Chapter 161: Survival Tactics

When the true form of the Nine‑Infant broke through the clouds and appeared, the vegetation within a hundred‑li radius instantly withered and scorched; the nine snake heads inhaled and exhaled water, fire and poisonous miasma, and its infant‑cry‑like screech shook the mountains, causing the rocks to split.

Under Miao Le's feet a Tai Chi cloud diagram manifested, and Tai Qing's celestial light turned into a barrier protecting the city behind him: "I, a humble Daoist, spread the Saint's edict here; why do demon gods trespass?"

"Even petty ants dare to claim the Saint's edict?" the central snake head spewed blazing fire, while the four heads on the left suddenly subdued their ferocity.

The Nine‑Infant's eighteen vertical pupils contracted simultaneously; the Yin‑Yang Duality Sword at Miao Le's waist glowed with the resonance of the Mixed Origin Dao, clearly the proof‑of‑path artifact directly transmitted from Tai Qing.

The Nine‑Infant's surrounding demon clouds churned unpredictably, while six bronze ancient lamps floated within the demon mist, flickering on and off.

Since the Six Saints proved the Mixed Origin path, the saying "All beneath the Saint are but ants" has spread across heaven and earth; even the Demon Race that roams the Vast Wilderness must hold reverence before such beings.

In Miao Le's wide sleeves the Tai Chi diagram's phantom image flickered in and out, and the blue lotus formed by Dao resonance at his fingertips withered piece by piece in the gale.

He gazed at the nine demon silhouettes that blotted out the sky, his voice striking like Kunlun cold jade colliding:

"Since the era of the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors, has the Human Race ever proactively harmed the Demon Race? Yet the Northern Netherworld Demon Master Palace performed a blood sacrifice of thirty thousand humans last month to forge ten thousand soul banners. How do you explain this?"

The nine ferocious beast heads simultaneously emitted earth‑shaking roars; the central dragon head inhaled and exhaled eerie blue nether fire: "The alchemical furnace of Tai Qing Sheng Ren cannot forge justice; today I come bearing the Demon Emperor's pardon decree, even if the three sects of the mysterious Dao gather…"

Before the words finished, the nine bronze ancient lamps suddenly burst with blinding blood light, outlining the contour of the celestial star array in the void.

A Yin‑Yang fish seal suddenly appeared on Miao Le's forehead, and the purple‑gold gourd that had hung at his waist rose into the air.

The gourd's mouth spewed Chaos breath that instantly solidified into Tao Te Ching characters, each glyph wrapped in Tai Qing's celestial light: "Do you know which heavenly‑river water Nüwa used when she molded humans from clay?"

As the question rang out, deafening thunder roared from the nine heavens above, and a faint phantom of the Tai Chi diagram spanned the thirty‑three layers of sky.

Three of the Nine‑Infant's heads suddenly spewed their life blood, forcibly stabilizing the demon clouds shattered by the Saint's pressure: "What a sharp‑toothed, sharp‑tongued disciple of the mysterious Dao! Even if Tai Qing himself arrives today…"

The words halted abruptly, for the flames of all demon lamps simultaneously swayed toward Kunlun, as if worshipping some presence.

Seated beneath Tai Qing Sheng Ren, the chief disciple Miao Le stood on the clouds, his azure robe rippling without wind.

As the Ren Sect's chief disciple, he was humiliated by the Nine‑Infant; even his thousand years of pure cultivation could not suppress the raging anger in his chest.

From afar, Zhou Yi and Sui Huang watched the battle with a calm façade, yet their hearts surged; the situation advanced along the trajectory Zhou Yi had foreseen.

Facing the elite Demon Race led by the Nine‑Infant, Sui Huang and his companions have been unable to sleep for days.

The demon gods' rumors of coveting human flesh to boost cultivation grew louder; if they truly launched a full‑scale invasion, how could the frail Human Race resist?

Who could have imagined that Zhou Yi's clever chain scheme would cause the direct heir of the Saint to voluntarily block the Demon Race's iron hooves.

"Is the Saint's name merely a talisman?" the six heads of the Nine‑Infant roared in unison, their bone wings blotting the sky, "Today we shall witness what the Saint's senior disciple can do."

As one of the ten great demon gods shaped from ancient ferocious beasts, he indeed possessed the standing to look down upon Great Luo Golden Immortals.

The Tai Chi diagram flickered in Miao Le's palm; just as he was about to speak, his sleeve was suddenly tugged.

He turned to see Zhou Yi already at his side, his brows clouded with worry: "This matter is the Human Race's destiny; how could I burden a fellow cultivator? The Demon Race is powerful; please think twice."

