation."

"Fellow disciple Lan, surely we cannot just let this go? Otherwise, how shall we explain this to the Elders when we return?"

"Moreover, that fellow disciple Meng is the only grandson of Elder Meng Kuo; with him gone just like that, it will be difficult to dodge the issue when dealing with His Reverence." Jiang Yuan said with a faint smile.

Hearing this, Holy Maiden Lan Bing stated calmly, like an ancient well without waves:

"That human cultivator probably does not know that killing a disciple of our sect will leave an invisible Blood Ring Curse Mark."

"You notify the other fellow disciples to keep watch; as soon as any blood token reacts, immediately inform the two of us."

Jiang Yuan chuckled sinisterly: "Fellow disciple Lan thinks thoroughly indeed."

(End of Chapter)