Chapter 979: A Demon Emerges from the Central Land
The bright moon hung high in the sky, and the mountain valley was very quiet. Various wild birds, cicadas, and insects had all gone into hiding, making no sound. Only the fragrance of wild vines, flowers, and grass drifted through the air. The clear, small lake was like a mirror, and all sounds were silent.
After the man finished speaking, the female warrior waved her hand, and they quickly launched a charge, aiming to kill Ye Fan.
The people in the first echelon all wore crosses on their chests and golden battle armor. They held greatswords as tall as a man, which flashed with cold light as they silently cleaved down.
The sword light was chilling, tearing through the sky, shattering the silence. Killing intent surged into the clouds. This was a group of sword dao experts; a dozen of them stood side by side, sweeping away all obstacles.
"Master, let me handle this!" Zhan Yifan stepped forward, wanting to make a move, using the inheritance of the Shu Mountain Immortal Sword Sect to counter the Western sword dao.
Ye Fan shook his head. This group did not make him feel terrified, but he sensed something was off. Perhaps they carried some magical artifact or possessed some secret technique, as if danger lurked. He did not want his few nominal disciples to take risks.
"Mere petty tricks!" he murmured to himself, stepping forward to face this group alone.
Fourteen greatswords came cleaving down, their radiance cascading like waterfalls surging toward the sky. These swords had been tempered through countless refinements, passed down through various ancient families. Each one held a glorious history.
The ancestors of these people were nobles, once renowned great knights. The tradition had been passed down to their generation, the glory undiminished, their bloodline noble.
The descendants of these fourteen holy knights rarely joined forces, but the rumors that this great enemy had reached the Dragon Transformation Great Perfection or even higher realms compelled them to unite for the kill.
Heaven and earth shattered!
Amid their roars, each person's golden armor blazed with light, like fourteen suns blooming in the night sky. Fourteen heaven-piercing sword energies cleaved down, severing the firmament.
Yet, facing these warriors of great origin and transcendent cultivation, Ye Fan made only one move: a flick of his finger. A more dazzling wave of golden sword ripples emerged, like towering waves sweeping across heaven and earth, vast as an ocean, thundering with sound.
"Pfft"
A burst of blood light exploded. All fourteen warriors of ancient inheritance were shattered, along with their ancestral battle armor and golden greatswords, reduced to dust.
It was a terrifying scene. With just a flick of his finger, Ye Fan unleashed golden sword ripples like raging waves, attacking indiscriminately.
The fourteen noble and powerful experts turned into blood light in an instant, leaving only fourteen wisps of blood mist. Everything else was reduced to ashes.
This was absolute intimidation!
The enforcers who had marched east from the Western lands, traveling thousands of miles, all changed color. This result far exceeded their expectations.
In recent days, they had conducted investigations and learned that Ye Fan had displayed Dragon Transformation Great Perfection divine abilities at the cultivators' assembly. Thus, they had mobilized in force, intending to slaughter him in one fell swoop.
Who would have thought that what they witnessed did not match at all? This was at least a figure who had stepped into the Immortal Platform realm. Otherwise, how could he achieve this—turning his hand to produce clouds, reversing it to produce rain!
"Fall back!"
At that moment, an old man in a golden robe stepped forward, holding a golden wooden staff. Embedded in it was a Divine Source block the size of a chicken egg, extremely rare in the present age. The staff shone brilliantly.
He lightly waved the golden staff, casting an ancient dao technique, chanting a spell: "Order lightning, dance with heaven and earth."
"Crack"
A sheet of lightning descended from the sky—a golden lightning bolt that nearly flooded the air above the small lake, turning into an ordered electric marsh.
Ye Fan was surprised. In this age of declining dharma, one could actually use essence energy to drive ancient dao techniques like this, embedding Divine Source blocks on the staff, carving dao patterns for enhancement, making this secret art several times more powerful.
Otherwise, with the celestial essence dried up, this old man's cultivation level would never allow him to display such a secret art.
Yet this was utterly useless against Ye Fan. The attacker was powerful, but Ye Fan feared not even heavenly tribulation, so why would he fear so-called ordered lightning?
This secret art had a resounding name, terrifying in ancient times, but it was ineffective against Ye Fan. Amid the shocked gazes of the crowd, he opened his mouth and inhaled forcefully, drawing all the golden lightning into his mouth.
Golden electric arcs flowed over his body. He then spat out violently, and a blazing golden sea of lightning surged forth.
"Boom"
The old man in the golden robe was instantly reduced to ashes, along with over a dozen knights guarding him, all turned to dust, utterly annihilated.
What kind of person was this? Almost terrifyingly demonic! Under the current starry sky, too few could achieve such a feat. The Western dao lineage could not believe what they saw.
"Quite a few have come for me, just because I killed a Western dao lineage member at Gezao Mountain who wanted me dead. You mobilize in force to judge me? Isn't the Western dao lineage too arrogant, coming all the way to the Central Land to kill me, just to show off your might?!"
Ye Fan's expression was cold. Standing by the bright lake, he swept his gaze over everyone, then fixed it on the few young men and women in the center, their bodies radiating holy light.
"Beyond imagination in power..." Among them, the young man who had once denounced Ye Fan as a heretic and called for his execution by fire stepped forward.
