"What’s wrong, not daring to continue?"
The young Martial Artist lifted his head, locking eyes with the hesitant Swordsman before him. As opposed to An Jing’s increasingly soaring desire for battle, floating midair, Xie Gusu’s expression grew increasingly solemn: "Demonic Qi, Spirit Root..."
"You...what kind of monster are you?"
Xie Gusu found it hard not to be solemn, hard not to be astonished.
It was one thing to be fearless of Demonic Qi; the various powers of Embracing the Void had their whole set of methods to deal with the intrusion of a body by Demonic Qi, and legend had it that the Longevity Sect of the east possessed a whole secret technique that could shape Martial Artists into beings completely immune to Demonic Qi, allowing them to roam freely even in the Netherworld Demonic Land. Perhaps a similar secret technique was endowed upon An Jing from the Tianyi Demon Sect.
But what was happening to An Jing was entirely beyond common knowledge.
He wasn’t just fearless of Demonic Qi; he could transform Demonic Qi!
With his eyes shining with Spiritual Light, Xie Gusu could tell that An Jing’s body, though highly resistant to Demonic Qi, would still undergo slight distortions in flesh and bone due to it.
However, accompanied by that surging Sun Flame vitality within him, those distorted parts,extra growths of horn and scale layers, as well as the bony spikes, peeled apart layer by layer, like rotisserie flesh seared off by charcoal fire, cleansed by the scorching sun like pus from a sore.
And the Demonic Qi that should have clung to him like a persistent sore was also incinerated and transformed by an inexplicable force, turned into pure Spirit Mechanism that could be utilized!
Most terrifying of all was that An Jing could actually stimulate his Spirit Root?!
This was what Xie Gusu could least comprehend.
All ancient and long-standing Upper Sects originate from the ancient Qi Refinement Immortal Path, a path that unifies body and mind with nature and travels through the Great Void Universe, known as the most supreme and pure doctrine.
But due to changes in the world and the distortion of Heavenly Demons, anyone daring to stimulate the Spirit Root and practice the Qi Refinement Immortal Path would undergo transformation in both body and bloodline, turning into Immortal Path monsters more frightening than Heavenly Demons themselves—some with eight arms and five heads, stirring dust storms as Demon Gods; others with tiger heads and snake bodies, turning thousands of miles into poisonous marshes as Exotic Beasts...
Each Immortal Path monster’s features share similarities with the Cultivation Techniques they practice. Without exception, these monsters all lose their human rationale and completely become pure Strange Beasts, capable of causing all kinds of Incredible disasters, upsetting the balance of a realm, causing destruction comparable to, or even worse than, that of Heavenly Demons.
Demonic Degeneration breeds evil demons, Immortal Fall breeds Divine Abnormalities.
These are the two greatest taboos of the Huai Xu Great Realm, offenders condemned by the combined forces of nature, ghosts, and gods, their former identities irrelevant, their execution justified!
But... this young Martial Artist before me...
An Jing slowly lifted his head.
Right now, the fresh blood from the wounds around his body had already stopped, one scar after another healed on his body, consolidating into cracklike traces, while the boiling and evaporating blood enveloped around him, forming a Blood Fiend mist, and strands of Gold Fiend spread under his skin, emitting silver-white light with every breath, extending like vessels and meridians to his chest and around his body.
Externally Blood and Gold Two Evils, internally the Yin Yang Qi. The vitality of the Yang from the Five Elements Divine Abnormality, together with the Yin of Deathly Fiend absorbed from Xie Gusu’s Divine Skill, endlessly rotated. The Spirit Qi and Demonic Qi absorbed by the Fate Pattern and Spirit Root also continued to cycle, forming a Taiji Roulette within An Jing’s body.
And at the center of this "Yin and Yang of Life and Death, Qi Fiend Spirit Demon" Taiji Roulette stood the mediator—Shenxiao Destruction True Thunder Sword Intent, separating Yin and Yang, cleaving dusk from dawn.
Even Demonic Qi itself would scatter from the Destructive True Thunder, then dissected by the Heavenly Profound True Talisman and transformed.
For a long time, An Jing had been pondering—his Seven Fiend Heavenly Mandate belonged to Yin Yang and the Five Elements, and the Transformations it derived nearly encompassed all attributes of Innate and learned. As such, how should he coordinate these seven major attributes?
Now, he had vaguely found the path.
It is none other than [Destruction] and [Creation].
The Destruction Thunder Method, both before his eyes and within himself. And for the subsequent Creation, learn from the Bright Mirror Sect.
"You are definitely not the Jiuli Commanding General."
At this moment, Xie Gusu was certain; he had lost his composure not because of fear or cluelessness but rather the opposite—he was too calm, thinking of a nearly impossible possibility: "The Soldier Master dons heavy armor and leads armies with five weapons, not mastering the way of Yin Yang!"
"But you! You have previously demonstrated the Five Elements Spirit Light!"
Xie Gusu wasn’t sure if his voice was quivering: "Possessing both Yin Yang and the Five Elements, unafraid of Demonic Qi corrosion, not falling to Immortal or demonic ways, the one chosen by the heavens..."
"Are Heavenly Mandate!"
"Hah, say what you will."
An Jing lifted his head.
As if to prove the power of his words, before his voice fell, Xie Gusu once again grasped the sword—holding his long sword upright, he drew out the Formation Talisman, allowing the pitch-black Demonic Qi into his body, recklessly absorbing the surrounding nature’s spiritual energy to replenish his Qi at the cost of being corroded, launching another attack on An Jing.
In an instant, thousands of grey-white Netherworld yin energy gathered in the air, condensing into semi-transparent Ice Soul Sword Qi, then pouring down on An Jing like rain, each sword qi ripping through the atmosphere, tearing vacuums and unleashing Thunder Sound shockwaves. Even a piece of Divine Steel would be turned into a honeycomb.
Facing the sword qi storm, An Jing took a step forward—yet he did not tread on the ground. Blood Fiend and Gold Fiend intersected, with Yin Yang Qi layered upon, the invisible atmosphere and flashing arcs repelling the elemental magnetism of the universe, bearing An Jing’s weight. Mysterious Gold-colored Thunder Light flared and reverberated by his side, allowing him to float steadily in midair.