Chapter 154: The Soul of Qingyangzi Perishes, Reinforcements from the Demon Suppressing Bureau Arrive

Qingyangzi furrowed his brows as he gazed at the figure standing before him. Under the cold, bleak moonlight, the figure turned out to be a mere youth of tender years.

The youth appeared to be only sixteen or seventeen, blessed with a striking and handsome face. Two sword-like eyebrows slanted upwards into his temples, and a pair of phoenix eyes exuded natural majesty. His nose was high and straight, his thin lips pressed tightly together. Long, jet-black hair fell loosely over both shoulders, and a dark-blue robe fluttered in the breeze. A black cloak was draped casually across his shoulders, radiating an indescribable, unrestrained elegance.

"Who are you?"

Qingyangzi asked in a deep voice. The newcomer clearly meant no good; the oppressive aura radiating from his body alone showed he was no ordinary person.

"You are not worthy to know."

The youth smiled with a wicked charm, flicked his long sleeve, and a streak of crimson light lashed toward Qingyangzi.

"Demonic energy! You are a fiend!"

Qingyangzi scrambled to block the attack, but the demonic energy was overwhelmingly powerful. With a single blow, his copper-coin sword was shattered, scattering the threaded coins across the ground.

"Little Taoist, it is time for you to set off on your final journey."

The youth murmured softly, instantly transforming into a swarm of bats that hurtled toward Qingyangzi.

"Ah!"

Qingyangzi cried out in alarm, hastily channeling his incantation.

"Vajra Subjugation Seal!"

A golden seal materialized in mid-air, hurtling straight toward the youth.

The red-robed youth curved the corners of his lips, his eyes filled with utter mockery.

"Overestimating your own capabilities!"

With a disdainful chuckle, he reached out and caught the golden seal in his palm, then squeezed down fiercely.

With a deafening crash, the Vajra Subjugation Seal deployed by Qingyangzi shattered instantly. The moment the golden seal burst into fragments, Qingyangzi was sent flying backward through the air, vomiting a mouthful of fresh blood.

He crashed heavily to the ground with a dull thud.

"How can this be?!"

Qingyangzi stared wide-eyed, his eyeballs nearly popping out of their sockets. He refused to believe that the Vajra Subjugation Seal he had meticulously set up could be so utterly fragile.

His Vajra Subjugation Seal was one of the premier cultivation techniques in the entire realm of cultivators! Yet it was defeated as easily as dry weeds.

What kind of monstrous demon was this? How could it possess such terrifying strength?

"Heh, little Taoist, I told you long ago, not just anyone has the qualification to contend with me."

The youth smiled fiendishly. His figure melted into a flash of crimson light, vanishing instantly from where he stood, only to reappear beside Qingyangzi the next instant.

He raised his hand and delivered a palm strike. Tiny sparks flickered in the center of his palm, resembling a cluster of burning candles.

The strike looked completely ordinary, yet the energy contained within it was utterly terrifying.

Qingyangzi felt his entire body sink, as if crushed beneath a boulder weighing thousands of jun. His limbs turned weak and numb, completely devoid of even the slightest scrap of strength.

"What, what kind of technique is this?"

Qingyangzi forced the words out with great difficulty; by now, he could barely speak coherently.

"What do you think?"

The youth smiled pleasantly. One hand pressed against Qingyangzi's chest, while the other palm gently pressed downward, as though attempting to burrow straight into Qingyangzi's heart.

"Oh no!"

Abruptly sensing mortal peril drawing near, Qingyangzi frantically channeled his inner Qi to protect his vital heart meridian. At the same time, he flicked his wrist, sending five silver needles flashing out in a bizarre arc, stabbing straight for the youth's throat.

The silver needles struck the youth's chest with a metallic clanging sound, yet they failed to inflict even the slightest scratch.

The youth's skin was astonishingly tough; even silver needles were utterly powerless to pierce it.

