Wasted Spiritual Root to Embark on Demonic Cultivation

Chapter 489

The Swallowing Heaven Rat in human form had a white beard that hung all the way to the ground. He was short and slightly hunched, his face covered in deep wrinkles and the age spots only the elderly possessed.

These were all signs that his physical body had reached its limit, manifested in his appearance.

At first glance he gave off the impression that he did not have long to live.

Yet when he spoke, his voice was full of vigor.

After making his guarantee, his figure turned into a streak of white flowing light. Unlike everyone else trying to escape the giant cauldron’s vortex, he charged straight into the whirlpool along with the suction force.

With his already astonishing escape speed added to that immense pulling power, he plunged headfirst into the Azure Cloud Sky Cauldron before the Color Cloud Seven Elders could even react.

The several old men looked at one another in dismay.

“This… what is going on?”

“Did one of their great-perfection cultivators just commit suicide?”

Yellow Cloud Ancestor’s brows knitted tightly.

“This old man looks a little familiar…”

The moment those words left his mouth, they triggered a long-buried memory in Yellow Cloud Ancestor. He cried out in alarm.

“Not good! Quickly stop activating the spiritual treasure! That short old man is the Swallowing Heaven Rat!”

Clearly.

As a former demon king who had once dominated an entire realm, a few of the old men still remembered his past. That was an incomparably glorious expert who had even sparked localized wars.

But it was already too late.

“Swallowing Heaven Art!”

The instant he crossed the vortex, the Swallowing Heaven Rat’s body transformed into a pitch-black, lightless shadow. That was proof that even light itself was being devoured!

His life-bound divine ability, the Swallowing Heaven Art, turned him into a second source of devouring. Together with the swallowing vortex created by the Azure Cloud Sky Cauldron, they released two completely opposite suction forces.

The original spatial strangulation had come from the spiritual treasure’s power.

Now the two devouring forces had become grinding discs, twisting every living being and dead object sucked inside into fragments. As the number of devoured things increased, the black sphere formed by the Swallowing Heaven Rat continued to expand.

Once it surpassed the suction force of the Azure Cloud Sky Cauldron, the two would lose balance and release an extremely powerful chaotic force-field storm. At the same time the spiritual treasure itself would be struck and temporarily lose its spirituality.

Just like a person falling unconscious, it would be very difficult for it to react.

By the time the Color Cloud Seven Elders realized what was happening, it was already too late. What was even worse was that they could not casually stop outputting their mana, or the devouring sphere would grow even faster.

If they withdrew, the point of imbalance would arrive abruptly ahead of schedule.

Likewise.

If they could maintain their mana output and keep the Azure Cloud Sky Cauldron constantly suppressing the Swallowing Heaven King, once he reached the limit of his expansion the crisis would naturally be resolved.

Because this was a fifth-rank spiritual treasure, the difficulty for the Swallowing Heaven King to contend against it was extremely high. The upper limit he could endure might not even exceed the spiritual treasure itself.

That possibility also existed.

But no matter what the final result would be, the Swallowing Heaven King had already achieved his goal: to stall the full power of the Azure Cloud Sky Cauldron.

The Five Colors Holy Lord and the others were not dead.

With the strategic objective accomplished and the spiritual treasure prevented from displaying its crushing single-target destructive power, his plan had already succeeded.

“Attack!”

The moment he sensed that the Swallowing Heaven Rat had succeeded, the Five Colors Holy Lord reacted first. A five-colored deer phantom immediately rose behind him. The five-colored divine light radiating from its antlers shone down from above.

It instantly granted the Color Cloud Seven Elders a saint-like peaceful state of mind. They felt no desire to do anything, no desires at all, floating in a transcendent state as if merging with the heavens.

Even their own lives and possessions no longer seemed so important.

This [Five Colors Five Virtues Peaceful Heart-Calming Divine Light], when used on experts, could assist in comprehending the Dao or act like an intelligence-lowering halo that made the targets lose all reverence for life.

They no longer cherished their own lives!

