Chapter 1073
Reinforcements Arrive, Joint Counterattack
In the middle of the distant battlefield, three human cultivators were surrounded by thousands of dark demons within a semi-transparent black magic circle.
Compared to the large birds that had just attacked the flying boat where Song Qingming and the others were, the demons in the formation were significantly stronger in both size and aura.
Leading these demons in battle were four black shadows covered in a layer of crimson light. These shadows were all at the Nascent Soul stage and were fighting desperately against the human cultivators trapped in the middle.
Unlike other low-level monsters in the vicinity that have lost their sentience.
These Nascent Soul level demonic figures are not only adept at controlling the low-level demons outside to manipulate the formation and trap the enemy, but they also know how to cooperate with each other in battle. Their intelligence seems to be no different from that of normal cultivators.
The three Nascent Soul cultivators of the human race trapped in the formation were clearly at a disadvantage under the combined attack of the black formation and numerous demonic creatures, and could only gather in one place to passively defend themselves.
Seeing that their side was surrounded by demons and unable to escape, and that reinforcements were slow to arrive, the faces of these human cultivators all showed some grim expressions.
Just as they were looking anxious, several beams of light suddenly flew in from afar, instantly exciting the previously disappointed group.
"Fellow Daoists, reinforcements have arrived!"
The colors of these approaching streaks of light were distinctly different from the surrounding demons, and their speed was incredibly fast, far exceeding that of ordinary cultivators; they were at least at the Nascent Soul stage or higher.
Seeing so many Nascent Soul cultivators arrive, the few trapped by the demons perked up and began casting spells to try and break free.
The demons surrounding them seemed to sense the approaching presence of human cultivators in the distance and immediately dispatched hundreds of demons from the great formation to intercept them.
However, these flying demons, when faced with the seven or eight supporting beams of light, only managed to block the enemy for a moment before being annihilated in mid-air by countless sword lights.
A moment later, a flash of light appeared in mid-air, and Lü Yue, dressed in a gray robe, had already arrived above the great formation.
Looking down at the great formation and the trapped cultivators, he quickly cast a spell with both hands, and a golden light flew directly into the dark clouds in the sky.
Immediately afterwards, the golden light transformed into a giant golden sword tens of feet tall, which then rushed straight towards the black array controlled by the demon below with a powerful aura.
"The golden sword vanquishes demons and annihilates evil spirits!"
There was a loud noise of "Boom!"
The seemingly impregnable black array, after being struck by the golden giant sword, managed to hold on for a moment, but soon several cracks appeared on it.
Below the black array, countless demons that were casting spells to control it began to cough up blood and scream in agony.
Soon, the aura emanating from the black array was significantly weakened by the golden giant sword.
At this moment, five or six more figures appeared in mid-air, namely Song Qingming and others who arrived a little later than Lü Yue.
Seeing that the black array below had been severely damaged by the golden giant sword, everyone was determined not to miss the opportunity and began to use their magical artifacts to attack the weak points that had already developed cracks.
The next moment, the sound of shattering came from the great formation below, and countless demons fell to the ground due to the backlash of the formation.
The black array that had been trapping the cultivators below was instantly shattered under the combined attack of the group.
At the very moment the great formation was destroyed, the four Nascent Soul demonic shadows that were besieging the human cultivators below, seeing the situation was dire, immediately abandoned their opponents and scattered in all directions.
"Hehe! Where are you going?"
Seeing the four dark figures leading the way trying to escape the battlefield, Yu Zifang and the others, who were standing high in the sky, immediately shouted and gave chase, not wanting to let these Nascent Soul demons go.
Seeing that the opportunity to make a contribution was rare, everyone cast spells to follow suit. Song Qingming also rode his escape light and chased after the direction of a Nascent Soul demon.
Besides Song Qingming, another Nascent Soul cultivator was also chasing this Nascent Soul demon, namely Zhu Qizheng, the Nascent Soul elder of the Demon-Slaying Palace who had come with him.
Although Zhu Qizheng's cultivation level was slightly lower than Song Qingming's, only at the fourth level of the Nascent Soul realm.
