Martial Cultivator

Among the Fuyun cultivators in this world, if one truly had to classify them, they could roughly be divided into two types.

The first type would be people like Cao Chong and Lu Ji. Although their cultivation realms were high, their actual combat strength was not that terrifying. What they valued more in cultivation was living longer years. Not only Cao Chong and Lu Ji, even those reclusive cultivators in the Infatuation Daoist Temple were probably like this as well.

The second type would be people like the Great Liang Emperor, the Demon Emperor, and the Sword Sect’s Sect Master, and even Daoist Wuyang from before.

For this type of people, cultivation realm was merely an aid to combat strength. At every stage, they sought perfection, forging each realm to an extreme solidity, even striving to be invincible within the same realm.

Thus, when Cao Chong faced the Demon Emperor, the outcome had already been decided. Even though the Demon Emperor was injured at this moment, it was still destined to end this way.

But some things were done despite knowing they could not be accomplished, so Cao Chong never cared about that.

He drove his lifetime cultivation, continuously urging those words to block the Demon Emperor’s demonic qi, but upon first contact, they collapsed at once.

Cao Chong’s face turned extremely pale. The qi within his entire body was already flowing ceaselessly at great speed, but even so, it was like trying to put out a cartload of burning logs with a cup of water.

With a flick of his sleeve, even more vast and surging demonic qi from the Demon Emperor rose like a tide and crashed forward!

At this moment, Cao Chong was like a small boat in an endless sea of waves, swaying incessantly, at any moment liable to be swallowed.

And his desperate resistance was like trying to hold up a thatched hut leaking from all sides amidst a raging storm.

The thatched hut would collapse sooner or later, and when it did, it would inevitably drown the one supporting it as well.

The Sword Sect’s Sect Master watched this scene, sword intent shining brilliantly in his eyes, as if thinking about something. The flying sword resting on his knees only trembled slightly.

In another few minutes, he would be able to deliver another sword strike. Though it was also destined to have no result, to die on the path of striking with the sword was still far better than helplessly awaiting death like this.

The Demon Emperor remained expressionless, seemingly dissatisfied with the slow progress of his demonic qi. The towering dharma idol behind him finally moved at this moment.

A massive hand clenched into a fist and descended from the sky!

Endless demonic qi gathered within it. As this punch smashed out, terrifying demonic qi instantly tore open rifts along the path ahead, space itself continuously shattering here!

When this punch from the Demon Emperor fell, the oppressive force it brought was as if the heavens themselves were collapsing at this moment!

This ruler of myriad demons, now that the Great Liang Emperor was no longer in the world, was unquestionably the number one person!

Any existence that stood against him seemed destined to be reduced to dust.

Cao Chong gripped that old book, still looking pained, but at this point he could no longer care about so much. He released his hand, allowing the old book to drift upward into the sky.

As a scholar, he had never accomplished anything like bringing peace to all ages, nor could he even govern a state and bring order to the world. But even so, he still wanted to do something.

Perhaps it was like smashing an egg against a rock, but he had never lacked such courage!

Before, he had not acted because he felt it was not worth it. But now, he felt it was.

A rumbling sound rang in his ears, that was the wind stirred by the descending fist of the Demon Emperor.

Above the sea of clouds, it now seemed as if everything had begun to burn. Amid those vast demonic clouds, a strange demonic flame seized the soul.

The Demon Emperor’s fist had descended!

A heavy boom resounded through the layered sea of clouds, spreading far, far into the distance.

The drifting clouds in all directions were shaken apart in an instant, scattering to places even farther away.

Cao Chong directly spat out a large mouthful of blood. The page he had first torn out shattered instantly, turning into powder and dissipating.

And behind that page was the book that came after Cao Chong.

Once that old book shattered, Cao Chong would inevitably die.

A Fuyun cultivator who had lived in seclusion for so many years, now making his first move, only to die at the hands of the Demon Emperor, it truly made one feel some regret.

Cao Chong raised his head, and in his eyes flashed the passage of several hundred years. In truth, he felt some guilt. Over these centuries, he had coldly watched this world without doing anything for the common people, it was hardly like a scholar.

As a scholar, even if one was deeply disappointed in the world, one should still strive to change it. To withdraw from the world so passively was not what he ought to have done.

But now, regret was far too late.

The Demon Emperor’s fist would show no mercy.

Terrifying demonic qi swallowed that old book here.

But at this moment, in the distant sea of clouds, a towering dharma idol finally appeared, it was precisely the one Chen Chao had sent ahead.

After appearing, the towering dharma idol rushed toward the Demon Emperor’s dharma idol without any regard for itself.

Like a great mountain, it sought to shield all things in the world from wind and rain!

The Demon Emperor raised his head to look and immediately sneered. Not yet having truly stepped into that realm, yet daring to appear, if this was not courting death, what was?

Since Chen Chao had appeared, the Demon Emperor could not be bothered with Cao Chong anymore. The ruler of myriad demons had never come here to kill a few more Fuyun cultivators, but to truly kill this young martial artist.

The two dharma idols met within the sea of clouds. Chen Chao’s towering dharma idol struck first with a punch, carrying boundless qi, while the other side raised a hand and smashed a punch toward the head of Chen Chao’s dharma idol.

There was a loud bang.

The two dharma idols exchanged a punch in an instant above the sea of clouds. Chen Chao’s towering dharma idol swayed for a moment and retreated several steps. Unwilling to miss such a great opportunity, the Demon Emperor followed closely behind and threw another punch.

