Chapter 433 - 433 430 Heavenly Demon Across the Skies Four
Chapter 433: Chapter 430 Heavenly Demon Across the Skies, Four Beasts Run Amok Chapter 433: Chapter 430 Heavenly Demon Across the Skies, Four Beasts Run Amok “Hiss, hiss…”
A sound akin to inhaling filled the air and spread throughout heaven and earth.
Above the camp of the Beast Taming Sect’s Spiritual Snake Lineage, a colossal being a thousand zhang in length slithered into view, its body twisting lithely— it was a massive snake!
Then, before the Demon Cultivators below had a chance to recover from the shock of the huge snake, a phoenix cry resounded through the sky and earth.
Turning their heads, in the void south of Ten Thousand Crows Valley, in the direction of the Vermilion Bird Lineage, a crimson Vermilion Bird with wings span of eight hundred zhang soared into the sky.
Another howl intimidated the mountains, as a Thunder Ape hundreds of zhang tall materialized out of thin air.
Before the Demon Cultivators could finish taking in a cool breath, a Five-Colored Divine Bull tread forward, shattering a mountain at the north of Ten Thousand Crows Valley with a single step.
These were the colossal beasts formed by the combined War Formation of disciples from the Beast Taming Sect’s Spiritual Snake, Vermilion Bird, Spiritual Ape, and Divine Bull lineages. Each one possessed an overwhelming might, not the slightest bit inferior to a Great Cultivator of the Primordial Spirit Realm. In terms of raw strength, they were nearly as mighty as a Dharma Body condensed by a True Immortal.
“Quick, activate the Great Array to its most powerful state! Fellow Daoists, please lend me your strength.”
Daoist Crow’s hoarse voice echoed throughout Ten Thousand Crows Valley, instructing his disciples to initiate the Array.
Immediately afterward, he himself flashed in movement, arriving at the cliff top of the Ten Thousand Crows Valley Cave Mansion. Waving his hand, he drew out an Array Flag, waving it repeatedly while indicating the positions of the thirty-six Array nodes with trails of Spirit Light, commanding the Elders of the Demon Dao Sects above the Purple Mansion Realm to help him maintain the stability of the Array.
In an instant, Demonic Qi crisscrossed within Ten Thousand Crows Valley, dark miasma rising, as Demon Dao Elders flew to their positions at the nodes of the Array, channeling their own Demonic Qi into them. Meanwhile, several Elders directed the Demon Dao Cultivators of various sects to prepare the Heavenly Demon Battle Formation.
Originally, these Demon Dao Cultivators came from various sects and factions, rather mixed and fighting independently without cohesion.
The Heavenly Demon Battle Formation was a signature Array of the Heavenly Demon Sect; Cultivators of other Demon Dao Sects were fundamentally incapable of deploying it.
However, now that even the main temple of the Heavenly Demon Sect had been breached, with its most powerful treasure, the Heavenly Demon Treasure, damaged, and one-tenth of its strongest members surviving, the entire Demon Dao was facing the disaster of extinction. Who would care if their secrets were leaked?
The severely wounded Great Power of the Heavenly Demon Sect passed on the Heavenly Demon Battle Formation directly, allowing Demon Dao Cultivators scattered throughout the lands to unify and drill it, in order to possess a modicum of resistance when the Righteous Path Cultivators came knocking at their door.
Otherwise, with the disciples of the various Sects mixed together, resulting in chaos on regular days, how could they hope to match up against the armies of the Righteous Path Sects if encircled for a siege?
Once the Heavenly Demon Sect shared the Heavenly Demon Battle Formation, the Elders of the Demon Sect hidden in various branch dens began to organize the Demon Dao disciples to start drilling the Heavenly Demon Battle Formation, using this most powerful battle formation of the Demon Dao as a bridge to unite the Demon Dao disciples.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
The Disorderly Demon Cultivators barely managed to form the battle formation when they were yet to coalesce the Heavenly Demon True Form; suddenly, a series of mighty attacks descended from the sky.
The Giant Ape opened its mouth, and a thousand zhang of Thunder tore through the void, with infinite power.
The Vermilion Bird spread its wings; Nanming Leaving Fire, with the capacity to burn the sky and boil the seas, scorched the Protective Shield over Ten Thousand Crows Valley.
The Five-Colored Divine Bull trod the air, and suddenly a mountainous shadow descended from above like Mount Tai bearing down, crushing the myriad lives beneath.
The thousand zhang long snake opened its mouth, exhaling boundless True Water, transforming into a towering deluge akin to the Milky Way spilling from the heavens, intent on turning the valley below into marshland!
