CHAPTER 238: CHAPTER 231: THE GREAT SUN PURPLE DAWN SWORD’S RADIANCE!

"Big brother, it seems it’s not him!"

The demon’s essence, dark as ink and incomparably foul, splattered like ink as it shattered the tide-like apparitions of colossal beasts. The Lion Demon gnashed its sharp teeth, CLANG CLANG, sending sparks flying.

With a flick of its long trunk that stirred a violent gust, the Elephant Demon struck fiercely with its pale yellow tusks, as if intending to punch two holes through the sky.

The great formation before them, conjured from Talisman Scripts, largely collapsed under the impact with a BOOM.

Countless yellow Talisman Scripts turned to ash and scattered.

A few more hits like that, and this formation would surely be destroyed.

"I know. But whether it’s him or not, he’s still a Human Cultivator. Let’s capture him first and deal with it then," said one of the beasts.

"Big brother speaks wisely!"

All four Great Demons attacked simultaneously. Their massive, hill-like bodies smashed around wildly, accompanied by deafening ROARS and surging clouds of dust that billowed like a yellow dragon.

In the heart of the Myriad Beasts Xuanbing Great Formation, Bai Qingfeng was drenched in sweat, his robes soaked through at the back. His face was pale, and his hands, forming intricate seals, trembled minutely.

The will of heaven is hard to defy.

It seemed the heavens were unwilling for this Formation Inscription technique to reappear in the world...

Struggling to maintain the formation’s operation, Bai Qingfeng glanced upward. Through the crumbling formation, he saw the four ferocious, hideous faces of the Great Demons peering in, their cruel, greedy pupils a chilling blood-red.

Alas... Heaven does not grant all wishes... Sighing inwardly, Bai Qingfeng’s eyes dimmed.

As the legitimate eldest son of the Bai Family and the most talented in talismanic techniques of his generation, his birth had caused the Bai Family’s ancient Talisman Scripts to resonate.

He reached the Initiate Realm at ten years of age, and his cultivation in talismanic techniques was considered unparalleled in the Bai Family’s thousand-year history.

By forty, he had successfully overcome his tribulation and ascended to the Blood-Stained Realm.

Over the next two hundred years, he toiled in the study of talismanic techniques, poring over countless ancient texts, traveling across the five provinces, and facing life-and-death trials more than a dozen times.

Finally, through years of piecing together fragments, he had managed to reconstruct a portion of the lost art of Formation Inscriptions, reclaiming this ancient skill that had vanished for tens of thousands of years.

A few months ago, he heard that the situation in Dianchuan Province had become chaotic, foreboding a great disaster.

So, he rushed back from another province without delay to protect his family, hoping to contribute his modest strength against the invasion of Demons and Demonic Cultivators.

But who would have thought...

He hadn’t even reached home, only halfway through his journey, when he ran into four Blood-Stained Realm Great Demons and was trapped by them in this mountain range.

"Hehe, this damn flimsy formation is finally breaking apart."

Tearing at the edges of the Myriad Beasts Xuanbing Great Formation with their claws, the four Great Demons grinned hideously as vast numbers of yellow Talisman Scripts continuously disintegrated.

The breaches in the formation grew larger and larger; soon, a third of it was torn open.

"Come here to me," one said imperiously.

Stretching out a muscular arm, the Ape Demon—red-faced with white fur, a plume of black-red Devilish Fire on its tail, and exuding a dense, baleful aura—punched through several giant beast apparitions. Its massive hand reached into the formation, grasping for Bai Qingfeng.

Single-handedly holding off the ferocious assault of four Great Demons for so long, Bai Qingfeng was already exhausted, his True Origin depleted and his soul flagging. He could only watch helplessly as the massive hand descended, clamping him within its five fingers.

"Hahaha, you’re quite the player, kid.

Formation Inscriptions, tsk... You actually managed to dig up something lost to time. Lucky for us we ran into you today.

If this thing were to spread, it would be a disaster.

Come, let’s use our demonic aura to corrupt and mutate him.

Let’s make this Human Race’s art of Formation Inscriptions serve us Demons too!"

Clutching Bai Qingfeng, the four Great Demons stared fixedly at him with crimson eyes. A nauseatingly foul demonic aura surged forth, swirling madly around him, attempting to corrupt and mutate him.

As the demonic aura continuously eroded him, Bai Qingfeng clung to his principles. A flicker of grim determination flashed in his tightly shut eyes.

