Bab 14: Sudden Violence
Editor: GemVoo
The upper house disciples of Swords Gate could only enter the Demon Ruins once a month, hence, there were nearly a thousand of them trapped in this demon-infested land. It was an undoubtedly a calamity deserved by the upper house disciples. All these years, the Demon Ruins was casually treated as their own training ground that they did with as they pleased. Although there were often cases of death during the training sessions, there weren't any significant flaws in this training method. Therefore, the Demon Ruins had received little to no attention from the top brass of the Swords Gate.
It was the norm for the upper house disciples to enter the Demon Ruins to train, no one was able to foresee that matters would devolve to such a degree. The demons reversed the roles of hunter and prey, and now the upper house disciples found themselves as the prey that was at the mercy of the demons!
Within the radius of a hundred miles, the thousand upper house disciples ran back and forth in frenzied panic. Some gathered in groups to resist and fight back against the demons while some ran around trying to find safety for themselves. Wave after wave of demons razed the land in search of them.
Countless disciples were held captive by the demons; their four limbs were tied to the carrying poles like pigs being readied for slaughter. Their movements were restrained and helpless. The poles were each carried by two demons on their shoulders as they brought their prisoners back to the depths of the Demon Ruins… no one knew where they were headed.
And more of the upper house disciples were killed during the resistance!
Tens of thousands of demons in the Demon Ruins rushed out of their nests. They could be seen everywhere in the land of a hundred miles radius. Their constant advance tightened the available space the remaining upper house disciples; it was like a noose that was gradually closing on their necks.
"During the ancient times, the humans were petty and low. They were like mere sheep on two legs to the great demons—they only lived as sacrificial livestock! The offerings we used during the demonic sacrificial ceremonies were all humans!"
The demons laughed and mocked the humans during the raids, striking blow after blow on the confidence and determination of the resisting upper house disciples. The eerie laughter continued to sound out from the demons.
"Row after row, humans on poles, fire-burning roasts; grilling them with their own fats… they will be delicious!"
"Stab them once and let their blood fill the pots, offerings to the spirits of the world, the spirits of our ancestors. Let our ancestors feast on the delicious human blood!"
"These petty livestock dare to betray us and even repressed us, it is time to let them know who the true masters of this world are!"
...
Zhong Yue, Ting Lanyue, He Chengchuan and the others stayed in a group, they were repeatedly raided by the demons, there were originally a hundred of them, but now only less than 20 of them remained. The others either perished resisting or were captured by the demons during the chaos.
The dozens that were left were also injured, large and small wounds littered their bodies—they were in a state of devastation. Even the strongest three: Zhong Yue, Ting Lanyue, and He Chengchuan, also looked like they were vacillating between life and death. They nearly died a few times while fighting with the mutated demons.
The Mantis Demon skeleton Zhong Yue had was also thrown away due to its cumbersomeness that would affect his combat prowess, leaving only the two scythe-like skeletal arms as weapons.
The two scythe-like arms were each eight feet long, slightly longer than an ordinary man's height. Although they weren't soul weapons, their sharpness was superior to soul weapons. Zhong Yue controlled it, the darksteel scythes swung and waved like the wind—a single slash could cut through the bodies of the ordinary demons like butter!
But, there were too many demons. It was hard to spot traces of a mutated demon previously. But now, there seemed to be mutated demons everywhere they looked. There would almost be one mutated demon among a group of hundred demons!
Even Zhong Yue nearly died a few times after encountering the mutated demons. Although he had slain a mutated Mantis Demon before, those Mantis Demons were of the lowest tier of minion demons within the Demon Ruins hierarchy. Their status was not even comparable to that of the Spider Demons. The strength of the other mutated demons was far superior to the mutated Mantis Demon!
The mutants of the other demon races were strong; some of their feathers were made of gold essence. Some of the spiderwebs were very tough. It would take dozens of slashes from the darksteel scythe to break it. Some of them had their bones covering their bodies as a protective metallic exoskeleton. They were all strong in their own respect.
