Chapter 171: Omen

Where the karmic fire red lotus scorches, the life diagram traced by the secret of the character "Zhe" forever flows without cease.

At the battlefield's edge, the Great Peng Bird's true form has lost seven of its essential life feathers. This demon master, adept at evasion techniques, now even flaps his wings with blood rain and foul wind.

Minghe catches a hint of retreat in his ally's eyes; the twelfth‑grade Blood Lotus suddenly erupts with world‑ending crimson light. He knows all too well this old acquaintance's way of survival: when the cost of plunder exceeds the gain, the Lord of the Northern Abyss always flees more decisively than anyone.

The Minghe Sect Leader's chest roils with a towering blaze of fury; he clearly perceives that the spiritual energy fluctuations of the Human Race cultivator before him are far weaker than his own.

Whether it is the power of his destined treasure or the foundation of a millennium of cultivation, it should have formed an overwhelming force.

Yet Zhou Yi proves as hard‑to‑pin as a nine‑life mystic cat, making him suddenly grasp Taiyi's ancient predicament: despite holding the upper hand, the opponent always manages to burst forth anew in dire straits.

Zhou Yi's body circulates with an almost indestructible vitality; each time he nears collapse, he can unleash a breathtaking life‑preserving secret technique.

More troublesome are his endless supreme skills; occasional lethal strikes even force the Minghe Sect Leader to summon a protective Blood Lotus.

This duel may seem decided, yet to utterly slay this child is as intangible as catching drifting clouds with bare hands.

"The way to break the deadlock lies elsewhere!" the Minghe Sect Leader's peripheral glance catches the demon master Great Peng Bird already intending to withdraw; his scarlet robe moves without wind.

He suddenly lets out a long howl: "Why bother grappling with this child? The Human Race's realm is vast; could billions of ants all be as hard‑to‑pin as he?"

His words thundered like a sudden strike; the demon master Great Peng Bird, about to retreat, abruptly halts his form.

The nine demonic eyes flare with feral light; he recalls the secret of having once devoured Human Race souls to heal wounds.

If he could turn all the Human Race of this world into blood food, not only could old wounds be healed, but returning to the ancient Demon Saint realm would not be a fantasy.

"How dare you!"

Zhou Yi's roar reverberates across thousands of miles of rivers and mountains; the entire sky changes hue in response.

This is the first tremor of his Dao heart in a millennium of cultivation; the green stone beneath his feet cracks inch by inch under his raging pressure.

The two Honghuang titans' poisonous schemes strike the Human Race's vital points; how can unarmed mortals withstand Quasi Saint‑level slaughter?

Sui Huang and the other three Imperial Guardians have already formed a formation ready to launch, yet the demon master's spread wings immediately obscure the heavens.

The ancient demon bird's speed far exceeds normal limits; everyone only sees a after‑image flashing by, while demonic wind, wrapped in bone‑piercing cold, rushes toward the Human Race village.

Zhou Yi's two doppelgängers attempt to block, but are tightly entangled by the Sea of Blood‑shaped Asura legion.

The Minghe Sect Leader watches the battlefield with cold eyes, his Primordial Slaughter Sword inhaling and exhaling scarlet murderous aura.

He knows human hearts well; as soon as Zhou Yi's composure wavers even slightly, that century‑old assassin blood blade will pierce his vital point.

The life‑and‑death tribulation of billions of beings now serves as a Quasi Saint's wager.

The grievously wounded demon master Great Peng Bird may no longer be at his peak, yet as a Quasi Saint‑realm powerhouse, even Sui Huang and other strong ones find his path hard to block.

Zhou Yi's eyes flash with a sudden cold light; he ignores the attack from the Minghe Patriarch behind him, forcing his back to bear the Sea of Blood's lethal strike.

Amid the sound of bones shattering, he forcefully accelerates the front‑character secret method; golden blood spilling from his mouth solidifies in mid‑air into runes.

"Zhe character secret!" he roars low; Zhou Yi's shattered right shoulder regenerates at a visible speed.

Three doppelgänger forms burst forth, forming a battle array that completely seals the Minghe Patriarch's pursuit route.

The true self transforms into a streak of light, racing straight toward the heavens, leaving rippling spatial waves wherever it passes.

At this moment, the North Sea Demon King reveals his true form, his sky‑blocking wings stirring a tide of spiritual energy.

Tens of thousands of miles of territory instantly plunge into darkness; billions of civilians are swept like autumn leaves toward the abyssal maw.

