Martial Cultivator

A strand of the Sword Sect’s Sect Master’s sword qi surged into Chen Chao’s body. As it traveled through the meridians, it gradually condensed into the appearance of the Sword Sect’s Sect Master himself.

To be safe, the Sword Sect’s Sect Master had also split off a trace of his divine soul into the sword qi. After all, Chen Chao had already fought the Demon Emperor once and managed to retrieve his life from death’s door. If he were to die now of all times, it would truly leave people feeling regretful.

After all, the young martial artist at this moment was already a Fuyun martial artist. Even throughout history, there were probably not many like him.

With a slight thought, a small flatboat appeared beneath the Sword Sect’s Sect Master’s feet, slowly drifting through the shallow riverway. As the little boat passed by, the Sword Sect’s Sect Master also left behind his sword qi along both sides of the riverway, covering it completely.

At this moment, this riverway was Chen Chao’s meridians, and the dried-up river water within was the little remaining qi flow left in Chen Chao’s body.

A Fuyun cultivator was already among the most supreme existences in the world. Their qi flow should have been endless and unceasing.

For Chen Chao’s current qi reserves to not even compare to an ordinary cultivator’s was truly rare.

As the Sword Sect’s Sect Master continued forward, he became increasingly emotional. Looking ahead at the “riverway,” it was a scene of utter devastation, miserable beyond description.

If this were truly an ordinary riverway, it would not matter much. One could simply hire laborers and spend some time dredging and repairing it. Eventually it would recover. But the meridians of this young Lord Warden Commander before him were probably not something that could be restored so easily.

Yet the worse Chen Chao’s condition appeared, the heavier the Sword Sect’s Sect Master’s heart became. It only proved that this fellow truly could not withstand any further turmoil.

But having already come this far, the Sword Sect’s Sect Master naturally could no longer stop midway. From here onward, only caution remained.

Following the riverway deeper inward, the Sword Sect’s Sect Master’s expression gradually became calm.

After an unknown amount of time, he stopped moving forward. Leaving the riverway, he stepped onto the riverbank. Not far away was an open space, where a man stood quietly watching him.

The Sword Sect’s Sect Master smiled and said, “Your Majesty, we meet again.”

The Demon Emperor glanced at the Sword Sect’s Sect Master and calmly said, “We truly did not expect to see you here.”

The Sword Sect’s Sect Master also sighed helplessly. “A figure like Your Majesty, whose cultivation reaches the heavens and surpasses the world itself, yet still resorting to methods like this, truly leaves one somewhat disdainful.”

The Demon Emperor indifferently said, “Humans and demons are different. Any method may be used. You have already seen that young man. Given enough time, he would not be inferior to Chen Che. He is a great threat to the demon race. We are the lord of the Demon Domain. The countless subjects under Our rule rely upon Us if they are to survive.”

The Sword Sect’s Sect Master smiled. “That is also reasonable. Our positions differ. What Your Majesty has done is understandable.”

Hearing the Sword Sect’s Sect Master speak, the Demon Emperor suddenly recalled that back at the banks of the Onan River, he and Chen Che had once stood on opposite sides and exchanged similar words.

They could have become friends, if only they had not stood on opposite riverbanks.

Now that Chen Che was gone, whether it was Chen Chao or the Sword Sect’s Sect Master, no matter how astonishing they were, they still lacked something in the Demon Emperor’s eyes.

In other words, if the one who had fought him earlier had not been Chen Chao but Chen Che instead, perhaps the Demon Emperor truly would have disregarded everything and fought Chen Che to the death to determine superiority.

But Chen Chao was not him, and so the Demon Emperor had lost that inclination.

Some people were simply like that. Whether enemy or friend, they would forever linger in the minds of others, impossible to forget.

“Your Majesty is ten thousand miles away. This time, I’m afraid I will win for once.”

The Sword Sect’s Sect Master condensed a strand of sword qi into a sword and looked toward this emperor of the demon race.

The Demon Emperor calmly said, “With a sword in hand, you truly are somewhat interesting. If someone else had been the Demon Emperor instead of Us, they likely would have perished beneath your sword.”

Many people, had they been born in different eras, might have shone far more brilliantly. But they happened to be born in the same era. There was simply no helping such things.

“At this moment, you are indeed stronger. Cutting down this fragment of Our will would not be difficult. But can you guarantee that before you cut down this fragment of Our will, We will not destroy this body that is already riddled with holes?”

The Demon Emperor looked at the Sword Sect’s Sect Master before him and smiled. “This young man is indeed very strong, enough to make even Us feel astonishment, but everything reaches an end sooner or later.”

The Sword Sect’s Sect Master did not speak. He merely ran a hand across the sword edge. He was already prepared to strike.

This time, the two sought different things.

......

......

Inside the Sword Sect’s Sect Master’s cave dwelling, Chen Chao’s eyes were tightly shut, sweat continuously streaming down his forehead, while across from him, strands of sword qi from the Sword Sect’s Sect Master kept pouring endlessly into Chen Chao’s body.

