Chapter 1851: The Power of the Great Demon

They couldn't leave before the Lone City of Coiled Dragons completely collapsed!

Was he destined to follow in the footsteps of the Immortal Venerable?

These thoughts raced through his mind like a revolving lantern.

Miao Zhan Tian, incredibly sharp, immediately sensed a slight dip in his fighting spirit. She gripped her long saber firmly, her eyes glinting.

At that moment, a third person emerged from the Blessed Pool.

It was a black-armored warrior, wearing a ferocious mask. His physique was imposing, and his aura was sharp.

The style of his armor was somewhat archaic, black with dark gold patterns.

Miao Zhan Tian recognized at once that the dark gold patterns were divine runes, even resembling a variant of her own divine arts!

Who was this person?

The person then walked directly towards her, with Paoxiao following closely.

"He Xiao?" This appearance perfectly matched the "Great Emperor of Nine Nethers" that Bai Ziqi had described. It seemed that the battle armor was indeed extraordinary, allowing him to enter.

Anything brought from the outside world into the Sea of Consciousness and into this Lone City of Coiled Dragons had to be a treasure fused with its owner, inseparable.

Was this truly the Rakshasa Armor? Miao Zhan Tian knew the history of the Rakshasa Armor; that malevolent armor was much like the Great Derivation Celestial Pearl, harming whoever possessed it. How could it genuinely merge with and complement its host?

Miao Zhan Tian's gaze swept over him, and she chuckled, "He Xiao, if Qian Huan had known earlier that you'd be the death of him, he probably would have killed you on Stone Dragon Peak."

He Lingchuan knew, of course, that she was saying this for Xiao Wencheng's benefit.

Stirring up trouble was a familiar skill of the Sky Demon.

"Miao Zhan Tian, if you had known earlier that you'd be the death of me, you would certainly regret not listening to Bai Ziqi," a low voice rumbled from beneath the mask. "He said a lot of bad things about me, didn't he? But you ignored him completely."

Miao Zhan Tian raised her remaining eyebrow, feeling a little frustrated.

This fellow was right. Reflecting now, Bai Ziqi had repeatedly mentioned He Xiao since entering the Upside-Down Sea, always hoping to devote energy to killing this villain first. But Miao Zhan Tian had never paid attention, thinking that a mere cultivator couldn't cause significant trouble.

Her focus had been entirely on Qian Huan and the Illusion Sect. If she had listened to Bai Ziqi earlier, could He Xiao still be bouncing around in front of her now?

But she chuckled, "Heh, Bai Ziqi only told me that if you hadn't interfered, that old rogue Qian Huan would have been even harder to deal with."

He Xiao's motives for entering the Upside-Down Sea were impure. She didn't believe He Xiao would only sabotage her affairs without also secretly digging pits for Qian Huan.

That old conniving Qian Huan was truly capable of enduring. He unleashed one powerful move after another, even summoning a Heaven-Descending Thunder God before his death. His profound cultivation and numerous hidden trump cards had actually exceeded Miao Zhan Tian's expectations.

Not to mention, she had believed Qian Huan's cultivation stagnated after losing the Mirage Pearl, so any deductions based on that assumption would increasingly deviate from reality!

She pointed at the remnants of the Shadow Dragon below the city wall. "That Shadow Dragon suddenly regained its ferocity and began pursuing Qian Huan. That was your doing, wasn't it?"

Then she pointed to the Blessed Pool. "Qian Huan couldn't escape this Lone City of Coiled Dragons because of your trickery with the Great Square Flask, right?"

Originally, Miao Zhan Tian couldn't have won the battle in the Lone City of Coiled Dragons. But unexpectedly, two sudden changes turned Qian Huan's advantage into a disadvantage. Such precise execution, according to Bai Ziqi, was very characteristic of He Xiao's methods.

One could say Qian Huan was literally forced to his death.

