The Witch Clan Cannot Be Without a Grand Shaman

The withered-leaf cicada was entirely drained of essence. Old Devil Fang was reborn through the Star-Winged Cicada. Yet no one knew what divine ability the Star-Winged Cicada possessed that allowed it to bore through the blood-red crystal wall. How could the ancient demon's split soul allow Old Devil Fang to escape? Its figure flickered repeatedly as it pounced forward. The eyes of the Star-Winged Cicada were filled with anxiety. Old Devil Fang's essence soul had suffered heavy damage. Although he had switched into the body of the Star-Winged Cicada and devoured the essence of the withered-leaf cicada, he possessed only enough strength to bore through the blood-red crystal wall and nothing more. Right at that moment, Old Devil Fang witnessed a scene he would never forget for the rest of his life. A slender, delicate figure suddenly vaulted into the air—it was the Grand Shaman, stepping between him and the ancient demon's split soul. "The Witch Clan cannot be without a Grand Shaman!" The Grand Shaman offered a forlorn smile, leaving behind her parting words. *Boom!* The phantom of the Spring Thunder Silkworm shattered, and a speck of silver radiance gleamed upon the Grand Shaman's brow—the final light of her life. In an instant, tens of thousands of lightning threads swept across the heavens and earth, lunging back toward the ancient demon's split soul. Only when the Spring Thunder Silkworm perished would the lightning threads cease! Though she knew Old Devil Fang was not someone worthy of being entrusted with the entire clan, she still chose to sacrifice herself to win a sliver of hope for him. The Witch Clan lagged far behind the human race. Even if Lingzhuzi and the others all died here, the human race's foundations would remain intact. The Witch Clan, however, would be severely crippled and left without a leader. Whatever was harvested from the divine-inscribed ancient restriction also needed someone to carry it out; only then would there be any possibility of revitalizing the Witch Clan. Countless lightning flares blocked the path ahead. The ancient demon's split soul snorted coldly. True demonic qi erupted as it prepared to forcefully scatter the lightning flares and capture Old Devil Fang. At this moment, it experienced the same vexation that Demonic Qingzhu had felt before. Qingzhu's true body once again jolted the spirit sword fragments, putting up a tenacious struggle. Moreover, because the split soul had cast the profound Split-Essence God-Slashing technique, its strength had drastically dropped, making it increasingly difficult to suppress Qingzhu's true body. Caught off guard for an instant, the split soul had its true demonic qi violently shaken, nearly swallowed by the lightning flares. A furious, low roar rumbled from its throat. It had no choice but to abandon the pursuit and forcefully suppress Qingzhu. Its true demonic qi formed a massive curtain, braving the assault of the lightning flares at all costs to drag out the Grand Shaman, who had nearly burned away her origin essence. The Grand Shaman closed her eyes in death and was cast into the blood coffin. By this time, Old Devil Fang had already penetrated the blood-red crystal wall and vanished from sight. Breaching the blood-red crystal wall, Old Devil Fang became the second to break free after the elder from the Four Sages Palace. His eyes flickered erratically. He had once believed that having cultivated to his realm, his heart was as hard as iron, immune to being swayed by external things or other people. Yet the Grand Shaman's final parting smile and voice lingered ceaselessly in his mind. Previously, Old Devil Fang had scoffed at her, assuming she merely used the revival of the Witch Clan as an excuse to seize power and resources. Now, it seemed he had been wrong. He had become the beneficiary of her conviction. With mixed emotions, Old Devil Fang flapped his star wings and ultimately chose to rush toward where the divine furnace was located. The Grand Shaman was dead. Even if they ultimately managed to seal the ancient demon, those rescued would all be human experts. However, once the ancient demon broke the seal and the demonic calamity fell upon the world, the Witch Clan would also be plunged into misery and slaughter. Old Devil Fang did not seize the opportunity to snatch the divine furnace away; instead, he chose to repair the divine-inscribed ancient restriction. Meanwhile, the elder from the Four Sages Palace had already reached the Dragon Corpse Ancient Hall, racing against time to repair the demon race's ancient restriction. *** His face contorted with rage, the ancient demon's split soul shifted his gaze and locked onto the Demon Lord. *Whoosh!