Chapter 181: Overwhelming Bloodlust

“You lowly maggots, how dare you disrespect this lord?”

Divine Lord Eclipse, or Demon Hound, thought that once he appeared, his frightening presence alone would be enough to intimidate these Qi Refiners. Even if a fight happened, they should’ve exchanged words first—talk a bit, fight only if it didn’t work. But he hadn’t expected the Qi Refiners of Qingjiang Prefecture to completely disregard etiquette. They hadn’t even finished talking yet, and here they came charging towards him in a great wave.

In the eyes looking at him, there wasn’t the slightest reverence for a Demon King. Instead, it looked more like…

…prey?

He hated when people looked down on him, especially this kind of scornful gaze!

In that instant, anger surged to the heavens within him. He suddenly let out a piercing roar. The black fur on his body stood up straight as steel needles, countless strands transforming into dark rays that shot out in all directions, screaming through the air. At the same time, the thick blood aura surrounding him exploded like rising steam and violently swelled. Layer upon layer of distorted space radiated outwards from his wide-open, upward-facing mouth.

Swoosh…

The Elders of the Five Great Sects, along with some senior disciples, had already eagerly rushed forward as if afraid someone else might snatch the Demon Hound. They hadn’t anticipated the Demon Hound’s blood aura being this intense. Just getting close, they were suppressed by its overwhelming force. Despite their majestic Golden Core mid-realm cultivation, they felt suffocated. They were sent flying backwards like kites on the wind.

“Oh no! Why is this Demon Hound so powerful?”

All the Elders realized something was wrong, their expressions drastically changing.

They had correctly perceived the Demon Hound’s cultivation level—at least Golden Core late stage. Given their abilities, they didn’t usually consider such a demon a major threat. After all, their mystic arts were sophisticated, unlike demons who mostly relied on instinctual talents or powers awakenend from their bloodlines. Plus, they had numbers on their side. Even if it were perfect Golden Core, besieging it together should work.

But this initial probe instantly proved them wrong.

The Demon Hound’s cultivation, as expected, was Golden Core late stage. What astonished them was its incredibly potent blood aura. For a moment, it felt like they were facing an endless sea of blood. Under this blood aura’s crushing pressure, everyone felt an icy chill biting to the bone. It was as if they faced the Sea of Dark Souls—its waves towering to the heavens, filled with countless vengeful phantoms lunging grotesquely towards them…

“This beast… how many people has he devoured?”

Elder Ge of the Nine Immortals Sect couldn’t help but suck in a cold breath, immediately recognizing the key point.

The Demon Hound’s cultivation wasn’t particularly high, but its foundation was unnaturally solid. Especially unsettling—who knew how many people it had eaten? How much flesh and blood did it consume? These things had accumulated endlessly inside its body, granting it indescribably savage power…

For humans were indeed the ultimate tonic for this world!

No tonic could ever replenish vital energy or strengthen foundations more than another human could!

And this Demon Hound had gained its terrifying blood aura by gorging on humans without restraint, without remorse.

Its consumption wasn’t the refined process of Human Elixir Refinement. It simply swallowed people whole.

But because it had eaten so very many… it had still gained this frenzied, horrifying blood energy. It was as if it had consumed ten Human Elixirs!

“Ahahahahaha…!”

Seeing the cultivators retreat in a fluster, the Demon Hound burst into wild laughter. It pulled back its lips, revealing two rows of blood-red, jagged teeth. Its high-pitched laughter seemed to twist the very air it passed through. Its two front paws dug deep into the ground as it surged forward with terrifying momentum. With its movement alone, the very earth shook. It charged straight at the group of Nine Immortals Sect disciples like a colossal mountain, its approach warping the space around it.

Bang! Bang!

Facing this charge, even two Nine Immortals Sect Elders were momentarily powerless to stop it. Elder Ge was slammed backwards by the impact. He waved his hands frantically, unleashing surges of magic power, desperately anchoring himself to the space on either side. He was pushed back dozens of feet before finally halting.

Elder Lu was swiped sideways by the Demon Hound. His body spun like a top before he managed to steady himself by slamming his spear into a stone cliff wall.

Simultaneously, the Demon Hound slashed out with its left paw—a loud crackling sound tearing through the air—aimed at the Duskblade Sect’s position. Thankfully, that sect’s Elder hastily conjured nearly a hundred Flying Swords. They crisscrossed in the air like a steel net. Though the paw smashed them to pieces, the net delayed the blow long enough. This bought the Duskblade Sect disciples time to flee into the earth, then wriggle like eels underground before erupting back into the air some distance away.

The iron tail lashed sideways. Below the thundercloud summoned by the Leshui Sect, most of their disciples were forced out of hiding, coughing blood.

Its two hind paws simultaneously dug into the ground, then ripped backwards. The earth cracked violently. Huge chunks of rock were torn up and flew towards the Yun Huan Sect and the Lingwu Sect.

…

In a single instant, all five sects were thrown into complete chaos.

“These Qi Refiners are nothing special! Finish them off!”

“Divine Lord Eclipse trully is a prodigy of the Demon Race! His powers are unrivaled!”

“Hahaha! Let’s capture these Qi Refiners together! They’ll make great blood food. Such nutritious supplements!”

