CHAPTER 154: CHAPTER 144: MAD DEMON HAND, BREAKING THE DEADLOCK!

"All you need to do is restrain the demon beasts and block their attacks."

As soon as Qin An’s words fell, the surroundings suddenly plunged into dead silence.

Not only were the Silver Guardians patrolling the mountain stunned, but even the sinister demon beasts froze in place, a trace of confusion flashing in their scarlet eyes.

They did not understand the meaning of Qin An’s words.

Huomeng suddenly burst into wild laughter, pointing his sharp claws at Qin An in ridicule: "Who do you think you are? Arrogant! You think you can slaughter us all by yourself?"

His predatory eyes were fully revealed, yet in his heart, he was convinced that Qin An was merely bluffing.

Even if legendary experience was enough, so what?

Now the disparity in strength between the two sides was vast; the demon race could crush him into dust.

Thinking this, Huomeng no longer bothered to talk, waved his big hand, and spat out a word.

"Kill."

In an instant, a demon wind rose, and a horde of demons roared and pounced on the Silver Guardians patrolling the mountain.

Qin An’s figure moved like lightning, transforming into a blur, executing the Dragon Roar Wind Step to perfection.

The blur swept past, already closing in on the nearest demon beast.

Then, he returned the Cold Star Saber to the scabbard at his waist.

The moment the Cold Star Saber was sheathed, the demon beast’s pupils constricted.

They all knew the fame of Qin An’s Demon-Slaying Saber, his martial prowess evident at the tip of the blade.

But why at this moment would he sheath his long blade and abandon it?

Though puzzled, the demon beast’s eyes gleamed with bloodthirsty light, raising its sharp claws to strike at Qin An’s head.

Qin An’s face was indifferent, his eyes like ice, and his fists suddenly struck out.

Blood-Burning Demon Hand!

As this move was executed, Qin An’s vitality within him ignited at once.

His blood and energy boiled like flame, instantly burning up a demon core.

Where the punch’s wind reached, the demon beast’s chest exploded with a bang, organs shattering.

Qin An reversed his hand to pull out the bloody demon core, just as a foul wind assaulted him from both sides.

Qin An’s expression was calm, glancing back and coldly uttering two words: "Hold them."

With just these two simple words, Dongfang Mo, who was fighting the demon beasts, instantly understood Qin An’s meaning.

Everyone had been tempered through life and death.

At this life and death juncture, there could be no hesitation.

A moment’s hesitation would mean death.

Upon hearing this, Dongfang Mo strode forward, his long sword suddenly bursting with a thousand chilling stars, exerting all his strength to stop two demons by hurting himself to gain an advantage.

His face was somewhat pale but had already bought Qin An a little time.

"Like this?" Dongfang Mo rasped out.

Qin An casually tossed aside the absorbed demon core and said blandly: "Exactly so."

With that, the Blood-Burning Demon Hand struck again, pressing down on a Fire Crow’s head.

"Puff!"

The Fire Crow’s head shattered to pieces.

Once again, a demon core was held in Qin An’s hand.

This was his plan.

If faced with humans, Qin An might not use this strategy.

But when facing demon beasts, he was not afraid at all.

Though the Blood-Burning Demon Hand consumed vitality, the demon cores in the beasts provided an endless supply.

He only needed to skillfully extract the demon cores while slaying demons, quickly absorbing them to continuously use the Blood-Burning Demon Hand.

This was like an overpowered cultivation technique.

If not for the limitation of bare-handedness, its power might even surpass Qin An’s Ice Flame Heart-breaking Technique.

But precisely because of this unique effect, when faced with demon beasts, if they couldn’t crush him, he could keep fighting against them indefinitely.

"Boom! Boom! Boom!"

The shadows of his fists were like thunder, demon beasts shattering one after another.

Yet another demon beast was annihilated by Qin An.

At this moment, the Silver Guardians patrolling the mountain finally understood, immediately forming a formation to protect Qin An, buying him time to refine the demon cores.

This was their role.

In this battle, without these Silver Guardians, it would be almost impossible for Qin An to have the opportunity to absorb demon cores.

Seeing Qin An kill two Gui Cang Realm demon beasts with two strikes, Huomeng’s face suddenly changed.

