Chapter 269: Drought Demon

Chapter 269: Drought Demon

"General, the power of that evil spirit is getting stronger. Can the Ten Thousand Souls Pennant truly suppress it?"

A deputy general of the Heavenly Gang Army looked at the black mist before him, his face filled with worry.

Although the black mist obscured the sky, making it impossible to see the scene inside, the rising temperature clearly indicated that the evil spirit within was growing stronger day by day.

At this rate, the power of the Ten Thousand Souls Pennant could be broken at any moment.

Upon hearing this, Shi Zhen furrowed his brows.

"Prepare everyone. If the evil spirit breaks through the suppression of the Ten Thousand Souls Pennant, we must act immediately and prevent it from leaving and causing chaos among the people!"

His expression was resolute, and his eyes glinted with determination.

In the vast Divine Martial Dynasty, when has it ever been the time for evil spirits to wreak havoc?

The peace in the Nine Provinces is hard-won, and Shi Zhen would never allow an evil spirit to disrupt it.

Even if it means death.

He must stop the evil spirit here.

Of course.

Shi Zhen also understood.

With the terrifying strength of this evil spirit, even if the entire Heavenly Gang Army were to fight together, it would be difficult to match it.

Despite the Heavenly Gang Army's increased strength, with the weakest of the 36,000 soldiers at the Internal Organ Refinement Realm and the strongest already reaching the Grandmaster and Grandmaster Chapter realms, even if they formed a large formation and worked with Shi Zhen, who has already reached the First Level of the Divine Transformation Realm, they could suppress even a Sixth Level Divine Transformation Realm expert.

However.

The evil spirit in Divine Crane County is far from comparable to a Divine Transformation Realm cultivator.

Even a Dao Palace Realm expert would find it difficult to match this evil spirit.

But.

Shi Zhen also knew.

He had no choice but to stand his ground.

As the saying goes, soldiers are trained for a thousand days to be used in a moment. In such a critical moment, the Heavenly Gang Army must not retreat.

At this moment.

The black mist suddenly trembled.

A terrifying heat wave erupted, causing the black mist to gradually evaporate and dissipate. The eerie creatures inside let out agonized screams.

Many of the eerie creatures instantly hid within the Ten Thousand Souls Pennant, and all the black mist dissipated.

"The evil spirit is coming out!!"

Shi Zhen's face turned grim, and he immediately ordered the war horn to be blown. All the soldiers in the camp quickly assembled.

Now.

The black mist had dissipated.

The ground was dry and cracked.

The evil spirit stood atop the ground, its terrifying heat causing the space to warp and disintegrate, as if being completely incinerated by the extreme temperature.

A surging wave of power overwhelmed everyone, causing their faces to change.

"The evil spirit has emerged!"

"Men of the Heavenly Gang Army, listen to my order and prepare for a desperate battle!"

Shi Zhen took a step into the air, the power of the Divine Transformation Realm spreading out, and all the Heavenly Gang Army soldiers were ready to face death.

"Desperate battle!"

"Desperate battle!!"

Boom—

The army gathered, and a military formation was instantly formed. A large amount of power converged on Shi Zhen, giving him the strength equivalent to a Fourth Level Divine Transformation Realm expert within moments.

However.

This power was still insufficient against the evil spirit before them.

A hint of human-like mockery appeared in the evil spirit's eyes, and a hoarse voice slowly echoed.

"Ants..."

"Do you dare to challenge me!!"

As the words fell.

The evil spirit slowly approached the Heavenly Gang Army. With each step, a burning footprint was left on the ground, and a terrifying wave of power overwhelmed everyone, like a mountain collapsing and a sea surging.

"Humph!"

Shi Zhen grunted, his blood and qi slightly stagnating, and his eyes filled with shock as he looked at the evil spirit.

He knew this evil spirit was powerful, but only now, facing it head-on, did he truly understand the extent of the gap between them.

At the same time.

The evil spirit speaking in a human voice made Shi Zhen feel even more extraordinary.

After all, he had seen many evil spirits, but most of them only knew how to kill. Truly intelligent evil spirits were extremely rare.

But without exception.

These intelligent evil spirits were all terrifying.

In the final years of the previous dynasty, these intelligent evil spirits often massacred entire cities or prefectures, causing catastrophic disasters.

Now.

This evil spirit is clearly the same.

"Fight!"

Seeing the evil spirit approach, Shi Zhen was the first to act, drawing his longsword from his waist. A fierce and powerful blade energy slashed through the void, releasing a massive force.

However, the evil spirit completely ignored this attack, making no defensive move. When the blade energy reached it, it suddenly dissipated.

