Chapter 392 - 25: Epilogue (Part 1)
Under the Demon Soul’s backlash, Madam Qi’s clothes were torn to shreds. Vicious, terrifying serpentine scales appeared on her plump, fair skin.
Her eyes turned cold and crazed as an astonishing demonic aura erupted from her body.
Streaks of Demonic Light intertwined and materialized, finally forming a terrifying, thousand-zhang-long Demon Snake.
The Demon Snake appeared silently above Xuanchen Island. It opened its massive maw and bit down at the buildings on the island.
One of the Void Demon Snake’s instincts was to devour.
Its blood-red mouth descended, and in one gulp, the Demon Snake swallowed a Jade Tower on Xuanchen Island, along with the very rock it stood on, devouring it ravenously.
A faint wail escaped the Demon Snake’s mouth. The Cultivator in seclusion within the Jade Tower had no time to react before being buried in the serpent’s belly.
Still unsatisfied, the Demon Snake bit down toward another palace.
From within that palace, an Escape Light fled in a panic, grazing the corner of the Demon Snake’s mouth as it flew past. Its occupant shouted, "It’s a Void Demon Snake! Everyone, be careful!"
As he spoke, a flash of spiritual light enveloped him, and he vanished, having activated a Magical Artifact to leave the Mysterious Secret Realm.
The other Cultivators on the island were alarmed. Seeing this, they all followed suit and immediately left the Secret Realm.
The Demon Snake devoured several more palaces and pavilions but failed to eat any Cultivators. Growing agitated, it shook its head and tail, abruptly shattered the void, and shot out of the Mysterious Secret Realm, wreathed in a ring of black Demonic Light.
Amid the ruins of Xuanchen Island, Yan Shutong quietly appeared, a pitch-black bell in her hand.
She gazed at the towering Feather Divine Soldiers standing on another island in the distance, a fanatical look in her eyes.
...
「Demon Marshal’s Mansion.」
Fang Cheng sat cross-legged in his Quiet Chamber. Before him was a foot-tall Feather Divine Soldier.
After assisting Madam Qi and Master Shengyu in refining Feather Divine Soldiers for so long, how could he not have gained anything?
Although he had yet to master the fundamental refining method, he now had a profound understanding of the principles behind how Feather Divine Soldiers operated.
The ability to change the size of the Feather Divine Soldiers at will was one of the clever techniques he had comprehended during this time.
The second was how to repair the Dragon Head Feather Divine Soldiers left behind by Senluo!
That Feather Divine Soldier’s Thunder Pool and Mud Ball Palace had been shattered by a single, incomparably domineering sword strike from the Dream Spirit Incarnation, which had also extinguished Senluo’s life force.
He already had an idea for repairing the Thunder Pool, but he would have to wait until he returned to the Red Profound Realm to plan it out properly.
Just then, a massive BOOM echoed from outside the mansion, accompanied by violent Spiritual Qi fluctuations. Though it was far away, the tremor was still enough to make one’s scalp tingle.
Fang Cheng’s expression flickered. With a wave of his hand, he put away the Feather Divine Soldier, rose to his feet, and walked out of the Quiet Chamber.
A thousand-zhang-long, black-scaled serpent was rampaging in the sky above the Demon City. Wherever its jaws passed, buildings, palaces, and Cultivators within the Demon City were torn apart and devoured.
A Tier Four Celestial Demon, the Void Demon Snake!
Its demonic might was overwhelming. The Demon City instantly descended into chaos. Even a Life Soul Cultivator stood no chance against this Celestial Demon, let alone the weaker Life Talisman and Sensing Cultivators.
As the Demon Snake feasted heartily upon the city, many Cultivators saw the dire situation and fled in a panic toward the city gates.
’This is... Madam Qi’s Demon Soul?’
The answer came to Fang Cheng the moment he saw the Demon Snake.
At the same time, a hundred-zhang-tall Feather Divine Soldier appeared above the Demon City.
Amidst a sky full of lightning, this Feather Divine Soldier activated the Demon City’s Grand Array. The phantom of a Celestial Stele materialized above the Demon City and descended to suppress the Void Demon Snake.
BOOM!
