The Demon with Holy Radiance

But to Xuan You’s utter astonishment, just as the Earth Calamities sealed off all of Huan’s escape routes, Huan simply let out a disdainful sneer.

He had seen through Xuan You’s ploy in a single glance but paid it no mind.

It was true that Xuan You’s move could trap him, leaving him to do nothing but watch as Xuan You charged into Earth Demon Cliff.

But if he chose to kill himself at this moment, how would Xuan You possibly respond?

In the next moment, Huan raised his Magic Staff.

This time, it wasn’t aimed at Xuan You or his Earth Calamities, but at his own Dharma Aspect.

He tossed the Magic Staff high into the air. It fell vertically, effortlessly piercing straight down through the top of the Dharma Aspect’s head and through its body.

In an instant, countless cracks spread across the Dharma Aspect’s entire body before it abruptly exploded.

The shockwave from the self-destruction was terrifying. In the blink of an eye, it completely dispersed the surrounding black fog. A massive impact wave spread out in all directions, and the entire sky darkened as endless streams of black water fell with a PITTER-PATTER.

Less than a blink of an eye after Huan’s self-destruction, along Xuan You’s path forward, space shattered layer by layer as a colossal arm suddenly struck out, slamming down on Xuan You’s body.

The areas where space had fractured seemed to be covered in Frost, freezing over layer by layer.

Huan’s Dharma Aspect reappeared without any warning, completely unscathed.

Xuan You’s expression turned ugly. He hadn’t expected Huan to self-destruct so decisively, using suicide to break free and deal with him.

He hadn’t even had time to retract the power of the Earth Calamities before Huan seized his body. The space enveloping Xuan You shattered into countless particles, and along with it, his body was pulverized to the extreme.

Without the Four Earth Disaster Bones on him to weaken the force of the attack, he couldn’t even withstand a single blow from Huan.

Space was even sealed at that moment, preventing him from swapping places with the Earth Calamities to let them take the blow. He could only watch helplessly as his body disintegrated.

The shattering of space was silent, as was the obliteration of Xuan You’s body. Every part of him turned into fine particles, utterly annihilated.

In less than the blink of an eye, Xuan You was utterly powerless in Huan’s grasp and was killed outright.

Huan withdrew his hand and clenched his fist.

The shattered space immediately folded in on itself, layer upon layer, interlocking until it shrank into a constantly collapsing black hole that vanished, returning everything to normal.

’An ant is still an ant.’

Even in its Dharma Aspect form, the eyes on Huan’s bizarre bird head were filled with contempt.

At the same time, the Earth Calamities that had been scattered by Huan’s self-destruction began to reform. Logically, since Xuan You had been killed by Huan, the masterless Earth Calamities should have perished along with him.

But unexpectedly, as the Earth Calamities reformed, the flesh of Four Bones—one of their number—squirmed and writhed, eventually taking on Xuan You’s appearance.

He, who had just been killed, was resurrected.

His face was grim as he turned and fled without hesitation, running out of Earth Demon Cliff without a moment’s pause.

The Earth Calamities were originally refined from flesh and blood stripped from his own body. As long as they weren’t all wiped out, he couldn’t die and could use one of their bodies as a core to resurrect himself.

The price for doing so, however, was the permanent loss of one Earth Calamity.

By resurrecting using the body of Four Bones, he would now lose Four Bones forever. He could refine a new one by separating his own flesh and blood again, but that would take a very long time and his strength would be greatly affected.

He had chosen Four Bones specifically to borrow its residual power, so that if Huan attacked him again while he was escaping, he could use its power to weaken the blow and resist.

From the moment he died at Huan’s hands, resurrection meant he had no other choice.

’Damn it!’

Xuan You shuddered at the thought of failing his mission and having to face the Sect Leader back at the Central Sect.

But with the Death Lord’s protection, there was simply no way for him to capture Yang An.

The thought filled him with indignation.

But then a thought suddenly struck him, and his eyes lit up. In the blink of an eye, he and his remaining Earth Calamities had rushed out of Earth Demon Cliff.

Huan didn’t try to stop Xuan You’s rout. He could also see that he wouldn’t be able to intercept him.

Although he had suppressed Xuan You at every turn and even killed him once, he was constrained by being trapped in Earth Demon Cliff. If Xuan You was determined to escape, he couldn’t stop him.

No matter how weak Xuan You seemed to him, he was still an Insect Dao cultivator.

