Chapter 140: Devastating Assault (Part One)
Swish!
True Man Wanchun's sword qi surged toward Jiang Feng once again. A faint smile lingered at the corner of his mouth, while his eyes were filled with utter contempt and disdain. In his heart, he regarded Jiang Feng as nothing more than an insignificant ant!
Jiang Feng's expression shifted slightly as he felt the overwhelming pressure rolling toward him.
At that very moment, a flash of lightning pierced through the sky from above.
The battle between him and True Man Wanchun was abruptly interrupted by this lightning-like radiance. Both of them looked up in suspicion simultaneously. When they saw the Demonic Commander standing casually in the sky, casually carrying seven corpses across his shoulders, utter shock washed over them.
The Seven Yin River Disciples of the Langya Chamber of Commerce in Lingbo Town were all dead!
These seven individuals were figures of formidable renown. Long before Jiang Feng was even born, they had already made a name for themselves. Because their cultivation had reached the True Underworld Realm, they possessed lifespans ranging from five hundred to eight hundred years, giving them ample time to achieve great feats.
Consequently, these Seven Yin River Disciples were core seeds cultivated by the Langya Chamber of Commerce in Lingbo Town. Their combat prowess, even in one-on-one combat, might be slightly inferior to someone like "True Man Wanchun," but the gap was certainly not wide, and they were fully capable of holding their own in a fight.
Yet, just a moment ago, all seven of them had perished.
The seven corpses retained no aura whatsoever, not even a trace of underworldly energy fluctuation. It was evident that the Demonic Commander had used underworld arts to drain away their spiritual power. True Man Wanchun felt a chill of terror in his heart. Unlike the three inner sect disciples who had died prematurely, these seven held rather lofty positions. If they died like this, he would undoubtedly find it difficult to provide an explanation upon returning!
Clearly, the death of these seven men provoked True Man Wanchun into a towering rage.
He would use Jiang Feng's blood as a sacrifice to the Seven Yin River Disciples!
His Spring Flow Sword Qi struck first, spinning and slicing through the air like flashing lightning, aiming to cut Jiang Feng to pieces on the spot.
Sensing a potent threat, Jiang Feng abruptly activated the Demonic Blade Eight-Fiend Pale Flame in his hand. It transformed into a streak of bloody light, fiercely clashing against the incoming sword qi. A rapid succession of metallic clangs echoed instantly, sending out concentric ripples. Swords and blades collided in mid-air, scattering sparks like a meteor shower.
Amidst the explosions, six flying swords suddenly burst forth—all six of them belonging to True Man Wanchun!
Six loud rings!
All six flying swords were violently repelled.
A notch the size of a grain of rice appeared on every single flying sword; they had actually been damaged by the demonic blade.
However, Jiang Feng was also sent spinning backward in the air by the immense force of the six swords. He felt a tightness in his chest, shortness of breath, and a violent churning of blood. Unable to gather his underworldly energy, he nearly plummeted to the ground.
"Damn it! The Demonic Blade Eight-Fiend Pale Flame truly lives up to its reputation as a peerless demonic artifact!"
"My flying swords, which I painstakingly refined for a full sixty years, have been damaged like this. Repairing them upon my return will waste at least three years of time, not to mention all the rare heavenly treasures I'll have to consume!"
With all six flying swords damaged simultaneously, True Man Wanchun felt a pang of intense anguish. His mind remained consumed by the thought of killing Jiang Feng to seize the Demonic Blade Eight-Fiend Pale Flame. Once refined through underworld arts upon his return, it would become an supreme treasure, granting him boundless freedom across the heavens and earth.
Although he was an inner sect disciple of the Langya Chamber of Commerce in Lingbo Town, as long as he found an excuse, killing was killing; his sect could easily shoulder that much. Having lost the use of his flying swords, True Man Wanchun abandoned them and instead gathered and condensed his underworldly energy, hurling a palm strike forward!
Boom!
The heavens shattered and the earth cracked.
Six grand formations converged upon Jiang Feng. True Man Wanchun had calculated that Jiang Feng, having just exerted himself in that fierce clash, would be unable to recover his vital energy and magical power in time, making evasion extremely difficult. This strike was a continuous chain of killer moves, sealing off all six directions—above, below, left, right, front, and back—leaving Jiang Feng with nowhere to run and no place to hide.
He knew he could not allow Jiang Feng to escape back into the Five Prisons King Cauldron, or capturing him later would prove exceedingly troublesome.
"It seems that disciple from Jiuyan Town cannot escape this fate..."
"Damnable! Supreme treasures like the Demonic Blade Eight-Fiend Pale Flame and the Five Prisons King Cauldron are about to fall into the hands of the Taiyi Sect..."
"The Langya Chamber of Commerce in Lingbo Town has grown increasingly arrogant over the years. Rumor has it that during the Dao-Discussion Assembly three years from now, they intend to establish a law-enforcement team with the power to punish disciples from all sects according to their own sectarian rules. If things continue this way, how are the rest of us supposed to survive?"
Witnessing this scene, Fang Yu, who had been trailing behind the Langya Chamber of Commerce, felt deeply depressed, a surge of sorrow and indignation rising within him. Indeed, the Langya Chamber of Commerce in Lingbo Town acted far too tyrannically. They would slaughter the inner sect disciples of other clans and factions without a second thought—how could anyone not feel a chill in their bones?
Yet he knew that at this very moment, Jiang Feng was a dead man. Not a single soul could save him.
"Sacred Tree of the Immortal Realm! Infuse primordial energy!"
