Outside Huai'an Town, the purple lightning beast was intensely focused, watching the fierce battlefield where magical arts clashed, when she suddenly sensed something amiss—had a glowing object just streaked across the night sky?
In that instant, the white owl beside her bristled all over, feathers standing on end, ready to plunge into battle.
The myna on lookout widened its eyes even further, fraught with tension as it squawked in a trembling voice, "Princess, on your head there's..."
It wanted to say an evil spirit, but dread seized it at the last moment, and it changed its tune: "...a senior watching over you!"
Though the myna's realm was modest, it had seen the world in the blessed lands of the anomalous beings and knew full well that any entity daring to wander in spirit like this had to be an expert.
Qin Ming spoke up, "Don't panic. This old man has rushed here from Yezhou. We are on the same side."
The purple lightning beast's hair stood on end. Only now did she realize that after streaking across the battlefield and vanishing, that streak of flowing light had ultimately settled silently atop her head.
Had this visitor struck her with a sword, she would likely have been decapitated already.
Fortunately, this senior was one of their own.
Qin Ming did not unleash his domineering heavenly light force. Instead, he used his conscious spiritual light as an "immortal skin" to disguise himself; right now his entire form was hazy and ethereal, as if standing within a divine moon.
His time was precious, and he had no desire to get tangled up with this old acquaintance the moment they met. She had forgotten how they once fought side by side, trampling bandit chiefs on a snowy night, remembering only the minor indignity of condescending to carry him on her back twice as they sped across the Black-White Mountain domain.
"Senior!" Once the purple lightning beast and the white owl knew he was on their side, both relaxed slightly.
"There is a heavenly demon seed in this region clad in five-colored lotus armor. Why haven't I seen her?" Qin Ming asked.
The white owl replied, "She didn't enter the fray today. She should be watching from the far rear."
"Then I will go slay her," Qin Ming said.
The purple lightning beast hurried to stop him, saying, "At present, none of the senior experts are taking the field. If this balance is suddenly broken, the consequences will be unimaginable."
She explained that both sides had reached a tacit understanding to let a group of their most formidable prodigies clash in magical battle—essentially an early contest between future patriarchs.
Qin Ming said, "Though my seniority is high, I am actually not very old. If I take the field, no one can say anything."
Then he added a correction: "Stop calling me Senior. Just call me Brother Qin."
The purple lightning beast, the white owl, and the myna all felt suspicious. When had such an immortal seed emerged from the outer realm? They had never heard of him before.
They figured that any immortal seed daring to come spirit wandering like this had to possess extraordinary talent and a prominent background.
Still, the purple lightning beast felt a peculiar sensation. Although she could not see the true face of the figure standing in the divine moon, something felt slightly off.
It had to be said that her instincts were remarkably sharp; she felt a sense of deja vu.
Yet right now, she never would have connected him to that old acquaintance from the Newborn path—the one who made her grind her teeth whenever she thought of him, who had treated her as a mount twice in a row.
Qin Ming gazed into the distance. The three-tusked white elephant was locked in a fierce duel with a young fiend, holding a slight upper hand, yet he was beside himself with rage because his opponent was brandishing an ivory saber.
No matter how one looked at it, that saber seemed to have been carved and polished from his own snowy-white fourth tusk.
A bit farther off, a divine seed was locked in life-and-death combat with a heavenly demon seed, evenly matched and inseparable; both were already bleeding, their armor tattered and shattered.
Even further out was an acquaintance—Luo Jingxiao, dueling with a demon. He had likely parted ways with Helian Zhaoyu and Wei Cheng, coming here alone.
Evidently, he was still a hot-blooded youth; knowing full well that this place was exceedingly dangerous, with seed-level geniuses dueling with swords and divine seeds already slain, he still dared to rush over in support.
Lately, the "seeds" of both camps had suffered casualties on both sides; not only had divine seeds died in battle, but opposing heavenly demon seeds had also been slain.
