Although Void Piercing demon kings lurked within the deep sea regions of the Deep Blue Sea, Dao Lord Penglai had swept through these waters more than once.
While demon kings did exist here, their numbers were extraordinarily few.
Under such circumstances, with two Void Piercing experts overseeing the vessel, the warship of the Tianshang Battle Hall was virtually an invincible presence throughout the Deep Blue Sea.
Their journey was like splitting bamboo, slaughtering countless demons along the way.
However, this high-profile manner of travel caused a prudent Void Piercing Battle Immortal some concern. "Though the deep sea is not like the outer sea—the true front line of conflict between the Penglai Immortal Sect and the demons—Void Piercing demon kings still infiltrate from time to time to stir up trouble. Moving forward so conspicuously could easily provoke high-ranking demons to intercept and slaughter us."
Qi Sha did not accept the Battle Immortal's counsel, turning his gaze toward Yaoguang instead. "Hall Master, you have intervened time and again, not even sparing rank-nine great demons. Are you seeking to use real battles to quickly adapt to the shift in your power after advancing to Void Piercing?"
Yaoguang glanced at the acting hall master and did not deny it. "That is indeed part of my plan."
"Given the foundation you accumulated while sweeping across the eighty-eight peaks as a true disciple, Hall Master, rank-nine great demons likely offer no opportunity for you to display your true capabilities. Only Void Piercing demon kings can test the limits of your might. Therefore, your high-profile advance is inherently meant to lure out Void Piercing demon kings."
Qi Sha voiced his speculation, entirely confident in his deduction.
He then turned to the cautious Battle Immortal. "Demon kings or not, although the hall master broke through to Void Piercing not long ago, he is far from being as frail as you imagine. Besides, with me here, nothing will go wrong."
Recalling Qi Sha's repeated track record of forcibly slaying Void Piercing demon kings head-on, the Battle Immortal refrained from pressing further.
Indeed, even if they truly encountered a demon king, Acting Hall Master Qi Sha's presence was more than enough to back them up and guarantee absolute safety.
***
The Tianshang Battle Hall had assumed their lineup was formidable enough to run rampant throughout the entire deep sea, but it turned out they had clearly underestimated the power the demons possessed in this territory.
Before the warship could reach the lair corresponding to the Scarlet Scale Demon, while passing over a certain stretch of water, one of the Void Piercing Battle Immortals keenly sensed something amiss.
"The surrounding ocean currents show signs of artificial manipulation..."
As he spoke, he looked into the distance.
Out there, a marine storm was gradually taking shape.
Although it was not massive and posed no threat to their warship or the cultivators aboard, when combined with the traces of altered ocean currents...
"Destroy that storm," Yaoguang ordered prudently.
Qi Sha glanced at the scale of the tempest.
Several tens of thousands of li across.
For a Void Piercing Battle Immortal to obliterate it would likely require their full strength, which would jeopardize the stability of their primal caverns.
"Allow me," Qi Sha said as he rose into the air. Upon reaching a certain altitude, he drew the saber from his back.
Then...
The void trembled violently.
Boundless energy carrying what seemed to be the world's purest destructive might gathered along the edge of his blade, coalescing into a brilliant purple radiance.
After this purple glow had concentrated for less than a single breath, Qi Sha, standing in midair, struck out fiercely.
The next instant, the resplendent purple light tore open the vault of heaven. Shortly after shooting forth, it reacted furiously and expanded, swelling into a colossal purple tsunami.
The tsunami surged from several hundred meters across to several thousand meters, then to tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands, and millions of meters...
The purple brilliance surged relentlessly, dyeing the entire horizon in shades of violet.
Once this strike landed in the storm, it would undoubtedly scatter the tempest stretching tens of thousands of li with irresistible force.
However...
Just as the blade strike was about to rip through the storm, a sudden shaft of azure light shot out from its core.
The intensity of the energy within this azure light might not have matched the Dao of Destruction contained in the blade strike, but it focused all its force into a single point, puncturing a gap through the purple tsunami of light. Immediately following, a flying creature stretching dozens of li long, resembling a manta ray, soared out through the breach.
Aboard the manta ray, three silhouettes flared with radiance simultaneously.
A burst of scorching, rampaging energy akin to a blazing sun manifested above the creature.
Before this radiant energy could illuminate the world, ripples flickered across the void.
Standing on the warship, Yaoguang's acute perception of the spatial laws granted by his Child of the Void trait made him instantly realize the danger. "Watch out!"
The next instant, the Swimming Dragon Sword pierced through the void, soaring straight into the clouds.
Almost at the exact moment the Swimming Dragon Sword rocketed skyward, the blazing sunlight—still over ten thousand li away—seemed to execute a spatial jump, crashing down directly before the warship.
Had the Swimming Dragon Sword not surged forward at the first moment, stirring spatial ripples in a manner akin to the Sky-Cleaving Strike to slam violently into the sun and annihilate it with the power of the void, this blow—even if it could not harm Void Piercing experts like Qi Sha and Yaoguang—would have certainly inflicted devastating casualties on the Tianshang Battle Hall.
"A demon bio-warship?!"
"Three Void Piercing demon kings?!"
"Making such a high-profile advance, we've really hooked some big fish this time!"
Amidst a chorus of startled cries, the Void Piercing Battle Immortals ascended into the air in unison.
