Chapter 274: A Trial

Kuishi's expression grew increasingly grim; he hadn't expected the Tiger Lord to be so foolish!

He defended against the opponent's attacks while issuing the final stern warning: "Tiger Lord, this is the human traitor inciting conflict between our demon and monster races! There must be a traitor by your side! If you don't stop, do you know the consequences?! The demon race will face great disaster because of your stupidity!"

"Stop talking! Today it's either you die, or I perish!" The Tiger Lord firmly believed what he had seen and heard, and would not let a single phrase from Demon Lord Kuishi sway his resolve.

Demon Lord Kuishi was incensed.

He gritted his teeth and called the Demon Clan's Second Elder to deal with the Tiger Lord together.

With the Second Elder's participation, the Tiger Lord gradually fell into disadvantage.

Seeing this, Kuishi thought he might as well take down the Tiger Lord.

At the same time.

Yuan Yao and Xie Yan were still observing from the shadows; although both were inside the Domain True Realm, the Tiger Lord's entire attention was on killing Kuishi, so he had no time to notice them.

Moreover, besides the two of them, many Demon Clan guards and Demon Tribe soldiers who hadn't managed to evacuate were also trapped inside the Domain True Realm.

The so‑called Domain True Realm is a self‑created barrier that a cultivator forms from his own true self; once activated, it cages the opponent within a pocket of heaven and earth.

To escape a Domain True Realm, one must either defeat the caster or slay the caster.

Yuan Yao watched a demon and a monster fighting fiercely in the distance; each strike could split the air and crack the ground, twisting and shattering the surrounding airflow.

Boom—

A powerful shockwave surged forward, about to crush the corner of the wall where Yuan Yao and Xie Yan were hiding; Yuan Yao acted instantly and called Xie Yan to run!

Bang!

The area where Yuan Yao and Xie Yan had just been erupted in a violent explosion.

Yuan Yao and Xie Yan dodged in time, avoiding disaster.

They fled even farther.

Now they were at least two kilometers away from the battlefield.

"That was close!" Yuan Yao patted her chest as if she had just survived a calamity.

Even at that distance she could feel the oppressive pressure, almost suffocating; each impact pressed down on her scalp, making her chest feel slightly tight.

Some Demon Clan guards who couldn't escape were knocked unconscious on the spot.

Xie Yan stood behind Yuan Yao; a quick glance let him see the small red mole on her neck.

He promptly averted his gaze.

Fifteen minutes later.

Under the relentless assault of Demon Lord Kuishi and the Demon Clan's Second Elder, the Tiger Lord grew weak, heavily wounded, and on the brink of capture; suddenly he spewed a spray of blood like a volcanic eruption, let out a deafening roar, and the earth shook in an instant.

The Tiger Lord rose again and charged at Demon Lord Kuishi.

A few rounds later, the Second Elder was suddenly crushed to the ground by the Tiger Lord, whose gaping maw opened; under the Elder's terrified gaze, he bit off the Elder's neck.

Fresh blood sprayed everywhere like a fountain.

Kuishi saw this, his pupils narrowed, and the fire of anger in his heart burned like a prairie fire.

He slammed a palm at the Tiger Lord, the palm bearing terrifying demonic pressure, sweeping down like a mountain of force.

The Tiger Lord tried to block, but being gravely injured, he was like a candle in the wind, unable to withstand the overwhelming strike.

Bang!

The Tiger Lord was flipped onto the ground.

"Tiger Lord, you are as stupid as a pig!" Kuishi shouted furiously, cursing.

Just as he knocked the Tiger Lord unconscious, an anomaly erupted!

A surge of spiritual power rushed toward him, trying to forcefully invade his Sea of Consciousness!

Kuishi instinctively gathered spiritual power to counter.

Buzz!

After the buzz, Kuishi's expression changed.

Because the opponent's spiritual power coiled around his own like a poisonous snake, wrapping it in an instant.

