Coiled within the half-demon’s serpent tail and squeezed tight, Lang Jiuchuan felt as though the bones in her body were grinding and cracking — every organ felt as though it had shifted out of place. But the killing blow was not from the coils themselves. It came from above.

Just as every onlooker who had seen this held their breath and screamed, screwing their eyes shut rather than watch those serpentine spines drive into Lang Jiuchuan’s skull — Lang Jiuchuan snapped a Thunder Seal from the tip of her finger.

Boom.

Divine thunder detonated above her head like a blossoming flower. Thunder fire climbed up along the spines, and the supreme yang, supreme divine thunder authority blazed with terrible power — the serpent tail’s flesh and scales split open and burned. Thunder fire entered the creature’s body, and the half-demon screamed in agony, its tail coiling involuntarily and slamming Lang Jiuchuan hard against the river’s surface.

Lang Jiuchuan coughed out a mouthful of dark blood, shaking from head to toe with pain, but she didn’t dare slacken. She gripped the talisman brush — still transformed into her sword — tight, let the Water Spirit envelop her, and drove herself straight at the half-demon.

It was a half-demon, half serpent. Its weaknesses were limited. If one considered the human half, they would be the heart and the skull. If one considered the serpent half, there was the seven-inch point on the body. But there was one point shared by both human and serpent — the three-inch tendon. Just as with its mother.

However, underwater, her abilities were somewhat hampered — it worked against her, not for her. She needed to get to dry ground.

Lang Jiuchuan took hold of the bone bell and gave a cold laugh. “Willow Spirit — she was your mother, wasn’t she? My dear child. Do you know how your mother died?”

She shook the bone bell. Its clear, ringing tone carried through the water, spreading outward — as though calling out to blood that recognized its own.

The half-demon’s body went rigid. Its slit pupils contracted sharply, its gaze locked onto the bone bell, unblinking. “Mother…”

Its voice was hoarse and trembling, and through it broke a fragment of something almost human — a grief that pierced the soul.

“She killed her — go, kill her now and avenge your mother!” A cold, sinister voice whispered abruptly into the half-demon’s ear.

At once, the half-demon’s demonic energy erupted in a storm of fury. A terrifying demonic power spread through the water. The flesh of the serpent tail that had been blasted and shredded was now covered in surging, writhing scales reasserting themselves. The look it fixed on Lang Jiuchuan was the look of a predator watching its prey.

Lang Jiuchuan shot out of the water and sprinted toward the pear groves on the riverbank. The half-demon’s tail swept, and it gave chase at blinding speed.

The one controlling it from behind cursed inwardly — Fool. A demon would always be a demon. No matter how powerful, it could be led around by the nose. On land, it certainly wouldn’t hold the same advantage as in the water.

The yin wind was damp and cold against her back, demonic energy pressing up behind her.

Lang Jiuchuan threw a Palm Thunder backward. The half-demon roared in a rage, and its serpent tail swept out like a steel whip, raising a wave of blood and stench that sent the birds and beasts of the grove scattering in all directions.

Something with demonic energy — run.

Lang Jiuchuan was jolted by the force of that tail sweep, a dull ache pressing through her chest and temples, her expression cold and dark. This serpent tail was a constant hindrance.

She called the talisman brush to her palm and transformed it into a sword. Her hands rapidly formed seals, her voice chanting: “Five Thunder Mighty General, Fire Chariot Marshal — soar through heaven and overturn the earth, drive the thunder and race through the clouds — Edict!“

She bit the tip of her tongue, and pure yang vital blood sprayed onto the talisman brush. Brilliant light blazed outward, and a terrifying thunder coiled and flickered along the talisman sword.

“Slay demons — vanquish evil!”

Her intent moved. The talisman sword swept toward the half-demon’s serpent tail.

The half-demon was struck with fear. Its demonic energy surged, just barely wrapping its lower half — and then the thunder-charged talisman blade arrived. That purple thunder light crashed down with the blade and cleaved hard into the creature’s waist.

Boom.

A massive mushroom cloud rose over the grove.

Lang Jiuchuan was thrown several stumbling steps by the rebounding force of the divine thunder, the taste of blood sweet on her tongue as it seeped from the corner of her mouth. Her hands were trembling.

The excessive drain meant there was not a single part of her body that didn’t hurt.

And yet it was not over.

The half-demon’s body had been severed at the waist by the divine thunder. It writhed and screamed, then used its demonic power to conjure two human legs. Both hands became claws, and it lunged at her, mouth open, fangs bared.

Even with its tail gone, the creature was still blindingly fast. With a sharp crack through the air, it was at her neck in an instant, fangs descending toward her throat.