That was exactly where its danger lay. Among the dazed Color Cloud Seven Elders, the first to regain their senses were the two great-perfection cultivators Yellow Cloud and Red Cloud.

But the instant they noticed something was wrong, High Priest Youpeng had already charged in front of them in his half-beast form, a human body with a bird head.

The human-beast unity secret art of yin-beast dao cultivators was only at its most suitable for combat in this monstrous state. It was both flexible and ever-changing while also granting a powerful physique and netherworld divine abilities.

He charged forward with feet like hooked bird talons, viciously aiming for the two elders’ faces. From a third-person perspective it looked strangely as if High Priest Youpeng was offering them his bird head to eat.

He was attacking with his legs spread in a split.

Red Cloud and Yellow Cloud would not be so easily wounded. At the critical moment they forcefully regained clarity. A red and a yellow special cloud flew out from their sleeves, turning into formless barriers. Like cotton they completely neutralized High Priest Youpeng’s brute force and netherworld demonic essence. The power circled inside the cloud-like treasures and was sent back with four ounces deflecting a thousand pounds.

High Priest Youpeng was flung away by his own brute force. While still in midair, a Dark Yin Small Sword shot out rapidly, turning into a black thread that slashed toward the two elders’ necks.

This was his life-bound magic treasure, the Netherworld Curse Sword!

It specialized in sneak attacks and sudden bursts. Red Cloud had plenty of experience dealing with this treasure, having fought High Priest Youpeng before. Yellow Cloud Ancestor was slightly less experienced but still far from instant death.

High Priest Youpeng’s attacks came wave after wave. In just a few exchanges he had pinned them down so tightly they could not spare any attention elsewhere. At the same time the Five Colors Holy Lord’s killing move had already arrived.

His target was none other than the weakest among the Color Cloud Seven Elders, Purple Cloud Ancestor.

With the second tactical objective achieved and the two strongest held back by High Priest Youpeng, he intended to reduce their numbers!

Only then could the full effect of the Swallowing Heaven Art be unleashed, completely extinguishing the Azure Cloud Sky Cauldron for a period of time.

This blank window was the key to whether they could seize the Color Cloud Mountain Range.

The Five Colors Holy Lord’s life-bound magic treasure was unexpectedly vicious. It was a classic demonic-path treasure: a Demon Head!

A so-called [Demon Head] was a special demonic treasure refined from a living being’s skull, supplemented with living souls and vicious souls. It had been extremely popular in ancient times but was rarely seen nowadays.

That was precisely because this kind of treasure consumed even more living beings than a Ten Thousand Souls Banner.

The number of living beings required to refine a Demon Head was already astronomical, and the quantity needed for its growth, nurturing, and advancement was even greater.

The Crimson Kite no longer satisfied the conditions for large numbers of Demon Heads to be born.

Taihu could manage it, but the Sword Sect’s strict control meant almost no chance for such treasures to appear. No one had expected that the Five Colors Holy Lord, whose reputation was built on benevolence and virtue, would possess this type of life-bound magic treasure.

It meant he was also a demonic cultivator… a demon-race demonic cultivator!

That this fact had never been discovered before was truly strange.

Wang Yu’s divine sense was attached to the Ice Soul Fairy’s shoulder, fully acting as a “camera.” It transmitted every scene from different angles to his main body.

This allowed him to watch the battle in peace and carefully analyze all the intelligence being revealed.

This Demon Head appeared to be the skull of some ancient ferocious beast.

Its lower jaw protruded with sharp fangs and teeth. Two spiral ram-like horns grew behind its forehead. Its facial features resembled a human’s but were far sharper. There was not a shred of flesh on it; the bones themselves were blood-red.

Strands of white hair grew from the bones, emitting a crystal-clear, icy spiritual light. Its empty eye sockets burned with two pale-gray flames.

It burst out from the Five Colors Holy Lord’s Qi sea and rapidly grew to the size of a house. In one gulp it swallowed Purple Cloud Ancestor, who had been dazed by the five-colored divine light.

Demonic qi surged. The Demon Head swelled, then violently contracted.

