NABC Chapter 2109 Peerless
Chapter 2109 Peerless
With its head pierced and its soul fire core annihilated by the sword intent, it was a fatal blow to a being like the Vengeful Demon.
The vengeful demon is like a candle flickering in the wind, and may completely dissipate at any moment.
But Cao Feiyu clearly wouldn't give him any chance to turn the tables or escape. For such a strange and evil creature, it was necessary to ensure that it was completely annihilated, leaving not even a trace of resentment or lingering soul.
Cao Feiyu raised her free left hand, her five fingers blooming like lotus flowers, and countless silver sword energies, as thin as hair yet dazzling, shot out from her fingertips.
These sword energies did not shoot towards the demon in a chaotic manner, but rather followed a mysterious trajectory, instantly disappearing into the void within a ten-zhang radius around the demon.
"Clang!"
A clear and melodious sword cry seemed to come from beyond the heavens. Within a radius of ten feet centered on the Demon of Vengeance, the air suddenly solidified, and a majestic, awe-inspiring, and incomparably fierce sword intent descended with a thunderous roar.
In the void, countless translucent sword shadows formed from pure sword intent and elemental power appeared out of thin air, densely packed, completely enveloping and sealing off the vengeful demon and the space around him from all directions.
As soon as the sword formation was completed, it unleashed earth-shattering power.
Inside the formation, there was no longer any air, only a violent and raging sword intent, like a storm.
Countless sword energies surged and slashed wildly, piercing the remnant body of the vengeful demon trapped in the center of the formation.
"laugh……"
The dense, rain-like sounds of cutting and piercing blended together, and the already unstable, pitch-black body of the Wraith Demon was frantically torn apart, crushed, and annihilated under the endless impact of the sword energy.
Large swaths of black mist dissipated, emitting a mournful sound like the wails of countless wronged souls, but it was quickly crushed into nothingness by the even more violent sword intent.
Within the sword formation, the silvery-white sword light and the pitch-black mist of resentment collided and annihilated each other, forming a desolate and annihilated zone.
When Cao Feiyu gently clenched her left hand, the violent sword formation suddenly stopped operating, and countless sword shadows, like swallows returning to their nests, entered Cao Feiyu's body and disappeared.
The sword formation dissipated, leaving behind only a smooth, mirror-like jade surface, plowed countless times by sword energy, and the lingering sharp sword intent in the air.
That vengeful demon at the early stage of the Tai Cang Realm, along with all its resentment, yin energy, and remnant soul, had been completely annihilated and purified by the endless sword energy within the sword formation, its form and spirit utterly destroyed.
As the dust settled, Cao Feiyu made a grasping motion in the air with her left hand, and a wisp of dark essence was drawn into her palm.
Without even glancing at it, she flicked her wrist, and the primordial energy transformed into a beam of light, flying towards Chen Fei who was rushing towards her from behind.
Chen Fei reached out and caught the incoming ball of primordial light. It felt slightly cool to the touch, and he could sense the pure energy fluctuations within. He glanced at his palm, then looked up at Cao Feiyu, who was sheathing her sword and whose aura was rapidly calming. His brow furrowed slightly, and he spoke:
"Senior sister, there are still many vengeful demons in the ruins. It's impossible for the source of each one to belong to me after we kill them."
While Chen Fei's precise dispelling of illusions was crucial to the successful slaying of the vengeful demon, Cao Feiyu's thunderous strike was the decisive factor.
Moreover, the exploration has only just begun, and who knows how many vengeful demons are still lurking in the ruins. It would be unreasonable and unwise for him to claim all the spoils each time, and it is not a sustainable way to cooperate in the long run.
Chen Fei is not a greedy person, and he understands that cooperation requires fairness.
With a flick of Chen Fei's wrist, a gentle surge of Yuan energy lifted the dark source and pushed it back to Cao Feiyu, where it hovered in the air.
Cao Feiyu looked at the source that had been pushed back, and then at Chen Fei's serious gaze. Her cold face showed no change in expression, but a hint of contemplation flashed in her eyes.
She was not inflexible and understood that Chen Fei's words made sense. Just now, she subconsciously gave all her essence to Chen Fei, partly out of gratitude for his ability to break the illusion, and partly because she had previously given the essence of the vengeful demon Rong Xiuyuan to him; it was just a matter of habit.
"Then let's split it in half," Cao Feiyu said decisively after a moment's thought.
Before she finished speaking, she pointed her fingers like a sword and gently slashed at the source of the vengeful demon floating in the air.
A pale silver sword light flashed and disappeared in an instant. The dark source of energy didn't even tremble in the slightest before being evenly split in two by the sword light. Then, one half, under Cao Feiyu's control of her Yuan Power, flew towards Chen Fei again.
