Chapter 278: Sudden Change
"This sealing formation for the demon is called the Tianwei Soul-Suppressing Formation." Ling Kun pointed at the formation light that kept flashing beneath the barrier. "Within this Tianwei Soul-Suppressing Formation, anyone's profound force will be suppressed to an enormous degree. This demon is now locked onto the Xingtian Sword, and will never escape the Tianwei Soul-Suppressing Formation."
Ling Kun said expressionlessly: "This demon's appearance is exactly the same as ours, and he also cultivates profound force, but he possesses a special ability called 'Arcane Firmament.' However, among the demons, only a minority possess 'Arcane Firmament.'"
"Now, you've all seen what needed to be seen. Remember what I just told you." Ling Kun's gaze swept across the entire audience. He stepped forward, standing before the barrier, and sneered at the demon: "Demon, after letting you see sunlight for so long, aren't you grateful to me now? Before sending you back, I have good news for you... Heh, your son, and your daughter-in-law, twenty years ago they overestimated themselves and broke into the Tian Wei Sword Domain to rescue you. Unfortunately, they didn't know you had been moved here a hundred years ago. Hahahahaha."
The demon's entire body trembled. He jerked his head up and roared maniacally: "You... what did you do to my son?! What did you do to him! If you dare harm even a single hair on my son's head, I will not rest even as a ghost!"
"Tsk tsk," Ling Kun shook his head with a cold laugh: "That son of yours is quite cunning. He actually escaped from the Tian Wei Sword Domain and almost found this place. Unfortunately, we eventually caught up to him. Even more unfortunately, they escaped again, fleeing back to the Huan Yao Realm under our pursuit. However, the two of them were already gravely wounded, and after fleeing for several months while severely injured, their life fires were nearly burned out. Although they made it back to the Huan Yao Realm, they were both half-dead. They probably died more than ten years ago."
The demon's eyes stared wide open. An endless sorrow, anger, and despair radiated madly from his body. He struggled wildly and roared in frenzy: "You're lying!! You're lying! My son absolutely cannot die! Ah!!! You bastards of the Tian Wei Sword Domain... the one who deserves to die is you! Ah!!"
Amidst the roar, a hand suddenly extended from the gaps in the chains binding the demon. With endless hatred, it thrust toward Ling Kun's position. A solid beam of profound force light shot through the air.
Cries of alarm rose all around. Everyone instinctively stepped back. Ling Kun also showed surprise, but he was neither alarmed nor flustered. His body did not even move. The beam of profound force light struck the barrier, but with a soft "clang," it sank into the barrier and completely disappeared.
"Everyone, don't worry. Although the barrier around this formation cannot block people from entering or leaving, it can block all forms of power. The demon cannot harm us." Ling Yuefeng explained, though his expression was not calm. He knew very well how powerful the Tianwei Soul-Suppressing Formation was—it could suppress a person's profound force to less than one percent of its normal level. But even under such suppression, the power this demon had just released in his anger produced a profound force aura that was no weaker than his own!!
Having been sealed for a full century, and within the Tianwei Soul-Suppressing Formation, he could still unleash profound force at the early King Xuan realm... His strength at full power was simply unimaginable! At the very least, he was far stronger than Ling Kun.
"Hmph!" Ling Kun sneered disdainfully: "It seems the chains weren't tightened enough back then, letting one of your hands break free. But it doesn't matter. You don't actually think you can escape the sealing of the Starmetal Chains and the suppression of the Xingtian Sword, do you?"
"You despicable wretches, I'll kill you... kill you all... Aaah!!"
Ling Kun's words had clearly struck a nerve in the "demon." Perhaps what kept the "demon" from dying was not the Demon Emperor, but his family. His roars were filled with hatred and despair. He swung his only movable arm, wildly hurling beams of profound light at Ling Kun, while letting out beast-like howls. The chains wrapped around him clashed and screeched as he struggled.
"Tsk tsk, truly pitiful," Ling Kun shook his head. "Once the guardian god beside the Demon Emperor, a 'King' second only to one in the Huan Yao Realm, and now you've become a pitiful mad dog. I don't even want to look at you anymore. Let me... send you down!!"
