Chapter 755: What Background

At this moment, Beimu once again found himself grateful for the powerful life-saving abilities of his demonic body. Although he now faced the potential loss of his freedom, and even himself, in the future, without his current cultivation, he would have perished countless times already.

That strike from the Golden Armored General would have been instantly fatal to any ordinary demon. For Beimu, it felt as if he had temporarily lost half his life. Although his recovery wasn't slow, he was now truly weakened and powerless compared to before, and dared not consider intervening again.

From afar, Beimu watched Lu Wu, who was entangled in combat with three Golden Armored Warriors below. He increasingly felt that Lu Wu's true demonic form was extraordinary. Lu Wu could even withstand the Golden Armored General's exaggerated destructive power when evasion was impossible, a feat that surprised Beimu. He found it difficult to imagine what would happen if he were the one surrounded.

Lu Shan-jun, currently engaged in a three-on-one battle against the three Golden Armored Warriors, was not having an easy time. Even though these warriors had not undergone the special Heavenly Tribulation or developed self-awareness, they had long been utilized and refined by Ji Yuan, and their power was not to be underestimated.

Even so, Lu Shan-jun still focused a considerable part of his attention on another Golden Armored Warrior standing a little further away. That one was the most formidable, and the one Lu Shan-jun longed to engage in a fierce battle. However, he scanned the area around the Golden Armored Warrior and found no sign of Beimu, assuming the previous blows must have been quite severe.

Just then, the Golden Armored General began to move, slowly jogging towards the nearby battle. This caused Lu Shan-jun's heart to pound.

“Beimu, didn't you say you were coming to help in the battle? Where are you?”

Lu Shan-jun's demonic body let out a roar, deliberately trying to taunt Beimu, and then fully concentrated his energy to prepare for the General's assault.

Lu Wu's true form, with its demonic power fully charged, swept its tail, temporarily forcing back the other Golden Armored Warriors. But in the next moment, Lu Shan-jun's eyes seemed to play tricks on him; the distant Golden Armored General appeared to defy distance, covering the ground in a single stride and appearing right before him.

‘Master's Shrinking Ground martial art!?’

Lu Shan-jun's pupils contracted again. The General's left hand, shaped into a claw, was already reaching for his demonic spine. There were no wind-ups for chops or punches; the direct grab made it even harder to react. If it connected firmly, his spine would likely be pulverized.

“Roar——”

Even though his roar had proven ineffective in deterring the Golden Armored General, Lu Shan-jun still used this explosive roar to boost his morale. He swung a right claw, imbued with demonic power, diagonally at the General.

“Thud…”

This time, there was no accompanying gust of wind, nor any shaking of the ground. The sound of contact was dull and muffled. Upon touching Lu Shan-jun's claw, the General's hand moved like a slippery snake, instantly cutting across an angle, wrapping around Lu Shan-jun's claw, and seizing the joint of Lu Wu's true form's forelimb.

‘Martial Arts Entangling Silk Hand, grappling Eagle Claw!?’

Lu Shan-jun barely had time for that thought before his right limb was seized by the General's move, a technique completely unlike the standard methods of other Golden Armored Warriors. His entire demonic body then lost its balance and was dragged forward by an immense force. Two yellow scarves had already wrapped around Lu Shan-jun's body, one around his limbs and one around his tail, rendering his demonic form immobile.

“Die!”

The General growled deeply. One knee, imbued with terrifying force, angled diagonally towards the belly of Lu Shan-jun's demonic body. Its trajectory aimed to shatter the demonic body's internal organs, crush the neck, and even pierce the skull...

From the distant sky, Beimu watched this scene, feeling as if his heart was being squeezed. Anyone could see that this moment was extremely perilous for Lu Wu.

‘Is Lu Wu finished?’

Kun Mucheng, standing on the shoulders of two white-light guardians, also watched this scene from afar. He clapped his hands together forcefully, certain that the demon was now doomed!

“Roar… roar…”

Lu Shan-jun knew he had reached an extremely dangerous moment. His thoughts raced like lightning. Facing the true pressure of death, it felt like confronting the Heavenly Tribulation on Niukui Mountain that genuinely sought his demise, only this time, his master wasn't intervening.

‘I cannot die, I cannot die, I cannot die! Nor can I utter my master's name, I cannot… He who rides on the rectitude of heaven and earth, and controls the changes of the six qi, to wander in the boundless…’

In his memory, Ji Yuan's voice reciting 'Free and Easy Wandering' seemed to echo in his ears.

‘Calamity! What can it do to me?’

“Roar————”

Thud… boom…

Lu Wu's true form, whose demonic energy was already as thick as flames, exploded at that moment like boiling oil or gunpowder. A massive phantom image of a tiger-headed, human-faced creature formed within the demonic energy, its eyes wide with fury, and demonic light surging.

In that instant, two more tails emerged from Lu Shan-jun's back, trailing phantoms. One struck the General's knee, and the other hit its chest.

The next moment, the demonic energy exploded once more.