The disciples of the Beast Taming Sect had undergone large-scale wars in the Red Flame Demon Realm and the recent years’ campaigns against the Demon Sect Cultivators. After numerous battles, their coordination in grand-scale warfare, their synergy within the battle formations, had reached remarkable levels of tacit understanding.
Especially when casting powerful spells in conjunction with other lineages, their collaboration was incredibly intricate.
Thus, as these spells were unleashed, they immediately shook the Array covering Ten Thousand Crows Valley, causing it to tremble incessantly. The mist that lingered above dissipated, revealing a black barrier beneath.
Daoist Crow’s form trembled.
As the one in charge of the Array Core, he could most directly sense the intensity of the Beast Taming Sect’s attack.
If he had not invited an expert from the Demon Path to help set up this Protective Mansion Array, relying solely on his own abilities, the powerful attacks that had just occurred would probably have already broken the array.
Even though his array had strong defensive power and some other ingenious methods, under the overwhelming offensive of the Beast Taming Sect, he, too, felt somewhat strained.
He was afraid that it wouldn’t last much longer.
Fortunately, those Demon Cultivators quickly arranged the Heavenly Demon Battle Formation.
As the Dharma Image Elder from the Heavenly Demon Sect swept his sleeves, countless streams of Demonic Qi, under his command, converged to form a Heavenly Demon Illusion.
This Heavenly Demon Illusion had four heads and eight arms and looked fierce and terrifying beyond description.
Moreover, as more and more Demonic Qi filled it, the Heavenly Demon Illusion gradually solidified, as if the true body had descended.
“Hum…”
The Heavenly Demon Illusion trembled, the Void twisted, and then it passed directly through the Defensive Array of Ten Thousand Crows Valley, appearing outside.
Then the Heavenly Demon raised its four heads, lifted its eight arms, and endless Demonic Qi spread out from its body, transforming into various Demon Path Magic Divine Powers, launching attacks towards the War Formations set by the disciples of the Beast Taming Sect in all directions.
At the same time, the four mouths on the Heavenly Demon’s heads opened and closed slightly, emitting soft Demon Sounds. Eight eyes opened, shooting out demonic lights, conjuring all sorts of illusions, attempting to seduce the spirits of the Beast Taming Sect disciples.
This move was incredibly fierce; the Heavenly Demon Sound entered the ears, and the Heavenly Demon Illusions met the eyes, immediately causing many disciples with weak cultivation and unsteady Daoist Hearts to waver. The War Formations around became somewhat unstable.
It must be said that the Dharma Image Demon controlling the Heavenly Demon Battle Formation had a very strong grasp on the battle situation and used very clever methods.
He knew that the Heavenly Demon Illusion was no match for the four giant beasts of the Beast Taming Sect. Therefore, he did not directly control the Heavenly Demon to fight the giants, but cast Demon Sound Piercing Brain, conjuring illusions to target the disciples who had set up the War Formations.
This approach was quite effective; if he were allowed to continue, it wouldn’t take long before some ordinary disciples would be induced into confusion, disrupting the War Formation. At that point, once the Heavenly Demon Illusion broke through their ranks, it would surely bring about heavy casualties to the disciples of the Beast Taming Sect.
“Stop!”
Suddenly, a sharp cry pierced the Void, startling all the disciples into alertness, awakening those who were already somewhat engrossed in the Heavenly Demon Illusion.
“Heretics and evildoers, how dare you disturb our Sect disciples’ Daoist Hearts, you must be exterminated!”
Yu Hualong shouted fiercely, “War Formation of the Four Directions, shatter that Heavenly Demon Illusion for me, break the enemy’s Defensive Array, and kill our way in!”
“Yes!”
Countless disciples responded, and under the control of an Elder commanding the War Formation, the Heavenly Snake slithered like a dragon, the Vermilion Bird drew forth the boundless Nanming Leaving Fire, the Fierce Ape was enveloped in thunder, and the Five-Colored Divine Bull bellowed, charging with immense power towards the Heavenly Demon Illusion.
With a thunderous boom, the Heavenly Demon was struck by the Five-Colored Divine Bull and staggered, quickly extending two large hands to grab the Divine Bull by the horns, trying to flip the massive beast onto the ground.
Unfortunately, although the Heavenly Demon was strong, it was far inferior in brute strength to the Five-Colored Divine Bull, causing it to be pushed back repeatedly.
The Dharma Image Elder at the bottom who controlled the Heavenly Demon Battle Formation was just about to manipulate the eight arms of the Heavenly Demon to subdue this Divine Bull when the other giant beasts had already attacked.
