Chapter 490: Interception and Blockade

Just as the Blazing Wind Demon King and the Nine-Headed Demon King commanded their demon beast army to move, the Xiaoyao Sect cultivators in Liu Cuiyun Market immediately sensed something was wrong. After True Person Daoist Guangling confirmed that the demon beast army had retreated north, he immediately relayed this news to Bai Bai Yuxian and the others who were at Mount Guiyun Market.

The army of several thousand demon beasts in Gaoyun County retreated north along the way; it would take at least twenty days to reach Mount Guiyun Market, which was several thousand miles away.

Furthermore, since Zixing Market had already been occupied by Song Song Qingming and the others, if they wanted to bypass it, they would have to cross a very steep and massive mountain range to the west, adding another seven or eight days to their journey. The sheer exhaustion of this desperate, non-stop trek would be enough to plunge the entire demon beast army into a state of fatigue.

Facing this demon beast army attempting to flee back to the north, the Xiaoyao Sect would naturally not let them escape so easily. Under the arrangement and coordination of Bai Bai Yuxian, True Person Daoist Guangling led the cultivators guarding Liu Cuiyun Market in the south, tailing and pursuing them without pause. They not only killed many of the slower, low-tier demon beasts but also exacerbated the overall exhaustion of the demon beast army.

By the time this demon beast army finally managed to cross the great mountain range west of Zixing Market, the army of Zixing Market cultivators, who had been waiting there in comfort, immediately charged toward the demoralized and exhausted demon beast army.

Seeing that the human cultivators had high morale while their own demoralized demon beast army could hardly put up a fight, the Blazing Wind Demon King and the Nine-Headed Demon King sensed that the situation was turning against them. They decisively abandoned the demon beast army and fled north alone, forsaking the low-tier demon beasts under their command.

However, before they could run very far, several streaks of light suddenly appeared in front of them, blocking the two Demon Kings. It was Li Muyun, Song Song Qingming, and True Person Daoist Guangling, who had arrived to provide support not long ago.

Besides them, Wu Wu Wenhai and the others, who were controlling the "Golden-Winged Flying Tiger" puppet beast, also appeared on the side of the battlefield, though their flight speed was slightly slower than the others. It was clear that the Xiaoyao Sect members did not intend to let these two Demon Kings, who had wreaked havoc in Gaoyun County for several months, escape Wei Guo unscathed.

Facing the interception and blockade of four human Core Formation combatants who had suddenly appeared, the Blazing Wind Demon King and the Nine-Headed Demon King were instantly thrown into a panic, having no intention of engaging in battle with Song Song Qingming and the others.

The two Demon Kings immediately changed direction and began to flee separately, accelerating their escape speed while using secret techniques to urge the other Demon Kings near Mount Guiyun Market to come to their aid.

The strength of Li Muyun alone far exceeded that of the Nine-Headed Demon King, and with Song Song Qingming assisting from the side, this Nine-Headed Demon King, who had the misfortune of being targeted by Li Muyun, struggled desperately for a long time before finally falling under Li Muyun's sword.

After putting away a set of flying swords in mid-air, Li Muyun landed beside the corpse of the Nine-Headed Demon King and, in front of Song Song Qingming, directly extracted the demon core from within the Demon King.

However, it was not going to be easy for them to escape smoothly. As soon as the Blazing Wind Demon King and the Nine-Headed Demon King moved, Song Song Qingming and the others immediately split into two groups to pursue them and became entangled in battle with their opponents.

Song Song Qingming, who was assisting Li Muyun in the attack, also gained insight into the divine abilities of this genius rogue cultivator, who had been famous in Wei Guo for over a hundred years, and formed a brand-new assessment of Li Muyun's strength in his heart.

"I agreed to help you deal with the demon beasts this time because I had a prior agreement that I could take away a few demon beast materials that I wanted. Fellow Daoist Song, you should be aware of this, right?" Li Muyun replied with a cold expression.

Song Song Qingming had not expected that Li Muyun, like the other Xiaoyao Sect Core Formation Elder Chen Chen Xuanxin, was also a sword cultivator specializing in sword techniques. It was no wonder his strength was so formidable. Song Song Qingming estimated that among all the Core Formation cultivators in the Xiaoyao Sect, apart from the Sect Master Yao Yao Ganshu in his prime, no one else would have the confidence to defeat the current Li Muyun.

Although the Nine-Headed Demon King was also a mid-stage Core Formation Demon King, it did not possess any particularly powerful divine abilities or secret techniques. Its strength was quite average among the many mid-stage Core Formation Demon Kings, not even as good as the Nine-Patterned Flood Dragon and the Fire Leopard Demon King that had previously occupied Zixing Market.

Seeing Li Muyun collect the essence soul of the Nine-Headed Demon King, a trace of surprise appeared on Song Song Qingming's face. He could not help but step forward and ask, "Fellow Daoist Li, may I ask what use you have for this Demon King's soul?"

True Person Daoist Guangling and the "Golden-Winged Flying Tiger" joined forces to take on the weaker Blazing Wind Demon King, while Song Song Qingming assisted Li Muyun in intercepting the Nine-Headed Demon King, who had a higher cultivation base and had reached the mid-stage of Core Formation.

Afterward, Li Muyun took out a white porcelain bottle from his person and used a soul-collecting secret technique to store the essence soul of the Nine-Headed Demon King, which had already turned into a ball, into the bottle.

"Fellow Daoist Li, you've misunderstood. A secret technique I am cultivating happens to require a Demon King's soul to break through my realm. I only wanted to ask if you would be willing to transfer this Demon King's soul to me; I am willing to exchange other spirit items with you.