Boom…. whoosh, whoosh, whoosh…

Demonic energy shot out like lightning, and demonic winds cut like knives. The General was swept back by the demonic tail, scraping its feet on the ground as it slid. The intense demonic energy even shook off the two entwined yellow scarves. The other three Golden Armored Warriors, who had just arrived to attempt another encirclement, also leaned slightly forward, pushed back by the demonic energy, plowing deep furrows in the ground.

“Hoo… hoo… hoo…”

Lu Shan-jun stood on the surrounding mountain ridges, now several layers stripped bare, breathing heavily. He had truly been a hair's breadth from death, but thankfully, he had broken through. He glanced back slightly; three physical tiger tails were gently swaying behind him, along with some phantom afterimages.

‘It's Heaven showing respect for my master…’

Even now, Lu Shan-jun's heart still trembled slightly.

As for Beimu in the sky, it went without saying. As a demon, he had been dumbfounded multiple times in a short span. Seeing Lu Wu in this state, anyone would understand that his cultivation had broken through. For a demon cultivator, instant enlightenment was rare, usually requiring persistent cultivation over time. Yet, reality was this absurd, or rather, terrifying.

At this moment, when Beimu looked at Lu Shan-jun again, the occasional palpitations he felt intensified. Especially within the demonic energy before Lu Wu, there was an enlarged, illusory face. The human expression on it was awe-inspiring without anger, truly terrifying. Only after a few breaths did this human-faced, tiger-headed demonic visage slowly retract back onto Lu Wu's demonic body.

Kun Mucheng's eyebrows twitched. Even as a righteous cultivator, he felt a strong urge to retreat.

‘Good heavens, I've never seen such a ferocious demon in my life. Can this Golden Armored General still hold on?’

On the field, the only ones unaffected by Lu Shan-jun's transformation were the four Golden Armored Warriors, including the General.

The four Golden Armored Warriors stood straight, aligning themselves once more. They looked forward with a 'contemptuous' gaze, as if to say, 'What if you are a ghost or an ancient demon? Warriors can slay demons and hold up the heavens!'

“Chirp!”

A clear chirping sound suddenly reached the ears of the General and the other three Warriors, as well as Lu Shan-jun's ears.

The small paper crane, whose wings were beating so fast they were almost invisible, finally arrived nearby.

Neither Beimu nor Kun Mucheng noticed the small paper crane, nor could they hear its chirping. However, the four Golden Armored Warriors, upon hearing the paper crane's sound, visibly relaxed. Although it wasn't obvious externally, Lu Shan-jun could feel their killing intent sharply diminish, and he couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief.

‘Phew… it seems it's finally over…’

Lu Shan-jun also felt somewhat relieved at that moment. It was fortunate that the small paper crane had arrived; otherwise, he might have been forced to flee. The paper crane should be nearby now, which was also a good opportunity for it to relay a message to his master.

With the killing intent of the four Golden Armored Warriors diminished, Lu Shan-jun now had the leisure to observe his surroundings. His peripheral vision scanned the area, and in the distance, behind a white cloud, he saw a small wing extending out, devoid of any aura. It merely flickered at him from within the identically colored cloud.

‘There!’

Lu Shan-jun understood. A hair fell from his abdomen, shot into the ground, and disappeared. He then straightened his body slightly and let out a loud roar at the four Golden Armored Warriors.

“Aoooh! — You do have some skill. I'll let you off for now today!”

Lu Shan-jun deliberately glanced at Kun Mucheng's position. Although Kun Mucheng, a righteous cultivator of considerable skill, had not retreated, he was showing signs of being outwardly strong but inwardly weak.

However, upon hearing Lu Shan-jun's words, the four Golden Armored Warriors stepped forward again, as if about to charge. Lu Shan-jun stomped forcefully with all four paws, causing the mountaintop to tremble slightly. The four Golden Armored Warriors, "momentarily unaware," failed to entangle him again.

“Fiend, don't flee!”

The General and the other three Warriors roared in unison, each bending their knees slightly as if preparing to leap. At this moment, Kun Mucheng quickly formed a hand seal, severing the summoning spell.

With the summoning spell severed, the Golden Armored Warriors' final roar became all bark and no bite. They stood motionless on the mountaintop, watching Lu Shan-jun depart.

Lu Shan-jun, riding on the demonic wind, flew into the sky, roaring softly.

“Beimu, Beimu? Quickly, leave with me! I'm injured, and I definitely can't hold out if those Golden Armored monsters pursue us. Hurry!”

“Alright, let's go quickly!”

Beimu also revealed his form at this moment. His demonic energy merged into the demonic wind, and together they cast a spell to flee into the distance. His demonic body was now as severely injured as Lu Wu's, if not more so. He was incapable of doing anything, nor dared he...

Kun Mucheng watched the demonic wind flee and then dissipate into the horizon, clearly indicating that they had escaped by hiding their forms. He also breathed a slight sigh of relief, shaking his head with a bitter smile.

“I, Kun, have slain countless demons throughout my life, yet today I actually felt fear. It's truly shameful… What is the origin of that demon? How could it be so terrifying…”

Murmuring to himself, Kun Mucheng looked at the four Golden Armored Generals below.

“And what is the origin of these four Golden Armored Generals? They are incredibly formidable as well…”