Tantai Wuji’s Aura of Power surged abruptly to its apex. His demonic core spun at a frenzied speed, demonic clouds roiling and rolling, dyeing the entire sky to resemble a dead city — a demonic domain.

Below, in the town, terrified screams rose up one after another.

But this was not all. He formed hand seals with both hands and chanted a sinister incantation beneath his breath — this was a modified technique he had forged based on the demonic scriptures of the void, now long since transcending its original understanding. Through his tempering and re-refinement, its Aura of Power had grown even more formidable.

It was only fitting that this thieving villain would be the first sacrificial offering to his demonic arts. Then he would deal with that traitorous rebel, Lang Jiuchuan.

“Demon Dragon — Soul Devourer.” Behind Tantai Wuji, a void black hole appeared, warped and distorted. Endless demonic energy poured out from that abyss, taking shape as a ferocious, roaring, black and malevolent demonic dragon. Carrying terrifying power that could devour souls and consume bones, it lunged at Feng Ya.

Faced with this demonic dragon — enough to make the souls of ordinary cultivators quake — Feng Ya’s gaze was cold and pitiless. His aura became void-like and formless. As the demonic dragon coiled toward him, he flickered away like a ghost, leaving only a fading afterimage behind.

The righteous sword in his hand suddenly swelled in power. With a single movement of his will, he gathered the true energy of heaven and earth and transformed it into a sword of karmic fire, which he unleashed in a fierce, savage cleave at the demonic dragon’s most vulnerable point.

Rumble.

Two forces of terrifying power collided. The entire town shook as though the earth were rolling over, with a continuous din of explosions. Countless buildings collapsed, and agonized screams drowned beneath the sound before being swallowed entirely, everything reduced to rubble.

Feng Ya’s strike was fierce and domineering. He did not pause for even a moment. He summoned the annihilating force of the Underworld’s desolation from within his soul and launched it in a wild, unstructured barrage at Tantai Wuji’s demonic core.

As long as negative emotions persisted and the dead kept falling, Tantai Wuji’s power could never be fully extinguished. He could still tear open the void and summon demonic energy from unknown places, making that demonic core seem inexhaustible.

This was deeply disadvantageous. He had to weaken that demonic core’s power.

And this wretched law of heaven and earth — it only ever oppressed those on the righteous path. It suppressed him to such a degree that if not for the fact that the common people were to be pitied, he’d have been happy to let this demon lord destroy everything outright!

He attacked without any pattern or method, doing his utmost to chip away at this vile creature’s power, denying him any moment to breathe, keeping him too occupied to act — buying even one more thread of a fighting chance for that fool, Lang Jiuchuan!

Yet the suppression of heaven and earth grew stronger and stronger. He could already feel the sluggishness as his body tried to release its power. His expression deepened with gravity.

It had to be decided swiftly — he must drive this demon into a dead end with no way out.

Tantai Wuji had no inkling of Feng Ya’s intentions. He only felt that the assault was growing fiercer by the moment. And on the other side, the power of the heavenly stars was ceaselessly purifying the demonic energy, causing his power to drain at an extraordinary rate.

If this entangling battle dragged on, the tide would shift against him. With this thieving villain tying down his movements and grinding away his combat strength, once the demonic energy throughout the world was fully purified, he would not merely face encirclement by the entire righteous path — even facing Lang Jiuchuan alone would become perilous.

Evil cannot overcome righteousness? He would be the very first to shatter that curse.

Though neither had voiced their intentions, the two of them had arrived at the same conclusion without any discussion. And so neither held back any longer — the assault intensified on both sides, until the entire town was reduced to near-total ruin.

In the sky, a cluster of thunderclouds suddenly began to gather. The dread, overwhelming might of ten thousand thunderbolts made one’s scalp tingle. Tantai Wuji’s brow furrowed, a feeling of foreboding washing over him — he did not notice at all the flash of ruthless resolve that passed through Feng Ya’s eyes.

Feng Ya suddenly charged toward Tantai Wuji and said, “Old demon, do you want to have a taste of what it feels like to be crushed to dust by the will of heaven and earth?”

What?

