Chapter 782: Demon Transformation
Boom, rumble…
As if countless divine thunders were exploding across the heavens, more and more of the black stones that had been tempered for ten thousand years in the darkness were being completely crushed, then swept into a fierce torrent of profound force. Flames of light shot out in all directions, darkness spread everywhere, and the trembling within the Slay Moon Demon Cave barely ceased for a single instant.
The battle between the man and the demon had raged for who knows how long. Their bodies bore countless wounds, yet the power they unleashed remained earth-shattering. In his two lifetimes, Yun Che had experienced innumerable life-and-death battles, but never had one been this long and this brutal.
In terms of profound force, although Yun Che was already at the highest level of the Tian Xuan Continent, there were still many in the Four Sacred Grounds who surpassed him.
But when it came to endurance and recovery ability, he was unquestionably number one in Tian Xuan.
Months ago, when he fought Fen Juechen, he didn't know that Hong'er could suppress his power. The method he thought of to win was to exhaust him with his own formidable recovery. Now, however, he had encountered an opponent who was in no way inferior to him in endurance and recovery!
The Shiyue Mojun, with his demon body!
After fighting continuously for several hours, every move they made was still lethal, but both their strength and speed had clearly declined. And the degree of decline was roughly similar; neither could gain a clear advantage over the other.
Boom!!
The Heaven-Defying Sword and Shiyue Mojun's demonic claw collided across the space between them, another thunderous explosion echoing. A large amount of black stone powder was pulverised and sent swirling, making the entire Slay Moon Demon Cave appear gray and hazy.
The breath of darkness and the Golden Crow Flame madly spun, tore, and devoured each other around the two combatants, like two savage beasts with irreconcilable hatred.
Bang!!
The ground beneath their feet, already deeply sunken, cracked further, and the stone ceiling above formed a huge bowl-shaped pit. At that moment, Shiyue Mojun's demonic claw, which held Yun Che's heavy sword, suddenly shifted. With an angry roar, his ten fingers, sharp and long like skeletal claws, shot out ten beams of pitch-black profound light, targeting Yun Che's heart.
Yun Che's body instinctively retreated, but his willpower forcefully suppressed this natural reaction. He did not evade with instant movement, nor did he turn back to parry. Instead, he channeled all of his protective profound force into his arm, and as his pupils contracted sharply, he slammed the sword down toward Shiyue Mojun's chest.
The overwhelming momentum of this strike instantly crushed the space of ten zhang into collapse.
"Boom!"
The sword light of Heaven-Defying sword fiercely swept across Shiyue Mojun's chest. With a "crack," it shattered the largest piece of demon bone on his chest into several segments, hurling his demon body more than a hundred zhang away. Meanwhile, the ten streams of dark demonic energy from Shiyue Mojun all struck into Yun Che's body, causing his vision to go black and his body to stagger back abruptly. Yet his hands still tightly gripped the crimson giant sword, refusing to let go.
A piercing scream came from Shiyue Mojun. On his chest was imprinted the longest vermillion sword mark so far, bringing him unprecedented pain and injury. The power of the heavy sword surged furiously into his demon body through the vermillion scar, wantonly destroying both his demon body and his already weak life source.
Yun Che had already collapsed to the ground, unable to stand for a long time. The ten streams of dark demonic energy that had pierced his body were like ten demonic awls from the Nine Nether Yellow Springs, corroding his flesh, meridians, and internal organs, causing every part of his body and even his entire soul to suffer unbearably.
But his lips were tightly sealed; he did not utter even a single groan of pain.
"Hold your breath immediately! Purify it with Phoenix Flame and annihilate it with the Evil God's Profound Force!" Mo Li said in a deep voice. "You really are reckless! That's the aura of a True Demon! Once it enters the body, it absolutely cannot be resolved by ordinary profound force! If you didn't possess the Evil God's Profound Force and could also supplement it with the purifying power of Phoenix Flame, you would be waiting to lose half your life!"
Yun Che gritted his teeth fiercely, quickly calmed his heart, and within his body, Phoenix Flame rapidly ignited. He then completely enveloped the ten strands of dark demonic aura with his Evil God's Profound Force. Soon, the ten streams of demonic aura were all sealed off and then jointly dissolved by the Phoenix Flame and Evil God's Profound Force.
Pfft!
Yun Che leaned forward and spat out a large mouthful of black blood. Immediately, his entire body's energy began to flow smoothly, and his five senses became clear, though his aura weakened a bit more.
As for Shiyue Mojun, he was clearly much worse off.
Yun Che had endured the ten streams of demonic aura and delivered an extremely heavy blow to Shiyue Mojun. The agonizing screams from Shiyue Mojun made Yun Che know that he had definitely come out ahead! Although Shiyue Mojun had now stood up, beneath the vermillion glow at his chest was clearly a hole the size of an adult's head. Black blood gushed from the hole like a fountain, and even the shattered dark bones were clearly visible.
Although Shiyue Mojun was suppressing his screams, the uncontrollable twitching of his entire body showed how much pain he was enduring. But the shock in his heart was ten times stronger than his pain!
Though his soul was heavily injured, he still had a demon body! No matter how weakened a demon body might be, it was far beyond a mortal body! Furthermore, with the demonic aura swirling in the Slay Moon Demon Cave, his recovery speed for injuries and strength was far greater than usual.
