Chapter 126 – Same Old Tricks

  The clash erupted the instant Xun Beiming’s cursing at the appearance of the two Nascent Soul cultivators faded from the air. His voice, still filled with malice and cruelty, cut through the silence.

  “Kill them all! Harvest every drop of Blood Essence and leave nothing for their corpses to cling to!”

  At his command, the tide of demonic cultivators surged forward. Thousands of Qi Condensation cultivators shouted their battle cries as their beasts beat blackened wings, blocking out what little light managed to pierce the dark grey clouds above.

  Core Formation Elders of the Crimson Rebirth Sect unfurled banners refined from the blood and souls of innocents that writhed as if they were alive, or used talismans carved with Demonic Qi.

  The coppery smell of blood permeated everything, along with the scent of rot, and with hand seals, they sent waves of corrupted spiritual energy downwards toward the flying ship.

  The wards around the vessel flared brightly, shimmering in gold and white light that resisted the tide of darkness. But the ship shuddered under the weight of the impacts as its defences strained and groaned as though it were a living creature under siege.

  The Disciples on the deck screamed as a large number of the beasts managed to breach their defences, even if many were intercepted by the frantic intervention of the Elders. All across the deck of the ship, men and women clashed with the Demonic Cultivators.

  Above them all, Xun Beiming stepped toward Lu Qingchen and Han Zhengwu. His black robes snapped in the wind like banners caught in a storm. No one could say the madman was a coward, as he faced down a pair of cultivators who were stronger than himself.

  The leader of the Crimson Rebirth Sect waved his hand, and the Secret Realm that had been constructed for this very purpose bent itself to his will. The remaining warmth of spiritual energy dimmed, and the clouds above his head twisted into black spirals.

  Whatever remained of the spiritual Qi that had been so abundant when they first arrived thinned to nothing. In its place surged Demonic Qi that was like a miasma, thick and choking. It rolled in waves across the floating landscape of the Secret Realm, and even the wards of the flying ship were unable to completely block it.

  Tranquil Mountain’s cultivators gagged and staggered as their bodies rejected the corruption, while the enemy’s strength only swelled with its assistance.

  The Tranquil Mountain Sect Master and City Lord Han moved immediately to stop Xun Beiming, the pair moving through the air so quickly that space seemed to rip apart as they moved to intercept him.

  Xun Beiming’s smile was thin and sharp as he watched them approach. He couldn’t withstand them directly; he understood that very well. So instead, he was forced to use his cunning and experience to overcome the gap between them.

  He threw out blood-inked talismans that burst in mid-air, spawning crimson chains that whipped about like serpents before striking. Phantom avatars of himself darted in and out of sight, forcing the pair to slow slightly in order to deal with them.

  When Han Zhengwu’s sword ripped a phantom into mist, it detonated in a blast of corrosive Qi that scarred the air around him with black energy. When Lu Qingchen’s palm strike shattered a chain, it splintered into hundreds of spectral blades that stabbed wildly in every direction.

  The desolate ground of the Secret Realm groaned far beneath them. Obsidian spikes jutted from the barren soil as the entire floating land threatened to rip apart from the battle. Fissures opened, spilling rivers of molten lava and noxious air.

  It was clear that Xun Beiming had abandoned any hope of a quick victory and was more than willing to die if it meant taking the pair of Nascent Soul Cultivators with him. Here, in this Secret Realm he had crafted for this purpose, his methods could give him just enough edge to succeed.

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  “This won’t be enough to save you, bastard!” Han Zhengwu shouted, and his aura surged around him. Every phantom was blasted out of existence, and the corrupted Qi was pushed backwards. Seeing his chance, the City Lord rushed forward with his sword extended, ready to put an end to the fight.

  Xun Beiming’s lips curled into a mocking sneer as he extended his hand. The black spear appeared once again, lengthening from the shadows until it stood taller than he was. The shaft was wrapped in red runes that pulsed like the heartbeat of some imprisoned monster.

  A tidal wave of demonic Qi bled from the weapon, warping the air around it and making the clouds above cease spiralling.

  With a roar, Xun Beiming hurled the spear. But it wasn’t aimed at the two Nascent Soul cultivators in front of him, but down below. The weapon streaked toward the flying ship where the Disciples were desperately fighting against the Demonic Cultivators, barely shielded by the defences of the ship.