This scene.

Made Shi Zhen's face even more grim.

He had used all his strength for this strike, yet it failed to break through the evil spirit's defenses, and the gap between them was so vast that it was utterly despairing.

"Die!"

The evil spirit's voice was hoarse as it extended a greenish-brown hand, and a terrifying heat wave formed a monstrous ghost hand that descended upon the Heavenly Gang Army.

Boom—

The space shattered and vanished inch by inch, a terrifying pressure descending upon everyone, causing despair to spread across their faces.

Shi Zhen tried to resist with all his might, but in the face of this blow, he found it extremely difficult to move.

Looking at the towering ghostly hand descending upon him, Shi Zhen's eyes filled with unwillingness and despair.

Just as he thought he was about to perish, a green figure suddenly tore through the void, and with a casual wave of his sleeve, the ghostly hand instantly dissipated.

"Grand Emperor!!!"

Shi Zhen's face lit up with joy, and his heart surged with the relief of surviving a great calamity.

He never thought that Gu Qingfeng would appear at this moment.

But.

Shi Zhen was very clear.

Since Gu Qingfeng had appeared, this evil spirit would not be able to cause any more trouble.

"You lead your people to retreat first. I will handle the rest."

Gu Qingfeng waved his hand.

Shi Zhen, upon hearing this, dared not say more and immediately led the Heavenly Gang Army to retreat several miles.

As the Heavenly Gang Army withdrew, Gu Qingfeng turned his gaze to the evil spirit before him.

Naked body!

About two to three feet tall!

Eyes longer than the top of its head...

These features were all too familiar to Gu Qingfeng, and the corresponding name involuntarily surfaced in his mind.

"Drought Demon!"

The characteristics of the evil spirit before him were exactly the same as the Drought Demon he had learned about in his previous life.

"Legend has it that the appearance of a Drought Demon results in a thousand miles of red earth. It seems this is not just a rumor!"

Gu Qingfeng said this as he thought.

"Where do you come from? If you tell me, I might spare your life."

"Living beings... blood meals... devouring you will make me stronger—"

The Drought Demon's voice was hoarse, showing no intention of conversing with Gu Qingfeng. Its blood-red eyes glowed with a bloodthirsty light, and in the next instant, it vanished from its spot.

As soon as it moved.

A torrent of scorching heat engulfed everything.

Such terrifying temperatures could evaporate rivers and lakes in an instant.

But facing the Drought Demon's power, Gu Qingfeng's expression remained unchanged.

"Stubborn and unyielding!"

"Perfect, I can use you to test the Divine Sky Thunder I just obtained!"

Gu Qingfeng made a hand seal with his right hand, and a thunderous boom echoed through the sky. Then, a purple divine lightning bolt tore through the heavens, like a silver dance illuminating the void.

This terrifying force struck down with a fierce impact, landing directly on the Drought Demon.

In an instant.

The Drought Demon let out a piercing scream as the sky was filled with lightning, forming a vast sea of thunder, completely obscuring its form.

This scene.

Was witnessed firsthand by Shi Zhen and the others. When they saw the green figure summoning the heavenly thunder and creating a sea of lightning with a wave of his hand, their eyes were filled with shock.

Then.

This shock.

Turned into reverence.

"This is the power of the Grand Emperor!"

"Summoning heavenly thunder with a wave of his hand, it truly seems like the descent of a divine being!"

Everyone's faces were filled with awe, marveling at such power.

Even though they were not the targets of the heavenly thunder, the scattered force alone was enough to make them feel the terror of this lightning.

After a long while.

The heavenly thunder gradually dissipated.

When Shi Zhen and the others saw the scene inside, their pupils constricted sharply.

"Hisss!"

A scorched black pit appeared in the ground, and the once invincible Drought Demon now lay there, its skin cracked and black, oozing large amounts of blood, clearly on the brink of death.

On the other side.

Gu Qingfeng took a step forward, descending into the pit. Looking at the Drought Demon before him, he immediately began a soul search.

He wanted to see.

Where this evil spirit came from.

A large amount of unfamiliar and fragmented memories surged into Gu Qingfeng's mind.

...

After a long while.

Gu Qingfeng looked at the Drought Demon before him again, once more channeling the Divine Sky Thunder. The purple lightning struck down, instantly reducing the evil spirit to ashes.

Then.

He took a step and left, flying away.

A short while later.

Gu Qingfeng appeared in a valley.

The temperature in this valley was extremely high, the surrounding area scorched earth. As Gu Qingfeng entered the depths of the valley, he could feel the temperature rising to a terrifying level.

