Chapter 129: Personal Disciple

The moment the "Heavenly Demon Sacred Body" fell, the valley suddenly plunged into a deathly silence. Only the voice of Ji Youyun could be heard: "Take him alive!"

Cheng Shipeng’s face was deathly pale. He had even forgotten his own desperate need for defense, bowing his head to try and seize the "Heavenly Demon Sacred Body." Fortunately, since Ji Youyun had ordered for a live capture, Nangong Jiu and the two Gold-elemental Daoist cultivators had veered away from him to attack others, allowing him to escape disaster.

Jing Xiaoyun shouted from a distance, "Oh no!" Although she had run away from home, she still harbored some affection for Cheng Shipeng, her maternal grandfather.

Before Cheng Shipeng could touch the "Heavenly Demon Sacred Body," the armor, now dimmed and lusterless, suddenly twisted in the air, evading his fingers.

Cheng Shipeng was nearly driven mad. At this critical moment, he had no idea what monster Ji Youyun had unleashed, but the sacred soul within the "Heavenly Demon Sacred Body," fearful after its defeat, was actually attempting to desert the battlefield. If it fled, it mattered little, but his entire clan, young and old, would surely be wiped out.

In these fleeting moments, the two Gold-elemental cultivators had already claimed several more lives from his clan. Without time to think, Cheng Shipeng grabbed his Heaven-Seizing Brush, forced out a mouthful of fresh blood, and wrote frantically, urging the sacred soul to return to the fray immediately.

Since the order was to capture him alive, they could not use overly destructive spells. Nangong Jiu cast a Earth-Gathering Talisman, then made a casual sweeping motion—a direct application of the Earth-elemental spell "Earth-Grasp Prison"—instantly trapping Cheng Shipeng within.

Both Ji Youyun and the Rune Sect had conducted extensive research on the Heavenly Demon Sect. The reason they brought Nangong Jiu along was not only because he could issue commands on behalf of Dai Mingchi and supervise the disciples skilled in the "Heart Sword," but also because they valued his Earth-elemental affinity; his spells were sturdy and heavy, effectively countering the secret arts of the Heavenly Demon Sect.

Once the "Earth Prison" rose, it cut Cheng Shipeng off from the battlefield, and he could no longer afford to remain idle.

He cast spell after spell, but the sacred soul did not even turn its head. Left with no choice, he put away the Heaven-Seizing Brush and pressed both hands against the newly formed prison. His demonic arts erupted, and a fierce blast of energy shattered the sand and soil into pieces.

If Cheng Shipeng had wanted to escape alone, he had more suitable techniques from the "Great Heavenly Demon Three-Eyed Soul-Departing Scripture." But to carve a path of blood for his kin, he had to confront the enemy head-on and clear away every obstacle in his path.

At that moment, Cheng Shipeng suddenly noticed Ji Youyun standing in the distance, stretching out his hands to cast a spell, targeting the "Heavenly Demon Sacred Body" that was trying to flee the battlefield.

Panic surged in Cheng Shipeng’s heart, but to his absolute horror, the demonic artifact, now in the shape of armor, seemed to react to Ji Youyun’s summons.

It swayed a few times, stopped fleeing, and began to slowly rise back up.

Ji Youyun, however, did not look relaxed; he frowned slightly.

To Cheng Shipeng’s surprise, the "Heavenly Demon Sacred Body" did not head toward Ji Youyun. It rose higher and higher, soaring above everyone’s heads.

Even Ji Youyun looked up, staring at the artifact that seemed to have suddenly developed a will of its own and was acting in such a mysterious manner, his face filled with unconcealable astonishment.

Then, suddenly sensing something, he snapped his head around. He saw that on a pile of rubble where the mountain had collapsed hundreds of feet away, a person had appeared out of nowhere.

It was a strange man, standing alone amidst the ruins. Curiously, with so many Nascent Soul experts locked in a chaotic battle, not one of them had noticed when this person had arrived on the battlefield.

Ji Youyun was caught off guard. In all the years since he reached the Nascent Soul stage, he had forgotten what it felt like to be surprised, except for the setbacks he had suffered at the hands of his brother, Ji Youfeng. But recently, surprises had come one after another. First, the Heavenly Demon Sect had raided the Demon-Refining Prison while he was away. Then, after rushing back, he found Ji Youfeng’s remains beneath the deep sea under the glacier. And now, this cultivator who seemed to have popped out of a crack in the rocks at such a critical moment—he had not felt a single premonition.

It was no wonder Ji Youyun’s impression was so profound in that instant. This cultivator wore ordinary clothes and had an ordinary face—so ordinary that he lacked any defining features, the kind of person one would forget as soon as they looked away. But what he was doing right now was anything but ordinary.

The man held a white-bristled brush. Both its material and magical power were far inferior to Cheng Shipeng’s Heaven-Seizing Brush, yet the bristles were saturated with blood. And the source of that blood... neatly arranged in front of the man was a row of corpses and severed limbs—the very Cheng clansmen who had been cut down by the "Heart Sword" just moments ago.

The first body was that of the Nascent Soul expert Cheng Shiying. It seemed the man was using Cheng Shiying’s blood.

Ji Youyun was absolutely certain that unless this cultivator possessed some miraculous magical treasure, he must be practicing a special technique that allowed him to conceal his presence so effectively that even he had failed to notice him.

The man’s appearance and cultivation level were likely false. Who was he?

These thoughts flashed by, but Ji Youyun had no time to ponder. The man was holding the brush, diligently writing ancient demonic runes in the void with the blood.

At this moment, the demonic soul hidden within the artifact, having suffered a heavy blow and refusing to respond even to the Great Elder Cheng Shipeng, who had served it for nearly a thousand years, was now returning to the fray because of this stranger.

