Chapter 403: Lion Camel

The Demonic Child released his Dao Heart Projection, his nerves taut, staring intently at Tang Wanzhou: "You're not a martial cultivator at the first stage of the Longevity Realm!"

"I broke through to the Longevity Realm a year ago. If I won against you then, I don't believe you'd be convinced. So, let's make it fair: if you can withstand fourteen of my sword strikes, I'll spare your life today," Tang Wanzhou said.

The Demonic Child had never encountered anyone more arrogant than himself. In the same realm, who dared to speak to him like that?

The opponent's strength was undeniable, and the Demonic Child dared not underestimate her in the slightest: "Where is your sword?"

"You believe that artifacts are mere external objects and that you can be invincible with bare hands. It would be too unfair if I used a sword to defeat you."

Before her words fully faded, Tang Wanzhou appeared a hundred meters above the Demonic Child's head, suspended in mid-air. Her gaze was indifferent as she formed a sword-finger gesture and slashed down through the air.

"Dust Cleaver!"

The first sword strike of the 'Fourteen Swords of Immortal Slaying and Divine Snow'.

The sword light transformed into a white cascade of frost, descending from the heavens.

The Demonic Child couldn't evade. He felt the opponent's will pressing down on him like ten thousand mountains. He had no choice but to summon a hundred demonic figures, forming a magical demonic diagram to directly intercept the attack.

"Boom!"

The sword energy was unstoppable, tearing through the demonic diagram and shattering over ten demonic figures.

Beneath the Demonic Child's feet, the earth was cleaved by a several-hundred-meter-long sword energy gully. Foot-thick white frost spread outwards from the gully.

"Who exactly are you?"

The Demonic Child quickly used movement techniques to widen the distance from Tang Wanzhou, constantly feeling that this woman couldn't possibly be at the first stage of the Longevity Realm.

"Didn't you come to the Highcloud Realm of Life to challenge me?"

Tang Wanzhou's body transformed into a streak of sword light, pursuing him: "Mountain Splitter!"

The second sword strike swept out horizontally, accompanied by a sky full of wind and snow, as if to freeze a thousand miles.

"You're Tang Wanqiu's sister?"

The Demonic Child's horror turned into sudden realization. He dared not attempt to block Tang Wanzhou's swordplay with bare hands; its penetration was too strong, seemingly capable of slicing through any magical technique.

He broke free from the restraint of Tang Wanzhou's will, leaping from the ground and soaring into the sky.

"Whoosh!"

The sword energy sliced horizontally across a hundred-meter-tall hill in front of them, piercing straight through the mountain.

The Demonic Child had always been extremely confident and proud of his speed, but this time, he began to doubt himself.

Tang Wanzhou stepped across space, appearing diagonally above and behind him, and unleashed the third sword, 'Formless'.

Sword light converged from all directions. The Demonic Child quickly retracted his Dao Heart Projection, condensing it into a ten-meter-diameter aura shield, and simultaneously cast four magical techniques, striking out in all directions.

The fourth sword flew straight, like a white rainbow piercing the sun, shattering all the Demonic Child's defenses and sending him plummeting from the sky.

"Bang!"

The Demonic Child's body slammed heavily onto the ground.

A deep bloodied hole appeared in his left chest. His mouth was open, full of blood, and a hoarse laugh escaped his throat.

He was completely frenzied, unable to accept such a defeat. The blood-tower mark on his brow was intensely red and pulsed continuously.

Tang Wanzhou landed, her five fingers gripping his neck, and plowed him forward.

Eerie blood-colored scripture armor appeared on the Demonic Child's neck and upper body. One hand clawed at Tang Wanzhou's wrist, while the other formed a fist seal, with numerous scriptures surging from his palm.

Tang Wanzhou lifted him completely out of the soil and delivered a powerful finger-sword strike to his chest.

Dense sword energy gathered with a rushing sound at a single point, shattering the mysterious scripture armor.

The Demonic Child spat blood, flew backward, and half-knelt on the ground, blood gushing from his chest. A sword energy hole there had pierced through to his back.

"Speak! If we continue, you'll be killed! What exactly is going on with the Mother-Child Spring?" Tang Wanzhou walked over to him, with numerous swords formed from ice and snow appearing behind her.