After all the battles, He Chengchuan and the others also saw the strength and valiance of Zhong Yue. The [Spring Thunderbolt Swords Art] was stronger in his hands than anyone else's, ruthlessly killing anyone or any demon that dared to obstruct his path!
In addition, Zhong Yue could cast the [Spring Thunderbolt Swords Art] while controlling his darksteel scythes. Wherever the scythes passed, corpses of demons would be left strewn across the ground in its wake. They were stronger than Ting Lanyue who was also controlling her weapons—it was just astonishing to the others.
However, the situation was growing more dangerous, the number of mutated demons continued to increase; even with his immense strength, Zhong Yue was helpless against such a horde of mutated demons. Thus, the others were mostly surprised by his true power, but their attentions were nonetheless more directed toward their own lives.
"If we still haven't departed the Demon Ruins, the higher-ups of Swords Gate will surely notice the abnormality. They will then enter the Demon Ruins and investigate the matter."
Ting Lanyue started encouraging the others, "We only need to survive for another two or three days before the Qi Practitioners come in to appease the situation."
"Two or three days? I'm afraid we can't."
He Chengchuan raised his head revealing a face of wry smiles. There were groups and groups of Hawk Demons flying across the sky, the demons' sharp hawkeyes scanned the ground searching for the upper house disciples. He said, "Senior Martial Sister Ting, the demons are becoming overwhelming in number, even the mutated demons are getting more numerous, we would be considered lucky if we can even hold for another hour!"
One of the female disciples heaved a heavy sigh, "If only someone can escape out of the Demon Ruins and report the situation to the two elders."
Zhong Yue shut his eyes, and secretly his soul entered his psyche ocean, he asked, "Xin Huo, do you have an idea of how we can escape?"
"There are too many minion demons here, even with all of your strengths, it is impossible."
Xin Huo was really straightforward, he said, "Furthermore, I can sense the aura of the demon Qi Practitioners, although they are small and petty to me, to all of you, they are still too strong. Also, I can still sense a secret within this world of Demon Ruins, something reminiscent of the ancient age—dark and evil…"
"Demon Qi Practitioners?"
Zhong Yue shivered coldly, how strong were the Qi Practitioners to them, the upper house disciples? The difference in their strength was like the difference between heaven and earth. Now, there were demon Qi Practitioners in Demon Ruins. The circumstances were growing ever so bleak!
"Other than the demon Qi Practitioners, there's still a dark and evil ancient aura… Could it be stronger than the demon Qi Practitioners?"
"Way beyond the level of the demon Qi Practitioners, but the ancient aura seems to be suppressed and sealed, or it might just be in deep hibernation. It could even already be dead. All in all, it only gave off a slight trickle of aura."
Xin Huo meticulously sensed, he said, "I can see, the demon Qi Practitioners are preparing to start a sacrificial ceremony of great scale, trying to awaken that ancient aura, if they succeed… then things would get really fun. It will definitely make the country bumpkins of Swords Gate go crazy! Young descendant of the Fuxi Celestial Race, if you hand over control of your body to me now, I can bring you to safety, but in that case, I will be exposed, and I can only fight our way out of Swords Gate. We would henceforth be on the path of the wanderer."
The little flame was filled with excitement, he said, "I am not as strong as before, and I haven't found a suitable inheritor of Xin Huo. There are still strong figures in the Swords Gate that can stop me; hence, while escaping, I am planning to detonate and release the devil souls beneath the Swords Gate! These devil souls are countless times stronger than the ancient air. They can definitely wash the Swords Gate in blood. Then we can find our way out…"
Allowing Xin Huo to control my body is definitely not going to happen!
Zhong Yue erased the dangerous idea from his mind; this Xin Huo was definitely way more dangerous than the demons!
"Kiddo Yue, if you are really about to get killed, no matter what, I will step in and intervene regardless of your opinion!" Xin Huo shouted in Zhong Yue's psyche ocean.
Zhong Yue pondered and thought carefully; suddenly, an idea came into his mind, and he was renewed with spirit. He whispered, "Senior Martial Sister Ting, Senior Martial Brother He, when we meet with the next wave of demons, just show them a little resistance and let them capture us, I have a plan that might just get us out of here!"
