Chapter 183: The Solitary Demon Tide
"Roar!!"
As the demons roared, the tide of demons approached, covering everything like a dark cloud and filling the pass.
On the battlements, the vice-general of the Blood Fiend Army commanded, "Activate the array!"
A golden light appeared above Cang Cliff City, and the array descended upon it.
"So many battle flags!"
Amidst the demon tide, the four Great Demons at the Three Immortal realms noticed the numerous Hao Tian battle flags planted on the battlements, and their faces twitched slightly.
"However, at such a close distance, if those flags were to explode, wouldn't they be affected as well?"
"But we don't know if the array within those flags only targets demons."
The four Great Demons at the Three Immortal realms had solemn expressions, but they had anticipated this scene beforehand. They just hadn't expected there to be so many battle flags.
"Break through the city first. Let the lesser demons destroy the flags, and then we'll retreat!"
They had already planned their countermeasure, and at this moment, they briefly paused before blowing the horns to charge.
In an instant, the demon horde behind them responded and charged towards the city covered in golden light.
Just at this moment, a sudden dragon's roar echoed from the distance.
It seemed to come from tens of miles away, tearing through the air!
The four Great Demons at the Three Immortal realms all looked up, and the countless warriors on the battlements couldn't help but look up as well. They saw a golden sword light racing from the city, passing over their heads, resembling a dazzling meteor.
"It's a sword!"
"It's the Long Xiao Sword!"
The faces of the several Great Demons at the Three Immortal realms changed drastically as they recognized the famous sword.
Ever since this renowned sword had fallen into Li Hao's hands, its reputation had only grown. Within a radius of five thousand li outside the pass, it had already established a fearsome reputation!
As they clearly saw the Long Xiao, it whistled out of the array, its blade covered in Li Hao's divine consciousness. There was Li Hao's aura on it, and since Li Hao himself had the array token, the flying sword effortlessly penetrated the array.
Swoosh!
The demon soul within the Long Xiao Sword was stimulated, and it roared towards the sky, its sound shaking the area a hundred li outside the pass!
Subsequently, just like a true dragon entering the sea, it stirred up a tumultuous sword aura. In the blink of an eye, the sword body seemed to crack, bursting forth countless sword strikes and forming a terrifying sword tide!
A sword stood upright, pressing down from above!
The majestic sword tide, like seawater, swept forward and crushed the 50,000-strong demon army.
The Long Xiao Sword, surrounded by divine light, resembled a golden dragon as it weaved through the demon tide, moving extremely fast. It was like golden divine lightning, carving a golden arc in the demon tide.
Wherever it passed, the bodies of the demons were pierced through. Those with lower cultivation were directly torn apart by the sword aura and the blades of wind it carried, without even having the chance to scream.
The sword tide also pushed horizontally, colliding fiercely with the incoming demon tide. In an instant, the demons at the front were penetrated by the sword tide, and countless blood lights splattered. Demon auras scattered, and they were left riddled with holes!
Such a horrifying scene left the countless warriors on the battlements stunned.
Most of the Hao Tian Army were the warriors from various states who had come to reinforce Li Hao earlier. When they had arrived to reinforce him, they had only seen Li Hao in a tragic state, his body bloody and mangled from the attacks of several Demon Kings.
Their impression of Li Hao was still that of when he had pressed down the heavens with a single finger on the banks of the Long River in Da Yue City.
After all, that incident wasn't too far in the past.
But at this moment, the might unleashed by the Long Xiao Sword left them all speechless.
A single sword strike had cut down 50,000 demons!
Among them were several dozen at the Heaven's Mandate realm, and moreover, they weren't engaging in a duel where they had to abide by martial morals and take turns to fight. They could attack together!
Yet, they were still slaughtered without any resistance!
The young scions of the various aristocratic families within the city followed, some climbing onto the tall buildings near the city walls to get a better view, while others summoned their divine souls to observe from high in the sky within the city.
At this moment, witnessing the endless sword tide outside the array and the true dragon divine sword weaving through it, they were all left speechless.
"Is that the young general's sword?"
"It's his sword. I recognize it. That's the Long Xiao!"
"It's the foremost sword among the famous swords of the world!"
Many of the young scions from aristocratic families were knowledgeable about the various famous swords. They had seen illustrations and descriptions of these renowned blades spread far and wide.
What constituted a famous sword was not just its name, but also its shape and posture, which were known throughout the world!
