Rise of The Demon General

When almost all those inside Hai Di’s domain were about to succumb to their early graves, a crimson bubble intruded on the dark domain. It continued to spread until the dark domain reacted and counteracted it. The two bubbles were locked in an equilibrium.

Not all part of the dark domain was intruded upon by the crimson one. In that part, the shadows continued to erode the poor people trapped inside. As for where the crimson domain intersected, the people inside found that the pressure encumbering them had diminished greatly. They could move again. Some quickly fled the area. While a few showed their loyalty by resuming their assaults and sending ranged attacks at Hai Di, only for those attacks to fizzle when they got close to Hai Di. Seeing that, they joined their comrades and fled the area.

The crimson bubble was Yao Ai’s domain arts. With her interference, the effect of Hai Di’s domain could be nullified.

The dark and crimson domains appeared to be at a stalemate, but this was only temporary. Like the case when Hai Di battled Lang Man, his Law of Pressure allowed his domain to slowly overpower the opponent’s. The dark domain encroached upon the crimson domain bit by bit.

”No one can win against me when it comes to a domain battle,” Hai Di stated.

Yao Ai gritted her teeth and clenched her fists. She displayed an expression of someone struggling to exert her strength. ”Is that a... challengeee?!!!”

Upon her cry, her crimson bubble stopped shrinking. It began to push back at the dark domain.

This surprised Hai Di. He didn’t expect Yao Ai’s law of challenge to further power her up. It seemed the more Yao Ai felt contested, the stronger she became. Their two domains truly entered an equilibrium state this time. Neither seemed to have an advantage over the others.

”Hmph! Very well. Let’s see who can last longer, then,” Hai Di uttered.

Yao Ai grinned. ”Hehe, Senior Hai Di. I’ve already said, this is war!”

Yao Ai gave another signal. Hai Di noticed then that there was a group of cultivators who came with the crowd but stayed behind and never advanced, until now. This group was composed of people who had their legs altered. They all had the same alteration. As they approached Yao Ai, their speed increased abruptly.

Their legs were altered using the limbs of a spirit beast called Blitz Raptor. It was a spirit beast with lower limbs that could shoot out jets of pressurized air. These air jets granted the Blitz Raptor a sudden flight burst for a short period. The same air jets were propelling the altered cultivators.

The speed burst took Hai Di by surprise. In an instant, those altered cultivators had passed Yao Ai and were midway toward him. Since his and Yao Ai’s domains cancelled each other, the altered cultivators weren’t hindered.

Hai Di weren’t afraid of these altered cultivators. They were all at the Supreme Stage. Even so, he didn’t think Yao Ai set these people on him for no reason. He decided to be cautious. He put both arms forward and fired a consecutive volley of black spears. The black spears tore through the approaching cultivators.

All the altered cultivators died before reaching him. He harrumphed at such a pointless assault. But when his eyes returned to Yao Ai, he was surprised to find that she was still grinning. She also revealed a talisman in her hand.

Hai Di was confused by her grin and the talisman in her hand. Cultivators of their calibre rarely relied on tools or weapons, except divine-grade ones. Those tools were rare, even in the lower world. During his confusion, he realized something. Due to the speed of their charge, the remains of the altered cultivators continued to float toward him. These shredded remains were now around him.

Yao Ai activated the talisman in her hand.

The cultivators she sent forward just now were not only altered with the limbs of the Blitz Raptor, but they also possessed altered internal organs. Their hearts had been replaced by one from a spirit beast called Exploding Crawler. It was an insect-type spirit beast that detonated upon death.

While the original heart of the Exploding Crawler would detonate upon death, the ones inside these altered cultivators were set to be activated by talismans implanted with the hearts. These talismans also greatly enhanced the detonation power.

Hai Di’s black spears coincidentally destroyed the exploding hearts of some of the altered cultivators, but more than half still had their hearts intact. These hearts now reacted to the talisman Yao Ai was holding. Massive explosions occurred near Hai Di.

