At the border of Xuan Prefecture.
True Monarch Crimson Fiend sent messages back to his master, the Eight Desolations Demon Lord, as he flew.
His true form was an evil shadow spirit that fed on fiendish qi.
And no fiendish qi could compare to a yin-fiend land formed by burying tens of thousands of cultivators together.
Thus, his favorite pastime was slaughtering cities and obliterating kingdoms, constructing pits of a hundred thousand or a million corpses, and dwelling within them to cultivate for decades or even centuries.
Thanks to his unique innate Dao art, ordinary cultivators found it exceedingly difficult to lock onto his form and slay him, which was why the Eight Desolations Demon Lord had sent him to infiltrate the Southern Domain and collaborate with Jing Zhengyang.
Now, however, the mission was complete...
His return was at hand.
With only an hour or two of travel left before departing the Southern Domain, the Void Refining demon cultivator felt an itch stirring within him.
In theory, Void Piercing, Void Refining, and Void Shattering belonged to the same broad realm.
A Void Shattering cultivator held higher status than a Void Refining one, but because there was no insurmountable chasm between them, a Void Refining cultivator did not necessarily have to grovel before a Void Shattering figure.
Just as a Void Piercing cultivator would show respect to a Void Refining one, but would hardly go around performing grand prostrations at every turn.
Under these circumstances, though the Eight Desolations Demon Lord had ordered True Monarch Crimson Fiend not to stir up trouble, he hardly treated that order as sacred gospel.
Besides, wasn't walking the demonic path all about doing whatever one pleased?
"What kind of experts could a tiny city of a mere thirty thousand cultivators have? I'll just drop by, take a small bite, and sweep away half of them to use as fertilizer for nurturing fiend qi..."
With that thought, the Void Refining demon cultivator swerved, plunging straight toward the small city he had targeted.
The instant he arrived above the city, he manifested his true demonic form, unfolding a massive black curtain spanning over ten thousand meters that rapidly expanded toward thirty thousand, fifty thousand, and then a hundred thousand meters, as if poised to engulf the entire city.
After all...
Since he was already here.
Taking a small bite and sweeping away half the populace wasn't much different from sweeping away everyone in the entire city.
In that case, why not eat his fill in one go?
The moment this demon cultivator appeared, everyone in the city was plunged into terror.
But before he could completely envelop the city, a sharp sword light slashed out from within. The slaughter and sharpness contained within it actually tore through the massive black curtain in midair.
"Void Piercing?"
True Monarch Crimson Fiend was somewhat astonished.
For a small city of only thirty thousand cultivators, having an Incandescent White Golden Core cultivator stationed here was already the upper limit; in theory, there should only be Radiant Sun Golden Core or even Crimson Golden Core cultivators.
Yet...
A Void Piercing cultivator had actually popped up?!
"Moxie?"
True Monarch Crimson Fiend immediately recognized the Void Piercing cultivator's identity.
The guardian of Xuan Prefecture.
Still...
He didn't seem particularly strong.
It would take only a little effort to slay him.
Given his strength, he could kill Moxie before that Domain Lord of the Southern Domain could even arrive to rescue him.
Furthermore, after making a scene here, the Master of the Southern Domain might assume this was merely retaliation from the Shadow Moon Sect, thereby lowering his guard.
With this thought, True Monarch Crimson Fiend projected his chilling divine mind: "The Heavenly Dao Sect killed a Void Refining peak master of mine; naturally, you must pay the price! Today, I shall slay a Void Piercing cultivator and refine a whole city to teach you all the consequences of opposing my Shadow Moon Sect!"
Instantly, the giant black curtain sweeping over the entire city rapidly contracted, transforming like a black cage to imprison Moxie's form.
Sensing the danger, Moxie struck with his sword again and again. The Dao art formed from the Grand Dao of Slaughter allowed him to display exceptionally refined close-quarters combat skills.