Compared to the Demon Emperor, his greatest advantage was that his true body was here, allowing him to continuously supply sword qi.

As for the Demon Emperor, although that thought was connected to him, they were still separated by tens of thousands of miles, and there were many things he simply could not do.

Yu Xiyi stood at the entrance of the cave dwelling. Although this great sword immortal’s realm was not low, he still could not interfere in something like this and could only watch.

Hoping nothing would go wrong.

And as the Sword Sect’s Sect Master and the Demon Emperor began clashing within Chen Chao’s body, Chen Chao’s brows furrowed even more deeply, and his entire body began trembling uncontrollably.

At this moment, his physique had become the battlefield of two Fuyun cultivators. Though there would not truly be such overwhelming destructive might, his physique was no longer whole like before.

Not long after, blood began flowing from the corners of his mouth again, but this time the blood was no longer bright red, instead a dark brown color. At the same time, countless places on his body began seeping tiny beads of blood. Very quickly, those beads connected into lines of blood that streamed down Chen Chao’s body.

In just a short while, a pool of blood had already formed beneath Chen Chao.

Yu Xiyi sniffed and turned his head to see this scene, his eyes instantly widening enormously. This young great sword immortal hurried forward a few steps to Chen Chao’s side and extended a hand, but after only reaching halfway, he withdrew it again.

Not knowing Chen Chao’s exact condition, the best choice was not to interfere. Otherwise, if something went wrong, it would likely become an irreversible disaster.

But merely looking at that blood already made Yu Xiyi anxious beyond measure. Moreover, he could also feel Chen Chao’s aura becoming incomparably weak, like a small stream flowing gently that could dry up at any moment.

Yet Yu Xiyi was destined to be unable to do anything.

He looked toward the Sword Sect’s Sect Master, thinking: Sect Master, can you fucking pull it off for once or not?!

As for Chen Chao, he was actually incomparably clear-headed at this moment. He could feel two auras constantly colliding and fighting within his body. Because of this, he also had to mobilize the little qi remaining in his body and continuously send it toward the weakest areas, lest these two truly tear apart his broken house.

This also meant Chen Chao had to maintain an extremely high degree of clarity. Remaining conscious in such agony was a genuine form of torture for anyone.

But even so, there was no other choice.

If he did not do this, he probably would not even know when his broken house collapsed.

He would die without even understanding how.

Fortunately, whether it was those years of tempering his physique before, or later in the Divine Capital when he broke through into the end of Nepenthe and fused those auras into a furnace, Chen Chao had already experienced similar ordeals.

So the current Chen Chao could still endure.

However, perhaps his will was not the issue, but his body had already begun breaking apart once more. Cracks spread across him like shattered porcelain, forming intersecting marks all over his body.

The little blood he had left now flowed continuously from those cracks, gathering briefly on the ground before streaming into the distance.

Yu Xiyi watched this scene, nervous beyond measure.

Afterward, he glanced at Chen Chao again and suddenly realized that this fellow was bleeding from all seven orifices.

His entire face was covered in blood.

At this rate, Yu Xiyi had no doubt whatsoever that Chen Chao might die here in the very next moment.

......

......

North of the Onan River, ever since the Demon Emperor returned, the demon race’s royal city had become incomparably quiet, with countless demons closely watching that place.

Although no one doubted the Demon Emperor’s strength, that young martial artist had after all calmly walked through the demon army before, and this caused countless people to develop doubts at this moment.

If that young martial artist had left the Demon Domain so easily, then could it be that the Demon Emperor had been heavily wounded by him?

Though this was an extremely unlikely thing, at least... a small portion of people would think so.

However, with the lesson from the first battle between the Demon Emperor and the Great Liang Emperor before them, none dared act rashly. Even after the second battle between the Demon Emperor and the Great Liang Emperor, those great demons had once united and asked a demon lord to assassinate the ruler of the demon race, but what was the final result?

Had he not still died at the Demon Emperor’s hands?

The great demons’ fear of the Demon Emperor often had little to do with realm. The most important thing was the Demon Emperor’s cunningness.

That emperor heart of his always seemed unfathomable, impossible for ordinary people to see through.

But while everyone was still observing, a figure in white had already arrived before the demon race’s royal city.

Back then, Demon Lord Shen Hua who had been persuaded into trying to kill the Demon Emperor was already sufficiently powerful, but compared to the person before them now, he would probably still fall somewhat short.

This one was called White Jing, the strongest expert of the white flood dragon race from the northern demon sea. He had become famous long ago, and after so many years of bitter cultivation, his realm had already become unfathomable.

Most demons believed that this Demon Lord White Jing was probably only a final step away from the so-called Fuyun Realm.

With a single step forward, he would ascend into that realm.

So his realm was incomparably close to the Demon Emperor’s.

What was he doing here now?

The answer likely spoke for itself.

The throne of the demon race was an enormous temptation to every demon.

No demon did not wish to become the master of the Demon Domain, to command all demons, supreme above all!

Just imagining that feeling was enough to move many people.

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