Within the secret realm, light and mist flowed like twilight descending, draping a hazy veil over the entire forest in dappled light and shadow.
Qin Ming sat quietly, circulating the Dragon Snake Scripture. Patches of his flesh were bursting open, mangled and bloody, bright red liquid dyeing his entire body.
It was a terrifying sight. From head to toe, he was covered in wounds; even his handsome face was bathed in blood, leaving not an inch of intact skin.
"Brother!" Xiao Wu was deeply worried. Was this caused by cultivating the Dragon Snake Scripture, or had the demon seed spun out of control? Xin Youdao, Jiang Ruoli, Liu Hanya, and the others were equally alarmed. He had not suffered a scratch during the fierce battle, slaying prominent demon youths from the plateau in succession.
Yet now, his condition was this terrible! Qin Ming had turned into a bloody mess. Where his skin and flesh were thin, such as on his fingers, bone was visible through the wounds.
The only reassuring thing was that the vitality within him had not diminished, and faint dragon roars seemed to echo from deep inside!
Moreover, his heavenly light force surged endlessly at high speed, spilling out through his ruptured skin like a blazing sun momentarily shrouded in dark clouds.
Gradually, a divine corona formed around his body. Though covered in injuries, he radiated a sacred aura. Within that mysterious halo, the phantom image of dragons and serpents rising together faintly shimmered, albeit indistinct.
Qin Ming showed no sign of pain. His entire mind was immersed in the Dragon Snake Scripture, leading to entirely new insights.
"From snake to dragon is like crossing an abyss, like voyaging from this shore to the other. It is arduous because it is so extreme, like shifting from utmost yin to utmost yang." He realized that the Dragon Snake Scripture also contained elements of the transformation between yin and yang that he had been seeking.
He had deeply coveted the Withering and Thriving Classic because it involved evolution on such a plane. Today, he captured a flash of inspiration within the scripture he already possessed.
No one expected that despite his alarming physical condition, he was still comprehending scriptural profundities, leaving Liu Hanya, Gan Jincheng, and the others utterly stunned.
They reflected that perhaps this was simply what set people apart, and why he was capable of such achievements.
Qin Ming opened his eyes, looked at the people around him, and said, "All of you, leave this place. I sense a powerful band of demons approaching in the distance."
The fragmented demon seed within him had developed a strange resonance with the distance; other demons who had received the "gift" were rapidly drawing near.
Xiao Yaqin and the others started to speak, but Qin Ming waved his hand. "I don't need your help. If I go all out, you might only hold me back."
His blunt honesty left Gan Jincheng, Liu Hanya, and the others at a loss for words. Had they become burdens? They were all prodigies, yet their cultivation was not high enough. Against opponents in the second realm who had a shot at becoming a demon seed, their performance had indeed fallen short.
"Brother, I'll help you! The two of us will be enough!" Xiao Wu said.
"Let me handle it on my own first," Qin Ming said. Whether due to the mutual resonance and hostility between fragmented demon seeds or his deepening comprehension of the Dragon Snake Scripture, he felt the urge to wage a bloody battle against the approaching demons.
Jiang Ruoli spoke up. "We'll keep watch from a distance. If it comes down to a critical moment and you need us, we can step in immediately."
Xiao Wu rubbed his hands, looking somewhat embarrassed. "Well... everyone, although we fought together and aren't strangers anymore, please swear an oath with a forbidden art."
Putting on a bashful demeanor, he produced a forbidden method from his homeland—the Fourth Peril—and asked them to follow the ritual and swear an oath.
"As you can see, my brother and I want to keep a low profile. We don't want our identities exposed right now!"
Gan Jincheng agreed readily. "Sure, no problem! We'll remember sharing life and death together; we won't utter a word!" Though slightly uneasy, the women complied as well.
Moments later, the group looked at Qin Ming, their expressions changing drastically. "Brother, are you alright?" Xiao Wu cried out in alarm.
They discovered large patches of flesh splitting across Qin Ming's body, and skin was actually peeling away—a terrifying sight. Even his face was cracking apart, bordering on disfigurement.
Even his scalp was splitting, clumps of hair falling away strand by strand.