Of course, if this item is also very important to you, then let's drop the matter. Just pretend I never asked, and I will find another way in the future." Seeing that Li Muyun seemed to have misunderstood him, Song Song Qingming hurriedly explained with a smile.

Song Song Qingming wanted the soul of the Nine-Headed Demon King precisely to cultivate the "Soul-Devouring Art." Since breaking through to the Core Formation stage, although Song Song Qingming's spiritual sense had become stronger than that of ordinary Core Formation cultivators, there was still a gap compared to late-stage Core Formation cultivators like Li Muyun.

If he could break through the "Soul-Devouring Art" to the third layer, the Core Formation realm, Song Song Qingming's spiritual sense would likely increase significantly, and he would then be able to rival late-stage Core Formation cultivators like Li Muyun.

However, although Song Song Qingming had planned it well, breaking through the "Soul-Devouring Art" to the third layer was not an easy task. Song Song Qingming had tried a few times in recent years to refine the souls of Foundation Establishment demon beasts, but failed several times because the power of the refined souls was too weak. To break through to the third layer quickly, Song Song Qingming needed to absorb the essence souls of more powerful Core Formation demon beasts.

It was just that very few people would specifically collect the souls of third-tier Demon Kings, and even the Xiaoyao Sect's Merit Pavilion did not have such spirit items. To obtain this, Song Song Qingming would either have to leave Wei Guo to try his luck elsewhere or take the risk of hunting Demon Kings and collecting the items himself.

Venturing deep into the Fuyun Mountain Range to hunt powerful Core Formation Demon Kings was naturally not an easy task for Song Song Qingming, who had only recently broken through to Core Formation. He had not dared to entertain such thoughts in recent years, but this demon beast turmoil had provided him with some good opportunities to collect Demon King souls.

Last time at Jinshan Market, Song Song Qingming killed the White Lion Demon King and later successfully collected and refined its soul. However, the White Lion Demon King's soul was still a bit lacking, failing to let Song Song Qingming successfully break through the "Soul-Devouring Art" to the third layer in one go.

Now, seeing the Nine-Headed Demon King's soul in Li Muyun's hand, Song Song Qingming was truly tempted. If he could successfully refine the soul of this mid-stage Core Formation Demon King, Song Song Qingming was very confident that he could succeed in his breakthrough in one go.

After hearing Song Song Qingming's explanation, Li Muyun shook his head slightly and said, "This demon beast essence soul is of no use to me. It just so happens that I have a good friend outside who might need it, so I kept it for now.

If Fellow Daoist Song wants it, it's not impossible. Anyway, I already collected one when I was at Zixing Market. It wouldn't hurt to let you have this Demon King's soul, but if you want to exchange for it, you need to bring out a spirit item that is useful to me."

"Fellow Daoist Li, please take a look at this item to see if it can be exchanged for this Demon King's soul." After saying this, Song Song Qingming took out a small black porcelain bottle from the jade pendant hanging at his waist and threw it directly into Li Muyun's hand.

Li Muyun opened the porcelain bottle with a calm expression, took a look, and a trace of surprise appeared on his face. He then threw the Nine-Headed Demon King's soul he had just collected directly to Song Song Qingming.

"This item is indeed useful to me. Fellow Daoist Song, this Demon King's soul is yours!"

After completing the transaction with Li Muyun, a trace of joy immediately appeared on Song Song Qingming's face. After cupping his hands to thank him, the two did not delay any longer and immediately turned into streaks of light, leaving the place together.

By the time Song Song Qingming and Li Muyun arrived at the meeting point with True Person Daoist Guangling and the others several dozen miles away, the Blazing Wind Demon King had long since vanished without a trace.

After the Blazing Wind Demon King and the Nine-Headed Demon King fled separately, the former was besieged by True Person Daoist Guangling and the "Golden-Winged Flying Tiger." Although it was heavily injured and lost its ability to counterattack, it still managed to escape to the north relying on its formidable flight speed divine ability, meeting another Demon King that had come to receive it, forcing True Person Daoist Guangling and the others to helplessly abandon the pursuit.

The Blazing Wind Demon King was relatively lucky, as it encountered True Person Daoist Guangling, who was not skilled in combat, and the "Golden-Winged Flying Tiger" puppet beast, which had weak flight speed.

Even though the Blazing Wind Demon King's own combat ability was not strong, this Demon King possessed a powerful flight speed divine ability, which saved its life at a critical moment, sparing it from the fate of being killed on the spot by human cultivators like the Nine-Headed Demon King.

Seeing that the Fiery Wind Demon King had already fled, Song Song Qingming and the other few Golden Core cultivators could only return to the battlefield. Before they could even arrive to help, the unprepared demon beast army on the main battlefield had already been thrown into disarray by the Xiaoyao Sect cultivators, beaten back step by step and fleeing in all directions.

Because these demon beasts had been rushing on their journey and had just crossed the steep mountain range behind them, they were already an exhausted force. Furthermore, the two leading Demon Kings had abandoned them as soon as the battle started, causing them to completely lose their will to fight. Not long after the battle began, many demon beasts had already fled in the chaos.

This battle, without any suspense, almost turned into a one-sided slaughter from the very beginning. Of the several thousand low-tier demon beasts that the Blazing Wind Demon King and the Nine-Headed Demon King had brought back from Gaoyun County, only a small portion finally escaped back to Mount Guiyun Market in the north, while the vast majority died at the hands of the Xiaoyao Sect members.

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 491 =====