500: Transformation and Infiltration

These firm and resounding words were like cool raindrops falling onto parched, scorched earth!

Though faint, they sent ripples through the lake of everyone's hearts!

Xiao Huohuo snapped his head up, the dejection in his eyes swept away as his bloodlust was instantly ignited:

“Senior Sister Lin is right! It's not over yet! Fuck these demon brats! Everyone, pull yourselves together!”

He let out a loud roar and, despite his injuries, rushed back to the edge of the Formation Plate, crimson flames surging in his palms.

He recklessly poured his nearly depleted essence energy into the core of the ancient, crack-riddled Formation Plate!

Though that faint essence energy was like a firefly before a bright moon, instantly swallowed by the massive defensive consumption,

his desperate posture was the most powerful declaration!

“Everyone, move!”

“Hold on!”

“For the Sect! And for ourselves!”

Sparse but resolute shouts of agreement, filled with the last of their will, rose from the group of Disciples.

Though weak, and though they knew hope was slim, at the edge of the abyss of despair,

this sliver of light born from their leader's conviction was enough to support them in squeezing their exhausted bodies once more,

once again channeling their feeble essence energy into that precarious guardian formation!

The remaining spiritual lights were like candles in the wind, faint yet flickering with persistence!

Elder Lin Mingyuan sat cross-legged at the heart of the formation, feeling the weak yet resilient flow of energy coming from the Formation Plate beneath his feet.

He slowly closed his eyes, his withered hand quietly clutching a dull, blood-colored bone talisman—

that was his final trump card, and the price was his Origin!

It was the primer intended to trigger 'Blood-Refining Void-Breaking'... unless it was the final moment of despair, he would never use it lightly!

However, his gaze never completely left Lin Qingxue's figure.

Three hundred miles northeast of the rift's outskirts, the lead-gray Devillish Miasma was like a boiling swamp.

A crimson shadow sped along.

Yao Delong suddenly came to a halt. A suffocating sense of viscosity came from the Void Realm ahead,

as if the air were stuffed with invisible, cold threads with tiny barbs!

When his Divine Sense extended less than a hundred feet, it became sluggish as if stuck in a mire, seemingly frozen by ten-thousand-year-old ice!

Even the flow of Chaos essence energy within his body was subjected to invisible suppression!

The formation left by an Ancient Remnant Demon actually possessed such miraculous power!

“Forcing my way in is unwise...” In Yao Delong's eyes, the Yin and Yang divine light swirled, instantly deducing thousands of possibilities.

“This place is surrounded by demonic Cultivators, and their strength is unknown. If I act rashly, it could easily ignite the fires of total extinction; Qingxue and the others would be in danger.”

In a flash of thought, the Mind-Cultivation Technique of the Thousand Mechanisms Formless Art roared into operation deep within his Sea of Consciousness!

An invisible 'thousand mechanisms origin core' dormant in his Dantian lit up!

Buzz!

The space around him rippled slightly like water!

Looking back at the spot, where was there any trace of Yao Delong's previous aura?

His black robe had turned into tattered crimson robes, and his face had transformed into a sinister and mean-looking countenance with strange tattoos under the eyes—

it was none other than the Mid-stage Soul Transformation old devil, 'Blood Fiend', whom he had annihilated with a single sword strike on the battlefield!

Even more terrifyingly, a thick, violent, pure Devillish Qi, mixed with the baleful thoughts and wails of countless wronged souls,

diffused from his body without any hindrance!

Its cold and fierce purity even far exceeded that of an ordinary Soul Transformation demonic Cultivator!

This was not just a change in appearance, but a deep imitation of his life's Origin aura!

Even the subtle rhythm of the demonic source's flow was identical! It was enough to deceive anyone!

“This...”

In a fold of space several hundred feet behind him, the hidden Night Hawk Captain's pupils suddenly contracted!

Sensing through the forbidden zone's Devillish Qi, if he hadn't seen Yao Delong perform a technique similar to the Thousand Mechanisms Formless Art with his own eyes,

he would have almost thought this 'Old Devil Blood Fiend' had been resurrected in another body! This simulated demonic source... was too real!

It was as if he were a being that had crawled out from the deepest depths of the demonic abyss!

“This kid... just how many tricks is he hiding?”

