Martial Cultivator
Chapter 821: Just One Person
Just as Chen Chao crushed that demon’s neck, several figures had already arrived. Several surges of demonic qi slowly took form not far away, and without the slightest hesitation, towering dharma idols emerged between heaven and earth!
The great demons had clearly reached a consensus before coming here to join forces to slay Chen Chao. Pride and arrogance were all cast aside at this moment.
Chen Chao narrowed his eyes, looking at the towering dharma idols that had already taken form. He did not hesitate much either. In the blink of an eye, his hand gripped the saber hilt. Cloud Mud trembled within the scabbard for a brief moment before being drawn out. With a tap of his toe, Chen Chao soared straight into the sky.
At this moment, before those towering dharma idols, Chen Chao seemed as insignificant as an ant. Yet this ant, seemingly so small, now radiated brilliance.
The great demons exchanged no words; almost in unison, they struck toward Chen Chao with a palm each.
Enormous palms, carrying boundless surging demonic qi, swept forth, blanketing even the heavens themselves beneath this endless qi. With every motion, the world quaked.
When great demons made a move, how could it ever be ordinary?
As several palms descended, it seemed as though the entire world trembled. Under the vast demonic qi, nothing could be seen anymore.
But none expected that, within the billowing black qi, a saber light suddenly burst forth, dazzling and fierce, splitting through the haze in an instant, illuminating heaven and earth.
Before this saber light, it was as if heaven and earth lost all color, and even sun and moon dimmed.
The palm of one colossal dharma idol was severed, provoking that great demon into a sky-shaking roar.
The terrifying soundwave swept across the land, briefly scattering the demonic qi. Yet soon, the qi rejoined once more. Still, it could not hold for long before another brilliant saber light once again cleaved through the surging qi, also splitting apart the dharma idol of another great demon.
The young martial artist crashed out from the demonic qi, black robes swirling with black currents. At first glance, one could hardly even tell whether this youth was a martial artist—or an unrivaled great demon.
A massive dharma idol was cut cleanly in half by that saber strike. The great demon’s head toppled down, slamming heavily into the ground, leaving behind an incomparably vast crater.
Yet the young martial artist did not pause. Tightening his grip on the straight saber, he turned, unleashing another slash. The terrifying saber light swept forward, striking toward another great demon’s dharma idol ahead.
That great demon stretched out a hand, sweeping up endless demonic qi in an attempt to resist. But before this saber strike, the great demon quickly realized that the demonic qi was continually dissipating. Everything before that saber light seemed destined to shatter upon meeting it.
One great demon narrowed his eyes. Behind him, the colossal dharma idol suddenly grew several giant hands, grasping toward that saber light.
Further away, another great demon casually pulled out an incomparably massive black spear and hurled it forcefully toward Chen Chao.
Some tried to block that saber strike. Others intended to kill the one who unleashed it here and now.
That spear, more than a hundred feet long, carried with it overwhelming demonic qi, dragging a long black streak across the sky, as if heralding the arrival of death.
Chen Chao looked at it expressionlessly, then narrowed his eyes and smiled, saying, "I hadn’t even planned to find trouble with you yet, what are you in such a hurry for?"
Before the words even fell, the spear had already arrived before Chen Chao, on the verge of shattering his chest. Yet in the next instant, the great demons witnessed a scene that shook the world - that young martial artist had no intention of dodging at all. Instead, he got into a fist stance, his entire body instantly enveloped in a layer of white gas. Behind him, one could even vaguely see the shadow of an ancient deity.
The young martial artist’s fist struck out heavily. A terrifying wave of force exploded in an instant. A dreadful surge of qi collided with that black spear. With a thunderous boom, it seemed as if heaven and earth erupted with an earth-shaking sound.
Like a great bell struck with all its might at that very moment.
Heaven and earth could hear it!
Under that one punch, the black spear lasted only for a brief instant before beginning to shatter, splintering apart inch by inch.
At the same time that the spear broke, the saber light that had swept across earlier also cleaved apart a great demon’s dharma idol.
Chen Chao advanced with his saber, instantly arriving before another great demon’s dharma idol, sending a slash in front once again.
At this moment, saber light shone brilliantly between heaven and earth, seemingly about to sweep over all the demonic qi. But just as the light began to spread, Chen Chao willed it, and the saber light instantly gathered, condensing into a dazzling white line.
The brilliant white line swept forward, instantly piercing through a great demon’s dharma idol.
Rumbling sounds echoed unceasingly. One after another, the great demons’ dharma idols shattered. Throughout heaven and earth, that resplendent saber light darted about, leaving nothing but desolation in its wake.
The demonic qi began to scatter across heaven and earth. Snow and wind once more fell upon the mortal world. The young martial artist, one saber strike after another, thoroughly cut apart the demonic qi.
Before the endless dharma idols, the young martial artist appeared exceedingly small. Yet it was precisely this seemingly insignificant figure that now struck terror into the hearts of the great demons.
From the very moment that first great demon died at Chen Chao’s hands, the rest of the great demons had already understood that Chen Chao had stepped into the end of Nepenthe. But they did not believe that this young martial artist at the end of Nepenthe was anything so remarkable. After all, he was far too young. At such a young age, who could truly believe how formidable he was?
Yet in no more than an hour, these great demons’ dharma idols had already been shattered one after another.
Countless fragments of dharma idols crashed into the snowy ground, blasting out pit after pit. From a distance, it looked as though an immense avalanche had descended.
