Chapter 180

Cheng Xinzhan did not yet know that more than half of the demon kings in the great hall had been attracted by the Snake King's movements and had come to watch him.

He still adhered to the principle of playing the part fully, summoning the mercury liquid and breaking open a small hole, from which flowed out the blue-purple Gang dew with silver light spots, looking rather like a tangyuan.

He then took out a small lead bottle to catch it. Cheng Xinzhan secretly thought himself lucky; this portion of Gang dew was quite substantial, basically filling an entire small bottle. However, this Lei Gang was light in texture, and even after being squeezed into shape by the mercury liquid, it remained half-liquid and half-gaseous, like extremely dense water mist. So, even though the lead bottle was full, Cheng Xinzhan weighed it and found it was less than two zhu.

When he took out the lead canister and poured the Gang dew from the lead bottle into it, the amount of Gang dew adhering to the inner wall of the lead bottle was pitifully small.

Cheng Xinzhan put away the lead vessels and mercury liquid and continued to search for the next target.

In order not to let the Turtle King and King Han intervene, he still went to look for demons from the Ink Abyss Sea and the Sand Sea.

He continued to operate two eye techniques simultaneously: the Green Eye could see through layers of waves and clouds, and the Core Eye could search for demon aura everywhere.

This was not too difficult to find; one only needed to look at the sky, especially at the places where purple clouds shone with thunder, as the demons were sure to be waiting there.

Before long, Cheng Xinzhan discovered another one. From afar, he saw that person in red robes; this was a subordinate of the Sand Sea's Red King. Huang Yunying had warned him many times that the Red King's subordinates were formidable and not to provoke them casually; if he could avoid them, he should.

However, Cheng Xinzhan didn't care about that. Even if he killed people from the Sand Sea, even if they were the Red King's people, King Han and the Turtle King could protect him.

He used the same old trick, hiding in the waves, then following the waves into the air, and waiting until the thunder struck the wave crest and bright light burst forth before casting the mercury net.

Eh?

This time he had miscalculated—not every intersection of thunder and water could generate Lei Gang.

The water vapor was still pervasive, and the bright light was still dazzling, but there was simply no Lei Gang generated.

The mercury flying nets of both the man and the demon came up empty.

However, regardless of whether they had caught the Lei Gang, Cheng Xinzhan's sword would not be half a beat slower. The blue-purple Gang Qi was nowhere to be seen, but the purple-vermilion sword evil still had a magnificent momentum, shooting out from the waves and heading straight for that red-clothed demon.

The Sand Sea Great Sage was a female demon, so the Red King, the first demon king under her, was also a female demon, and most of the Red King's subordinates were also female demons. The red-clothed one before him was one of them.

If Huang Yunying were here, he would definitely shout that Cheng Xinzhan had found the wrong opponent. This woman was named Yu Peiyang, and she was not to be trifled with. She was a blood relative of the Fish-Dragon, a close descendant of the Red King, and possessed fire blood. She had entered the Thunderstorm Sea sixty years ago, and it was thought that forming her Inner Core was only a matter of time.

This Yu Peiyang was indeed not simple. Seeing a mass of mercury liquid fly out from the waves, she knew someone was lying in ambush, and her reaction was extremely fast. She raised her hand and conjured a wave of fire out of thin air to block in front of herself.

When the flying sword came out of the water and pierced through the fire wave, Yu Peiyang was already prepared. Her weapon was actually a red-tasseled long spear. Seeing the flying sword pierce over, the woman thrust her spear like a dragon, a point of cold light resisting the sword tip!

The long spear had a silver head and a black shaft; the spearhead appeared in the shape of a thorn fin, and the spear shaft was densely covered with dragon scale patterns. What was even more eye-catching was that the long spear was wrapped in blue-purple light, adding to its sharpness and rigid magical essence.

The flying sword was like a purple rainbow piercing the sun, and the long spear was like a thunder dragon emerging from the sea. At this moment, they intersected head-on, emitting a loud noise and exploding with countless fragments of colorful spiritual light.

The flying sword's speed dropped suddenly, and the long spear also vibrated incessantly. Yu Peiyang retreated more than ten feet in the air before stopping, then shook her spear, flicking "Youdu" away.

