Boom—
Shattered rock flew in all directions, the ground splitting open.
The rotund shape now sprawled across the ground bore no resemblance whatsoever to any divine statue — it was, unmistakably, a black bear demon, its coat sleek and glistening.
It scrambled unsteadily back to its feet and let loose a deafening roar at the sky.
“GRAAAH!”
The kind of impact that could split a mountain ridge had done nothing but stir up its savagery.
“You insolent wretch — you dare destroy this lord’s divine statue!”
The Red-Eyed Demon King had presided over Song Prefecture for years and had never once been at such a disadvantage — comfortably soaking up accumulated faith, deep in a pleasant sleep, and then someone had yanked it out by the scruff of its neck.
Martial Immortal, or Grandmaster?
It stared hard at the figure in the sky. The young man stood on demon cloud, with none of the presence of a divine spirit, none of a path infant’s aura either.
The black bear narrowed its eyes. “What demon are you, and where did you come from? Did that old white rhinoceros hire you?”
It knew the old rhino was close to the end of its lifespan, and had been planning to find the time to go deal with that demon king. It hadn’t expected the other side to bring in outside help first and send it right to its door.
At that, Shen Yi arched an eyebrow, a flicker of cold intent crossing his eyes.
The Unfettered Wind-Riding Art, unused for quite some time, came into play again — his figure appeared behind the black bear, long fingers closing tight around the rolling folds of fur at its neck.
His arm surged with force.
The great demon, several zhang in height, felt a brief flash of bewilderment in its eyes, and then found its entire body swung into the air and hurled, in the blink of an eye, straight into a jagged mountain peak.
There was a dull crack, and the entire peak caved inward under the bear demon’s fleshy back.
“Some strength on you!”
The black bear’s vision was spinning. It had barely lifted its head before a vicious straight punch hammered it squarely on the nose.
The massive skull slammed back into the ground.
Shen Yi drew his blade in the same motion, caught the instant it left itself open, and swept Deep Abyss — trailing its haze of black mist — in a clean horizontal slash at its throat!
Clang!
Just as the blade came down, a long halberd materialized out of thin air in the black bear’s grip. It drove both arms into the block, using the halberd’s shaft to intercept the edge.
Blood ran freely down its savage bear-face, fangs bared, the muscles on its arms standing out in high relief.
It looked for all the world like an axe buried in a tree trunk.
And yet, inch by inch, that halberd shaft was being pressed downward!
What was strange was this — even the Junior Demon King’s bronze armor, used to protect its life, had been cut open by Deep Abyss. And yet this halberd shaft didn’t show so much as a white scratch.
“…”
Shen Yi considered for half a moment, then abruptly pulled the blade back and clamped the halberd shaft under one arm.
“GRAAAH!”
The black bear let out another roar, because it could feel its weapon threatening to slip from its grip at any moment.
This insolent creature was trying to take its weapon?!
It fought with everything it had to keep its claws locked on the shaft, and could only watch them slide loose, one degree at a time, until Shen Yi wrenched suddenly and tore the halberd away entirely.
Boom!
In the next instant, he dropped several zhang and drove a kick into the black bear’s flank — and with the force behind it, sent the bear’s massive frame flying dozens of zhang across the air, tumbling and crashing down the mountainside.
Shen Yi then flung the halberd upward, spun on his heel with robes snapping out around him, and drove another kick into the bear’s hindquarters.
The halberd shot outward like an arrow thickened beyond all proportion, blasting straight toward the black bear’s chest!
A shriek of splitting air exploded overhead.
Both demon-horses, just arriving at the scene, instinctively reared back on their hind legs — and very nearly threw both riders clean off their saddles.
“What—?”
Zhang Xuan steadied his flood dragon horse, and the first thing he caught was the sight of Commander Shen kicking the demon king through the air.
“War Temple disciple? Divine-spirit cultivator?” A muscle twitched at the corner of Yang Qianxiang’s eye. He turned to look at his own Demon Suppression General.