Even Miao Zhan Tian was deeply moved by that scene.

A several-thousand-year-old clam spirit, deeply versed in the art of survival, how desperate must he have been to choose to perish with his enemy?

He Lingchuan didn't answer. Instead, he turned to Xiao Wencheng beside him and said:

"Her attempts to sow discord and stall for time are signs of fear."

Xiao Wencheng's expression was grim.

Every word Miao Zhan Tian spoke struck him deeply.

By now, how could he not know that He Xiao harbored ill intentions, weakening both Qian Huan and Miao Zhan Tian?

But what good was knowing? The immediate conflict was that a winner had to be decided between them and Miao Zhan Tian; it was a matter of life or death!

If he had harbored some doubts earlier, He Lingchuan's disruptive actions were a complete reassurance for him.

He Lingchuan wasn't worried about him turning against them.

If he hadn't been confident, how would he have dared to bring Xiao Wencheng in? Without He Lingchuan's nod, Xiao Wencheng couldn't have entered the Lone City of Coiled Dragons.

He looked at the Blood Demon, somewhat surprised by its appearance.

In reality, the Blood Demon appeared as a mass of red mist; when suppressed within the root ball, it looked like a faintly discernible human face.

It turned out that face was on a goat's body.

The name "Paoxiao" wasn't widely known, but its other appellation was renowned among humans:

Taotie!

A legendary beast, incredibly greedy and ferociously powerful.

He heard Granny Zhu's whispered words, conveyed through the Haoyuan Golden Mirror:

"This Taotie most likely fell during the war between immortals and demons. Its spirit, unwilling to perish, took advantage of the collapsing world rules at the time and began by devouring deceased souls and its own kind, eventually transforming into its current form!"

Thinking about it, this also aligned with the characteristics of the Taotie. As a beast, it was inherently greedy in life; after death, it remained a gluttonous fiend, which allowed it to gather thousands of human blood debts into itself.

Upon entering the Lone City of Coiled Dragons, due to the restrictions of its rules, the Blood Demon had to manifest a visible form, thereby revealing its true appearance.

He Lingchuan finally understood why Qian Huan had gone to such great lengths to capture it:

Capturing a Taotie to serve as an external Dharma Aspect seemed quite exhilarating.

"Instead of trying to persuade Elder Xiao to surrender, you'd be better off offering me more attractive terms," He Lingchuan said, striding rapidly towards Miao Zhan Tian and laughing heartily. "If you can convince me to give up, they'll naturally give up too."

He walked at the forefront, with the other two flanking him, advancing in a V-formation.

Imperceptibly, he was the core.

However, to catch up with Miao Zhan Tian, they had to ascend the city wall. Everyone in the Lone City of Coiled Dragons lost the ability to move freely through the air, so He and Xiao could only ascend the steps steadily, one by one.

The Blood Demon took a shortcut, climbing up the wall.

The staircase leading up the wall of the south gate tower of Coiled Dragon was wider than typical city walls, but still only wide enough for three people abreast, becoming even narrower at the corners.

He Lingchuan, too lazy to navigate the cramped corners, simply vaulted onto the next section of stairs. He often did this when ascending city gates in the past.

Miao Zhan Tian spotted He Lingchuan's position and suddenly swooped down!

Everyone watching the battle in front of the Haoyuan Golden Mirror gasped. They hadn't expected Miao Zhan Tian, despite her severe injuries, to still be so swift, or to be the first to attack.

Miao Zhan Tian's left arm was broken, so she held her saber only with her right hand. Her leaping slash carved a silver arc through the air, like a divine meteoric streak, brief but dazzling.

He Lingchuan was prepared. With a calm mind and strength flowing through both arms, he swung his Fusheng Blade horizontally to meet the attack head-on.

Since he had personally entered the Lone City of Coiled Dragons, a direct confrontation with Miao Zhan Tian was inevitable.

There was no escaping it.