Right now, their daily clashes of magical arts served both as a contest between species and as a whetstone for their blades. Losses in recent days had not been as bloody as at the very start, because formidable seeds were watching from the rear, ready to intervene and rescue when necessary.
In an instant, Qin Ming had gathered enough information.
Beyond the duels of prodigies, formal bloody warfare raged as well, with demons and human cultivators clashing fiercely on the front lines.
Qin Ming was about to advance. In a situation like this, as a seed-level young expert, taking the field to fight would be entirely unproblematic.
He extinguished his conscious spiritual light and melted into the night sky, peering toward the enemy lines to search for the heavenly demon seed clad in lotus armor.
In this season of deepening chill, a silver butterfly fluttered into view, drifting down not far ahead of the purple lightning beast.
It transmitted its voice: "Your Highness Princess, do you truly not wish to reconsider? As fellow demons, why must you subordinate yourselves to humans? The time is ripe for you to invite your elders to return to our camp."
Though it was a secret voice transmission, Qin Ming intercepted it completely. So there was actually something like this going on? The fiends were trying to turn the anomalous beings of the Yezhou region, pulling no small number of strings.
The purple lightning beast replied covertly, "I have already said I will not consider it. The distinction between demons and humans is not so stark. At the very least, our race simply had ancestors who took the mutation path; returning to the human fold would hardly be difficult. And from what I know, plenty among your demonkind are humans who walked the mutation path, reaching even your upper echelons."
Qin Ming was surprised. There was actually such a deep-seated connection between humans and demons; no wonder when humans couldn't hold back the colossal beasts in the early years, anomalous experts had stepped in to help.
The silver butterfly held considerable status and took a firm tone, saying, "Princess, you had best think carefully. The grand momentum lies with our demon race. This time, deities will march in person to breach the pass before long and sweep across the entire battlefield. The splendid mountains and rivers behind you will change hands completely. I advise you to gather the four-tusked white elephant and hurry back together, to explain the situation thoroughly to the elders of your respective clans."
"Please take your leave!" the purple lightning beast refused sternly.
The silver butterfly sneered threateningly, "Do not regret this. When the time comes, I fear every inch of your family's blessed land will run red with blood."
With that, it turned its body, fluttering gracefully as it prepared to depart.
The purple lightning beast grew taut with rage, her eyes spitting fire, tiny arcs of lightning crackling across the jade horns on her head.
"You can still endure this?" Qin Ming dropped down from the night sky.
The purple lightning beast said, "It is a quasi-heavenly demon seed of the Third Realm, while I am still in the Second Realm; I am no match for it. Besides, there are two ruthless characters on the other side. One is the woman in the five-colored lotus armor you mentioned, and the other is a demon sword immortal who slew the divine seed stationed at Taihe Town—he is extraordinarily formidable."
"Oh? Both are demons I've been looking for!" Qin Ming's spirits instantly lifted.
Then, with a flick of his finger—*poof!*—the wings of the silver butterfly in front burst apart, prompting a shrill shriek of agony.
In its panic, it had managed to evade the core of the terrifying sword light, but it was already shrieking in utter terror.
"Who dares touch my subordinate!" At the horizon's edge, a demon bellowed. Though far away in the deep rear, he had still heard the silver butterfly's scream.
"What if I did?" Qin Ming answered.
Immediately, demonic qi surged from across the field, sword qi soaring skyward. The one who had spoken was none other than that remarkably powerful demon sword immortal. Tall and straight, with loose silver hair and piercing eyes, he charged forward with sword in hand.
Beside him was a spear-wielding woman of tall stature, clad in five-colored lotus armor, valiant and formidable—the very heavenly demon seed Qin Ming was looking for.
The demon sword immortal declared, "Very well! So your purple lightning beast clan is dead set on never turning back? I originally intended to take you as a Dao companion, but you have severed your own path."
The purple lightning beast was furious. Lately she had often been subjected to his covert intimidation, but unfortunately her realm was still low and her clan brother had not yet arrived, forcing her to endure it.