Yao Ai laughed. Those altered cultivators were suicide soldiers whose families she held hostage. They had no choice but to sacrifice their lives. Following the explosions, the other cultivators resumed their ranged attacks. With her cancelling Hai Di’s domain arts, the dark bubble couldn’t negate all attacks. Yao Ai could feel the dark domain weakening, which meant Hai Di was affected by these strings of attacks.

”Everyone, finish him...!!” Yao Ai commanded.

The Mercy Faction cultivators rushed forward. They believed in Yao Ai’s judgment, unaware that they were sacrificial lambs for their lord.

Dark fogs spread when they closed in on the dust clouds caused by the altered cultivators’ explosions. The frontmost cultivators hit by these dark fogs found their skins beginning to peel off. They screamed from the pain. Their screams abruptly stopped when countless black spears burst out.

The black spears shot in all directions, hitting those who approached. In an instant, three-fourths of the Mercy Faction cultivators who rushed toward Hai Di were slain without intact bodies.

The burst of black spears also dispersed the dust clouds, revealing Hai Di, whose robes displayed many tears. Several parts of his exposed skin were bleeding, and he was panting.

A thin ray of light rushed in, aiming to hit the spot between his eyes. The ray from the Finger of Death hit the shadow armor protecting his head. It couldn’t completely block it. It was refracted. It pierced his left eye and came out the side of his head, missing his brain by a hairbreadth.

”Arghhh...!!!” Hai Di roared at the pain of losing one of his eyes.

Despite the pain, he sensed another incoming. It was not those weak foes. It was Yao Ai. He instinctively executed Demon Palm in her direction. He struck something, but the recoil he felt took him aback.

Yao Ai used an arcane art called Wind Cannon. It produced a powerful blast upon impact. Hai Di’s palm was smashed away. In his imbalance, he felt a strong impact on the side of his stomach.

*CRACK!*

The loud sound of bones breaking was heard. Hai Di’s shadow armor had been weakened so much that he could only focus it on his most vital part, his head. The other parts of his body were unprotected. Yao Ai landed a kick on his side, breaking the ribs inside.

Hai Di flew far away from the kick and crashed into his castle.

Yao Ai didn’t let up. Wind elemental energy gathered in her two hands. ”Perish!!” She exclaimed.

When she released the energy, it was in the form of multiple energy balls. These balls rained down on Hai Di’s castle. Upon contact, the balls exploded in violent bursts of wind. Hai Di’s castle had words of power reinforcing its sturdiness, but the bombardment still ruined it. The explosions also killed the combatants who battled near the castle.

Yao Ai shot forward. She wasn’t going to let her prey flee when victory was so close. She was going in for the kill. Her followers followed her.

Yao Ai landed where Hai Di had fallen. He was nowhere to be seen. ”Find him! Don’t let him escape!”

The few surviving Mercy Realm cultivators who had fought Hai Di with her spread out. Yao Ai remained there and looked around. She spotted blood on the floor. She grinned and followed the blood trail.

The blood trail led her deeper into part of the castle that remained intact. She heard sounds of fighting beyond the corner. She rushed over just as she spotted Hai Di crashing the skulls of two of his followers. Hai Di also spotted her. He went inside the door behind him.

Yao Ai rushed over and entered the same door. She found herself in a throne room. Hai Di was beside his throne. He leaned on that throne with gasping breaths.

”Hehe, Senior Hai Di. You are prideful to the end. I didn’t expect you to choose your throne room as your final resting place. Don’t worry, I will respect your wish. I will bury this entire castle with you, making it a fine...”

Yao Ai walked forward while talking. She made an abrupt stop midway because she felt something strange. The rear part of Hai Di’s throne appeared vast, yet a thick shadow covered it. She couldn’t sense anything inside the shadow. It was like a veil was covering it.

A gruff voice was heard. ”Tch! I told you I won’t aid you, but you purposefully lured her here. You are forcing my hand!”

Yao Ai was alarmed. She still couldn’t sense the owner of the voice inside the shadow.

Two slits of glowing eyes appeared inside the shadow. From their sizes, Yao Ai knew they were not human eyes. Then, five pairs of similar eyes appeared beside the first pair. Lights of different colors began shining below those eyes.

Yao Ai sensed it then. ”Mid... Mid Deity Beast...?” She uttered.