Chapter 270: Overcoming the Celestial Demon

Chapter 270: Overcoming the Celestial Demon

(Fellow daoists, I urgently need monthly votes!)



As his arms were severed, You Jing's usually cold expression twisted into one of pure malevolence. The demonic energy shrouding his face intensified, and he roared, "Kill him! Kill him now!!"

With You Jing's shout, the black demonic energy swirling around him began to take on a sinister form, gradually materializing into a dark shadow.

Chuning sensed that something was amiss and dared not act rashly. He recalled his flying sword, keeping it close to his body, and quickly created distance between himself and You Jing.

The three late-stage Gold Core cultivators engaged in battle nearby also had their attention drawn by You Jing's outburst, momentarily pausing their assault and glancing over at the source of the commotion. When they saw that You Jing had lost both his arms, their eyes widened in surprise.

They had already suspected that Chuning's early Gold Core cultivation might be unusual, given that he could withstand their combined attack. But to so swiftly sever the arms of You Jing, who was clearly no weak opponent himself and at the mid-stage of the Gold Core realm, was beyond what they had expected.

And so, their gazes now turned to Chuning, filled with newfound wariness.

However, their attention soon shifted back to You Jing as the demonic energy around him coalesced, forming a three-armed, grotesquely-featured shadow in front of him.

At the appearance of this shadow, Chuning and the three late-stage Gold Core cultivators all wore looks of astonishment.

They immediately recognized it as the bizarre shadow that had tried to seize the Golden Spirit Seed back at the lake.

The trio of Tie Shi, Ao Langtian, and the elderly man with the Zou surname simultaneously ceased their attacks, their eyes reflecting a mixture of shock and suspicion.

But before anyone could speak, You Jing let out another furious shout, his face contorting with rage. "You boasted so much about your demonic powers! How did you let yourself be defeated so easily by a couple of flying swords?"

It was clear that You Jing's outburst was directed at the demonic shadow.

The shadow, for its part, fixed its demonic eyes on Chuning, emitting an ear-piercing sound as it spoke. "Black Star Iron. This person not only possesses Black Star Iron, but has also refined it into a magical artifact. This metal specifically counters our demonic powers—you should know that."

As the shadow spoke, You Jing's face twitched. "How was I supposed to know that the black chain was made of Black Gold?" His gaze, now bloodshot, turned back to Chuning. "My only request now is for you to kill him! Kill him now!!"

You Jing, usually so cold and composed, had completely lost his composure and seemed to be on the verge of madness.

Chuning, on the other hand, regarded the demonic shadow with a thoughtful expression, his eyes grave. "So Black Mystical Gold not only has the extraordinary effect of countering demonic attacks, but Grandmaster Ge Liuyang never mentioned this. Perhaps the reason why so little Black Mystical Gold remains today is not simply because it was highly sought after in ancient times, but also because past cultivators refined large quantities of it into their artifacts specifically to deal with these—"

"Extrinsic Celestial Demons!" Chuning finished his thought, his eyes narrowing as he stared intently at the demon. When he had first caught sight of this demon at the lake, he had a vague suspicion. Its appearance had reminded him of the Extrinsic Celestial Demons depicted in the mural at Lei Huo Zong, and now, upon closer inspection, his suspicion was confirmed.

"You are not an ordinary demon cultivator," Chuning declared, his voice steady. "You are an Extrinsic Celestial Demon, one that does not belong to this world of Tian Yan!"

Hearing Chuning's words, the demon let out a shrill, maniacal laugh. "Impressive! None of these late-stage Gold Core cultivators recognized me, yet you, a mere early Gold Core cultivator, know of the Extrinsic Celestial Demons. Impressive indeed!"

"Extrinsic Celestial Demon!" The demon's laughter sent a shudder through Tie Shi, his face contorting with a mix of shock and anger. It seemed he knew something about these Extrinsic Celestial Demons.

With a grave expression, he turned to the bewildered Ao Langtian and the elderly Zou-surname man. "Fellow daoists, this Extrinsic Celestial Demon is not of our world. It is the enemy of all cultivators in Tian Yan. Let us set aside our differences and join forces to vanquish this demon!"

Ao Langtian and the elderly man exchanged glances, but neither spoke. It appeared they were truly ignorant about Extrinsic Celestial Demons.

Tie Shi, sensing their hesitation, spoke again in a low voice. "The fact that an Extrinsic Celestial Demon has appeared on our Western Alliance continent is no small matter. This demon has likely only recently emerged, as it is still at the late Gold Core stage. But demons of this kind can devour cultivators' Golden Cores, and as they grow stronger, they may even devour their Nascent Souls. If we let it continue to develop, even if our alliances were to join forces, defeating it would be no easy task. I suspect that the recent deaths of so many cultivators in the Spirit Realm are connected to this demon..."

Tie Shi's words trailed off as the three-handed demon suddenly vanished from sight, only to reappear an instant later beside him. As one of its claws reached for Tie Shi's dantian, it let out a grating, ear-piercing laugh. "Finished chatting? Then hand over your Golden Cores to me now!"