Hearing him issue such threats openly in front of everyone naturally infuriated her, making her wish she could unleash lightning right then and strike that demon sword immortal dead.
"Do you want to slay him?" Qin Ming asked.
"Of course!" the purple lightning beast replied.
Qin Ming said, "If you trust me, just walk forward and sit back to watch him be decapitated—or if you want to strike the final blow yourself, that is fine too."
"Fine!" The purple lightning beast nodded.
The white owl looked stiff with worry, thoroughly uneasy, and hurriedly followed.
After resting briefly in Taihe Town, the linguabird flew back just in time to see Qin Ming's conscious spiritual light standing upon the purple lightning beast's back, heading straight toward the center of the battlefield.
It marvelled, "As expected of the Mountain Lord! Earlier I was worried that things wouldn't go smoothly between him and Princess Purple Lightning. Yet look how harmonious the scene is! The princess willingly carries him into battle! My admiration for the Mountain Lord knows no bounds—resolving past grudges the instant they met!"
Autumn was deep, yellow leaves dancing across the sky, the stench of blood pungent across the battlefield.
The dense woods in this region had long been flattened, marred with bloodstains and strewn with severed horns, bloody feathers, arms still gripping sabers, and more—a harrowing sight.
The purple lightning beast felt uneasy; two heavenly demon seeds were charging toward them.
Qin Ming, however, remained completely calm.
Evidently, the immortal seeds on Yezhou's side who had yet to join the battle were also alerted. Was this newly arrived reinforcement really so ferocious? Ready to take on the demon sword immortal the moment he arrived!
Some rushed forward, fearing that Qin Ming would be double-teamed by two heavenly demon seeds and suffer a devastating loss alone.
Yet before the immortal seeds and divine seeds in the rear could provide backup, the battle had already erupted.
Qin Ming struck first. Leaving the purple lightning beast, he streaked across the night sky to meet the two heavenly demon seeds.
He sensed that he had to end this quickly. Under normal conditions, his spirit wandering could last for an hour, but locked in fierce combat, that time would surely be drastically shortened.
"He... attacked first!" The onlookers in the rear were shocked; this new reinforcement was truly overbearing.
On the battlefield, Qin Ming unleashed the *Solar Immortal Sword Art* right from the start. The moment he drew the sword, a hilt materialized in his grasp, followed by the blade coalescing into shape, with an abundance of golden characters surfacing to illuminate the entire night sky.
This sword art was best suited for group combat. Centered on him, a storm of golden sword qi and characters crashed forward like tempestuous waves, layer upon layer.
"Using a sword!"
The demon sword immortal had the appearance of a youth, not particularly handsome and rugged of feature. Seeing worthy prey, his eyes lit up; his silver hair whipped back, and his sword intent surged with astonishing intensity, causing the temperature across the entire battlefield to plummet.
He lunged forward a step ahead—only for his heart to tremble in sudden regret. The moment he truly made contact with the sword qi storm, he realized at once that this was an unprecedented nemesis!
He brandished his demonic sword, unleashing streak after streak of blood-red light. Yet every bit of sword qi he unleashed was completely swept away and consumed by the vast golden storm opposing him.
Qin Ming frowned. This demon sword immortal was indeed remarkable, having blocked his initial wave of sword qi attacks.
In truth, the demon sword immortal was straining hard. A lock of his hair had been sliced off, and cold sweat beaded on his forehead; his opponent's sword intent shook his very spirit.
"Heavenly Demon Slash!" He erupted with everything he had. His body blurred, and suddenly hundreds, thousands of silhouettes seemed to move at once, crimson sword light cascading in endless tiers, as if swarms of demon sword immortals were striking in unison.
Qin Ming's expression remained unchanged as he swung his golden longsword. He was already employing the *Solar Immortal Sword Art*, which excelled at group battles, and now slashed out with the force of sweeping away a thousand-strong army.