The Vermilion Bird flapped its wings and arrived first in front of the Heavenly Demon, spraying out a stream of scorching Nanming Leaving Fire, followed by sharp claws reaching straight for two of the Heavenly Demon’s heads.
Its talons were frighteningly sharp, and a real grasp could indeed leave the Heavenly Demon mutilated.
It’s not that the Heavenly Demon wasn’t strong, but what stood before them was only an Illusion of the Heavenly Demon and not the true body, which had the strength of iron and bronze.
The Heavenly Demon opened its mouth and spewed out pitch-black Demon Flame, colliding with the Nanming Leaving Fire, while extending two arms to block the Vermilion Bird’s sharp claws.
Before it could repel the Vermilion Bird, the Fierce Ape had already launched its attack. Planting its two thick legs in the void, it leaped high into the air and then swung both arms at the Heavenly Demon.
On the other side, the slender body of the Heavenly Snake slithered agilely, swiftly coiling up the Heavenly Demon’s legs and entwining tightly around its body.
The helpless Elder of the Heavenly Demon Sect, who was in control of the Heavenly Demon Illusion, had to extend two more arms to grab the Heavenly Snake by its neck and body, preventing it from winding up completely. Otherwise, if its arms were bound, it would certainly face inevitable defeat.
Fortunately, the Heavenly Demon had four heads and eight arms; otherwise, it wouldn’t have been possible to deal with the attack from these colossal beasts.
But this was only a temporary measure; after all, the strength of the Heavenly Demon depended on the number and power of the Demon Dao Cultivators below.
Though their numbers were not few, the disciples of the Beast Taming Sect outnumbered them several times over, ensuring that they couldn’t possibly win against the Beast Taming Sect on the warfront—their only reliance was the formidable and mysterious Divine Powers of the Heavenly Demon Illusion.
Therefore, after a short time, the Heavenly Demon in mid-air was left broken and battered, with arms snapped and even one of its heads burst open.
Seeing the four beasts growing more formidable in battle, utterly dominating in both magic and combat, while the Heavenly Demon Illusion was trapped helplessly in the center, the Elder from the Heavenly Demon Sect fiercely clenched his teeth and the Heavenly Demon Illusion suddenly exploded, turning into a violent Demonic Qi that blasted the four beasts into retreat.
Especially the Heavenly Snake, which was tightly coiling around the Heavenly Demon, binding its movements; its scale armor was shattered, wounds riddled its body, and it almost blew apart into two halves.
Fortunately, these colossal beast phantoms were energy bodies, and with the energy converging from the formations behind them, their injuries were rapidly healing.
Elsewhere, countless streams of Demonic Qi converged, and a Heavenly Demon Illusion slightly smaller than before was reformed.
However, this time the Heavenly Demon only had three heads and seven arms—the previously shattered head and arms did not regenerate.
It wasn’t that the Elder of the Heavenly Demon Sect was slacking off, but rather the mix of disciples from various Demon Sects was too diverse. The Heavenly Demon Battle Formation could only manage to barely integrate their Demon Path True Yuan; it couldn’t operate as adeptly as the formations wrought by the disciples of the Heavenly Demon Sect themselves.
Moreover, performing the Heavenly Demon Disintegration, allowing the Heavenly Demon to self-destruct and attack the four beasts, required consuming a vast amount of Demonic Qi. To fully recover its original form, at least an additional thirty percent of Demonic Qi would be needed.
On the other hand, under the control of the Beast Taming Sect Elders, the four beasts once again launched their attack.
The fully formed Heavenly Demon had already been no match for these four colossal beasts, let alone now that it was diminished in size.
Therefore, in less than a quarter of an hour, several more arms were broken, and another head was shattered.
Seeing the Heavenly Demon Illusion trapped once again, the helpless Elder from the Heavenly Demon Sect had to once again perform the Heavenly Demon Disintegration, damaging the enemy through self-destruction, before reconvening a Heavenly Demon with two heads and four arms.
Boom boom boom…
A half quarter of an hour later, the Heavenly Demon Illusion had completely disappeared without a trace; although the four beast phantoms were also covered with numerous wounds, they remained vicious. Bolstered by the disciples from several lineages, they attacked the large defensive formation below once more.
Many Demon Dao Cultivators in Ten Thousand Crows Valley were plunged into shock and despair. Facing an opposing force several times their own, how could they contend with the disciples of the Beast Taming Sect?
The Elder of the Heavenly Demon Sect from the battle formation did not call upon the disciples from the various sects to exert themselves and reconvene the Heavenly Demon Illusion.
