CHAPTER 226: CHAPTER 222: DEMON GENERAL’S STRENGTH

"We already know about this, they’re probably not going to let us go, even after we leave." Lu Yuan returned to reality, putting those thoughts aside.

"Yes." Li Fan nodded: "From the beginning, Ying Ze and Ren Yuzhi targeted us. After entering the Secret Realm, Ren Yuzhi wanted to track us. Even without this incident, this enmity would have to be resolved sooner or later."

But not now.

Ren Yuzhi and Ying Ze are not ordinary people; dealing with them isn’t that simple.

Moreover, the other side colludes with demons, and this is Demon City, with various demons on Ying Ze’s side, including one of the nine Demon Generals.

If a battle had erupted just now, it would have been extremely unfavorable for them, even possibly endangering their lives.

He bore no relation to Xia Yao, but standing from a common standpoint, he sympathized with Xia Yao. Even though she dragged him into this for survival, he had his principles and wouldn’t risk himself and Lu Yuan to save Xia Yao.

"The Shadow Inheritor Sword, could it be..." Lu Yuan seemed to be muttering to himself; such speculation was quite bold.

The existence of the fifth on the Sword Saint List, if it were backed by the Shadow Inheritor Sword... it would be very disadvantageous for them.

If conflict erupted later, even if they killed Ying Ze and Ren Yuzhi, on the side of the Shadow Inheritor Sword...

Li Fan frowned slightly, having thought of this issue as well.

Ying Ze and Ren Yuzhi pose some trouble, but are manageable. However, if the Shadow Inheritor Sword gets involved, it would be very tricky.

"Would a top five Sword Cultivator of the world really personally deal with a junior?" Li Fan said, "There’s no time to consider that now, let’s focus on boosting our strength first."

Lu Yuan nodded, and the two headed towards another Demon City.

Upon entering the Demon City, they found it had already sustained considerable damage.

"A Sword Cultivator beat us to it and attacked the city." Li Fan said, noting that many extraordinary Sword Cultivators had entered this time. Certainly, some, like them, had captured demons for information about the Secret Realm and then decided to plunder Demon City after obtaining answers.

"Let’s go."

The two moved swiftly, with flying swords leading the way. Demons fell one after another, and Li Fan seized the Demon Cores and collected Sword Intent.

"Someone’s already cleared the way; there are much fewer demons." Li Fan said, his eyes glinting with a golden hue. He noticed intense Demon Energy concentrated in various places within the city.

Especially in one area, the Demon Energy was obstructing the sky.

Moreover, Demon Energy from all directions was converging towards that spot.

"Let’s go check it out."

Li Fan sped towards that direction with Sword Control, moving extremely quickly.

On the way, they encountered many battles between Sword Cultivators and demons in the city.

Additionally, these Sword Cultivators shared a common trait; almost all were cultivators in the Late Stage Foundation Establishment, and their combat prowess was exceptionally strong.

Clearly, the earliest to invade Demon City were cultivators of noteworthy strength.

Li Fan fought his way forward, and the cultivators battling in different positions seemed to have the same plan as him, heading towards the center, where the strongest Demon Energy was.

When Li Fan arrived, he saw what appeared to be an army of demons, darkening the sky, closing in on several Sword Cultivators.

On a high pavilion, a demon stood at the top, hands behind its back, radiating powerful aura. This was a Demon General at the peak of the Fourth Realm, a presence that even Fifth Realm demons couldn’t match, likely due to the unique environment of the Secret Realm.

Among the nine Demon Generals, this one stood at the pinnacle.

Beneath this Demon General, several Great Demons stood, each with the aura of late Fourth Realm. It seemed the power of this Demon City was concentrated here.

Li Fan looked again at the Sword Cultivators besieged in the center, three of them, apparently from the same faction, fighting side by side.

At this moment, the leader suspended in mid-air, with a thought, summoned ten thousand swords, filling the sky, as if a spectacular painting unfolded across the heavens.

"Sword Sect of Ten Thousand Blades." The figure shouted softly, as a grand sight unfolded. Thousands upon thousands of sharp swords descended simultaneously, piercing through the demon army, causing heavy casualties.

"Sword Sect of Ten Thousand Blades?"

Li Fan watched the familiar scene, memories seemingly drawn back to the Peak of Li Mountain.

Lu Yuan’s eyes were also fixed intensely on that scene.

This scene, too familiar.

In the past, she had experienced it.

Sword Sect of Ten Thousand Blades was a swordsmanship of Lingxiao Pavilion.

Were these three Sword Cultivators from Lingxiao Pavilion?

"Lingxiao Pavilion, has come too."

Li Fan gazed ahead, finding this journey to the Secret Realm increasingly intriguing.

However, did these three Sword Cultivators from Lingxiao Pavilion recognize him and Lu Yuan?

Considering the tumultuous incident at the Peak of Li Mountain, Lingxiao Pavilion had lost face significantly. Such matters probably wouldn’t be widely publicized to ensure all Lingxiao Pavilion disciples knew, right?

After all, it’s not something to be proud of.

Lu Yuan and Li Fan exchanged glances, reminiscing the deep memories they had of the Lingxiao Pavilion. Back then, when the Da Li Court sought to destroy Li Mountain, the Lingxiao Pavilion was at the forefront of the battle.

However, it resulted in the loss of a top-tier Great Sword Cultivator, Wang Daoxuan.

