Chapter Ninety-One: The Aura of Heavenly Strength

“Did you find him?”

Seeing Tianyu return with a dark expression, Tianshi felt a sinking in his heart.

It seemed he hadn’t.

“That Daoist is as sly as a fox. I searched within three or four hundred miles around Honghua Town but found no trace of him. Most likely, he sensed we were after him and slipped away early. Brother, if we don’t get rid of him, we won’t be able to gather five hundred minor demons anytime soon.”

He hammered the table in anger, his gaze sinister, crimson eyes slowly turning as he pondered darkly.

Could this person have a bloodhound’s nose, reacting to the slightest hint of danger?

“This must be handled quickly, or the longer we delay, the worse it is for us. In my opinion, how about this: Since the Daoist came to catch demons, why don’t we set a trap for him—let him walk right into it?”

Tianshi’s suggestion made Tianyu pause, and he asked, “You mean… set him up for an ambush?”

“Exactly. Here’s what we can do…”

…

In a secluded, winding, and narrow mountain gorge—an utterly inconspicuous hilltop.

It was the end of the year. Snow drifted down, all living creatures had vanished, and the place was desolate and empty.

Whoosh—

A thread-thin beam of light, faintly shimmering, slashed across the sky, pierced the clouds, and shot straight into the valley.

Clang—

In the dim ravine, sparks flew.

A pair of clear, bright eyes suddenly snapped open. Vital energy surged within, swallowing the piercing beam, shattering it, and consuming it entirely.

“Heh… they truly go to every length to wipe me out.”

Breathing out a puff of white mist, Qi Xiu lifted his gaze to the narrow strip of sky above.

That thread of fierce light was the greatest tribulation before entering the Dao:

Heavenly Gang Qi!

This qi descended from the highest heavens—violent, fierce, and all-penetrating. A gentle breath of it would reduce not just flesh and blood but even gold and stone to dust in the blink of an eye.

But this formless, deadly Heavenly Gang Qi was both a disaster and a gift. It was pure and powerful, and if one could endure its scourge, their body and inner energy would transcend the mundane, achieving a fundamental transformation.

Disciples of noble clans and great sects at this stage would first use ancient bloodlines to strengthen themselves, with elders protecting them and diverting excess Heavenly Gang Qi to ensure a safe passage through the tribulation.

A solitary cultivator like Qi Xiu could never enjoy such privileges. Even if, by some chance, a lone cultivator bore some ancient blood, few could survive the Heavenly Gang Qi ordeal. Ninety-nine percent perished under its overwhelming force.

This was why so many demons and mutant demonfolk existed—demonic blood was a different form of ancient blood. Becoming a demon not only broke the shackles of the ancient Heavenly Gang but also increased one’s chances of surviving the tribulation.

The Heavenly Gang Qi that just fell was not even a ten-thousandth of the real ordeal’s strength—the true tribulation was terrifying beyond words.

Qi Xiu glanced at his arm, where a spot of blood had not yet scabbed over—the wound left when the Heavenly Gang Qi pierced him moments before.

One could imagine, if the full force of the ordeal descended, he would be riddled with holes in an instant, the Gang Qi rampaging and leaving nothing but a pool of flesh in the blink of an eye.

But he was a special case.

Given his level of cultivation, he should have already triggered the tribulation, but the unique secrets of the Primordial Dragon-Tiger Canon had caused ancient blood to arise within him, arousing the jealousy of Heaven. The Heavenly Gang Qi ordeal was suppressed, accumulating and waiting to annihilate him in one blow.

Thus, its force was immense—an exclusive ordeal reserved for the great gods and extraordinary beings of old. If everyone faced this level of tribulation, perhaps not a single person would succeed in centuries.

“And this is with my body being continuously strengthened by the Primordial Refinement. If I were my old self, even a wisp of this Heavenly Gang Qi would have taken half my body with it.”

The higher his cultivation, the more Qi Xiu felt the perils ahead—one misstep would mean annihilation.

“I’ve used up all my Gathering Essence Pills, and the Primordial Refinement isn’t complete. I need to catch more demons to refine pills. This is my last chance—if the tribulation falls now, all my efforts will be wasted.”

With that thought, Qi Xiu set off toward Honghua Town.

Though the three demon lords of Honghua Town had already noticed his demon-catching activities and were preparing to deal with him, there were few places with such a stable supply of demons, and he had no time to search elsewhere. Besides, unless he faced all three Daoist-level demons at once, with his current strength, even if he couldn’t turn the tables, he could still retreat safely—he had plenty of aces up his sleeve.

…

A night of snow blanketed the land in white, giving the mountains a poetic air.