Bathed in blood, his condition looked increasingly dire, covered in gory grime.
"I'm fine. This is the necessary path for a snake to transform into a dragon," Qin Ming said.
He had used his blazing heavenly light force to crush the demon seed, then circulated the Dragon Snake Scripture to temper the essence of this "gift," meeting fierce resistance.
His Dragon Snake Scripture circulated unceasingly, advancing from initial mastery to rising higher and undergoing a qualitative transformation. Soon, everyone realized that what was falling off Qin Ming were merely the earlier blood scabs and broken old skin sloughing off, like a great serpent shedding its skin.
This was the true essence of the Dragon Snake Scripture! It was as if he were undergoing a minor rebirth, part of his body remade anew.
Then, to everyone's astonishment, his flesh glowed with radiance in such a short span, brimming with rich vitality, already healed. A dense crop of short hair had even sprouted on his head.
Qin Ming's body radiated light, as if nurturing a divine sun within, projecting the wondrous spectacle of dragons and serpents rising together. The demon seed had been torn apart and continuously ground down, transformed into nourishment!
From his flesh and blood, several dragon roars actually rang out.
The onlookers were stunned, witnessing him undergo such a drastic transformation in the shortest of time.
Qin Ming rose and stretched his limbs, feeling in peak condition, ready to fight. Though a portion of the fragmented demon seed within him remained undigested, it no longer hindered him.
Most importantly, having cultivated the Dragon Snake Scripture to this point, it was ready for real combat!
"You are..." Xin Youdao, Jiang Ruoli, and the others beheld his true countenance—a handsome youth none of them had ever seen before.
Xiao Wu chimed in, "Everyone, please amend your vows with the forbidden art."
Qin Ming stood beneath a waterfall, washing away the blood and grime, then used heavenly light to vaporize the moisture from his clothes, preparing to meet the enemy! In the distance, birds were startled into flight, accompanied by screams of agony.
The demon squad appeared, seemingly in great haste, sprinting at high speed.
"Fall back. If things look bad, escape immediately!" Qin Ming said.
He was solemn, for the opponents were exceptionally strong.
This journey into the secret realm had far exceeded expectations; none of this should have happened.
Several demon squads had been stranded in the secret realm due to an accident. They slaughtered and devoured one another, destined to birth a true demon seed in the end—a lethal threat to the new disciples from Kunling.
Gan Jincheng, Liu Hanya, and the others retreated into the dense forest, watching closely.
"Brother, I'll back you up!" Xiao Wu insisted on standing nearby.
Qin Ming nodded. At this moment, he experienced a profound, abstruse insight: he needed a blood-soaked metamorphosis.
"Broken flesh and nascent dragon scales are merely the surface," he murmured to himself.
How could turning from a serpent into a dragon ever be peaceful? This was inherently going against the grain, bound to encounter violent obstruction.
He understood why the scripture described the metamorphosis as so arduous and drenched in blood.
Because in the unseen depths of fate, rules seemed to govern all; certain trajectories were difficult to shatter. Leaping from the mundane to higher echelons could never be smooth sailing—obstacles inevitably barred the way forward.
In this moment, there was no room for hesitation; he had to plunge forward and fight with all his might!
Ahead, two people stumbled as they fled in this direction, but a squad swiftly overtook them. Those towering demons were wildly savage, cracking the earth beneath their feet and hacking through tangled vines in their path.
Soon, both were pierced by thick iron spears and hoisted high.
Besides these two, three others had already been impaled and hoisted, drenched in blood and long dead.
"It's them! After escaping that village, they ran into this demon squad!" Gan Jincheng clenched his fists; two of them were members of his squad.
The five had suffered an ill fate, unable to escape death in the end. Though Jiang Ruoli and Xiao Yaqin remained silent, anger burned on their faces; people they knew had died among them as well.
Ahead, the demon squad came into view—fully nineteen in all, radiating murderous intent. Leading them was a silver-robed youth, composed and cold, silently watching this direction.
The demons beside him swung their iron spears forcefully, hurling the five hoisted corpses to the ground against massive boulders. The bodies of the youths from Kunling Academy instantly burst into bloody wreckage, heads shattered, limbs torn apart—an intensely gory sight!