* The next instant, the ancient demon's split soul appeared right before the Demon Lord. Reaching out to the side, it transformed true demonic qi into shackles that coiled tightly around Fairy Nangui, violently yanking her over. Everyone present had been reduced to lambs awaiting slaughter, completely at the mercy of the ancient demon's split soul. Just as the ancient demon's split soul began its bloody slaughter, Qin Sang was secretly sending a voice transmission to Lingzhuzi. "Senior, I still have enough strength for one blow. It possesses the might of a top-grade magic treasure, but I need Senior's help to cover for me so the ancient demon doesn't notice..." By now, Qin Sang had finally condensed the fire seed into shape. For this, he had suffered a splitting headache and endured agony that was likely not a whit less than what Lingzhuzi and the others were experiencing. Had it not been for the jade Buddha, he would have vanished into ashes long ago. The reason he had cultivated this secret technique at all costs under such circumstances was a hypothesis he had formed after seeing the *Fire Seed Golden Lotus*. If his hypothesis worked, he would be able to unleash a blow at the Nascent Soul level, which might allow him to preserve his life at the critical moment. The key to the demon banner formation lay in the Nine Nether Demonic Fire. Among the Eighteen Demon Banners, each one sealed demonic fire within. The power of the formation depended on how many demon banners and how much demonic fire he could control. With Qin Sang's current cultivation, he could at most manipulate nine banners to form a formation. The Nine Nether Demonic Fire was wild and intractable, making it exceedingly difficult to control. However, if he could tame a wisp of demonic fire, condense a demon seed, and fuse it with the Nine Nether Demonic Fire so that his divine consciousness carried the aura of the Nine Nether Demonic Fire, could he use that to win the fire's recognition and weaken its resistance? He had verified this back in the Purple Mist Deathland: unowned Nine Nether Demonic Fire harbored no strong hostility toward its own kind and would not retaliate fiercely. Back then, it was precisely by cloaking himself in demonic fire that Qin Sang had successfully slipped into the Ghostland behind the demonic restriction and encountered Bai. This way, he would be able to control ten or even more demon banners, laying down an even stronger demon banner formation! Qin Sang had never deployed more than nine demon banners before and was uncertain how much power it would ultimately yield, but it was worth a try. Being able to unleash a single strike would be enough! With single-minded focus, Qin Sang had condensed the fire seed until it finally took shape. A tiny fire seed now rested within his violet palace, shaped like a black lotus seed. The aura of the demonic fire was extremely faint, as if a gust of wind could extinguish it. This was Qin Sang's limit. He understood in his heart that his cultivation was insufficient—he was still far from being able to truly master the demonic fire, and merely keeping the fire seed from scattering was already a stroke of luck. If he wanted to take spiritual fire for his own use like Old Devil Mou had, he might not be able to achieve it even after forming a Nascent Soul. Even so, if Old Devil Mou were to witness the speed at which Qin Sang condensed the fire seed, he would have been utterly flabbergasted. When Qin Sang completed the secret technique, he discovered to his horror that the situation had deteriorated to an irrecoverable state. Once Lingzhuzi and the others were dead, the ancient demon's split soul certainly would not mind throwing them into the blood coffin as well. Qin Sang did not know how much use this strike of his would have, but he would never sit idly by and await death! Seeing that Lingzhuzi was not far from him, Qin Sang immediately sent him a voice transmission, swiftly explaining the situation. Critically wounded and on the verge of death, Lingzhuzi was exceedingly astonished upon hearing Qin Sang's voice transmission. A minor pawn who had been dragged in by accident and overlooked by both sides had not been gravely injured by the demonic roar, and now even claimed to have the strength for a counterattack—how could this not surprise him? At this moment, not a single bit of help could be turned away. They were heavily injured. The ancient demon's split soul, eager for swift victory, had likewise paid a price and suffered a great loss in strength, amounting to mutual harm. Lingzhuzi made an immediate decision, replying through voice transmission, "Go ahead and set up your formation. I will help conceal it for you. Remember to follow my lead." Gathering what little strength he had left, he laid down a barrier around Qin Sang to mask the fluctuations of the formation. Exhaling a breath, Qin Sang sat cross-legged on the ground and summoned the demon banners. At this moment, he discovered that the demon banners were indeed easier to manipulate than before. When his divine consciousness reached out to stir the Nine Nether Demonic Fire inside the banners, the resistance he encountered was noticeably weaker. Qin Sang brought out all Eighteen Demon Banners at once.