I, Bai Qingfeng, would rather die than become a traitorous demonic pawn!

With a mere thought, Bai Qingfeng was about to ignite his soul and detonate his Spinal Palace, intending to take them all down with him.

But just at that moment...

Suddenly, thunder ROARED, shaking the surrounding void!

The Five Thunder Demonic Subjugation Great Formation activated once more! Turbulent, oppressive thunderclouds rolled in, unleashing countless terrifyingly thick lightning bolts. The clap of thunder startled the four Great Demons, causing them to instinctively look around, their expressions tense.

"AH!"

But just as the four Demons were distracted for an instant, a resplendent, blazing sun suddenly rose. It unleashed an incredibly dazzling Sword Light capable of suppressing all evil, sweeping away all filth, forcing back all wickedness, and incinerating even gods and ghosts. This tyrannical Sword Light crashed down violently.

It fiercely severed the Ape Demon’s arm that was grasping Bai Qingfeng.

SIZZLE—

Thick, black, foul-smelling Demon Blood sprayed down.

The Ape Demon’s shriek had just begun.

A flash of lightning Escape Light flickered past, snatched the severed arm, and immediately sped away!

"It’s that human vermin!"

The Elephant Demon was enraged. Qi Xiu had severed an arm and saved someone right under their noses! This was an utter humiliation, a direct slap to their faces.

Insult!

This was a pure insult!

"Get him! Get him!"

Furious, the Elephant Demon stomped its massive, thick legs in a rage. The entire mountain range shook as if it were about to collapse.

The four Great Demons gave chase. Their terrifying demonic aura surged skyward, stretching for hundreds of li—a dense, black miasma coiling with swirling storm clouds that kicked up fierce gales.

"I am Bai Qingfeng of the Yunpu Bai Family. Thank you, Fellow Daoist, for your assistance," Bai Qingfeng promptly voiced his gratitude to Qi Xiu, who had saved him from a desperate situation.

"The Yunpu Bai Family?"

Hearing Bai Qingfeng state his lineage, Qi Xiu showed a hint of surprise and couldn’t help but chuckle.

Then we truly do have some karmic connection.

Back then, after he reached the Initiate Realm, he went to Qingliu County. He casually mentioned his surname was Bai, and because of his Cloud Seal Talismans, the shopkeeper of Shen’s Myriad Goods Pavilion mistook him for a member of the Yunpu Bai Family.

He never expected that after more than twenty years, he would actually encounter a genuine member of the Bai Family and even save them on impulse.

"Fellow Daoist, do you know members of my Bai Family?"

"Not really. By the way, the Dharma Gate you just used—was that the lost art of Formation Inscriptions?"

Without explaining the details to Bai Qingfeng, Qi Xiu instead asked about Formation Inscriptions.

Although he wasn’t proficient in Formation Inscriptions, he had seen fragments of it mentioned in various ancient texts and rare books.

The Dharma Gate Bai Qingfeng had just used closely matched the various characteristics of Formation Inscriptions.

"Fellow Daoist, you also know of Formation Inscriptions?"

Not expecting Qi Xiu to also know about Formation Inscriptions, Bai Qingfeng suddenly smiled with a hint of pride.

"That’s right. It is indeed the art of Formation Inscriptions, lost for tens of thousands of years.

Fellow Daoist, you may not know this, but my Bai Family has strived for generations to revive this ancient technique, lost for tens of thousands of years.

We’ve exhausted an untold amount of effort.

I, Bai Qingfeng, have cultivated talismanic techniques since childhood. Relying on ancestral accumulation and hundreds of years spent traveling and searching, I finally managed to piece together this technique from ancient ruins.

With these Formation Inscriptions, my Bai Family will definitely soar in the field of talismanic techniques, achieving unprecedented success.

Surpassing the Lingguang Treasure Sect might not even be impossible."

Speaking of talismanic techniques, Bai Qingfeng’s tired, dim eyes lit up again.

Glancing at the excited Bai Qingfeng, Qi Xiu opened his mouth as if to say something, but after a moment’s hesitation, he remained silent.

Formation Inscriptions... a fine thing indeed.

But this was a precious skill that the Bai Family had spent countless generations, and Bai Qingfeng himself hundreds of years of painstaking effort, to reclaim.

It was clearly a profound secret meant to be a family heirloom, passed down through generations.

He wasn’t thick-skinned enough to ask for it.

As for seizing it by force... that was the way of the Demonic Path. Not to mention how Daoist Yunxiong would react if he found out.