Kuishi knew this was not the Tiger Lord's spiritual power; he guessed it must be the hidden human traitor causing trouble!

Damn the human traitor!

After repelling the Tiger Lord a few steps, Kuishi sprinted toward the source of the mysterious spiritual power.

"He's coming." Yuan Yao's face turned slightly pale; she steadied her mind, closed her eyes, and used her spiritual power to assault Kuishi's Sea of Consciousness, slowing his approach.

Just as Demon Lord Kuishi was about to see Yuan Yao, his expression suddenly changed, and he turned his head.

He saw a white‑clothed youth holding a long sword appear beside the Tiger Lord; the youth lifted his eyelid casually, his deep gaze carrying a hint of mockery.

He raised his sword and slashed.

The stunned Tiger Lord fell headfirst without any defense, blood spattered, yet not a drop landed on the youth's robe.

Demon Lord Kuishi's pupils contracted; he looked at the white‑clothed youth before him, a mix of shock and anger.

"So it was you behind the scenes!"

Kuishi, unable to contain his rage, moved and launched a ferocious, lethal attack toward Xie Yan.

Xie Yan raised his sword to meet it.

Xie Yan's cultivation level was far below Kuishi's, but Kuishi had just exhausted a great deal of demonic energy fighting the Tiger Lord, so he could not easily kill the human traitor Xie Yan.

Meanwhile—

The mysterious spiritual power that had just struck surged again with force.

Kuishi had to split his attention to deal with that spiritual power.

Dividing his focus, his movements slowed.

Xie Yan swung his sword; the blade burst forth with a thunderous roar, and in an instant murderous aura fluttered everywhere, penetrating all gaps!

Kui Shi blocked it with one palm.

But just then, that mysterious spiritual force took advantage of the gap and surged into his sea of consciousness, and with extreme frenzy devoured his spiritual power.

Kui Shi's face changed in shock; he wanted to expel the opponent's spiritual force.

But he could not expel it!

He changed tactics, intending to use his own spiritual power to completely crush the opponent's spiritual mass.

Hum!

With a hum, the opponent's spiritual mass was forcibly suppressed by Kui Shi, gradually dispersing bit by bit in his sea of consciousness.

Meanwhile, Yuan Yao's face turned deathly pale, blood streaming from her seven orifices.

Her sea of consciousness erupted with excruciating pain and an inescapable dizziness, as if she would collapse unconscious at any moment.

She must hold on!

Blood seeped from the corner of her mouth.

Yuan Yao clenched her teeth, even biting hard on her own tongue tip to force herself awake; she suddenly opened her eyes, her eyeballs already threaded with red blood.

Suddenly, Yuan Yao recalled her master's words: 'Training spiritual power, making it strong is one; making it flexible for your use is two.'

Back then she had asked curiously: 'How can spiritual power be used flexibly?'

The master replied: 'Since you can devour others' spiritual power, you should be able to employ their spiritual power's traits for your own use. For example, having previously devoured the Nightmare Beast's spiritual power, you would use its spiritual power's traits, taking a point as a pivot, to control the opponent's spiritual power and consciousness, trapping them in the Nightmare Space you create.'

'Within the Nightmare Space, you are the "Creator"; as long as the opponent does not see through the nightmare, you are the strongest. Thereafter, you can silently erode their spiritual power until it vanishes completely.'

She asked: 'What if the opponent discovers it?'

'Then the opponent will break free from your Nightmare Space and will also inflict a backlash upon you,' the master explained.

At that time, seeing her eager to try, the master called a halt to her.

'As your master, I have not yet delved deeply into the way of spiritual power; please wait a while, and I will thoroughly research it to find a suitable spiritual cultivation method for you, then combine it with training.'

The master has always been like this, fearing she and her senior fellow disciples might go astray, so before formal instruction he himself studies first, then teaches them carefully.

But the master...

She could wait no longer...

She wanted to try it herself!