The massive Dharma Aspect dispersed and vanished. Deep within Earth Demon Cliff, Yang An sat quietly in front of the Stone Stele, watching everything unfold with a satisfied smile on his face.

This was exactly why he had come to Earth Demon Cliff. With Huan here, this place was a natural sanctuary for him.

It didn’t matter that he couldn’t beat Xuan You. Xuan You couldn’t get in, which meant he was safe.

If Xuan You wanted to capture him, he would have to get through Huan first.

"Thank you!"

Although he knew Huan would never have let him be killed, Yang An still expressed his sincere gratitude.

"How do you plan to thank me? How about... by killing me?"

Huan, suppressed by the Stone Stele, had a glint in his eyes, as if wanting to use this opportunity to make Yang An fulfill his promise.

"..."

’If I kill you, how am I supposed to find another natural sanctuary like this?’

Naturally, Yang An couldn’t agree to Huan’s request. He still had too many things to do.

"If I have the power, I will definitely get you out of here and grant you your freedom."

In any case, there was no harm in making an empty promise for now.

To this, Huan merely responded with a faint, cold laugh.

Being around this guy was always unsettling. He was like a chained beast; even though the beast was restrained, any normal person would still be instinctively on guard.

But Yang An now had to face a problem: he couldn’t stay in Earth Demon Cliff forever.

If Xuan You chose to lie in wait outside Earth Demon Cliff, Huan couldn’t stop him, and Yang An would eventually have to leave.

Unless he could achieve a massive breakthrough within Earth Demon Cliff, the situation would remain unfavorable for him.

"What’s that guy’s Cultivation Level?"

He asked, looking at Huan.

He knew Xuan You was of the Insect Dao, but with his own strength, he couldn’t perceive Xuan You’s specific level.

"Very weak. Just the Late Stage of the Insect Dao."

Huan replied with utter disdain.

Yang An’s expression turned grave. Xuan You facing Huan was just like him facing Xuan You—completely helpless.

’So how can I possibly increase my strength in a short amount of time?’

He had previously interacted with Elder Monk Jin’e of Great Virtue Temple in the Bow Lady’s Consciousness Realm, but he didn’t know what kind of arrangements that old Monk had made.

But he couldn’t just wait around for the old Monk to deliver the Seven-Colored Dust.

That was one of the most uncertain factors.

And his current Cultivation Level was only at the Middle Stage of Zombie God, still a long way from the next Small Realm.

The further one progressed, the harder it was to advance one’s Cultivation Level. The time needed to break through this one Small Realm might exceed all the time he had spent cultivating so far.

Yang An found himself in a difficult spot.

There was still no feedback from the Bow Lady, who was still in the middle of her own breakthrough. This also meant he couldn’t enter the Deep World of the Xian Origin Land to obtain more Forbidden Artifact Fragments.

His only viable options were to either ask the Workshop Master for help, or ask Huan, who was right in front of him. Perhaps one of them had a way to help him.

Just as Yang An was wondering whether he should contact the Workshop Master first, a voice suddenly echoed from above Earth Demon Cliff.

It was Xuan You’s voice.

Yang An’s gaze snapped in the direction of the sound. ’That guy really didn’t leave. He’s waiting right outside Earth Demon Cliff.’

But Xuan You’s next words sent a jolt of shock through Yang An’s heart.

"Want to save your companions? They’re all in my hands now! If you want to save them, crawl your ass out of Earth Demon Cliff! Otherwise, I’ll kill every last one of them! Not a single one will live!"

WHOOSH!

Yang An clenched his fists tightly, a powerful aura erupting from his body and rustling the surrounding vegetation.

Rage flared in his heart. His first thought was of Wen Yin.

With her being the weakest, she had probably already fallen into Xuan You’s hands.

However, as he extended his senses, he detected several familiar auras outside Earth Demon Cliff. Wen Yin was not among them, and Yang An let out a sigh of relief, surprised.

But several other members of the Scripture Defector Association, aside from Broken Hand and Wen Yin, had all fallen into Xuan You’s hands.

Yang An immediately looked at the ring on his hand, trying to contact the other members of the Scripture Defector Association, but there was no response.

Xuan You hadn’t been lying. Those people were indeed members of the Scripture Defector Association.

Xuan You was trying to force him out of Earth Demon Cliff. If Yang An had been hesitant before, now he had no choice but to ask the Workshop Master for help.

’That treacherous old bastard!’