At this moment, under the gaze of the entire city, the Long Xiao Sword stirred up countless sword strikes and slaughtered the demon army.
This bloody and shocking scene didn't seem like a demon tide attacking the city, but rather, it appeared as if the dragon sword was flying up and down, massacring the demons single-handedly!
Blood flowed like rivers, and countless demons roared in anger as they tried to resist, but they were instantly pierced through, as fragile as paper or tofu. They were utterly powerless against the Long Xiao Sword!
As the Long Xiao Sword plunged deeper into the demon tide, it soon headed towards the four Great Demons at the Three Immortal realms.
In the bamboo fence courtyard...
Li Hao gently placed a chess piece.
As the demon tide reached the outskirts of the city, he had already sensed that there were four auras at the Three Immortal realms within the tide. Two of them were hidden, which was why the previous scouts hadn't detected them. This was a deliberate move by the Great Demons to create an opportunity for themselves.
One was overt while the other was covert, just like the black and white pieces on the chessboard, clearly distinguishable.
Apart from these few Great Demons at the Three Immortal realms, there didn't seem to be any aura of Demon Kings, perhaps hidden even more deeply.
But it didn't matter. As long as they slaughtered this demon tide, everything would be fine.
In the face of absolute power, shallow tricks were useless.
"Check!"
Li Hao surrounded and trapped his opponent's pieces, picking up a white piece in the center of the board. This was one of Xu Zhuyuan's black pieces that had extended its claws, attempting to invade more of his territory, but Li Hao had cut off its advance.
Boom!!
The Long Xiao Sword suddenly pierced through the void, slashing towards one of the Great Demons at the Three Immortal realm!
"Damn it!!"
This Great Demon at the Three Immortal realm was so shocked that his soul almost left his body. The might of this divine sword was too strong. Could it be that the young man hadn't gone to the Tian Ji Tower but had been stationed in this city instead?
Or was it just his clone manipulating this sword?
He roared and revealed his true form—a huge, savage bull. He rammed his horns towards the divine sword in an attempt to block it.
His entire body was surging with demon aura, and behind him, a huge standing bull demon shadow formed. It was a trace of extremely thin and ancient Demon King bloodline hidden within his blood.
At this moment, the bull demon's eyes shone with a scarlet light, and it wanted to reach out and grab the Long Xiao Sword.
However, the Long Xiao Sword erupted with an even stronger and more explosive sword aura, like a dragon's roar piercing through the howls of the demons. It suddenly changed direction, avoiding the bull horns of the Three Immortal realm Great Demon in an instant, and stabbed towards its head.
The golden divine light of the Long Xiao Sword vanished above its head, and the Three Immortal realm great demon's eyes widened, its pupils contracting as its body stiffened in place.
In less than two seconds, dazzling sword light split from its body in all directions, its form cracking like ceramic as countless cracks formed, emitting myriad divine lights. Suddenly, it exploded with a violent burst.
Flesh and blood splattered everywhere, scattering all around. Its entire body was pierced through!
A godly soul escaped from its shattered body, but it was also severely injured, emitting a shrill cry as it fled into the distance, burning its soul to increase its speed.
However, the Long Xiao Sword was even faster. In an instant, it caught up, and with a single sword strike, it sliced through the escaping soul!
The soul twitched in the void like burning joss paper, feeling the scorching pain and damage inflicted by the sword. Its body burned as it struggled to crawl forward, its eyes reflecting despair, unwillingness, and deep regret.
In the end, its soul burned out completely, leaving nothing behind. Like a gust of wind, it dissipated.
The Long Xiao Sword whistled towards the other three great demons without pause, erupting with even greater ferocity.
"Damn it, what power is this?!"
"Run!"
The remaining three great demons were shocked. A single sword strike had pierced through the Three Immortals, instantly killing them.
Unbreakable bodies, as tough as divine weapons, were utterly shredded by this divine sword?!
At this moment, they finally confirmed that the young man had never left Cang Cliff City. Everything had been a ruse to lure them in!
But their realization came too late.
They scattered in different directions, no longer concerned about the gathering demon tide. All they wanted was to save themselves.
However, the Long Xiao Sword was incredibly fast. In an instant, it caught up with another Three Immortal realm demon, who desperately resisted with angry roars. A sword aura hundreds of feet tall erupted, as if slashing down from the clouds, slicing the demon's body in half!