“Leave me some of those female cultivators… they have uses…”

Witnessing the Demon Hound’s attack scatter the Five Great Sects into chaos and confusion, the Demon Kings and Demon Generals who had been decimated moments ago by the sects’ assault—shattered in spirit and heart—now snapped back. They let out sinister roars of laughter, their courage reborn. Swarming in dense groups, they charged back towards the Five Sects’ cultivators. Dense Demonic Qi rolled upwards, coiling mid-air…

The situation reversed in a blink. Now the hunted became the hunters.

…

“My heavens…”

Watching the swiftly shifting battle on Crow Mountain, the disciples of Shoushan Sect in the Weiyu position stared slack-jawed, stunned.

Elder Green Pine’s face turned pale. “That Demon Hound is this fierce?”

Elder Cold Stone muttered, “I was thinking earlier we could throw the Sect Leader at it if things got worse… but seeing this strength…”

He glanced surreptitiously at Young Sect Master Xu. “Even ten Sect Leaders wouldn’t be enough to make it a snack, would they?”

“Thankfully… thankfully we convinced the Five Great Sects to bring more reinforcements…”

Even Young Sect Master Xu’s voice wavered slightly. He suddenly turned to Fang Cun. “Is it time now?”

Fang Cun appeared puzzled. “Time for what?”

Young Sect Master Xu insisted urgently, “The Five Sects clearly can’t hold out much longer! Shouldn’t we use our trump card now?”

Fang Cun blinked. “You have a trump card?”

Young Sect Master Xu looked confused. “Me? No. Don’t you?”

Fang Cun said, “When did I say I did?”

Young Sect Master Xu flushed bright red, tears nearly welling in his eyes. “You really planned to sell my sect out all along, didn’t you?”

“Haha…”

Fang Cun chuckled. “Relax. We don’t have a trump card, but someone does…”

“Who?”

“The Five Great Sects!”

…

As they were speaking, the Elders and disciples of the Five Great Sects were completely surrounded on Crow Mountain by assorted Demon Kings and Demon Generals. Things looked dire. In this moment of crisis, the frantic Elders urgently exchanged glances. With that shared look, they instantly understood each other’s thoughts, expressions filled with a tinge of rueful recognition.

“No more pretending, buddies…”

“Keep pretending and our disciples might suffer heavy losses…”

After this silent exchange, Elder Ge of the Nine Immortals Sect shouted decisively, “Split it equally!”

None of the Elders objected. Elder Xiu of Leshui Sect urgently sent a shared thought communication into their minds: “Dragon Stone 500 from Shoushan Sect, Merit 300,000 from the County Mansion. Each sect gets 100 Dragon Stones. Whoever deals the killing blow to the Demon Hound gets an extra 100,000 Merit!”

“How about that?”

“Agreed!”

“Fine!”

“Deal!”

“So who dares to disagree now?”

…

Amid urgent shouts, the Elders suddenly shot into the air. As their sleeves billowed, countless mystic arts erupted simultaneously. Demon Kings and Generals who had swarmed in, smelling blood amidst the disarray, were instantly drowned under this sudden onslaught of power. Casualties piled high instantly. Even two Golden Core Demon Kings were severely wounded practically simultaneously.

“Disciples—ERADICATE DEMONS!”

Immediately after, the Five Sect Elders roared together, perfectly synchronized. Elder Ge and Elder Lu of Nine Immortals Sect, Elder Xiu of Leshui Sect, Elder Xiao of Duskblade Sect—they all spun gracefully mid-air. Some unleashed gleaming Magic Treasures, others concentrated immense power, executing their most hidden, potent divine abilities directly against the Demon Hound! Meanwhile, Elders from Yun Huan Sect and Lingwu Sect attacked the other Demon Kings.

BOOM!

The brilliance of mystic arts over Crow Mountain at this moment was beyond description—blinding, like the sun itself.

Elder Ge of the Nine Immortals Sect gave a low shout. Behind him materialized a golden Divine General statue, seventy or eighty feet tall. Its expression was stern, suffused with divine power. Its lower half faded into space, while its upper body was clad in golden armor. With a sharp swishing sound, the statue swung out its palm… and slapped the Demon Hound hard across the face.

The Demon Hound had been snarling coldly at the battlefield, radiating ferocity. This blow utterly stunned it.

Before it could even recover enough to bellow its outrage, Elder Lu lunged from the other side. Short even compared to his spear, he was a mere speck next to the Demon Hound. Yet the old man was ferocious. Whirling like a top, he shot straight through the gap between the Demon Hound’s pillar-like front legs. His iron spear drew sharp, whistling ripples in its wake—thrusting directly towards the space between the hound’s hind legs!

“YOOOOOWL…!”

The Demon Hound’s agonized howl echoed for miles around!

Elder Xiu of Leshui Sect shot straight into the sky high above. Flinging out his wide sleeves, he urgently drew Talisman symbols in the air. As the symbols formed, they projected downwards onto the ground below. Within a hundred paces of the Demon Hound, dense patterns of complex runes erupted from the earth.

Elder Xiao of Duskblade Sect rocketed to the sky’s summit. Then, taking a sharp plunge, he dove straight into the earth… and vanished.

…

“You see?” Fang Cun pointed towards the battle unfolding on Crow Mountain and said to Young Sect Master Xu with a smile. “I told you the Five Great Sects would have their trump cards ready.”

“Right…” Young Sect Master Xu nodded, his voice thick with unshed tears. “But you definitely were planning to sell off my Shoushan Sect, weren’t you?”