In the days that followed, a mere five days passed.
Heaven and earth overturned, winds and clouds shifted abruptly, and the situation spiraled out of control at a speed no one could have anticipated.
Just as Tu Ji sent word that she was considering peace talks, a shocking piece of news exploded from the Demon Realm.
The Demon Emperor had fallen.
His death was far too sudden and suspicious. Crown Prince Ji You reacted swiftly, personally leading his demon soldiers to seize Crimson Meteor Pass under the banner of heir apparent, stripping Tu Ji of her position and placing her under arrest.
Without hesitation, this son of the Demon Emperor then activated the Demon Clan’s forbidden artifact sealed away by generations of Demon Sovereigns—the Myriad Evils Resonance Instrument.
The chaotic crystal orb, constructed from the core resentments of countless demon souls, sprang to life in an instant. Countless Soul Suppressing Banners atop Crimson Meteor Pass whipped wildly in the windless air, their power surging over a hundredfold with a thunderous roar!
Demon clouds that blotted out the sky boiled up from within the pass, billions of resentful souls shrieking and clawing at divine souls from the clouds. A filthy flood of demon beasts burst forth like a breached dam—even the lowest-tier ones had mutated.
The swarming demon beasts’ limbs piled chaotically, bone spikes piercing through flesh, twisted into masses entwined with corrosive black qi.
Higher-tier demons lumbered like moving mountains, formed from heaps of severed limbs and shattered remains, flickering with eerie core lights.
Vast flying pustule sacs hovered in the air, spraying venom that withered plants and melted stone wherever they passed. The earth corrupted, spiritual energy scattered, painting a scene of utter apocalypse.
Among the allied forces of the Unstained Immortal Realm, even the eldest Yu Changxin had never witnessed such a terrifying sight.
Faced with this dire crisis, there was only one choice: fight to the death!
The High Priest Yu soared into the air at once, unleashing the Taiyi Qiankun Barrier from his wide sleeves. Nine streams of pure yang righteousness shot skyward, forming a massive light curtain inscribed with flowing golden runes, like an overturned giant bowl poised to block the demon tide.
Yet this famed Immortal Realm defensive formation trembled violently under the frenzied assault of the demon beasts, the light wall humming incessantly as cracks spread rapidly.
Behind Yu Changxin, Xia Yunjie had already directed disciples from various sects to form the Circumheaven Stellar Sword Array. Countless sword lights rained down like falling stars, carving out swathes of empty space amid the densest parts of the demon tide, limbs exploding in sprays.
But the Soul Suppressing Banners, amplified by the evil instrument, seemed connected to an endless Abyss. Endless waves of demons poured forth inexhaustibly; positions just cleared were instantly refilled by new horrors.
Shen Fengyu’s face was ashen as water. With the authority of an Immortal Sovereign, he summoned surging earth qi to form a dragon, roaring as it locked in deadly combat with the largest mutated beast. Each clash shook the mountains and split the earth, sending shattered stones flying.
Zhao Lixuan, alongside Yin Canshang, Chu Fusheng, and several other Immortal Lords, joined forces to target the culprits—the Soul Suppressing Banners and the new Demon Emperor Ji You hovering beneath them.
Dozens of razor-sharp immortal lights and sword qi tore through the sky, but the invisible force field around the Myriad Evils Resonance Instrument held firm as ever. Immortal spells struck it and vanished like a clay ox plunged into the sea, not shaking it in the slightest. Instead, the chaotic crystal orb seemed to absorb part of the attack energy, its glow blazing brighter, demonic might surging further!
Before them stretched an endless demon tide, no path to victory amid the stench of blood and gore.
Zhao Lixuan finally felt firsthand the desperate straits his brother Zhao Lanze had faced twenty years prior.
Immortal spells, sword arrays, talismans, restrictions… all means poured forth, lights dazzling the sky, explosions unending.
The allied immortals fought bathed in blood, falling one after another, yet they could not halt the demon army’s relentless advance.
Defenses retreated section by section, casualties mounted ceaselessly, scorched earth stained with blood…
Resistance seemed merely to delay the inevitable end.
Yet just as Demon Clan Prince Ji You grinned in triumph, believing victory assured—
A sudden change occurred.
From behind Crimson Meteor Pass, in the Demon Clan-controlled zone, an earth-shaking commotion erupted. Swarms of demon soldiers fled in disarray, discarding armor and weapons, their faces etched with unprecedented terror.
In moments, raw brute force tore the rear sky asunder.
An Interworld Transit Grand Array, far larger than the one seen in the Demon Capital and pulsing with ominous dark purple runes, materialized from thin air. Amid its glow, hundreds of Demon Bright soldiers and Rotten Flesh Giant Demons escorted Demon Emperor Luo Ting and Princess Xue Ying as they strode through the sky.
Terrifyingly, not only were the Rotten Flesh Giant Demons grotesque—all the demon immortal soldiers were utterly transformed.
They had fused with demons in some profane violation of life itself, every one exhibiting an unprecedented semi-demonized state: skin covered in dark scales, joints sprouting scale-feathered bone spikes, demonic qi mingling with demon qi into suffocating pressure.