Chen Fei accepted the half of the source, but still felt somewhat guilty.
After all, Cao Feiyu had single-handedly slayed the vengeful demons, and her efforts had been the most costly. In his opinion, taking half of it seemed a bit too much.
Chen Fei tried to speak again, but before he could finish, Cao Feiyu interrupted him.
"Stop refusing! Without you, how could I have so easily slain the vengeful demon?" Cao Feiyu's voice rose slightly, a hint of displeasure in it.
She disliked this polite back-and-forth of politeness; in her view, merit is merit and deserves appropriate reward.
Chen Fei's ability to break through illusions was the key reason why the kill was so easy. Without Chen Fei, she might not have even been able to find the vengeful demon, let alone force it out and create an opportunity for a fatal blow.
Chen Fei's role cannot be simply summarized as "assistance." In her view, dividing the spoils equally already took into account the energy and effort she would expend in the final attack; otherwise, it would have been reasonable for Chen Fei to take more.
Chen Fei was slightly taken aback when Cao Feiyu interrupted him with her words, which carried a hint of displeasure. Then he saw the seriousness in Cao Feiyu's clear eyes.
Chen Fei realized that if she refused again, it would seem pretentious.
Chen Fei said no more, cupped his hands in a respectful bow to Cao Feiyu, and solemnly said, "Thank you, Senior Sister."
Then, he put that half of the vengeful demon's essence into his sleeve.
Seeing that Chen Fei finally stopped refusing and readily accepted it, the displeasure on Cao Feiyu's face instantly disappeared, and the corners of her lips slightly turned up, outlining a faint smile.
This smile was different from her usual aloofness; it was like the first snow covering an iceberg, quietly melting in the sunlight to reveal the clear, pure water and vitality beneath.
Cao Feiyu was an extremely beautiful woman, but she usually had a cold and aloof temperament. At this moment, when she smiled, she was truly radiant and incomparably beautiful. Even the dilapidated ruins around her seemed to brighten up because of her smile.
Cao Feiyu moved slightly and gracefully arrived in front of Chen Fei.
"These vengeful demons rely on the power of illusions; once the illusion is broken, the rhythm of the battle is directly disrupted."
Cao Feiyu began to summarize the battle just now. Her gaze swept over the spot where the vengeful demon had been killed, and then looked at Chen Fei. "That vengeful demon just now had unique skills in its resentment attacks and methods of manipulating the remnant formation. Under normal circumstances, it would not have been killed so easily."
Chen Fei nodded, and continued Cao Feiyu's words:
"I have observed the illusionary energy fluctuations of several vengeful demons in the vicinity. Although they vary in strength, without exception, they all use illusion as their primary means of offense and defense."
"Senior sister, judging from this, as long as we coordinate properly, we should be able to quickly kill any lone vengeful demons in this area whose strength does not exceed the mid-stage of the Tai Cang Realm. Perhaps we can continue to act according to this strategy?"
Upon hearing this, Cao Feiyu smiled and said, "With Junior Brother's Illusion-Breaking Technique as an example, as long as we don't get surrounded or encounter beings far stronger than us, we should be able to achieve something."
As Cao Feiyu spoke, she flipped her left hand, revealing a dark source the size of half a pigeon egg suspended in her palm.
With a light tap of her jade-like fingers, several thin, pale silver sword energies burst forth from her fingertips, like the most skillful carving knives, probing into the core of the primordial light. A moment later, several fragments of dimensional energy, shimmering with a faint, strange light, were collected into her sleeve.
Although it was only the origin of a vengeful demon in the early stage of the Tai Cang Realm, with few fragments of its rank, it was still a real gain for any cultivator.
Even Cao Feiyu was eager to obtain the Rank Fragment so easily.
More importantly, Cao Feiyu felt a bit like she was back in the beginning, when she was adventuring with Chu Xuanyu.
Back then, Chu Xuanyu led her around, telling her where the dangers were and how to handle them if she encountered any. All Cao Feiyu needed to do then was follow orders and contribute her strength, just like now.
The thought quietly surfaced in Cao Feiyu's mind, causing a complex look to flash across her cool eyes. It was a reassuring, even somewhat dependent feeling.
Although Chen Fei's cultivation and experience were far inferior to those of her senior brother Chu back then, and this guidance was more like a collaboration based on special abilities rather than comprehensive protection and teaching, the combat mode of having someone point the way ahead and only needing to cut through the thorns stirred up a long-lost sense of ease and trust deep in her heart.