In his left hand, he held a cross; in his right, a golden divine sword, radiating blazing light as he advanced, murmuring incantations.
"Boom"
Suddenly, an aura like a vast ocean erupted. His entire body blazed with immeasurable light, and a vertical eye slowly opened on his brow.
His aura completely changed. He shouted, "I invoke the ancient sages to descend upon my body. Glory is my destiny."
Many exclaimed in surprise. This was the legendary "Divine Descent upon the Mortal" secret art, which ordinary people dared not use due to the great harm to the body. Only those with special constitutions could achieve it.
Once his brow's vertical eye opened, the sacred power within him surged hundreds of times more intensely. His entire body blazed brilliantly, as if forged from gold!
At this moment, he had completely transformed into another person. A hair-raising aura erupted, and with a raise of his hand, his dharma power surged like a vast ocean.
"Interesting. It seems the West truly has ancient great supernatural power practitioners. But without their true form descending, this cannot harm me or injure my body," Ye Fan murmured.
"Boom"
The cross in the man's hand, now like a sun god, shattered, turning into a blazing divine sea, interweaving into a web of laws, surging down.
A chilling aura blanketed the area, causing many to nearly kneel. This was an immense divine power pressure.
Ye Fan stood still, his feet unmoving. He raised his right hand and slammed it down in the void. Countless spatial fissures appeared, rapidly dissolving the holy light and destroying the spreading killing dao laws.
"Pfft"
The young man radiating holy light coughed up blood. Half of the cross laws he had offered were destroyed, and most of the divine power rebounded, injuring himself.
"Divine descent upon my body, eternal flesh!"
He roared, his body bathed in peaceful holy light. Every inch of his flesh was like divine metal, solid and indestructible to a terrifying degree. Then, he swung his divine sword with his right hand and charged forward, seeking to engage Ye Fan in physical combat.
Ye Fan stood his ground, unmoving, waiting calmly for him to approach, a cold smile on his lips.
The other knights and holy temple warriors all widened their eyes, holding their breath. The divine descent upon the flesh could strengthen a person's physique to an unparalleled degree. Once close, it would sweep away all obstacles.
Yet the final result shocked everyone. They were all stunned. Ye Fan stood on the lake shore, swinging his golden right fist to counter. He shattered the divine sword, pierced through the "divine descent body's" head, and passed through with a spray of blood mist.
Simple, direct, domineering!
Large splashes of blood flew up. Time seemed frozen at this moment. Broken bones and blood radiating holy light slowly traced through the air, gripping the heart.
"Thud"
The headless body of the young man who had undergone "divine descent" fell straight down, devoid of any divine power, now just a corpse.
"Demon! He is a demon!"
After who knows how long, many cried out. Such a terrifying and brutal truth filled them with fear. This expedition was supposed to bring glory, but instead, they had encountered a "great demon" in the Central Land!
"The West has Buddhas; the Central Land has demons." This was an ancient Indian saying. In the ancient West, there was a similar warning: "The West has gods; the Central Land produces demons."
"A demon emerges from the Central Land. He is the great demon of this era from the Central Land!"
A group of people shouted, their expressions panicked. The warnings left by ancient Western sages from ancient times had not been forgotten. Today, they might have come true!
In ancient times, the sages of the Western dao lineage had suffered great losses at the hands of Central Land demons, so they solemnly warned their descendants to be cautious. When encountering such an era of demons, they must retreat.
"Over a hundred years ago, you Eastern expeditions invaded, plundering important ancestral artifacts from our Central Land, looting in the name of gods. If so, let it be that the Central Land produces demons!" One of Ye Fan's disciples responded indignantly.
"We have already passed the ancient Hangu Pass to the West and will continue westward, heading to the Western lands to reclaim our ancestral artifacts. Then you will know what a true demon is!" Several nominal disciples shouted with fervent blood.
"Glory is our destiny!"
A group of people shouted. Though they were terrified and fearful inside, they did not want to wait for death. All emitted holy light, preparing for a desperate battle.
Especially the remaining few young men and women, all sacred, capable of using the divine descent secret art, all sprang into action.
"We are the crusaders of the Eastern expedition, waging a holy war. If we die at the hands of a demon, we will ascend to heaven, return to the embrace of the gods. Fight the final battle! Death is also a glory!"
When people have faith, once they become fanatical, it is terrifying. Everyone shouted, their bodies radiating holy light, burning themselves, charging forward to fight.
"Glory my ass!"
Ye Fan had only these four words. It was somewhat inconsistent with his status, but it was his heartfelt sentiment, spat out with satisfaction.
Then, with a raise of his hand, he overturned heaven and earth, unleashing the ancient Heaven-Overturning Seal. His palm and fingers transformed into a golden great seal, crushing all enemies!
Splashes of blood appeared, one after another. Except for a few divine descent bodies, everyone else was instantly annihilated in body and spirit.
"The West... has experts," Ye Fan murmured.
Then, he pressed down forcefully again. The ancient secret art, the Heaven-Overturning Seal, shook violently. The few divine descent bodies below also turned into dust, becoming blood mist.
"Master... is too powerful!" His disciples could only marvel like this, their hearts shaken, unable to say anything else.
After a long time, the Daoist Little Heavenly Master Zhang Qingyang finally spoke, "A demon emerges from the Central Land. Since they say so, then Master, let us march as a demon into the West!"