Chapter 185: Chapter 90: True Demon

“Junior Brother, the Birch Peak here seems to have shrunk a little.”

Iron Head said, his Grotto Dark Dharma Eyes wide open.

The Demon Realm seemed to have receded about an inch here, creating a gap where it had once been almost perfectly flush with the Concealing Array.

Yinjiao, who stood beside him, was lost in thought for a moment before his expression abruptly changed.

“This is bad! Senior Brother, reel the Demon-Catching Tripod back in, quickly!”

Iron Head had absolute faith in Yinjiao, so he immediately started reeling in the line to retrieve the Demon-Catching Tripod from the Demon Realm.

Yinjiao quickly explained to his Senior Brother:

“Slaying Celestial Demons shrinks the Demon Realm. Even if the change is minuscule, it would accumulate over time and surely speed up the mending of the Heaven and Earth Embryonic Membrane. But the Six Great Sects haven’t been doing that, which means there must be a reason why.”

He reasoned,

“It’s one thing if the cost in manpower and resources is too high, but if they’re being stopped by some kind of Celestial Demon within the Demon Realm, then we need to be on high alert.”

Hearing this, Iron Head immediately pushed his Grotto Dark Dharma Eye to its absolute limit, his vision piercing through the dense layers of Demonic Qi.

The Demonic Qi obstructed his vision, limiting his sight to a range of about half a mile. Most of the active entities were Low-level Celestial Demons, and besides their numbers having thinned out a bit, he couldn’t see anything unusual.

Even so, Iron Head put all his strength into dragging the Demon-Catching Tripod out of the Demon Realm.

CLANG!

The Demon-Catching Tripod landed on the ground with a heavy thud.

This time, the tripod held only a single Low-level Celestial Demon. Since it wasn’t possessing a body, it was impossible to even tell what kind of Celestial Demon it was.

Iron Head slowly breathed a sigh of relief and shot out a jet of Celestial Yang Fire, preparing to annihilate the ethereal Celestial Demon.

Just then, the previously silent Demon-Catching Tripod erupted with a deafening bang. The Restrictions on its surface flared to life, coalescing into one Lock Chain after another that wrapped around a Formless Shadow.

Iron Head’s hair stood on end. He instantly reverted to his true form: a magnificent, powerfully built black hound that stood a full ten feet tall at the shoulder, its fur a deep, charcoal black.

Globes of bluish-yellow Celestial Yang Fire blazed fiercely at its sides.

Thunder rolled and Five-Colored Thunder Light crackled, enveloping Yinjiao as he shot into the air. A powerful Sword Gang emanated from his turquoise Canglang Sword.

Chi Yu’s senses were the sharpest. Her face tensed as she drew her small knife, the Celestial Demon Blood Transformation Divine Light flickering unstably along the blade.

Ji Feng’s perception was the weakest of the four, and she had no idea what was happening. But seeing her three seniors—two Senior Brothers and one Senior Sister—react as if facing a formidable foe, her heart leaped into her throat, and she put up her guard.

“How very interesting. A mere Dog Demon has actually learned the True Yang Body—and the Top Tier Celestial True Gang, no less. Back in the day, not even many True Disciples of the Nine Yang Sect possessed such pure True Yang. I wonder what those stubborn old Daoists would look like if they saw you.”

The muscles all over Iron Head’s body bulged, its frame swelling by another size as it pushed both its Bright Qi Talent and Grotto Dark Dharma Eye to their absolute limits.

Despite this, it could only make out a blurry black shadow within the Lock Chains.

“This Demon-Catching Tripod of yours is quite loyal.” With a single struggle, the Formless Shadow snapped all the Demon-Catching Chains.

In the next instant, it vanished completely from Iron Head’s field of view.

Chi Yu raised her small knife and slashed, unleashing a streak of Celestial Demon Blood Transformation Divine Light that resembled a blood-red rainbow. The Divine Light arced through the air, striking empty space just five or six paces from the Demon-Catching Tripod.

