CHAPTER 128: CHAPTER 126: POSSESSION?

Celestial Thunder roared down, while blood-red light soared into the sky.

After Blood Youming connected with Upper Realm’s True Demon Power and transformed into the Blood Ape Monster, he seemed to possess immense resistance to thunder and lightning. Although the Celestial Thunder summoned by Qingyang Daoist could still injure him, it wasn’t able to deliver the same overwhelming advantage as before.

And whenever the Celestial Thunder struck the Blood Ape Monster, injuring it, its body would merely flash with blood-light and instantly recover as if unharmed.

This terrifying recovery ability is primarily due to the innate self-healing capacity of the Blood Ape Monster, but the main reason is that he has just consumed all of "Golden Light Ascendant"’s essence blood and Golden Core, bolstering his momentum.

Not only does this Blood Ape Monster have incredibly strong self-healing ability, but it also possesses powerful invisibility.

Previously, the reason "Golden Light Ascendant" was killed without even defending himself, or having the time to self-detonate his Golden Core, was because he was quietly approached from behind completely unaware.

This invisibility is exceedingly potent; Qingyang Daoist, even with his Ninth-Layer Golden Core’s divine sense, would have great difficulty noticing the concealed Blood Ape Monster if not attentive.

Besides, the blood-red horn atop the Blood Ape Monster’s head is extraordinary; the sanguine lightning it releases can contend with the purple Celestial Thunder summoned by Qingyang Daoist’s "Xuanyang Thunder-Inducing Sword," without a clear winner.

If it weren’t for this divine technique requiring significant intervals between usages, Qingyang Daoist, even with the "Xuanyang Thunder-Inducing Sword," likely wouldn’t hold any advantage and might unexpectedly fall prey to its schemes.

In this battle, Cao Wenjin, the Sixth-Layer Golden Core cultivator, completely became an accessory to the actions.

With "Golden Light Ascendant’s" death as a precedent, he devoted nearly eighty percent of his power to defense, occasionally utilizing the Yellow Sand Sect’s inherited treasure, the "Divine Sand Gourd," to release the "Soul-Devouring Divine Sand" for supplemental strikes against Blood Youming.

The "Soul-Devouring Divine Sand" originally wasn’t ordinary; it was especially effective against spiritual ghosts and cultivators’ divine senses, previously shining brightly in dismantling Blood Youming’s "Array of Ten Thousand Ghosts."

Unfortunately, the Blood Ape Monster seemed naturally immune to such power; the "Soul-Devouring Divine Sand" falling on it neither harmed nor affected him, instead, much of it burned away by the blood flames on its body, scaring Cao Wenjin into swiftly retracting the Divine Sand, daring not unleash it again.

After such a fierce battle, seeing the Blood Youming-transformed Blood Ape Monster gain no advantage, it suddenly desired to leave.

Its blood-red horn flashed, sharply projecting an arm-thick sanguine lightning towards Qingyang Daoist, then braved a hit from the purple Celestial Thunder, promptly turned invisible, and escaped towards the oasis.

"Demon, you won’t escape!"

Qingyang Daoist had long guarded against Blood Youming’s escape. Upon seeing the Blood Ape Monster go invisible, while activating his protective spiritual artifact to block the sanguine lightning, his eyes flashed with golden light, instantly seeing through Blood Youming’s movements via pupil technique divine techniques.

Seeing Blood Youming attempting to flee, he wouldn’t let it pass. Immediately, he beckoned his hand to retract the "Xuanyang Thunder-Inducing Sword" from the thunderclouds, then directly chased after Blood Youming with the sword in hand.

Witnessing this, Cao Wenjin’s face suddenly showed hesitance.

In theory, he should follow and pursue.

However, with "Golden Light Ascendant’s" death still vivid, he feared that if Blood Youming felt cornered, he might self-detonate his Golden Core, dragging him to die together.

But if he didn’t pursue, not to mention how it might tarnish his reputation upon spreading, surely Qingyang Daoist would have strong opinions towards him.

Thus, after some hesitation, he gritted his teeth and pursued, albeit purposely lagging behind by a large margin.

Concerning Cao Wenjin’s cautious thoughts, Qingyang Daoist wasn’t oblivious, but faced with such a formidable foe, even though dissatisfied, he could only pretend not to notice.

Fortunately, the situation favored his side.

Just as he mentioned earlier, Blood Youming, by utilizing the "Demon Descent Technique" to connect with Upper Realm True Demon Power to transform into the Blood Ape Monster, ultimately had a time limit that couldn’t persist indefinitely.

After chasing a distance, Blood Youming could no longer maintain the Blood Ape Monster transformation, reverting to human form.

At this moment, Blood Youming’s entire body looked as if it had been flayed, with blurred blood and flesh, devoid of intact skin. While resembling a human shape, it appeared even more terrifying than a ghost, with significantly slower flight speed.

Seeing this condition from behind, Qingyang Daoist’s face flashed with joy, he quickly accelerated his pursuit speed, promptly catching up with Blood Youming, and intercepted him.

"Demon, let’s see where you flee today!"

In the sky, Qingyang Daoist stood on azure clouds above, pointing the "Xuanyang Thunder-Inducing Sword" at Blood Youming across him, unable to suppress his joyful expression.

The grudge of murdering his disciple was irreconcilable; he had waited hundreds of years for today and had finally reached the moment where Blood Youming could be captured and beheaded.