However, he was equally fast in pursuing his opponent. After only a few dozen miles, he activated his secret technique and caught up with the Nascent Soul demon shadow, releasing a magic weapon to block it.
Faced with Zhu Qizheng, a mid-stage Nascent Soul cultivator, the Nascent Soul demonic shadow with two strange horns couldn't gain any advantage for the time being.
Seeing that it could not escape, the Nascent Soul demonic shadow suddenly roared and cast a spell to activate a somewhat strange black magic circle in mid-air.
Before Zhu Qi could figure out what was in front of him, countless dark demons flew out from the black expanse and charged towards him desperately.
"How is this possible? It can even summon monsters remotely."
Seeing the countless demonic creatures suddenly and frantically attacking before him, even Zhu Qizheng, a mid-stage Nascent Soul cultivator, frowned and had to withdraw his magic weapon to deal with the trouble before him.
Upon seeing this, the Nascent Soul demonic shadow immediately flashed away from its original spot, intending to flee into the distance.
But at that moment, a golden light suddenly appeared in the void ahead, and a huge bronze mirror suddenly appeared out of thin air, blocking the Nascent Soul demonic shadow that was trying to escape.
Seeing this, the demonic figure was about to turn around and escape in another direction when several bronze mirrors reappeared beside him, followed by five golden beams of light shooting directly at him.
The next moment, the golden light bound the demonic figure in mid-air like chains, making it unable to move for a moment.
"Haha! Fellow Daoist Song, please hold him off for now. I will deal with these low-level demons and then come to your aid immediately."
Seeing that Song Qingming, who arrived a step late, had already successfully trapped the Nascent Soul Demon Shadow with his spell, and that Zhu Qi, who was still being besieged by a number of low-level demons not far away, immediately smiled and sent a telepathic message to him.
In his opinion, with Song Qingming's sixth-level Nascent Soul cultivation, even if he couldn't defeat the demon in front of him immediately, it wouldn't be difficult for him to hold it off.
If he can resolve his current troubles and come to help, the two of them working together will have a great chance of killing this Nascent Soul demonic shadow.
Just as Zhu Qi was desperately casting spells, trying to resolve his immediate troubles and quickly get to support his comrades.
Not far away, Song Qingming, who had successfully trapped his opponent, cast a spell again with both hands. A ball of white flame shot out from the "Five Elements Divine Light Mirror" and covered the Nascent Soul Demon Shadow.
Faced with the scorching heat of the pure Yang True Fire, the demonic shadow immediately let out a miserable scream, and its demonic energy rapidly dissipated.
Seeing that the opponent seemed to have lost the ability to escape, Song Qingming emitted a ball of white light again, which formed a white spear in front of him.
"go with!"
At Song Qingming's command, the white spear in front of him immediately shot towards the Nascent Soul Demon Shadow.
Faced with Song Qingming's all-out attack from afar, the Nascent Soul demonic shadow sensed the danger and hurriedly activated its demonic energy to form a protective shield, trying to withstand the attack.
But at this moment, he was trapped by the "Five Elements Divine Light Mirror" and had already lost most of his magic power. He was powerless to stop the lightning spear that countered him.
A flash of white light appeared, and Song Qingming activated his white spear, piercing through his demonic energy shield and penetrating his body.
The next moment, countless white lightning bolts enveloped the opponent's entire body.
After struggling for a while, the Nascent Soul demonic shadow was quickly scorched by the lightning and exploded, falling to the ground in pieces.
Just as Song Qingming arrived at the other person's corpse and carefully searched the vicinity for anything he might have missed, a figure quickly arrived beside him as well.
Looking at the scattered and mangled monster corpses on the ground, Zhu Qi looked at Song Qingming with disbelief, as if he still couldn't believe that the other party had already ended the battle.
It should be noted that these Nascent Soul stage demonic figures are no less capable than ordinary cultivators of the same level, whether in terms of speed or supernatural powers.
Even within the "Demon-Slaying Palace," a sect known for its ability to suppress demonic techniques, aside from a few late-stage Nascent Soul elders, there should be no one who could defeat this demon so quickly.