A dark red river appeared in his line of sight.

"Lava!"

Gu Qingfeng looked at the lava river before him, knowing from the Drought Demon's memories that it had emerged from here.

In the Drought Demon's memories, it had been buried in the lava for an unknown amount of time, then, by chance, it obtained a drop of strange blood, thus developing intelligence and transforming into an evil spirit.

That drop of blood.

It was of the same origin as the blood obtained by Gu Qingfeng when he slew the Nine Curves Evil Buddha.

However, there was a difference.

The drop of blood that created the Drought Demon was much stronger than the one on the Nine Curves Evil Buddha.

After obtaining this sinister blood, the Drought Demon had been lying dormant in the depths of the lava, quietly refining the power of the sinister blood. It only emerged when its cultivation reached a certain bottleneck.

Then.

The Drought Demon began to slaughter the people of Divine Crane County, using their blood and flesh to nurture itself and transform into a higher realm.

Initially, when the Drought Demon emerged, Gu Qingfeng deemed it to be at the peak of the Half Sage Realm. This time, after its transformation, it had truly entered the ranks of the Sages.

This also indirectly explained why the Ten Thousand Souls Pennant could not suppress it.

"The End Law Era makes it difficult to become a Sage!"

"However, the Drought Demon can still enter the Sage Realm, indicating that the End Law Era has little effect on evil spirits!"

"Furthermore, the Drought Demon's corpse has been preserved in the lava for many years, which clearly shows that it was a powerful cultivator in life. If it were an ordinary corpse, it would never have survived in the lava!"

Various thoughts raced through Gu Qingfeng's mind, but his focus ultimately remained on that drop of sinister blood.

The reason the Drought Demon became sinister was closely related to that drop of sinister blood.

"The Nine Curves Evil Buddha!"

"The evil spirit of Blood Mountain Mansion!"

"And now, the Drought Demon... It seems that their transformations into sinister beings are all due to external influences!"

"Is it possible that the so-called evil spirits are all created because they received some sinister power?"

Gu Qingfeng's expression gradually became more solemn as he recalled the scene he had witnessed. That Nine Heavens Buddha might very well be the root cause of the evil spirits.

Thinking of this, Gu Qingfeng couldn't help but take a deep breath.

"If this is true, what kind of realm must that existence be!"

Without considering other evil spirits, the Drought Demon, after refining that drop of blood, had the qualifications to rival a Sage.

One drop of blood.

Creating a Sage-level evil spirit.

If such an existence were still alive, Gu Qingfeng found it hard to imagine what kind of realm would be required to achieve this.

Even with his current foundation and cultivation, a drop of blood could only help a peak Grandmaster break through to the Divine Transformation Realm, and not with a 100% success rate.

In contrast, one drop of sinister blood created a Sage-level evil spirit.

The gap between the two was not on the same level.

If that Nine Heavens Buddha were to emerge, Gu Qingfeng knew he would have no chance against it.

However, based on the information he had so far, that Nine Heavens Buddha might have already fallen.

But this raised another question.

What kind of existence could have slain such a terrifying being?

"The waters of the Nine Provinces!"

"Are deeper than I imagined!"

Gu Qingfeng's expression changed as he stared at the lava, his body unmoving for a long time.

After a while, Gu Qingfeng suppressed his thoughts and his divine consciousness delved into the lava, searching for any trace of the sinister blood.

But unfortunately, no matter how he probed, he found nothing.

Seeing this, he gave up on further exploration.

"Of course, if there were still sinister blood here, the Drought Demon wouldn't have needed to force its emergence. It could have directly refined more sinister blood and broken through!"

Gu Qingfeng took a deep look at the place, then turned and left.

Sinister blood!

Drought Demon!

The events in Divine Crane County were deeply etched in Gu Qingfeng's mind.

Initially, Gu Qingfeng thought his current strength was sufficient.

But now, he realized he was still far from it.

Dealing with the Drought Demon was not a problem for him.

However, facing that Nine Heavens Buddha or the terrifying existence that slew it would be a completely different story.

Even if he were to reach the Sage Realm, Gu Qingfeng believed he would still be far from enough to handle such an existence.

Therefore, after leaving the valley, Gu Qingfeng returned directly to the Gu Family Manor and began to close himself in seclusion.

This time, he had made a decision.

He would not emerge until he broke through to the Sage Realm.

While Gu Qingfeng was in seclusion, the news of the Drought Demon's slaying in Divine Crane County also reached the imperial court.

For a moment, the oppressive atmosphere in the court dissipated.

Even Gu Yang's face showed a few more smiles.

(End of Chapter)

Chapter end