"Only the two of you? Quite a surprise," the silver-robed youth said, looking over. He stepped across the blood on the ground, leading his group forward.
He was tall and strikingly handsome, exuding an eerie, demonic temperament. A faint silver glow emanated from his body, like a divine halo draped over him. Even from a distance, one could feel an oppressive aura.
Sure enough, this squad was even more terrifying.
Several walked abreast of the silver-robed youth, clearly his right-hand lieutenants. All were formidable, some ferocious and savage, others handsome.
They deliberately retained some of their beastly traits. Though capable of taking human form, they had no desire—or deemed it beneath them—to do so.
One demon had a human torso with the head of a golden elephant; even its tusks looked cast from gold, and its pupils shimmered with golden light. Standing five meters tall, he wielded a massive cleaver.
On the other side was a white-haired youth with two pitch-black bull horns protruding from his head.
Additionally, there was a youth with flood-dragon beast traits, a woman cloaked in peacock feathers, and a young maiden with two pairs of snow-white wings.
Qin Ming's expression turned grave. This was a formidable lineup—the silver-robed leader had five sworn siblings!
Undoubtedly, the fragmented demon seeds resonated with each other, and the enemy was eager to hunt, which was why they had rushed here so hastily.
Xiao Wu stood in the distance, wanting to come over, but Qin Ming stopped him.
"A great serpent contends against the heavens in fury, its body shattering to sprout horns and claws. To transform, does it truly need to mutilate itself? That is wrong!" Qin Ming pondered the contents of the Dragon Snake Scripture.
How could the blood and wounds be self-inflicted? With a resolute expression, he knew that the transformation from serpent to dragon had to be forged through slaughter.
True dragonhood required outward struggle. Anyone who dared intercept him was obstructing his path; he had to fight to the finish, gaining rebirth through battle's crucible, ascending from snake to dragon.
With a loud crash, the elephant demon stomped on the skull of a corpse on the ground, crushing it to pieces. Stepping forward, he said, "Eldest Brother, let me test his mettle first."
The flood-dragon beast youth said, "Test what? Eldest Brother came for the fragmented demon seed. End it quickly to prevent other squads from interfering!"
The group charged forward swiftly. Bent purely on hunting, they had no intention of wasting time, reeking of blood.
Qin Ming wasted no words either. Grabbing the dozen or so iron spears he had brought from the village, he hurled them forward one after another! In an instant, wind and thunder erupted across the clearing.
Rumble!
Wherever the iron spears passed, even grazing a twig would shatter branches and leaves into dust with a deafening crash. A trumpeting elephant roar shook the air!
The elephant demon whipped his trunk like a great blade, batting the iron spear away without losing momentum as he charged ahead. The flood-dragon beast youth likewise deflected a hurtling spear.
Gauging their cultivation levels, Qin Ming's expression grew even graver.
He hurled the remaining iron spears toward the demon minions in the rear, deliberately bypassing the strongest demons.
Pfft!
A three-meter-tall demon was impaled, dying on the spot.
With a bang, another towering demon was pierced through, its entire body exploding.
At that moment, the silver-robed youth and his sworn siblings struck simultaneously, unleashing brilliant rays of light to alter the trajectories of the incoming spears.
Qin Ming discarded the spears, unslung his large silver bow, and drew a jade iron arrow. Imbued with heavenly light, the arrow ripped through the forest like lightning.
Spurt! A chunk of flesh exploded from the elephant-beast youth's arm.
"Moo!"
The white-haired youth let out a bull's roar, the horns on his head glowing. A piece of his left ear had been torn away, grazed and mangled by the fiercely sharp arrow, sending him into a fury.
"Careful! Those are pure jade iron arrows, not mixed alloys!"
Evidently, they had been careless, previously unaware that the arrowheads were crafted from such an absurdly precious material.
Thud!
In the rear, three demon minions were struck right between the brows in rapid succession, unable to evade at all. Their skulls burst like rotten watermelons, dying instantly.
The silver-robed youth surged to the front, silver light blazing as he unfurled a barrier of light. His sworn siblings followed suit, divine mist swirling to block the incoming arrows.
Their heavenly light force linked together as they pressed forward side by side in rapid advance.