Because if all the Demon Cultivators were to exhaust their strength in the battle formation, when the cultivators from the Beast Taming Sect breached their defenses later, they would have little power left to resist.
In fact, during the earlier phase of the Heavenly Demon Battle Formation, many Demon Cultivators had held back their efforts, skimping on their contribution. Even those who did exert some power did so with reservations—each thinking that with so many Demon Cultivators, others could expend a bit more True Yuan while they conserved their strength. Once the Beast Taming Sect cultivators invaded, they would have more capacity to resist and possibly escape.
This was also why the Heavenly Demon Battle Formation collapsed so swiftly.
Otherwise, how could such a formidable first battle formation of the Demon Path fall so easily?
Even if it couldn’t withstand the combined might of the four great battle formations of the Beast Taming Sect, it would not have been vanquished so simply.
Crack, crack!
The sound akin to breaking glass resounded.
Many of the array nodes were already damaged. At this moment, the Defensive Magic Shield that covered the entire Ten Thousand Crows Valley under a strong offensive, suddenly revealed cracks.
Then, with a loud bang, it completely shattered, revealing the empty void, leaving the Beast Taming Sect cultivators completely exposed.
“Damn it!”
Daoist Crow and the other Demon Path elders’ complexions dramatically changed.
And when they saw the four massive phantom beasts charging towards them from above, their expressions grew even uglier.
“Take them down!”
Daoist Crow was the first to act.
He summoned a skull shrouded in Demonic Qi.
The skull’s dark eye sockets flickered with ghastly green Ghost Fire. As soon as it was summoned, it grew in the wind, instantly becoming a hundred zhang in size—still much smaller compared to the four giant beasts, but its aura was also incredibly powerful.
Moreover, the four beasts were not at their peak state, so the skull directly rushed in front of the Heavenly Snake, opened its mouth full of sharp white teeth, and viciously clamped onto the Heavenly Snake Illusion without letting go. The Ghost Fire in its eyes spread, causing the Heavenly Snake Illusion to change.
The Heavenly Snake coiled around, trapping the skull tightly within its body, attempting to crush the ugly skull with its powerful strength. However, Daoist Crow’s eyes flashed with ruthlessness, and with a sudden grasp of his hand, the skull exploded with a boom, blasting the Heavenly Snake into several pieces before dissipating.
Elsewhere, an elder from the Heavenly Demon Sect summoned a hook-like Demon Treasure, incredibly mighty and actually of an Immortal Level. While the Vermilion Bird was not yet fully healed from its injuries, the treasure pierced through the form of the Vermilion Bird Illusion. The hook caught the Vermilion Bird’s wings, directly killing the Vermilion Bird Illusion on the spot.
Not far away, several elders from the White Bone Sect had bloodshot eyes too, each one summoning a White Bone Skeleton. These skeletons were full of Demonic Qi and Ghost Energy as they pounced on the Thunder Ape, tearing and scratching. Even though the Thunder Ape dispersed their Demonic Qi and shattered their Yin Qi, they showed no signs of backing down.
“Wooo…”
A strange sound arose as an elder from the Joyful Union Sect blew the Long Flute.
This elder, draped in light gauze, was as beautiful as a flower, and the allure of her graceful figure dancing in the void caused quite a few disciples from both sides to become beguiled.
Even more fatal was the sound of the Long Flute, filled with a mournful weeping, coupled with the elder’s beauty, which ignited a pity in others.
Thus, in the war formation of the Beast Taming Sect, many disciples couldn’t help but slow their movements, weakening the war power of the four great beasts by a third.
But the elders of the Demon Path seized the opportunity, each one summoning various Demon Path Treasures and striking the giant beasts relentlessly, forcefully breaking their forms.
It must be said that these Demon Sect cultivators did indeed have some reserves; just in these brief moments, several Immortal Level Demon Treasures were revealed.
Of course, these were originally owned by Demon Immortals, but over years of conflict with many Demon Immortals perishing, these treasures fell into the hands of some Demon Sect elders.
However, breaking the four giant beasts was not without cost.
For Dharma Image Purple Mansion Realm elders to forcibly control Immortal Level Demon Treasures was an immense burden in itself.
Particularly for the woman from the Joyful Union Sect, as she blew the Long Flute and disturbed the hearts and spirits of all disciples within the war formation, in just a few breaths, it caused her True Yuan to be greatly depleted, leaving her drenched in sweat.
She was even disrupted by some of the Beast Taming Sect elders’ spells, resulting in a substantial backlash that left a trickle of fresh blood on the corner of her mouth, signifying a severe injury.