In an instant, sword chimes rang out everywhere across the battlefield. Golden characters mingled with sword light, shattering the violent blood-red brilliance emitted by the Heavenly Demon Slash, and those phantom figures vanished along with it.
The demon sword immortal was left disheveled, a bloody gash visible down to the bone on his cheek.
Qin Ming frowned. Executing the *Solar Immortal Sword Art* was undeniably draining. Having already used it once earlier at Taihe Town, unleashing it again now made him feel that his remaining time here was shortened even further.
With a crisp *shhhk*, he shifted his sword intent and invoked the *Black-White Classic*. His left and right hands unleashed two entirely different, terrifying sword lights—one Yin, one Yang.
This was the scripture that Chu Pianran, the direct lineage successor of the ancient immortal dao arena, had invited everyone to comprehend in Kunling City. Qin Ming had grasped the first twelve pages, and had later gained further insights at Black-White Mountain.
This scripture was among the techniques he valued most.
"What?!" The moment the demon sword immortal saw his sword light, his face changed completely. Stripped of his former insolence and confidence, he let out a strange screech, turned, and bolted.
"What has gotten into you?" The woman clad in the five-colored lotus armor behind him was stunned, baffled by his reaction.
"That is the legendary *Black-White Classic*! Its Two Instruments sword light specifically counters my lineage's Heavenly Demon Sword! I cannot stop it!" the demon sword immortal shouted back.
Qin Ming pursued him, the black and white sword lights expanding outward with horrifying might.
In that brief clash, the demon sword immortal fought desperately, yet a moment later his head flew into the air, a spout of blood spraying outward.
Everyone was shaken. Had the mighty demon sword immortal really been decapitated?
Qin Ming, however, frowned, sensing something was wrong.
Sure enough, the demon sword immortal reappeared not far away and immediately employed earth escape, plunging into the ground to flee.
"A sword intent avatar took the death blow for him," an immortal seed behind observed in astonishment.
"No wonder he could slay a divine seed. He truly has some ability, and his escape methods are first-rate," Qin Ming remarked. Even as he spoke, he transformed into a streak of flowing light and charged toward the spear-wielding woman.
No matter what, he had to take down this woman.
As for the demon sword immortal, that would have to wait until his true body arrived.
Black and white sword lights surged as the Two Instruments sword qi slashed through the night sky. Qin Ming locked onto this heavenly demon seed, unwilling to let her escape.
In this moment, the woman clad in five-colored lotus armor was plunged into a desperate plight. They had only just engaged, yet after taking merely three sword lights, the spear in her hands snapped in two.
*Pfft!*
Blood spurted from her body. The five-colored lotus armor shattered, sliced open by the black and white sword light; half of the woman's body was dyed crimson from severe sword wounds.
The demonic side fell deathly silent, stunned and then horrified. Where had this immortal seed come from? Without even his true body present, he dared to battle two heavenly demon seeds back-to-back—and intended to slaughter them!
*Pfft!*
Ultimately, this formidable, spirited future female heavenly demon had her head severed. Blood jetted high into the air, and her headless corpse tumbled to the ground.
Qin Ming swiftly followed up with another strike, driving a black and a white sword light into her internal spiritual field to thoroughly shred her consciousness.
"Help me keep an eye on neighboring Taihe Town," Qin Ming said to the immortal seeds and divine seeds here before departing. Then, turning into a streak of flowing light, he vanished past the horizon.
The linguabird stepped forward with joy and said, "Princess, congratulations! That eyesore of a demon sword immortal fled in disgrace today; he probably won't dare put on airs before you ever again."
It did not mention Qin Ming by name, but clearly praised his achievements and credited his contribution.
The purple lightning beast nodded, then asked, "Do you know who that expert who took action was?"
At once, the linguabird froze like stone. Could the princess really still be unaware of the Mountain Lord's identity? It was struck dumb—history seemed to be repeating itself for the third time, always astonishingly similar.
Chapter 327