Chapter Forty-Eight: The Power of the Mysterious Demon Unleashed

After Taowu spoke, he watched Qingxu’s expression for any change, prepared to strike at the slightest anomaly. Yet, catching the cold sneer at the corner of Qingxu’s lips, his heart sank—he realized his plan had failed. Without hesitation, he summoned his will, and the blood-fiend miasma split into more than a dozen pillars of smoky vapor, converging on Qingxu from all directions. The assault was so coordinated that escape seemed impossible no matter where he turned, though the power of each individual strike was thus much diminished.

“The Nether Blood Sea is the most sinister place between heaven and earth—only treasures of pure yang or divine arts can restrain it,” Qingxu mused. With a flick of his hand, streams of celestial fire arced forth, perfectly matching the number of blood-fiend miasma pillars.

Upon reaching the Golden Core stage, a cultivator can generate the true fire of their inner elixir; at the Nascent Soul stage, they can wield samadhi true fire. Yet the celestial fire of an Earth Immortal surpasses even samadhi true fire by tenfold, imbued with the essence of heaven and earth’s purest yang, capable of countering all evil and demonic arts.

“Hmph! A petty trick—only worthy of ridicule,” Taowu sneered, mocking Qingxu’s display.

Bang! Bang! Bang!...

The pillars of blood-fiend miasma twisted and turned, altering their trajectories, but the celestial fire relentlessly pursued them. After a protracted chase, the two forces collided, like scalding oil poured onto a raging flame, raising thick, grey-black smoke. The blood-fiend miasma pillars were soon engulfed and refined by the celestial fire.

Within the celestial fire, the miasma condensed into a single mass, emitting a sharp, “screeching” sound, yet remaining unscathed.

“Remarkable indeed—no wonder it’s born of the Nether Blood Sea, cultivated with boundless killing power. Its might is truly fearsome. Even with my early Taiyi True Immortal cultivation, I can’t harm it in the slightest with celestial fire. If only I’d had more time… If my avatar had fully refined the Azure Heaven Fire, Xuanji Golden Flame, or Violet Sky Divine Fire, surely I could have refined it,” Qingxu thought with some vexation. Though his avatar’s cultivation was high, even his celestial fire, pushed to its limits, had its bounds.

“Out of tricks, are you? Now you die!” Taowu threw back his head in laughter, blood-red light flashing over his entire form. Suddenly, the dozen or so miasma pillars surged in power severalfold, turning back to envelop the celestial fire.

Sss! Sss! Sss!...

With a sound like ice-water dousing a bonfire, the celestial fire was extinguished, and the backlash caused Qingxu’s avatar’s life force to fluctuate slightly.

Having vanquished the celestial fire, the blood-fiend miasma, still rampant, converged upon Qingxu, making evasion impossible in heaven or earth.

Before the miasma reached him, a stifling, almost tangible stench of blood overwhelmed Qingxu, flooding into his seven apertures and invading his spirit palace. In that instant, countless fiendish illusions sought to bewilder his soul. But Qingxu had anticipated this; fortified and clear, his soul was unshakable, and he suppressed the heart demons the moment they appeared, utterly unaffected.

Seeing the blood-fiend miasma about to descend, Qingxu dared not be careless. Above his head blossomed a half-acre cloud of immortal radiance, supporting the Central Xu-Yi Apricot Banner, an innate spiritual treasure. Thousands of earthen yellow lotus flowers encircled him, forming an impenetrable defense. At the same time, he held aloft an ancient lamp—the Jade Void Palace Lamp.

Sss...

The moment the miasma touched the lotuses, it clung to them like maggots to bone, corroding with relentless ferocity. Yet for every lotus that withered away, another would instantly bloom in its place, the cycle unbroken, the defense unbreached.