With his eyes closed, Chen Fei used the black bead in his sleeve as a guide, transforming his perception into invisible ripples that spread out in all directions.
Within his sea of consciousness, as the ripples spread and resonated, a strange scroll was slowly unfolding.
On the mental scroll, within an area of nearly 200,000 li in radius centered on his and Cao Feiyu's location, black dots of varying brightness appeared.
Some of these black dots were moving extremely slowly, while others seemed to be rooted in some ruined formation, exuding an obscure aura.
The depth of the black dot's color directly reflects the strength of its original fluctuations, that is, its approximate cultivation level.
The darkest black dots exuded a subtle yet powerful aura, emanating a pressure far exceeding that of Rong Xiuyuan. They were likely late-stage Tai Cang Realm beings, or even stronger.
The space around these black dots appeared somewhat distorted in perception, and Chen Fei did not allow the resonance ripples to touch them too much.
The color is slightly lighter, and the intensity of the fluctuations is similar to that of Rong Xiuyuan, so it should be in the middle stage of the Tai Cang Realm.
The lightest black dots, a pale gray, were the most numerous and had a relatively weak aura; they were the wraiths in the early stages of the Tai Cang Realm, just like the one that had just been killed.
"Senior sister, over here."
Chen Fei opened his eyes and pointed northeast. On the perception map of that location, about 150,000 miles away, there was a light-colored black dot, and the nearest other black dot was tens of thousands of miles away, which was considered a relatively ideal hunting environment.
Before he finished speaking, Chen Fei's figure had already transformed into a streak of light, skimming along the broken ground and silently moving forward.
Cao Feiyu's figure rose like a wisp of smoke, closely following Chen Fei.
Her movements seemed to blend into the wind, without causing the slightest fluctuation of Yuan energy. Even the sound of her clothes fluttering was barely audible, and she maintained a fixed distance from Chen Fei.
The two walked one after the other, and the scenery along the way rushed past.
Broken jade railings, dried-up fountain pools, dilapidated archways covered with eerie vines, and plazas scattered with huge metal fragments... everything is bathed in eternal golden light, magnificent yet desolate, so silent that only the whistling of the wind sweeping across the broken walls can be heard.
A moment later, the two had quietly approached the target area, which was about 5,000 miles away.
Chen Fei slowed down and hid with Cao Feiyu behind a crumbling wall with blurry mythical beast patterns carved on it.
"Senior sister, there is a vengeful demon in the early stage of the Tai Cang Realm over there."
Chen Fei used his divine sense to transmit his thoughts, pointing to the open, abandoned martial arts arena thousands of miles away. In his mirror-like perception, the pale gray dot was located in the shadows beneath a stone arena half-buried in the dust in the center of the arena.
"it is good!"
Cao Feiyu nodded, then stepped back with her right foot, gently placing it on a protruding pebble behind her.
Her movements were as light as a feather, but wherever she landed, ripples of pale silver space spread out from the center of her toes.
The next instant, her figure vanished from Chen Fei's side like an ink droplet disappearing into water.
Almost at the same moment Cao Feiyu disappeared, a clear light flashed between Chen Fei's brows, and the illusory image of the True Mirror that had been brewing for so long reappeared. A clear mirror light, regardless of distance, precisely shone on the seemingly ordinary shadow of the arena.
"laugh!"
Like boiling water splashed on snow, the illusion shatters wherever the mirror's light falls.
The shadow twisted and rippled violently, and a vengeful demon shrouded in grayish-white mist, wielding a strange white bone brush, was forcibly pushed out of its concealment.
At the very instant the demon's form appeared in the void, Cao Feiyu's figure appeared above its head.
A town falls from the sky!
Centered on the vengeful demon, the void within a radius of thirty feet suddenly sank.
Countless pale silver sword energies sprang up from the void, their sword intents crisscrossing and sealing everything, instantly forming a dazzling sword intent cage that enveloped the vengeful demon along with its interior space.
The demon's reaction was also quite remarkable. Despite being startled, it remained calm. The white bone brush in its hand suddenly emitted a pale white light, and the tip of the brush moved rapidly in the air, instantly outlining several twisted, pitch-black runes.
The runes took shape and immediately transformed into several streams of dark light, devouring several key nodes of the sword formation.
Facing the incoming curse runes, Cao Feiyu remained calm, pointing her fingers like a sword and pointing them at the sword formation in mid-air.
Shift formations, twist!
The sword formation instantly shifted from suppressing to killing. The crisscrossing pale silver sword energy suddenly became violent, transforming into countless rapidly spinning and cutting silver sword beams, like a silver storm, wildly sweeping towards the vengeful demons in the formation from all directions.
