Chapter 2390: The Aloof Sword Cultivator and His Bound Sword Spirit 34

The demon general's face showed an ambiguous expression: 'It's... the Demon Venerable's newly acquired favorite attendant! He's so precious, he hasn't set foot out of the sleeping chambers for days! We subordinates wanted to report matters to the Demon Venerable but couldn't see him...'

Li Wu Feng had a bad premonition: 'What's the name of that new favorite?'

The subordinate thought for a moment, then said: '... Qing Cheng, yes, that's Qing Cheng. The Demon Venerable even praised him, saying he lives up to his name.'

'Qing... Cheng?' Li Wu Feng repeated the name, his face instantly turning extremely weird, as if he had swallowed a toad whole.

Isn't that Liu Qingcheng!

Jin Chen snorted, 'No wonder it's him.'

What a protagonist of the Heavenly Dao, with only a few wisps of remnant soul still able to do such a thing.

Upon hearing this, Li Wu Feng panicked and jumped up and down: 'No, I must immediately see the Demon Venerable! This is of utmost importance!'

One of his subordinates, a demon guard with a lizard's head, wore a mournful face: 'Six Demon Kings, this is truly impossible! The Demon Venerable and that Lord Qing Cheng... cough, haven't left the main hall of the Netherworld Palace for half a month; I hear they haven't even lifted the curtains—no idea what day it is!'

The lizard‑headed guard winked and leered, the meaning obvious without words.

Li Wu Feng: '……'

His mouth twitched as he looked pleadingly at Jin Chen, lowering his voice: 'What do we do? That old demon's bones must have been softened by Liu Qingcheng's seductive spirit!'

Jin Chen's gaze swept over the distant Netherworld Palace, shrouded in thick demonic aura and heavily guarded, a flash of cunning in his eyes.

He leaned close to Xie Qingmo's ear and whispered a few words quickly.

Xie Qingmo's cold face first flickered with surprise, then the corners of his mouth twitched up slightly as he nodded: 'Okay.'

Before anyone could react, they saw Jin Chen casually raise a finger; the sword qi, condensed to the utmost, shot forth like an arrow released from a bow,

Screech—

The thick demonic barrier high above the demon horde shattered instantly, tearing a hole about a zhang wide.

Jin Chen, aiming at the terrified lizard‑headed demon guard, lazily lifted his chin: 'Here, go report to your Demon Venerable and say… a recklessly bold orthodox cultivator has invaded, piercing your lord's barrier like paper.'

Demon guard: '……'

Mom!

These orthodox cultivators are really blatant!

Li Wu Feng's eyeballs were about to pop out.

He pointed at his own nose, tears welling up: 'I… I've become one of you? It's over, over—the Demon Venerable will surely flay my skin to make a drum!'

Inside the Netherworld Palace.

Layers of dark red gauze curtains hung low, the air thick with a strong, sweet, cloying incense.

On the huge black jade bed lay a middle‑aged man, exhausted from excessive indulgence, as he teased the figure in his arms.

Liu Qingcheng leaned against him, his looks even more bewitching and alluring than when he was at the Heaven Expansion Sect, lips blood‑red, skin almost translucently white.

Only his eyes, once full of calculation, now seemed somewhat hollow; only when they flickered did they reveal a resentment so deep it could not be dispelled.

Just as the Demon Venerable was about to lean forward, the palace doors were slammed open with a bang!

A demon guard came crawling and tumbling in, pointing toward the breach in the barrier, teeth chattering: 'Demon… Demon Venerable! It's terrible! An… an orthodox cultivator has invaded!'

'He… he punched a huge hole in our protective grand formation!'

'What'

The Demon Venerable instantly shoved Liu Qingcheng aside, sat up violently, and flew into a rage.

However, the movement was too hasty; his vision went black and his body swayed.

A flash of resentment crossed Liu Qingcheng's eyes, then he replaced it with a panicked, helpless expression and rose as well: 'My lord, those hypocritical cultivators surely have some scheme; you must absolutely not let them go.'

Demonic aura surged around him, his aura becoming even more solid and chilling than that of the Demon Venerable beside him.

