The Meteor Sand shattered instantly into countless tiny fragments, long before it could even get close enough to reach Wu Qin. In that same moment, a wild surge of devilish Qi burst forth and filled the air, causing the entire world around them to tremble with such force that everything shook violently from the ground up.
"Argh—" The four Foundation Establishment Cultivators of the Song family let out their final cries and exploded right where they stood, turning into nothing but a spreading bloody mist that hung in the air for a moment before drifting away.
A Golden Core Stage Elder, who could not escape in time no matter how hard he tried, gave one last desperate shout. "How bitter!" He perished in an instant, his body gone before anyone could even react.
Just from the aftershock of what had seemed like a simple, casual strike, these cultivators lost every last bit of their defense. They could not even bring out the special trump cards they had always counted on to save their lives in dangerous moments. They were like ants being stepped on at will, completely helpless against the overwhelming power.
A deep green devilish palm formed in the air and pressed down hard toward Huang Feng. His face turned pale with pure horror as the realization hit him. "My life ends here!" he cried out.
"Palace Master Wuji, you look down on our Lingyun Sect far too much!" A white-robed Elder tore through the air at that exact moment, pulling Huang Feng to safety and swinging his sword with fierce determination.
The sword Qi stretched across three thousand miles, carrying a chilling aura and the sharp killing power of the Gold Sword Intent that poured out without holding back.
"Grand Elder." Ye Liuying stood there in complete shock. It was her first time seeing a battle at the Soul Transformation Stage unfold right in front of her eyes.
The earth cracked open wide in many places, and thick smoke began to billow upward from the broken ground. The mountain peaks all around them crumbled away in seconds, while the ground shook so hard that it felt like it might split apart completely.
As the powers of the two Soul Transformation experts clashed together, the aftershocks from their fight were strong enough to injure even the Nascent Soul Cultivator standing nearby. Madam Song was lucky enough to have a protective shield around her, but even then she coughed up several mouthfuls of blood. Her aura grew weak and listless right away.
Everything within a three-hundred-mile radius was completely leveled flat, and the river that had once flowed steadily through the area was now cut off and stopped. Dozens of mountains that rose ten thousand meters high collapsed straight down from their centers, breaking apart as if they had never been solid at all.
Cracks spread across the earth in every direction, forming a pattern that looked exactly like a giant spider web stretching far and wide. The earthquake moved quickly and reached across ten thousand miles. In Lingshan City, the strong tremors made the whole place feel like it was about to fall apart, scaring every cultivator who lived there.
Sand and stones flew through the air while dust blocked out the sun, creating a thick cloud of grey mist that covered everything. From a distance, others could only catch vague glimpses of two thousand-zhang Dharma Idols attacking each other with full force.
One of them was pitch-black and hideous, flickering with an eerie red light that made it look incredibly terrifying and domineering at the same time. The other was made of crisscrossing white-gold light that shone with extreme sharpness and precision.
This was an ethereal body created when the Primordial Spirit gathered Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi and condensed it together. It served as the signature technique for anyone at the Soul Transformation Stage, and it could multiply their combat strength and destructive power by several times or even dozens of times more than usual. It was the Dharma Idol of Heaven and Earth, a way of attacking the solid with the ethereal.
Ye Liuying felt true horror wash over her as she watched. No wonder everyone said that if a Soul Transformation Stage cultivator released their full power, a single strike would be enough to destroy a large city. It was no joke at all. This was what a Great Cultivator truly looked like.
It was truly worthy of being called the power of a Soul Transformation Immortal Master.
"The Grand Elder is at the Middle Stage of Soul Transformation, so he might not necessarily be a match for the Wuji Old Devil..." someone muttered nearby.
"In a battle of Soul Transformation experts, even we Nascent Souls cannot step in directly and join the fight. For Golden Cores to try would just be asking for death." Huang Feng quickly took some healing medicine to steady himself. He felt that he was not being a coward but simply preserving his strength for what might come next.
It was not worth dying together with a Demon like this. The Soul Transformation Stage let one begin to call on Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi or Devilish Qi in a real way. No matter how many Nascent Souls gathered, they could never wear down or exhaust someone at that level.
Ants could not bite a true dragon to death, no matter how hard they tried. On top of that, the Primordial Spirit of a Soul Transformation Stage cultivator could exist separately from the physical body. Even if the body was destroyed, they could reshape a new one in a short time.
No one could be sure whether the form Wu Qin had brought here was his original body or merely an incarnation he had created. Killing one completely would be difficult beyond belief.
That was why people always said that beneath Soul Transformation, everyone else was nothing but ants. Everyone present knew this truth well, so they only dared to watch from a safe distance without moving closer.
"Three Thousand Devil Shadows — it really is that fellow Wuji!"
"Damned devil! Everyone has the right to execute him!"
"How could he be here? Why would he want to kill Madam Song?"
"He does not need reasons or motives to kill anyone. He is a lunatic, not a normal person at all."
"Unfortunately, his strength is so great that he truly is the biggest scourge of the Southern Border."
"Won't the Lingyun Sect Master take action? With two Soul Transformation experts, it should be enough to kill him, right?"
"Hard to say. This Demon is skilled in escape techniques, and his ability to run away is top-tier."
"He has not even taken out his blade yet. Has he not used his full strength? He is being far too arrogant. I hope he dies at the hands of the Elder."
Amidst all the dust and chaos, Wu Qin summoned the Inversion Exquisite Tower. This Medium Grade Magic Treasure could, to a certain extent, invert the Five Elements and change how they worked. It greatly reduced the power of the opponent's spells and attacks.
"Old man, I am done playing with you." Wu Qin withdrew the treasure and pushed the Elder back with a single palm strike.
