Without a word of discussion, Jin Daoli and the other two immediately activated their respective Eastern Emperor Heaven-Calming Formulas. From within the three of them erupted the demonic power unique to the primordial great demon, the three-legged golden crow. Golden light soared into the sky as the vision of the Fusang tree and ten suns rising in unison emerged behind each of them!
They belonged to the Golden Crow clan, remnants of the Imperial Clan scattered in the world. The Eastern Emperor Heaven-Calming Formula could awaken their bloodline power, reviving the combat memories of the primordial era and stirring the Dao power within their veins, granting an astonishing surge to their cultivation and strength.
Now, behind Jin Daoli, Jin Yiqi, and Jin Lan, ancient Golden Crow Primordial Spirits beat their wings in flight, their combat power soaring higher with every passing moment.
Yet the three were gripped with immense shock and horror, their expressions grave as though facing a formidable foe.
From the moment Xu Ying summoned the wooden bucket to when he set it back down, it had taken only the span of a few sentences for the three demon sovereigns to be sucked into the bucket and exiled into the outer realm.
The power of that wooden bucket was simply terrifying!
And yet, a supreme magic treasure that left three great demon sovereigns with neither the strength nor the chance to resist was actually used as a chamber pot!
The Demon Ancestral Court possessed many formidable treasures; after all, its history ran deep, and it had once established the Demon Immortal Court.
Even though it had fallen into decline, a starved camel was still bigger than a horse, and quite a few good things remained.
Treasures possessing the power of that wooden bucket did exist in the Demon Ancestral Court, but they were few and far between.
Which of those few treasures wasn't enshrined and revered like an ancestor? How could one ever be treated as a chamber pot?
Xu Ying burst into hearty laughter and circulated the Nine Revolutions Mysterious Art. His body swelled and shrank, and in an instant, the mysterious art was coursing through him. He leaped violently into midair!
Jin Yiqi and the others looked up, only to see nine layers of the firmament interlocking across the sky. Wind and thunder roared furiously as they slammed together, crashing downward in stacked layers!
Each firmament was like an entire world wrought of astral winds and heavenly lightning. With nine firmaments layered upon one another, how could their might have increased by a mere ninefold?
"To contest our demon race's Emperor-grade art, the Eastern Emperor Heaven-Calming Formula, without using magic treasures? You are not qualified!"
Ten suns rose behind Jin Yiqi as he met Xu Ying's strike. The instant their palms clashed, six great cave-heavens pierced through the Immortal Realm behind Xu Ying, causing his cultivation and strength to surge more than tenfold in a breath!
Xu Ying charged against the ten suns. For a moment, brilliant, dazzling light wavered before his eyes, blinding to behold, but in the next breath, the ten suns dimmed, nearly shattered by his single palm.
Jin Yiqi raised his hand, channeling the Eastern Emperor Heaven-Calming Formula to meet Xu Ying's palm. The Fusang tree swept out behind him, and the ten suns rose once more, circling around Xu Ying like a great crucible of ten suns bent on refining him to ash!
At the same time, the branches of the Fusang tree lashed down. Every branch was formed of countless Dao manifestations, whipping downward like scourges of Dao principles capable of striking both physical body and Primordial Spirit alike!
Behind the Fusang tree, his towering Primordial Spirit spread its wings and soared, thrusting out three sharp talons to seize Xu Ying's shoulders and head!
Simultaneously, its wings slashed forward, layer upon layer of golden feathers unfolding like the sharpest, most exquisite blades in the world to cleave Xu Ying's Primordial Spirit!
As the race possessing the foremost combat power among the demons, this assault of his was something even three heads and six arms could not withstand!
Yet Xu Ying did not bother to defend at all.
Two talons of Jin Yiqi's Primordial Spirit gripped Xu Ying's shoulders, while the third clamped onto both of Xu Ying's eyes. It exerted force violently, but Xu Ying's eyeballs did not budge an inch, and the talons digging into Xu Ying's shoulders felt as though they had struck the hardest substance in the world, unable to pierce him in the slightest!
Its wings slashed against Xu Ying's Primordial Spirit with a harsh sizzle, leaving two trails of brilliant sparks, only for both wings to be seized by Xu Ying's Primordial Spirit.
With a ferocious whoosh, Jin Yiqi's Primordial Spirit was swung by both wings and slammed into the rushing Primordial Spirit of Jin Lan, sending both Primordial Spirits tumbling backward in a heap!
