Chapter 640 - 422: Luring the Qilin Ape Demon Saint
Song Lingyun’s liver and gallbladder felt as if they were splitting, his chest caved in.
He wasn’t supposed to be in such a dire state, but how could he have known that Wei Fan had achieved body ascension to sainthood? Allowing Wei Fan to get close had doomed his defeat.
"Escape!"
He leveraged the force of a single palm to turn and flee, but someone with body ascension was nearly invincible in close combat, not just in strength but speed too, as swift as lightning.
As soon as he turned, a powerful, strong hand gripped his neck, the bones creaking under the pressure.
"So fierce!"
Zhi Hua and Gu Ziqin, hidden in the shadows, were dumbfounded. It only took a few moves for Song Lingyun to be captured by Wei Fan.
"If he hadn’t been approached, he could have fought a while longer; getting close to someone with body ascension is practically seeking death."
Zhou Shen shook his head, quietly warning himself to never get close during a fight; encountering a foe with body ascension would leave no chance of escape.
In battles between Saint Realm powerhouses, fatalities are rare unless there is a massive power difference, mainly because they avoid close combat, opting for attacks from afar.
Song Lingyun clearly underestimated Wei Fan due to his aura at first, never imagining that he was a demon who had achieved both body and primordial spirit sainthood.
"Ah!" Song Lingyun let out a miserable howl, feeling his neck would be crushed any moment.
"Boom!"
His Dao power surged, even manifesting above his head, causing an unending rumble, yet he couldn’t shake off the hands gripping his neck like iron tongs.
"Bang!"
Wei Fan’s palm shone brightly as it smacked down, scattering the light emanating from Song Lingyun’s body and repelling the Dao above his head.
Blood splattered, Saint Blood dispersed, half of his body was in tatters.
Song Lingyun was terrified, knowing he was at the brink of life and death.
"Spare me, I don’t know how I offended you. Please tell me why you want to kill me, and if I’m wrong, I will apologize."
The fear of death made Song Lingyun abandon the dignity of a Saint Realm powerhouse; his speech was already somewhat incoherent, alternately addressing himself as "old man" and "I."
He still hadn’t realized it was Wei Fan who wanted to kill him, after all, a nineteen-year-old Martial Saint is beyond most people’s imagination.
Wei Fan twisted Song Lingyun’s head around and looked down, "Weren’t you looking for me, trying to force me out?"
Song Lingyun was initially stunned, then his face was filled with terror: "You’re Wei Fan? Impossible, how could you possibly have become a Saint..."
He felt his hands and feet grow cold, his scalp tingling.
The Zilan Sect was annihilated by Wei Fan; naturally, he understood the enmity between Wei Fan and Zilan Sect. Just over three months ago, when Wei Fan first clashed with Zilan Sect, he was only at the Martial King Second Layer.
It was said that a woman used a Holy Soldier to help Wei Fan escape from Zilan City, yet in such a short time, Wei Fan had become a Saint. His demonic talent far surpassed that of Xuanyuan Peak of yesteryear.
Who was Xuanyuan Peak? A figure who stirred all Five Great Domains into chaos.
"Nothing is impossible. You, using the identity of a Martial Saint against the Yunhua Sect, weren’t you worried I’d break into the Saint Realm and tried to force me out?" Wei Fan lifted his palm and struck Song Lingyun’s head.
"No, Wei Fan spare me, I can apologize to you."
Song Lingyun shouted, not yet a thousand years old, he could live for several more centuries and didn’t want to die just like that.
If Wei Fan spared him, he was even willing to kneel.
"Bang!"
Blood splattered, Song Lingyun’s head exploded like a watermelon, his primordial spirit within the sea of consciousness was instantly destroyed by Wei Fan’s power.
"Song Lingyun is dead!"
Zhi Hua and Gu Ziqin showed expressions of shock. After cultivating for so many years, it was their first time witnessing the fall of a Saint Realm powerhouse, and seeing Song Lingyun grovel and beg for mercy lessened their reverence for Saint Realm powerhouses—like ordinary people, they too would fear death.
"So ruthless, this kid is practically a Saint Realm killer!"
Zhou Shen’s eyelids twitched wildly, in such a short time, Wei Fan had already killed two Saint Realm powerhouses. Counting the incident at Huangfu Qingyang Dojo, indirectly causing the death of a group of Demon Saints, directly and indirectly, he’s almost taken out ten Saint Realm powerhouses.
"Boom..."
Song Lingyun’s Dao emerged, quickly crumbling and dissipating. In that moment, the Great Dao roared, the chain of order trembled, and a somber atmosphere seemed to shroud the world.
Martial King powerhouses couldn’t feel much, but all Saint Realm powerhouses understood that a Saint Realm powerhouse had fallen.
"A Saint Realm powerhouse has fallen, who did it?"
Almost simultaneously, all the Martial Saints and Demon Saints in the wilderness opened their eyes from meditation, their faces full of astonishment.
"Go take a look!"
Some even abandoned their cultivation, rushing directly toward the direction of the disturbance along the Great Dao to find out who had died.
"Song Lingyun is dead!"
Gu Qingshan was full of shock, knowing that the deceased must be Song Lingyun of the Zilan Sect, but he didn’t know whether it was killed by Wei Fan or Zhou Shen.
"Let’s go quickly, soon there will be a Saint Realm powerhouse arriving!"
Zhou Shen appeared with Zhi Hua and Gu Ziqin, quickly taking Wei Fan away from there.
"Why are we leaving?"
Wei Fan was somewhat puzzled, if a Demon Saint was attracted here, he could just continue killing. He returned to the Wilderness, with the target not only on Song Lingyun but also on those Demon Saints.