He saw Qin An’s actions and immediately got his answer.

"Kill, kill him with all your might!"

"He is using the power of demon cores to perform a Secret Technique, do not let him find a moment to absorb the cores!"

With these words, the Gui Cang Realm demon beasts present went mad, disregarding the other Silver Guardians, and closed in on Qin An.

Qin An raised his eyes, his face indifferent, and the demon core inside him burst again, blasting towards a nearby centipede demon beast.

"Crack!"

The centipede demon’s shell cracked, shattering under the attack of the Blood-Burning Demon Hand, turning into a bloody mist in the blink of an eye.

Qin An, like a Shura descended upon the world, transformed demon cores upon contact.

The Gui Cang Realm demon beasts focused into a point, madly attacking Qin An.

The Silver Guardians, though teetering, surrounded him like an iron wall, steadfastly holding their ground.

The battle resumed between both sides.

Qin An’s so-called unity meant concentrating the Silver Guardians’ power into one place.

If it came to a fight to the death, there was naturally no way out.

But if they could delay for a while, it wasn’t so difficult.

Qin An threw punch after punch, mercilessly using each demon core he obtained.

Of the thirty-plus Gui Cang Realm demon beasts, Qin An had already dealt with six, and the Silver Guardians had also killed some.

Only a dozen or so Gui Cang demon beasts remained.

As Qin An’s fists struck with fierce intensity, more and more Gui Cang Realm demon beasts were shattered.

The Silver Guardians, originally at a disadvantage, suddenly reversed the situation.

They used quantity to substitute for quality, managing to suppress the enemy without Qin An even needing to intervene.

Huomeng saw this anomaly, a hint of fear in his eyes.

He could feel the Blood Frenzy Elixir within him gradually diminishing.

Meanwhile, the two demon beasts, Mouse Yuan and Qianjue, were quietly retreating.

"What are you doing?"

Huomeng clenched his claws and roared in anger: "Fleeing the battlefield?"

Qianjue turned back and said: "As long as the green hills are there, there’s no fear of running out of firewood. Our lives are important!"

His voice was extremely low, and the surrounding demon creatures were already oblivious to their surroundings under the influence of the Blood Frenzy Elixir.

Huomeng, hearing this, angrily said, "So many of our kin have died, even if we return, what difference does it make? We still can’t escape the blame."

Shuyuan’s whiskers trembled, "It’s better than dying; punishment won’t kill us."

With those words, the two demon creatures fought and retreated, already reaching the edge of a dark passage.

They had long since mapped out the routes of the black market, and were intimately familiar with its various secret passageways.

They only needed to enter them to find a way to survive in the labyrinth-like underground arena.

A ruthless glint flashed in Huomeng’s eyes, and he suddenly descended from above, blocking the path of the two demon creatures.

"What do you mean?" Shuyuan gripped the twin sabers in his hand, "Get out of the way! Or you’ll die too!"

Huomeng sneered, "I can’t leave. If I do, I’ll be dead for sure when I go back!"

His situation was different from the other two demon creatures.

The Fire Crow Clan Leader would not let him off.

After all, only he knew how ruthless the Clan Leader was towards his own clan members.

Qianjue clenched his fists in fury, then laughed, "Whether you die or not is none of our business! Get out of the way, or don’t blame us for forgetting our alliance!"

Now they were at a life-and-death juncture. With Qin An’s speed, killing them would be a breeze.

In such a scenario, thinking of fighting to the death with Qin An was just asking for trouble.

"If I die, don’t think you can live either!"

Huomeng roared in anger, his entire body emitting intense heat from his fiery feathers.

Shuyuan and Qianjue exchanged a glance, then sneered, "In that case, you can die first then."

The two of them activated their True Qi and attacked Huomeng.

Demon creatures were inherently selfish. To ensure their own survival, they didn’t hesitate to strike at Huomeng.

But just as their attacks were about to reach Huomeng, something unusual happened.

Both of them suddenly half-kneeled on the ground, showing signs of weakness.

The effect of the Blood Frenzy Elixir had worn off.

Not just them, but all the other demon creatures were likewise rolling on the ground.