Carrying wooden spears, four crow demons shivered as they trudged through the snowy forest path, their footsteps crunching loudly in the otherwise silent woods.

“Do you think we’ll run into that demon-eating Daoist?” one with a scar at the corner of his eye asked nervously, glancing about and swallowing hard.

“I heard when he eats demons, he skins them alive and dips them in salt—must be agonizing,” another crow demon stammered, voice trembling.

“That’s not what I heard. I heard he slices them up piece by piece…”

Demons passing through Honghua Town had vanished in droves—neither seen alive nor found dead. Thus, a tale had arisen in town: a crazed demon-eating Daoist haunted the outskirts, capturing demons to devour alive.

Demons, who usually took pleasure in eating humans, now trembled at the thought of being eaten themselves, never realizing how monstrous they were in their own cruelty.

“Can you all shut up? You’ve been jabbering the entire way. Are you hoping that guy shows up?”

The lead crow demon snapped, grinding his teeth, wishing he could skewer the lot of them then and there. He was already furious at having drawn the short straw to be bait, and now these three idiots wouldn’t stop muttering about the demon-eating Daoist since they left town, making his head pound.

Chastened, the three fell silent, though their eyes kept darting about, fearful the dreaded Daoist would appear at any moment.

“Keep sharp, all of you. If you spot him, crush the talisman in your hand right away—the great lords will come quickly, and we’ll be off the hook…”

With peace restored, the lead crow demon gave his instructions to the others. But before he finished, his tongue inexplicably twisted.

“Poison… quick, the talis—”

A tidal wave of dizziness overwhelmed him, and he toppled face-first into the snow. Through one remaining eye, he saw a figure in scholar’s robes, face pale and ringed with dark shadows, approaching with a jade-green pouch in hand, smiling gently.

“Fortune is with you. My Essence-Gathering Pouch is empty, and the winter’s cold—come in and warm yourselves.”

Reciting an incantation, Qi Xiu opened the pouch. A torrent of suction swept the four crow demons inside.

But just as they were about to be sucked in, one crow demon, using his last ounce of strength, snapped a black feather in his grasp.

In the next instant—

From Honghua Town, a torrent of demonic energy surged skyward. With a deafening shriek, a monstrous eagle demon soared, wings blotting out the sky, and streaked toward them like black lightning.

“Villain! Prepare to die!”

Qi Xiu had just tightened his pouch when the overwhelming wave of demonic energy and the furious shriek reached his ears.

“They’re here already?”

Leaping onto a towering tree, Qi Xiu narrowed his eyes at the great shadow racing toward him through the gale.

“So those four demons were bait after all? Looks like the three demon lords are determined to catch me. Well then… I’m afraid I’ll have to disappoint them.”

Watching calmly as the demonic shadow closed in, Qi Xiu drew a talismanic iron plate from his robes.

“That’s him!”

With pupils contracted to pinpricks, Tianyu snarled. If not for this Daoist, they would already have gathered five hundred minor demons and begun practicing the Heaven-Obscuring Demon Art.

With a beat of his wings, countless black feathers shot out like swords, tearing through the air with a furious blast aimed at Qi Xiu.

But at that moment, the Daoist simply smiled, raised the iron plate between his fingers, and his figure blurred and faded.

[Martial Talisman—Phantom Form]

Thud, thud, thud—

Feather arrows, sharp enough to pierce tempered steel, passed straight through Qi Xiu’s body without drawing a drop of blood.

“What?!”

Watching as Qi Xiu vanished before his eyes, Tianyu was first stunned, then flew into a rage, wings beating wildly and raising a hurricane that leveled the surrounding forest, even tearing up the earth itself.

Three hundred meters away, Qi Xiu’s figure slowly reappeared. Sensing the demon lord’s fury and frustration, he smiled.

Trying to catch me? You’re still too green.

The power of the Innate Cloud Talisman had always scaled with his own strength. Since mastering the Primordial Dragon-Tiger Canon, the force of all his martial arts and spiritual techniques had improved greatly. Where once the Phantom Form Talisman could only move him a dozen meters, and randomly at that, now it could shift him three hundred meters in a controlled direction.

A must-have for murder, arson, and escaping the authorities.

It was thanks to this martial talisman that he dared to provoke these three Daoist-level demon lords, catching demons and refining pills right under their noses.

“Looks like those three have their eyes glued to me now. Catching demons as I did before is probably out of the question.”

Rubbing his brow, Qi Xiu’s eyes flashed gold.

“In that case… I may as well play for higher stakes. You want to catch me? Then I’ll turn the tables—let’s see who comes out on top.”

…

(End of chapter)