Yet the massive black curtain True Monarch Crimson Fiend had become was fundamentally an expanse of highly corrosive black fiend qi. Dispersed in one spot, it immediately coalesced in another.
No matter how Moxie struggled, the black cage made purely of fiend qi shrank steadily smaller.
The fiend qi within relentlessly corroded Moxie's body, congealing his grotto-heaven and disrupting its operation. He could clearly feel that under the corrosion of this fiend qi, the rotation of his grotto-heaven grew slower and slower...
Just when he felt that holding out for a few more minutes would bring mortal danger, the sky-spanning black curtain enveloping and binding him was suddenly torn asunder.
Like a bolt of silk sheared cleanly apart by a pair of smooth scissors, it was instantly sliced in two.
"Void Sword?!"
True Monarch Crimson Fiend, who had Moxie completely trapped, let out a terrified cry. The sky-filling fiend qi rapidly contracted, attempting to reform his true body and flee at maximum speed.
But before the fiend qi could coalesce, streaks of sword light imbued with the Grand Dao of Destruction shot forth with a roar, driven by the power of the void.
The fiend qi at the very core rapidly vanished into nothingness.
This was...
The Great Annihilation Sword Qi!
"The Master of the Southern Domain?! No!"
True Monarch Crimson Fiend shrieked in horror.
He immediately summoned his Dao artifact—a sheet of black silk that swept forward to envelop Yaoguang.
But before the silk could cover Yaoguang, the Swimming Dragon Sword, carrying the sword light of the Void Sword, struck the Dao artifact.
Having been nurtured by Yaoguang over these years, though the Swimming Dragon Sword had not yet reached high-grade Dao artifact status, it was already among the best of ordinary Dao artifacts.
Combined with this strike being infused with the Void Sword at the Great Accomplishment stage, the two forces overlapped, tearing the silk-type Dao artifact apart almost upon contact.
"My Black Sky Shroud!"
True Monarch Crimson Fiend cried out.
Yet facing a Void Refining expert like Yaoguang—who possessed the track record of having refined and slain Xie Tong—he had no room to mourn his Dao artifact.
Taking advantage of the Black Sky Shroud stalling Yaoguang, his form turned into a cloud of black mist, surging toward the border of Xuan Prefecture at peak speed, and then...
Plunged straight into the Heaven-Sealing Stele.
Cast remotely by Yaoguang, the Heaven-Sealing Stele trapped the Void Refining cultivator within.
Dao arts had their specializations.
This Void Refining cultivator was distinctly different from Xie Tong.
His Dao arts leaned toward life-preservation and sealing, and the Dao artifact in his hands was the same.
He was far from capable of wielding a Thunder War Halberd infused with lightning Dao arts to swiftly shatter the Heaven-Sealing Stele as Xie Tong had.
Even though, with the abilities of a Void Refining cultivator, he could break free from the Heaven-Sealing Stele in a dozen breaths, a dozen breaths...
Were more than enough to decide the outcome of a battle.
Just like now.
With its Artifact Master sealed, the remaining Dao artifact, the Black Sky Shroud, was entirely incapable of withstanding the Void Sword unleashed by the Swimming Dragon Sword.
In less than a breath, the spirituality within the Dao artifact was completely scattered and crushed.
Reaching out with an illusory hand, Yaoguang drew the damaged Dao artifact into his grasp.
"The Void Sword... its offensive power is a bit too fierce."
Yaoguang looked at the Dao artifact that now belonged to him as spoils of war...
More precisely, he felt a twinge of regret looking at the several tears ripped open by the Void Sword.
This Dao art could not directly annihilate vast swathes of living beings and matter like the Great Annihilation Sword Qi, and it struggled against creatures that could disperse into fragments or possessed numerous avatars. But in terms of frontal assaults and direct clashes, virtually no Dao art, Dao artifact, or living being could withstand a single strike from it.
"With such heavy damage, its value will probably be halved. While repairing it wouldn't be difficult with my abilities, in the time it takes to repair a Dao artifact, I could forge one or two new ones. Better to just sell it off cheaply."