After repeating this several times, it finally fell silent.

Demon Head treasures were normally used together with a secret art called [Soul-Swallowing Art]. It could refine almost any living being swallowed by the Demon Head into nourishment for the treasure’s growth.

Since Purple Cloud Ancestor had not escaped, he was most likely dead. No one had expected him to die so quickly.

This brief window finally allowed the two great-perfection experts Red Cloud and Yellow Cloud to break free from High Priest Youpeng’s entanglement. They rolled up the remaining four companions and retreated several dozen zhang.

They moved from the edge of the cauldron’s mouth to a position near the rim.

They exchanged doubtful glances and almost simultaneously realized the problem.

“Purple Cloud is gone.”

The Five Colors Holy Lord lived up to his title of Holy Lord.

With casual ease he had killed a late-stage Nascent Soul great cultivator. This was thanks to his meticulous, step-by-step calculations until the enemy stepped into the death trap.

Blue Cloud Ancestor, ranked sixth among them, felt his heart suddenly lurch. With Purple Cloud gone, he was now the weakest at the eighth layer of Nascent Soul.

His sense of security vanished in an instant. Purple Cloud’s swift death had given him a deeply fragile impression, making him subconsciously believe that the Five Colors Holy Lord was far stronger than Red Cloud or Yellow Cloud.

Much stronger, in fact. After all, neither of those two could have slaughtered Purple Cloud so effortlessly. Killing a pig would not have been this easy.

The facts proved him right, yet because of his racial bloodline, the Five Colors Holy Lord was actually not as skilled in direct combat as everyone imagined. His fighting ability was decent, but only to a limited degree.

What he truly excelled at were planning and intelligence gathering.

The Heavenly Roc King’s actual combat strength surpassed his own, but the Roc King could never out-scheme him. In any arranged duel he would surely lose. If he suddenly encountered a brand-new opponent, his shortcomings would be exposed instantly.

Unfortunately, no one could create such an opportunity.

Even Wang Yu, who was secretly observing, was shaken by this display of power. A peak late-stage Nascent Soul great cultivator had been erased in an instant.

The sheer impact was enough to rival the oppressive pressure of a Spirit Transformation Venerable, and the Five Colors Holy Lord had made excellent use of it.

He remained silent.

He simply fixed the remaining Color Cloud Six Elders with his icy gaze, and every cultivator present felt a chill run down their spine.

“The situation is bad. Without Purple Cloud’s mana support, the Azure Cloud Sky Cauldron’s strength will drop sharply. If we let the Swallowing Heaven Rat continue…”

He did not finish the sentence, but the meaning was crystal clear.

If the chaotic force field truly erupted, the entire Color Cloud Mountain Range would be filled with chaotic tearing power. Cultivators might suddenly veer off course mid-flight as if yanked by an invisible hand.

Losing the initiative would be minor. Being caught in a fatal opening would be catastrophic!

This problem was extremely difficult to solve. While they pondered briefly, Green Cloud Ancestor suddenly spoke:

“Not good! Where is the Heavenly Roc King? He disappeared the moment the fight started.”

That’s right — where was the Heavenly Roc King?!

The enemy clearly had four great-perfection experts, yet one had vanished during the battle and no one had noticed it immediately. This showed just how powerful the intelligence-lowering effect of the five-colored divine light truly was.

It was also related to the frantic combat that had left them no room to breathe. When the mind was fully focused, it was easy to overlook anything outside the immediate target.

The Heavenly Roc King had been completely ignored.

Less than a few breaths later, a deafening explosion erupted from beneath their feet. Because the Azure Cloud Sky Cauldron had enlarged to an enormous size, it almost completely blocked the main mountain gate of the Azure Cloud Sect.

Without using divine sense, it was impossible to detect what was happening below. And in their current state, who would dare to split their attention? This created a bizarre “lamp-black” blind spot right under their noses.

At that moment.

The entire mountain gate of the Azure Cloud Sect exploded. The sect-protecting spiritual formation failed instantly. The mountain body split open like a blooming lotus, revealing a bottomless pit.