“Though I’ve only barely refined the first layer of its innate restriction, even at the early Taiyi True Immortal stage, this banner’s power is formidable—it is, after all, the most defensive of the five elemental banners,” Qingxu reflected with satisfaction. With only a single layer refined, once all were conquered, it would be virtually invincible. In all the primeval wilderness, only a handful of treasures like the Chaos Bell or Heaven-Earth Xuanhuang Pagoda could rival it.

“What? The Central Xu-Yi Apricot Banner? And the Jade Void Palace Lamp? You… Are you a disciple of the Primal Celestial Venerable of Mount Kunlun’s Jade Void?” Taowu, upon seeing the two treasures, turned pale, his whole body frozen in shock, crying out in disbelief.

Qingxu, hearing Taowu’s astonishment, was filled with curiosity—Taowu had recognized both spiritual treasures and immediately deduced his Jade Void lineage; such insight was anything but ordinary.

“Your knowledge is impressive, but your fate is short-lived. Since you recognize the Jade Void Palace Lamp, you must know its supreme power—it is a treasure of pure yang, the bane of all evil and filth.” The lamp’s flame far surpassed even celestial fire, its might overwhelming, able to refine anything in all the heavens.

“A disciple of a sage? The Primal Celestial Venerable?” Taowu seemed not to hear Qingxu’s words, muttering to himself, lost in thought. After a long pause, a fierce, determined gleam flashed in his eyes, and a murderous resolve took hold.

“If you were a disciple of any other sage, I might spare you for your master’s sake. But if you are a disciple of the Primal Celestial Venerable, there can be only one outcome—death!” His words were like the judgment of a god, cold and merciless, the chill of slaughter radiating from his very being.

“Could my master have some past enmity with Taowu? It seems so—from his tone, it’s a grudge of some depth. How very strange!” Qingxu sensed matters growing ever more complicated—first the Nether Blood Sea, now the Primal Celestial Venerable. He was utterly at a loss.

Rumble!

Amidst a deafening roar that shook heaven and earth, Taowu’s corporeal form rapidly faded, while the dozen blood-fiend miasma streams merged into one. In a blink, the ethereal Taowu fused with it, unleashing a horrifying, bloodthirsty aura that swept for thousands of miles. Tens of thousands of humans nearby fell unconscious, their minds invaded by its presence, unable to resist.

Sensing the aura pervading the land, Qingxu could scarcely believe it. The familiarity recalled to him the Nine Fiend Demon Kings beneath the Great Ba Mountains. He had not expected that the blood-fiend miasma, combined with the ferocity of Taowu, could so closely simulate innate demonic power—it was almost inconceivable.

“Prepare to die!” The smoke-formed Taowu, towering dozens of feet, roared and charged at Qingxu, exuding murderous might.

“Alas, this is like throwing a hot bun to a dog!” Qingxu shook his head with a sigh as the Xuanmo Sword emerged from his body.

The Xuanmo Sword was a peerless weapon forged for slaughter, said to be refined with the soul of an innate fiend demon king. As an innate demonic treasure, it could devour all evil and demonic arts. Previously, the blood-fiend miasma, being an acquired art, resisted its power, and the sword, not yet fully attuned, found it laborious to consume. But now, matters were different—innate demonic power devouring a counterfeit version was as effortless as water merging with water, utterly natural.

“Innate demonic power? No!…” Taowu’s cry of despair rang out. Never had he imagined his luck could be so dire; after Luo Hou’s demise, that any creature could yet wield primordial demonic power was unthinkable. He desperately tried to flee, but it was far too late. This was a calculated entrapment. Besides, the Xuanmo Sword’s ability to devour innate demonic power was terrifying—within hundreds of miles, escape was impossible save for a quasi-saint manipulating laws, or with the protection of an innate supreme treasure, neither of which were at hand.

Whoosh!

With a piercing shriek, Taowu was sucked into the Xuanmo Sword, where the innate demonic power within immediately annihilated his consciousness. As for complete assimilation, that would yet require some time.