Song Qingming was merely a cultivator invited from outside the sect to help, and he had never heard of him before. It was hard to believe that the person in front of him actually possessed such strength.
"I didn't expect Fellow Daoist Song to have already slain this demon. I congratulate you in advance!"
"Fellow Daoist Zhu, you are too kind. The successful annihilation of this demon was not solely due to my efforts."
"If it weren't for my fellow Daoist helping to entangle the opponent and deplete much of his magical power, how could I, Song, have succeeded so easily?"
"Hehe! Fellow Daoist, rest assured, I was merely assisting from the sidelines. The main credit for eliminating the demons definitely belongs to Fellow Daoist Song."
Seeing that Song Qingming did not intend to take credit for himself, Zhu Qizheng's face immediately lit up with joy.
After exchanging a polite greeting with Song Qingming, he stepped forward and searched the monster's corpse. He quickly found a black bead about the size of a thumb.
“Fellow Daoist Song, this Demonic Essence Pearl is of some use to our sect, so I will take it for now. After the war is over, Senior Brother Lü will discuss the rewards with you.”
Zhu Qizheng obtained the "Demon Essence Pearl," a crystal core that only demons at the Golden Core level or above can produce, similar to the natal Golden Core within a demon beast.
However, the contents of these demonic creatures cannot be used for alchemy or direct refinement, and are of little use to ordinary righteous cultivators.
Song Qingming had obtained one before when he was in Xihuazhou, but after studying it for a while, he found it useless and discarded it.
Seeing that Zhu Qi needed to exchange this item for merit points, Song Qingming didn't say anything and let the other party take it away.
The two quickly cleaned up the battlefield and then returned to the location of the airship.
When Song Qingming and his companion returned, almost all the demons near the battlefield had been eliminated, and Lü Yue and the others had also returned to the flying boat. Similar to Song Qingming's situation, Lü Yue, the most powerful cultivator among them, had also dealt with a Nascent Soul demon.
Given his late-stage Nascent Soul cultivation, it wasn't surprising that he managed to catch up with and kill a Nascent Soul demon, and the others weren't too surprised by it.
On the contrary, when they heard that Song Qingming and Zhu Qizheng had also successfully eliminated their targets and returned to the battlefield so quickly, everyone who heard the news was quite surprised and hurriedly went forward to congratulate them.
When Song Qingming and his companion returned, the Nascent Soul cultivators who had been chasing the demons from the other two directions had not yet returned, so they had to stop the flying boat and wait.
Soon after, the Nascent Soul cultivators from the other two directions also withdrew.
Unfortunately, after a chase, they only managed to kill some low-level demonic cultivators, and the two Nascent Soul demons managed to escape capture.
However, the fact that they managed to kill two Nascent Soul Demon Shadows and so many low-level demons makes their first major battle in the "Qiyun Immortal Cultivation World" quite fruitful.
Besides slaying these demons, the most important thing was that the group also successfully rescued three trapped human companions.
One of the three was a Nascent Soul Elder from the nearby Jade Spirit Sect, while the other two were cultivators from other sects who had come to provide support.
The three of them were originally on their way to support a market town besieged by monsters, but they were trapped by monsters that suddenly appeared shortly after they set off.
If Song Qingming and his group hadn't happened to pass by and come to their aid in time, these people would probably be in grave danger today.
Previously, when Lü Yue and others received the request for help, the people from the "Jade Spirit Sect" only claimed that they were unable to enter the source of the demonic disaster to completely resolve the demonic problem.
Unexpectedly, in just a few months, the situation has taken a sharp turn for the worse, with such a powerful Nascent Soul demonic figure appearing even near their mountain gate.
After everyone gathered together, the flying boat continued its journey and soon arrived at the gate of the Jade Spirit Sect, the number one sect in the Qiyun cultivation world.
Upon arriving nearby, Song Qingming and the others saw a scene of devastation on the ground below, littered with the corpses of many demons and human cultivators, indicating that a great battle had recently taken place here as well.
Outside the distant mountain gate, many cultivators were still cleaning up the battlefield, and a bloody and terrifying aura permeated the air.
