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Chapter 451: Chapter 447: Slaying the Demon
Night.
At the gates of North City.
When Gu Jinlai calmly arrived here, a group of seven people was already waiting.
Among the seven, besides Lan Yuhua, there was one Primordial Spirit Monarch and five Martial Kings.
Seeing Gu Jinlai arriving as agreed, Lan Yuhua was slightly relieved.
But the six people behind him looked at him with a hint of...
Hostility.
That’s what Gu Jinlai believed.
It seemed that fearing his strength comparable to that of Peak Heavenly Beings, the six of them tried hard to hide their hostility.
"The things you asked for."
Lan Yuhua handed over a Quasi-Dao Artifact, the Eight Cloud Crystal, and a set of Divine Skills.
The Eight Cloud Crystal needed no verification.
Gu Jinlai’s focus was primarily on perusing these Divine Skills.
Within moments, a hint of surprise appeared on his face.
"Heavenly Dragon Walk?"
This turned out to be a movement technique Divine Skill.
A technique that allowed a cultivator to completely integrate their own power into the circulation of heaven and earth, thereby greatly reducing expenditure and increasing flying speed.
"What do you think?"
Lan Yuhua asked.
"It will do."
Gu Jinlai nodded.
Divine Skills are often divided into attack Divine Skills and support Divine Skills.
Movement, amplification, and defense types all fall under the category of support Divine Skills.
But...
The most valuable are still the attack-type Divine Skills.
Because when Devas battle, they often hold air superiority and long-range advantages, which is a good environment for offensive output, 𝓃𝓸𝓋𝓹𝓾𝓫.𝒸ℴ𝓶
with such external conditions, the cost-effectiveness of attack-type Divine Skills naturally surpasses that of support types.
Of course, after reaching the Saint Realm, with lifespans of three to five hundred years, they then have time to compensate for the shortcomings brought about by the lack of Divine Skills.
A Saint often needs to possess attack, defense, and movement techniques to be deemed truly powerful.
"With time pressing, let’s skip the pleasantries, I’ll introduce our respective specialties on the way,"
Lan Yuhua said, as he and Gu Jinlai quickly made their way to the Beast Garden not far from the North City Gate.
There, someone had already prepared tamed flying beasts for them.
The eight of them mounted the eight flying beasts and swiftly ascended into the night sky.
Flying beasts that could be tamed often have various advantages.
Either they were docile by nature, astoundingly fast, or possessed extraordinary stamina.
The flying beasts being ridden by Gu Jinlai and his companions were commonly known as Marching Birds—these creatures had wingspans ranging from ten to fifteen meters, and their greatest advantage was maintaining a speed of five or six hundred li per hour for continuous flights over tens of thousands of li.
The fierce sky wind blew against their faces.
If it were ordinary people, they might not even be able to maintain their stability.
However, as the weakest among the present company were Primordial Spirit Monarchs, they sat quite stably atop the Marching Birds, even capable of communicating through Secret Techniques.
"Our target this time is a Demon King codenamed ’horned dragon’. It has a Perfect Demon Body, and there’s also an army of sixty thousand demons by its side. Therefore, we cannot afford a direct confrontation; we must obliterate this Demon King with the force of thunderbolts and retreat at the highest speed."
As Lan Yuhua explained, he added, "Also, rest assured, this Demon King is not a Spirit Venerable."
"Hmm?"
Gu Jinlai, noting his emphasis, was curious: "What if it was a Spirit Venerable?"
Lan Yuhua, slightly surprised at Gu Jinlai’s inquiry but recalling his origin...
"Although our Holy Dynasty can resist the demon onslaught and ensure relative safety of our territory, this safety rests on a delicate balance. The demons feel that annihilating us would come at a tremendous loss, while we need more time to develop, to draw the power from around the world and grow strong enough to counterattack the demons. Therefore, neither side wants to initiate total warfare under these circumstances."