At the same time, the branches of the Fusang tree lashed across Xu Ying's body, leaving behind bloody welts, but the welts vanished as fast as they appeared, healing as though they had never existed.
And the smelt of those ten great suns instantly reached a heat over a hundred times greater than a natural sun; even a Heavenly Immortal would have been refined to flying ash!
Xu Ying was burned glowing red, yet his palm blasted out from the flames, colliding thunderously with Jin Yiqi's palm!
Jin Yiqi grunted and fell back. At the same time, two of his three legs flew up—bang, bang—one kicking Xu Ying's head, the other sweeping into Xu Ying's ribs.
Xu Ying was knocked askew by the blows, but he grinned, straightened up, and whipped his leg across. With a deafening boom, Jin Yiqi took the sweeping kick square to the head; his neck sounded on the verge of snapping as he tumbled head over heels and crashed off to the side!
Behind Xu Ying, Jin Daoli and Jin Lan struck together from left and right, aiming for his back to catch him off guard.
Yet the next moment, a scene unfolded that filled both with terror. At the back of Xu Ying's head, his hair parted and flesh rapidly sprouted, giving rise to two faces, one on the left and one on the right.
These two faces were identical to Xu Ying's, but one was ferocious and the other brimming with malevolence, and four more arms sprouted along with them.
Xu Ying roared with laughter. Spinning like a whirlwind with three faces and six arms, he assailed the two of them.
Jin Daoli and Jin Lan also cultivated the Eastern Emperor Heaven-Calming Formula. Their combat strength was formidable, and their arsenal of attacks was astonishingly vast, enabling them to parry his frenzy of assaults!
The two extra faces on Xu Ying grew more furious the longer they fought. Suddenly, both faces struggled violently, squeezing outward from the back of his head.
As these two faces pushed their way out, brains, bones, and even necks sprouted behind them. By the time they fully emerged, yet another face grew from the side of Xu Ying's cheek—Xu Nue.
Two more arms grew from under Xu Ying's armpits, bringing his total to eight arms.
Xu Ying's Primordial Spirit burst into wild laughter as well, sprouting four heads and eight arms in kind.
"Relying on numbers, are you?"
Xu Ying slapped his forehead. With One Qi Transforming into Three Pure Ones, the three cowards—Xu Ai, Xu Huang, and Xu Shang—reluctantly flew forth.
Jin Yiqi charged back into the fray as well. Four combatants and seven Primordial Spirits took to the air, clashing in midair.
Suddenly, Jin Yiqi, Jin Daoli, and Jin Lan, along with their Primordial Spirits—six pairs of wings and twelve divine sabers—slashed down upon Xu Ying in unison. As the three dragged their blades across him, twelve bloody cuts instantly opened across Xu Ying's body.
Delight rose in their hearts, only to see the bloody cuts heal in the blink of an eye.
Xu Ying laughed heartily and spun like a hurricane. Bang, bang, bang! Each of the three took a punch and tumbled backward!
Xu Ying closed in on Jin Lan, unleashing a tempest of blows upon her. Jin Yiqi and Jin Daoli rushed to her aid, only to be intercepted by Xu Bao and Xu Li behind Xu Ying.
The three grew more alarmed the longer the battle went on.
The Golden Crow clan was an imperial clan, a rare breed among primordial strange beasts, born mighty enough to grapple with dragons and phoenixes. Especially after awakening their primordial bloodline, they were a natural warrior race whose wings surpassed tempered immortal artifacts!
Yet after exchanging so many rounds with Xu Ying, their palms, talons, and wings were jolted until they were sore, swollen, and excruciatingly painful.
Their internal organs had also suffered concussive injuries, and they were gradually on the verge of collapsing.
What was even more terrifying was that their three Primordial Spirits, ganging up on Xu Ying's single Primordial Spirit, were instead completely suppressed and pummeled by it!
In a matter of moments, Jin Lan was beaten until her bones snapped and sinews tore; her wings were broken, her head knocked askew, and she plummeted from the sky.
Having dealt with her, Xu Ying freed his hands to engage Jin Yiqi and Jin Daoli. Without Jin Lan's support, the two were in even more dire straits.
Before long, Jin Yiqi's three legs were struck hundreds of times by Xu Ying's sweeping kicks until all three were broken, whereupon Xu Ai, Xu Huang, and Xu Shang swarmed around his head, pummeling him into unconsciousness.
Seeing the situation turn dire, Jin Daoli took flight immediately, spreading his wings and turning into a streak of rainbow light that tore through the void.