A pitch-black, light-devouring arm reached out of the void and caught the streak of Celestial Demon Blood Transformation Divine Light in its hand.

“Celestial Demon Blood Transformation Divine Light. It doesn’t resemble the Divine Prohibitions created by those Demon Cultivators, and it’s different from the Profound Yin Blood Demon’s techniques as well. How strange, how marvelous.”

The blurry black shadow finally revealed its true form. Its body was a pitch-black, light-devouring void; any light that touched it was instantly absorbed, creating an impression of absolute darkness. This made its features difficult to discern, but one could vaguely make out a macaque-like face with protruding fangs and three eyes, each one startlingly large.

In the next instant, it vanished from its spot and reappeared in front of Chi Yu.

“Little girl, what in the world are you?”

Iron Head let out a furious roar and lunged in front of the black shadow, the roiling Yang Fire around its body surging toward the creature.

But faster still were streaks of Five-Colored Thunder Light that snaked through the air and coalesced into a dragon of pure lightning.

BOOM!

The lightning dragon slammed directly into the shadowy Celestial Demon.

For the first time, the Five Elements True Thunder—usually invincible against Celestial Demons—was utterly useless. The crackling lightning struck the creature’s body but failed to create even a ripple. It was as if the attack had been swallowed whole, disappearing without a trace.

Yinjiao instantly grabbed Chi Yu’s hand, pulling Ji Feng along as he activated Cloud Escape to make a swift retreat.

He had instantly determined that this was not an enemy they could handle.

“A fine Thunder Technique, a truly fine Thunder Technique! You, a Flood Dragon, are using the Five Elements True Thunder of Human Thunder instead of Dragon Thunder. How bizarre. It’s a pity your Cultivation is so low—only at the Qi Cultivation stage.”

The black shadow shook its head from side to side as if savoring the aftertaste of the Five Elements True Thunder.

The next moment, Iron Head clamped its jaws around the creature’s upper body. Blazing Celestial Yang Fire erupted from its mouth, gushing forth in a torrent.

Even though Celestial Yang Fire wasn’t known for its high temperature, the ground below was still scorched into a pool of roiling magma, the heat even affecting the Array Banners of the Concealing Array.

The black shadow braced its hands against Iron Head’s upper and lower jaws to hold them apart. For the first time, its body began to change, steaming and dissipating like mist within the Celestial Yang Fire.

“You Dog Demon! What immense Qi Power!”

It hadn’t expected Iron Head’s Qi Power to be so astonishing.

In the next instant, the black shadow transformed into a streak of black light and vanished. Even a being like it couldn’t withstand a direct blast of Celestial Yang Fire for long.

Iron Head’s jaws snapped shut on empty air. It instantly whipped its tail—like a Steel Whip—and slammed it into the ground.

The ground instantly shattered, a web of cracks spreading out for over a hundred feet.

Seeing that the Demon Shadow didn’t attack from behind, a sense of dread washed over Iron Head. It pushed its True Yang Body to the absolute limit, forming a barrier around itself.

“I’d better just kill you quickly. After all, even I can’t withstand the repulsion of the Heaven and Earth Embryonic Membrane for too long.”

The Demon Shadow materialized thirty feet in front of Iron Head, much like a cat that has grown tired of toying with its prey and is ready to deliver the final blow.

Roiling black qi condensed in its hand, forming a beam of Profound Light.

BOOM!

A bolt of pure black lightning struck the dark Demon Shadow.

Unlike the Five-Colored Thunder Light from before, this bolt effortlessly pierced the black Demon Shadow’s body, blasting a washbasin-sized hole clean through its torso.

In a flash of lightning, Yang Jing used Thunder Escape to appear instantly behind the black Demon Shadow. He seized it by the back of the neck and lifted its entire body into the air.

The next moment, a raging Yang Fire completely engulfed its body.

“A mere Two-Armed Black Sky… what did you think you were doing to my disciples?”

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