What divine-spirit cultivator flung a massive demon king around like a torn grain sack?
He genuinely couldn’t sense any path infant’s presence, though.
“…”
Zhang Xuan had no time to explain, his entire attention fixed on that halberd now blazing through the air.
Its momentum was ferocious — in an instant it drove straight into the flesh over the black bear’s chest. But instead of the wet sound of piercing flesh, what happened was the opposite: the halberd met the body and rapidly dissolved away, like packed snow against a red-hot iron plate.
Boom, boom, boom—
The black bear crashed through tree after tree along the cliff face, rolling down the mountain like a massive black boulder, leaving a web of cracks wherever it struck.
It finally drove a palm straight into the cliff wall, just barely halting its descent before reaching the foot of the mountain.
When it looked up again, both dark eyes had been overtaken by crimson, the ends of its fur beginning to redden as well, as though a fire had been kindled somewhere beneath its pelt.
Unseen accumulated faith converged upon it.
It took shape across its body as a suit of treasure armor glowing with brilliant radiance — fish-scale plates, every one — and a magnificent plumed helmet appearing atop its head. With a single grasp, the straight halberd reappeared in its palm.
The rotund black bear of a moment ago now blazed with a splendor that made it look, unmistakably, like a mighty divine general.
It surged up into the air, smoke and haze curling at its feet.
“Whatever demon you may be and wherever you’ve come from — you dared lay hands on the territory under this lord’s protection. Today is the day you answer for it!”
Red eyes looked down at the young man from above, a voice like a great bell ringing out as it leveled the cold-gleaming tip of its halberd. “Foul creature — receive your death!”
The Red-Eyed Divine Lord had manifested his divine power.
Far out across the distance, the townsfolk who had already been scared senseless by the commotion now stumbled frantically to their knees and drove their foreheads into the ground with every ounce of strength left to them.
Zhang Xuan and Yang Qianxiang swung down from their horses and stood among the crowd, something complicated and difficult to name crossing their faces.
If given a little more time, this Red-Eyed Demon King might actually have managed to get itself properly enshrined.
And somehow the Demon Suppression Division’s own Inspector had ended up cast as the demon in the scene.
“Guard my flanks.”
Yang Qianxiang stopped wasting time, sat down cleanly on the ground, and released his divine spirit, a look of self-mockery growing even denser on his face as he did.
What an absurdity — here, within Song Prefecture’s own borders, he couldn’t draw on so much as a wisp of the accumulated faith that filled the sky. That alone showed how completely the people had given up on the Demon Suppression Division, and how thoroughly he himself, as General, had failed in his duty.
“Commander Shen! Yang is here to assist you!”
He called out in a low, resolute voice, and shot straight toward the Red-Eyed Demon King in the sky.
But the black-robed figure moved faster than Yang Qianxiang by an incalculable margin.
Shen Yi stepped straight up through the air, and at the very instant the halberd came thrusting toward him, threw a punch!
The Red-Eyed Demon King let out a cold laugh. With its divine ability bolstering it, its strength had surged far beyond what it had been moments ago — incomparable to before—
Another dull crack, and the halberd in its hands was blasted clean away!
Both of the bear demon’s palms went numb, and it stared up at the halberd now arcing through the sky, stupefied.
Before it could react.
Shen Yi brought a leg down onto the top of its skull with overwhelming, crushing force. The plumed helmet, condensed from accumulated faith, shattered in an instant; the bear demon’s forehead cracked with a loud report, its entire body dropping out of its own control, plummeting toward the ground.
Yang Qianxiang had only just drifted up into the air when he saw Commander Shen already diving back down.
Beneath those black robes, the body somehow seemed to hold limitless force.
Shen Yi seized the bear demon’s face fur, wrenched its head up, and drove his right fist without the slightest hesitation straight into its eye socket.
Beneath that fist, demon bone that should have been unyielding shattered and flew apart like brittle bamboo splints.
The crack was sharp, and the crimson eyeball itself burst apart under the blow!
(End of Chapter)