"My Golden Crow clan is the fastest race in the world..."
The thought had barely crossed his mind when he looked back and saw the space of the Heavenly Dao Ancestral Court being crushed and stacked layer upon layer by Xu Ying's charging form.
Boom!
The stacked space blasted apart. Xu Ying sprinted forward with four heads and eight arms, four Primordial Spirits trailing right behind him.
"How is he so fast?"
Jin Daoli's eyes went wide. Still, he's no match for me! he thought.
"Heavenly Dao Domain!"
Xu Ying raised his hand from afar. The next instant, Jin Daoli's eyes nearly popped from their sockets: across the sky, various Heavenly Dao runes shifted and transformed, coalescing into a Great Luotian Hand that descended from the heavens!
The great hand of Heavenly Dao slammed thunderously against him, making him vomit blood as he plunged downward.
Boom!
The surrounding mountains shook. Xu Ying's great Heavenly Dao palm print bore down upon Jin Daoli, hammering him deep into the earth.
Xu Ying plummeted like a meteor. Excited smiles spread across all four of his faces, fierce glints flashing in his eyes. Behind him, three more Xu Yings flew in—swish, swish, swish—landing together beside Jin Daoli.
"Kill them! Grind their bones to dust and scatter the ashes to avenge Master Jin!"
Just as Xu Ying spoke, Ling Siyi flew over from the distance, calling out loudly, "Young Master Xu, have mercy!"
Xu Ying gave a shake of his body, recalling the three Heaven and Earth Primordial Spirits, and whispered, "This woman showed up. Might as well kill her too. Can't let a freshly dug pit go to waste!"
Just as he was about to strike Ling Siyi down without mercy, a massive serpent materialized in the sky. The giant snake poked its head from the clouds, opened its maw, and spat out a shimmering silver loop that fell toward him!
Knowing things had gone wrong, Xu Ying immediately leaped to flee, shouting, "Niu Yuan Qi, you and I are irreconcilable enemies!"
Yuan Qi activated the Diamond Snare. Brilliant light shone from the snare as the yin and yang qi within transformed into a Taiji Diagram, pinning Xu Ying's body and dragging him toward it!
Xu Ying struggled with all his might, shouting, "Yuan Qi, once I get out, I'll butcher you and make snake stew!"
He produced the Buddhist prayer beads, and the Buddha Ancestor's prayer beads were activated. The beads flew out, spinning above Yuan Qi's head, and manifested into one hundred and eight great Buddhas pressing down to suppress him.
Yuan Qi let out a muffled groan and fell from the air, shouting, "I can't hold on! Maiden Siyi, why aren't you making your move?"
With him suppressed by the Buddha Ancestor's prayer beads, the Diamond Snare could no longer hold Xu Ying.
Xu Ying broke free of the Diamond Snare at once and charged toward Yuan Qi, but Ling Siyi had already arrived, swinging the willow branch in a gentle wave.
Dao light burst from the willow branch. Willow leaves as large as woven mats swirled out—swish, swish, swish—wrapping Xu Ying tightly.
Xu Ying struggled furiously. Suddenly, a host of magic treasures—including the Five Sacred Immortal Mountains and the Water-Fire Huntian Cauldron—emerged behind him, turning to suppress Ling Siyi instead!
Ling Siyi dodged the collision of the Five Sacred Immortal Mountains, but was locked on by the Water-Fire Huntian Cauldron. Water and fire bound her and dragged her into the cauldron.
Ling Siyi struggled desperately, but could not break free.
Right at that moment, the big bell charged in from the flank, crashing into Xu Ying's forehead with a resounding clang.
A large, bloody lump immediately swelled upon Xu Ying's forehead. The big bell circled him in flight, tolling continuously—clang, clang—rattling Xu Ying until his vision blurred and his head spun.
Seizing the opportunity, Yuan Qi broke free from the Buddha Ancestor's prayer beads, curled his tail around the Purple Nether Saber, and thrust it toward Xu Ying.
The Purple Nether Saber was half a broken blade without a hilt, instantly slicing into his tail. Ignoring the wound, he channeled the saber's power with all his might, hoping only that the big bell could keep Xu Ying suppressed.
Xu Ying's avatars of Huang, Shang, and Ai surged out at once to besiege the big bell. Holding on for dear life, the big bell yelled, "Maiden Siyi!"