The newly disguised "Old Devil Blood Fiend" cracked his neck, making a tooth-aching sound of grinding bones,

and his eyes instantly became irritable, greedy, and wicked—just like a true bloodthirsty Devil Head from the abyss.

Immediately, he no longer hid his speed, and with a thick, bloody, baleful wind, he swaggered toward the entrance of the rift.

Wherever he passed, the Devillish Miasma automatically parted to create a gap.

Below, a team of seven or eight gray-robed demonic Cultivators patrolling the lava fissure were about to shout and question him,

but the leading Golden Core demonic Cultivator only had to look up and glimpse those iconic, hideous blood-red robes and the oncoming Soul Transformation-level baleful pressure to be scared out of his wits!

With a thud, his knees slammed into the scorching lava-scorched earth, and he didn't dare raise his head as he shouted hoarsely:

“Welcome, Honorable Blood Fiend, on your inspection!!”

The Foundation Establishment and Golden Core Realm demonic soldiers behind him were shaking like sieves, kneeling in a heap, not daring to breathe!

In the Demonic Path, if you dared to disrespect a high-level Cultivator, the only outcome was having your tendons pulled and your soul stripped!

Who could have imagined that this notoriously fierce old devil would appear alone in the peripheral area!

“Hmph! Trash! All of you, keep your eyes open!

If any strangers approach, kill them without—no! Skin them alive for this seat to enjoy slowly!”

“Blood Fiend” (Yao Delong) feigned impatience and growled, his voice dry like the friction of iron and stone,

carrying a heavy bloodthirsty intent. His figure didn't stop for a moment,

and he flew toward the core area of the rift, trailing a bloody wind and leaving behind a group of demonic Cultivators who were as quiet as cicadas in winter.

Along the way, there were no more obstacles. He encountered several patrolling demonic squads,

all of whom sensed from afar that unique and fierce demonic source belonging to the “Blood Fiend” old devil. They either immediately gave way respectfully with bowed heads,

or prostrated themselves like sand worms in a disturbed nest. This identity seemed to have quite a fierce reputation within the Demonic Path!

A moment later, the figure of “Blood Fiend” landed like a homing vulture

on a massive obsidian observation platform that stood abruptly on the cliff wall of the rift.

The concentration of Devillish Qi here was more than ten times stronger than in the outskirts. Several fierce-looking and varied Soul Transformation demonic Cultivators were gathered here,

peering like jackals at the crumbling golden light shield deep within the valley floor.

Yao Delong's gaze instantly pierced through the surging demonic fog, accurately locking onto the valley floor platform!

Those hundreds of exhausted yet still upright figures!

The stubborn Liu Rumei in her tattered red clothes!

Xiao Huohuo, who was being supported by Lin Shishi while still struggling to pour fire essence into the formation's base!

And—that figure standing at the very front of the light curtain, her face as pale as snow,

her lips pressed tight, the ice lotus between her brows dim, yet still standing as tall and straight as a cold mountain peak!

Lin Qingxue!

Though her clothes were tattered and her appearance was somewhat disheveled, that cold, mountain-peak-like Sword Intent hadn't diminished in the slightest;

instead, it had been tempered by the desperate situation to become even more solid, like a lonely bamboo refusing to break in a gale.

The taut string in his heart loosened slightly. Thank goodness! They were alive! They were all there!

But following immediately was a sky-piercing rage! At a glance, he saw the bloodstains at the corner of her mouth that hadn't been wiped clean!

He saw several sinister demonic baleful wounds coiled like venomous snakes within her body, obstructing the rush of her ice-crystal essence energy!

They were all injured?!

The destructive aura suppressed deep in his Dantian surged violently, only to be covered by the overwhelming killing intent brought by the name of “Blood Fiend”!

“Hmm?”

Sensing the arrival of a demonic source behind him, a massive demonic shadow nearly ten feet tall,

with muscles knotted like cast bronze, slowly turned around, his burly body encased in hideous bone armor.

The crisscrossing scars on his face were like centipedes, and he now wore a hint of unexpected playfulness,

opening his mouth full of fangs to let out a dull but highly piercing laugh:

Following Savage Demon's lead, his tone also became "impatient."

“Hurry up! How do we increase it? I've been holding back my fire all the way, and now I just want to hear the screams of these insects' bones being crushed!”