He snatched Madam Song and Song An without any hesitation, then turned into a black stream of light that streaked away toward the horizon.
"Devil, don't you dare leave!" Immortal Master Gengyuan shouted loudly, chased after him for a short moment, and then gave up the pursuit.
The Sect Master was unwell, and the Grand Elder would not easily step in. On his own, he could do nothing against Wu Qin.
Huang Feng and the others flew over to the Grand Elder's side, their faces serious and full of concern. "Grand Elder, the Wuji Demon Lord has not shown his face for over ten years. His sudden appearance here — could there be some conspiracy against our Lingyun Sect?"
"Indeed. Should we summon the other Four Great Immortal Sects so we can discuss a strategy and find a real way to eliminate this devil once and for all?"
"Correct. He is a total scourge and must be eliminated."
Immortal Master Gengyuan spoke in a heavy voice. "He took the people from the Song family. He probably was not aiming for us at all."
Everyone secretly breathed a sigh of relief when they heard that. As the old saying went, one could be a thief for a thousand days, but one could not guard against a thief for a thousand days. If Wuji had truly been targeting the Lingyun Sect, they would have needed to stay hidden inside the sect for a long time.
They truly had to avoid his edge for now. Who would want to die if they did not have to? The higher one's realm and status grew, the better life became, and the more one feared losing it.
Just as only emperors truly sought immortality, while commoners who could barely fill their bellies would not want to live too long. It was too exhausting to keep going that way. It was the same for mortals and cultivators alike.
"Why did he kidnap Fairy Fengling?" Huang Feng asked, still very puzzled. The Wuji Demon Lord was different from the perverted devils of the Yin Yang Sect. He was not fond of feminine beauty at all.
The number of beautiful fairies who had died at his hands was at least eighty, if not a hundred.
Song Junyi arrived shortly after and learned about the situation in just a few words. Her heart turned cold in an instant.
A doting mother spoils the son! Her mother had pampered Song An far too much, which had led him to become lawless and reckless. He had even gone so far as to provoke a great devil like Wuji, who was terrifying, committed every evil act imaginable, and could make children stop crying at night just by hearing his name.
She felt that if the Song family had not been so closely tied to the Lingyun Sect, which made Wuji somewhat wary, they might have been wiped out completely by now. The foundation built up over three generations would have been destroyed in a single instant.
She did not dare to hope for any revenge. She only prayed that Wuji would not come back again. It was too terrifying to think about. Her family's Nascent Soul Old Ancestor probably could not even take two hits from Wuji.
She just had to accept the loss and move on.
"My condolences," Ye Liuying said gently as she tried to comfort her. Wuji had kidnapped her mother, Fairy Fengling. The chance of her surviving was very slim. She would likely be tortured to death.
She might be refined into a corpse puppet, with her soul collected into a soul banner. That was the standard procedure of the Demonic Path.
For some reason, Song Junyi did not feel much grief in her heart. She felt sad for her mother, but at the thought that Song An was also dead, she felt inexplicably happy inside.
On the other side, Xia Ruoqian stood in a daze. The senior she had spent a few days with was actually a great devil? He had lied about having a deep friendship with her aunt.
"You... where are you... taking me?"
"To see your adoptive mother. From now on, I am your father." The corners of Wu Qin's mouth curled up slightly. He was quite satisfied with this cheap daughter and decided he would treat her better in this life, provided she was obedient and well-behaved.
"What?!" Xia Ruoqian suspected she had misheard everything, or perhaps he had a problem with his head. No wonder she had heard people say... Wuji was a mad demon. The rumors were true.
Wuji Palace stood tall in the distance. Xiao Qingyue changed into a black robe and gave herself a rather ugly makeup look, determined to make her escape. She had had enough of these days of living in constant fear, a life that felt worse than death itself.
She would no longer be a punching bag, a vent for the devil's anger, or a caged canary. She wanted dignity, and she wanted freedom!
Xiao Qingyue took a deep breath, pretended to be an ordinary disciple of Wuji Palace, and flew straight toward the mountain gate. Surprisingly, no one came forward to stop her!
She felt both excited and nervous at the same time. Could it be... was she really going to succeed? The freedom she had dreamed of for so long seemed within reach.
Wuji Palace occupied the Black Dragon Mountain Range, which looked like a coiled dragon resting across the land. It wound and twisted through the east and west of Beiye Province in the Qian Kingdom, stretching for a full two hundred thousand miles.
It had two main peaks, nine unique peaks and halls, three secret realms, and an ancient battlefield left behind from olden times. These were places where disciples could train and grow stronger.
There were two spiritual veins underground. Their quality was not especially high, but their reserves were decent enough. Demonic cultivators also needed spirit stones to buy the resources they required.
The mountain-protecting formation, healing medicines, and feeding spirit pets — which one of those did not require resources? Xiao Qingyue pursed her lips and forced herself to admit that Wu Qin indeed had real talent.
He had no family background to speak of, yet he had managed to build his current foundation all by himself. Wuji Palace was not yet a great demonic sect, but it was already stronger than some of the medium-sized sects out there.
Pity... he was a thief of the demonic gates, nothing more than a beast. His glory had been built upon countless withered bones.
Xiao Qingyue successfully flew all the way to the mountain gate and could not help but feel overjoyed. Hahaha... I am so smart! Because of the formation's restrictions, this was the only entrance and exit.
Once she was out, she would finally be free! From then on, the sky would be high enough for birds to fly, and the sea would be wide enough for fish to leap!
Xiao Qingyue could hardly restrain her excitement any longer and was eager to head out, only to run straight into... the devil.
"Where does Xiao Yue Liang want to go?"
The smile on her face froze instantly...