"Elder Qingyang, you win!"

The blood-covered face of the Blood Nether convulsed, eyes glaring at the Cyan Yang Daoist opposite him, full of unwillingness.

It wasn’t that his cultivation was inferior to Cyan Yang Daoist, but he lost because of the magical artifacts.

The "Profound Sun Thunder-Attracting Sword," such a treasure, shouldn’t be in the hands of someone like Cyan Yang Daoist, a Golden Core Stage Cultivator.

If Cyan Yang Daoist didn’t possess this heritage treasure of the Profound Sun Immortal Sect today, even if he had a different Tier Six Spiritual Artifact, he wouldn’t have suffered such a defeat!

"However, if you want to kill me to achieve your Dao Heart’s perfection, you still have to see if this Golden Core of mine agrees!"

His eyes flashed with madness as he suddenly slapped his forehead, spitting out the demon Dao Golden Core he had painstakingly cultivated for hundreds of years.

"Explode!"

Rumble!

The thunderous explosion roared across the sky, an endless blood-red light dyeing the heavens as if the sky was weeping blood!

Hundreds of miles away, Zhouyang, anxiously watching, felt a terrifying wave of demonic Qi emanate from afar, then he was struck as if by lightning, spurting blood and flying backwards, losing consciousness on the spot.

Simultaneously, at the center of the soaring explosion, a faint blood shadow, under the cover of the blood light, silently flickered away from the explosion’s center, flying straight towards the unconscious Zhouyang, and then drilled into Zhouyang’s head.

Neither the Cyan Yang Daoist, who was fully resisting the explosive power of the Blood Nether’s Golden Core, nor Cao Wenjin, trailing dozens of miles behind, noticed this scene.

When the power of the Golden Core explosion subsided, the Cyan Yang Daoist, with blood at the corners of his mouth and a pale face, scanned the battlefield with his divine sense. Seeing no trace of the Blood Nether, a relaxed expression finally appeared on his face.

The self-destruction of a Golden Core is the last desperate measure of a Golden Core Stage Cultivator. Since Blood Nether self-destructed his life-long cultivated Golden Core, he is undoubtedly dead. As for his corpse, of course, it was obliterated in the explosion.

However, just to be safe, he loudly instructed Cao Wenjin, who was rushing over and wasn’t injured much due to being far away, "Fellow Daoist Cao, please check on that Foundation Establishment Stage young friend to see if there’s anything unusual about him!"

"What does Fellow Daoist Qingyang mean? Do you suspect..."

Cao Wenjin’s face changed, as if realizing something, looked shockingly at the Cyan Yang Daoist.

Seeing his expression, the Cyan Yang Daoist knew he understood his meaning, so he nodded slightly, "Within the Demon Dao, countless strange secret techniques emerge, and the demonic cultivators of the Ghost Demon Dao are experts in this field. Although Blood Nether is a Blood Demon Dao cultivator, we cannot disregard the possibility of him faking his death to escape using such a trick!"

"I understand, I’ll go test that kid now!"

Cao Wenjin’s expression became serious as he soared through the clouds towards Zhouyang’s unconscious location.

Meanwhile, after the dim blood shadow plunged into Zhouyang’s mind, Zhouyang, who had been spitting blood and unconscious, suddenly shot a strange blood light from his eyes.

However, just as the blood light appeared, his body suddenly ignited with a pale golden "Qianyang True Flame."

"Ah! It’s the Qianyang True Flame; I refuse to accept this!"

A voice full of unwillingness and despair suddenly cried out from Zhouyang’s mind.

If the Cyan Yang Daoist heard this voice, it would undoubtedly be familiar, as it was the voice of the Blood Nether who had just self-destructed his Golden Core.

As it turned out, the Blood Nether indeed self-destructed his Golden Core, but at the same time, he extracted his divine soul from the core, attempting to possess another’s body through possession technique to continue his cultivation.

His plan was quite ambitious; with his Ninth-Layer Golden Core actual realm cultivation, plus various pre-arranged measures, as long as the possession succeeded, he could re-form his core within a century and restore his Golden Core Stage cultivation.

Originally, the person he intended to possess was not Zhouyang, but a Demonic Foundation Establishment Cultivator practicing demon techniques in a concealed cave outside the oasis, a backup body he had prepared long ago.

Yet, as the saying goes, plans can’t keep up with changes. He calculated everything but didn’t anticipate how quickly his divine soul would weaken after separating from the core. If he continued with the original plan, even if he could reach that hidden cave, it was very likely he wouldn’t have the strength left to possess it.

Thus, after discovering the unconscious Zhouyang on the ground, he changed his plan at the last minute to possess Zhouyang instead.

However, what he never anticipated was that Zhouyang, whom he chose as the target of possession, turned out to be a Treasure Body Cultivator with a "Qianyang Treasure Body"!

The "Qianyang Treasure Body" is extremely firm and yang, the nemesis of all demonic powers.

Though Blood Nether relied on his divine soul’s power as a Golden Core Stage Cultivator to easily suppress Zhouyang’s original soul consciousness, when he was about to take complete control of Zhouyang’s body, due to the incompatible water and fire nature between his pure demonic power within his soul and the "Qianyang Treasure Body," the "Qianyang Treasure Body" retaliated, burning him to ashes with its extremely firm and yang "Qianyang True Flame," shattering his soul completely!