Zuoqiu Ling, Song Yulou, and Yao Xingyue appeared in three different positions behind the Demonic Child, to prevent his escape.

"Impressive. It seems I've truly met my match today."

The voice that came from the Demonic Child's mouth belonged to a middle-aged man.

The blood on the ground suddenly transformed into wisps of blood qi, rapidly surging towards his brow.

The blood-tower mark released complex and profound blood-colored scriptures, erupting with a transcendent aura fluctuation.

"Transcendent scriptures..."

Tang Wanzhou pointed her finger forward, and the ice and snow longswords behind her transformed into a rain of swords, flying out.

"Thump! Thump..."

A blood-red, nine-story demonic tower flew out from within the Demonic Child's body, shattering all the incoming ice and snow longswords.

Under the Demonic Child's spiritual energy, the nine-story demonic tower rapidly expanded, growing dozens of meters tall.

The tower appeared to be cast from blood jade, densely covered with transcendent scriptures.

From the nine tower gates, spiritual energy containing a transcendent aura surged forth. This energy condensed into liquid, like nine waterfalls cascading down, showering upon the Demonic Child.

"Didn't you claim that artifacts are mere external objects and disdain their use?"

"That's because he has never encountered a master of the same caliber, which is why he's so conceited. When facing martial cultivators of higher realms, he'd merely believe he lost due to realm difference."

Zuoqiu Ling, Song Yulou, and Yao Xingyue quickly retreated, not worrying about Tang Wanzhou.

Tang Wanzhou continued to observe the blood-colored demonic tower: "Is this what you inherited from the Holy Infant? The nine springs of the Holy Infant are sealed within this nine-story tower, aren't they? If I'm not mistaken, the power of the mutated Mother-Child Spring must be related to this tower."

"You underestimate me too much, and you will pay the price for it."

The Demonic Child absorbed the nine-spring spiritual energy from the tower, and the scripture armor on his skin reappeared. He took a step forward, controlling the dozens-of-meters-tall demonic tower, and attacked Tang Wanzhou.

Tang Wanzhou swiftly retreated, evading the strike.

With a crash, the blood tower struck the ground in front of her, causing it to collapse.

Ten miles away, Li Weiyi appeared on a patch of shattered, scorched earth. Observing the distant confrontation, he channeled his spiritual energy, grabbed one of the handles of the Medicine King Furnace that had previously fallen there, and flung it forcefully towards Tang Wanzhou.

Tang Wanzhou leaped into the air, caught the flying Medicine King Furnace, and spiritual energy surged powerfully from her ancestral field. Immediately, the furnace fire reignited, tens of thousands of scriptures flew out, and the heat released melted the soil on the ground.

"Boom!"

The nine-story demonic tower and the Medicine King Furnace collided, bloodlight and flames dividing the night sky.

The sound of the collision was like the ringing of a heavenly bell, audible even in towns hundreds of miles away.

"Boom!"

Numerous cracks appeared in the ground, and the underground blood river flowed back to the surface.

The two combatants separated and rejoined instantly, both slamming down their heavy artifacts.

Individual scriptures from their artifacts flew dozens of miles away with each collision.

Tang Wanzhou was incredibly strong. Even with the opponent's superior battle artifact and spiritual energy, she pressed forward, forcing the Demonic Child to retreat continuously, blood gushing from his nose and mouth.

"Rumble!"

With the fifth collision, the Demonic Child was so shaken by the waves of force that his flesh and blood seemed on the verge of tearing apart. Unable to bear it any longer, his body detached from the nine-story demonic tower, flung backward, and crashed into an earthen mound.

Tang Wanzhou flew to the top of the nine-story blood tower, her eyes sharp and disdainful. From a hundred meters away, she unleashed a dazzling sword light that tore through the night sky and struck the Demonic Child.

"Annihilation Thought!"

This sword strike was not merely sword energy.

It was also sword intent.

Directly striking the soul.

"Ah..."

The earthen mound was ripped open by the sword energy, only to be immediately frozen by frost.

The Demonic Child's soul was wounded, and he let out a scream of extreme unwillingness.

With a crack, he shattered the frost with a punch, crawled out from underground, his hands trembling. Gritting his teeth, he stared intensely at the tall figure atop the tower: "If you want to kill me, you'll have to die too. Tonight, you *will* die..."