The Demon Snake shrieked as it was pinned to the ground by the Celestial Stele’s phantom. After a violent tremor shook the earth and sky, it fell silent.
’So this is the Profound Celestial Demon City’s Fifth-rank Magical Artifact, the Demon Suppression Stele?’
As this thought crossed Fang Cheng’s mind, Ling Yan gracefully floated down to him. "Madam has suffered a cultivation deviation," she said. "Go help Lingyi suppress it. I’m going into the Mysterious Secret Realm to take a look."
Fang Cheng nodded.
Ling Yan’s delicate brows furrowed. She took a deep look at the spot where the phantom of the Demon Suppression Stele had landed, then flew toward the City Lord’s Mansion.
Fang Cheng, meanwhile, went to the location of the Demon Suppression Stele’s phantom.
There, a Feather Divine Soldier wreathed in blinding lightning stood on a street in the Demon City. The surrounding houses and pavilions were all in ruins. A vicious Demon Snake was pinned firmly to the ground beneath the massive phantom of the Demon Suppression Stele.
After arriving, Fang Cheng also summoned his own Feather Divine Soldier to help suppress the snake and maintain the Demon Suppression Stele’s power.
The other Demon Marshals in the city also arrived one by one to assist Lingyi.
Although the chaos in the city had been quelled, some naturally cautious Cultivators still quietly left the Demon City, fleeing far away without a backward glance.
Other Cultivators watched from a distance. Some, even more audacious, had already started searching for fortuitous encounters in the areas the Demon Snake had just ravaged...
「Mysterious Secret Realm.」
Ling Yan’s figure slowly appeared.
When she saw the scene before her, a trace of shock finally appeared on her usually calm, cold, and indifferent face.
The Nine Heavens Responding Element Thunder Sound Universal Transformation Celestial Venerable Feather Divine Soldier was gone.
Looking over at the neighboring island, she saw it was in complete disarray. It was clear that after Madam Qi’s cultivation deviation, she had gone there first.
Ling Yan’s brow furrowed tightly. She gazed at the enormous Jade Toad in the distance, took a deep breath, and knelt on the ground. Chanting strange syllables, a look of reverence appeared on her face.
As she prayed, a thick golden fog rose from the great river beyond the island.
Vague figures moved within the golden fog, shockingly replaying everything that had just happened in the Mysterious Secret Realm.
From Madam Qi refining the Feather Divine Soldier, to her hearing the sound of a bell and her Demon Soul stirring behind her, to her Demon Soul completely losing control and backlashing while she was on her way to Xuanchen Island...
Everything that had occurred in the Secret Realm was condensed by the golden fog into what looked like solid forms.
Ling Yan watched intently. Only after the Demon Snake fled the Secret Realm did a beautiful woman holding a Bell Spiritual Artifact cross the river and calmly take away the Tier Five Feather Divine Soldier.
She bowed once more toward the mountain-like Jade Toad, then her figure flickered and vanished from the Secret Realm.
...
「Above the Demon City.」
A flash of Thunder Light appeared next to the phantom of the Demon Suppression Stele, revealing Ling Yan’s tall, graceful figure.
"By my order, seal the Demon City’s Grand Array! From this moment on, no one is to take a single step out of the Demon City!"
Ling Yan commanded the assembled Demon Marshals.
"As you command."
Several Demon Marshals responsible for operating the Demon City’s City Defense Array left immediately. In less than a moment, the restrictive light of the City Defense Array above the Demon City grew intense and solid, sealing it from both inside and out, permitting no one to enter or leave.
Ling Yan then beckoned another Demon Marshal over. With a wave of her fair hand, a water mirror materialized in the air, revealing the image of an exquisitely beautiful woman.
"I ask you, how did this woman enter the Secret Realm?" Ling Yan asked coldly.
This Demon Marshal was responsible for guarding Xuanchen Palace. Other than Madam Qi, Ling Yan, and Lingyi, any other Cultivator in the city who wished to enter the Mysterious Secret Realm had to do so through Xuanchen Palace with a Token.
And this Demon Marshal was the one in charge of inspection and approval.
The Demon Marshal glanced at the water mirror, his expression turning a little strange. He bowed and said, "My Lady, the Token this woman carried... it should have been granted by you..."
...