The battlefield flipped in an instant.
The demon beasts summoned by the Demon Realm’s Soul Suppressing Banners were savage but dim-witted, driven only by instinct to attack indiscriminately.
Now, catching the strange, potent energy aura from the semi-demon soldiers, vast hordes of mutated demon beasts wheeled as one, abandoning the Immortal Clan to lunge at these new “allies”!
Unlike the Human Immortal forces, who needed formations and bitter fighting at grievous cost to hold the tide—
The semi-demon ranks didn’t waver in the slightest against the surging demons. Frontline soldiers lashed out casually, nearest beasts smashing into invisible barriers and shredding apart under razor claws.
Even mountain-sized Demon Clan mutated behemoths were effortlessly vaulted by several semi-demon generals, who tore their tough shells apart barehanded like child’s play.
More horrifying were the symbiotic demon generals at the rear; they didn’t even budge, merely raising bone-armored arms, fingertips tracing twisted runes.
Invisible curse ripples spread out, afflicted demon beasts withering and crumbling as if drained of life force; dark purple corrosion halos blanketed the field, tainting the Immortal Realm allies’ arduously held Taiyi Qiankun Barrier. Its golden runes dimmed and melted visibly, the light wall emitting shrill cracking!
Yu Changxin shouted urgently, “Not good! Someone stabilize the formation!”
Zhao Lixuan shot to the array’s core without hesitation, the Nine Heavens Immortal Sash coiling around him into streams of light, pouring everything into patching the crumbling barrier. His pure immortal essence clashed fiercely with the corrosive energy, temporarily staving off collapse and buying the Immortal Lords a moment to breathe.
But he was too far forward.
Close enough to glimpse the icy, piercing reflection in Demon Emperor Luo Ting’s eyes atop the array.
In that chaotic tangle, Demon Emperor Luo Ting slowly raised a hand and removed the black mask that had always concealed his face.
Beneath it was the “foster father” visage Jiang Chen had described to him twenty years ago—gentle contours, blood-red pupils, and those signature fine scars at the eye corners.
So the “foster father” wasn’t a paper effigy.
So he was Xue Ying’s birth father.
…
The battle spiraled utterly out of control in a flash.
The Demon Clan army crumbled under the Demon Bright semi-demon legion’s onslaught, vast numbers of demon beasts devoured mercilessly.
The Demon Bright semi-demon horde’s offensive crashed like raging waves, shattering the Immortal Realm allies’ hard-won formations into scattered skirmishes.
In Demon Emperor Luo Ting’s hand floated a Soul-Devouring Black Lotus, its petals opening and closing to unleash terrifying devouring power.
Be it immortal spell lights, magic artifacts, or Human Immortals caught off-guard—anything swept by its ghostly light had spiritual power scatter, forms twist, and vanished utterly without trace.
Its eerie dominance defied reason; without Yu Changxin’s Taiyi Qiankun Barrier straining to hold, the Immortal Clan would have been devoured like the demons.
But now, the light wall teetered at its limit, on the verge of shattering!
Zhao Lixuan: “Everyone, beware! Form personal barriers quickly and evade the black lotus’s ghostly light!”
Before the words faded, the black lotus spun again. On the flank, Yu Rumu had just repelled a semi-demon soldier when he saw a beam lancing toward several wounded disciples too slow to dodge. He flashed to shield them, his immortal sword blooming with resolute radiance.
Boom!
His protective immortal gang exploded on impact. Yu Rumu was struck by rampaging demon qi, plummeting like a broken kite to smash at the edge of a spell-blasted chasm. Rubble tumbled, dust billowed.
“Rumu!!!”
Xia Yunjie’s eyes nearly split with rage, immortal power erupting as he tried to charge, but five semi-demon generals pinned him in formation, his sword lights raging futilely.
Zhao Lixuan’s immortal sash shot out like lightning, pearly bands streaking toward Yu Rumu’s falling form.
But a demon saber beam flashed, slicing the Nine Heavens Immortal Sash clean in two like paper.
Both men surged again, only to be blocked by a sudden barrier of surging dark purple demonfire.
This wasn’t ordinary flame—it scorched even immortal essence shields, impossible to cross.
“Rumu!!!”
Through choking smoke and demonfire, a pitch-black figure advanced with bone-deep chill, stepping over the flames toward the chasm’s edge.
Demon Bright’s war god Yan Su dragged his Profound Iron Heavy Sword, his skeletal frame casting a ghastly silhouette in the blaze.
He loomed over the gravely wounded Yu Rumu at the brink, his bony claw-hand reaching down slowly.
“Rumu!”
Xia Yunjie’s roar carried despair, his sword frenzy unable to break through.
That skeletal claw descended inch by inch, poised to seize Yu Rumu’s throat and snap his last flicker of life.
Right then, Zhao Lixuan’s mind buzzed, chaos overwhelming.
Army Breaker… he murmured instinctively, naming the heavy sword.
He had glimpsed this Azure Flame Commander once by the princess under Demon Court moonlight, but the dim glow hid details.