A hundred miles away, Li Clan Transcendence and Li Shentong stood by a wide river, with a vast expanse of snow behind them.

Li Shentong sighed, "Tang Wanzhou truly lives up to her reputation as the most brilliant young star of the Highcloud Realm of Life in a thousand years. The Demonic Child was defeated so quickly, so utterly. Such a favored daughter of heaven, even across the vast and boundless Yingzhou, she must be at the pinnacle, wouldn't you say?"

"Since she is so brilliant, then let her light be extinguished tonight..."

No sooner had Li Clan Transcendence finished speaking than his gaze fixed on the dense forest across the great river. In the profound darkness, he saw a tall, imposing figure, which made his heart pound with trepidation.

The figure seemed to have been standing in the forest for a long time, yet also seemed to have just appeared.

"It's you. How are you in Fuzhou?" Li Clan Transcendence's tone was filled with surprise.

The tall figure stepped out of the darkness, exuding an overbearing, arrogant aura. His long hair was woven into strands and tied behind his head. His face seemed sculpted by divine craftsmanship, identical to the strong, handsome divine statues found in temples.

His slightly bronzed skin emanated a dazzling luster. His arms were long and slender, his palms broad, as if possessing the mighty power to hold up heaven and earth. His nose bridge was like the tallest snow mountain in the Northern Territory, with sharp, defined contours that led to his domineering and fierce eyes, which nevertheless revealed no inner thoughts.

Such a transcendent aura caused Li Shentong, standing nearby, to feel his mind awed and an urge to prostrate himself.

The Northern Territory's foremost expert, Tang Shituo, stared at the opposite Li Clan Transcendence, his lips parting: "Li Longshu, did you consider the consequences of killing my daughter? Let me tell you, there will be no need for the Li Clan to exist, and as for you, even if you flee back to the Demonic Kingdom, I will cross the Nether Realm and strike you down."

His tone was filled with undeniable determination, exerting immense pressure on Li Longshu.

Li Longshu's mind raced, and he quickly understood why Tang Shituo was in Fuzhou: he must be secretly plotting an attack on the Daoist Sect's main altar. He composed himself and sneered, "Tang Shituo, aren't you afraid that Qilin Zang will take this opportunity to attack your Northern Territory grand camp?"

"If it dares go to the Northern Territory, isn't it afraid that the West Sea King will destroy its Western Territory army?" Tang Shituo retorted.

"Antagonizing the Crown Prince and ruining his important affairs, you of the Northern Territory should prepare yourselves. Let's go!"

Li Longshu wrapped up Li Shentong behind him, transforming into a cloud of spiritual energy and swiftly disappearing across the ice and snow wilderness.

Tang Wanzhou retrieved the nine-story demonic tower, which shrank into a nine-inch blood-colored miniature tower resting in her palm. She glanced at the Demonic Child lying in the ice and snow: "It seems you've withstood many of my moves. Very well, I keep my word; I'll spare your life today. Zuoqiu Ling, take him back to Highcloud City, present him to the Third Palace Master, and claim your reward!"

How could Zuoqiu Ling not know her intentions?

Everyone present could see that the nine-story demonic tower was the key to resolving the hidden danger of the Mother-Child Spring.

And killing the Demonic Child would lead to endless trouble.

Zuoqiu Ling said, "Young Lord, isn't it a bit unkind to pass the buck southward like this?"

"Suit yourselves. In any case, he's the Third Palace Master's target."

Tang Wanzhou departed directly, meeting with Li Weiyi dozens of miles away: "Come with me to the Northern Territory! With your intellect and the trump card you hold, you're bound to achieve great things in the Tang Court's grand camp. I can provide the Seven Little Ones with enough resources to grow rapidly. The great battle of Highcloud City will surely be recorded in the annals of the Highcloud Realm of Life. If humanity loses, it will be utter devastation. But if humanity wins, then my Snow Sword Tang Court and the Zuoqiu Gate will divide the world, north and south."

Li Weiyi stared into her bright and fervent eyes, his heart caught in a complex emotional vortex.

On the distant snowfield, a lion and a camel, as large as hills, approached.