Chapter 349: Trust

“It’s your turn!”

Crackling electricity still danced, casting a bright purple hue over Huang Dai and Fan Yu’s pupils. A figure stood tall and firm, raising his blade to challenge the enemy.

Was Bing Mo dead?

Was Bing Mo really dead?

Could the infamous Bing Mo, who had dominated the martial world, truly be dead like this?

They couldn’t help but feel shaken. Bing Mo had once been one of the notorious villains of the Ji Tian Hall, known for his ruthless attacks and fearsome reputation. Later, he had received a surge of demonic energy, transforming him into a true demon cultivator, advancing even further in power. Countless righteous martial experts had perished under his hands, their bodies torn apart.

On several occasions, one of the “Three Sages of Salvation” had found an opportunity to ambush Bing Mo, who was considered a weaker demon general, aiming to weaken the enemy’s forces, but Bing Mo had narrowly escaped each time or managed to hold out until reinforcements arrived, surviving repeatedly.

Yet today, within merely two or three breaths of time, Bing Mo had been cleaved into two, his body and soul extinguished, as if a dream were unfolding before their eyes.

Plop! Bing Mo’s two halves crashed onto the ground, the sound reverberating in the hearts of the two women and nearby martial heroes, causing them to tremble inwardly.

Seeing Meng Qi’s long blade crackling with electric light, the Fire Demon’s eyes seemed to ignite with flames as he charged forward.

Under normal circumstances, Bing Mo should have been protected by his “Legion of Evil Spirits.” Even a half-step beyond the Outer View cultivator would need time to kill him. But just now, the Legion of Evil Spirits had been sent to engage other opponents…

Under normal circumstances, if he hadn’t been momentarily affected by that strange sword technique or consumed by a surge of anger, he could have directly inflicted the hated enemy with demonic fire upon drawing power, leaving them severely injured and in mortal danger, leaving no strength to attack the Fire Demon!

Under normal circumstances, if Bing Mo hadn’t been caught off guard by the enemy’s ambush, with his strength, it wouldn’t have been difficult to hold out until he could get close!

But how often do things go as expected?

Especially when the opponent is deliberately scheming!

Anger and hatred flared again in the Fire Demon’s heart, fueling his demonic energy and making him radiate flames from within.

I’ll kill you! Burn you to death!

The Fire Demon’s right hand formed into a claw, striking at Meng Qi. Streams of flame converged into his palm, creating a powerful suction that involuntarily pulled Meng Qi forward a step.

Meanwhile, his left hand slashed outward toward Qi Zhengyan. Flames surged like an extended blade, instantly dispersing the pervasive coldness, evaporating the ice layer, and enveloping the area in white mist.

Confident in his abilities, the Fire Demon believed he could handle both opponents. Meng Qi had expended a great deal of spiritual energy, and Qi Zhengyan was significantly weaker.

His left palm served as a distraction, keeping the swordsman occupied, while his right claw was the real threat, aiming to seize Meng Qi’s very soul with a decisive move!

The Fire Demon’s right hand blazed with golden flames. His palm seemed like an endless vortex, drawing in all nearby flames and air currents, creating a sensation as if space itself were collapsing inward. The entire heavens and earth were within his grasp, leaving no room for evasion—only direct confrontation could save them.

Most terrifying of all, Meng Qi felt his inner lake boil, his vision consumed by golden flames. It felt as if his soul had left his body, trapped in a fiery hell, unable to escape, like a nightmare.

This was a spiritual attack! This was the power of a true half-step beyond the Outer View cultivator, capable of not only endangering the body but also affecting the soul!

Cultivators who nurtured Evil Deities relied on the Evil Deity’s eyes to replace the opening of the third eye, granting them various supernatural abilities. How much more so for those who had truly transcended the boundary between life and death?

In Meng Qi’s past encounters, the Snake King had an unstable foundation and could only barely open his third eye, managing to invoke minor cosmic phenomena. Qing Sanren had regressed in cultivation and lacked the strength to unleash such attacks. Only Dorchad had managed to do so, but his assault had been blocked head-on by Master Xinji, who wielded a Buddhist treasure. Even then, Dorchad had been able to create illusions to disrupt Jiang Zhiwei’s senses.

