Back and Forth

The figures of Elder Tianzheng and Demon Monarch Tongyou both vanished. Nothing remained in the void but a river of stars, looking as though a section had been severed straight from the celestial expanse above. At the center of this river of stars, however, an inky shadow emerged, looking jarringly out of place amid the brilliant radiance. Dark as pitch, the shadow spread outward like spilled ink, nibbling away at the stars. Demon Monarch Tongyou was currently the foremost expert of the Xiaohan Realm, and within the Two Realms Alliance, he stood second only to Daoist Zhenyi. Elder Tianzheng had also been renowned for a very long time. He, Old Demon Ye, and another cultivator named Canghong were known as the three giants of Sin Abyss. Among them, Old Demon Ye had the most infamous demonic reputation and was universally recognized as the paramount figure of the Beichen Realm. By virtue of his Blood Demon avatar alone, which rivaled his true body in power, Old Demon Ye could firmly hold the throne as number one. Demon Monarch Tongyou was fighting back, but breaking out of the River of Stars Chart in short order would be difficult. Yet Elder Tianzheng could not spare the attention to deal with Qin Sang either, and could only release a starlight warrior—better than nothing. The starlight warrior stood thirty feet tall, its flesh carved like crystal. Exceptionally burly, its features were sharp and chiseled, yet completely devoid of expression. Qin Sang had heard of the Xingheng Sect. The starlight warrior was their signature secret art: refined meticulously into talismans by gathering starlight and moonlight, once cast out, it transformed into a warrior of the Nascent Soul level. This was a type of talisman soldier his senior sister had once mentioned—scattering beans to create soldiers was much like this. The starlight warrior possessed boundless strength, and in a sense had an indestructible body, born with an instinct for combat. Once the talisman soldier was released, the cultivator did not need to divert their mind to control it, nor did they have to worry in the slightest about any backlash. It was the ideal aid when confronting enemies. Its only flaw was the sheer cost. After years of preparation and immense effort to refine a single starlight warrior, it could be used only once. As soon as the talisman power was exhausted, it would immediately dissipate into nothingness, unable to be recovered, leaving no choice but to craft a new one from scratch. For that reason, cultivators of the Xingheng Sect treasured it dearly and would never use such a talisman lightly. Yet to stop Qin Sang, Elder Tianzheng had unleashed a starlight warrior without hesitation. Qin Sang saw a flash of light before his eyes, and the starlight warrior blocked his path, a colossal glowing fist crashing toward him head-on. The warrior's body was composed of starlight, blurring the line between real and illusory, but the might of this punch was beyond doubt. The wind from the blow formed a swirling vortex in the void. *Whoosh!* Dazzling starlight shone from the warrior, converging in front of its fist as the storm vortex expanded rapidly. The surrounding blood mist was swept into the vortex without the slightest resistance, churning up a visible wave of blood. Qin Sang felt his whole body tighten. As the heavy fist bore down upon him, not a trace of tension appeared on his face, nor did his speed diminish in the slightest. "Go!" Qin Sang barked softly. After breaching the ancient restriction, the demonic fire had not been recalled by Qin Sang; it had continued to hover around him, and now surged forth in the shape of a black dragon. At the same time, a tortoise-shell shield leaped out from thin air, blocking in front of Qin Sang. Almost the very instant the tortoise-shell shield appeared, the starlight warrior's fist slammed viciously into it, producing a sharp, ear-piercing shriek. This was the shell of the Nine-Life Black Tortoise. Even though Qin Sang had only applied a few simple refinement techniques to it, it was still a rare defensive treasure, emerging completely unscathed after blocking the starlight warrior's mighty blow. His eyes cold, Qin Sang surged forward even faster. Bearing the shield before him, he charged right up to the starlight warrior, lunged out with one hand to seize the warrior's fist, and smashed his other fist toward its face. At the same time, the Nine Nether Demonic Fire descended upon the starlight warrior, enveloping it completely. *Thud! Thud! Thud!...