A crescent moon illuminated the barren mountains, flickering in and out of the clouds condensed from black-red demon qi. It had also been dyed scarlet.
A huge stone demonic formation was erected on the barren mountains. The jagged rocks were engraved with strange demonic inscriptions, standing in rings one after another. Demon qi surged into the air from the concentric rings, connecting the sky and the earth, spreading out into thick, demonic clouds in the air.
Looking down from above, people surged about on the barren mountains. The densely-packed demonfolk surged about like ants. Under the command of the Demon Generals, they carried the stone pillars to their designated locations. As the stone pillars were erected, the surging demon qi became denser and denser, shrouding the stars and moon.
Although their bodies completely surpassed mortals, the arduous work still filled the demonfolk with complaints. They were not the low-level corpses and ghosts of the Hungry Ghost realm. They also had normal emotions.
Crack! With the crisp sound of a whip, a four-armed, four-legged demonfolk supervisor swung the metal whip in his hand, lashing it viciously against the head of a slacking demonfolk. His brain immediately burst open, and he rolled down the mountain.
"This is the fate of anyone who dares to slack off. Keep working! Don't stop!" The demonfolk supervisor swept his metal whip and glanced down the mountain, smiling viciously.
The slacking demonfolk's corpse rolled all the way to the foot of the mountain, where it stopped moving. A while later, the "corpse" suddenly leapt up, rushing off into the jungle with half of its head still.
Pairs of red eyes lit up in the jungle. Squeak! Squeak! Black figures whizzed through the canopy, chasing after the fleeing demonfolk and swooping down.
As it turned out, it was a group of wild monkeys. These monkeys that should have been regular beasts had become abnormally vicious. Basically all of their fur had fallen off, revealing their muscular bodies and sharp claws and teeth.
The prolonged, miserable cries of fleeing demonfolk rang out in the jungle.
The demonfolk supervisor sneered a few more times. "Hmph, everything within fifty kilometers of the demon cavern has been affected by demon qi. It's not just the wild beasts. Even the trees have been demonified. It's just wishful thinking if you think you can escape with just your tough life force. The stronger your life force, the greater the pain you endure!"
However, when a Demon General glared at him, the demonfolk supervisor immediately stopped smiling. He thought viciously inside, You're just a mere Demon General. You might be slightly stronger than me, but you're still expendable. Even a few Demon Commanders have died. I'd like to see how long you can remain complacent for!
Crossing a long, straight gully, he could not help but think of the majestic sword Qi he had seen three days ago. He shivered inside.
There were several dozen gullies like that on the barren mountain. The huge stone pillars had been cut in half smoothly. The demonfolk's primary job was to repair the huge stone formation.
In the center of the huge stone array, where the surging Demon Qi was located, there was a huge and strange purple-red ball of flesh floating in the air. Blue veins and blood vessels were densely intertwined, and thousands of tentacles with hideous sharp thorns were floating quietly.
At first glance, they seemed exactly the same as humans, but at a closer glance, some of them had four or five eyes, while others had a pair of wings. Coupled with their strange, colourful attire, they seemed sinister and strange everywhere.
At first glance, they were almost exactly the same as humans, but upon closer inspection, some of them had four or five eyes, some had a pair of wings, and they were dressed in strange clothes of various colors, giving off a ghastly and strange feeling. At first glance, they seemed exactly the same as humans, but at a closer glance, some of them had four or five eyes, while others had a pair of wings. Coupled with their strange, colourful attire, they gave off a sense of gloom and strangeness.
The moon flickered in and out of view. The demonfolk were currently in full swing. The purple-red ball of flesh suddenly trembled, and its thousands of tentacles straightened out as if it was searching for something. It was cautious.
"Sir!" The Demon Commanders began to move. Like statues that had sprung to life, they bowed towards the purple-red ball of flesh politely.
"That sword cultivator has come again. Activate the Twelve Citadel Demon Formation of the Ominous and prepare for battle!"
An invisible thought radiated out from the purplish-red ball of flesh. The demonfolk cast aside what they were doing and dispersed loudly, gathering towards the demon cavern in the centre of the huge stone formation. The demonfolk overseer swung his iron whip and sent a few demonfolk blocking his way flying. He strode forward.
The twelve stone pillars under the feet of the twelve Demon Marshals suddenly lit up with demonic light. The stone pillars on the periphery also lit up. In the blink of an eye, all the stone pillars were lit up, illuminating the entire barren mountain. The demonic Qi faintly formed a majestic city wall.
I wonder if I can survive this time. That sword cultivator is even more powerful than regular Demon Kings. Even that big bastard, the Thousand Tendrils King, suffered greatly in their first clash. All he could do was maintain his demonified form. Those important figures have their own ambitions, yet they just have to make us risk our lives for them. What a bunch of kind-hearted people. They deserve to die, they deserve to die!
The demonfolk supervisor thought to himself. Suddenly, he heard a strange, shrill whistle. Before he could even respond, a streak of light tore through the air and whistled over, killing its way into the grand city formed by the Twelve Citadel Demon Formation of the Ominous.
Light shot out in all directions as sword qi surged. Wherever it passed by, demon qi split open and the stone pillars snapped.
Swept by the residual sword qi, the demonfolk were torn to pieces and scattered.
The Thousand Tendrils King swung his tentacles madly, lashing them at the streak of light. At the same time, he radiated with invisible waves of demonic consciousness in an attempt to disturb his opponent's mind.
However, the sword cultivator merged with his sword, twisting and turning between the tentacles and cutting through them one by one. His heart of the sword had been thoroughly tempered, so it was not affected at all.
"Ye Duanhai, there will be a day when I flatten your South Sea Sword pavilion and kill everyone close to you. I'll make you watch them wail until they die with your own eyes!" The Thousand Tendrils King's roars filled the demonic clouds as demon qi surged.
The newcomer was the master of the sword pavilion, Ye Duanhai. He said nothing coldly, completely disdainful of speaking to the Thousand Tendrils King. However, in less than ten minutes, he had pulled back. He felt rather helpless inside. Although he seemed to have gained the upper hand, he was unable to deal a fatal blow to the Thousand Tendrils King.
And, under the influence of the Twelve Citadel Demon Formation of the Ominous, advancing was even more difficult than moving through the thick earth. His powers were depleted extremely quickly, so he could not fight for long. In that short period of time, the Sea-splitting sword in his hand had become covered in a layer of gloominess, tainted by demon qi and demon blood. It would take quite a lot of effort to clean it up. If he just left it there, it would gradually turn into a demonic weapon, which would affect his heart of the sword instead.
Of course, he could choose to put his life on the line or organise even more people to surround him, but once the situation went awry, the Thousand Tendrils King would immediately retreat to the Demon domain. It would be impossible for him to pursue them, and the other demon caverns would receive the news and speed up their attacks. As a result, this was destined to be a war of attrition.
Right now, all he could do was constantly wear them down, preventing the demonfolk from gaining a stable footing. Eventually, there would come a day when they could no longer withstand the exhaustion and would retreat. However, he understood very well that this hope was minuscule. Compared to the previous invasions of the demonfolk throughout history, this could only be regarded as a probe right now. It was not even a true attack, let alone a general attack or a decisive battle.
Thinking up to there, he could not help but frown. Just what kind of state would the World of the Nine Provinces fall to?
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