As Lan Yuhua said this, after some thought, he added: "A tacit rule passed down among the upper ranks of the Holy Dynasty under this precarious balance is that the demons won’t easily unleash a demonic tide to sweep through our cities, and the Holy Dynasty will not kill those Demon Kings who are fundamentally Spirit Venerables."
After he finished, he sighed, "Compared to the demons, our Holy Dynasty is still somewhat weaker. The cities built by our National Guardian Saints over the years are not only forty-nine but actually fifty-five. Those additional six... are said to have been annihilated due to the eradication of a Spirit Venerable who had transfigured into a Demon King or Demon Emperor, resulting in a Demon Emperor’s intervention."
These words made Gu Jinlai’s pupils contract.
He had always thought that backed by the Six Great Cave Heavens and with dozens of Void Immortal Realm powerhouses, the Holy Dynasty had forcefully carved out their territory from the demons. But now, it seemed...
that was not the case.
"As Demon Slayers of the Demon-slaying Hall, if you encounter a demon converted from a Spirit Venerable, won’t you hold back?"
Gu Jinlai spoke somberly.
"Hold back? How could that be possible?"
Lan Yuhua laughed bitterly: "To a Spirit Venerable, they maintain their Demon King form for a very short time—virtually every Spirit Venerable is a potential Demon Emperor level existence. If we actually come across one, it’s essentially a death sentence. Apart from those National Guardian Saints and Peak Saints, who dares to say they can kill a Spirit Venerable turned Demon Emperor?"
With this, he lowered his voice slightly: "Moreover, if there’s truly a chance to slay a wild Spirit Venerable, it would be a tremendous opportunity for any Demon Slayer!"
Listening to this, Gu Jinlai nodded, but his understanding of the situation of the Holy Dynasty deepened.
The flying beasts soared through the void, and after more than nine hours of flight, they reached a region of towering mountains and steep ridges.
Since flying demons were rare, humans often held aerial superiority in their battles against demons, forcing demons to often hole up in deep mountains and ancient forests.
Furthermore...
Demons also had nutritional needs.
Particularly low-level demons, unable to fully tame their instincts; in this scenario, resource-rich mountains and marshes became their hunting grounds.
"The lair of that Demon King lies ahead."
Lan Yuhua explained the tactics, "Although Demon Spirits don’t favor transforming into Demon Birds, every Demon King has Demon Birds nearby for scouting. When we get close to the Demon King’s location, we..."
"We go straight in for the kill."
Gu Jinlai said to Lan Yuhua, "Didn’t you say we need a quick battle? Go straight in, draw out the Demon King, and behead him."
He possessed the Qiantian Purple Qi Technique.
Though the vast area of the Holy Dynasty and the differing Lucky Qi of its cities formed barriers, making it difficult for him to see outside the Holy Dynasty.
But now outside the lair of the Demon King, he could roughly discern the "Qi" inside.
There was no danger.
Lan Yuhua hesitated slightly upon hearing Gu Jinlai’s assertive words, ","What if the Demon King doesn’t show up, and we get surrounded..."
"You just said that there aren’t many Demon Birds near the Demon King. If we clear all the Demon Birds, even if we’re truly surrounded, we’ll still have a complete way out,"
Gu Jinlai asserted, pausing, "Moreover, it’s already daylight now, and it would take half a day to return anyway. If we can’t bring out the Demon King and slay him within one day, your spot for advancing in the Taiao Cave Heaven will slip by."
"Us eight against the sixty-thousand strong Demon King’s Army? That’s insane,"
spoke the Peak Martial King beside Lan Yuhua.
A dozen Low-level Demons can kill a military general. While a Martial King is much stronger than a military general, once surrounded by hundreds to thousands of Demons, the only path left is death.
Sixty-thousand Demons...
Even if all sixty-thousand were the most common Demons, they would be more than sufficient to overwhelm ten Peak Martial Kings.