At this critical juncture of life and death, Jiang Feng activated the Sacred Tree of the Immortal Realm nestled between his brows. A potent surge of energy poured into him, instantly restoring his vigor. With a fierce surge of breath, his mind flooded once more with magical power. Shifting his body through space like a carp leaping through waves, he managed to escape just an instant before the six grand formations completely closed in. He landed squarely on the rim of the Five Prisons King Cauldron without sinking down.
Red light surged from the depths of the cauldron, wrapping securely around him.
He appeared as steadfast as a mountain. The Sacred Tree of the Immortal Realm constantly absorbed the spiritual qi of the world, ensuring he faced no danger of depleting his magical power.
"What a brilliant trick!"
"He actually managed to escape that!"
"Clearly his magical power was exhausted! Yet he recovered in an instant!"
Seeing this, the surrounding disciples were utterly stunned.
"He actually got away! How could someone escape a foolproof strike?" The six true masters were equally shocked, but unwilling to relent, they exchanged glances. "Six-Directions Heaven-Covering Formation!"
The six grand formations linked together, shifting once more into a gigantic hexagonal array that blotted out the sky as it moved to seal the cauldron. Clearly, this was a combined array rehearsed by the six of them.
"This Six-Directions Heaven-Covering Formation was originally practiced by the six of us to deal with the Demonic Commander. Now that it's being used on you, you can consider your death an honor!" True Man Wanchun said, grinding his teeth.
During the past few months of hunting the Demonic Commander across the seas, these six true masters had been wounded by him. Consequently, they had jointly practiced this array. Once deployed, their underworldly energies connected and their magical powers fused, making the six of them act as one—equivalent to an expert at the fifth stage of the True Underworld Realm!
Even though True Man Wanchun was currently executing this underworld art alone, it still possessed the strength of the third stage of the True Underworld Realm.
Jiang Feng felt the pressure mount heavily once again and prepared to retreat into the cauldron to fight to the end. At that exact moment, a bolt of lightning materialized out of thin air in the sky and suddenly cleaved downward.
This bolt of lightning was as thick as a water vat, entwined with countless grand formations and faint talismanic scripts. Amidst it flew myriads of thunder-god attendants the size of thumbs, chanting a chorus of hymns from primeval times. No mortal force could withstand such divine punishment originating from antiquity—the wrath of ancient heavenly retribution, the might of the ancient gods of thunder and lightning!
Boom! Boom! Boom-boom!
The Six-Directions Heaven-Covering Formation was shattered with a single blow!
From the passage of the Nether Return, a figure descended: cascading dark hair like a waterfall, white robes purer than snow, wreathed in crackling electricity, radiating an aura of cold and majestic nobility. It was none other than the Demonic Commander.
Thump!
Seeing the Demonic Commander, Jiang Feng felt his heart skip a beat. He felt both reassured and slightly uneasy. What reassured him was that a helper had arrived on his side, one strong enough to counter the Langya Chamber of Commerce in Lingbo Town; the Demonic Commander was ruthless, fearless, formidable, and brave enough to shoulder any consequence.
What made him uneasy, however, was what purpose lay behind the Demonic Commander's assistance. Was it mere repayment, or did he intend to share the spoils and seize these people's treasures together?
He saw the Demonic Commander hover quietly in mid-air, clothes fluttering violently in the wind. The commander's eyes were filled with fierce excitement and fervor—yet this gaze was not directed at True Man Wanchun, but rather at Jiang Feng's Demonic Blade Eight-Fiend Pale Flame!
Noticing that look, Jiang Feng felt an even deeper jolt of shock, and a trace of regret began to take root. The meaning behind the Demonic Commander's expression was abundantly clear: he had set his covetous sights on his demonic blade!
"True to his nature as a disciple of the demonic path, capable of doing anything," Jiang Feng cursed inwardly, subconsciously forgetting that everything he himself had done over the past few days differed very little from the ways of these demonic disciples.
Gazing at the Demonic Commander descending from the sky, True Man Wanchun's complexion turned ashen and withered, resembling scorched earth. After a long silence, he muttered, "Good, very good!"
Driven to the brink of madness, he watched as the grand formation he had put his all into was effortlessly shattered by the Demonic Commander, leaving Jiang Feng safe and sound without a single scratch!
His heart was consumed by overwhelming rage!
"All of you, go to hell!" True Man Wanchun roared with every ounce of his remaining strength. A brilliant glare erupted across his entire body, as if sword qi were bursting forth from every single pore. At that moment, he looked like a being entirely woven from sword qi!
Heaven-filling sword qi intertwined into a massive web, targeting both Jiang Feng and the Demonic Commander.
"Jiang Feng, let's have a contest to see who can break this underworld art first?" The Demonic Commander showed not a shred of fear upon facing the lethal web. Instead, he teased Jiang Feng playfully, as if they were merely playing a game rather than fighting a battle of life and death!
Naturally, such words acted like a sharp dagger driving straight into True Man Wanchun's heart.
A monstrous fury, akin to a breached floodgate, erupted from within his chest, filling True Man Wanchun's entire being with an unquenchable wrath that refused to settle.
He had completely forgotten that trailing behind his group was a young lady from the Fang family of Jiuyan Town—an emissary dispatched by Jiuyan Town to join forces with the Langya Chamber of Commerce in Lingbo Town to capture Jiang Feng. Prior to this, the Langya Chamber of Commerce had promised the Fang family that they would deliver Jiang Feng to them completely unharmed.
This was not because the Fang family wished to save Jiang Feng, but rather because they refused to let him die at the hands of other factions.
Yet at this moment, True Man Wanchun resembled a provoked beast, casting aside all reason. Regardless of Jiang Feng's identity, he was resolved to execute him here and now!