Chapter 692: The Demon Son and the Extreme Yang Body
The man in blue robes was precisely the Demon Son of the Moon Worship Demon Sect, named Ouyang Huan.
Within the sect, the Demon Son held an extremely high status. Even with his current cultivation at the Fish-Dragon Ninth Transformation, he could sit on equal footing with the sect's Saints.
Moreover, some of the powers he wielded even surpassed those of Saints.
Ouyang Huan cast a glance at Gai Tianjiao, a faint, ambiguous smile appearing in his calm eyes. "Innate Extreme Yang Body, Gai Tianjiao."
Gai Tianjiao and Ouyang Huan had never met before, yet both recognized each other instantly. Only the most top-tier experts possessed such precise judgment.
Almost simultaneously, Wu Ba and Que Jiu each produced a Sacred Artifact, holding them in their palms as they warily stared at the burly man emerging from the forest.
The sacred power of the artifacts surged forth like a tidal wave, radiating circles of powerful energy ripples. Clearly, the two Guardian Beast Generals were prepared to strike at any moment.
Even within the Demon Sect, the name "Gai Tianjiao" was frequently mentioned.
With such a formidable figure appearing, no one dared to be careless.
"I heard Gai Tianjiao was a stunning beauty. I was actually quite looking forward to meeting her, but who would have thought the legendary beauty would look like this?" Wu Ba craned his neck and laughed loudly.
Gai Tianjiao's eyes blazed with crimson flames as she fixed her gaze on Wu Ba, her voice dripping with killing intent. "I think you're asking for death."
Sensing that terrifying murderous aura, Wu Ba couldn't help but shudder. He immediately wiped the smile off his face, his complexion turning pale.
It wasn't that Wu Ba was intimidated by Gai Tianjiao, but rather that the power contained in her voice was too immense. Each word that fell on Wu Ba's ears sounded like a thunderous drumbeat.
With just one sentence, Gai Tianjiao had already inflicted light injuries on Wu Ba.
Zhang Ruochen, seated cross-legged in the palm-shaped crater, was also quite astonished.
He... no, *she* was Gai Tianjiao?
The burly figure before him had a towering stature, bones three times thicker than an ordinary person's, skin like steel, and every sinew coiled around his body like a flood dragon.
How could such a masculine, strong, and fierce person be the legendary number one beauty of the Liangyi Sect?
Indeed, legends shouldn't be fully trusted.
Upon careful thought, if the Innate Extreme Yang Body were truly a delicate beauty, that would probably be even harder to accept.
However, Zhang Ruochen had heard one thing: Gai Tianjiao's greatest taboo was anyone daring to say she wasn't beautiful enough.
Wu Ba had clearly violated Gai Tianjiao's taboo. With her violent temper, how could she let him off?
"Boom!"
Just as Zhang Ruochen was wondering whether Gai Tianjiao would deal with Wu Ba, the ground suddenly trembled.
Gai Tianjiao charged toward Wu Ba with large strides. With every step she took, the ground shook. At the same time, the blazing flame aura around her grew increasingly intense.
By the time she reached Wu Ba, the temperature radiating from her body had melted the soil beneath his feet, turning it into red-hot magma droplets.
"What formidable Extreme Yang Qi!"
Wu Ba's expression shifted dramatically. He immediately hurled the axe-shaped Sacred Artifact from his hand, striking at Gai Tianjiao.
The surface of the giant axe lit up with countless inscriptions, emitting a purple-black radiance as it expanded to over ten meters in length, as if it contained the terrifying power to split heaven and earth.
With Wu Ba's cultivation and the sacred power of the Po Jun Axe, the force unleashed was enough to cleave a mountain in two. One could only imagine what would happen if such power struck a person.
Yet, facing a Sacred Artifact of the Po Jun Axe's caliber, Gai Tianjiao showed no fear. Instead, a hint of disdain flickered in her eyes.
Her palm struck out, disrupting the sacred power radiating from the Po Jun Axe. The force in her hand actually overpowered the sacred energy, sending the axe flying.
"Boom!"
The Po Jun Axe crashed down a hundred miles away, plunging into a great river. The immense power contained in the Sacred Artifact even temporarily severed the hundred-meter-wide river's flow.
Gai Tianjiao's palm force did not diminish after clashing with the Sacred Artifact; instead, it grew even fiercer.
Before her palm even landed on Wu Ba, the masculine energy released from her palm had already set his body ablaze.
If the palm struck down, even with Wu Ba's powerful beast physique, he would likely be reduced to ashes.
"Azure Heaven Demon Hand."
Ouyang Huan naturally couldn't stand by and watch the Demon Sect's Guardian Beast General be killed by Gai Tianjiao. He quickly descended to the ground, standing before Wu Ba, and raised his arm to strike forward. Instantly, a massive black demonic hand coalesced in front of him.
"I've long wanted to test how strong the Demon Sect's Azure Heaven Demon Hand really is!"
Gai Tianjiao struck forward aggressively, colliding head-on with the Azure Heaven Demon Hand.