* Several muffled crashes rang out in succession from within the demonic fire, shaking the void. Elder Tianzheng could not help glancing over, his face filled with shock. This fellow was actually brawling hand-to-hand with a starlight warrior! Only then did he recall that this man was a transformed demon beast, so naturally his physical body was formidable. Blame it on the rumors he had heard before, which spoke of demonic banners, spiritual swords, and sword arrays—all the standard methods of human cultivators—causing him to almost forget the man's identity. *Roar!* A heart-wrenching, bizarre howl rang out from within the demonic fire. Immediately followed by a tremendous boom, the demonic fire suddenly exploded. A cluster of white light shot backward, within which the vague silhouette of the starlight warrior's body could be discerned. Elder Tianzheng's eyelids twitched. In a single exchange, the starlight warrior had been pummeled by Qin Sang's fists and, combined with the demonic fire, battered back into its original form—without him even resorting to his sword array. He had never harbored high hopes that the starlight warrior could stall Qin Sang for long, but he had not expected it to be so fragile. Though knocked back to its original form, the warrior had not perished; as long as the talisman power was not exhausted, it could easily reconstitute itself, but it was already too late to intercept Qin Sang. Breaking through the obstruction, Qin Sang witnessed the scene of the Blood Demon avatar fighting one against two. The Blood Moon Wheel spun rapidly, aimed straight for Qingjun's fair neck. Everywhere it passed, a monstrous wave of bloody light surged as if tearing the void apart, its momentum truly terrifying. Qingjun had been in hot pursuit of Old Demon Ye's true body, on the verge of plunging into the blood pool, when the Blood Moon Wheel struck. Without so much as a glance at the Blood Moon Wheel, she maintained her charge, only giving the Five Directions Pagoda a gentle tremor. An instant later, it appeared directly above the Blood Moon Wheel. A low hum resonated. The projection of the Five Directions Pagoda manifested once more. As expected, the bloody light was pinned down by the dark pagoda, but the Blood Moon Wheel was extraordinary in its own right, continuing to lunge forward and break free from the suppression. Although the Five Directions Pagoda failed to completely suppress the Blood Moon Wheel, it bought Qingjun an opportunity. She leaped straight into the blood pool, slipping through the gap between two black chains, and vanished into the depths of the bloody water. At the same time, the Five Directions Pagoda flashed and followed closely behind her. The Blood Demon avatar did not give chase to Qingjun, merely letting out a disdainful sneer. If his true body could still lose in a one-on-one fight, he would hardly be worthy of being called the foremost cultivator of the Beichen Realm. *Screeech!* Jingyu gave a piercing cry. More than anyone else present, she yearned to obtain the treasure inside the blood pool. The Thunder Rosary blazed with light, giving birth to a new projection of the Thunder-Devouring Falcon. This projection, however, was far more lifelike than the previous one. Craning its neck to cry out, the phantom spread its wings and charged at the Blood Demon avatar. Unwilling to take the blow head-on, the Blood Demon avatar shifted sideways and hesitated for an instant, his mouth continuously chanting incantations. At that moment, countless blood-colored runes manifested out of thin air around Jingyu, spinning relentlessly around her in eerie, distorted contortions. Jingyu felt the blood in her body boiling, as if on the verge of being siphoned away by the runes. She had heard Qin Sang describe Old Demon Ye's methods. Faced with this, she knew she could not allow Old Demon Ye to complete his secret art, and immediately stimulated her bloodline power, sending arc after arc of lightning dancing across her plumage. *Rumble!* With Jingyu at the epicenter, a thunderstorm erupted. Countless lightning flashes blasted in all directions, shredding the runes to pieces. Jingyu merged into one of the lightning bolts, darting toward the blood pool with astounding speed! The Blood Demon avatar frowned. He had not anticipated that Jingyu was innately proficient in Thunder Escape and had momentarily miscalculated. Just then, seeing Qingjun had slipped away, he redirected the Blood Moon Wheel, slashing toward Jingyu once again. *Clang!* The Blood Moon Wheel struck what appeared to be empty space, yet a resounding metallic clang rang out. Then, a flying sword materialized out of the void. Having just repelled the starlight warrior and seeing the danger, Qin Sang had hastily deployed his ebony sword to intercept the Blood Moon Wheel on Jingyu's behalf. The interior of the blood pool was also exceedingly complex; only Jingyu knew the exact location of the Corpse Flower Blood Amber. The pressure on Jingyu instantly lifted. Breathing a sigh of relief, she plunged into the blood pool without looking back.