A blood-red hue filled the world.
Whether it was the thick-skinned Rhinoceros Great Demon who boasted of being indestructible,
the Green Wolf known for his treacherous movement and untraceable presence,
the Jade-Faced Demon Venerable who specialized in soul-stealing... or the Golden Eagle lying half-dead on the ground,
be they the Yin Mountain Demon Venerable or the Yang Mountain Demon Venerable,
at this moment, all living beings were equal.
In the Rhinoceros Great Demon's bell-like eyes, before the terror could fully spread, his vision was already spinning.
Before the blood could gush out, it was violently shaken into a mist by the following burst of Qi.
Next were the Green Wolf and the Jade-Faced Fox.
"No—!!!"
A shrill, wretched scream came to an abrupt end.
The Green Wolf Demon Venerable, along with his needle-like green fur, dissolved within that red light, turning into a pile of minced meat.
As for the Jade-Faced Demon Venerable,
this fox demon, who usually loved plotting and cherished her appearance most, died in the most unsightly manner.
Her fox tails, which could blot out the sun, vaporized the moment they touched the halberd's light.
Her feminine and handsome face instantly distorted and shattered under that majestic heavenly power.
Even the Golden Eagle Demon Venerable, who had just been smashed into the ground with an uncertain fate, was shattered to pieces.
In just a single breath.
One strike of the halberd.
Four Mountain Gazing Great Demons.
All annihilated.
The halberd's light exploded, turning into countless tiny starlight fragments.
Rumble—!!!
The aftershocks hadn't faded, and the earth trembled.
The originally deep canyon had been leveled by several dozen feet by this single strike.
As the dust clouds dispersed,
the world suddenly fell silent.
Only the blood rain fell from the sky, pitter-pattering down.
Jiang Yuechu held her Great Halberd and slowly exhaled a breath of turbid air.
Her chest rose and fell slightly.
As her Qi stabilized, the ferocious dragon horns and scales slowly receded beneath her skin.
Although the strike seemed effortless,
only she knew that in that instant, the load on her Physical Body and the use of various Divine Abilities had reached their limits.
Fortunately,
the result was quite pleasing.
Jiang Yuechu narrowed her eyes slightly, listening to the notifications in her mind.
[Killed a Mountain Gazing Realm creature, gained 42,300 years of Dao Cultivation]
[Killed a Mountain Gazing Realm creature, gained 45,100 years of Dao Cultivation]
[Killed a Mountain Gazing Realm creature, gained 41,900 years of Dao Cultivation]
[Killed a Mountain Gazing Realm creature, gained 43,600 years of Dao Cultivation]
One hundred and seventy thousand.
Plus the remaining twenty-eight thousand odd years from before.
Right now,
her stored Dao Cultivation was approaching the two hundred thousand mark!
She had struck it rich.
Truly struck it rich.
She took a deep breath, forcibly suppressing the urge to laugh toward the sky.
No.
She had to keep her composure.
After all, there were outsiders present.
Jiang Yuechu slowly raised her hand, her slender fingers pointing toward the mess on the ground.
Boom—!!!
The vast essence of the four Mountain Gazing Great Demons, which had not yet dissipated, instantly turned into four surging torrents and was swallowed by her.
Deep within her Qi Sea,
that towering crimson-black mountain roared again under such terrifying nourishment.
The mountain grew taller and taller.
Until... Thump!
An even more powerful and overbearing aura swept out from her body, blowing away all the blood rain around her.
Mountain Gazing... Middle Stage!
She was not far from the Late Stage.
The corners of Jiang Yuechu's mouth curled up slightly.
Only after doing all this did she seem to remember that there were people nearby.
She slowly turned around, her gaze sweeping over the four figures standing dazed in the distance.
"..."
Lü Qinghou's saber had fallen to the ground at some point.
The purple-robed old man stood with his mouth wide open, looking completely blank.
As for Gu Wanlan and the old man in green, they weren't much better.
The four of them looked at each other.
They could all see deep bewilderment in each other's eyes.
This... it's over just like that?
Just moments ago, the four of them were prepared to die, ready to trade their lives to hold back these four Demon Venerables.
They had even drafted their last words in their hearts.
But the result?
A young girl dropped from the sky and smashed them all to bits.
It only took a few breaths!?
A deep sense of defeat welled up within them.
They were clearly Seniors who had been in the Mountain Gazing Realm for many years.
Yet in front of this girl, they seemed... like raw recruits who had just joined the army?
...Dead.
They were all dead.
The darkness was as thick as ink.
A pair of eyes that had been closed for a hundred years suddenly snapped open.
On the lake of the mind,
the soul threads representing the Great Demons under his command, in that instant,
snapped.
Snapped.
And snapped again.
"Jade-Faced... Green Wolf..."
"They're all dead..."
"Just... how did they die!!!"
The final roar was no longer suppressed, echoing wildly at the bottom of the narrow, dark well.
If White Jade Tower had acted, or even if the Lamp-Lighting Martial Saint had acted... without using a method like lighting the heart lamp, it would be impossible to kill these Great Demons so easily in such a short time.
"Heh... hehe..."
Planning for hundreds of years.
Enduring for hundreds of years.
Who would have thought
that someone would kick the chessboard over.
Deep at the bottom of the well,
a tiny faint purple flame suddenly ignited at the center of his brow.