As soon as the flying boat approached the mountain gate, the Jade Spirit Sect cultivators, who had already spotted them, hurriedly sent out cultivators to greet them and led Song Qingming and the others into the mountain-protecting formation.
Not long after, Huang Gucheng, the leader of the Jade Spirit Sect, learned of the arrival of reinforcements and excitedly led several elders of the sect to welcome them.
After inviting everyone into the main hall, Huang Gucheng first expressed his gratitude and then directly explained the tense situation in the "Qiyun Immortal Cultivation World," which allowed everyone to understand the specifics of this "demonic disaster."
This demonic calamity first broke out suddenly in the Wuyun Mountains in the north of the "Qiyun Immortal Cultivation World".
Originally, the Wuyun Mountains were a place with abundant Yin energy. In the past, because many ghost cultivators and Yin corpses gathered here, human cultivators and demons rarely set foot here.
About five or six years ago, some low-level demons suddenly appeared in the once peaceful "Dark Cloud Mountains" and began to harass the nearby human territories.
At first, the nearby Nascent Soul sect, "Liefeng Sect," thought that a Golden Core demonic cultivator was causing trouble in the vicinity and sent many cultivators to investigate.
As a result, all of these people disappeared without a trace, which eventually alarmed Yuan Zifeng, the Supreme Elder of the "Liefeng Sect".
This Nascent Soul Level 5 cultivator personally infiltrated the "Dark Cloud Mountains," but before he could investigate the matter thoroughly, he encountered several Nascent Soul level demons along the way.
After a fierce battle, Yuan Zifeng was seriously injured and fled back to the "Liefeng Sect".
He had just relayed the news of the "demonic calamity" to other sects in the Qiyun cultivation world when a large number of demons quickly emerged from the "Dark Cloud Mountains".
In just a few months, the "Liefeng Sect" and many other cultivation forces in the vicinity fell under the iron hooves of the demonic invasion.
It wasn't until the Jade Spirit Sect, having learned of the news, joined forces with other Nascent Soul sects nearby to provide support that the demonic calamity was successfully contained within the northern territory, preventing the relatively prosperous southern part of the Qiyun cultivation world from being significantly affected.
In recent years, the human cultivators led by the Jade Spirit Sect have won several battles and have already recovered a lot of territory in the north.
Six months ago, just as their organization dispatched elite forces to try to break into the "Dark Cloud Mountains" and destroy the source of the demonic disaster.
Unexpectedly, they encountered numerous powerful demons that blocked their way. Not only did they fail to resolve the demonic threat, but they also lost several Nascent Soul cultivators.
That is why, knowing they were powerless to end the demonic calamity, they had no choice but to seek help from all sides and bring reinforcements from the "Demon-Slaying Palace" once again.
Since Huang Gucheng and his group were defeated in the "Black Cloud Mountains" last time, a large number of demons have emerged in the north in the past six months.
In a short time, most of the territories that had been recovered fell back into the hands of demons. Even the Jade Spirit Sect, which was originally far from the front line, was besieged by many demons not long ago.
Having lost a significant amount of Nascent Soul cultivators, the human cultivators could only passively defend against the oncoming demons, finding themselves in a precarious situation.
Huang Gucheng and the others finally breathed a sigh of relief when they saw the army of "Dangmo Palace" cultivators who had come to their aid.
With so many Nascent Soul and Golden Core cultivators arriving to provide support, and the addition of Lü Yue, a late-stage Nascent Soul cultivator, the strength of the human cultivators has already surpassed that of half a year ago.
Barring any unforeseen circumstances, they should now be able to discuss how to reclaim the lost territories and completely resolve this demonic threat.
Compared to the excited Huang Gucheng and others, Song Qingming, sitting to the side, felt a sense of doubt after learning the specifics of the demonic disaster.
If what Huang Gucheng said is true, and the demons in the "Black Cloud Mountains" are so powerful, then if they were to mobilize all their forces, they should have enough strength to wipe out the entire northern part of the "Qiyun Immortal Cultivation World".
