“How perceptive.” That Xiangling Sect female disciple with an unfamiliar face smiled slightly. Gradually, her features transformed into another young man’s face – golden pupils, magnificent, robes bright and vivid. It was indeed Gui Yansheng.

He looked toward Gu Baiying and mocked: “You truly watch over her constantly, not willing to relax for even a moment.”

“Gui Yansheng?” Rongshuang said angrily: “How could he be here?” She looked toward Bujiang again, “You deceived us? The demon race truly cannot be trusted!”

Bujiang glanced at her and let out a mocking laugh: “Don’t pin every blame on the demon race. He came from among your sect’s disciples.”

Rongshuang was left speechless.

Zanxing looked at Gui Yansheng and said coldly, “His magical artifact, the Ashura Umbrella, has soul-stealing power. Senior Sister Zi Luo’s incident was just like this. It seems that before ascending to Heishi City, Sect Leader Rong’s disciple had already been replaced.”

Stealing others’ souls and then inserting himself into the victim’s skin – no one would detect his demonic qi.

“What do you want to do?” Zanxing asked.

Gui Yansheng smiled as he looked toward Zanxing. The demonic sha qi around his body was much more violent than before, and from within the heavy black mist, cold sounds and wails emanated.

“Why must you all meddle in affairs that don’t concern you?” The golden-eyed youth sighed, as if very troubled. “Now the entire world is submerged by great waters. Whether human or demon, noble or lowly, all will ultimately be drowned in the river waters. This is the only time since the beginning of heaven and earth that there has been fairness. Why must you shatter this fairness?”

“What kind of twisted logic is that?” Lingxin Daoren sneered: “Dying together is called fairness?”

“Isn’t it?” Gui Yansheng looked at him in surprise, then seemed to think of something and laughed: “That’s right, you’re not doing this for all living beings either. Rather than saying it’s for the common people, it would be better to say it’s for your pitiful spiritual veins. What’s wrong with dying together?” He smiled sweetly, but his eyes were cold without a trace of warmth: “Could it be that you’re reluctant to die?”

“Stop wasting words with him!” Rongshuang held her long sword and said to those beside her: “Attack together, kill him!”

Gui Yansheng smiled contemptuously, and a snow-white Ashura Umbrella immediately appeared in his hand: “Just with you people?”

Demonic yuanli surged like a tide, instantly flooding the entire wilderness.

Countless demon race members and sect disciples were terrified by this suddenly erupting demonic yuanli power. Even the earth was trembling.

“What?” Lingxin Daoren’s gaze froze.

With Gui Yansheng alone, he possessed such mad Heavenly Demon power. This strength was comparable even to Gui Diao Tang of years past.

But he was only a half-demon!

Zanxing looked at the golden-eyed youth and murmured: “…Xiaoyuan Pearl. He refined the Xiaoyuan Pearl.”

Every bit of Demon Lord yuanli that Gui Yansheng had condensed was infused with countless traces of the Xiaoyuan Pearl’s aura. Zanxing had fought with him before, and his current Demon Lord yuanli was completely different from when they had previously battled.

Zanxing herself had the Xiaoyuan Pearl fused with her spiritual veins within her body, but it was different from Gui Yansheng’s situation. Her demonic yuanli power and the Xiaoyuan Pearl’s energy were distinct and wouldn’t mix. But Gui Yansheng’s two forces had fused too well, so much so that the power rushing toward them also carried the blood-colored essence of soul devouring.

Gu Baiying’s Embroidered Bone Spear met the attack head-on, but they heard Gui Yansheng ahead burst into loud laughter. This laughter was unrestrained and arrogant, yet because of the ghostly mist wailing beside him, it carried a few traces of bleakness. He laughed loudly: “Why must you always oppose me?”

“I like rain, I don’t like sunny days.”

“I like fairness, but you insist on unfairness.”

“Since everyone in the world opposes me everywhere, and you want to protect all living beings, then I will destroy the three realms—”

He stared intently at Zanxing, but the snow-white paper umbrella in his hand flew toward the massive deep pit. Zanxing’s gaze sharpened: “Be careful, he wants to destroy that seed!”

Bujiang and Shaoyang Zhenren leaped up and swept toward the giant pit. The Ashura Umbrella suddenly opened before the giant pit, and on the snow-white umbrella surface, countless human figures suddenly appeared densely packed. Those figures on the umbrella surface were laughing, cursing, and expressing joy and anger as if truly alive. Then, large masses of black mist dispersed from within, and before their eyes, countless human figures appeared hazily. Those figures walked down from the umbrella surface and viciously pounced toward everyone.

“Soul devouring…” Zanxing gripped the Wuyou Stick and charged toward him: “Just how many people have you killed?”

The remnant souls walking down from the umbrella surface numbered in the hundreds and thousands, and were still increasing.

“They deserved to die!” Gui Yansheng stared at her viciously, “You should die too!” From around his body, countless black silky mists suddenly erupted, entwining like algae. Those black silky mists swirled and howled around him, gradually condensing into a strange human figure.

“Be careful!” Gu Baiying struck down a black mist in front of Zanxing with his spear and rushed to her side.

Mimi rolled on the ground, avoiding the black mist reaching toward her. It raised its head and let out a long roar, its fur expanding in the wind. In just a moment, the silver lion became like a majestic small mountain, moving about and letting out an earth-shaking roar.

Bujiang, Shaoyang, and the others were leading the remaining people in battle against Gui Yansheng’s remnant souls before the giant pit. Those remnant souls desperately pounced toward the black seed deep in the pit. People could be injured, while the remnant souls kept increasing. Everyone was temporarily at a disadvantage.

Zanxing raised her eyes to look ahead.

The human figure in front of Gui Yansheng condensed larger and larger, almost becoming a giant’s shadow. And as this giant became more solid, large patches of wounds began to appear on Gui Yansheng’s body.

These wounds initially were just a few scratches, as if he had been stabbed by someone’s sword. Then the wounds grew larger and larger, as if his entire person was rotting from inside to outside. These wounds also spread to his face. His originally handsome and amiable-looking face, as if scorched by fire, began to show large patches of scars.

“What have you done?” Zanxing’s voice was urgent as she raised her long stick above her head and fiercely struck down at Gui Yansheng.

But the Wuyou Stick was caught by someone.

That massive black human figure, the black mist figure, condensed in front of Gui Yansheng, easily grasped her Wuyou Stick. The demonic power forced Zanxing back so she could no longer advance.

Mimi roared and charged forward, crashing into the howling black mist, and was knocked to the ground.

“No, that’s not right.” Zanxing suddenly raised her head. This black mist wasn’t condensed from the Demon Lord’s yuanli but rather seemed to be formed from the Xiaoyuan Pearl’s aura.

But hadn’t the Xiaoyuan Pearl already been refined by him?

“You discovered it?” Gui Yansheng looked at Zanxing and laughed happily. His entire body was covered with wounds, not a single piece of good flesh remaining, yet he smiled particularly joyfully. He said: “Actually, the final technique of the Ten Thousand Ghosts Ashura Path – Ten Thousand Ghosts Devouring Heart – can be used not only on others, but also on oneself.”

His golden pupils glowed with an eerie light, his tone strange and inexplicable: “I used it on myself.”

“I didn’t refine the Xiaoyuan Pearl.” He gazed at Zanxing gently, as if joking, speaking word by word.

“It was the Xiaoyuan Pearl that refined me.”

“I offered myself as a sacrifice to the Xiaoyuan Pearl.”