When all the dust settled, the young martial artist dropped from midair, standing beside that fissure, gazing at the several great demons whose faces were grim and whose states were even worse.
The shattering of dharma idols was indeed a heavy blow to the great demons, but to say that it could kill them outright was still unlikely.
The few great demons of varying ages exchanged glances, and in each other’s eyes, they all saw fear.
After this great battle, though it had not yet ended, by this moment they all shared a common understanding: this young martial artist before them was not someone they could contend with.
Upon him, there was already faintly a kind of aura.
That aura, only a scant few in this world had ever possessed it.
Among those they had seen, only His Majesty the Demon Emperor. Among those they had not seen, perhaps only that Great Liang Emperor, who could fight the Demon Emperor in battle without defeat.
But the Demon Emperor had cultivated for more than a hundred years before attaining such a realm, and only after staining his hands with the blood of countless great demons did he develop such an aura.
And though the Great Liang Emperor was somewhat younger, he had already long since passed the age of knowing destiny.
But how did these two emperors compare with the young martial artist before them?
By comparison, the difference was vast.
This young martial artist was truly far too young.
Not even thirty years old.
Compared to him, even those two emperors seemed somewhat dimmed.
"Will you still struggle on? Or will you simply wait here for me to lop off your heads one by one?"
Chen Chao narrowed his eyes, looking at the few before him.
The few great demons stood up indifferently. Though they felt fear, though they knew themselves outmatched, to lower their heads to this young martial artist before them was impossible.
Among them, the eldest great demon in purple robes looked at the young martial artist and sighed with emotion, saying, "The young are truly fearsome. The human race’s fortune is so great, to have produced yet another such remarkable figure."
The other great demons remained silent.
The purple-robed great demon suddenly turned his head to look at the others and said with a smile, "Everyone, since the human race has produced such a one, can we not stake our lives and drag him into the abyss? This way, no matter what, it will be a tremendous fortune for our demon race."
The few remained silent, but in their hearts, they all knew what this purple-robed great demon intended to do.
The purple-robed great demon turned his head back, looked at Chen Chao, and smiled. "Since you have come to the desolate north, you can remain here."
Chen Chao did not mind. He merely stretched out his hand to catch a snowflake, and softly said, "You want to keep me here, are you sure you are not just daydreaming?"
As his voice fell, Chen Chao crushed the snowflake in his palm, and in his eyes, killing intent began to rise.
After that, Chen Chao lifted his saber and leaped forward. In just an instant, he crossed over that fissure. The purple-robed great demon calmly watched Chen Chao’s movements and said placidly, "What a pity, so young."
As his words fell, he too began to stride forward. While he moved ahead, a mass of purple qi spread out from his body, shrouding him.
In the next second.
From within the purple qi, a strange beast burst forth.
This strange beast had the body of a sheep, but behind it grew nine tails. Atop its sheep’s head were four ears. Stranger still, on its head it had ears and a nose, but no eyes.
Looking closely, it turned out that the eyes had grown on its back.
As this purple beast charged out, a heaven-shaking roar spread across the world, the terrifying shockwave trembling, halting the wind and snow.
At the same time, behind it, a sharp bird cry resounded through the heavens and earth.
A monstrous bird with three heads and three wings soared toward the sky. The bird’s body stretched for more than a hundred feet. Its feathers were multicolored, looking like a patch of rainbow amidst the snow.
As the monstrous bird surged into the sky, it began to flap its three wings. The feathers upon those wings shook and shot out at the same time, like countless flying swords, filled with killing intent!
Without a doubt, whether this purple sheep or this monstrous bird, they were the true bodies of some great demons!
The great demons’ most adept method was to summon dharma idols, but their most terrifying means was to reveal their true bodies.
Once the true body appeared in this world, it meant that this great demon was using his last-resort method; to be irreconcilable till death.
Without a doubt, this was when a great demon was at his most terrifying.
Chen Chao’s figure did not stop, as he slashed forward with one saber strike. Cloud Mud cleaved toward the purple sheep’s head, but it struck against the sheep’s horn instead. When the two collided, a burst of metallic brilliance erupted, yet the sharp straight saber, no less sharp than a Hundred Year Sword, failed to cut down that horn, and was instead pushed back by the purple sheep.
Chen Chao’s feet dragged out two long trails across the ground. At the same time, countless feathers sharp as swords rained down from above.
Like a sword formation, falling endlessly without restraint.
Between heaven and earth, the frenzied qi force surged everywhere, scattering the wind and snow.
Chen Chao pressed one hand against that sheep horn, yet his body still could not stop from being forced backward.
In those eyes of the purple sheep, filled with killing intent, its horn suddenly erupted with a terrifying surge of qi, crashing toward Chen Chao’s chest.
Chen Chao swept his saber horizontally for another slash. A dazzling saber light flashed past, intercepting that terrifying surge of qi. After slashing his saber, it was already too late to withdraw the saber, but Chen Chao had no intention of withdrawing it. Instead, he let go of that sheep horn, clenched his fist, and struck downward.
A simple downward punch, yet as his arm swung, countless streams of qi surged from his meridians, sheathing Chen Chao’s arm in a faint layer of silvery-white radiance.
What the demon race was most proud of was their bodies, born superior to the human race. But unfortunately, Chen Chao had tempered his body for many years, and never once considered himself weaker than anyone in physical toughness.
Between heaven and earth, another resounding boom echoed.
Countless feathers, like a stretch of rainbow-colored clouds, instantly submerged Chen Chao.