Miao Zhan Tian's first impression on him was "speed."

Previously, Miao Zhan Tian's opponents had been the Shadow Dragon and Qian Huan. While their battles were spectacular to watch through the Haoyuan Golden Mirror, it was impossible to intuitively grasp their true speed.

Only now, engaging her directly, did He Lingchuan realize how incredibly adept the Haoyuan Golden Mirror was at capturing movement; it could even track Miao Zhan Tian's actions when she moved so fast she became a blur.

Miao Zhan Tian's second impression on him was "might."

In this direct clash, He Lingchuan felt like a fully armored hunter, while Miao Zhan Tian, leaping to strike, was a charging rhinoceros!

Human strength could hardly contend with a giant rhinoceros, just as a cultivator's soul power could hardly compete with a Sky Demon's, even if the latter was already heavily wounded.

Even though He Lingchuan wore the Qianglong Battle Armor, the sheer brutal force that penetrated it shook his internal organs as if they would abandon his body.

He kicked the wall with his foot, then twisted outwards to deflect most of the force.

His "Dantian" was empty, without a trace of true energy. He Lingchuan wasn't flustered, as it was the same for everyone else.

Since everyone's souls had entered the Lone City of Coiled Dragons, they had to abide by this world's rules. Soul power manifested as bodies and weapons, so skills, spells, and divine abilities driven by true energy or divine power were utterly unusable!

Just like Miao Zhan Tian's and Qian Huan's previous battle, here it was a contest of who had greater strength, faster speed, and quicker reflexes.

Without a doubt, this favored He Lingchuan. Otherwise, considering Miao Zhan Tian's divine arts, several of him wouldn't be enough to fight her.

Yet, the power manifested by Miao Zhan Tian's soul force was still terrifyingly immense.

One must remember that she had first endured successive attrition from the Shadow Dragon and Qian Huan, then withstood the impact of Qian Huan's self-detonating soul, leaving her almost completely depleted.

He Lingchuan was fortunate to have had foresight, not being deceived by Miao Zhan Tian's dire state into engaging her alone.

Miao Zhan Tian's next two waves of attacks followed like shadows.

He Lingchuan dodged one strike, then parried another. Lacking full momentum, the force of these two blows from Miao Zhan Tian was somewhat weaker than before.

This allowed He Lingchuan to secretly breathe a sigh of relief, even though his arms were still numb from the shock and the lingering pain in his internal organs hadn't subsided.

Miao Zhan Tian was also somewhat surprised.

Although her injuries were severe, He Xiao was merely a cultivator; his soul power couldn't possibly surpass Xiao Wencheng's. It was strange that he had managed to withstand two moves from her without collapsing!

A wounded giant whale was still a giant whale; its strength was incomparable to a nimble dolphin alongside it.

Sure enough, anyone or anything connected to the Great Square Flask was exceptionally troublesome. How exactly did this inscrutable divine artifact train this young man?

At that moment, a rush of wind came from behind her; the Blood Demon had climbed the wall and was launching a surprise attack from her rear.

The Taotie's foreclaws were as nimble as human hands, and the barbed hooks on its claws, two inches long, directly slashed at her nape.

From the front, He Lingchuan coordinated his move perfectly, unleashing a horizontal waist-level slash almost simultaneously with the Taotie's attack, one after the other.

Miao Zhan Tian, with only one arm left and an inflexible right leg, raised her hand to block He Lingchuan's strike, falling backward towards a gate opening in the city wall, disregarding the three bloody marks the Blood Demon left on her back!

They cut an inch deep into her flesh, and a spray of fresh blood splattered out.

But Miao Zhan Tian didn't look back, rushing into the city wall.

Before she jumped down, she had scouted the terrain, noting a gate opening by the stairs that led directly into the city wall's interior.

Normally, she wouldn't have given these three a second thought, but now, with her severe injuries, she absolutely couldn't allow herself to be surrounded.