Lang Jiuchuan twisted her neck to the side and drove her talisman sword upward.

Sizzle.

The half-demon’s mouth was pierced by the sword — but the venom dripping from its fangs spilled downward. The tatters of clothing Lang Jiuchuan wore barely slowed it; the venom ate through her skin with a sizzling, melting sound.

The pain turned her face utterly colorless. She forced a rapid shift in tactics, released the sword, and in a single fluid motion, her body flipped backward through the air — landing on the creature’s back. She gripped the Dizhong Bell, poured what little Dao resonance she had left into the bell body, and pressed it down with full force against the large Zhui vertebra at the back of its neck.

Clang.

The arcane thunder patterns carved into the bell body seemed to come alive. A purple thunder serpent drove violently into the spinal vertebrae, and pure yang thunder fire incinerated the bones from within.

Heaven’s thunder to slay demons.

The half-demon shrieked in agony. The razor-edged scales all over its body stood upright and tore free from the flesh, shooting toward Lang Jiuchuan behind it.

The Water Spirit enveloped her and bounced her clear — yet a few of the sharpest scales still slashed through her clothing, leaving deep gashes to the bone, blood welling up and soaking through the fabric. She inwardly steeled herself, and recalled the talisman sword to her hand.

Meanwhile, the half-demon was thrashing in torment from the thunder fire burning through its bones, toppling an entire cluster of thick-trunked trees. At just this moment, a blood talisman came tearing through the air. It hit the creature, and the entire body stiffened — an invisible force seized the binding contract within it and drove it to its limit, and the demonic energy that had been on the verge of dying out erupted once more into a frenzy. Its pupils were flooded with blood-red. It threw its head back and let out a shattering howl.

Lang Jiuchuan’s vision swam. Something struck her full in the chest — a crushing, heavy blow. She threw her head back and spat a mouthful of vital blood into the air.

She thought she saw a shadow hovering in the empty sky above, watching this scene with gleeful excitement, waiting for her to die here, baring its teeth in a savage grin. Her gaze turned cold and lethal. She produced the Dizhong Bell, pressed vital blood onto it, and the bell quaked and vibrated — then swelled to several times its size in an instant. Clang. Clang. It struck and rang out, the bell’s voice reaching straight to the highest heavens.

A question for the Heavenly Law: what is the fate of those who aid evil?

Boom — a bolt of heavenly thunder descended from above, striking some corner of the capital.

Those who ally themselves with demons and evil walk the path of evil themselves. They shall receive the judgment of heaven’s thunder.

A scream of agony rang across the sky.

Lang Jiuchuan could not hear it — but she noticed that the half-demon’s surging demonic energy had stalled, just for a moment.

Now.

“Heaven and earth are clear, the spirit sword multiplies ten thousandfold.” She hurled the talisman sword outward, and it split into ten thousand blades, a net of heaven and earth with not a single gap, descending upon the creature in a total annihilation strike.

The half-demon screamed and lashed out with its claws to meet them head on. The scales on its hands and the sword light erupted in a chain of sparks, crack after crack of explosive impact.

Lang Jiuchuan fell to the ground. Her strength was spent.

The half-demon was no better — and yet, driven by the contract binding within it, it forced itself forward and lunged to stand before Lang Jiuchuan. Its claws shot straight for her throat.

Lang Jiuchuan’s pupils constricted. This time it’s truly over.

Suddenly, the bone bell at her waist broke free and fell against the side of her neck — striking those incoming claws. A faint, luminous spiritual light surged from her wrist, coiling around the claw.

The half-demon froze. Fragments of memory detonated inside its skull — a man forcing open its mother’s womb, pulling it free…

That man—

No!

In that split second of crisis, the half-demon’s claw shifted one inch to the side — and closed around the stone beside Lang Jiuchuan’s neck instead. The force was so tremendous that the boulder was crushed to powder.

And Lang Jiuchuan, in that same instant, struck hard at its lower abdomen. Divine thunder erupted from her palm and drove into the spot, obliterating the demon core within.

The half-demon shuddered from head to toe and collapsed to one side. A blood-red binding contract shot out from the center of its brow — and in the same breath, a bolt of divine thunder descended from above and struck it directly.

The thunder fire blazed with terrible authority, burning the heavenly contract to ashes, severing every connection.

And the karmic backlash began to consume all parties involved.

The person who had been struck by the heavenly thunder was drenched in blood, breathing in ragged gasps, spitting out mouthfuls of vital blood. Their hair turned white strand by strand. In sheer terror, they watched as the black markings of the contract’s backlash spread crawling across every inch of their body…

Didn’t see that coming, did you? Nothing good waiting for you — only an unbroken chain of killing intent.