Ji Youyun dared not delay. The soul of the "Devouring" Spirit Beast—a Spirit Refinement stage entity—could not be used indefinitely. The power accumulated over thousands of years had been depleted by his refining of life-prolonging pills, and further exhausted by his efforts to breach the firmament alongside Dai Mingchi and Xing Wuyai. It should have been left to recuperate, but after calculating with the "Great Calamity Scripture," Ji Youyun concluded that this mission required the Spirit Refinement soul to deal with the Heavenly Demon Sect’s artifact. He had expected that after "Devouring" defeated the demonic soul, there was a high probability he would obtain that artifact for himself.

After weighing the pros and cons, he felt it was worth it, even if "Devouring" would fall into a long slumber afterward.

Now that an unexpected variable had emerged, Ji Youyun felt a faint sense of foreboding.

Logically, since this man understood ancient demonic runes, he should have ordered him to be taken alive just like Cheng Shipeng. But the artifact had already risen to the high sky, and the "Great Calamity Scripture" caused Ji Youyun to suddenly shudder.

He no longer stayed behind the others and shouted, "Kill him quickly!" He soared into the air, bypassed the demonic artifact, and flung a string of cold stars at the cultivator.

Ji Youyun primarily practiced the "Ten Thousand Streams Return to the Origin" technique and avoided combat unless absolutely necessary. However, he was not without means to harm others. Beyond absorbing true essence, he had also forged a collection of formidable magical treasures. In terms of both soul and martial prowess, he was undeniably the foremost Nascent Soul expert.

Yet, the stranger seemed exceptionally familiar with Ji Youyun—so familiar that he knew exactly which treasure Ji Youyun would use before he even acted. The moment Ji Youyun raised his hand, the man grabbed a corpse from in front of him.

As the cold stars appeared, the mangled corpse was thrown out. They collided in mid-air, and the corpse exploded into a mist of blood with a "bang." Meanwhile, the demonic rune the man had been writing—a strange symbol that was neither quite a word nor a picture—suddenly grew to the size of a bucket and merged with the blood mist.

The cold stars, their momentum unspent, pierced through the blood mist toward the cultivator. The demonic rune spun, precisely intercepting them. The bloodstain looked thin in the air, but the cold stars struck it like stones falling into a deep pool, splashing out droplets of blood.

The stranger lifted his eyes to look at Ji Youyun, and within the blurred blood mist, he seemed to smile.

The treasure that had struck the demonic rune reappeared, now delivered near the "Heavenly Demon Sacred Body."

The artifact, which had been half-dead just moments ago, suddenly stirred. The cowardly demonic soul "whooshed" out of the "Heavenly Demon Sacred Body" and snatched the treasure.

This time, the blackness gathered by the soul was nowhere near as dense as before, and as it danced, its form was almost as faint as wisps of smoke. Yet, Ji Youyun was shocked to find that this severely weakened soul, stimulated by something, no longer showed any signs of hiding or playing dead. It had gone mad.

It possessed no restraint, no inhibitions—only a destructive, frantic madness.

As the smoke rolled by, a Rune Sect Nascent Soul expert who was casting a Gold-elemental spell failed to dodge in time. Caught by the mist, he transformed into a rotting corpse while still in mid-air. As the demonic soul brushed past his body, his flesh and blood silently dissolved into a foul, poisonous rain.

Cheng Shipeng was bewildered. Who was this person? The runes used to drive the demonic soul were a closely guarded secret of the Cheng clan, taught only to the Patriarch. Why did he know them? Moreover, this severely wounded demonic soul had suddenly gone wild, moving like lightning, disregarding the lives of the Cheng clansmen, and even breaking free from the control of the "Heavenly Demon Sacred Body."

Cheng Shipeng suddenly realized what this stranger had done to the demonic soul. The ancient runes he had learned were for driving the soul, but the man had used the blood of the Cheng clansmen to perform a release. He had used a spell to strip the "Heavenly Demon Sacred Body" of its control over the soul, promising it freedom after the battle.

Who was this person? His identity was becoming clear!

Cheng Shipeng did not know whether to feel joy or sorrow, but he shouted, "Kill!"

The last Gold-elemental cultivator capable of using the "Heart Sword" was quickly shredded by the demonic soul.

Nangong Jiu had never expected such heavy losses. Only he and Ji Youyun remained on their side. Although many more demonic cultivators had died, four or five of their Nascent Soul experts were still alive. Facing this stranger who had suddenly appeared with unknown origins, and seeing that Ji Youyun had no more trump cards to play, Nangong Jiu began to harbor thoughts of retreat.

Seeing the nearly transparent demonic soul baring its fangs as it lunged toward Ji Youyun, he could not help but warn, "Master Ji!"

Ji Youyun took a deep look at the cultivator in the distance. He felt that the person who had disrupted all his plans could not have a very high level of cultivation. It was a pity that the "Devouring" soul was no longer fit for battle; otherwise, this would have been a perfect opportunity to kill this "accident."

But now, facing the lunging demonic soul, he could only coldly answer Nangong Jiu, "Retreat first!"

Because of the distance and the fact that they were looking up from below, Hong Jian, Jing Xiaoyun, and the others could only see the battle in the heights. From the precarious situation of the Cheng clansmen to the sudden retreat of Ji Youyun and his group, they were completely baffled as to what had happened in between.

Jing Xiaoyun said happily, "Grandfather is safe, thank heavens."

She did not know that at this very moment, Cheng Shipeng was landing back in the valley, walking toward the stranger, and saying with extreme caution and courtesy, "It seems, Your Excellency, that you are the true personal disciple of our Heavenly Demon Sect’s Sect Master!"