Surge of Demonic Qi

Fengyun Wuji struck without hesitation. As soon as the blow was launched, he darted toward the Fifth Demon King like lightning. With a flick of his right hand, a crisp zheng echoed through the void—the Fifth Sword Soul appeared in his grasp. Its blade glowed with a phantom light more than ten feet long.

The Fifth Demon King's face twisted. With a furious roar, a crackling noise—like beans exploding in a fire—burst from his hands as long, jet-black bone spines erupted from the back of his palms, each more than five feet in length. He stomped heavily into the air and shot toward Fengyun Wuji, leaving behind a blur of shadow.

CLANG! CLANG!

The Fifth Sword Soul collided with the bone spines, unleashing deafening shockwaves. Each time the sword cleaved a spine in two, the severed piece regenerated at lightning speed, growing back before it hit the ground. At the same time, the Fifth Demon King's tail spike lashed forward with terrifying speed, tearing through space itself, leaving black rifts wherever it passed. Its threat was no less than the sword in Fengyun Wuji's hand.

"You cannot harm me, human," the Demon King sneered.

"Is that so?" Fengyun Wuji said calmly.

Suddenly, his fingers loosened. The Fifth Sword Soul let out a dragon's roar, slipped free, and transformed into a streaking black rainbow that launched into a flurry of autonomous attacks, striking from all directions.

Caught off guard, the Fifth Demon King was forced back under the relentless pressure. This remote-control sword art offered him no opportunity to strike back. Guided by Fengyun Wuji's will, the sword moved like a phantom, unpredictable and unstoppable, pushing the Demon King further and further into retreat.

Hovering in midair, Fengyun Wuji's robe flapped violently in the wind. He raised his right hand high above his head, as if lifting the sky itself.

BOOM!

Thunder cracked overhead. Across the entire continent, a strange humming of swords rose into the night. Every swordsman from every sect awoke in shock, watching in disbelief as their long-worn blades burst from their sides and flew off into the blackened sky like shooting stars.

All of heaven and earth seemed to tremble as infinite sword intent surged toward Fengyun Wuji. He gripped the air with both hands and brought them down in a mighty arc—one devastating strike aimed straight at the Fifth Demon King.

CRACK!

Still defending against the ghostlike assault of the Fifth Sword Soul, the Demon King suddenly felt an overwhelming force crash into his chest before he could react. He let out a pained scream as a colossal invisible sword smashed him down from the sky.

Blood sprayed from his chest mid-air. Before he could hit the ground, a shimmering silver cloud swept upward. Upon closer inspection, it was a formation of countless long swords, blade to blade, rolling forward like a tide.

CLANG! CLANG! CLANG!

Thousands of blades struck the Fifth Demon King in rapid succession. Above, Fengyun Wuji shot down like a meteor, his right hand raised. The Fifth Sword Soul curved through the sky in an elegant arc, returning to his grasp.

Without pause, he slashed downward—one lethal strike toward the stunned Demon King.

SHNK!

A shadow streaked from the corner of his eye. The Demon King's tail spike pierced toward Fengyun Wuji's shoulder—but he didn't flinch. Accelerating abruptly, he crashed into the Demon King's chest, unleashing a surge of sword energy through the demon's back.

At the same time, his right hand danced like lightning, delivering dozens of strikes at the tail spike's joints.

SNAP!

One after another, the tail's sharp black segments cracked apart under the power of the Fifth Sword Soul, splintering into dozens of pieces and raining down like shattered spears.

"AHHHH!"

The tail spike was connected to his core. The Fifth Demon King howled in agony, his demonic aura scattering.

"This one's for Yuetian," Fengyun Wuji spat coldly. His blade flashed once more, severing the demon's right arm.

"You dare?! I'll never forgive you!" the Fifth Demon King bellowed, his chest flaring with a crimson glow that dyed the air around him blood red.

"Blood Dragon Devours Heaven!"

With that roar, the crimson light burst into thousands of rays, a destructive wave crashing toward Fengyun Wuji.

Then—out of nowhere—a dark, demonic hand shot forward and pierced through the blood-red light.

The Fifth Demon King's eyes widened. Fengyun Wuji stood before him, his expression twisted, body wreathed in demonic aura. Sharp bone spines erupted from his back, and his long hair whipped like serpents in a storm.

"Y-You're not human?!" the Fifth Demon King stammered. Just moments ago, Fengyun Wuji had seemed like an ordinary cultivator. Now, he looked more like a demon than any of their own—and worse, he'd just punched through the Blood Dragon Devours Heaven as if it were air.

"Star-Devouring Palm!" Fengyun Wuji growled, his voice low and guttural.

A whirlpool of black energy spiraled from his palm, locking onto the blood-red light and absorbing it whole. With his other hand, he slammed into the demon's chest.

The Fifth Demon King felt his demonic power, cultivated over tens of millions of years, rushing into this terrifying man like rivers into the sea. Panicked, he swung his remaining arm desperately, but each strike was intercepted by the Fifth Sword Soul. Every path of attack was sealed.

"Tell me—where are the others?" Fengyun Wuji demanded. His long hair flew wildly, his eyes now pitch black.

"One... one is Gulas! He was behind the incident at Nightmist Manor. He's my subordinate. The other... is Mingjia—the Fourth Demon King! He's stronger than I am. He's in the Sakura Empire right now. Don't kill me! I've told you everything...!"

Fifth Demon King's voice trembled. Under normal circumstances, he wouldn't have fallen so far. But his arm had been severed, his tail crushed, and now—this Star-Devouring Palm was draining him dry. His millennia of accumulated demonic energy were vanishing like water down a drain.

"What was that poison you used? And how did you escape divine sense detection?"

"That was a forbidden technique passed down by the Fifth Demon King—refined using toxins drawn from ancient demon beasts. It affects any cultivator below a hundred million years of power. As for the stealth, we... we of the Black Sky Demon Clan have a unique aura-concealing art."

"Do you have the manual for it?"

The Fifth Demon King, now with less than a million years' worth of energy left in his body, trembled in fear. With his life hanging by a thread, he dared not disobey and recited the technique's incantation on the spot.

"Good," Fengyun Wuji said, voice like a blade. "Then die."

He surged the Star-Devouring Palm to its limit. The Fifth Demon King didn't even have time to scream—his body collapsed into itself, leaving behind only a skeleton wrapped in scale-like skin.

With a final palm strike, Fengyun Wuji shattered the remains into dust.

He hovered silently in the air. Black and white flickered in his eyes. The bone spines on his back extended and retracted in rapid pulses. One moment, his aura brimmed with demonic might, the next, it overflowed with sword intent...

"Master!" A distant voice called. A royal bodyguard had spotted him.

Startled, Fengyun Wuji suddenly regained his senses. The raging demonic energy retreated like a tide, vanishing into the depths of his body. A crackling sound echoed within him as the long bone spines retracted. The black mist in his eyes faded, revealing black-and-white pupils once more.

He looked up.

Above him, the moon hung clear and bright. The heavy storm clouds around it slowly rolled away...