Faced with such a terrifying attack, others might only escape by reaching the realm of Heaven-Earth Resonance or higher, drawing strength from their connection to the cosmos. For example, Gu Xiaosang, even though she wielded a Dharma Body technique and possessed astonishing power, ranking among the top five in the Human List with her eight spiritual openings, had waited patiently for Dorchad and Master Xinji to wound each other severely before making her move.

Of course, it’s possible that Gu Xiaosang had secret techniques to refine her third eye or that the “Mother of Non-Birth Sutra” contained other methods to resist spiritual attacks. However, she herself had been in a compromised state at the time, her power lost while in her “Xiao Zi” form. Even after recovery, she might not have immediately regained her peak strength. Otherwise, facing a fully healthy Dorchad head-on, with her powerful and bizarre techniques, she could have injured him and escaped.

Nonetheless, Meng Qi’s cultivation of the third eye surpassed even Jiang Zhiwei’s, possibly even Gu Xiaosang’s and Wang Siyuan’s. With techniques like the Phantom Transformation Art, the Undying Seal Art, and the Heaven-Shaking and Earth-Shattering Art, each building upon the last, although still not matching the spiritual strength of a true half-step beyond the Outer View cultivator, he could still protect himself!

Enduring the soul-burning flames, he activated the Heaven-Shaking and Earth-Shattering Art. His entire demeanor transformed, becoming ancient and vast, grand and mighty, seemingly both compassionate and indifferent, like a celestial dome overlooking the earth—how could flames burn him?

A sharp pain pierced his head, blood trickled from his nose, the golden flames receded from his vision, revealing the claw once more, flames clinging tightly, its suction terrifyingly close!

As Meng Qi prepared to evade with his footwork, he suddenly sensed Jiang Zhiwei’s presence. She had already drawn her sword, closing the distance to within ten zhang.

The Fire Demon also sensed the arrival of reinforcements. A sword qi pierced the heavens, terrifyingly powerful. The hated youth before him, after a brief moment of pain, had quickly regained clarity, merging with the cosmos, his aura vast and mighty, shaking off the spiritual assault.

A thought of retreat surged in his mind. Where were all these powerful experts coming from? They were all monsters—strong beyond belief despite not having opened their ninth aperture!

The spiritual attack might not have been effective, but as long as this move forced the enemy to evade, he would seize the opportunity to escape in a blaze!

Without hesitation, Meng Qi surged forward in a dazzling golden light, slightly shifting his body as his long sword suddenly struck, countering the attack head-on!

He trusted his comrade, just as he trusted himself!

A crimson beam of light erupted, beautiful as the evening glow at dusk. The sound of rushing wind and the whistle of the blade vanished, as if merging into this pure, incomparable strike.

At the same time, Jiang Zhiwei slashed her sword, a dazzling, radiant arc cutting across the heavens, cleaving through oceans.

When she first launched her attack, she was still five or six zhang away from the Fire Demon. By the time her blade descended, the distance had closed to within a zhang. The sword light unleashed boundless sharpness, capable of splitting mountains and seas.

With a flying immortal before him and a death-dealing strike behind, the Fire Demon naturally dared not engage Meng Qi head-on, risking his own demise under the claws. Although their Outer View techniques were only as powerful as his full-strength strike without his ultimate move, his vital points were exposed. If struck by such an attack, he would surely perish.

He didn’t possess techniques like the Eight-Nine Mystical Art or the Golden Bell Shield, which could allow him to ignore one side of an attack from an opponent at the same level when caught between two enemies!

Boom!

A sound like an explosion seemed to erupt from within the Fire Demon. Golden flames spewed from his eyes, nose, and mouth. His entire body burst into flames, transforming him into a human torch, his limbs seemingly turning into blazing fire.

He began to spin rapidly, waves of fire radiating outward. Meng Qi’s “Flying Immortal from Beyond the Heavens” pierced through, but he felt layers of searing heat and resistance, constantly being struck on the side of the blade by unseen forces, the intense flames wrapping around the sword, rapidly diminishing its power. Any ordinary weapon would have already been destroyed!

Bang! Meng Qi was sent flying backward, his chest blackened and scorched, flames still burning. Blood flowed from his seven orifices—partly from injury, partly from the complete exhaustion of his spiritual energy after using the Outer View technique three times and the Heaven-Shaking and Earth-Shattering Art. His head throbbed painfully, his soul weakened.