Ting Lanyue and the others were visibly moved. They could vaguely guess his plan. They gazed at each other and slightly nodded.
Zhong Yue immediately unpacked the two eight-foot-long darksteel scythes and buried them in the ground.
Ting Lanyue was getting a little worried, she whispered to him, "Junior Martial Brother Zhong, how far can your psyche reach? Is it really able to…"
Zhong Yue shook his head and replied in a low voice, "Keep quiet! The demons are coming!"
"There, humans!"
The sounds of the demons were creepy and eerie, a group of Spider Demons found them, and a few female Spider Demons exclaimed in delight, "There are little bull calves of humans! If you dare to resist, we will slaughter the little heifers and have fun with you little bull calves!"
The faces of the male disciples turned pale white instantly, they feigned resistance and then allowed the demons to capture them. The Spider Demons spurted out silks of spiderwebs, tightly trussing up the upper house disciples.
"Little bull calves of humans..."
One of the female Spider Demons caressed He Chengchuan's cheek with affection. She smiled, "Eating up the little bull calves while having sex is the thing I love to do the most!"
The leader, a mutated Spider Demon warned her, "Don't stir up any troubles, the elders still need their blood as offerings to the ancestors!"
Dozens of low-status Mantis Demons came forward and carried the human prisoners on their shoulders, carrying them deep into the Demon Ruins.
"Bring them all up to the sacrificial altar! When the elders arrive, we will sacrifice these two-legged sheep, offer them to our demon ancestors and awaken the spirits of the ancient ancestor!"
One of the Mantis Demons that seemed to be the group leader was overlooking the progress, he said excitedly, "And we will awaken the common ancestor of the demons, the Tian Myriad Mother!"
"Tian Myriad Mother?"
On the carrying pole, the hearts of the disciples skipped a beat. Ting Lanyue mumbled, "Shit, these abominable creatures want to awaken the Tian Myriad Mother…"
Zhong Yue asked curiously, "Senior martial sister, what is this Tian Myriad Mother?"
Before she was able to answer the question, the Mantis Demon group leader said with a belittling smile, "Tian Myriad Mother is the common ancestor of the Great Wilderness demons, the devil god of the demon race! The firstborn of Tian Myriad Mother was the ancestor of the Tian Elephant demons; her second child was the ancestor of the Hawk Demons; the third was the Fire Demons' ancestor… while we, the Mantis Demons, are the descendants of her youngest child. Our status is lower than the others but still higher than you humans. You, humans, are merely livestock, many years ago our ancestors preyed upon the humans. Especially you little human heifers, we will catch you and then strip you of your clothes…"
The Mantis Demon group leader pinched the cheek of Ting Lanyue, he laughed mockingly, unbeknownst to him, miles behind them at the spot where Zhong Yue and the others were captured, two big scythes came out from the soil and followed behind them close to the ground!
Unknowingly, the Mantis Demons carried them away from the encirclement of the demons. Zhong Yue and the others glanced at the surroundings, the demons were getting fewer in number, while in the middle of the Demon Ruins, the smoke of Demonic Qi rose high into the sky. That should be the spot of the sacrificial altar that the demons spoke about.
"Die!"
All of a sudden, Zhong Yue sonorously shouted out loud, the two eight feet scythes appeared out of nowhere, whirling and whizzing through the air. The two scythes sliced through the Mantis Demons from the back end of the line straight through to the front!
Pu Pu Pu!!
The heads of the Mantis Demons carrying the poles jetted up into the sky as the demon blood spurted out from their necks. Not a single Mantis Demon head was left attached to its respective body. Right at this time, under the control of Zhong Yue's psyche, the two scythes boomeranged back—shua shua shua—shining streaks of blade light could be seen as the scythes cut through the head of the Mantis Demon group leader!
The psyche gushed out from in between his eyebrows—shua shua shua—shining lines of blade slashes and the spiderwebs that restrained him were no more. He leaped up and manipulated the scythes to help the others break free from the spiderwebs. He solemnly said, "We must go now, we might still be able to make it out of the Demon Ruins alive!"
-- Hadiah diterima