"Human Race blood food, perfect for nourishing my Dao foundation!" the Great Peng Bird's snarling laugh shatters mountains, and the fetid wind, wrapped in cries, resounds through the heavens.

"Let Heaven and Earth bear witness; if you escape today, I, Zhou Yi, will disperse my primordial spirit." With a fierce shout, nine Xuan‑Yellow chains spring from the void, forcibly cutting off the devouring vortex.

Empowered by the front‑character secret, the Human Emperor unexpectedly arrives first, with warped Dao‑rhythm ripples surfacing around Zhou.

When the Battle Saint Method reaches its peak, the Chaos qi condensed in Zhou Yi's fist solidifies as if material.

The celestial bell booms, billions of Daoist rays pour down, intertwining with his fist's force into a torrent that shatters all laws.

The most lethal is the tenfold amplification of the "Jie" character secret activating now; this strike summons thirty‑three layers of heavenly calamity light from beyond.

At the brink of life and death, the Great Peng Bird's Dao heart completely collapses. The Demon Ancestor's inherited dignity vanishes, and he howls toward the Sea of Blood for aid.

The Minghe Patriarch, just after his doppelgänger broke, watches coldly, while the Primordial Slaughter Abyss Twin Swords pivot, aiming directly at Zhou Yi's vital back.

The Asura Lord's mouth curls a cold smile, clearly intending to reap the fisherman's profit.

The blood‑colored sword aura rips the heavens, apocalyptic glare blankets the eight directions, and the entire void fills with a suffocating death aura.

As the twin swords clash, a Nine‑Nether Inferno scene unfolds; the phantom of billions of beings' wails circulates in the blade light, pushing the path of slaughter to its extreme.

The demon master flaps his wings, overturning a hundred‑thousand‑mile sea of clouds; his ancient bronze feathers stand upright like swords.

In an instant he discerns the Minghe Sect Leader's lethal scheme, clearly a poison plot using himself as bait.

The Asura Lord's feigned attack to break the encirclement secretly harbors a deadly killing intent.

If Zhou Yi were to divert his attention to block the Blood River sword aura, the demon master could slip into the void; yet now the white‑haired Daoist's eyes blaze crimson, his Chaos qi solidifies, clearly locking onto his vital energy.

"The Sea of Blood old ghost is so scheming!" the demon master, enraged, retorts with a bitter laugh as twelve layers of protective divine light collapse.

Zhou Yi's fist, bearing world‑creating might, cleaves Yin and Yang in the Chaos, the Tai Chi Dao diagram suppressing the Four Extremes.

He clearly sees the Minghe's corner smile; that old demon, using the karmic fire red lotus, seals the battlefield, evidently to reap the fisherman's profit.

In the instant of life and death, a demonic birthmark surfaces on the demon master's forehead.

The Northern Abyss cold surge backflows from the void, forming a million‑blade ice sword array. Yet the Chaos fist's intent shatters it, the mysterious ice barrier breaking like thin paper.

The demon master lets out a sky‑ward howl, a massive Kun‑like sea‑swallow formation appears behind him, yet under his fist's force it erodes inch by inch.

"Blood debt must be repaid with life!" Zhou Yi's voice shakes the nine heavens. Where his fist wind passes, the demon master's body explodes, ten thousand feathers turning into meteoric fire rain.

Only a pale blue soul light pierces the void and darts away, warping space‑time wherever it passes.

It is the Great Peng's extreme speed, ignited by the demon master's burning core, reaching the thirty‑three layers beyond the heavens in an instant.

The Minghe Sect Leader claps his hands and laughs, the Primordial Slaughter Abyss Twin Swords suddenly merge. The Blood River Grand Array devours the world's spiritual energy, executing a lethal strike as Zhou Yi's old power wanes.

Yet the white‑haired Daoist suddenly turns, his Chaos qi condensing into a Xuan‑Yellow treasure tower; the earlier attempt to slay the demon master was a feint, and the true lethal scheme now begins to surface.

The heavens and earth suddenly burst open with a dazzling golden ray; the demon master Great Peng Bird lets out a thunderous roar, his massive demonic body explosively disintegrates into a sky of stardust.

A slender pale blue spirit pierces the void, shooting swiftly toward the Northern Abyss abyss.

Crimson gold angry flames ignited in Zhou Yi's pupils; the Yellow Emperor Sword in his hand rang out a clear resonance, and he was about to unleash the Great Shift Divine Ability to pursue, but his path was blocked by two ancient swords intertwined with blood slaughter aura.