Chapter 762: That Was a Black Mountain
Several mountain-like black figures arrived at the highest peak of the snowy ridge. Beyond this point lay the human world, though according to both military intelligence and maps, this place should have been desolate and uninhabited.
The leading demon clan strongman had only one hand. He raised it at that moment, signaling a halt.
The cold wind howled, rustling his iron armor and sending his black hair flying wildly in all directions, revealing two demon horns whose authenticity was impossible to discern. His pupils were a ghostly green, utterly cold and ruthless, and his towering frame exuded an immensely powerful aura that would strike anyone who saw him with boundless terror.
Second Demon General Haidi.
Whether in Snow Old City or on the snowy plains, whether among demons or humans, everyone was more accustomed to calling him Lord Haidi, out of respect or fear. As a figure second only to the Demon Marshal in the demon military hierarchy, he had killed countless human soldiers and cultivators, earning a fearsome reputation far and wide.
Years ago on the snowy plains, when the demons ambushed Su Li, he was one of the main combatants. At that time, Su Li had severed one of his arms with a single sword strike, but he had also left a deep wound on Su Li's shoulder. The fact that he could injure Su Li was a testament to the terrifying strength of this demon lord.
Haidi looked down from his vantage point at the estate in the snowy mountain range, and a rare hint of solemnity appeared on his cold, blue face. There were very few things in the world that could surprise him anymore.
That estate was still far from the highest peak of the snowy ridge—perhaps over a thousand zhang away. To the demon strongmen at the summit, the estate looked like a miniature garden. Starlight fell upon it, and on the lake bridge stood a young man, as small as a grain of sand. If not for Haidi, it would have been impossible to make out the young man's features clearly. He saw them, and so he was surprised.
Just then, the young man looked up and gazed toward the summit.
Across a thousand-zhang snowy peak, they stared at each other in silence for a long time.
"I never expected it would be Your Majesty," Haidi said expressionlessly.
He spoke, of course, in the demon tongue, his voice low and carrying a strange, seductive charm.
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"Leave here as quickly as possible. Something is about to happen, and I may not be able to protect you."
After saying this, Chen Changsheng sensed a fluctuation from the divine staff hidden deep within him. This told him that the demons had arrived, and that the one coming was a terrifying strongman he couldn't handle. His gaze traveled upward to the highest peak of the snowy ridge, but he couldn't make out the scene there. No matter how sharp his vision was, he couldn't pierce the seemingly endless darkness. But he knew who was there.
An Hua and the general were shocked, because his words weren't "I won't have time to protect you," but "I may not be able to protect you"… If even His Holiness the Pope couldn't protect them, who was this approaching enemy?
Suddenly, a fierce wind arose over the lake, which had been as serene as spring. The biting chill of the snowy mountain range broke through the seasonal tranquility, sweeping wildly across the lake's surface, producing piercing sounds. Amid the howling wind, other noises were faintly mixed in. Except for An Hua, everyone recognized the demon language, and the general himself even caught the word "Your Majesty" in it. The crowd's faces changed color as they realized the enemy was the demon clan, and undoubtedly a demon strongman!
No one fled. People drew their swords and blades, rushing to stand behind Chen Changsheng. The general ordered An Hua to look after the young formation master on the stretcher at the rear, while he himself stepped into the pavilion and knocked the goat gentleman unconscious with a single blow. The battle with the demon strongman was about to begin; at such a time, he wouldn't allow any unsafe elements within their ranks.
Zhu Sha glanced at the general with some admiration.
Chen Changsheng gazed at the distant summit and said with emotion, "I never expected to see you again tonight."
Over a year ago, the last time he had appeared before the world's eyes was on the battlefield between humans and demons. Back then, he had brought Zhu Sha and hidden his identity in that military prefecture, serving as a military doctor to save lives while silently killing demons. Until that day, when the human army's situation became too perilous, he was forced to reveal his identity, unleashing a thousand swords to forcibly reverse the tide of battle. But… that also attracted the attention of that terrifying demon strongman.
Haidi descended from the sky and gravely wounded him with a single move. Zhu Sha risked the danger of her soul scattering, evading Haidi's perception, and escaped with him underground from the battlefield. Yet who could have imagined that afterward, in those vast, dense mountains, they would be ambushed by several human strongmen in succession? Later, they naturally realized that these human strongmen came from the imperial court—more precisely, from the Heavenly Mechanism Pavilion, which served the court.
That situation had been truly perilous. If Liu Qing hadn't appeared like a ghost, Chen Changsheng might have died right there. It was a somewhat painful memory, one that had chilled his heart, which was why he had chosen to live in seclusion in this desolate snowy mountain range. And the root of all this was Haidi.
Tonight, he had encountered him again. Would those past experiences repeat themselves?
On the frigid summit, Haidi looked down at the distant lake, which seemed like a pearl below the snowy ridge, his face utterly expressionless and cold to the extreme.
"I come by the military strategist's orders to take your life."
The Black Robe wanted to kill the master of the Cinnabar Pill. If he learned that the master of the Cinnabar Pill was Chen Changsheng, he would naturally want to kill him even more. In this desolate snowy mountain range, with no true strongman to protect the young Pope, if he missed such a golden opportunity, Snow Old City would be abandoned by the Moon Goddess.
For some reason, Haidi wasn't worried about Chen Changsheng escaping. He didn't rush down the snowy ridge but stood on the summit, speaking with him. What happened next provided the answer: he didn't need to descend the snowy ridge; he was certain Chen Changsheng couldn't leave in time.
Haidi jumped down from the summit.
A line of fire streaked across the night sky, then quickly extinguished. The wind howled, the starlight suddenly dimmed, and even the darkness seemed to be torn and distorted. Not long ago, Ning Shiyi had shaken loose a boulder that smashed the wooden bridge over the lake. Haidi, however, turned himself into a stone—no, he turned himself into a great mountain. Compared to his momentum, Ning Shiyi's boulder seemed laughably weak.
With a sharp, piercing sound of air being compressed, a mountain-like shadow covered the lake. An unimaginably terrifying impact force struck the water.
Boom!
Amid the dull, thunderous crash, the lake water instantly evaporated, and mist spread, shrouding half the snowy ridge. The courtyard was completely destroyed, reduced to rubble, and the wooden bridge lay like a cracked dead snake on the muddy lakebed. The people from Song Mountain Military Prefecture were either dead, wounded, or unconscious. A green leaf unfurled before An Hua, protecting her and the formation master on the stretcher. That deputy general was still alive, lying among the broken stones of the collapsed pavilion, spitting blood continuously, staring at the turbulent streams of energy still raging in the night with a look of despair.
Then, the crisp sound of a sword's cry finally rang out.
Countless sword intents converged from all directions, carrying the essence of wind and rain, slashing toward that mountain-like black figure.
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