After their exchange, they turned their eyes to the battlefield. The Sword Sect of Ten Thousand Blades was a group attack swordsmanship with immense power. Moreover, the sword cultivators from Lingxiao Pavilion, who had arrived, were extremely formidable, causing many demons to perish under the descending sword of slaughter.

"It’s the sword cultivators of Lingxiao Pavilion," remarked a well-informed cultivator nearby.

"I didn’t expect this Secret Realm would attract the sword cultivators of Lingxiao Pavilion. Indeed, they are second only to the Sword Dao Sacred Land of the Da Li Dynasty."

Three sword cultivators struck simultaneously with terrifying force. From the distant high pavilion, a Demon General waved his hand, and the demons beneath him advanced together. With a mighty roar, the demon army surged forward, their overwhelming demonic power pressing down as if it would crush the sky.

Feeling the terrifying demonic power, a sword cultivator from Lingxiao Pavilion said, "I ask everyone to join in slaying the demons and seizing the Sword Intent."

Clearly, they also sensed the threat.

"When the demon army attacks jointly, its power multiplies. The formidable demon energy forms a resonance," Li Fan said in a low voice. Facing such an assault, even the most outstanding genius sword cultivators would find it challenging to handle.

"Let’s strike together," a sword cultivator shouted.

"If something happens to them, we’ll be in trouble too. Kill."

The sword cultivators who had arrived understood the situation clearly and simultaneously charged at the demon army.

The three sword cultivators from Lingxiao Pavilion unleashed the Sword Sect of Ten Thousand Blades technique, causing countless lethal swords to rain down from the sky with an incredibly terrifying killing aura. But at this moment, the strongest demons under the Demon General charged forward and clashed with them.

Yet the Demon General did not move. He remained standing atop the high pavilion, hands behind his back, watching the battlefield with his eyes, like a monarch looking down upon all beings.

Li Fan was curious, wondering about the strength level of the nine Demon Generals.

And what about the Demon King of Sky Sword City?

"Boom..."

At that moment, a vast amount of demonic energy surged forth, gathering into a terrifying storm that moved forward, dimming the sky. The Demon General moved, charging toward the leading sword cultivator of Lingxiao Pavilion.

The leading sword cultivator of Lingxiao Pavilion looked up at the approaching foe. The sword swept around, cleaning the surrounding demons. Many sharp swords hovered above, and the light shone brightly at his brow, clearly feeling the threat.

The sword array swirling above his head emitted destructive sword beams. He moved forward and pointed ahead; instantly, the sword array spat out a massive sword to strike the attacking Demon General.

The Demon General raised his hand, gathering a torrent of demonic energy into his fist, and blasted forward. It seemed as if thousands of demons roared into motion, sweeping ahead, smashing everything in their path, and clashing fiercely with the approaching sharp sword.

The Demon General drew near the Lingxiao Pavilion sword cultivator, and a torrent of Sword Intent emerged within him. With a commanding press downward, the sky changed color, and the destructive giant sword slashed downward, seemingly tearing open the sky.

Splurt... The sword ring behind the leading sword cultivator of Lingxiao Pavilion was severed. With one strike, his body was forced to retreat violently, and his outer garment was instantly torn apart.

"You want to seize the Sword Intent?" the Demon General stared at the crowd, holding a vast surge of Sword Intent in his right hand, saying, "There is plenty here, come and take it."

The crowd gazed at the Sword Intent held in the Demon General’s hand. It seemed like there were hundreds of thousands of strands, and their eyes blazed with fervor.

But having witnessed the Demon General’s explosive power just now, they became apprehensive again.

Sitting in one of the nine Demon Cities, the Demon General controlled a large amount of Sword Intent, refining it into an offensive measure. Even the top sword cultivators from Lingxiao Pavilion were being suppressed.

This Secret Realm clearly wasn’t going to easily grant them large quantities of Sword Intent.

The strength of the ten Demon Generals, complemented by their mastery of the Sword Intent, seemed likely even stronger than Ying Ze, at the pinnacle of the Late Stage Foundation Establishment.

The great opportunities within this Secret Realm weren’t so easy to obtain.

"As expected..." Li Fan had already sensed the Demon General’s power was not below that of Ying Ze. The pressure it exerted on him at the time was overwhelming, and the reality was just as tough.

However, if able to kill a Demon General, one could seize hundreds of thousands of strands of Sword Intent at once. Such temptation...

This Demon General was likely intentionally luring them into attacking.

But, who is the prey, and who is the hunter?

"It’s quite lively here."

Another sword cultivator arrived, controlling their sword as they approached.

Li Fan turned his head and saw a familiar figure approaching—the second-ranked on the Green Cloud List, Duan Feiyu.

"Brother Zuo, you arrived quickly," Duan Feiyu said.

"Mr. Duan, you too," Li Fan replied.

"Brother Zuo, I recently heard a rumor that you colluded with demons to kill Xia Yao, a message spread by Ren Yuzhi. What’s going on?" Duan Feiyu asked.

"I’m an outsider. How could I collude with demons? Does Mr. Duan believe it?" As Li Fan’s words fell, he raised his hand and slashed a distant demon with a single sword stroke.

Li Fan knew the other party might bite back to keep their silence but didn’t care too much. What he would do later in the Secret Realm would be seen by others.

"Of course, I don’t believe it," Duan Feiyu said. "But rumors can be terrifying. Wouldn’t Brother Zuo like to clear it up?"

"There’s nothing to explain," Li Fan replied, not even mentioning that it was the other party who had colluded with demons to kill Xia Yao.