Martial Cultivator

Xu Li’s final desperate struggle was in fact to shatter his own dharma idol, then gather together that shattered demonic qi and once more crash it toward the young martial artist’s towering dharma idol, but the result was very poor.

The demonic qi swept upward, only to meet the young martial artist’s incomparably vast qi descending. That final surge of demonic qi collapsed at the very first contact, shattering completely, with no room left to struggle or resist.

Feeling that powerful and terrifying qi descending, Xu Li had already returned to his normal size. He merely looked up once, then the corners of his mouth curved slightly upward.

Since he was destined to die, there was nothing more to say. If he had to accept it, then he accepted it.

”The two of you should leave quickly. It’s just that even if you don’t die today, you may well die tomorrow. Take care of yourselves.”

In his final moments, Xu Li looked north, toward the two figures in the distance. He knew very well that so long as those two no longer wished to continue the bitter fight, Chen Chao would not continue pursuing them.

But once war had begun, he would not be the only one to die.

”I’ll be waiting for you all below.”

Xu Li spoke one last time through voice transmission. After saying those words, without the slightest hesitation, he used the last of the demonic qi within his body to directly detonate his body, turning into a cloud of blood mist.

He knew very well that if he waited for Chen Chao to kill him, then his head would be carried in that young martial artist’s hand to the Northern Frontier city wall.

It would both strike the demon race’s morale and bolster the morale of the human soldiers, killing two birds with one stone.

So in the end, he completely blew apart his own body, considering it the last thing he could do for the demon race.

Watching Xu Li’s body explode and his aura dissipate, a Fuyun great demon had from this moment become history. The other two Fuyun great demons looked at each other, both unable to say anything, especially as they recalled Xu Li’s final words.

”Let’s go. If we keep fighting, if we’re lucky, one of us dies and kills him. If we’re unlucky, both of us will end up dying here.”

One of the Fuyun great demons spoke, his voice full of calmness.

They had come, they had fought, they had already given what they could. As for the outcome, there was really nothing more to say.

Even the Demon Emperor could not punish them for anything, let alone the fact that they were both Fuyun great demons. Their status within the demon race was not something that the Demon Emperor alone could simply decide.

The other great demon said nothing. His dharma idol simply dissipated, and he headed north.

The two of them departed northward, while the young martial artist’s towering dharma idol merely watched them and did nothing.

In truth, if the fight had continued, just as the two great demons had said, it was highly likely that both of them would have died at Chen Chao’s hands. Of course, Chen Chao himself would not necessarily have left unscathed.

It was even possible that he too would have died here.

Such things could not be said with certainty.

......

......

Chen Chao’s dharma idol dissipated.

The young Lord Warden Commander, dressed in black, looked at the backs of the two great demons in the north as they gradually disappeared into the distance, then walked forward a few steps and crouched down at a certain spot. There was only some blood here, left behind after Xu Li had blown up his own body.

Looking at the blood, Chen Chao reached into the wild grass and found a piece of beast bone. There was still some lingering aura on the bone, belonging to Xu Li.

Picking up the beast bone, Chen Chao squeezed it hard between his fingers until it shattered, leaving only some bone powder in his hand. Xu Li had blown apart his own body, but there were always some remnants left behind. Although this piece of beast bone would not necessarily reveal everything Xu Li had learned in his lifetime, it could at least allow him to perceive a little of it.

Chen Chao had always walked the path of drawing on the strengths of many schools, observing a thousand Daos without walking a thousand paths.

The demon race’s path was also a path, and he wanted to have a good look at it as well.

After standing up, Chen Chao’s face was pale, and his mood was actually very heavy, because he knew very well that the next time he took action, it would probably either be the Demon Emperor personally making a move and fighting him in a true battle to the death, or the truly powerful figures of the demon race’s Fuyun Realm joining forces to besiege him.

Existences similar to the Sword Sect’s Sect Master on the human race’s side.

In Chen Chao’s view, the former was actually less likely, while the latter was more likely. But the damned problem was that if he could survive the latter, then the former would certainly appear afterward.

Chen Chao smiled bitterly. This sort of thing was truly because the demon race’s foundation was much deeper. Otherwise, how could it be like this?

Shaking his head, Chen Chao rested his hand on the saber hilt and turned south.

His battle here was over, so there should also be a brief period of respite at the General’s Manor.

......

......

Before the Northern Frontier Great Wall, the demon race and the human race were still locked in a stalemate. The demon race had paid a considerable price, but they still had not been able to bite through this hard bone.

However, Great Liang’s side was not faring well either. The constant attrition was something Great Liang had no choice but to bear.

Among the sword cultivators who had come from the Sword Sect, dozens had already died in battle, including that old sword immortal Gan Tang, who had previously cut down Liu Xiang with a single sword. He had been only one step away from the realm of great sword immortal, but until his death, he never got to see the scenery beyond.

There was some regret, but such was life.

Several sword immortals from the Sword Sect had also died.

Before a single battle had even ended, five or six Nepenthe Realms had already died here. If it had been at any other time, the border army would probably have urgently reported it to the Divine Capital, but the past two years had been much better. Although it could not be called commonplace now, neither was it something especially difficult to accept.

After all, the foundation was no longer the same.

The number of Nepenthe Realms who died was not high, because far more below Nepenthe had died.

More than fifty Great Beyond Realm cultivators had already died, while even more had died in the Bitter Sea Realm, with the number already exceeding one hundred.

The lower one’s cultivation realm, the easier it was to die.

But those who died the most were still those frontier soldiers whose cultivation realms were not high. They were dying every moment, without a single pause.

Only, when the battle reports from the north spread out, the deaths of those sword immortals and cultivation powerhouses would leave people sighing with regret, while it would be difficult for people to even mention those ordinary soldiers.

Demon Lord Redsleeve watched the demon race besiege the city, her eyes showing no emotion, but she soon stood up from the carriage, and the High Priest beside her also suddenly turned his head at this moment.

The two of them both looked toward the rear.

The High Priest’s expression became somewhat unsightly.

Demon Lord Redsleeve smiled bitterly. ”My words have come true.”

The High Priest remained silent.

The two of them could both see clearly that, in the distance over there, a young martial artist dressed in black was slowly heading south.

”Sound the gong and withdraw the troops.”

Demon Lord Redsleeve quickly made her decision and said, ”Rest for the time being.”

The High Priest did not object.

Very soon, the desolate sound of a war horn rang out.

As the horn sounded, the demon army began to withdraw slowly.

Like the ebbing tide.

The young martial artist who returned to the city wall simply stood there, watching the departing demons.

Demon Lord Redsleeve paid him no attention, merely turning her head to look north.

She felt somewhat weary.