The sword strike that cleaved through oceans broke through the sea of flames, the fiery waves parting in circles, approaching the Fire Demon.

Suddenly, the Fire Demon’s hands appeared, as if they had been waiting all along. In his judgment, Jiang Zhiwei’s strike was more threatening than Meng Qi’s, and he had saved most of his energy for this moment.

His twin claws struck out, seemingly about to seize the White Rainbow Piercing the Sun sword. But at that very moment, the sword light suddenly vanished, like a fish slipping through the net or a bird soaring past grasping hands, lightly gliding between the two palms with two swift strikes.

It was a feint!

He had used his ultimate technique as a feint!

The Fire Demon never expected Jiang Zhiwei to be so extravagant. Yet, unable to sense the flow of true energy or muscle reactions to discern her feints and real attacks, he could only rely on his eyes, instincts, and combat experience. He had been completely deceived by this grand display!

Ahh!

He screamed in pain. Although Jiang Zhiwei’s two strikes were ordinary attacks, they struck vulnerable points, and with her innate true energy and the sharpness of her treasure weapon, they still managed to pierce through his demonic energy, causing real damage!

Jiang Zhiwei flew over him and landed behind.

The Fire Demon’s eyes wept streaks of dark, nearly black blood, and he let out a deafening wail. If not for that damned brat holding him back, even if deceived, he could have dodged the critical strike, suffering only minor injuries!

His body exploded, countless flames scattering everywhere, igniting the ruins, leaving uncertainty as to where his true form lay.

The Fire Demon was now terrified, abandoning thoughts of revenge, only wishing to escape using the supernatural abilities of a half-step beyond the Outer View cultivator!

He used the flames to leap, seemingly about to break through the encirclement. Suddenly, snowflakes drifted from the sky, the earth froze, and the flames slowly extinguished, his body stiffening.

Qi Zhengyan refined the Huan Tian Treasure Mirror, absorbing diverse energies from heaven and earth since the inception of his cultivation. Mei Xia embodied fire, while Bi Xue represented extreme cold. He possessed an extraordinary sensitivity to fire-escape techniques, and thus, with a single slash of his Dragon Vein Crimson Gold Sword, a thousand miles were frozen!

The flames melted the ice layer. With the Fire Demon’s strength, even while fleeing in panic, he wouldn’t suffer serious harm—only a brief hindrance.

But behind him was Jiang Zhiwei.

Radiant and peerless, her sword was called Yanluo.

A sword light flashed, and the surrounding environment seemed to change subtly—solemn, selfless. Huang Dai, Fan Yu, and others felt as if the heavens and earth themselves were watching.

The stiffness was quickly burned away by the flames. A red streak of light scorched the ground for a long distance before slowly fading, revealing a figure lying motionless on the ground, blood and brain matter slowly oozing from the back of his head, staining his red robe.

Deceased: Fire Demon.

Identity: One of the seven demon generals under the Ji Tian Demon Lord, ranked second.

Cause of death: A sword strike to the back of the head, piercing through to the forehead.

Killer: Jiang Zhiwei.

Jiang Zhiwei coughed, spitting out a mouthful of blood. As the blood reached midair, it burst into flames and quickly vanished.

Earlier, the Fire Demon had launched a desperate counterattack, unleashing demonic flames into her body and inflicting severe injuries. Fortunately, the Fire Demon had been temporarily immobilized by the thousand-mile ice seal, preventing any significant impairment to her combat capabilities.

Fan Yu, Huang Dai, and the other disciples had already forgotten to search or worry about enemy attacks. The invincible Fire Demon had actually fallen before their eyes!

Truly a peerless expert!

Prince Zhao’s introduction was correct—they were indeed peerless experts from overseas!

…

At the center of the ruins, one of the “Thunder Sword Immortal’s” disciples pushed aside bricks and tiles. Suddenly, his eyes lit up. A simple, ancient three-legged cauldron, covered in ancient inscriptions, lay quietly there, its aura restrained, undetectable directly.

“I found it!” A surge of joy filled his heart.

“Truly, I must thank you. You’ve saved me so much time,” suddenly, a melodious voice whispered in his ear.

Startled, he looked up. Somehow, a woman had appeared before him. She wore a black robe embroidered with golden threads, a mask covering her face, exuding an air of noble majesty that was almost unbearable to gaze upon directly.