Roaming the Four Seas Chapter 125: The Fierce Slaying of the Blood Demon

With a soft, faint sound, two young people appeared at the teleportation ferry of Lingxi Island. Upon their arrival, they were immediately struck by the dense, suffocating demonic aura permeating the air.

A swirl of menacing black smoke, heavy with evil energy, lunged toward Luo Jinghong, whose spiritual strength was currently weak. Su Ye’s eyes shifted instantly, and the Taichu Sword materialized in his grasp. A Demon-Suppressing Talisman burst into flames, tracing a semi-circular arc of fire. Guiding the blade with his spiritual sense, which pierced through the protective demonic mist, he struck with sudden, overwhelming force, cleaving the entity in two.

From the dissipating mist dropped a three-foot-long, mottled venomous snake, severed at its midsection. Its pungent, foul blood splattered onto the ground, corroding hundreds of tiny holes into the earth—a testament to its extreme toxicity. On its triangular head, crimson eyes glared viciously at Su Ye. The snake’s body coiled, then launched itself forward like an arrow released from a bow.

Su Ye cupped his right hand to his mouth, transmuting his sword qi into spirit, and spat out a pillar of fire. The Yang-attribute essence contained within instantly incinerated the Yin-attribute snake demon, leaving nothing behind but a wisp of grey smoke that drifted away into the ether.

"There are more demons here; do not be careless," Luo Jinghong said, raising her right hand to caution Su Ye, who had just dispatched the minor creature. On her back, a yellow paper talisman inscribed with "Heaven-Sent Divine Power" glowed, its four golden Sanskrit characters flickering like ripples on water.

The demonic aura that Su Ye’s spiritual sense picked up began to light up densely within the forest that concealed the ferry. It looked as if thousands of fireflies were gathering in the woods. In just over a month, the impact of the "Great Decadal Cataclysm" on the Three Thousand Worlds had far exceeded what Su Ye had anticipated.

"Is there an Invisibility Talisman in the jade gourd?" Su Ye asked, his tone crisp and decisive.

"Yes."

Su Ye summoned the Daluo Fire Shield and handed it to her. "Wait here. If you encounter danger, use this to defend yourself. I will return shortly."

With that, he summoned an Invisibility Talisman. Injecting his spiritual energy, he ignited the characters for "Divine Concealment" and affixed it to his primary dantian. Clutching the Taichu Sword, he strode resolutely into the dense forest.

The pervasive demonic aura acted like a veil draped over the boundless woods, obscuring even the spiritual sense hidden within his glabella. The Wind Demon Bell emitted a series of soft chimes, its surface growing scalding hot. As he ventured deeper, Su Ye lost his sense of direction.

*Snap.*

His right foot crushed a hard object. Looking down, he saw a human skull still clinging to remnants of flesh. To an ordinary person, this would have been chilling, but Su Ye’s courage and temperament were far from ordinary; his heart remained as still as a deep pool, though a faint flicker of anger stirred in the depths of his consciousness.

When both his five senses and spiritual sense were blocked, there were still other ways to break the cage trapping him. He quietly unleashed the Ten Directions Dream Realm, using the dreamscape born from his spiritual sense to search for the most potent flash of energy. It was a demon of the early Yuhua Realm, several levels stronger than himself.

Without the Daluo Fire Shield at his side, the only magical artifacts he could rely on were the Eight-Turn Yin-Yang Mirror and various augmentation arrays. The spiritual talisman on his back subtly enhanced his physical strength, while the infallible Invisibility Talisman remained his greatest advantage.

The major cultivation sects of the Three Thousand Worlds prided themselves on being righteous, scorning the use of "trickery." But Su Ye’s philosophy of survival differed from those who sat high in their towers. One must first survive before one can speak of longevity. In a life-or-death struggle, there is no room for such pretenses.

He crept silently into the demon's lair. There, a half-human, crimson-bodied creature sat atop a small hill of bones. It held a bloody, mangled corpse, its gaunt, bony hands curling to extract the blood essence from the meridians. This essence condensed into a crimson pellet, which the demon swallowed into its toothless maw. Its eyes flashed with cruelty and greed as blood mist surged around its body, tiny droplets seeping into its limbs and bones to strengthen its already formidable frame.

Just as it was reveling in the power gained from the blood essence, a sharp, agonizing pain in its neck interrupted its contentment. The demon, usually the one to ambush others, had been caught in a sneak attack.