He himself couldn’t overcome the barrier in his own Dao Heart.

A guilty Dao Heart was tantamount to planting a hidden danger for his future cultivation.

Cloud Seal Talismans were just one of his many techniques.

There was no need to damage his foundation for this, like discarding a watermelon to pick up a sesame seed.

Just as these thoughts flashed through Qi Xiu’s mind, the four Great Demons behind them suddenly closed the distance. The leading Elephant Demon extended its thick trunk and inhaled sharply.

Instantly, a fierce wind erupted!

An incredibly powerful suction force surged from its black hole-like nostrils, unbelievably latching onto Qi Xiu’s Thunder Magic Escape Light.

"Not good!"

Seeing the Elephant Demon’s mana was so formidable, Bai Qingfeng’s expression changed slightly, and he instinctively reached out to throw Talisman Scripts.

But he had barely raised his hand when he felt a piercing pain in his Ancestral Aperture.

He had previously exhausted too much of his soul and mental energy resisting the onslaught of the four Great Demons, leaving him no strength to act now.

This long-nosed pig actually has some skill.

Seeing his Escape Light caught, Qi Xiu frowned and turned his head. With a wave of his wide sleeve, ten Cloud Seal Talismans rustled out, materializing ten vermilion Sword-Nurturing Gourds, sleek and smooth as glazed porcelain.

"Slash!"

From his brow, within the Ancestral Aperture, a resonant, clear cry, distinct from Qi Xiu’s own voice, suddenly rang out!

The next moment, the terrifying Great Sun Sword Light that had previously severed the Ape Demon’s arm erupted from the Sword-Nurturing Gourds. Its overwhelmingly tyrannical Sword Dao aura pressed down on the void, causing the hearts of the four Great Demons to constrict.

The Ape Demon, whose arm had just been severed, was especially terrified. It retreated several hundred zhang in panic and hid within the dense demonic miasma.

The incomparably domineering Great Sun Sword Light slashed down fiercely.

Instantly, numerous sword scars appeared in the void, and strands of golden light descended as if from the secrets of heaven.

In a flash, thousands of bloody gashes appeared on the bodies of the four Great Demons. Streaks of violet-gold Pure Yang Purple Dawn Golden Flames clung to the wounds, preventing them from healing and continuously searing their flesh and bones.

The Elephant Demon’s long trunk, in particular, received special attention from the Great Sun Purple Dawn Sword Light. It was sliced into thousands of bloody pieces, causing the Elephant Demon to scream in agony, its face flushed crimson with pain.

"What magnificent Sword Talismans."

Bai Qingfeng’s eyes shone, not expecting Qi Xiu to also be a master of talismanic techniques.

He had never seen or even heard of the Talisman Scripts Qi Xiu was using.

Sword Talismans were already extremely rare within the system of talismanic techniques.

The profound intent of the Sword Dao was difficult to seal within Talisman Scripts.

This was even truer for more powerful Sword Dao Dharma Gates.

Yet, the Sword Dao Talisman Scripts Qi Xiu now employed were terrifyingly powerful. Even pure-blooded Great Demons of the Gu Clan were mangled and screaming incessantly.

If he had a few hundred more of these, it might even be possible to slay these Great Demons on the spot.

However, if that were truly the case, Qi Xiu wouldn’t have needed to painstakingly scheme to trap and kill these few Demons one by one.

After activating ten Sword Gourd Talismans, Qi Xiu’s face visibly paled.

Although he had drawn these Talisman Scripts beforehand, activating them still consumed soul and mental energy, much like pulling the pin on a grenade.

The more powerful the Talisman Script, the greater the consumption of soul and mental energy.

This Sword Gourd Talisman was among the most powerful Cloud Seal Talismans in his possession.

After the previous Nine Sword-Nurturing Gourds were shattered by Golden Flower Old Mother, he had summoned another. He then entrusted it to the Taiyang Daoist within his Ancestral Aperture to nurture Sword Light using the supremely tyrannical "Great Sun Only Me True Scripture".

Over time, he had nurtured a gourd full of Great Sun Purple Dawn Sword Light.

Its individual destructive power even surpassed that of the Shenxiao Thunder Skill.

However, this also made the Sword Gourd Talisman a double-edged sword: immense power came at an even greater cost.

If the Elephant Demon hadn’t been pursuing so relentlessly, and hadn’t snagged his Escape Light with its trunk, he would have been unwilling to use these Sword Gourd Talismans.