Just now, Qin An had used the demon power as a lure to eliminate several demon creatures, while the remaining were all slain by the Mountain Patrol Silver Guards during their weak state.

Shuyuan looked at Huomeng, who was exuding a sharp aura, and said in disbelief, "Why are you okay?"

Huomeng sneered, "Because I took two more pills, so my time was extended longer than yours."

As he finished speaking, without giving the two demon creatures a chance to react, he surged with flames and took their lives.

Afterwards, Huomeng extracted their demon powers and absorbed them into his body.

Just then, the sound of footsteps approached.

Huomeng looked up to find the Mountain Patrol Silver Guards surrounding him completely.

"Qin An, you won’t die a good death!"

Huomeng glared at Qin An with poisonous eyes, as if wishing to tear him apart.

Qin An’s fingertips brushed over the blade of Cold Star, and he raised his eyes coldly, "Do you think saying this now has any meaning?"

Meaning?

Huomeng displayed a sinister smile and then his breath became extremely unstable.

Flames surged three zhang high from his body, illuminating the entire underground arena.

"Is this the Demon Blood Elixir?"

Qin An narrowed his eyes, finding it quite intriguing.

The Blood Frenzy Elixir could mitigate side effects, while the Demon Blood Elixir had the full set of side effects.

The one Huomeng was using now was the Demon Blood Elixir.

As a Level Six Pill Master, Qin An could naturally tell Huomeng’s condition at a glance.

Huomeng laughed maniacally, "After taking it, madness ensues, but the effects of the Demon Blood Elixir are far more terrifying than those of the Blood Frenzy Elixir. If I don’t kill you today, I’ll be dead too."

"Might as well risk it all; if I can overcome this mania, I can live!"

As soon as he finished speaking, he felt a blur before his eyes.

Immediately, he saw Qin An approaching with the Cold Star in hand.

The Cold Star slashed toward his neck, while Qin An formed his left hand into a fist, burning another demon power.

The Blood-Burning Demon Hand landed heavily on Huomeng’s chest.

The long saber clashed against Huomeng’s neck, producing a metallic clamor, and sparks flew.

Huomeng felt a pain in his neck, almost causing him to collapse to the ground.

Qin An’s left hand blasted open Huomeng’s chest, extracting a blood-stained elixir from within.

Huomeng stared wide-eyed, looking at Qin An in disbelief.

"How could you possibly catch it?"

Qin An said indifferently, "You said I was stalling for time just now, but it turns out you were the one stalling."

"The Demon Blood Elixir is intended for humans to consume; they absorb it quickly, but you demon creatures absorb it very slowly."

Upon hearing this, desperation flashed across Huomeng’s eyes.

"No, you shouldn’t have realized that."

"Before I could absorb it, you should have been taunting me aloud, and after I absorbed the Demon Blood Elixir, I should have been able to turn the tide."

Qin An mocked, "Did you think this was a storybook?"

The Mountain Patrol dealt only in results.

The life-force in Huomeng’s eyes gradually faded.

He almost forgot that Qin An before him was a guy who played by no rules.

As he was nearing death, Huomeng struggled to raise his gaze, and his eyes erupted with hatred.

"Qin An, you will die; you will definitely die."

"The Demon Hall won’t let you go, the Fire Crow Race won’t let you go, and neither will the other two demon forces."

"The black market is a major plan of the Demon Hall, connected with the Demon Transformation Pool. Today you ruined this plan, your death is certain."

"I’ll be waiting for you down there."

Qin An hadn’t expected it to be connected to the Demon Transformation Pool.

However, he didn’t have the clues to know the connection between the Blood Frenzy Elixir and the Demon Transformation Pool.

But none of that mattered. What mattered was that this mission was already completed.

As Huomeng finished his last words, he completely became a corpse.

Qin An calmly picked up Huomeng’s corpse, extracted its demon power, and absorbed it entirely.

This mission didn’t yield much demon power; he still had only two demon powers.

But the merits he accumulated were plenty.

Not to mention other things, these merits were enough to exchange for many demon powers.

Thinking of this, Qin An was about to turn his head to say something.

Unexpectedly, Cheng Hong suddenly gave him a subtle look.