Inside, complex and dense spiritual energy currents surged wildly. They were the condensed essence of the massive spiritual qi drawn from the spiritual veins.

The screams of the Azure Cloud Sect disciples had already grown extremely faint. In such a short time, the Heavenly Roc King had nearly wiped them all out.

Despair shrouded the hearts of the elders.

Even Red Cloud Ancestor, who had the strongest will to resist, lost all determination to fight to the bitter end. At this point… how could they possibly win?

Whether in terms of top-tier expert strength or sheer numbers, they were far behind. Their only hope had been the sect-suppressing spiritual treasure, but the Azure Cloud Sky Cauldron had suffered a crushing defeat and could no longer exert its full power.

Further resistance was pointless and would only increase the casualties.

The Azure Cloud Sect’s foundation and future had been completely hollowed out. The nearly one hundred Nascent Soul experts were not idle. In this short time they had already seized every valuable treasure and were now slaughtering the remaining disciples alongside the Heavenly Roc King.

Their efficiency was terrifying.

“What do we do?”

“If the Sword River Venerable has not arrived and we rashly retreat, won’t the Sword Sect take advantage and demand an even higher price?”

Seeing them still discussing price at a time like this, Yellow Cloud Ancestor could not hold back. He spat out a mouthful of old blood and, suppressing his raging fury, spoke in a hoarse voice:

“At a moment like this, you’re still talking about price?

“If all the sect disciples die, the Azure Cloud Sect will exist in name only! What use are we few old fossils? After suffering such a crushing defeat, which truly talented genius would ever join our sect?!”

Without new geniuses, it would be impossible to nurture new Nascent Souls.

The affiliated families and sects would certainly not send their own geniuses to a dying Azure Cloud Sect. The future of talent shortage was already set in stone.

Moreover… did the Azure Cloud Sect even have a future anymore?

Just as the Color Cloud Six Elders fell into despair and the Five Colors Holy Lord’s group prepared to launch their final killing blow, a massive rumbling sound suddenly came from the clouds beyond the heavens.

Water spray burst through the layered white mist. The concept of a heavenly river materialized in that instant!

A torrential river surged from the west, carving a path through the sky. The leading waves maintained their surging momentum. Atop the crest floated a small, flat boat. An old man in a straw raincoat stood there holding a long, straight fishing rod.

He gazed down at the crowd with an unhurried, god-like calm.

He sighed.

“I arrived one step too late. The demon race is still as vicious as ever.”

The Five Colors Holy Lord’s expression turned grave. He muttered: “We were still too slow. Looks like we’ll have to bleed heavily this time.”

The Heavenly Roc King quickly flew to the Five Colors Holy Lord’s side and transmitted:

“Retreat?”

“No. We still have a trump card we haven’t used.”

The straw-raincoat elder was obviously the reinforcement the Azure Cloud Sect had summoned, a Sword Sect Venerable titled [Sword River]. High Priest Youpeng had detailed information on him and immediately relayed it to the Five Colors Holy Lord.

The depth and accuracy of the intelligence even caused the scheming Five Colors Holy Lord to stir for a moment. He had no idea where High Priest Youpeng had obtained it, but with this information his confidence increased significantly.

He directly activated a token inside his storage ring and bowed respectfully toward the Sword River Venerable from afar.

“Greetings, Venerable.”

The straw-raincoat elder shook his head.

“Five Colors Holy Lord, you have overstepped. Even when the Azure Dragon was at its peak, it did not dare violate the agreement. Yet a junior like you has such audacity.”

“That is not so. You cannot put it that way.

“This was an invitation from a demonic-path Venerable. When the human and demon races signed the pact back then, the demonic Venerables were also present. How can their invitation treat the demon race as outsiders?”

In other words, he was a hired mercenary!

The Northern Demon Race would not shoulder this blame!

However, the Sword River Venerable was not one to follow rules strictly. His gentle expression gradually turned cold.

“Refusing the toast only to drink the punishment wine. The two-race pact cannot be changed by a few clever words from you. — Kneel!”