This time, it still targeted the head of Chen Chao’s dharma idol.

This punch was immensely powerful, no matter who faced it, they would likely be smashed to pieces.

But Chen Chao merely twisted his neck and threw a punch, colliding directly with the Demon Emperor!

As the two fists collided, endless demonic qi and qi met first, then immediately began to clash violently. One was the strongest of the demon race, the other a rising talent of boundless potential. At this moment, both had already lost themselves in the fight, exchanging dozens of punches in a short span of time.

But in the end, Chen Chao’s dharma idol still fell into a disadvantage. After dozens of exchanges, the entire dharma idol had already become battered and broken.

Meanwhile, the Demon Emperor remained calm and composed, beginning to search for Chen Chao’s true body.

When Fuyun Realm powerhouses fought, there was often a sense of returning to simplicity. There were no flashy techniques, each clash was a direct collision of cultivation.

It was only because their battlefield was in the sea of clouds. Had it been elsewhere, it would likely have ended up like the thirty thousand miles of the desolate north - left in utter devastation.

Even so, the qi scattered from the clash of the two dharma idols fell from the sea of clouds, crashing into mountain after mountain. Some great peaks instantly formed deep craters and split apart from the middle.

At the border between Ying Prefecture and Changping Prefecture, the cultivators had long since noticed the phenomena in the sky. Though they could not see clearly due to the distance, such a spectacle was still enough to leave them utterly shocked.

“Where did this demon lord come from? He must have been stopped by some great cultivator, right?”

The other cultivators could not clearly discern what was happening, but the demonic qi was something they could recognize at a glance.

A cultivator with decent cultivation raised his head to look at the sky and angrily cursed, “Do they really think this is the Demon Domain? Acting so arrogantly here?!”

As soon as these words were spoken, that cultivator shot up into the sky. But just as he rose halfway, he encountered the scattered qi. In a single instant, he was shredded into pieces and turned into a cloud of blood.

Some cultivators who witnessed this scene firsthand all frowned. “Too terrifying. This must be a battle between the strongest existences at the end of Nepenthe. Ordinary people, let alone joining the fight, even getting too close is bound to spell trouble!”

Seeing this, many cultivators felt their hearts sink. If such a powerful demon lord could one day roam freely in human territory without restraint, what would become of cultivators like them?

In their eyes, they would likely be nothing more than ants.

A frail ant.

......

......

In the Imperial City of the Divine Capital.Divine Capital, within the imperial city.

Even here, one could faintly see the scene in the distant sky.

The Crown Prince stood beneath the eaves, with the newly appointed Crown Princess Consort standing beside him.

“Xinyue, what is that?”

The Crown Prince pointed toward the horizon.

As a Nepenthe cultivator, Wu Xinyue naturally sensed the faint demonic qi. She hesitated, unsure whether to tell her husband, but after a moment, she still said, “Your Highness, it is demonic qi. It is likely that a demon lord has crossed over and is fighting some powerhouse.”

Before the Crown Prince could speak, Wu Xinyue took his hand and softly said, “Your Highness, don’t be afraid. This consort will protect Your Highness.”

The Crown Prince shook his head and smiled. “What is there to fear? Elder Brother is still here. Even if a demon lord managed to cross over the Northern Frontier Great Wall by chance, Elder Brother would still cut him down.”

The Crown Prince smiled. “As long as Elder Brother is here, there is nothing to fear.”

Wu Xinyue looked at the Crown Prince and said nothing.

......

......

Above the sea of clouds, that old book slowly fell, finally landing in the hands of a young man dressed in black.

The young man with a saber hanging at his side caught the old book, patted it as if brushing off the dust, then handed it to Cao Chong beside him, smiling. “Just a little more, and Mr Cao’s beloved book would have been destroyed.”

Cao Chong looked at this young man who had rushed to the battlefield with a deathly pale complexion, unable to speak.

The young man smiled to himself and said, “If a scholar cannot read, then this world would truly be too terrible.”

Without waiting for Cao Chong to speak, the young man turned his head to look at the Sword Sect’s Sect Master, who was regulating his breath, and said with a smile, “Many thanks, Sect Master.”

“It seems Sect Master has found a sword suited to yourself, congratulations and felicitations. Before long, your cultivation realm should rise another level.”

The Sword Sect’s Sect Master looked at the flying sword resting on his knees and gave a faint, weary smile. “For it, it was three hundred years too late. For me, it was a hundred years too late. But in truth, it’s not late at all, it’s just right.”

The young man nodded. Whether one waited half a lifetime or an entire lifetime, the hardest thing was always that in the end, one still managed to wait for it.

As long as it arrived, it was not late.

The Sword Sect’s Sect Master asked, “Succeeded?”

The young man nodded.

“You should still be careful. He is truly too strong.”

The Sword Sect’s Sect Master sighed, gripping his sword. He had mastered that sword strike, yet still could not surpass the heights beyond, what more could he say?

The young man rubbed his cheek and said, “Next, I’ll give it a try.”

After saying this, he walked forward to face that one person in the world.

Ahead, that dharma idol had already completely shattered, dissipating above the sea of clouds.

The young man who had arrived late stood upon the sea of clouds and smiled. “Fought the young one a couple of times, it was pretty boring. This time, I’ll fight you, the old one.”

As the young man spoke, behind him another towering dharma idol began to condense once more.

This time, the aura of that dharma idol was several times more abundant than the previous one.

The young man who propped up the dharma idol rolled up his sleeves as usual, preparing for a great battle.