One was a flaming palm imbued with extreme yang and extreme hardness; the other was a demonic hand possessing icy cold and devouring power. Both forces were immensely powerful, splitting the entire world into half red and half black.
With a thunderous roar, the two forces clashed. The ground between Gai Tianjiao and Ouyang Huan split open with a crack, widening continuously—half a meter, one meter, two meters...
The fissure rapidly expanded, reaching a width of about thirteen meters and extending dozens of miles in both directions, forming a massive chasm.
It was as if the entire earth had been torn apart.
The Extreme Yang Qi and demonic energy collided violently. Gai Tianjiao and Ouyang Huan each took three steps back, then in an instant, both surged forward to engage again.
Even with the cultivation of Wu Ba and Que Jiu, they could barely make out Gai Tianjiao and Ouyang Huan's techniques. All they saw were two figures clashing at high speed, erupting with deafening battle sounds.
The two soon fought far into the distance.
Just as Wu Ba and Que Jiu breathed a sigh of relief, a loud crash echoed from afar, and the ground shook violently.
At the edge of their vision, the towering mountain where the Wusheng Daoist Temple stood was shattered into pieces by a giant flaming fist.
Part of the broken mountain was melted by the blazing flames, dripping with golden magma.
"Is this... really a battle between Fish-Dragon Ninth Transformation cultivators?" Que Jiu inhaled a sharp breath.
Fear crept into Wu Ba's eyes. "The Innate Extreme Yang Body truly lives up to its reputation. I shouldn't have provoked her earlier."
The Demon Son and Gai Tianjiao's cultivation had reached an almost unfathomable height. Even if they fought Half-Saints, they might not necessarily be at a disadvantage.
For a Fish-Dragon Ninth Transformation cultivator to cross blows with them was nothing short of suicide.
After his earlier recuperation, Zhang Ruochen had temporarily suppressed his injuries and slowly stood up.
He glanced at the collapsed mountain in the distance, equally astonished. "These two are the true top-tier experts below the Half-Saint level. With my current cultivation, I'm still far from matching them. But I'll soon catch up to their pace."
Wu Ba and Que Jiu stood at the edge of the palm-shaped crater. Even while watching the battle, they kept part of their spiritual awareness focused on Zhang Ruochen.
Seeing him suppress his injuries so quickly, they were naturally quite surprised.
"To withstand a strike from the Demon Son's Azure Heaven Demon Hand and still stand up so quickly—your strength is truly impressive," Que Jiu remarked with a smile.
Wu Ba sneered, a cruel expression on his face. "Since Gai Tianjiao went out of her way to save you, it shows you're definitely a proud son of the Liangyi Sect. If we kill you, I wonder if those old fogies in the Liangyi Sect will be hopping mad?"
Zhang Ruochen's face was pale, appearing quite weak, but his eyes remained sharp. He smiled calmly. "This place isn't far from the Liangyi Sect. The battle between Gai Tianjiao and Ouyang Huan will soon attract Half-Saints, or even Saints. If I were you, I'd flee immediately."
"As long as we capture you, even if a Saint from the Liangyi Sect arrives, we can negotiate terms," Que Jiu said coldly.
Que Jiu had suffered several losses at Zhang Ruochen's hands, so her heart was filled with hatred.
"Shua!"
Que Jiu raised an arm. From the bones of her arm, forty-two sharp bone spurs grew out, intertwining like claws, stabbing toward forty-two joints and meridians all over Zhang Ruochen's body.
In his severely injured state, Zhang Ruochen naturally couldn't block any of Que Jiu's attacks.
But he remained remarkably calm, a faint smile even appearing in his eyes as he looked past Que Jiu. "Xiao Hei, why haven't you made a move yet?"
From the darkness came a low cat's meow.
Then, a black shadow rushed from behind toward Que Jiu, landing on her shoulder.
"Whoosh!"
By the time Que Jiu sensed it, three sharp claws had already slashed across her neck, leaving three bloody marks.
"What... is that..."
Que Jiu's eyes widened. Her entire body convulsed as the true qi within her surged uncontrollably toward her neck.
In an instant, a massive amount of blood gushed from the three wounds, dyeing her entire body red in moments.
Not good.
Wu Ba's expression changed as well. He rushed to Que Jiu's side, extending four hands to protect her neck. His other four hands assumed a defensive posture.
From the palms of his four hands, sacred qi continuously poured out, trying to protect the blood vessels and meridians in Que Jiu's neck.
But no matter how much sacred qi Wu Ba output, it was useless. Que Jiu's body rapidly grew cold, the blood flowed more and more, and finally, she completely lost her life force.
Wu Ba set down Que Jiu's corpse and looked toward the palm-shaped crater, only to find that Zhang Ruochen, who had been standing there, had vanished.
"Damn it! Who did this?"
Wu Ba roared. His body swelled up, transforming into a two-hundred-meter-long black centipede. Following the residual aura in the air, he quickly gave chase.
At that moment, Xiao Hei's body had grown as large as a small mountain. A pair of black wings sprouted from his back as he carried the severely injured Zhang Ruochen, speeding toward the Liangyi Sect's mountain gate.