Whether the demon chose to target Chuning because it sensed the Black Gold in his artifacts and knew it would be a challenging opponent, or whether it was employing the strategy of 'capturing the king first to capture the whole domain', was unclear.

So he was also aware that dealing with this demon was absolutely not something Tie Shi could handle alone.

If the demon couldn't be defeated by Tie Shi, then the next moment, everyone present would be in danger.

Chuning summoned his Fire Spirit Sword and, at the same time as Tie Shi's iron fists pounded towards the Extrinsic Celestial Demon, he controlled his flying sword to slash at the demon's neck.

This demon seemed to be wary of Chuning's flying sword, which was infused with Black Xuan Gold. The originally attacking hand suddenly changed direction and, with an extremely bizarre twist, grabbed towards the hilt of Chuning's Fire Spirit Sword.

Meanwhile, the demon used one of its normal arms to face Tie Shi's fists.

Although Chuning didn't know what was so powerful about the demon's strange hand, he dared not let it seize his flying sword.

He pinched a sword art with his right hand, causing the flying sword to nimbly spin in the air and deftly avoid the demon's strange hand.

Then, it slashed towards the demon's neck once more.

At this moment, the three-handed demon, which had just exchanged blows with Tie Shi, quickly dodged to the side.

The next instant, the black shadow flashed and disappeared from sight.

Chuning's heart filled with alarm as he swiftly used the Shen Feng Escape Art, causing him to dart out of the way.

However, even with the speed boost from his robe, Chuning's escape art was still not fast enough to completely evade the demon.

The demon's shadow flashed past where Chuning had been standing, and in the next moment, it appeared by Chuning's side.

That bizarre arm reached directly towards Chuning's dantian.

The speed was so fast that even if Chuning had his two flying swords by his side, he wouldn't have been able to stop it.

Chuning could only fully activate his Earth Spirit Rock Technique and Undying Golden Body.

At the same time, the Earth Spirit Sword and Wood Spirit Sword by his side merged into one, forming a wider flying sword that slashed towards the demon's strange hand.

"Chi!"

The black-scaled, black-gleaming hand had just made contact with Chuning's Earth Spirit Rock Armor when the top-grade spell-condensed rock armor instantly crumbled, revealing Chuning's Undying Golden Body shield.

Black light and golden light intertwined, and in the next moment, the demon's hand was blocked by the faint golden light of the Undying Golden Body.

Not only that, but the golden light coiled upwards, causing the black light on the strange hand to fade significantly.

At the same time, Chuning's Wood Spirit Sword and Earth Spirit Sword, now merged into one, slashed onto the demon's arm.

"Ga!"

The three-handed demon let out a roar of pain.

Under Chuning's slash, half of the strange arm had been severed.

It seemed that with one more strike, the entire arm would be cut off.

However, at this moment, black light flashed on the arm, and it instantly transformed into scattered black lights.

As the three-handed demon flew back and landed next to You Jing, the scattered black lights also flew back and re-condensed into a hand-shaped form on the demon's chest.

"So close!" Chuning thought to himself, regretting the missed opportunity.

If he had recalled and merged the Fire Spirit Sword in time, the combined strike of the three swords might have been able to cut off the demon's third arm.

Nevertheless, this turn of events startled the other four cultivators.

Even on the twisted face of the three-handed demon, one could clearly see a look of shock.

"Who exactly are you, and why do you possess something that so restrains our demonic powers?"

The three-handed demon's voice, already grating to the ears, became even more piercing as it spoke in a harsh tone.

You Jing, seeing that even the three-handed demon had nearly been injured by Chuning, shouted in rage, "Didn't you say that among Golden Core cultivators, no one would be your match? And now, you can't even handle a few early Golden Core cultivators..."

You Jing's words abruptly stopped as the three-handed demon, without moving its body, twisted its head in a bizarre manner.

Its demonic eyes, glowing with a dark light, fixed on You Jing, causing him to shiver.

"You're nothing but a waste. Do you really think you're some kind of genius? Since that's the case, there's no use in keeping you around," the three-handed demon said coldly.

Hearing this, You Jing's face paled in shock. "What did you say?"

Before he could finish his sentence, the three-handed demon's strange hand shot out and reached towards his dantian.

You Jing immediately flew backwards to escape.

However, to the surprise of everyone present, the demon's arm suddenly elongated by about a foot.

You Jing had thought he had dodged the demon's palm, but he was still caught.

The demon's palm landed on You Jing's dantian, and whether it was because the demon had grasped the weakness of You Jing's cultivation technique or because You Jing's strength had greatly diminished after losing his arms, the palm easily penetrated his body.

"What are you doing? Don't..." You Jing exclaimed in extreme terror, as if he had realized something dreadful.

But the three-handed demon paid no heed to his pleas.

Its demonic palm withdrew from You Jing's dantian, now holding a round pellet the size of an egg – You Jing's golden core.

You Jing's face turned deathly pale. "No, you can't eat my golden core!" he screamed in despair.

Ignoring You Jing's cries, the demon shadow swallowed the golden core.

A crackling sound echoed, sending chills down the spines of everyone present.