Not to mention, among these Demons would inevitably be a significant number of Demon Generals and Demon Marshals.
"Ancient Martial King, are you confident?"
Lan Yuhua’s gaze turned towards Gu Jinlai.
Gu Jinlai looked at the large group of Demons below.
Now, he had perfected the cultivation of the Thunder Sword and had cultivated the Primordial Magnetic Divine Light to the Small Achievement stage. His weapons had also been upgraded to Quasi-Dao Artifact Level, sufficient to deal with a Demon King with a Perfect Demon Body.
"I am confident I can locate that Demon King. Once we find the Demon King, Lan Yuhua, you strike first to draw the initial wave of attack from the Demon King. The rest... leave to me,"
Gu Jinlai said.
"With Ancient Martial King’s words, we are reassured,"
Lan Yuhua’s spirit lifted, and he also turned to the other Martial Kings, "Gentlemen, I am relying on you."
"No need for such formalities, Devas Lan."
"We will give our all to support Devas Lan and Ancient Martial King."
"Hahaha! Charging into sixty-thousand Demons to slay their Demon King, the tactic is insane yet thrilling,"
the other Martial Kings cheered in response.
Instantly, the group briefly restored their own spiritual states.
After recuperation, daylight had already brightened considerably.
The eight no longer hesitated, resembling eight sharp swords, thrusting into the mountain range occupied by the Demon King.
Human cultivators entering swiftly provoked many roars and howls from the Demons.
Just as Gu Jinlai and Lan Yuhua had previously speculated, the number of Demon Birds in the Demon King’s Army was not large, at most about a hundred.
And there was not one Demon King Level flying bird.
Under the slaughter of the Primordial Spirit True Monarch and Lan Yuhua, these Demon Birds simply couldn’t reach them and were efficiently annihilated.
While Lan Yuhua was slaying the Demon Birds, Gu Jinlai was also fully operating the Qiantian Purple Qi Technique to locate the Demon King.
During this period, many Demons howled ceaselessly, and some employed various long-range methods attempting to knock down the flying individuals.
However, each one on the flying bird maintained Martial King Level cultivation and being hundreds to nearly a thousand meters high in the air, ordinary Demons could not affect them with their long-range efforts.
After traversing less than a hundred miles across the Void, Gu Jinlai finally "saw" something and suddenly pointed in one direction,"That way."
"Go!"
Lan Yuhua’s spirit soared as he maneuvered the flying bird swiftly towards the direction indicated by Gu Jinlai.
Within just a few dozen miles, a twenty-plus meter tall Demon resembling a swift dragon but with many spikes on its back and head appeared before everyone’s eyes,
"That is the Demon King ’horned dragon’!"
Lan Yuhua’s eyes flickered with excitement.
Had they really found it?
The Demons hadn’t even managed to assemble, and they had located the Demon King?
"Attack."
Gu Jinlai ordered.
Upon hearing the command, Lan Yuhua swiftly leapt into action. The immense aura of a Deva didn’t spread much. A Quasi-Dao Artifact Level flying sword hovered in front of him, further powered by the powerful Heaven and Earth Power continuously infused into the flying sword, quickly catching the attention of the Demon King.
"Roar!"
The Demon King roared, sensing the presence of enemies immediately overhead.
One Deva, one Primordial Spirit True Monarch, the rest...
were Martial Kings.
Martial Kings who’d risk obliteration by its minions in numbers if they dared to land.
Immediately, it fixed its gaze on Lan Yuhua, roared, and explosive Demon Flames burst forth as three sharp horns broke off its body and shot towards him, piercing the sound barrier with a booming sound, like flying swords slicing through the Void.
Almost in the same instant the Demon King targeted Lan Yuhua and launched an attack, Gu Jinlai moved.
He moved like Thunder.
"Boom!"
In a deafening rumble, his entire being transformed into a veritable Thunder Sword, becoming Man and Sword as One, slicing down towards the Demon King named ’horned dragon’.
