“Boom.” “Boom.” “Boom.”…
The bald giant had fully revealed his true form, transforming into a towering, muscular golden-armored demon with a pair of horns. He attacked the enormous crystalline black petals with frenzied blows, shattering them layer by layer. Yet, as soon as one layer broke, Dongbo Xueying swiftly conjured a new one, maintaining a constant seven-layered Nine-Leaf Flower that left the two golden-armored demons in despair. The slender golden-armored demoness, transformed from the black-clad woman, also struck, but her efforts barely made a dent in the petals.
*Hum.*
Dongbo Xueying sensed something and turned his gaze to the distance, where the air twisted and distorted.
“They’re here,” Dongbo Xueying thought.
“Damn it!” The horned golden-armored demon roared in fury upon seeing this. With a final explosive cry—*BOOM!*—his body shattered completely. Beside him, the slender female golden-armored demon also disintegrated unwillingly, her soul annihilated.
Dongbo Xueying’s expression darkened. “They actually chose suicide!”
Though his current strength allowed him to trap them, capturing them alive would have been far more difficult. Yet, the moment a long-distance teleportation portal began forming nearby, the two golden-armored demons had opted for self-destruction without hesitation.
*Hum.*
From the distorted spatial passage emerged a lean, diminutive man. Despite his frail appearance, his physical resilience was such that he could withstand the full assault of the Sacred Lord! While the Witch Ancestor relied on a combination of techniques to barely rival the Realm Ancestor, it was the Realm Ancestor and the Matriarch who were universally acknowledged as the closest in power to the Sacred Lord. The Realm Ancestor, in particular, fought with brutal simplicity—relying solely on his body, even daring to swallow enemy weapons whole.
One might say… while the Destruction Demons were fearsome, embodying annihilation itself, the *Realm Ancestor* surpassed even the most savage of their ‘Kings’ in sheer ferocity and might.
Fortunately, he was rational.
Aligned with the Three Sacred Realms, he stood against the Sacred Lord and fought alongside them against the Destruction Demons. Otherwise… the Realm Ancestor would have been a calamity for countless cultivators.
“Suicide?” The lean Realm Ancestor, clad in loose green robes, glanced at the scene and shook his head. “These whelps die too easily. Hmm? Dongbo Xueying, the energy dispersed upon their deaths—quite the intoxicating sensation, isn’t it?”
Dongbo Xueying indeed felt waves of impact against his soul. As the two golden-armored demons perished, their dissipating energy had naturally been absorbed by him. It was almost embarrassing to admit—despite his long tenure at Void Fortress and the many golden-armored demons he’d slain, none of those kills had yielded rewards comparable to this.
The energy came in two distinct streams. One was already quite pure, but the other sent shivers of ecstasy through his very soul. It was *exhilarating*.
“Greetings, Realm Ancestor. A pity they chose suicide—I couldn’t capture them alive,” Dongbo Xueying replied, suppressing the tremors of excitement in his soul. This harvest felt equivalent to consuming nearly *50,000* Sourceworld Stones. The peak eighth-level golden-armored demon likely contributed just over 10,000, while the rest came from the ninth-level demon.
“Shame there were no materials left behind,” Dongbo Xueying mused inwardly.
Out of all the golden-armored demons he’d slain, only two had left behind materials—one from a seventh-level and another from an eighth-level. Combined, they were worth roughly 10,000 Sourceworld Stones.
“Capturing them alive is no easy feat,” the lean Realm Ancestor chuckled.
Suddenly, space twisted nearby as another portal formed. From it emerged the Witch Ancestor, who nodded at the Realm Ancestor before surveying the surroundings.
“You’re late,” the Realm Ancestor remarked.
“Only slightly delayed. So, the two golden-armored demons chose suicide,” the Witch Ancestor observed. With a single glance, he reconstructed the events—after all, this wasn’t a battlefield involving a ‘King,’ so investigation posed no difficulty. “Not bad. Two kills in one go, one of them ninth-level. Even among the Destruction Demons, there are likely only a few dozen of that caliber.”
“Dongbo Xueying, this Nine-Leaf Flower technique—is it newly created?” The Witch Ancestor turned to him with praise. “Quite intriguing. With this, your offensive prowess ranks among the top ten at the Chaos Realm level.”
“It is newly devised,” Dongbo Xueying confirmed.
He understood the Witch Ancestor’s assessment. During his time at Void Fortress, he’d witnessed the techniques of many ninth-level experts like the Chaos Hall Master and Emperor Xinghuo. Yet, only a handful surpassed him—the Chaos Hall Master being the strongest among them. Before creating the Nine-Leaf Flower, some peak eighth-level Chaos Realm experts specializing in offense could already rival him.
—
While Dongbo Xueying conversed with the Witch Ancestor and Realm Ancestor, the suicide of the two infiltrating golden-armored demons sent shockwaves through the upper echelons of the Destruction Demons.
Before their deaths, the two had naturally relayed all intelligence to their ‘Kings.’
It must be understood…
Among those selected for infiltration into the cultivators’ world, aside from the two with ‘Shadowless’ talents, the rest were chosen for their exceptional mental fortitude and potential. Losing two in one stroke—one of them ninth-level—was a heavy blow.
“Damn it all!”
“Dongbo Xueying’s power has grown. His new technique can even restrain a top-tier Golden-Armored General!” The ‘Kings’ seethed with fury.
“I *want* him dead.”
“Unfortunately, his movements are erratic, flitting about unpredictably. Tracking him is difficult enough. Even if we *do* stumble upon him, his protective treasures and long-range escape methods make killing him impossible.”
The Kings’ hatred for Dongbo Xueying burned fiercely.
After all…
Hunting Destruction Demons was no easy task.
Even among Cosmic Deities, each excelled in their own Dao. The Heaven’s Fool Ancestor specialized in ‘Slaughter,’ while the Blade Sovereign was peerless in direct combat. The Primordial Demon Mountain Ancestor relied on sheer physical might! Yet, when Destruction Demons concealed their strength and mingled among countless cultivators, brute-force methods were useless.
Were they to massacre indiscriminately? Or suppress entire regions? The Destruction Demons could easily mimic the weak.
To detect them…
One needed a method that could cover vast areas without harming innocent cultivators—*and* distinguish the demons.
The ‘Heart Image Sect Master’ possessed such a technique.
Dongbo Xueying’s mastery of illusions also granted him this capability. Among ninth-level Chaos Realm experts, only a handful had similar means—and *he* was the sole one with ‘ultra-long-range teleportation.’
Among Cosmic Deities, most focused on direct combat. Only two had comparable detection abilities—the exalted Witch Ancestor, whose time was far too precious for systematic searches (and whose efforts would only drive the demons deeper into hiding), and the ‘Radiant Sovereign,’ whose status made such tasks beneath her.
Moreover, any perceived threat would only make the Destruction Demons more cautious.
—
And so it was.
The first casualties among the infiltrators prompted the lofty ‘Kings’ to issue strict orders.
All golden-armored demons were to retreat to the most desolate, uninhabited corners of the world. They were permitted to hunt only when necessary—and *immediately* return to hiding afterward. Given the boundless expanse of the Chaos Void, if Dongbo Xueying were to search every such wasteland… the task would be endless.
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