The Demon Venerable suppressed his dizziness, burning with rage: 'How outrageous! Follow me to see which ignorant thing dares to do this!'

He donned his outer robe, taking Liu Qingcheng and his personal guards, and rushed toward the damaged barrier with a mighty presence.

From afar, Jin Chen's party soon saw the Demon Venerable approaching, surrounded by his retinue, and beside him the demon‑aura‑rising Liu Qingcheng.

Xie Qingmo's Chen Sword pointed straight at Liu Qingcheng.

The Demon Venerable arrived, blazing with fury, about to shout: 'Which petty brat! How dare you invade my demon realm, destroy my barrier—I will—'

He had barely gotten halfway through his threat when he suddenly felt Jin Chen's unfathomable, terrifying spiritual power; the rest of his words got stuck in his throat.

The Demon Venerable's heart skipped a beat—this kid in black… something felt off.

He's ridiculously strong!

Liu Qingcheng's face changed dramatically; he knew Jin Chen's terror better than the Demon Venerable—never expecting these people to come straight here!

Without hesitation, he turned and tried to dissolve into black smoke to flee.

'Where do you think you're going?' Jin Chen's apparition appeared like a ghost, silently on his only escape route, his dark robes fluttering, eyes icy as if looking at a corpse.

'Liu Qingcheng.'

Liu Qingcheng had nowhere to retreat; demonic aura surged wildly around him, coalescing into several ferocious black pythons that lunged at Jin Chen.

Ling Gun Gun's voice‑over, especially deep: '【However, in the face of absolute power, struggling is merely futile.】'

The sword qi's residual force undiminished, it pierced Liu Qingcheng's lower abdomen dantian with pinpoint accuracy.

'Ah!' Liu Qingcheng, unable to retreat, let out a horrific scream; the demonic energy at his dantian surged out wildly, having lost the abnormal self‑healing ability granted by the Divine Metal Shards, and could no longer resist.

Jin Chen clearly had no intention of letting him off easily.

His form flickered again; fingertip sword qi tapped his limbs' joints and spinal vertebrae from afar, producing a few crisp cracks.

Liu Qingcheng collapsed like a boneless lump of mud, unable to lift a finger, nothing left but a venomous stare locked on Jin Chen.

'Qing Cheng!' the Demon Venerable saw his favorite being tormented thus, turned and rushed forward.

'Stop him!' Xie Qingmo gave the order.

The few Star Expansion disciples immediately swarmed up.

Even a bunch of ants dare to block me! the Demon Lord raged, demonic aura exploding around him as he tried to shake off the attackers.

The swift victory he had expected did not happen.

The Demon Lord stared blankly at his own hands.

The surging demonic aura… seemed weaker than usual by more than a notch?

Demon Lord:???

He felt dazedly the hollow magic power source within his body.

Xie Qingmo coldly stared at him, "It seems Demon Lord Sir and Liu Qingcheng have been training diligently day and night, suffering great loss."

The Demon Lord had not yet fully reacted when Li Wu Feng beside him could not hold back, pointing at the collapsed Liu Qingcheng on the ground.

"Demon Lord Sir, he's just a Pervert who cultivates by sucking people's essence blood and demonic essence! Your magic power is almost drained by him!"

Demon Lord:!!!

He turned his head, glaring at the resentful-eyed Liu Qingcheng on the ground.

"Scum!"

The Demon Lord's roar shook the entire barrier, making it tremble.

Liu Qingcheng fell completely into despair, trying to explain, "Your Excellency, it's not… they're framing…"

Jin Chen couldn't be bothered to listen to their chatter any longer.

He bent down, grabbed Liu Qingcheng's collar, and lifted him up like a rag.

He spread his other hand, and there in his palm lay the purified divine gold fragment.

"Familiar?" Jin Chen deliberately lowered his voice, like a demon whispering.

Liu Qingcheng's vacant eyes instantly burst with extreme greed and madness, "Mine, that's mine! Give it back!"

He struggled desperately, trying to grab that fragment.

Jin Chen flipped his wrist, and the fragment vanished.

He flung Liu Qingcheng to the ground in front of Xie Qingmo and the others like trash.

"Xie Qingmo," Jin Chen said, "I leave him to you—take your revenge."