Though dragged into the cauldron, Ling Siyi pushed the willow branch with all her might and shook it. Layer upon layer of Dao light struck Xu Ying, stimulating his bodily functions.
Inside Xu Ying, the three consciousnesses of Li, Bao, and Nue instantly felt as if they were about to gain freedom, actually beginning to separate from Xu Ying's body. Though Xu Ying was wrapped securely in the willow leaves, flesh and blood proliferated continuously as three new bodies grew out of him.
This was precisely the demonic power of the willow branch at work.
As the three Xu Yings crawled outward, Yuan Qi brandished the Purple Nether Saber, slashing toward the immobilized Xu Ying wrapped in the willow leaves.
Just as the Purple Nether Saber was about to strike Xu Ying, a Heavenly Pass abruptly appeared with its gates wide open. The Purple Nether Saber chopped straight into the gateway.
Yuan Qi hastily whipped his tail back, preparing to strike again, but Ling Siyi had already been fully suppressed into the Water-Fire Huntian Cauldron.
Just as the big bell prepared to chime again, the Twelve-Storyed Mansions crashed down, suppressing it.
Yuan Qi swung the blade at Xu Ying, only to see the willow leaves shatter to pieces. Xu Ying, exuding monstrous ferocity, charged toward Yuan Qi and roared, "Niu Yuan Qi, we can be brothers no longer!"
"Ah Ying!"
Suddenly, a golden flash swept across, and Jin Buyi appeared before Yuan Qi, barring Xu Ying's charge.
"Master Jin, get out of the way!"
Xu Ying pulled up abruptly and shouted, "They're trying to kill me! Today, I'm sending them on their way!"
Jin Buyi snatched the Purple Nether Saber with a flip of his hand, swatted Yuan Qi down with a palm strike, and smiled. "I know. I'm here to help you."
Xu Ying was overjoyed and said with a laugh, "I even exiled three demon sovereigns for your sake, and I wounded Jin Daoli, Jin Yiqi, and Jin Lan! I know it wasn't convenient for you to kill them yourself, so I'll take care of them for you!"
Jin Buyi smiled. "I know you mean well for me."
He stepped up to Xu Ying, suddenly raised his hand, and thrust the blade into Xu Ying's lower abdomen.
The smile was still on Xu Ying's face. He had let down his guard completely before Jin Buyi. Struck by the blade, an expression of utter disbelief washed over his face.
"Master Jin... I was on guard against Lord Bell, on guard against Yuan Qi, on guard against everyone... but I never guarded against you."
Xu Ying's body went limp as he collapsed into his embrace, murmuring in confusion, "I did all this for you... Why do you want to kill me?"
Looking into his eyes, Jin Buyi was suddenly overcome with grief, tears streaming down his face.
The big bell, Yuan Qi, and Ling Siyi broke free of their suppression one after another and gathered beside Jin Buyi and Xu Ying. Jin Buyi handed Xu Ying over to them and, unable to contain his sorrow, wept loudly as he walked away.
After a moment, Xu Ying came to.
Yuan Qi, the big bell, and Ling Siyi watched him tensely, as though facing a formidable enemy.
Xu Ying shook his head and said, "These past days I've been in a muddle, never quite clearheaded, with so many voices clamoring in my head. Only now do I feel as if a great weight has been lifted. Lord Bell, Seventh Master, and Maiden Siyi, thank you."
Ling Siyi raised the willow branch and gave a light sweep. Seeing that no extra bodies sprouted from Xu Ying, she finally breathed a sigh of relief and said with a pursed smile, "You should thank Lord Bell and Seventh Master most of all. If they hadn't asked me, I never would have dared raise a hand against you."
Xu Ying thanked Yuan Qi and the big bell once more. Yuan Qi said, "You also need to thank Master Jin. Having to stab you probably broke his heart the most."
Xu Ying agreed and searched everywhere for Jin Buyi, but could not find him.
Xu Ying went to seek the Earth God of the Ancestral Court, and under his guidance, finally located Jin Buyi.
Jin Buyi was hiding in the palm of the stone statue of Heaven. When Xu Ying came up behind him, Jin Buyi raised his head, his eyes brimming with tears of age.
"Ah Ying, you don't hate me, do you?" he choked back tears. "You trusted me so much, and yet I stabbed you..."
"How could I?"
Xu Ying smiled. "We're family. Besides, I know you were doing it for my own good. Don't be sad. If others see you like this, how will you ever become the future Great Emperor of the demons?"
Chapter 461