Chapter 549: Axe Falls, Soul Soars

"Hahaha! What a thrill! Again!"

Xing Tian's battle spirit surged wildly; his bronze great shield swept across, shattering the void outright, and his great axe in hand turned into a relentless, storm‑like afterimage, continuously slashing at Shang Yang!

Each strike contained the ultimate law of power!

Pure bodily force, at this moment, displayed a destructive power that would leave even Daoist cultivators in despair!

Shang Yang fell back step by step, while the azure one‑legged divine bird struggled to stay afloat in the raging sea of blood; its wounds multiplied, and its protective star light trembled on the brink of collapse.

On the other side, the battle turned into a one‑sided, brutal slaughter.

Kua Fu wielded the earth's foul evil, turning it into endless quagmires and ground spikes, completely dividing and encircling the thirty‑thousand demon elite.

The most chilling sight was Grand Witch Hou Yi, cloaked in black, hovering above the White Bone Altar thousands of miles away.

Hou Yi's expression was icy as he slowly drew from behind a white bone arrow forged from ten‑thousand‑year dark‑evil iron, nocking it onto the massive bone bow as black as ink.

He drew the bow like a full moon!

Hum—!

At that instant, the murderous aura of the entire world surged madly toward the arrow tip, and the void rang with the shrill howls of countless vengeful ghosts.

His gaze locked directly onto a great demon general at the pinnacle of the Taiyi Golden Immortal within the demon army formation!

Crumble!

The bowstring quivered, and heaven and earth lost their hue!

A barely perceptible black ray instantly tore the void, reaching the limit beyond thought!

"Careful!" Shang Yang sensed the deadly aura and roared, his eyes bulging.

But it was too late.

Puff!

The great demon general clad in heavy spirit armor and wielding a divine shield could not even scream; his entire body, along with his protective artifact and Divine Soul Dao Fruit, was instantly blown apart by the arrow into a cloud of blood mist, body and spirit annihilated!

Moreover, the strange murderous aura attached to that arrow erupted like a plague within the demon army, instantly corroding hundreds of surrounding demon soldiers into dry bones!

"Hou Yi!!!"

Shang Yang's eyes bulged, and his heart seemed to bleed.

These were his trusted elite who had followed him into battle for years, now mercilessly reaped like weeds under the witches' carefully laid ambush!

Crumble! Crumble! Crumble!

Again came three consecutive thunderous bow‑string sounds!

Three black rays that ripped the heavens again pierced the void, and the remaining great demon generals in the demon camp shattered and fell one after another!

The entire Zhou Tian Star Cloud Anti‑Demon Formation finally collapsed completely under Hou Yi's flawless killing divine arrow and Kua Fu's earth‑shattering barrage!

Hundreds of thousands of witch infantry surged in like a tide, and a bloody massacre erupted instantly!

Demon bones shattered, blood stained the heavens.

In a brief half‑hour, the thirty‑thousand demon elite were all dead or wounded, and Luoxia Valley turned entirely into a Shura hell piled with demon corpses!

…

Above the Heavenly Dome, blood rain poured down.

Shang Yang's massive one‑legged divine bird body had been completely dyed red with fresh blood.

One of its wings was cleanly severed at the root by Xing Tian's great axe, the stark white bone stump exposed, and divine blood gushed wildly.

The once dazzling azure feathers became ragged, and the divine umbrella atop Shang Yang was riddled with cracks, its brilliance dimmed to the extreme.

Three great witches, arranged in a 'pin' formation, tightly encircled him at the center.

Xing Tian, drenched in demon blood, had a fanatical, cruel glint in his eyes; his great axe rested across his chest like a blood‑thirsty demon god that had stepped out of chaos.

Kua Fu brandished a peachwood staff, surrounded by swirling earth‑evil fire dragons, sealing every spatial passage.