"Who is making mischief?"

Yu Peiyang stood holding her spear, her voice shaking the four directions.

Cheng Xinzhan hid in the waves and refused to come out. "Youdu" plunged into the sea and flew back to his side on its own, swallowing and spitting out sword evil blood light, humming gloomily. Having been forcibly stopped by the long spear just now, "Youdu" was also not very comfortable.

He looked at the blue-purple light on the spear—was it "Dragon-Chant Water Lei Gang"?

Had she already used this Gang to refine a spear Gang? It was impossible for her to harvest Gang and refine it so quickly, and since the various demon kings had not yet enjoyed it, how could she dare to refine it herself as soon as she harvested it? That must mean she had obtained this Gang before entering, perhaps obtained from entering the Thunderstorm Sea sixty years ago, or bestowed by the Red King.

Cheng Xinzhan's guess was not far off.

Moreover, this demon's weapon was actually a spear, which was rare. Like Wu Badao, it was a physical technique style. It seemed that the demons on the sea were all more skilled in the way of physical techniques.

Cheng Xinzhan also understood physical techniques, but the point was to close in and fight with strength; he naturally would not let her have her way. The essence of a flying sword lay in taking a person's head from a thousand miles away; if one strike failed, one should flee a thousand miles away and then wait for an opportunity to act—it was not for wrestling with people.

Thus, he didn't even show his face, following the waves and disappearing into the vast sea billows.

Inside the Thunder Appreciation Hall, King Han watched Cheng Xinzhan disappear after only one sword strike, while the woman stood holding her spear in place, defending for a long time before realizing her opponent had already left and was currently slashing at the waves to vent her anger. He couldn't help but chuckle, feeling this child was interesting, and turned his head to say to the Red King,

"Jinhong, your grand-niece is quite formidable; she refined a spear Gang and scared my cub away in one encounter."

The Red King heard this and said, "Qushu has come to mock me again. Mine is a reckless girl, but yours is a true demon head. Speaking of which, that boy's sword evil is formidable, but I have never seen it before; could it be some newly emerged Earth Evil?"

King Han shook his head. "I don't know either. I'll call him over later to ask."

The Red King smiled sweetly. "That is if he can survive."

King Han smiled without a word.

————

Next, Cheng Xinzhan followed the same method: harvest Gang and kill, if successful, loot the wealth and destroy the corpse; if not, flee a thousand miles away. Often, he had to succeed three or four times before encountering a tough nut. These tough nuts either had Gang Evil on them, possessed life-saving divine abilities or protective magic treasures, or had extraordinary bloodlines.

By the end of the day, he had killed thirty or forty demon heads, all of them demons from the Sand Sea. He himself had harvested Gang four additional times, which was just enough to fill one lead canister.

However, there was no rush. Harvesting Gang would last for a day and a night, and everyone was issued three lead canisters; the time was only half over. Nighttime was when it truly became interesting; killing one person at this time often yielded a lot of Gang dew.

When it got dark, Cheng Xinzhan sat on a reef to meditate and regulate his breathing.

Do not think that killing enemies with one sword strike was easy; in reality, it was a matter of planning before acting, controlling every detail. Before striking, he had to stabilize his figure in the waves, then spread the mercury net with spiritual power, accurately capture the Lei Gang, and then strike to kill. The speed of the flying sword meant the consumption of spiritual power was imaginable. If he couldn't succeed in one strike, he had to instantly use Water Escape to flee far away.

After a day of such fighting, he was also very exhausted.

After dark, the Thunderstorm Sea became even more terrifying. When the thunder hid in the clouds, the sea was pitch black; under the faint moonlight, the layers of wave shadows looked like groups of mountains. When the electric light burst forth, it was as bright as day. Sometimes thunder struck the waves, and the electric light surged into them, as if an entire mountain were glowing, like the legendary Bright Mountain Sacred Realm of Buddhism.

Moreover, the thunder and lightning at night became increasingly dense, which was even more frightening. The rumbling thunder was continuous, like the Dragon King in a rage, and the bursts of rapid, flickering, and uncertain light made it impossible for people to open their eyes.