Qingyangzi's pupils constricted slightly, a heavy look of solemnity in his eyes. This was the first time he had ever encountered such a situation. The opponent's resilience was so monstrous that even if he weren't human, he was unquestionably an absolute monster.

"Brat, prepare to meet your maker."

The youth let out a cold snort, his right hand suddenly tightening. With a suction force from his palm, he hoisted Qingyangzi up by the neck.

Qingyangzi struggled desperately a few times, but failed to break free from the youth's iron grip, ultimately left at the mercy of his captor.

The youth slammed his right foot fiercely into the ground, sending an invisible wave rippling outward.

Boom! Boom!

The valley trembled violently, dust billowing everywhere. Two deep trenches were violently carved into the earth by the impact; some boulders were dislodged from the crevices while others were snapped cleanly in half, causing the entire valley to sway ceaselessly.

"So powerful! Just who in the world are you?!"

Qingyangzi roared angrily. He never expected that the intruder would dare to openly attack a member of the Demon-Suppression Bureau. Such audacity was utterly lawless and deserved a thousand deaths!

"Haha, little Taoist, you talk far too much."

The youth sneered, taking a sudden step forward and tightening his grip.

Crack! Snap!

Qingyangzi's ribs shattered simultaneously, his body plunging downward.

Qingyangzi's eyes bulged wide, filled to the brim with venomous hatred.

"Ah!"

A miserable shriek pierced the sky, scattering all the dust in the valley into nothingness, as the youth slammed Qingyangzi into the ground with a single punch.

"Little Taoist, your life belongs to me now."

The youth said coldly, his eyes brimming with tyrannical, bloodthirsty killing intent.

He stepped forward, grabbed Qingyangzi by the nape of the neck, and twisted his right hand.

With a crisp snap, Qingyangzi's neck was cleanly broken. A crimson bloodstain materialized across his throat, and a fountain of fresh blood gushed forth.

The youth released Qingyangzi's corpse, leaped backward, and landed upon an ancient tree in the distance.

It was a towering, colossal tree with an unimaginably thick trunk over ten meters in diameter. Beneath its canopy, wisps of faint black smoke drifted upward.

That was Qingyangzi's soul struggling in torment.

The youth cast an indifferent glance at Qingyangzi's soul, a trace of disdainful mockery curling the corner of his lips.

"Merely a physical shell, fragile as paper."

With a single flash, the youth vanished from the tree.

"What faction of the Demonic Sect do you belong to?!"

Qingyangzi roared furiously.

"You are not worthy to know."

The youth replied indifferently, his tone calm, as if all of this were nothing more than the most natural occurrence in the world.

"The Demon-Suppression Bureau will never let you get away with this."

Qingyangzi continued to roar.

"Nor will I ever let the Demon-Suppression Bureau go."

With that, the youth nodded with satisfaction and flicked his right hand upward. A wisp of flame materialized directly above the crown of Qingyangzi's soul.

"Ah!"

Qingyangzi's soul let out a final, agonizing roar before gradually growing translucent and ultimately vanishing into nothingness.

Having finished this, the youth strode toward the summit of the mountain, chanting aloud as he walked:

"Ten thousand years of spirits and ghosts, eight thousand ways of righteous sects. Ask ye where eternal life abides: slay every god, then slay every immortal."

With every single word uttered by the youth, countless wisps of demonic energy struck the cliffside, carving out this doggerel verse...

...

At the foot of the mountain, Tang Yi and Jiang Wanyi were tightly surrounded by a dozen-odd wolf demons.

"Tang Yi, hurry up and kill me!"

Jiang Wanyi shrieked. Though she was paralyzed and unable to move, she knew all too well what fate awaited her if she fell into the clutches of the wolf demons, leaving her no choice but to beg Tang Yi to end her life.

"Before I die, I will surely kill you first."

Tang Yi said in a grim voice, stepping in front of Jiang Wanyi with a snapped willow-leaf blade in hand. Her stature was hardly towering, yet at this moment, Jiang Wanyi's vision was entirely filled by her figure.

