Chapter 308: Chapter 307: Celestial Demon Mountain Range
A torrential Blood Qi gathered, blotting out the sky and sun, dyeing the entire horizon red!
Then, the endless Blood Qi, like a painter’s brush, gradually sketched a blurry, humanoid shape. As its lines grew clearer, the astonishing energy fluctuations peaked, as if a Dominator had descended...
Qin Ya’s heart lurched. He whipped his head around, his pupils shrinking as his eyes became bloodshot. He saw a giant, a hundred zhang tall, radiating a torrential Blood Qi. It bore a striking resemblance to the bald old man, and the overwhelming killing intent in its eyes nearly froze Qin Ya’s very Soul!
"Dhar...ma Aspect!" Qin Ya ground out the name through gritted teeth.
The Dharma Aspect was the most powerful ability of a Celestial Human Martial Artist, typically reserved for battles against peers of the same realm. Qin Ya had encountered and even personally fought several Celestial Human Martial Artists, but none of them had ever used a Dharma Aspect against him.
This was partly due to their carelessness, and partly due to the arrogance of a Celestial Human.
’Why would a Celestial Human Martial Artist need to use a Dharma Aspect against a mere Sky-Controlling cultivator?’
But Qin Ya never dared to underestimate a Dharma Aspect, for he had personally experienced its power. Back in the Vast Sea Divine Palace, he had been hunted by a member of the Demon Race who used a Dharma Aspect. Even though it was an incomplete one, it had still been able to crush him effortlessly. If he hadn’t met that mysterious Female Demon on Demon Trapping Island, he would have been dead long ago. The memory still filled him with lingering fear.
Yet today, he was once again facing a Dharma Aspect in person!
The might of this Dharma Aspect was worlds beyond that of the Demon Race’s incomplete version. Merely standing there, it sent a chill through Qin Ya. It felt like a summons from the Death God, enough to make his blood freeze in his veins.
’I’ll die!’
’If I take a direct hit from this Dharma Aspect, I’ll definitely die!’
As the thought flashed through his mind, Qin Ya erupted with all his True Essence, purging the lingering Blood Qi the old man had left within him. He immediately unleashed his Mysterious Speed to its fullest, his body turning into a streak of iridescent light as he shot into the distance. Faintly, he could see a majestic mountain range ahead, shrouded in immense black qi...
The moment Qin Ya purged the Blood Qi, the bald old man lost his lock on him. With a furious roar, the massive Blood Qi Dharma Aspect behind him threw a punch toward the last location he had sensed Qin Ya to be...
The punch manifested as a monumental Blood Pillar. Space itself trembled in its wake. The shockwave it generated as it tore through the void kicked up a hurricane, toppling trees and shattering stone across the mountains...
Locked on by the Blood Pillar, Qin Ya’s pupils constricted. The threat of death was closer than it had ever been. But the more perilous the moment, the calmer his mind grew. He snapped open his Storage Ring, pulling out all of his defensive Profound Soldiers. Layer after layer of barriers appeared before him. He quickly donned a suit of Inner Armor, followed by a set of lustrous, silver-white Armor. Finally, he activated his two Pseudo-Spiritual Artifacts—the Jade Ring and Scenic Landscapes—with everything he had!
As a final measure, he grabbed a handful of high-grade Healing Elixirs and stuffed them into his mouth. He did all this in a fraction of a second. Just as he finished, the monumental Blood Pillar arrived. Perhaps because he had purged the tracking Blood Qi at the last moment, the pillar was slightly off target—it only grazed him!
BOOM! The pillar slammed into the mountain range. An earth-shattering sound erupted as the ground split apart. Countless Fierce Beasts were vaporized into ash, not even a speck of blood remaining. In the next moment, a chorus of savage roars burst forth!