At this time, harvesting Gang had become an extremely difficult task, because one careless mistake and being struck by thunder could mean death on the spot—the Demon Dao could not compare to Cheng Xinzhan, who practiced thunder techniques; their bodies were full of blood evil and karmic debt, and after being struck by thunder, meridians bursting and losing one's soul were extremely common.

During the day, Cheng Xinzhan had seen two charred corpses floating on the sea that had been struck by thunder.

But it was precisely because of this that the two fifth-realm high cultivators, the Covering Sea Great Sage and the Supporting Heaven Great Sage, valued the Thunderstorm Sea so much. Because this "Dragon-Chant Water Lei Gang" was not only Long Gang but also Lei Gang, although it was of little use to them, it was extremely useful to the low-realm descendants and confidants under their command. Slowly refining this Heavenly Gang, the dragon might contained within could stimulate the dragon-seed bloodline in their bodies, while the thunder might could increase their resistance to heavenly thunder, so they wouldn't be paralyzed and wait for death after being struck by thunder. Therefore, no matter how Cheng Xinzhan acted or played the part of being in pain, the people in the Thunder Appreciation Hall were suspicious that he could remain unscathed after ambushing so many times in giant waves containing thunder. Blood evil, well, it was a major branch of the Demon Dao; not only did his Blood God Sect practice it, but there were also many demons in the sea who practiced it, and they had never seen anyone who could withstand heavenly thunder like this. Therefore, these demon kings had already made up their minds to have him come to the hall for questioning after he finished harvesting the Gang.

At this moment, Cheng Xinzhan, who had killed thirty or forty demon heads, still had a calm expression. Breathing and accumulating spiritual power were done by the Inner Landscape Spirit. He looked up, watching the flickering thunder light with some realization.

"Tieguai Li's Discussion on the Li Fire Urgent Sword Scripture" was a sword scripture based on Li Fire, taking the unpredictable flickering and jumping shape of flames as the sword track. It was likely that an immortal had realized it one day while watching flames jump. Since that was the case, why couldn't this scene, which was like the opening of heaven and earth, be taken as a sword track?

Look at that thunder: when it hid, it was silent and pitch black; when it occurred, it shook the four seas and shone over the nine heavens. One stillness and one movement were only a matter of a hair's breadth. Could a flying sword also be like this?

Sound and light were also means; applied to a flying sword, they were sword light and sword humming.

The previous moment could be like a rainbow or thunder, with great momentum; the next moment, it could suddenly restrain all brilliance, with a thousand jun of force gathered in one point. If it were like this, when encountering that red-clothed woman again, he could come with a sword like a rainbow, and when she thrust her spear to block, he could restrain the brilliance and stop for a moment. The woman, having gathered her strength to thrust her spear into empty space, would definitely have her blood and energy obstructed, making it difficult to continue her moves.

Conversely, the previous moment could be using the bone needle sword to hide its shadow, and when close, suddenly erupting with sword evil blood light, which could also catch people off guard.

Then, matching movement and stillness, one sword thrust could transform into thunder, following the flickering of the sword light and the stopping of the sword humming—at the peak of movement and stillness, who could grasp the trajectory and direction of the flying sword?

This was just thunder; what about the sky-piercing giant waves? Were they not another sword scripture? The giant waves rushed into the clouds, possessing boundless power, open and close, while at the same time, there were undercurrents surging within the waves, containing infinite changes.

Cheng Xinzhan was lost in thought, but his gaze, which had been staring blankly at the thunder and water waves, suddenly changed. He leaped up, rising from the ground, and stood suspended in the air. "Youdu" left its sheath and protected his side. "Youdu" released brilliant sword light, like a purple-red torch, illuminating everything around him.

!

"Come out, all of you."

He said coldly.

"Quite alert, no wonder you are good at being a thief."

A female voice responded to Cheng Xinzhan.

Immediately, a woman revealed her figure. Cheng Xinzhan looked and saw it was indeed that woman holding the spear.

Subsequently, within a range of several hundred feet around him, one figure after another appeared—some in the sky, some in the sea—completely sealing his retreat.

Cheng Xinzhan looked and saw they were all people from the Sand Sea, most of whom he had failed to assassinate today.

