Abyss Demon!

Two sword lights tore through the void, one gold and one blue. Neither held back the slightest hint of their terrifying pressure. Anyone arriving outside the barrier of the Great Xia Sword Sect could clearly sense just how dreadful those two sword rays were. Lu Kangnian looked at the sword rays before him, emotion stirring within his heart. Turning toward Qin Xian, he said with self-deprecating humor, "Elder Qin, tell me... are we getting old? Even cultivation as desperate as ours can't keep pace with the realms of these juniors." Lu Kangnian had expected Qin Xian to share his sentiment, but to his surprise, an enigmatic smile tugged at the corner of the Disciplinary Law Enforcer's mouth. "Is that a bad thing?" "Hmm?" "Hahahaha! With disciples of such monstrous talent emerging from our sect, shouldn't we as their elders be overjoyed? As for cultivation realms... just do your best. Besides..." The old man shifted his gaze toward Lu Kangnian. "The rest of us may never step into that ascension realm in our entire lives, but... Sect Master, you still have hope." The old man sighed and murmured softly, "From now on, try to leave the sect's affairs to Wu Bing. He only recently broke through to the Soul Formation Realm, so it is high time we piled some weight onto his shoulders." Qin Xian pondered for a moment, then frowned. "Sect Master... do you think Wu Bing might grow jealous because of Guanqi?" Yet Lu Kangnian's answer took the old man by surprise. "He won't." Qin Xian furrowed his brows. "Why?" Lu Kangnian glanced across the thriving Great Xia Sword Sect of today. "He wouldn't dare." The old man let out a wry chuckle at those words. Thinking it through, he realized it was indeed true, so he simply put the matter out of mind. Waving his wide sleeve, he grinned. "Heh, I only hope I can take it a bit easier in a couple of years. When that time comes, this old man can travel around and see the world. I've lived in peace for so long, I've almost forgotten what the bloody storms of the cultivation world even look like." Lu Kangnian looked at Qin Xian, having clearly taken the old man's words to heart. Smiling faintly, he said nothing more, though a few plans began forming in his mind. Inside the cave abode, Li Guanqi continued simulating every step over and over. When it came to Void Returning, he dared not allow the slightest mistake. Within that isolated, sealed world, Li Guanqi had no idea what was transpiring outside. He simply proceeded step by step according to the plan the sword spirit had laid out for him. *** Central Domain of the Shenbao Domain. Space trembled faintly. Two figures appeared one after the other within the domain boundary of the Domain Lord. The moment the rift opened and their aura leaked out, the patrolling guards in the vicinity dropped to one knee around the fracture. Immediately afterward, the figures of Ye Feng and Meng Wanshu emerged from the rift. "Greetings, Saintess!" "Greetings, Saintess!!" The patrolling guards were uniformly late Nascent Soul cultivators, and every single squad was led by a Soul Formation Realm cultivator. This alone made it abundantly clear just how formidable the guard force within the Shenbao Domain's domain boundary truly was. *Swish!* An elder suddenly materialized before them—Li Changqing, his expression heavy with grim solemnity. The elder first nodded to Ye Feng, then isolated their surroundings from heaven and earth before speaking in a deep voice. "Quite a few people have already caught wind of the Xiao clan's situation. But it's as if someone forcibly sealed off the Xiao clan's domain boundary from the inside! It cannot be opened from the outside at all. Up to this moment, no one knows what has actually occurred in there." The moment he finished speaking, Ye Feng asked urgently, "What about Xiao Chen? Hasn't he returned? Did no one see him?" The elder locked his brows together and firmly denied it. "I have kept people stationed outside the Xiao clan domain boundary observing at all times. Not once did we spot Xiao Chen returning!" At this, Ye Feng felt a sudden, ominous dread. "Damn it, something must have gone wrong..." "Let's go!" Meng Wanshu immediately took Li Changqing and Ye Feng, setting off at full speed toward the Xiao clan domain boundary. Fortunately, the Xiao clan domain boundary was not overly distant. The three tore through the void in desperate haste. Along the entire journey, none of Ye Feng's transmission talismans received any response. An hour later. *Riiiip!!* The three emerged in succession. Ye Feng looked down at the mist-shrouded mountain range below, his brow furrowing slightly. The mountains here were dense with forests and lush vegetation. Spiritual energy pervaded the air in staggering abundance, yet Ye Feng's expression suddenly shifted, and he spoke in a low voice. "Isn't it... a bit too quiet?!" Indeed, the entire mountain range spanning a hundred li around them was dead silent, devoid of even the faintest noise. There was not even a whisper of wind beside them. For such a vast, winding mountain range to lack even a mountain breeze was utterly unnatural! Meng Wanshu lifted a foot and vanished from where she stood, reappearing dozens of li away inside a mountain hollow. As primal energy circulated within her, her eyes shone faintly. Raising one hand, she formed a seal, shifting her hand gestures in rapid succession. Ripples immediately stirred across the space before her, the spatial fluctuations growing increasingly intense. *Buzz—!!!* The void across a thousand zhang began shuddering violently, yet the contorting ripples produced no reaction at all. Standing to the side, Li Changqing could not help but sigh. They had already tried every method imaginable. Beside him, a cold glint suddenly flashed across the depths of Ye Feng's eyes. The terrifyingly chilling Yinming Profound Flame erupted from his body! *** Inside a blood-colored domain boundary. Upon the two corpses lying closest to the teleportation array, a burst of jet-black flame suddenly flared into life. *Clang!!* A crisp sword chime rang out, and Ye Feng snapped sideways, traversing hundreds of zhang in an instant. His eyes fixed unblinkingly on the spatial ripples before him. As his eyelids fluttered slightly, his figure darted back and forth with blinding speed. Within a few breaths, over a hundred afterimages of Ye Feng appeared in the sky above. Meng Wanshu had clearly realized something as well, pouring all her strength into sustaining the hand seals! Suddenly! Ghostly qi surfaced in Ye Feng's eyes. An eerie black airflow swirled over his right arm, and with a shrill screech from his blade, he unleashed a ferocious slash! *Thud!* The contorted space caved inward like a sheet of supple cowhide. Absolute Geng Metal power surged with peerless sharpness, a tempestuous wave of sword intent flooding into the sword ray. Ye Feng clenched his teeth and bellowed furiously, "Break for me—!!!!" Within the domain boundary, the flames upon the corpses flared blindingly, forcibly burning a massive hole straight through that blood-colored barrier. *Boom!! Crack, crack!!* *Riiiip!!* The sword ray tore through the sky, ripping open a hundred-zhang spatial breach! A flash of blood-red vanished in the blink of an eye! Meng Wanshu's pupils shrank, and she raised her hand in the next breath to freeze the rift completely in ice. The overwhelming stench of blood assaulted Ye Feng, shifting his expression. Releasing his ghost hand in an instant, he charged inside! *Awoooo—!!* The moment Ye Feng dashed into the domain boundary, a roar like that of a vengeful ghost or a savage beast tore into his ears. The sound made Ye Feng's expression change drastically! This sound... Ye Feng snapped his head around, watching helplessly as a shadowy phantom of a monster, entirely black and enveloped in rolling smoke, stood in the distance! The beast's body appeared to be incorporeal; any weapon striking it passed right through. It stood upright, humanoid yet inhuman. From within the black smoke, two scarlet eyes instantly locked onto Ye Feng. With a violent heave of its hands, it tore the body of a Xiao clan disciple before it in two, hoisting the cleaved corpse high above its head to let the fresh blood shower down upon itself. Ye Feng's pupils shrank to needlepoints! "An Abyss Demon!!" "How could such a thing appear here?!"