Proofreader & Editor: Peter Pan
"Shrrk!"
A harsh and grating sound of cutting filled the air as the sharp sword light blocked the ferocious attack of the mysterious dark shadows. However, it failed to inflict any significant damage, merely slowing them down momentarily. The dozen or so shadows continued to encircle and close in on Qing Muling.
Could they all be body cultivators?
But are they in the True Person Realm or the realm of inner demons?
Qing Muling was somewhat surprised, but he seized the fleeting opportunity to move hundreds of feet away, escaping the encirclement of the dark shadows and avoiding a passive situation.
Those enigmatic beings seemed not to have expected such a swift reaction from a human cultivator. They paused briefly but still pursued relentlessly, their movements so fast that they left afterimages behind, quickly forming another encirclement.
Qing Muling flicked his flying sword, unleashing a fierce slash at the two leading figures. This time, he held nothing back, attacking with all his might as a cultivator of the True Person Realm. A sword light, a hundred feet long and chilling to the bone, flew out seemingly slow but was actually incredibly fast.
At the same time, a delicate and exquisite purple copper bell in Qing Muling's left hand was ready to be unleashed. If this attack wasn't effective, he would resort to this magical treasure.
"Pfft!"
The two leading figures were halted in their charge, their protective dark light cleaved open. The sword light, containing a terrifying force, slashed a ghastly wound across their bodies, nearly cutting them in two, as blood gushed out profusely.
Strangely, their blood was a dark greenish-black.
A hoarse and bizarre scream echoed as the two severely wounded beings struggled to retreat. The remaining figures had already surrounded Qing Muling, and in the next moment, a barrage of attacks fell like raindrops without any gaps.
Qing Muling felt an overwhelming pressure from all sides like a collapsing mountain and a tsunami. The protective golden light around him fluctuated violently and quickly dimmed, indicating that it would collapse completely in just a few more breaths.
Even more dire was the fact that from the depths of a distant cavern, nearly a hundred more mysterious and murderous dark shadows emerged, viciously charging at Qing Muling, clearly intent on wearing him down with a war of attrition.
"No sense of honor in combat!"
Qing Muling muttered, while striving to stabilize his magical treasure's defense. He pulled out ten palm-sized jade figurines from his storage bracelet and quickly activated them with a spell. The jade figurines suddenly grew, transforming into ten Daoist puppet soldiers, each over ten feet tall and armed to the teeth, to meet the frenzied attacks of the dark shadows.
Each Daoist puppet soldier possessed the peak cultivation of the True Person Realm. With their thick skin and resilience, they wielded heavy spiritual weapons like giant shields, long spears, and war hammers, successfully blocking the onslaught of the dark shadows.
The pressure around him eased suddenly, but before Qing Muling could catch his breath, the nearly hundred mysterious shadows had already reached him. Amidst his angry shouts, an attack several times more violent than before descended upon him.
Even the magical Daoist garments, which were of treasure quality, struggled to withstand such a ferocious assault. Qing Muling felt as if countless ancient behemoths were trampling over him. The protective light screen was activated time and again, only to be mercilessly shattered in an instant.
The intense pain throughout his body fully ignited Qing Muling's rage. A copper bell enveloped in purple mist rose into the air, and its deep and resonant tolling rang out wave after wave, sending ripples that seemed almost imperceptible. Wherever the ripples passed, the mysterious shadows screamed in agony.
"I want to see just what you creatures are!"
He swallowed a handful of medicinal pills, which transformed into a surging heat that flowed through his limbs and bones. Qing Muling fiercely activated the magical treasure known as the Soul Slaughter Bell. The continuous tolling spread out in waves, eliciting a chorus of wails and significantly reducing the ferocity of the attack.
The Daoist puppet soldiers, however, were unaffected. They were cold and merciless killing machines, chopping down the dark shadows one after another.
The Soul Slaughter Bell consumed a great deal of energy, and a single use could deplete a True Person Realm cultivator's magical power. However, Qing Muling had enough medicinal pills to replenish his energy, allowing him to use it without restraint.
***
Before long, all the mysterious shadows lay collapsed on the ground. Fearing they weren't completely dead, Qing Muling commanded the Daoist puppet soldiers to finish them off one by one.
It was then that he finally saw the true faces of his enemies. Beneath the thick black robes were corpses resembling the human race, with limbs, faces, and features. However, their bodies were covered in hard, dark blue scales, their defensive strength comparable to spiritual armor. Moreover, their faces were hideously twisted, with green eyes and vertical pupils like those of reptiles.
"Are these Demon Clan cultivators? They don't quite seem like it."
Qing Muling muttered in confusion, having never seen such bizarre creatures before. Their power fluctuated at the level of the True Person Realm, yet their lethality far exceeded that of True Person Realm cultivators from the major human sects, especially in terms of physical defense, which was even stronger than those cultivators who followed the path of body cultivation.
The figure of Ice Falcon, a celestial being, appeared, her beautiful eyes sweeping over the strewn corpses. She smiled slightly, "This is the first time I've seen you, the favored child of the heavens, injured. Now you understand the dangers of the outside world, don't you?"
"Isn't that obvious?"
Qing Muling huffed, activating his healing talents and divine abilities. Surrounded by a mist of green and purple light, his energy quickly returned to its peak state.
When traveling outside, it's impossible to only encounter enemies at the same level of cultivation, and one should never expect the enemy to fight with honor in a one-on-one duel.
Just like the group just now, each one had a cultivation realm not inferior to Qing Muling's, with some at the peak of the realm of inner demons, and they appeared in large numbers all at once. Without a word, they launched a brutal group assault. Any other scattered cultivator, even if their cultivation was two realms higher, would find it difficult to escape unscathed in the face of such a formation.
It was only because Qing Muling had an unreasonably rich background that he was able to turn the tables and kill them. Otherwise, he would have had no choice but to flee injured today, although it would have been a different story if Ice Falcon had taken action.
"The trouble you've stirred up seems quite big."
Examining the corpses on the ground, Ice Falcon's expression grew serious, "If my memory serves me right, these creatures should have been extinct long ago. I never expected them to reemerge now, it's truly… The Great Void starry sky had just started to recover some vitality, could it be that a new cycle of the celestial calamity is about to descend?"
Qing Muling approached, "What exactly are they?"
"They are the offspring of the ancient races mixed with the human race,"
Ice Falcon explained, "During the ancient times, several celestial calamities were triggered by the chaos stirred by the ancient races. It is said that they came from a more powerful civilization and once had a glorious period of ruling the world. Unfortunately, they declined due to certain reasons."
"The celestial civilization paid an unimaginable price to exterminate them completely, eliminating all their descendants. It was thought that peace would follow, but who knew…"
"Now their descendants have reemerged, hiding in these remote star regions. It's impossible that they aren't plotting some kind of conspiracy."