The vengeful demon howled repeatedly, its white bone brush dancing swiftly, drawing pale white light curtains in front of it in an attempt to block the storm of sword blades.
But Cao Feiyu's Heavenly Sword Formation is not easy to deal with.
A chilling sword intent, ignoring the weakening of the pale light barrier, slashed down directly at the vengeful demon. Countless fine sword energies, like a fine drizzle, penetrated every crevice, specifically targeting the vengeful demon's weak points.
The demon was struggling to cope, and although the white bone brush in his hand was incredibly useful, it quickly ran out of steam. In less than three breaths, a silver giant sword tore through the light barrier he had hastily erected and slashed fiercely at the misty arm holding the brush.
"laugh!"
The misty arm snapped off, and the white bone brush flew out of its hand. The vengeful demon let out a shrill scream, and its body trembled violently.
All swords unite as one, slash!
Countless sword blades instantly coalesced into a towering silver light sword, possessing unparalleled sharpness, and pierced through the vengeful demon from top to bottom, which had lost its magic weapon and had its defense greatly reduced.
"boom!"
The silver light burst forth, the sword formation vanished, leaving only a wisp of rapidly dissipating gray-white mist and the white bone brush that had fallen to the ground, its spiritual essence greatly diminished.
The vengeful demon was annihilated, both in body and spirit.
Cao Feiyu waved her hand to collect the source of the vengeful demon and the white bone brush.
In the following time, Chen Fei used the distribution map of the vengeful demons in his sea of consciousness to accurately select suitable prey in the perilous ruins.
Chen Fei specifically targeted those who were alone and not surrounded by powerful vengeful demons.
Chen Fei did not avoid all the slightly darker-colored mid-stage Tai Cang Realm vengeful demons, but carefully assessed their surroundings and distance from other vengeful demons.
The hunt was carried out silently and efficiently.
The third vengeful demon is hidden inside a giant bronze tree that has long since withered, yet still exudes a chilling aura.
It was shaped like a thin, ghostly figure, holding a rusty bronze halberd that reeked of blood.
Forced out by the mirror light, he let out a silent roar, brandishing his battle halberd with the fierce killing intent of the battlefield. Its power was considerable, and it temporarily withstood Cao Feiyu's first wave of sword light.
Cao Feiyu directly used the Heavenly Sword Formation to trap it, and used the continuous storm of sword blades to obliterate it along with the bronze halberd.
The fifth vengeful demon hides in an underground palace of a ruined tower that is only half intact.
Shaped like a bloated ball of flesh, it moved slowly but possessed astonishing defense. Its body was covered in a flowing, ghastly green slime, and it wielded a cracked, broken bronze mirror. The mirror could reflect some of the sword energy, making it quite troublesome.
Cao Feiyu changed her strategy, her sword light splitting into countless forms, attacking simultaneously from various angles to break through the surface, and finally finding a blind spot that the bronze mirror could not cover, piercing through its core with a single sword strike.
The ninth vengeful demon was the first mid-stage Tai Cang Realm target the two encountered, hidden beneath a collapsed alchemy furnace in a side hall.
It resembled a general clad in tattered armor, wielding a broken banner. This demon was ferocious; as the banner fluttered, countless ghostly shadows of green fire attacked it.
Cao Feiyu fought fiercely with him for dozens of rounds, and finally deceived his senses with a sword-splitting technique, then rushed forward in her true form, cut the flagpole in half with a sword, and then strangled him with a sword formation.
The battle was quite taxing, and the two had to take a short break to recover.
The twelfth vengeful demon is hidden in the shadow of a broken jade bridge. It is shaped like a twisted palace maid and its magical weapon is a scorched jade zither that can shoot out invisible sound blades.
The music of the zither is strange and can disrupt a person's vital energy.
Chen Fei used the mirror light to protect himself and Cao Feiyu, while Cao Feiyu used her agility to dodge the sonic blades and then struck with lightning speed at close range, killing the vengeful demon before it could unleash the full power of its music.
As the eternal golden light dimmed slightly and was about to disappear into the shadows of the ruins, the two finally stopped their hunt.
The results were astonishing. In less than a day, the two of them joined forces and killed fifteen vengeful demons, including eleven at the early stage of the Tai Cang Realm and four at the middle stage of the Tai Cang Realm.
On a broken mountain peak, Cao Feiyu was meditating.
This mountain peak was not formed naturally; it is more like the remains of a magnificent immortal mountain from the ancient Heavenly Court, which was forcibly severed at the mountainside by some unimaginable force. The cut surface is as smooth as a mirror, and it still retains a heart-palpitating fluctuation of laws.