He flipped his palm, and a peculiar formation crystal appeared in his hand. A small formation manifested before him. Then, as if responding, the formation beneath the Xingtian Giant Sword began to flicker again, slowly rotating, driving the sealed area containing the Xingtian Sword and the demon to slowly descend underground.
Although Ling Kun was extremely powerful, he absolutely did not have the ability to activate this sealing formation or to stabilize it. The required formations and power were sealed into heavenly crystals by more than a dozen top-level experts of the Tian Wei Sword Domain. As for Ling Kun, he was essentially just an errand boy executing the task.
"This demon... he really seems pitiful," Cang Yue said softly.
"Indeed pitiful. I wonder what deep grudge exists between his Huan Yao Realm and the Tian Wei Sword Domain. Being sealed in a sunless place for a full hundred years—few in this world could endure it. Although he seems somewhat insane, he hasn't truly gone mad yet. That mental fortitude is truly astonishing," Yun Che remarked with emotion.
"I also think... he seems pitiful, and not really like a bad person," Xia Yuanba whispered cautiously.
"Grievances at the level of the Sacred Grounds are something we can never touch. Whether the demon is evil or not is not for us to judge... Just watch," Qin Wushang said.
The Xingtian Sword slowly descended, and the demon's figure gradually disappeared from sight. But his ghost-like howls still echoed in everyone's ears. His frantic attacks did not stop, chaotic beams of profound light smashing against the barrier again and again: "I will definitely kill you... Ah!!! I will definitely kill you!!"
Amidst the wild roars, he suddenly stopped his attacks. His arm reached forward and pulled hard.
Whoosh!!
A sudden wind rose within the barrier, then weakly spread outside the barrier, carrying a suction force outside. Clearly, this demon, already half-insane, was desperately trying to kill someone in his extreme rage, wanting to drag someone down to die with him. If anyone were pulled into the barrier and entered the "Tianwei Soul-Suppressing Formation," even Ling Kun would be dead for sure, because no matter how strong Ling Kun was, inside the formation, his profound force would be suppressed to at most the Spirit Xuan realm.
However, due to the barrier's obstruction, the suction force was very weak. Everyone present was among the highest-level cultivators of their age in the Cang Feng Empire, so they would not be affected by such a weak pull.
"Ah!!! Eeaaah!!!"
The Xingtian Sword continued to descend, and the demon's voice began to grow muffled. At that moment, the harmless suction force stopped... But two breaths later, a burst of energy suddenly concentrated into a narrow stream and surged outward... And the direction this energy stream surged toward was... the spot where Xia Yuanba was standing!!
This full-powered burst from the demon could be easily resisted by anyone present, even Cang Yue who was only at the True Xuan realm. But there was one exception...
That was Xia Yuanba, whose profound force was at the very bottom, only at the Initial Xuan realm!
Under the sudden blast, Xia Yuanba was lifted up and flew toward the barrier. It was only when his body hit the barrier that he let out a terrified cry.
This sudden change caught everyone off guard. None of them expected that the demon, who was about to be sealed back underground, would suddenly lose his mind and target a young man at only the Initial Xuan realm. With the Tianwei Soul-Suppressing Formation and the barrier in place, the demon could not pose any threat to them. But these powerful experts had all subconsciously forgotten the existence of an extremely weak person, and never imagined that the demon would go all out to strike at this weakling who had no business being there.
"Yuanba!!!"
This was a development Yun Che had absolutely never anticipated. They were simply here as spectators, surrounded by many experts. How could they have imagined that disaster would suddenly descend upon them like this? Seeing Xia Yuanba being sucked toward the barrier, Yun Che's face turned pale with shock. He let out a furious roar and charged forward.
"Don't go!!"
Qin Wushang immediately reached out to grab Yun Che, but the "Star God Remnant Shadow" was incredibly fast and elusive. Qin Wushang's hand shot out like lightning, but only caught Yun Che's afterimage.
Sshhh!!
Yun Che's speed in that instant reached the peak of his life. As his figure flashed, it even created a harsh sound of spatial friction. At a speed like flowing light, he caught up to Xia Yuanba from behind and grabbed his left ankle... But at that very moment, both of them entered the barrier and fell within the Tianwei Soul-Suppressing Formation!!