However, these demons seemed unconcerned when faced with the counterattack from the human cultivators of the "Jade Spirit Sect" organization.
It wasn't until Huang Gucheng and his group infiltrated the "Dark Cloud Mountains" to end the demonic scourge that they encountered a powerful counterattack from the enemy, as if the enemy was intentionally hiding their strength.
The demonic calamities he witnessed in "Xihua Continent" were far more ferocious than those in the Qiyun cultivation world.
In just a few years, it has even forced human cultivators, including Nascent Soul Ancestors, to take action personally.
In comparison, the demonic calamity in the Qiyun cultivation world was much milder, although it seemed to be fighting the human cultivators on equal terms.
However, after several years of entanglement, the two sides only managed to take over less than 20% of the territory of the Qiyun Immortal Cultivation Realm, and the results were significantly smaller than expected.
This strange place wasn't just on Song Qingming's mind; many others also had their own doubts.
However, it's clear that they won't get any answers by guessing here; ultimately, they need to find the source of the demonic disaster to get the answer everyone wants.
After some discussion, Huang Gucheng, Lü Yue, and others decided to send troops to rescue several places that were under siege by monsters.
After eliminating the threat of monsters in the surrounding area, we will gather our forces to attack the "Dark Cloud Mountains," find the source of the demonic calamity, and completely end this demonic plague.
After resting for a few days at the Jade Spirit Sect, Song Qingming was soon assigned a mission: to lead a group of people to support a nearby market town that was being besieged by demons, together with Zhu Qizheng and another Nascent Soul cultivator.
Just as they arrived near the market with their army of cultivators, the two Nascent Soul demons who were besieging them saw them from afar and immediately led a number of high-level demons to escape using magic.
In the end, the group only killed some low-level demons without expending too much effort, and quickly relieved the cultivators guarding the market.
Not only them, but most of the other cultivator armies sent to provide support also returned in triumph, with only a few encountering fierce resistance from demons and struggling to break through the siege for a time.
However, this problem was not difficult for the human cultivators. They quickly dispatched more reinforcements and annihilated all the invading demons.
Since Song Qingming and his group arrived, in just a few months, the human cultivators have successfully recovered most of the territory and driven the demon army back to the vicinity of the Liefeng Sect, which is adjacent to the "Dark Cloud Mountains".
This place is also where the largest army of demons gathers. There are not only more than 100,000 infected demons nearby, but also an extremely powerful demonic energy array on the twin mountains.
A year ago, the Jade Spirit Sect's counterattack against the demons was also halted here, and several attacks failed to conquer this sacred mountain.
In their eagerness to extinguish the demonic calamity, they chose to risk bypassing the area and dispatched an elite force composed of Nascent Soul and Golden Core cultivators to penetrate deep into the "Dark Cloud Mountains" and destroy the source of the calamity first.
Unexpectedly, after entering the mountain range, they were met with numerous powerful demons. When they tried to retreat, they were blocked by demons from "Gale Mountain," resulting in heavy losses.
Now that they have returned to the foot of "Galewind Mountain", the group obviously will not repeat the same mistakes. They must first find a way to remove this thorn that has been blocked by the demons' combat power.
Otherwise, if the human cultivator army bypasses this place, it will inevitably face the risk of being attacked from both sides.
".."
Just as the human cultivators at the foot of the mountain were preparing for battle, two figures on the summit of "Liefeng Mountain," separated by a protective array, were also watching everything that was happening below.
"Heh! It seems those human cultivators have finally learned their lesson and are going to deal with us first."
"Don't worry, with this grand formation I've set up, it won't be easy for them to climb the mountain."
Preparations over there are almost complete; once all the necessary offerings arrive, we'll be close to completing the entire plan.
"Oh! So, we don't need to hold back this time? Isn't it a bit too early to act now? What if we alert those old fogies in the Eastern Phoenix Kingdom?"
"Don't be afraid. Ling Xuzi has probably already ascended to immortality. The remaining two old geezers are definitely focused on the Demon Suppression Island."
They're too far away to interfere here; they won't meddle in our affairs. (End of Chapter)