Volume 2 - Chapter 60: The Shattering Formation, Ten Demon Kings, A Desperate Situation! - Part 2
He roared furiously and charged at Li Tiangang within the gray mist.
A parasitic seed, gifted by the old vine demon, resided within him, enabling him to perceive through the effects of the gray mist sorcery and remain unaffected.
Inside the gray mist, Li Tiangang was like a headless fly, slashing aimlessly while losing his sense of direction.
However, as the demon king, akin to a fish-dragon, made his move, Li Tiangang seemed to sense something. He suddenly slashed a blade aura toward the formation.
Breaking through the gray mist sorcery, he rushed toward the formation to escape.
"Don’t even think about escaping!"
Two demon kings, lying in wait, acted swiftly.
Earlier, the young demon king had missed a sword strike, allowing Li Tiangang to escape. Now the opportunity had come, and he roared, charging forward with all his might.
Yet, Li Tiangang did not evade but instead collided directly into him, slamming him forcefully toward the formation.
However, the young demon king was not blocked by the formation. Instead, like passing through a water membrane, he went straight through.
Seeing the formation’s golden light shift from his back to his front, the young demon king froze momentarily, feeling briefly weightless and disoriented.
In the next moment, he realized something and looked down, only to find a black formation token stuck to his chest.
Li Tiangang possessed two formation tokens!
At this moment, Li Tiangang dragged the demon king into the formation with him.
The good news was that the demon king had broken through the formation.
The bad news was that he was the only one who had.
The young demon king's pupils contracted, and a terrifying realization struck him. Alone within the formation, he was in grave danger!
Not to mention, the Li Tiangang before him was ferociously ruthless.
"You!"
He roared in a mix of fury and panic. Without hesitation, he unleashed his true form, with demon energy surging from him like raging blood. At the same time, he swung his sword toward Li Tiangang.
Li Tiangang swiftly reclaimed the formation token from his chest, sneering as divine light flickered in his eyes. He bellowed, "Die!"
With a resounding boom, divine flames engulfed both his hands, and the Great Yan Luo Hand unleashed terrifying power. He executed an earth-shattering slash.
Xingtian Blade, Second Form!
The fearsome blade force tore through nearby military tents, its blazing edge slicing through the young demon king in his true form like a streak of divine lightning.
The sword light shattered. The young demon king let out a mournful roar, his body engulfed in the ferocious blade light, splitting into two halves with one strike!
Even a demon king at the Dao Heart Realm was no match for him!
Although Li Tiangang had unleashed nearly his strongest power, this display of strength greatly shocked the three demon kings furiously attacking outside the formation.
From the demon king’s torn corpse, flames ignited, manifesting the ultimate martial intent of the Great Yan Luo Hand.
A panicked soul escaped from the corpse, now bereft of its body and relying only on soul energy. Without hesitation, it began burning its soul, attempting to flee into the distance.
"Where do you think you’re going?"
Li Tiangang stepped forward in pursuit, unleashing his divine blade. Under the power of object manipulation, the blade cleaved through the escaping soul.
The young demon king’s soul emitted an ear-piercing scream, and its demonic soundwaves rippled for kilometers, causing soldiers within the military formations to feel their blood churn. Some coughed blood from their mouths and noses, tears of blood streaming from their eyes.
"Li Tiangang! Even as a ghost, I won’t let you off!!"
The young demon king’s soul roared despairingly. Suddenly, his demonic energy erupted, summoning torrential rain from the heavens. The raindrops, sharp as countless swords, pierced through the camp.
His soul rapidly withered.
With a loud crash, Li Tiangang’s blade descended, obliterating the demon king’s soul.
In an instant, Li Tiangang had killed two demon kings.
"Li Tiangang!"
Outside the formation, the three remaining demon kings roared in rage, their fury palpable, especially the old vine demon.
Li Tiangang seemed indifferent, grabbing his divine blade to shield against the rain.
The rain pierced through the camp, killing numerous soldiers instantly.
Some of the rain fell upon the Yuan Battalion, whose soldiers were focusing all their strength on empowering the formation. Unprepared and defenseless, they continued channeling their energy even as they were pierced by raindrops, their bodies reduced to bloody pulp.
Amidst the carnage and destruction, other Yuan Battalion soldiers trembled slightly but did not flinch. Their strength had become one with the formation, knowing the impact it endured could not be allowed to fail.
Li Tiangang obliterated most of the rain but still faced a bleak scene of devastation. His face darkened. Although he had slain a demon king, the cost was steep—over a thousand lives lost.
In terms of sheer numbers versus demon kings, it was a significant gain.
But to Li Tiangang, these soldiers were his comrades, men who had fought alongside him.
His eyes reddened slightly as he turned to face the three remaining demon kings.
With one demon king now gone, their attacks on the formation had lessened slightly in intensity.
Li Tiangang’s Undying Force was depleted, and weariness weighed heavily on him.
From his spatial realm, he retrieved a handful of pills, swallowing them quickly. These were precious treasures, essential for swift recovery.
"Li Tiangang, you court death!"
The old vine demon’s eyes blazed with fury, his twisted face glaring at Li Tiangang. “Do you really think you can defend Liang Province? Who do you think you are! Do you know that the Grand Elder of Dragon Gate has arrived? While he isn’t at the Eastern Frontier, can you guess where he’s gone?!”
Hearing this, Li Tiangang’s pupils contracted. The Grand Elder of Dragon Gate?
That was a being at the Absolute Technique Stage!
Although the difference between the Reverse Fate Realm and the Dao Heart Realm was significant, with superior martial arts techniques and martial intent, it was possible to fight and even kill an opponent.
But the gap between the Absolute Technique Stage and the Reverse Fate Realm was as vast as the difference between the Fourth Pillar Realm and the Three Immortals Realm!