At this moment, Cao Feiyu sat cross-legged on a relatively flat boulder at the edge of the broken peak. Her eyes were slightly closed, her face was calm, and a faint silver halo enveloped her body. It was the faint light that naturally dissipated when her pure sword essence circulated within her body.
With each breath, wisps of vital energy were drawn in, slowly replenishing the energy she had expended in the day's intense battles.
Above the broken peak, the wind howled, blowing her pale blue dress and ink-black hair. Against the backdrop of the eternal golden light behind her, she resembled a silent yet powerful painting.
In today's battle, it can be said that Cao Feiyu did all the work. All Chen Fei had to do was to activate the Undying True Light Mirror, avoid the powerful vengeful demons, and only kill the weaker ones. Therefore, Chen Fei himself did not suffer any losses.
Cao Feiyu, on the other hand, is the sharpest sword.
In fifteen battles and fifteen attacks, although not every one was a crushing victory, she maintained firm control of the battle rhythm with her formidable cultivation at the peak of the mid-stage of the Tai Cang Realm and her exquisite swordsmanship, achieving the greatest results with the least cost.
Midway through, Chen Fei tried to have Cao Feiyu inscribe her divine sense into the source of the vengeful demon. This way, with the strength of Cao Feiyu's soul, she might be able to expand the range of her investigation. And if the two of them got separated, Cao Feiyu wouldn't be completely powerless against the vengeful demon's illusions.
Even after trying, even though Chen Fei used the wisp of primordial energy intercepted from the illusionary barrier as a guide, Cao Feiyu could only barely inscribe her divine sense into the source of the vengeful demon. Without the unchanging nature and undimmed spiritual light of the Undying True Suchness Mirror, Cao Feiyu's divine sense would soon be assimilated by the source of the vengeful demon.
The failure of the attempt did not stir much emotion in Cao Feiyu's heart, let alone disappointment.
She was a person of extremely firm will, and she understood the principle that everyone has their strengths and weaknesses.
Moreover, with the opening of the ancient Heavenly Court ruins this time, countless powerful cultivators, demon cultivators, and demons have entered, including many who are proficient in illusion techniques, formations, and divination.
The fact that the vengeful demons in the ruins still rage is enough to demonstrate the sophistication of their illusions and the ingenuity of their concealment, which cannot be broken by ordinary means.
Chen Fei's mastery of such extraordinary skills was a matter of chance, talent, and one of their greatest assets on this journey. There might be a touch of envy, but more than that, there was gratitude and recognition.
In reality, during their search for these vengeful demons, they discovered that many cultivators, including demonic cultivators, had been killed by these demons. There were very obvious signs of battle along the way, as well as the lingering resentment of the cultivators and demonic cultivators when they perished.
These brutal scenes silently tell the story of the deadly danger hidden beneath the seemingly peaceful surface of the ancient celestial ruins.
The terror of the vengeful demon lies not only in its inherent strength, but also in its insidious and difficult-to-defend illusions. Once caught in its illusions and placed on the defensive, even a slight advantage in strength can easily lead to a humiliating defeat and death on the spot.
Chen Fei and Cao Feiyu seemed to kill the vengeful demon with great ease, but this was all based on the premise that Chen Fei could see through the vengeful demon's illusion. Without this premise, they couldn't even distinguish between reality and illusion, so how could they kill the vengeful demon?
While Cao Feiyu was recuperating, Chen Fei was not idle either. He began to process his half of the fifteen portions of the vengeful demon's essence that belonged to him from today's harvest.
A moment later, all the fragments of the primordial essence of the vengeful demons were successfully extracted, varying in size and intensity of their luster.
After doing all this, Chen Fei separated a wisp of his mind and sank into the Realm of Return to Nothingness.
In the center of the void, the newly acquired fragments of the rank, along with the fragments of the rank he had previously accumulated, emitted a faint glow.
Chen Fei's mind swept over the gradually becoming considerable fragments of his personality. Even with his calm and composed nature, he couldn't help but smile slightly, revealing a genuine smile.
Before entering the ruins, Chen Fei originally planned that if he could leave the ruins smoothly, he would use the half of the sixteenth-grade mid-rank spiritual material promised by Cuiping Peak, plus the rank fragments he had obtained on this trip, to try to smelt a complete sixteenth-grade mid-rank spiritual material.
Now, on the first day of entering the ruins, a rough estimate suggests that the fragments obtained today alone, if smelted, would be enough to forge a 16th-grade mid-level spirit material with a completeness of 65%.
This means that the total value of the fragments of spiritual material he currently possesses exceeds that of the half-portion of mid-grade sixteenth-rank spiritual material promised by Cuiping Peak. (End of Chapter)