Thousands of miles away, Hou Yi once again slowly raised his massive black bow; the icy, death‑silent arrow tip this time aimed directly at Shang Yang's forehead vital point!

The shadow of death was so heavy it suffocated.

"Shang Yang, all your subordinates are dead."

Xing Tian gaped his mouth wide, exposing stark white teeth, his voice cold and bone‑piercing:

"You ragged bird, you do have some backbone to withstand my thirty‑six axes without dying. But that's as far as it goes."

"Extract your primordial spirit and forge it into my witch clan's Twelve Capital Heavenly God Evil Banner; that would be the greatest honor of your life!"

Shang Yang reverted to human form, his body trembling as it hovered mid‑air.

He wiped the golden reverse blood from his mouth corner; the face that had been scholarly and steady now brimmed with sorrow and resolve.

He glanced at the demon corpses littering the ground and let out a grim laugh:

"Well... what a witch clan! What a grand witch hunt!"

"The vengeance of today, my demon Heavenly Court will repay a hundredfold! His Majesty and His Highness the Eastern Emperor will never let you go!"

"Eastern Emperor? Hahaha!" Xing Tian seemed to hear a cosmic joke and laughed wildly, "You mean that one who was born with a ruined origin, still only at Golden Immortal level, can only shrink in the Heavenly Court like a turtle—the Taiyi sick man?"

"If he dares to come down, one swing of my axe will chop him into meat paste to feed dogs!"

"Stop insulting His Highness the Eastern Emperor!"

A flash of extreme rage and ferocity crossed Shang Yang's eyes.

In the hearts of all demon saints of the Heavenly Court, His Highness the Eastern Emperor, who sacrificed his supreme Dao foundation and devoted himself wholly to the future of the demon race, is an entity that must never be desecrated!

"Since you give us no way out, let us perish together!"

Shang Yang let out a sudden, sky‑piercing howl; the Great Luo Dao Fruit within him ignited wildly at that moment, blinding lapis‑blue divine fire spewing from every pore!

He intends to self‑detonate the Great Luo Dao Fruit!

The self‑detonation of a Great Luo Golden Immortal at his pinnacle could drag this million‑mile realm into utter void; even if it fails to kill Xing Tian, it would grievously wound Kua Fu and Hou Yi, and annihilate the hundreds of thousands of witch infantry below!

"Self‑detonate? Dream on!"

In the distance, Hou Yi's gray-white pupils flashed with cold light; the bone arrow resting on the bowstring suddenly loosened!

Whoosh—!

This arrow, having reached extreme speed, directly pierced the temporal law, containing the Nine Nether Mystic Evil that freezes the soul, straight toward Shang Yang's dantian qi sea, aiming to forcibly freeze his primordial spirit before his Dao Fruit fully erupts!

At the same time!

Chi Tian let out a furious roar, his demonic body shooting out, the bronze giant shield smashing fiercely toward Shang Yang's face, while his right hand's mountain-splitting giant axe, wrapped in the boundless power to collapse the earth, came down overhead!

Kua Fu's peach-wood staff transformed into a ten-thousand-zhang earth dragon, tightly coiling around Shang Yang's legs!

The strongest combined attack of the three top great witches!

Seal the primordial spirit! Confine the flesh! Annihilate the true spirit!

Shang Yang watched helplessly as the deadly black arrow that broke through space and the descending bronze giant axe approached; the violent immortal power circulating within his body was actually stagnated for a moment by that strange killing qi!

Even self-detonation had become a luxury!

"My life is over…… Your Majesty! East Emperor Highness! Shang Yang…… I have been loyal!"

Shang Yang desperately closed his eyes, two lines of blood tears sliding down the corners of his eyes.

The giant axe, carrying a violent wind that tears everything apart, is now less than three inches from his head!

The bone-piercing cold light on the axe blade had even sliced the flesh on his forehead!

In the next instant, this monster clan great commander renowned throughout the Wilderness would completely turn to ashes, body and dao extinguished!