"Fellow cultivator, your words are mistaken." Miao Le looked at the densely packed Human villages below, the Tai Qing Jade Talisman in his chest warming slightly, "By bloodline I am also Human; by lineage I cannot allow the petty to desecrate the Saint's authority."

Having spoken, he brushed his sleeve and summoned an Eight Scenes Palace Lamp; its crystal flame illuminated half the heavens.

Zhou Yi repeatedly urged restraint to no avail, and could only sigh deeply and step back.

In the shadows, Sui Huang gripped his stone axe, watching Miao Le and the Nine‑Infant clash; he finally grasped the true meaning of Zhou Yi's whispered words that day—when the Saint's fate intertwines with the rise and fall of the Human Race, the seemingly unsolvable crisis will naturally resolve.

On the eastern battlefield, the Nine‑Infant saw Grand Master Miao Le refuse to yield a step and immediately brandished a command flag.

In an instant, demon clouds darkened the sun, and the demon army, covering sky and earth like a raging tide, surged forward.

This legion, composed of elite from the Demon Court, alone contained a hundred thousand warriors exuding Golden Immortal aura, with several hundred Great Luo realms of pressure subtly manifesting among them.

Zhou Yi stared at the battlefield, his heart trembling. Now the Human Race's total Golden Immortal combat power was still under fifty thousand, while the Demon Race's vanguard already numbered several times that.

If Demon Emperor Qun himself led the main force, the Great Luo realm's strong ones would truly need to number in the ten thousands.

His gaze swept over the Human soldiers awaiting in strict formation, and saw fierce battle resolve in their eyes; since the first victory over the demon army forty years ago, the Human Race's backbone had long been straightened.

Grand Master Miao Le's white robe fluttered, and a dark‑red short banner materialized in his palm.

As the maxim "Yin‑Yang disorder, the Five Elements in rebellion" rang through the clouds, the banner billowed against the wind, transforming into a sky‑blocking shield.

The nine‑headed giant demon at the forefront suddenly slammed into an invisible barrier; the Yu Qiang's heavy water and blazing fire spewed by the nine heads vanished before the light screen.

"It's the Levitation Flame Flag of Tai Qing Sheng Ren!" Zhou Yi's pupils narrowed. Legend says this flag was formed from the withered leaf of a Chaos blue lotus, ranking among the Preheavenly Spiritual Treasures.

At this moment, the formation's scene was bizarre; a million demon soldiers seemed trapped in quicksand, appearing within reach yet actually confined within an inverted Yin‑Yang barrier.

The Nine‑Infant roared furiously within the formation, its nine heads interweaving water and fire, yet the flame flag's pattern remained unmoved.

If only Grand Master Miao Le's Great Luo realm cultivation were relied upon, a lone rider against a million demons would be no better than a mantis arm trying to stop a chariot.

Yet this Saint's supreme treasure continuously turned the tide, erasing the vast power gap between the two races.

The demon army in the formation surged left and right; each time they seemed about to breach the defenses, they were instantly shifted back to their original positions.

Grand Master Miao Le formed a hand seal mid‑air, while the phantom Yin‑Yang fish behind him slowly rotated.

The direct Tai Qing transmission of the mysterious Dao's orthodox method, combined with the Preheavenly Spiritual Treasure, astonishingly restrained the entire demon army with a single person's strength.

In the Vast Wilderness World, while a cultivator's foundation is crucial in a duel, the decisive factor often lies in whether one wields a heaven‑and‑earth relic.

The million demons were now trapped within the Preheavenly Treasure Flag engulfed by crimson flames; no matter how they charged, they could not touch Miao Le's Dao robe, a perfect illustration.

The Nine‑Infant Demon Lord's twin pupils spewed Netherworld true fire, the pressure of a Great Luo pinnacle shaking the void, and his half‑step quasi‑Saint cultivation ranked among the top in the Vast Wilderness.

Yet when his innate demon fire struck the protective divine light of the Levitation Flame Flag, it melted instantly like snow on lava.

Miao Le stood on the clouds, hands behind his back, the purple‑gold gourd at his waist inhaling and exhaling Chaos breath.

If not for fearing the presence behind the Demon Race, he would only need to activate the Tai Qing Divine Seal, and in an instant could melt the overwhelming demon army.

The difficulty of a Saint's disciple lies here; perhaps his cultivation has not reached the pinnacle, yet the Preheavenly Spiritual Treasure in his hand is inexhaustible, also concealing a life‑preserving method personally bestowed by the Saint.