Such a display left the onlookers on the battlements with their blood boiling. They were both shocked and thrilled, their fists clenched tightly.
After finishing off one demon, the Long Xiao Sword turned to pursue the other two Three Immortal great demons. While the main sword chased after one, a sword dragon formed from countless sword lights separated and chased after the other.
The demon being pursued by the sword dragon frantically tried to escape. He was also in the Unbreakable realm, but after witnessing the brutal death of the bull demon, he had no intention of resisting. All he wanted was to flee.
Seeing the Long Xiao Sword's main body chasing after his former "friend", he was secretly overjoyed.
He fled for his life, but the sword aura tide behind him swept forward, causing him to roar, "Shatter!"
Even the split sword aura was trying to kill him—did they really think he was an easy target?
He roared in anger, his palms becoming like divine iron as he gathered his demonic energy. A mountain-like palm print formed and pushed horizontally to meet the incoming sword dragon.
But as soon as he made contact, he knew something was wrong. The penetrating power of the sword dragon was far stronger than he had imagined.
The demon palm shattered, and countless sword lights scattered, washing over his body.
His entire body stung as if pierced by thousands of needles. Countless streams of blood splattered from his body.
"Ahhhhh!"
He let out an angry roar and tried to reveal his true form, but just as he was halfway through the transformation, a sword aura landed on him. His soul and power seemed to be instantly taken away by the Grim Reaper.
He felt as if all the blood and marrow in his body had been instantly drained away.
"How... How is this possible...?"
His pupils contracted, his eyes filled with horror, but even more so with despair.
He could feel his life force rapidly declining, as if falling into an abyss.
He wanted to sacrifice his soul to escape, but as his soul tried to climb out of his body, it couldn't. In the end, it fell along with his physical form.
Thud!
His body collapsed to the ground, kicking up dust.
Countless sword auras struck it, tearing it to pieces.
In another part of the battlefield, the main body of the Long Xiao Sword had already caught up with one of the Three Immortal great demons and sliced it down.
The demon was in the Undying realm, unleashing its undying power and exploding with all its might. It even burned its soul and bloodline, but the true dragon sword soul flew out from the Long Xiao Sword, exuding the aura of a former demon king, and sliced it down with a single strike.
Its physical body couldn't withstand the Long Xiao Sword's divine blade. Although its power was surging, it was like rotten wood, easily broken.
After finishing off the great demons, the Long Xiao Sword returned to the demon tide, and countless sword auras rained down like raindrops, covering the area in a storm of blood.
The five-thousand-strong demon tide, which included many Heaven's Mandate and Fifteen-Mile realm demons and was overall extremely powerful, was no match for Li Hao. Back when he was only in the Fifteen-Mile realm himself, he had slain a similar number of demons in Qi Province's Cangyu City!
Times had changed, and not a single demon escaped. In less than half an incense stick's worth of time, all five thousand demons, including the four Three Immortal great demons, had perished.
Outside the city, corpses were scattered everywhere, and blood flowed like rivers.
Countless demon bodies lay broken and scattered, turning the area into a hellish scene.
The Long Xiao Sword flew out in an arc and hovered for a moment before transforming into a golden rainbow and returning to the array, speeding straight towards the center of the city and the bamboo fence courtyard.
Countless people looked up, watching as the divine sword retracted its golden light and descended into the city.
They knew that was where the young man was.
From start to finish, he had never shown himself. With just a single flying sword, he had slain fifty thousand demons and killed four Three Immortal great demons!
And that young man was only fifteen years old this year!
Compared to the battle in Da Yue City that had shocked the world, the young man had become even more terrifying!
The entire city fell silent, and after a brief moment of stillness, a wave of enthusiastic cheers erupted.
On the battlements, countless soldiers hugged each other in excitement. The tense and heavy battle had been resolved without their involvement, thanks to the might of a single person.
The young man's power alone had ended the demon tide!
"General Haotian!!!"
Someone shouted excitedly, leading the chorus of enthusiastic roars.
Countless soldiers couldn't help but raise their arms and cheer.
Someone excitedly grabbed a battle flag from the battlements and waved it in the wind, shouting loudly.
Inside the city, the young scions of the aristocratic families, young boys and girls, merchants, and common folk all heard the shouts coming from all directions.
At that moment, the young man's name resonated in their minds.
Haotian!