A colossal, ferocious bird whose wingspan blotted out the sky; a giant python hundreds of zhang long that left only ruin in its wake; a rampaging Giant Ape that stood atop a mountain peak, roaring at the heavens... One after another, the Beast Kings that ruled the mountain range turned their fury upon the old man!
Even for a master at the peak of Celestial Human Realm Perfection like the bald old man, his expression changed drastically.
"Damn it! To think I’d end up in the Celestial Demon Mountain Range!" the bald old man cursed, his expression flickering. He then roared, "Qin Ya! You’d better be dead! Otherwise, I swear I will slice you into a thousand pieces!"
As his words fell, the old man’s Blood Qi Dharma Aspect exchanged a punch with the Giant Ape. His face paled slightly, inwardly shocked at the ape’s strength. Without any hesitation, he fled into the distance, scared off by the pack of Beast Kings.
Legend had it that in a bygone era, a Venerable of the Demon Race was besieged in the Celestial Demon Mountain Range by a coalition of supreme experts. Gravely wounded, his blood stained the peaks, and the Demonic Qi lingered long after. The Fierce Beasts of the range were corrupted by this Demonic Qi, turning exceptionally savage. Over time, the area became a forbidden zone in the Azure Sky Realm, earning its name.
It was said that after the Demon Race was sealed back in the Abyss, the stragglers who remained in the Azure Sky Realm lingered here. Some even claimed that members of the Demon Race could still be found in the mountains to this day.
"Hmph!" The bald old man’s face was grim. He couldn’t believe a simple task had spiraled into this. He had chased the boy for an entire day, wasting his time and energy, and had come away with absolutely nothing to show for it.
"Qin Ya, you had better die here in the Celestial Demon Mountain Range," the bald old man’s voice was as cold as if it had echoed up from the Nine Netherworld, his eyes filled with terrifying killing intent. "If you didn’t, I will hunt you to the ends of the earth and tear you limb from limb!"
But by now, Qin Ya was well out of earshot of his curses.
Although the attack from the old man’s Dharma Aspect hadn’t hit him directly, even the grazing blow was more than Qin Ya could handle. A mere wisp of its Strong Qi instantly turned all of his pre-prepared barriers to ash. The remaining force slammed into his Shield, and the Ninth-Grade Profound Soldier shattered in an instant!
The protection from his Jade Ring lasted less than two breaths. The force then caved in his Armor, blasted through his Inner Armor and the defense of Scenic Landscapes, and grievously wounded Qin Ya, sending him flying hundreds of zhang away to crash into the mountains.
"COUGH, COUGH..."
From a massive crater in the mountains, Qin Ya slowly emerged. He coughed up two mouthfuls of blood, a look of shock in his eyes as he whispered, "The Dharma Aspect of a Celestial Human Perfection master... its power is truly extraordinary. A glancing blow was enough to obliterate all my defenses. Truly astonishing strength!"
’This must be the Celestial Demon Mountain Range,’ he thought. ’In my current condition, even a single random Fierce Beast would be the death of me. I need to find a place to heal first.’
Qin Ya assessed his internal injuries and gave a wry smile. The physical damage—a dozen broken ribs and some ruptured organs—wasn’t the main concern. What was far more serious was the instability in his True Essence Qi Sea. It was sluggish and weak. If he didn’t deal with it properly, it would create immense problems for his future Cultivation.
He was a man who aspired to stand at the very pinnacle of Martial Arts. He couldn’t let a mere injury like this jeopardize his entire future.
"ROAR!!" "ROAR! ROAR!"
Just then, roars echoed through the air as a dozen Fierce Beasts—creatures with striped bodies, tiger tails, and eagle heads—charged toward him. When they spotted Qin Ya, their eyes blazed with cruel, predatory light.
’When it rains, it pours.’
Qin Ya gave another wry smile, though his face remained calm. He calmly took out his Ghost Face Mask, and just as the dozen Fierce Beasts were about to tear him limb from limb, he vanished into an isolated pocket of space.
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