Without the barrier's obstruction, the blast aimed at Xia Yuanba suddenly became a thousand times more powerful, pulling both Xia Yuanba and Yun Che rapidly toward the demon... Accompanying this was the demon's manic laughter: "Hahahahaha... Kill! I'll kill you! Kill you all!!"
"Junior Brother Yun!"
"Yun Che!"
"Boss!"
"Don't go!"
Cang Yue was tightly held back by Qin Wushang. Ling Jie, who had cried out in alarm, was slapped back by Ling Yuefeng. Watching Yun Che and Xia Yuanba being sucked into the barrier, everyone's faces changed drastically. Ling Kun had explained what the Tianwei Soul-Suppressing Formation was, and they were all too clear about the consequences of being pulled inside.
Ling Kun's expression also changed rapidly. For something like this to happen right under his nose was a great loss of face. But even if he had ten times the courage, he wouldn't dare enter the Tianwei Soul-Suppressing Formation to rescue them... And even if he did go in, he wouldn't be able to save them; he would only get himself killed. He could only watch helplessly as the two young men were pulled toward the demon.
"Brother... Brother-in-law!!" Xia Yuanba's face turned deathly pale. Seeing Yun Che clutching his ankle from behind, he screamed hoarsely.
An enormous pressure surged from all directions, pressing down fiercely on Yun Che's profound veins, making his profound force feel as if frozen, unable to be mobilized... But this suppression lasted only a brief moment. The Tianwei Soul-Suppressing Formation could indeed greatly suppress any human's profound force, but at this moment, Yun Che became an exception within the formation. Because his profound veins were not ordinary human veins, but the profound veins of a True God!!
How could the profound veins of a True God be suppressed by a mortal Tianwei Soul-Suppressing Formation!!
"Aaah!!"
As a red light flashed from the Evil God's Mysterious Vein, the feeling of suppression instantly dissipated. He let out a furious roar. Blood light surged all over his body, and both his eyes turned crimson in an instant.
"Purgatory!!"
In this life-and-death moment, Yun Che forcibly activated the third realm gate without any hesitation. Under his surging profound force, he concentrated all his power into his right arm, pulling Xia Yuanba and hurling him backward...
His explosive burst in that instant actually managed to resist the demon's suction force, flinging Xia Yuanba behind him. He roared again, turning in midair and pushing all his power, without reservation, toward Xia Yuanba...
"Yuanba... Go!!"
Whoosh!!
With Yun Che's roar, all his power turned into a violent storm, crashing into Xia Yuanba and sending him flying rapidly toward the outside of the barrier... And Yun Che himself, under the combined effect of the recoil and the demon's suction, flew even faster toward the demon's location.
"Brother... in-law!!"
Xia Yuanba's body flew backward, farther and farther... until he finally touched the edge of the barrier... At the moment his body left the barrier, he saw a faint, satisfied smile appear on Yun Che's face, and then Yun Che's eyes closed...
Bang!!
Xia Yuanba landed outside the barrier, crashing heavily to the ground. Having been on the brink of death, he was miraculously thrown back outside. His vision spun and his whole body ached terribly, but he didn't have time to catch his breath. He staggered to his feet and lunged toward Yun Che, letting out a heart-rending howl: "Brother-in-law... Brother-in-law!!"
At that moment, Yun Che's back landed on the demon's palm. With a loud crash, his back exploded instantly. Flesh and shattered bones flew everywhere. A blood arrow more than two zhang long shot from his mouth. Then, like a broken doll, he was hurled far away. After that, there was no more movement. A large pool of blood spread rapidly beneath him... His last consciousness was the demon's gleeful, manic laughter.
Boom!!
The Xingtian Sword suddenly descended rapidly, and with a thunderous crash, it fully plunged down, sealing the demon and the seemingly dead Yun Che deep beneath the Sword Control Platform, to a depth unknown.
"Junior Brother Yun!!" Cang Yue let out a despairing cry like a cuckoo weeping blood, then her eyes rolled back and she fainted.
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