Any one expert at the Absolute Technique Stage was close to the pinnacle of power within the Great Yu Divine Dynasty!
His heart pounded as he glanced at the two Dragon Gate elders nearby, realizing that the old vine demon wasn’t bluffing. It was highly likely to be true.
Even so, his expression remained icy, his demeanor cold and unyielding. He couldn’t allow his enemies to discern his thoughts, nor could he let this news disrupt the soldiers’ morale.
“So what if the Grand Elder comes? He’ll die all the same!” he declared.
The old vine demon sneered in rage, “You think you’re qualified to say that? If you hadn’t concealed your true cultivation level, making us think you were just trash at the Three Immortals Realm, the Grand Elder wouldn’t have bothered ignoring the Eastern Frontier!”
“If you’d exposed your strength sooner, you’d already be dead!”
“Do you really think this formation can withstand a few strikes from the Grand Elder of Dragon Gate?!”
“But don’t worry. The Grand Elder isn’t here; he’s gone elsewhere for prey. I heard your son is at Tianmen Pass in the south? Ha! Soon, the Grand Elder will reunite you and your son—in his stomach!”
He laughed cruelly.
Li Tiangang’s pupils contracted, his gaze growing colder and more menacing.
“Disrupting my thoughts? No one in the Li family fears death. Do you think this will make me run south?”
“Whether you go or not, the outcome will be the same.”
The old vine demon’s eyes gleamed viciously as he sneered, “Initially, we didn’t plan to be serious. We thought you were just garbage and that it would be easy to wipe this place clean. But since you’re so stubborn, let me show you the true power of the Void Realm!”
As his words fell, shadows streaked across the horizon behind him, rushing forward at incredible speed.
Li Tiangang’s eyes narrowed sharply.
One shadow, two, three… seven figures!
All of them demon kings!
It was said that the Void Realm had five demon king elders during their reclusive years. Now, after a millennium, their numbers had increased dramatically!
Although the Great Yu Divine Dynasty had been sending shadow guards to investigate the Void Realm’s movements for years, they had only confirmed the existence of seven demon kings. Adding the old vine demon and the young demon king Li Tiangang had just slain, the true number was nine!
And now, they were all here!
“It seems the world has forgotten the might of the Void Realm,” one of the seven approaching figures said coldly.
The seven demon kings exuded distinct auras—some were dark and oppressive, others blazing like the sun, while others appeared as illusory shadows, unfathomable and eerie.
Among them, a woman in a flowing gown adorned with a pink flower on her forehead stood out. Her eyes scanned the formation and quickly noticed the absence of the young demon king.
She sniffed the air, her expression shifting as her gaze fell upon the enormous corpse of the young demon king, now in his true form, lying within the formation.
“Yinkui!”
Her shrill scream pierced the heavens, a cry filled with sorrow and rage.
The once delicate and ethereal face of the woman, known as Yin Lady, contorted into fury.
“You dare kill my son!!”
The young demon king was her child!
For a demon king to give birth to another demon king was exceedingly rare, underscoring how terrifying the Yin Lady’s strength and bloodline were.
Li Tiangang’s face darkened, instantly recognizing her as one of the earliest elders of the Void Realm, nicknamed the Yin Lady.
Her bloodline was directly descended from the ancient demon king Taiyin Youying, making her unimaginably formidable.
Even more terrifyingly, she was likely at the Absolute Technique Stage!
“Yingteng! Is this how you looked after my child?!” the Yin Lady snarled at the old vine demon.
The old vine demon’s expression changed, and he hastily replied, “This old servant admits his guilt. It’s all because that brat was too cunning, luring the young master into the formation.”
“Silence!”
The Yin Lady slapped him hard, sending him flying a dozen miles away with his neck visibly broken.
But as a vine demon, his body twisted and quickly reassembled itself as he crawled back, trembling. “This old servant accepts punishment. I beg you to quell your anger, my lady.”
“We’ll deal with you later!”
Her eyes turned to Li Tiangang, her face twisted in anger. “You should die! Your entire Li family should die!!”
Li Tiangang’s heart sank, and he roared, “Shift the formation! Activate the Nine Abysses Fiery Formation!”
The formation’s runes reversed rapidly as the Nine Abysses Fiery Formation retracted. Its offensive power ceased, focusing entirely on defense.
“A mere Six Phases Star Formation thinks it can stop me?!”
The Yin Lady shrieked, her fingernails elongating grotesquely. Behind her, a shadowy black moon appeared, exuding an aura of overwhelming malice.
She swung her hand, and the black moon projection crashed into the formation.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Within the formation, the 50,000 soldiers of the Yuan Battalion spat blood almost simultaneously. A third of them collapsed instantly, eyes rolling back and bleeding from their orifices.
The formation trembled violently, its divine runes flickering like shadows before bursting with radiant light, barely holding.
“Break it!!”
The Yin Lady’s enraged screams echoed as she launched relentless attacks.
Each strike of the black moon projection caused more Yuan Battalion soldiers to fall. Those still standing sprayed blood from their mouths.
Li Tiangang’s pupils contracted, his body turning icy. The Void Realm had mobilized its entire force—far beyond his expectations.
Could they truly be unafraid of retaliation from Qiandao Palace? Did they not fear the True Beings of the Great Yu Divine Dynasty wiping them out completely?
“Hurry! Notify Qiandao Palace!”
“Send word to the Divine General Mansions! Use the True Dragon name and summon the banners to call for reinforcements from their clans!”
Li Tiangang shouted orders urgently.
Under his watchful gaze, the formation flickered violently, its divine light rapidly dimming.
As the other six elders of the Void Realm joined the assault, the formation finally shattered with a resounding boom.