As for You Jing, his face, already devoid of blood, turned ashen. After his Golden Core was taken, the demon casually waved its hand, tossing him aside like garbage.

There was no doubt that You Jing's life was now hanging by a thread.

After doing all this, the three-handed demon twisted its head back with a strange movement.

It looked at Chu Ning and the other three once again.

Even Ao Langtian and the elderly man with the Zou surname from Heiyun Sect, who had not taken action until now, took out their magical treasures, preparing to fight.

However, after scanning the four of them, the demon let out a bizarre laugh.

"Hehehe! Consider yourselves lucky that my strength hasn't fully recovered yet. Otherwise, all four of you would've died here today. For now, I'll let you off the hook."

"Stop him!" Chu Ning shouted as he immediately drove his flying sword towards the demonic shadow.

Tie Shi also reacted swiftly, unleashing a series of iron fist strikes.

However, the demon shadow suddenly flashed and disappeared from sight.

The next moment, it reappeared several dozen feet away.

Everyone present knew that with their speed, they couldn't possibly catch up to it.

They could only watch helplessly as the demon continued to flash and quickly flew away into the distance.

Chu Ning's expression turned grim.

The demon's strength was formidable, and it was clear that it hadn't fully recovered yet.

Once it did, it would likely be at the Nascent Soul level of cultivation.

Normally, even with the demon's extraordinary abilities, it wouldn't concern Chu Ning much.

After all, there were numerous Nascent Soul cultivators in the Western Alliance continent.

But during their previous exchange, the demon seemed particularly wary of Chu Ning's Undying Golden Body and his magical artifacts infused with Black Xuan Gold.

Chu Ning couldn't help but worry that he might have drawn the demon's attention.

However, even if Chu Ning could match the demon's speed, he wouldn't dare to chase after it alone so recklessly.

After all, among the other three, only Tie Shi seemed to know about Extrinsic Celestial Demons and genuinely wanted to eliminate it.

The other two hadn't taken any action until now.

Moreover, they were still his rivals.

Just as this thought flashed through his mind, Chu Ning suddenly sensed something and disappeared from his original spot.

In the same instant that Chu Ning appeared ten feet away, a snow-white blade light swept through the space where he had been standing.

The next moment, Ao Langtian brought out his signature treasure and attacked Chu Ning.

"Ao Langtian!"

Realizing the deadly intent from the late-stage Gold Core cultivator from Da Luo Sect, Chu Ning didn't harbor any illusions. He pointed with his hand, and the three flying swords simultaneously shot towards Ao Langtian.

As for Tie Shi and the elderly Zou-surname man from Heiyun Sect, they also used their magical treasures and engaged in a fierce battle.

While controlling his flying swords to fight against Ao Langtian, Chu Ning saw what was happening from a distance and couldn't help but curse aloud.

When Tie Shi was fighting two opponents earlier, he managed to hold his ground.

But now, facing the elderly Zou-surname man from Heiyun Sect alone, he seemed unable to quickly defeat his opponent.

It seemed that the leader of Tian Ji Alliance had decided not to get involved in the internal strife of Yun Xiao Alliance.

"It's all up to me now!" Chu Ning thought as he pinched a sword art, causing the three spiritual swords to merge into one giant sword.

He then slashed it towards Ao Langtian with full force!

The might of this sword far exceeded the attack power of an ordinary early Gold Core or even a mid-stage Gold Core cultivator.

Ao Langtian's face turned serious, and his killing intent towards Chu Ning intensified.

"This guy must be eliminated now. More than a decade ago, he was only at the late Qi Refining stage, but now, at the early Gold Core stage, he can launch such an attack.

If we let him continue to grow, once he reaches the late Gold Core stage, he might become the next Yu Changge."

With this thought in mind, Ao Langtian wielded his signature treasure, a long saber, and condensed all his Golden Core energy. He slashed down towards Chu Ning's giant flying sword!

As multicolored lights dissipated, their magical treasures returned to their respective owners.

The faces of both combatants turned grave.

"Ao Langtian is indeed one of the most outstanding late-stage Gold Core cultivators. Even with my three swords combined, the might of my attack is still slightly inferior to his!"

What Chu Ning didn't know was that while he was surprised, Ao Langtian was even more astonished.

He had already thought that Chu Ning's sword was powerful.

But he never expected that even with his full-force strike, he could only barely surpass Chu Ning's attack.

He was unable to inflict any harm on Chu Ning at all.

How could this not shock him!

As for Tie Shi and the elderly Zou-surname man who were also battling, they were equally astounded.

They naturally understood the gap between the late Gold Core and early Gold Core stages.

When Chu Ning withstood the three-handed demon's attack earlier, they attributed it to Chu Ning's possession of a magical artifact that countered the demon's abilities.

But now, in the head-on clash between Chu Ning and Ao Langtian, there was no such advantage.

As the three of them watched in shock, Chu Ning remained calm, holding the giant sword.

He opened his mouth and spat out a stream of Golden Core flames, which landed on the giant sword.

The sword flew up and slashed towards Ao Langtian once again!

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(End of Chapter)

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