It wasn't just human Martial Saints who had desperate measures; since he could cultivate this Demon Saint body, how could he lack the courage to perish together with his enemy?
Above the deep valley,
White Jade Tower slowly straightened his back, which had been hunched for a long time.
He just quietly looked down at the ground beneath his feet.
The originally calm ground suddenly began to vibrate slightly.
"Sigh..."
The old man sighed softly.
His withered palm lightly patted the iron sword at his waist that hadn't been unsheathed for a long time.
"In the end... it still came to this."
Before his voice could fade,
Boom—!!!
A purple-black pillar of light burst through the surface without warning, stabbing straight into the sky.
In that instant,
the world lost its color.
The rolling purple Qi, like beacon smoke, instantly dyed the clouds in the sky an eerie purple-black.
In the center of the light pillar,
the Seal shattered.
A slender figure stood with hands behind his back, slowly rising into the air.
His face was bewitching, and a purple flame mark on his brow was still flickering slowly.
He was barefoot, stepping on the Void Realm.
Huiyue Great Sage paid no mind to White Jade Tower below, merely tilting his head slightly.
Counting the previous Silver Bone and Red Scale... of the eight Mountain Gazing demons that survived back then, more than half were now dead!
A rage sufficient to incinerate all the rivers and lakes surged in his heart.
Huiyue Great Sage withdrew his gaze and let it fall on the hunched old man before him.
Even if the opponent was also in the Lamp Lighting Realm, even if he would be besieged by two Lamp Lighting experts... how could he not come out!?
Those were his only eight Demon Venerables!
Only by taking the opponent's life could he soothe the hatred in his heart.
Clang—
A clear sword cry abruptly rang out in the deep valley.
There was no cold light flowing on the blade, only the mottled rust left by the erosion of time.
White Jade Tower held the iron sword, pointing it from afar at the Demon Saint in mid-air.
The old man's expression was calm as he advised, "Don't leave... though we have known each other across this Seal for a long time, we have never met face-to-face like this. Now that you've come out, shouldn't we catch up properly?"
"..."
"White Jade Tower, I know you only have one last chance to light your lamp."
Huiyue took a deep breath, forcibly suppressing the impulse in his heart, and patiently persuaded, "I only want that person's life! As long as that person is killed, I will immediately swear an oath never to step into the Great Tang again in this life!"
This was the greatest concession he could make.
One life in exchange for the peace of a nation.
However,
the old man below gently shook his head.
"Actually... you guessed wrong back then."
Huiyue's brow furrowed. "What?"
White Jade Tower didn't answer directly, but just raised his other hand, gently stroking the iron sword that had accompanied him all his life.
His fingertips brushed across the rough blade, causing a slight vibration.
"The world says that this old man keeps this last chance to light the lamp to linger on, to extend the Great Tang's life for a few more years..."
"Even you thought that the reason I struggled to suppress you was merely because I wanted my useless disciple to grow up and take my place in the future... as long as you didn't push too hard, I wouldn't be willing to use my last lamp lighting."
At this point, White Jade Tower looked up, a trace of nostalgia flashing in his cloudy old eyes.
"In this life, I have seen off too many people."
"Master is gone, my fellow disciples are gone, and even some Juniors who followed behind me have all gone before me one by one."
"The Gu girl is good material and still so young; she shouldn't be like me, sitting withered in this deep forest guarding a place..."
"Master once said that the flame is passed on, never-ending."
"But after living for these hundreds of years, I suddenly understood a truth."
"Actually... there is nothing to leave for future generations to repeat."
"Whatever my generation bore, whatever we were obsessed with, whatever we regretted..."
"Should all end in my hands."
Huiyue's pupils shrank, and alarm bells rang in his heart.
"You..."
White Jade Tower slowly closed his eyes.
He chanted in a low voice, his voice like a great bell echoing through heaven and earth.
"Burn my broken body, a blazing fire."
"Life is no joy, death is no pain."
"To do good and remove evil, for the sake of light alone."
"Joy, sorrow, and grief, all return to dust."
With the sound of the chant,
a spark lit up from the old man's brow.
Then,
Boom—!!!
The flames actually spread to his entire body.
This fire was no ordinary heart fire of the Lamp Lighting Realm.
It was the unyielding will of a generation's Martial Saint to snatch life from the heavens.
His withered skin became full again, and his white hair turned black at a speed visible to the naked eye.
A terrifying aura, even surpassing that of the Demon Saint, swept out from the firelight.
Huiyue's face changed drastically, and he retreated violently.
He didn't expect this old thing to be so decisive.
Without even leaving room for bargaining, he used this method of mutual destruction right away.
The firelight faded.
A handsome middle-aged man with a tall stature stepped out of the embers.
The rust on the sword had already completely fallen off under the tempering of the heart fire, revealing a sharp edge as cold as autumn water.
He took one last look toward the north, toward Chang'an.
Then,
he turned around and pointed his sword at the sky.
Rumble—!!!
A pillar of light connecting heaven and earth rose from Luling, illuminating the night sky of half the Jiangnan West Circuit.
Within that pillar of light,
a man held a sword, his hair and beard standing on end.
His voice was like a great bell, shaking the universe.
"Great Tang Demon Suppression Division Commander-in-Chief, White Jade Tower."
"Today..."
"With my broken body, I become the blazing fire!"
"I ask the Demon Saint..."
"to go to his death!!!"