Chapter 371: The Heavenly Demon

Beneath the Five Elements Mountain, Brother Qian Chen, struggling desperately to protect millions of lives, felt a sharp tightening in his heart; his palm loosened, the handle of the Heaven-Roaming Umbrella slipped slightly, and two Xuantian Star Stones slid from his palm.

Entrust the Primordial Spirit!

Yan Shu's Yin Spirit emerged from his body, clung to his Life-Blade Embryo, and unleashed a sword strike blazing with ultimate intensity; this strike forced even the Peacock to turn and face it directly, as the Five-Color Divine Light spun and opened a miniature world before him.

Under Yan Shu's strike, the miniature world was also severed.

But the Five-Color Divine Light continued to rotate without pause, completing the Five Elements and instantly birthing dozens of new miniature worlds, completely wearing down the sword strike.

When Yan Shu appeared, his form was withered, his hair turned ashen gray.

Yet a faint trace of relief crossed his face; the pierced body of Si Princess Qingcheng dissolved into a yellow talisman, slowly burning, while her figure reappeared in the distance, though her expression still held a hint of shock.

"The life-saving artifact Father gave me—the Substitute Death Tianfu Tianfu Zhenfu—has been used!"

Her heart tightened; she should have crushed the escape artifact in her sleeve, as Master Tao had instructed. But she looked at Yan Shu, who had entrusted his Primordial Spirit in a final strike for her; she looked at Brother Qian Chen, struggling beneath the Five Elements Mountain; she looked at Ning Ning Qingchen, face filled with desperate anguish, willing to take her place; she felt the boundless blessings and hopeful prayers of Guzhú Nation, all resting upon her.

In that moment, her hand hesitated, and she failed to crush the jade talisman.

Ning Ning Qingchen said to the giant yellow chicken beside her: "Feng Shi! This is the last time…" The giant yellow chicken struggled into flight, igniting its internal elixir; Ning Ning Qingchen shattered the Guanghan Ice Soul Pill, unleashing Supreme Yin and Supreme Yang, annihilating all life.

This time, without Brother Qian Chen's Yin-Yang Magnetic Divine Light to bear the backlash, Ning Ning Qingchen chose to absorb the backlash entirely into herself, leaving Feng Shi a single thread of survival.

Supreme Yin Annihilation Divine Light…

Supreme Daoist Yangshen-Slaying Golden Light…

The entire universe turned pure white; the blinding Supreme Yin and Supreme Yang Divine Lights pierced through all things.

"Father, this time I won't listen to you!"

Seeing this light, Si Princess Qingcheng turned resolutely back; her remaining dozen True Talismans—including the portrait imprint containing Master Tao's full strike—ignited at once. The portrait of Master Tao looked at Princess Qingcheng and sighed softly…

Yan Shu's Life-Blade Embryo trembled, ready to shatter itself and unleash the most brilliant, and final, strike of a sword cultivator.

Everyone chose to leave hope for others.

Brother Qian Chen felt a string snap in his mind; weakness spread from his core. Before his eyes, countless tiny fireflies danced; under crushing pressure, his spiritual sense throbbed with unbearable pain—he only needed to close his eyes.

And countless fleeting images flashed past…

The man who laughed boldly during his first duel with Miao Kong, sword in hand, determined to carve out a path to life…

The woman in pale ink-blue robes, holding the giant yellow chicken, introducing herself as Ning Ning Qingchen in Lanruo Temple…

The jesting words from "The Brother Qian Clan's Phantom Souls": "Wish to cultivate with Yan Hao…"

The woman in crimson robes, peerless in grace, whom he first met beneath the great willow tree—her true nature revealed, slightly dazed, generous and bold, calling him "Yan Yan Shixiong"…

Brother Qian Chen closed his eyes and sighed.

On Wanzhu Mountain, the Karma Fire Red Lotus commanded the Red Lotus Array, its petals like congealed blood—he still had one final preparation!

The true purpose of the Red Lotus Array was not to stabilize the mountain's roots and earth veins, nor to bolster his magical power to hold up the Heaven-Roaming Umbrella. Its true purpose was, when Guzhú Nation fell and rivers ran red with blood, to gather the blood and resentment of countless humans, pry open the fate of the human race, and concentrate the boundless resentment that had filled heaven and earth for three centuries.

To complete the Karma Fire Demon Lotus, never fully forged in ancient Chang'an of the Tang Dynasty.

To embody the demonic intent, transforming into the supreme demonic body of the Lotus!

This was Brother Qian Chen's final preparation, his true trump card. In his mind, scenes from after his rebirth flickered past—without these colors, even if he lived, what difference would it make from the hundreds of millennia of imprisonment within the Dao Dust Pearl?

As long as he let go of the Heaven-Roaming Umbrella, the Red Lotus would bloom here; even such a formidable Peacock would not be his demonic body's match.

It would merely mean sinking into the Nine Heavens of Darkness.

It would merely mean struggling once more!

Should he loosen his grip?

"Dao? Demon?"

"Emotion? Attachment?"

"If a human has no conviction, what difference is there from a spirit pearl?"

Brother Qian Chen opened his eyes; he had already chosen—but before he acted, he… wanted to try once more! He channeled his true qi into the Inner Landscape True Qi Elixir, activating the Thunder Mechanism…

"Yan Yan Shixiong, wait!"