"Little thief, who exactly are you? I haven't heard of a character like you in the Canghai Second Realm before."

Yu Peiyang asked.

Cheng Xinzhan did not speak, only looking around. There were nearly twenty people who had ambushed him. Some of these people held spears, some held axes, some dragged swords; all were skilled in physical weapon techniques, each with heaven-reaching demon aura, holding Gang and gathering evil—none were ordinary demons.

"You don't need to look for a retreat anymore; we have our people in the sky and in the sea."

Yu Peiyang said again.

At this time, Cheng Xinzhan suddenly smiled. "Come at me together; what do I have to fear?"

"Do you really want to take these as your last words before death? You refuse to reveal your background?"

Truly long-winded.

Cheng Xinzhan thought to himself. He simply didn't wait, taking the initiative to attack. "Youdu" shot out and killed the female demon who had talked the most.

Yu Peiyang felt that she had been rebuffed in a situation where she controlled the overall situation, and she was also unhappy in her heart. At this moment, seeing the flying sword transform into a rainbow and come, she immediately mobilized all her spiritual power, gathering strength to attack, while simultaneously urging the spear Gang. The blue-purple thunder light wrapped around the long spear, the spear humming like a dragon's chant, thinking that she would definitely shatter that flying sword.

Amidst the flashing thunder light, the purple-vermilion sword light was like a long rainbow, but just as it was about to make contact with the long spear, the thunder passed, the sea returned to the dark night, and the flying sword instantly restrained all brilliance, merging with the dark night.

Yu Peiyang was startled, but the spear momentum was already out. At this time, she could only think that the sword had just restrained its evil light and could not instantly change direction, so she still tried her best to thrust out. However, in the darkness, she did not see that the flying sword had returned to the shape of a bone needle and suddenly stopped, stopping one inch in front of the spear tip.

She thrust into empty space, and the long-gathered spear momentum was leaked.

And just when the spear momentum was leaked and the woman was about to change her move to recover, the flying sword, which had been suspended in the darkness, suddenly released brilliant light again. The decaying, poisonous purple fire rotten peach sword evil and the purple-vermilion blood energy erupted with infinite light, and the flying sword transformed into a rainbow again, rushing toward the woman who was close at hand, the sword humming like thunder.

Yu Peiyang's face changed drastically, and red light suddenly appeared on her body. Immediately after, she saw countless red dots floating out from her body, gathering in front of her into a shield made of scales like red jade.

The purple-vermilion sword rainbow struck the red scale jade shield. The former was a sharp weapon of slaughter, but the latter was also a rare treasure. Yu Peiyang was forced back again, but there was no damage to be seen on the surface of the jade shield.

"Up!"

Among the group of demons surrounding Cheng Xinzhan, someone shouted, and everyone moved, flying toward where Cheng Xinzhan stood.

No matter how powerful your flying sword is, you can only pick one to deal with; can it be used as a turtle shell?

All the demon heads thought this way.

But Cheng Xinzhan, seeing the group of demons attacking, did not recall "Youdu," still driving the flying sword to change its sword track to deal with that woman.

He could see that this woman's status among the demons present was not low. If she were in danger, it could distract the other demon heads, and perhaps it could lure away some of the demons attacking him. In addition, although this woman was relatively strong among the demons and had many treasures, it could be seen that she had little actual combat experience and her state of mind was not good; on the contrary, she might be the first to be taken down.

He actually disregarded himself to kill me?

Does he think I am the weakest, and wants to take one with him before he dies?

Yu Peiyang was exasperated. She took a deep breath, and the red scale jade shield in front of her transformed back into red light dots, returning to her body, and then transformed into a set of red scale jade armor. She stepped on fire, held her spear with both hands, and struck at the flying sword again.

She didn't believe this today; she had grown up beside the Red King since she was young, could she not break a flying sword?

And Cheng Xinzhan's physical body was far away from the flying sword. Seeing the group of demons attacking, he suddenly laughed out loud, grabbed into the void with his hand, and grasped a long sword. He drew the sword from its sheath, and the sword body was snow-white under the illumination of the thunder light, like a pool of autumn water.

"Then let me learn about the physical techniques of the sea!"

(End of this chapter)