From the very beginning, he had been forced to use all his profound force. After fighting for so long, his profound force had weakened by nearly half. With a mortal body, he should have been completely exhausted by now. But this young human before him—the degree of his strength decline hadn't surpassed his at all!
Even the wounds on his body caused by the dark demonic energy's corrosion were healing at a speed that defied all common sense.
On the contrary, his own injuries... those caused by the Golden Crow Flame were tolerable, but the wounds left by the vermillion giant sword—not only did every single one cause him unbearable pain, but their recovery speed was more than ten times slower than usual!
"Y-you... what exactly are you?!" Seeing that Yun Che, who had taken ten streams of his demonic energy, had stood up so quickly and with such a steady aura, Shiyue Mojun's pupils dilated. His hands pressed against the hole in his chest, every finger trembling: "You're not human... what are you?!"
His voice carried fear.
Even he himself suddenly realized that he was afraid.
He had originally thought he had encountered a human seeking death.
But he never dreamed he would run into a monster among humans!
How could a lowly human body possess such vitality and recovery power... especially while surrounded by the darkness that devours life at every moment!
And the sword in his hand was even more terrifying than any sword he had seen in the ancient era!!
Even back then when facing the true Demon-Slaying Sword, his will had never trembled so involuntarily.
"My name is Yun Che, a perfectly ordinary human!" Yun Che walked slowly toward Shiyue Mojun. "Shiyue Mojun! The era of gods and demons ended long ago! Since a million years ago, you should not have existed in this world! Today, even if it weren't for the Netherworld Brahma Flower, I would still have to end you!"
"End me? With you?!" Shiyue Mojun ground his teeth. In all his life, he had never imagined that his most humiliating moment would come at the hands of a mere human! Endless anger and humiliation burned what little remained of his sanity. Suddenly, he let out a fierce roar, and his whole body was shrouded in a layer of gloomy black mist. The red-black demonic patterns on his chest and back also emitted a deep, blood-like radiance.
"Arrogant, ignorant, despicable human... I will show you the true power of the demon race! You think you can defeat me? A fool's dream!!"
The blood-red demonic patterns writhed and gradually twisted into rows of strange runes. His hair lengthened, and his entire body emitted the sound of cracking rocks as bones shifted. His muscles suddenly swelled, and his limbs almost instantly doubled in thickness, covered with blood-red veins writhing like earthworms.
A low, painful roar came from Shiyue Mojun's throat as his whole body twisted like a dying snake. Pitch-black scales emerged from his flesh and quickly covered his body, while on his arms and legs, a layer of ghastly white bone armor grew out, as if his bones had turned outward from his flesh to wrap around his muscles.
This terrifying and bizarre transformation startled Yun Che, and he immediately stopped in his tracks. At the same time, he clearly felt Shiyue Mojun's aura surging by a huge margin... and becoming even more sinister and ferocious.
"It's a transformation!" Mo Li's voice was equally filled with astonishment, but even more with caution.
"Most ancient demons can transform! This transformation is different from the form changes you know. It achieves a more powerful release and control of strength through physical changes. After transforming, his power will be fully unleashed, but at the same time, the burden and consumption on his body will greatly increase. Generally, only in a decisive battle or a life-or-death fight would one transform into a full power form! Some can even perform multiple transformations."
Ssshh!
A pair of cold, gleaming fangs emerged from the corners of Shiyue Mojun's mouth, like wolf fangs, flashing a piercing cold light even in the darkness. At the same time, ferocious bone spikes jutted out from his elbows and knees... Finally, a blood-red moon mark was stamped onto his chest!
This was the mark unique to him, the king of the Eternal Night Demon Clan!
In the ancient era, this mark could make ten thousand demons submit, but now it had been forced out by a human!
His anger and aura of power were wildly surging. The rolling darkness transformed into violent wind, forcing Yun Che to hold his breath. Overwhelming pressure came from all directions, making his chest feel as if it were about to shatter and his spine nearly bend to the breaking point.
"His power... it increased so much all at once!" Yun Che, who had intended to launch a surprise attack during Shiyue Mojun's transformation, was instead forced back step by step by the surging demonic aura. He braced his hands in front of him, a deep shock on his face.
But Mo Li let out a faint, cold laugh: "Shiyue Mojun must never have dreamed that you would force him to transform! The Shiyue Mojun of today is far from the Shiyue Mojun of the ancient era! In his current state of severe soul damage, this transformation cannot last long and will inevitably come at a very heavy price! Otherwise, he wouldn't have been forced to resort to this transformation only now!"
"In his current state, it's not advisable to clash head-on with him. Instead, you should use Star God Remnant Shadow and Phantom Lightning Extreme to fight him evasively! But this place is narrow and enclosed, making that almost impossible!" Mo Li, within the Heavenly Poison Pearl, furrowed her brow, then made a decision: "Use Mystic Steel! Although it will increase your consumption and you may not be able to overpower the transformed Shiyue Mojun head-on, at least... he won't have an easy time defeating you within the duration of his transformation!"
"Alright!" Yun Che nodded. His grip on the sword changed slightly, shifting from having his right arm forward to his left arm forward.