"I still have one strike left!"

Seeing Yan Shu's resolute gaze, Brother Qian Chen mustered a sliver of magical power, transforming it into the Xiyi Divine Thunder that exploded beside Yan Shu's ear.

In the same instant, he shattered the Azure Gang Hand above his head; the Inner Landscape True Qi Elixir shattered violently, becoming a torrent of thunder. The ten divine thunder types—Qianyuan, Hunyuan, Yin-Yang, Five Elements, Zhanxian, Bagua, Yuan Yuan Ci, Xiyi, Dawei, Zixiao—merged into one.

The Supreme Yin and Supreme Yang Annihilation Divine Light sealed the Peacock King.

Nearby, the black-and-white bamboo bear exhaled Yin and Yang energies, forming a Yin-Yang Diagram that rolled toward the Peacock; the Yin-Yang energies wrapped around him, binding him tightly.

A golden light, containing Master Tao's full-strength strike and several Tianfu Tianfu Zhenfu techniques, suddenly descended.

A deep purple, terrifying lightning, radiating the terrifying aura of destruction and creation, emerged behind Brother Qian Chen's head.

Having lost his external elixir, the Five Elements Mountain above could no longer hold; amid the tidal wave of agony, Brother Qian Chen clung to a thread of clarity, holding onto his last hope, the Red Lotus beneath him dissolving, the divine mountain above slowly crashing down.

Brother Qian Chen extended his right hand toward the sky, standing tall in empty space, his eyes flashing with final resolve…

A blinding purple lightning flashed into existence from an unfathomable point in the void!

"Zi… Xiao… Shen… Lei!"

The great Buddha atop the mountain was split in two by the lightning, like dry firewood; the Five Elements Shenshan fractured cleanly down the middle; the lightning pierced through the divine mountain and shot toward Brother Qian Chen, his hair, fingertips, and skin beginning to slowly disintegrate in the violent thunder.

The lightning nearly shattered his physical body; having sacrificed his external elixir to summon the perfected Zi Xiao Divine Thunder, even Brother Qian Chen could not withstand the backlash.

The vast thunder mechanism above was drained completely.

The lightning shot forth, triggering a frantic warning in the Peacock trapped within the Supreme Yin and Yang Divine Light. This thunder, like divine retribution, forced him to burn his bloodline and unleash the strongest possible Five-Color Divine Light, shattering the Supreme Yin and Yang Divine Light.

The Five-Color Divine Light descended, entangling with the Yin-Yang energies; he finally broke free.

Ning Ning Qingchen shuddered violently, like a shattered porcelain doll, her body cracking open with countless gashes of blood; she and the curled-up Feng Shi plummeted from the sky. Yan Shu rode his sword to catch them, forcing himself to use the lightest possible sword aura to avoid jolting their fragile heart meridians.

At this moment, the golden light from Master Tao's strike shattered the Peacock's right cheek into bloody pulp, yet this peerless demon king remained ferocious, his massive five-colored cloak unfurling to blanket the heavens with Five-Color Divine Light.

But the Zi Xiao Divine Thunder had already reached the Peacock's face, instantly engulfing him.

Within the terrifying lightning, a blurred shadow was evaporating; Chi Tie Spirit King rushed forward, his broad paws lifting the grievously wounded Yan Shu and others, shoving spirit-infused bamboo fruits into their mouths, healing them with gentle, continuous energy.

The bamboo bear channeled true qi into Ning Ning Qingchen's body, sustaining her life.

Watching that boundless, divine-retribution-like lightning, every human and demon on the battlefield halted their attacks, silently watching this terrifying strike!

Fa Xin, drenched in murderous aura, his Golden Body shattered, stared back at Tieguan with his single remaining eye, filled with hope; Luo Sen, a skeleton clad in armor, also turned, knife in hand, his bony face expressionless.

The scholar slumped on his green donkey, staring at the lightning in awe: "Thank goodness, this mission had such powerful companions! But we're all reincarnators—why are you all so strong?"

The power of this strike even stirred fear in Chi Tie Spirit King's heart! The Spirit King muttered to himself: "This time, he must be dead! If I were in there, I'd be dead for sure!"

"Liiiiii!"

A piercing, furious, savage cry erupted from the still-unfading Zi Xiao Divine Thunder.

Chi Tie Spirit King's face changed; he immediately shielded Yan Shu and the others.

The Five-Color Divine Light entangled with the Yin-Yang energies reversed; within the lightning, the five-colored radiance reappeared. This time, the light reversed direction, and a voice, filled with brutality and malice, slowly spoke: "Good. Had I still been the primordial Peacock of old, I would have died this time!"

"But your human bloodlines contain a trace of the purest Five Elements energy, immensely beneficial to demonic cultivation. Since the Great Calamity, I have devoured eighty million humans—my bloodline has already transformed into the body of an ancient great demon!"

"Now, I am the ancient great demon Peacock!"

"This thunder, this Supreme Yin and Yang Divine Light, and that human Primordial Spirit's strike—all excellent. Very good."

"To show you the respect you deserve, I shall devour you alive, refining you with my Five-Color Divine Light!"