Without waiting for orders from Yaoguang or Qi Sha, the other Battle Immortals and cultivators immediately pushed the warship's formations to their utmost limit, swiftly cloaking the entire vessel in flowing, five-colored light.
"Three Void Piercing demon kings in these waters?!" Though Qi Sha was somewhat startled, he was not surprised that demon kings appeared in this region.
At most, the sheer number of them was unexpected.
"Junior Sect Master, pin down one demon king first! I will handle the other two. Once I've slain those two, I'll return to assist you!" Qi Sha barked in a low voice, preparing to charge forward.
"No! You just hold the line nearby and watch my flank. Leave these three demon kings to me!" Yaoguang said in a deep voice.
"That is too dangerous! Any being that attains Void Piercing and becomes a demon king possesses a lifespan of ten thousand years. Over such an expanse of time, they inevitably master one or two lethal ultimate arts. These arts pose such immense danger that even Peak Masters at the Void Refining realm without protective Dao artifacts must treat them with caution—"
"Follow orders."
Before Qi Sha could finish, Yaoguang cut him off.
Unleashing the divine ability of Void Flicker, his figure instantly manifested a thousand li ahead, directly before the demons.
Immediately following, golden light flowed across the Swimming Dragon Sword, carrying and compressing the power of the void into an exceptionally swift spatial trajectory that slashed straight toward the demon king specializing in the Dao of the void.
Just as the Swimming Dragon Sword was about to strike, what seemed to be a mirror materialized in the void before the demon king. Invisible spatial power emanated from it, instantly inverting and throwing the surrounding void into utter chaos.
It seemed as though any attack entering that space would have its trajectory shifted, the space warped, or even be reflected back to harm the attacker.
However...
The Void Sword was far too sharp.
Amplified by the Swimming Dragon Sword, a true Dao artifact, its edge and penetrative force had reached a level capable of slicing and destroying virtually anything in its path.
Before the Void Sword, the warped, inverted space seemed nonexistent, severed cleanly in a single stroke and scattering away layer by layer.
"Not good! A Dao art and a Dao artifact!"
The demon king's expression changed drastically. Enveloping itself in spatial power at once, it blinked away and reappeared several hundred li off.
Yet almost the instant it flashed away to dodge the sword, the brilliance of the Boundary-Crossing Ruler on Yaoguang's person flared simultaneously. Void Flicker carried the cutting edge of the Swimming Dragon Sword right behind the demon king once more, its tip stirring a sharp spatial edge that pierced directly toward the creature's true form.
"Look out!"
The other two Void Piercing demon kings reacted with incredible speed.
One locked its aura onto Qi Sha to prevent him from launching a sudden assault, while the other—bearing wings like a divine Qingluan—clasped its hands together, preparing to unleash an intensely compressed beam of condensed flame.
Then...
The void froze.
A power capable of suppressing and sealing all space descended from above, immobilizing the Qingluan-like demon king.
The Heaven-Sealing Stele.
Yaoguang directly dismantled that demon king's attempt at rescue with the Heaven-Sealing Stele. Seizing this opportunity, the Swimming Dragon Sword kicked up spatial ripples and tore straight into the true body of the first Void Piercing demon king.
Even though its body had been tempered thousands of times, possessing a resilience that ordinary spirit treasures could not breach, before a Dao artifact imbued with such potent void-cleaving power as the Swimming Dragon Sword, it was torn apart like paper, spilling blood across the vast sky.
"What a terrifying Dao artifact!"
Seeing this, Qi Sha, who had been maintaining absolute vigilance, felt a sudden wave of reassurance.
Demons were different from humans.
Humans took grotto-heavens as their foundation, planting Dao seeds within until they attained the rank of Dao Lord. Demons, however, cultivated their innate divine abilities. Once pushed to the extreme, these innate divine abilities evolved into innate Dao arts, which fed back into their physical bodies to manifest Heavenly Demon True Bodies.
To a certain extent, such true bodies served the same purpose as a human cultivator's grotto-heaven—acting as the vessel for their Dao seeds, which ordinary means could scarcely destroy.
Yet the combination of the Dao art Void Sword and the Dao artifact Swimming Dragon Sword was evidently far beyond what a Heavenly Demon True Body harboring an innate Dao art could withstand.
"Not only is that flying sword Dao artifact extraordinarily potent, but the power that sealed that other demon king..."
Qi Sha paused, his eyes falling on the Qingluan-like demon king.
Judging by the frozen spatial fluctuations around it, that, too, was distinctly the power of a Dao artifact.
Furthermore, Yaoguang had crossed nearly ten thousand li in an instant, which hardly seemed explainable by an ordinary Dao art either. Most likely...
It was yet another Dao artifact.
In other words...
Yaoguang possessed three Dao artifacts on his person alone?!
"Impossible!"
The moment the thought crossed Qi Sha's mind, he ruthlessly discarded it.
A Void Piercing cultivator carrying three Dao artifacts?
No!
To be precise, four!
Earlier, he had sold off a Longxiang Flying Ark!
Four Dao artifacts!
What an astounding fortune that was!
If it were given to him, he could instantly trade them for enough resources to cultivate all the way to Void Refining!
Moreover, harboring four Dao artifacts would grant an immense advantage in cultivating Dao arts and striving for the Void Shattering realm in the future.
In other words, he might even have a shot at reaching Void Shattering!
At this realization, Qi Sha's gaze drifted toward Yaoguang, who was fiercely battling the demon kings, his eyes flickering between light and shadow.
Chapter 332