"Little beauty, stop struggling. Once we kill this brat, we'll make sure to pamper you properly."

The wolf demons chuckled lewdly, stretching out their razor-sharp claws toward Tang Yi.

"Beasts, get lost, or I'll slaughter the lot of you."

Tang Yi shouted fiercely, a surge of true Qi erupting from her body and blowing four or five wolf demons directly into the air.

"Impressive! She actually managed to wound us."

"Little beauty, don't be afraid. Just be a good girl and wait; once we finish off this man, it'll be your turn."

The wolf demons howled obscenely, closing in on Tang Yi step by step.

"Tang Yi, run! Hurry up and run away!"

Jiang Wanyi screamed, having already braced herself for death.

"Heh, run? Do you really think I'd let that damned man go?"

Tang Yi snorted coldly. She knew that if she fled today, these wolf demons would certainly refuse to let the matter rest, so she was determined never to let Jiang Wanyi fall into their hands.

"Kid, I advise you to surrender obediently! Otherwise, after we kill him, we'll slowly savor this little beauty. Ha-ha!"

One of the wolf demons leered obscenely.

"Tang Yi, why are you so foolish? Are you trying to die here with me as a burial companion?"

"I am not going to die. Trust me, get out of here quickly."

With that, Tang Yi unleashed another palm gale toward a nearby wolf demon.

Although the wolf demon dodged just in time, it was still struck by Tang Yi's force.

Clutching its chest, the wolf demon turned pale.

Seeing that the wolf demon was outmatched, Tang Yi whirled around to face the remaining beasts, unclipped two grenades from her waist, and hurled them directly at the closest wolf demon.

Boom, boom.

Amidst a flurry of explosions, Tang Yi seized the opportunity to break away from the engagement ring.

"Little beauty, you can't escape."

The wolf demons gave chase, boxing Tang Yi back into the center.

"Ha-ha, little beauty, it looks like tonight you'll be the shared prey of all us brothers!"

The wolf demons chortled obscenely.

Tang Yi clenched her fists tightly, her heart pounding frantically. These wolf demons were simply too formidable; if she didn't deal with them swiftly, Jiang Wanyi would inevitably meet a tragic end, and she herself would likely perish as well.

"Ha-ha-ha..."

Tang Yi let out a grating laugh. Suddenly raising her broken willow-leaf blade, she slashed directly toward the wolf demon in front of her.

"Watch out! This brat has lost her mind."

"Everyone be careful, don't get too close or she'll nick you."

The wolf demons shouted in panicked disarray, but Tang Yi paid them no heed whatsoever. She had already resolved to wipe out this pack of wolf demons today; otherwise, Jiang Wanyi would be defiled by them. Rather than letting her suffer that fate, she would rather kill Jiang Wanyi with her own hands to lighten her sense of guilt.

Bang, bang, bang.

The willow-leaf blade slashed repeatedly across the wolf demons' hides, yet they felt virtually nothing, even finding it rather exhilarating. They figured they had already been hacked over a dozen times, and Tang Yi's blade technique seemed to be growing progressively worse, resembling that of a clumsy amateur—a realization that heightened their excitement, making the whole ordeal feel like an intoxicating game of brush-with-death.

Before long, a wolf demon seized an opening and drove its claw straight through Tang Yi's shoulder.

With a squelch, blood spurted profusely from Tang Yi's shoulder.

Dragging the broken willow-leaf blade, Tang Yi collapsed to the ground right in front of Jiang Wanyi, her eyes locking onto Jiang Wanyi's face.

Jiang Wanyi nodded at Tang Yi with tear-filled eyes. Just as Tang Yi raised her blade to strike, several whistling sounds suddenly rang out.

Swish, swish, swish!

A volley of arrows inscribed with dark red runes pierced clean through the skulls of the leading wolf demons. Tang Yi's expression lit up with joy.

They were demon-suppressing arrows from the Demon-Suppression Bureau—reinforcements had arrived!