If he hadn’t arrived in time today, Huo Tianzheng and others would have been captured by the Demon Race by now. Even if he showed up then, the Demon Race would not spare Huo Tianzheng and others.
Even so, he still followed Zhou Shen and quickly left the area.
"The fact that you have broken through to the Saint Realm should not be exposed for now. The Hall Master and I have discussed, planning to use you as bait to lure out the old demon Qilin Ape Saint."
Zhou Shen showed a solemn expression.
He had long since sent people into the Wilderness to notify Gu Qingshan of Wei Fan’s deed of slaughtering Yuan Jie, the Saint Son of the Qilin Ape Race, and to keep an eye on the movements of the Qilin Ape Saint. However, for several months, Gu Qingshan hadn’t found any trace of the Qilin Ape Demon Saint in the Wilderness.
The Qilin Ape Demon Saint had lived for over four thousand years, having reached the pinnacle of the Demon Saint Realm. With this incident in the Wilderness, the outside world speculated that the Qilin Ape Demon Saint intended to take advantage of the world’s feedback to break through to the Demon Emperor Realm.
The Dao Collapse had ended over ten days ago, yet there was no news of the Qilin Ape Demon Saint, nor had any retaliation been made against Wei Fan for killing Yuan Jie. They were concerned that this old demon was about to break through to become a Demon Emperor.
"The Demon Race must not be allowed to give birth to another Demon Emperor!" Zhou Shen said in a deep voice.
If the Demon Race were to produce another Demon Emperor, untold numbers of humans would perish; it was imperative to lure out and eliminate the Qilin Ape Demon Saint.
Even if they couldn’t kill it, they needed to injure it, preventing the Qilin Ape Demon Saint from using the world’s feedback to become a Demon Emperor.
This old demon, whom life was nearing its end, placed great importance on its inheritor. The fact that it hadn’t sought revenge yet suggested it had something more important than avenging its son, besides breaking through to the Demon Emperor Realm, they couldn’t think of anything else significant enough for the Qilin Ape Demon Saint to temporarily forego avenging its son.
"Alright, I’m familiar with things like this!"
Wei Fan nodded in agreement, being the Qilin Ape Demon Saint’s greatest enemy, he naturally didn’t want to see the Qilin Ape Demon Saint become a Demon Emperor. He wouldn’t be at ease unless the old demon was dead.
"This item is for you. As long as you don’t exert your full power, it can suppress the aura of a Saint Realm powerhouse on you."
Zhou Shen handed a piece exuding a mysterious aura to Wei Fan, and quickly departed.
Zhi Hua and Gu Ziqin, however, were left behind to assist Wei Fan in luring out the Qilin Ape Demon Saint.
...
When Wei Fan was in the Wilderness, he only destroyed two imperial families, one being the Great Win. After destroying the Da Ying Imperial Family, he gifted the territory to Long Jianying.
The second imperial family he destroyed was the Song Family of the Chu Kingdom. After destroying the Song Family, he appointed Deng Yuchang, the Garrison Commander of the Chu Kingdom’s Demon Suppression Bureau, as the new emperor of the Chu Kingdom, and later settled the Yunhua Sect in the Chu Kingdom as well.
With the end of the Dao Collapse over ten days ago, powerful beings from the outside world began seizing territories in the Wilderness, targeting the mountain gates of local sects.
Of course, these outside powerhouses wouldn’t directly slaughter sects and annihilate entire clans. Instead, they would notify them first, stating they had set their sights on their mountain gate, demanding it be surrendered within a certain time frame. Only upon noncompliance would experts arrive on the scene.
Additionally, not all sects would attract their attention, only those mountain gates particularly rich in spirituality would be targeted by outside powerhouses.
Iron Sword Sect was such a place. Before the Wilderness reintegrated with the Five Great Domains, Iron Sword Sect was merely a first-class sect within the Chu Kingdom, having only two Martial Venerable powerhouses, and the spirituality of the mountain gate location was just ordinary.
However, with the conclusion of the Dao Collapse, Iron Sword Sect underwent earth-shattering changes, as auspicious signs enveloped the sect’s mountain peak, with red clouds filling the sky and essence qi transforming into mist.
It was said that their disciples’ cultivation would improve just by taking a breath. Originally, the two elders at the Martial Venerable Realm, who were near their deathbeds, became Martial King Fifth Layer experts within ten days, regaining their vitality.
Unfortunately, three days ago, Iron Sword Sect received a letter from outside powerhouses, ordering them to surrender their mountain gate within three days, or face the consequences.
At this moment, the area near the mountain gate of Iron Sword Sect was crowded with people eager to witness the spectacle.
In the azure sky, two terrifyingly powerful Martial Kings stood in the void, looking indifferently down at the experts of Iron Sword Sect below. Their clothes were identical, with the cuffs embroidered with a lifelike vermilion bird.
"They are people from Vermilion Bird Tower. No wonder no one is competing with them for Iron Sword Sect,"
An outsider Martial King recognized their identity, acknowledging Vermilion Bird Tower as one of the famous Holy Sects of Western Hezhou, very powerful.
When outside powerhouses attempted to seize territory in the Wilderness, it wasn’t unheard of for multiple forces to target the same sect simultaneously. However, ultimately, it would belong to the strongest—the spirituality of the mountain gate of Iron Sword Sect was exceedingly powerful, making it a prize only a Holy Sect could claim.
"Two thousand five hundred years ago, my Iron Sword Sect’s ancestor established this sect here. What right do you outsiders have to make us leave? You outsiders are too bullying,"
The Sect Leader of Iron Sword Sect flew up to the sky, his face full of anger, as these outsiders didn’t even regard the martial artists of the Wilderness as people, demanding they unconditionally relinquish the place where generations had cultivated.