Qin Ming's arrows flew in rapid succession, one after another, all targeting the light barrier held by the peacock woman. The barrier shattered, a section of her five-colored feathered robe blew apart, and blood welled from her chest as a jade iron arrow pierced in.
However, at the final moment, spiritual light surged from her, forcing the jade iron arrow out before it could punch clean through.
Throughout this barrage, none of the demons cried out or panicked. Clearly, they possessed ironclad resolve, seasoned by countless life-and-death battles.
These were second-realm demons with rich combat experience.
Qin Ming stowed his bow and arrows. This time, he drew the mutton-fat jade iron saber he had not used in a long while—proof of how seriously he took this group of demons, unwilling to squander heavenly light force condensing a five-colored blade.
He had prepared himself for a bloody battle!
Over a dozen demons closed the distance, their baleful aura terrifying, crashing forward like a stormy tidal wave.
Qin Ming attacked proactively. The dense forest around them was rich with Yimu qi. Green mist swirled up, seemingly lifting him aloft as he soared off the ground, sweeping through the air.
The elephant roar was deafening, buzzing in the eardrums as if ready to burst them. Injured in the arm by the jade iron arrow, the elephant demon was the first to strike, swinging his massive cleaver in a vicious chop.
Qin Ming focused his gaze. The snow-white blade in his hand flared with brilliant light as he slashed forward.
With a resounding clang, sparks flew as he sheared off the tip of the giant cleaver. Moving as if in flight, he glided straight up to the giant elephant youth and exchanged a palm strike.
Boom! Though the elephant demon possessed a human torso five meters tall, he was sent staggering back several steps by the impact.
Qin Ming took heed. If even an elephant demon was this formidable, he had to remain on high alert. He darted through, cutting right past the strongest archdemons.
Slash! A demon minion behind them—though also in the second realm—was nowhere near the level of the archdemons up front. Qin Ming's blade sheared through its weapon and cleaved off its head.
An instant kill!
Next, moving like lightning, he shifted sideways and swung his blade again, bisecting another second-realm demon minion diagonally from shoulder to waist.
Charging in alone, he pierced straight through their formation and slew two demons in succession. Watching from the dense woods in the distance, Gan Jincheng, Jiang Ruoli, and the others felt their hearts surge. How could such a youth remain unknown? When his true identity came to light, it would surely shake the world.
The elephant demon's face was livid. The breach had been torn through his defense, leading to the gruesome death of two subordinates behind him. Enraged, golden runes surfaced across his entire body as he charged at Qin Ming.
"Leave him to me!" the silver-robed leader commanded, appearing in a flash like a phantom in the night mist to intercept Qin Ming, clashing with him in lightning-fast exchanges.
At that instant, the fragmented demon seeds within the two produced a wondrous resonance, chiming in unison until they triggered a vision.
A glowing path emerged, stretching into the distance. Moreover, both of them saw numerous other paths far ahead!
On one path stood a dilapidated temple where the hum of cicadas echoed; another path was paved with black and white stones leading toward a colossal Eight Trigrams palace; yet another path seemed to reach into the clouds.
Immediately afterward, Qin Ming seemed to glimpse the Tathagata renegade, Li Qingyue, Cui Chonghe, and others in the distance!
Next, he looked at other paths and spotted the figures of immortal seeds and divine seeds like Su Shiyun, Zhao Yaoting, Leng Feiyue, and Tang Yutian, all advancing along their respective routes toward a gathering point in the deepest reaches of the secret realm.
What astonished him most was that, in a fleeting daze, he saw the faint shadow left behind by Sun Taichu on one of the paths.
"What do you see?" the silver-haired youth asked. He could see the paths, but he could not make out the faces of those upon them.
Qin Ming remained silent, merely fixing his gaze upon him.
Both knew they had to seize the other's fragmented demon seed before they could set foot on the path! With that, the two engaged in a ferocious clash.
"Surround and kill him!" a demon shouted from the side.
"You're a human, yet you dare seize my clan's path?!" the silver-robed youth barked, seeing through his origins and realizing he was not a demon.
"Every path leads to that mysterious land. What's wrong with borrowing one?" Qin Ming retorted.
Chapter 206