Stowing the Dao artifact away, Yaoguang reached out again, placing his hand upon the violently vibrating Heaven-Sealing Stele.
With a shift of his will, the Swimming Dragon Sword soared into the air, stirring up a vast surge of void power, compressing it layer upon layer to condense an incomparable sharpness.
Next, the Heaven-Sealing Stele opened, and True Monarch Crimson Fiend's figure surged out.
"Yaoguang, my master is—"
The Void Refining demon cultivator opened his mouth to declare his pedigree, but the primed Swimming Dragon Sword, bearing the razor edge of spatial severing, tore through his body on the spot.
Following closely was the Great Annihilation Sword Qi, which was even more effective against demon cultivators.
Consecutive strikes left the demon cultivator completely dazed.
In particular, after the first strike, before the demon cultivator's heavenly demon origin could coalesce, a second wave of attacks followed immediately.
A vast amount of heavenly demon origin was torn apart, scattered, and refined by the grotto-heaven Yaoguang manifested.
"Yaoguang, I am the personal head disciple of the Eight Desolations Demon Lord, a high-ranking member of the Shadow Moon Sect who has attained Void Refining! If you dare kill me, even if only to preserve the sect's honor, the Shadow Moon Sect will never let this rest! When that time comes, a full-scale invasion—"
Suppressed by the Heaven-Sealing Stele and unable to break free, True Monarch Crimson Fiend kept issuing verbal threats.
But before he could finish, Yaoguang cut him off: "Then let it be all-out war."
He stated bluntly, "The Shadow Moon Sect has no shortage of Void Piercing, Void Refining, and Void Shattering elders, but demon cultivators have always had limitations. A Void Piercing cultivator might fight evenly with a Heavenly Dao Sect Void Piercing expert, but by Void Refining, their momentum wanes, and at Void Shattering, they are distinctly inferior to our Void Shattering experts. If a real war breaks out, let us see whether your Shadow Moon Sect's demonic flames burn hotter, or the Heavenly Dao Sect's immortal might stands firmer."
"Why go so far? Regardless of who wins or loses, the Southern Domain will be reduced to scorched earth! When that happens, won't you, the Master of the Southern Domain, be the one who suffers? As long as you spare me, I can plead with my master so that from now on, our Shadow Moon Sect and the Southern Domain mind our own business..."
"Please don't. Demon cultivators of the Shadow Moon Sect—come, by all means. The more, the better."
Yaoguang did not back down in the slightest.
With the help of the [Demon Hunting] branch, a single Void Refining demon cultivator could increase his realm progress by over ten percent. The more Shadow Moon Sect demon cultivators that came, the better.
In fact...
Once his cultivation reached higher heights, if the Shadow Moon Sect's demon cultivators didn't come, he would make a few rounds along their borders himself.
...
In less than half an hour, True Monarch Crimson Fiend's vitality was heavily depleted, leaving him powerless to resist.
Considering the Eight Desolations Demon Lord standing behind him, however, Yaoguang did not spend several days at the border completely refining the Void Refining demon cultivator. Instead, keeping him suppressed with the Heaven-Sealing Stele, he carried him straight toward Nandu.
Before departing, Yaoguang transmitted an assignment through his divine mind: "Complete your monitoring station network as quickly as possible. If you need manpower or materials, request them from Li Hanqiu! The moment demon cultivators cross the border, notify me immediately! If a Void Shattering demon cultivator enters, seek aid directly from the sect!"
"Understood!"
Watching Yaoguang suppress and refine a Void Refining demon cultivator, Moxie's eyes burned with excitement.
His entire clan had been murdered by demon cultivators of the Shadow Moon Sect. As long as he saw Shadow Moon demon cultivators die, his heart felt immense gratification.
Above all, he had contributed to the death of this Shadow Moon demon cultivator. It was an indirect vengeance, doubling his satisfaction.
Chapter 373