Tantai Wuji could not make sense of what those words meant. Yet Feng Ya gave him no time to think. He saw Feng Ya sweep toward him, channeling a thousand years’ worth of auspicious energy accumulated in that true body at unprecedented speed. He transformed into a streak of golden light and forcibly swept him away to a hundred li in the distance. That golden light seemed to invoke the laws of heaven and earth from the vast unknown, causing a pillar-thick golden bolt of lightning, hidden within the thick thunderclouds, to come crashing down toward them with a deafening boom!

Feng Ya pressed his palms together and then thrust them apart, pinning Tantai Wuji firmly in place. “This filthy thing — I’m returning it to you!”

The words had barely left his lips when the lightning struck.

Tantai Wuji’s expression changed drastically. He frantically drove his demonic core to deflect the overwhelming thunderbolt. Before he could fully shield his entire soul, the lightning force had already blasted both him and that madman villain to pieces.

Crushed to dust.

He watched as that true body was genuinely struck by the thunder-fire of heaven’s will, reduced to flying ash — and that ash was blown straight into his face. His eyes nearly split apart in rage.

Crushed to dust. This was what it truly meant to be crushed to dust.

That wretched thief deserved the most hateful of deaths!

Had Tantai Wuji’s current form possessed actual flesh and blood, he would surely have vomited a mouthful of old blood. Yet he had no time to dwell on it, for his soul had taken the full force of that divine lightning strike of heaven and earth. His demonic core cracked open, and his soul was torn apart in searing, rending agony. The power of the thunderbolt blazed within his demonic form, seeking to incinerate and destroy him from soul to body — utterly, completely.

No — no, it could not end like this!

Tantai Wuji felt his own power retreating at a terrifying speed. His demonic energy could no longer repair the demonic core nor sustain the cohesion of his demonic form. Left with no choice, he summoned the Blood Soul Lantern and performed a blood-escape through the void.

Feng Ya pressed his advantage without mercy, firing the Lunar Yin force that guarded his soul into that blood-sea void, striking Tantai Wuji once more.

Tantai Wuji: “!”

Madmen — every single one of them was a madman!

Lang Jiuchuan, this nameless thieving villain — a lunatic willing to lose eight hundred of his own just to deal a thousand in damage — ugh, ARGH!

All fell still and calm. If not for the enormous pit and crater left behind, no one would ever know that a ferocious battle of thunderbolts had taken place here.

Feng Ya’s soul grew formless and incorporeal. The remnant will of that force drew ever closer, threatening him, seeking to devour him.

“This time, I truly can only help you this far.” The corner of Feng Ya’s mouth seeped golden blood — his soul was shattering. He had repeatedly defied the will of heaven and earth, all of it sustained by resisting with Tantai Wuji’s true body — a vessel bearing ten thousand threads of auspicious fate. Now, after wave after wave of depletion, if he lingered here any longer, he would be utterly erased by the laws of heaven and earth.

Fortunately, he had still managed to use the auspicious fate stored in Tantai Wuji’s true body to inflict grievous damage upon him. Heh — to have been outmaneuvered by the very body he himself had spent a thousand years cultivating, Tantai Wuji would surely be maddened with rage. Yet this would also drive him further and further into the depths of demonic corruption.

“From here on, it falls to you!” Feng Ya murmured softly, and then the void behind him rippled — and he vanished from the spot entirely.

Lang Jiuchuan, still within the demon-slaying formation, channeling the power of the array to sustain the celestial star force and the demon-purifying energy, seemed to sense something. Her eyes flickered faintly, growing slightly red at the corners — yet those eyes grew even clearer and brighter than before.

“What remains — I leave to myself.” Her clear, bright eyes held nothing but absolute resolve. She fixed her gaze upon the sky, growing cleaner and more serene by the moment, and pressed two more seal-forms into the five-colored earth altar.

The power of the demon-slaying formation erupted violently. The heavenly stars grew ever more brilliant, their silver radiance shining brighter and brighter, the speed of purification accelerating — yet the price was that the faint glow surrounding Lang Jiuchuan’s body dimmed by another degree.

This formation used her as its core, its eye — it was her soul’s power reaching out to commune with the will of heaven and earth.

The more powerfully the formation blazed, the greater the drain upon her vital energy. Once it was burned away entirely, then she would…

“It’s nearly time.” Lang Jiuchuan spoke softly beneath her breath, her gaze lifting toward the horizon.

Jiang Che leapt to his feet in an instant, standing shoulder-to-shoulder with her. His tiger-like eyes flashed with golden light, and a threatening roar resonated from deep within his throat.

It’s here!