  The spear howled like a banshee as it ripped through the air. Its tip dragged threads of black lightning behind it, and a storm of annihilation followed in its wake.

  Han Zhengqu’s eyes narrowed.

  “The same old trick, do you think I’m a fool?!” His deep voice cracked across the battlefield with deafening loudness.

  The City Lord tossed his sword to Lu Qingchen and pressed his palms together in a sharp seal. The space around him trembled as the shriek for the spear faltered. The momentum of the weapon was bled away as though the heavens itself has seized its flight.

  The stress of stopping the weapon showed in the strain on the City Lord’s face, but it warred with relief as he saw it finally halt and hover in the air far above the ship.

  In a heartbeat, Han Zhengwu’s figure blurred. One instant he was floating beside Lu Qingchen and the next, he was suspended in the air directly in front of the frozen spear. His aura flared, forming an unshakable mountain of Qi.

  He formed another seal with a flick of his wrist, and a cage of golden chains erupted from the void and wrapped around the spear’s shaft. The weapon bucked and shook violently, and demonic Qi gnawed at its bindings, but it couldn’t tear itself free.

  Han Zhengwu’s eyes stared at Xun Beiming as he raised his hand and made a grasping motion toward the sword that he had given Lu Qingchen. In a moment, it was back in his own hands.

  “That trick of yours has been spent. If you wish to continue this fight, you’ll have to do so with your own hands.”

  The spear’s shrieking wail echoed out, piercing and mournful as Xun Beiming snarled in anger and fury. He tried using his Qi to retrieve his spear, to snatch it back from where it had stopped, but was obstructed by whatever technique Han Zhengwu had used.

  Xun Beiming’s face twisted, and veins of black Qi crawled across his skin as he spat out curses. His eyes were burning with madness, and he seemed to be talking to himself, whispering furiously before laughing once again.

  “So be it!”

  He formed a rapid sequence of hand seals as his demonic Qi surged into the bound spear. The runes etched across its shaft pulsed violently, then the weapon screamed as though it were a living thing.

  Han Zhenqgwu’s pupils constricted as he saw what Xun Beiming was doing.

  “You madman!”

  The ruptured in a blast of black light. Its shriek became an ear-splitting detonation that cracked the sky above and the ground below. Han Zhengwu was thrown from the sky, his protective Qi shattered, and blood spilled from his lips as he used his strength to stop the shockwave from reaching the ship behind him.

  He struck the ground like a falling star, gouging a canyon into the cracked and battered earth. Dust and stone erupted into the air from his passing. When the City Lord finally stopped his fall and staggered back to his feet, he was pale and clearly injured.

  But he still burned with a fighting spirit that couldn’t be quenched.

  Above him, Xun Beiming threw his head back and laughed wildly. The sound was completely unhinged, and everyone who heard it knew that the man had lost his mind.

  “If my path burns my body and shatters my soul, so be it! Your corpses will pave my path to the underworld!”

  Sect Master Lu Qingchen’s expression hardened, and his hand swept across his storage ring. A massive golden bell appeared, radiating a divine light and suppressive Qi. With a flick of his wrist, the bell tolled with a deep, resonant boom.

  The sound ripped through the battlefield, along with a tidal wave of spiritual energy that crashed straight toward the demonic cultivator.

  Xun Beiming didn’t flinch. Instead, his hand lashed out like a claw and seized one of his Core Formation followers that had been hovering nearby. The man’s eyes widened in horror as his Sect Master’s demonic Qi surged into his body, forcefully igniting his golden core.

  The Elder screamed as Xun Beiming casually flung him forward to intercept the shockwave generated by the bell.

  He detonated with an explosion that tore the skies apart, colliding with the bell’s soundwave in a shock of annihilation that rocked the world around them. The clash ripped a hole in the clouds, briefly revealing the blue sky above.

  Xun Beiming staggered slightly, and he spat blood from the backlash of detonating his spear and his follower alike. But his grin only widened, and the madness in his eyes shone brighter.

  “Come! Let us see which burns away first! My Sect or my enemies!”

  Xun Beiming threw his head back and laughed, and for the first time since he arrived, Lu Qingchen frowned as he realized that killing the leader of the Crimson Rebirth Sect may not be as easy as he predicted.