The Blood Demon instantly dissolved into a pool of blood, reforming its shape some distance away to avoid total annihilation. The red, half-human figure hovered, the crimson dots in its eye sockets glaring viciously at the spot where its head had just fallen.

There was no trace of a person. There was no fluctuation of spiritual energy.

"Hell?"

Impossible! Since the Great Decadal Cataclysm, the various诡异 (grotesque entities) and demons shared a common goal: to slaughter all of humanity and claim the world as their own. They displayed their respective powers without clashing with one another. If it wasn't a demon, it must be the humans they hated most.

The Blood Demon opened its gaping maw and let out a piercing shriek. Blood mist filled the air, falling like rain. "If you wish to kill me, you must do it in this grove," the Blood Demon said, its voice sounding as if it were coated in viscous blood, thick and strained. "When the blood rain touches your skin, that shall be your death."

The manifestation of sword qi into a physical form was the very reliance Su Ye had used to defeat the clone of Xiao Qian at the Dragon Virtue Hall. By coating his body with it, he created the illusion of being a Yuhua Realm cultivator. He left a trail of afterimages, and as his sword qi slashed through the air, the mosquito-sized droplets of blood rain were instantly sliced in two.

The Blood Demon’s pupils contracted into pinpricks. It reached out, and a spear formed from solidified blood, reeking of a nauseating stench, materialized in its hand.

"You dare to wield a spear fished out of a latrine?" Su Ye’s mockery preceded his sword qi.

Enraged, the Blood Demon raised the spear. A jet of blood energy erupted from the tip, surging over a hundred yards and easily piercing through Su Ye’s chest. Yet, the blood it craved did not fountain forth.

There was nothing there. Only the frozen expression of terror on the face of a critically wounded man remained for the demon to admire under the silent night sky.

"Are you a demon, too?" the Blood Demon asked, its viscous voice laced with shock.

"You are the demon!"

The fire-wreathed sword carved an arc like a folding fan, decapitating the Blood Demon. A Demon-Suppressing Talisman was slapped onto the stump of its neck, pinning the body that sought to turn into a blood pool. The severed head, however, absorbed the blood mist permeating the forest and began to condense into a new body, though its demonic power dropped significantly.

"I will have you die!" the Blood Demon roared, its toothless mouth wide.

The sword qi flames on Su Ye’s body never wavered. If he were touched by the demon's blood, he would surely be sent to the Yellow Springs by its peculiar arts. In a life-or-death duel, victory is decided in a single breath.

The Blood Demon, having fallen to the Yuanling Realm, wheezed heavily, bubbles of blood forming at its nose and mouth. It brandished the spear and thrust it toward Su Ye with lightning speed.

Su Ye’s eyes were sharp, a curve playing on his lips. "So, you are just a minor demon who relies entirely on demonic arts and knows nothing of martial technique. Today, I shall show you what a supreme, exquisite art truly is."

Parrying the spear, the Taichu Sword pierced through the demon’s crimson torso. Viscous blood-filaments, like a spider's web, instantly wrapped around the blade, rapidly spreading toward Su Ye's hand. The Blood Demon’s face was cruel and hideous; if it successfully invaded his seven orifices, he would be drained of his life essence in an instant.

The "Wind, Forest, Fire, Mountain" formation hanging on his back amplified the talisman on Luo Jinghong’s paper. The four golden Sanskrit characters for "Heaven-Sent Divine Power" erupted with an extraordinary radiance. Feeling his physical strength surge, Su Ye let out a roar, his muscles bulging like coiled dragons. With brute force, he shattered the constraint of the blood-filaments and cleaved the weakened Blood Demon in two.

Before the demon could reform, Su Ye swung his long sword, unleashing nine lotus flowers of sword qi. The petals drifted in the wind, intertwining with the blood mist in mid-air. Flames exploded, incinerating the coagulating demonic blood.

The Blood Demon, having gathered itself back to its shoulders, felt its crimson pupils tremble. A black-and-white sword descended, instantly severing the crimson neck.

Someone had caught its head. As it turned to look, it met a pair of clear, piercing eyes.

The young man smiled slightly. "To die under my sword—consider it your fortune."

Until its death, the Blood Demon never understood who the young swordsman, who had broken into its territory in the dead of night, truly was.