Chapter 1089: Death Is No Fear

The twelve demonic banners formed a powerful array, rapidly draining Qin Sang's true essence and spiritual consciousness. The remaining medicinal effects of the Three-Light Jade Elixir continuously replenished his true essence, but his spiritual consciousness required a different elixir to recover.

Qin Sang immediately drank the Soul Cleansing Fluid he had been holding. This substance could increase the chances of forming an Nascent Soul, and when refined using the secret technique passed down by Ming Wei, it could greatly enhance spiritual consciousness. Now, it served as a spiritual medicine to replenish his consumption. Fortunately, it did not affect its auxiliary function for Nascent Soul formation.

The pure soul energy replenished his spiritual consciousness, but it was far from enough to match the rate of consumption. The demonic banner array was becoming difficult to sustain.

"We also have Soul Cleansing Fluid."

A weak voice came from beside him. Qin Sang glanced over. The young man had awakened at some point and struggled to speak. His face was as pale as gold paper, and he lay motionless on the ground, only able to move his eyes, gesturing towards his and the girl's mustard pouches.

Even without the young man's reminder, Qin Sang had already considered this. He had noticed the close relationship between the young man and girl and the Four Sacred Palace. Given that the trial realm was left by the Four Saints and the peculiar way the Soul Cleansing Fluid appeared, he had vaguely guessed something.

Qin Sang wasted no time, grabbing both their mustard pouches, taking out two bottles of Soul Cleansing Fluid, and immediately drinking one.

The twelve demonic banners, arranged in an array, possessed power comparable to top-grade magic treasures. It wasn't that Qin Sang didn't want to set up the complete eighteen demonic banner array, but he could sense that this was already his limit. He could only manage it with the help of the Demonic Fire Seed; if he drew any more Nine Nether Demonic Fire, it would become uncontrollable.

"Wait!" Lingzhuzi suddenly called out to Qin Sang.

He was about to inform the Demonic Lord and Immortal Nan Gui about the situation when he suddenly sensed a thought from the true body of Azure Bamboo. The ancient demon's separated soul had forcibly used the Soul-Splitting Slash, damaging its own power. Azure Bamboo finally found an opening and managed to difficultly contact those on the outside, seeking assistance.

Upon hearing this, a look of profound surprise appeared in Lingzhuzi's eyes. His lips moved slightly as he silently performed a blood refining technique, then opened his mouth and spat out a mouthful of vital blood onto his horsetail whisk. The whisk absorbed the vital blood, turning into a blood-red whisk. As it danced, it resembled strands of bloody hair, appearing extraordinarily eerie. Lingzhuzi instantly turned white-haired, his vitality drained, and deep wrinkles etched his face, aging him severalfold.

Meanwhile, the Demonic Lord, held captive by the ancient demon's separated soul, did not passively await death. At this moment of crisis, the Lunar Celestial Ghost Divine Light reappeared. Thousands of vengeful spirits clung to the Demonic Lord, ravenously devouring his essence. Half of the Demonic Lord's body visibly shriveled at a speed perceptible to the naked eye, becoming as wrinkled as tree bark, clinging to his bones like a skeleton. The same scene also unfolded on the Demonic Lord's nascent soul.

*Thump!*

The Lunar Celestial Ghost Divine Light suddenly shattered inch by inch. Thousands of vengeful spirits were simultaneously sacrificed by the Demonic Lord, breaking free from their shackles and escaping the control of the ancient demon's separated soul.

Immortal Nan Gui had forcibly raised her cultivation through the Great Sacrifice of Essence Art. After successive battles, her primordial spirit was severely damaged, and she was at the end of her rope. Knowing there was no hope, she sighed softly, closed her eyes, and ceased resisting. Her nascent soul emerged from her body and actively charged towards the ancient demon's separated soul.

The three human experts all chose to fight to the death. They launched their attacks simultaneously. The blood whisk transformed into a river of blood, arriving almost simultaneously with Immortal Nan Gui's nascent soul. The Lunar Celestial Ghosts self-destructed, and thousands of vengeful spirits swarmed towards the ancient demon's separated soul.

The ancient demon's separated soul was confident of victory and had no desire to perish with these individuals. Seeing this, it activated its full demonic energy to resist while retreating to avoid the brunt of the attack. At the same time, it waved its hand, splitting into three streams of power. One stream locked onto Immortal Nan Gui, who was about to self-destruct, and flung her into the blood coffin. The other two streams shot towards Lingzhuzi and the Demonic Lord, respectively.

"Grandmaster!" the young man cried out in sorrow.

The girl also woke up, and they embraced, crying bitterly. They watched helplessly as their beloved grandmaster was brutally attacked by the ancient demon, yet they were wracked with pain and couldn't move, powerless to do anything. They only regretted their neglect of cultivation in the past.

"What are you doing!" an angry roar drowned out their cries.

The ancient demon's separated soul was forced to retreat, nearing the blood coffin and sword energy. Just as it was about to seize the Demonic Lord and Lingzhuzi, it suddenly felt another disturbance within the Azure Bamboo's true soul inside its body. This time, it was different from before. The spiritual sword fragment glowed with a strange light, emitting vibrations that caused the ancient demon's separated soul to feel a stinging pain.

Even more infuriating and shocking to the ancient demon's separated soul was that a wisp of sword intent within the sword energy seemed to resonate with the spiritual sword fragment at this moment, creating a resonance. In an instant, the ancient demon's separated soul understood Azure Bamboo's intention. This spiritual sword fragment had a deep connection with the sword energy of Yitian Peak. Azure Bamboo was actually able to manipulate the spiritual sword fragment, drawing the sword intent into its body to slay itself. Azure Bamboo could only draw the sword energy into its body, but it lacked the ability to control such powerful sword energy. This act was tantamount to suicide, perishing together with the ancient demon's separated soul.

"You are playing with fire!" the ancient demon's separated soul roared. "Stop! I promised to spare your life!"

"What fear is there in death!" Azure Bamboo finally spoke, his tone calm and unperturbed. He was willing to die alongside the ancient demon's separated soul rather than release the ancient demon to wreak havoc on the world. As he had said before: "I have no intention of bearing the burden of all living beings, but this catastrophe cannot begin because of me!" If he hadn't sealed the demon soul in Yitian Peak, perhaps things wouldn't have come to this.

The sword energy vibrated slightly, and a wisp of sword intent was stimulated, delivering an ethereal strike towards the back of Azure Bamboo's head. The ancient demon's separated soul was greatly alarmed. A surge of demonic energy rippled across Azure Bamboo's face, revealing a distorted visage. The ancient demon's separated soul attempted to shake off Azure Bamboo's demon soul and leave Azure Bamboo's body. There was another body waiting outside, and it had already reached an agreement with its true self; it did not want to die here.

"Now!" Lingzhuzi urged loudly.

Qin Sang was already poised, his eyes gleaming. He abruptly launched the Nine Nether Demonic Fire directly at the ancient demon's separated soul. His true essence and spiritual consciousness were instantly overdrawn, and he fell backward.

*Whoosh!*

The demonic fire shot out like an arrow, swift as a meteor.

"Nine Nether Demonic Fire!" The ancient demon's separated soul never expected that someone outside would still be capable of unleashing such an attack. Moreover, demonic fire inherently countered souls. Caught off guard, its true demonic energy collided with the demonic fire, and the separated soul's momentum was obstructed.

A moment of stagnation was enough to decide many things. The invisible sword intent pierced into Azure Bamboo's body. A scream of extreme agony, chilling to the bone, emanated from within Azure Bamboo's body—it was from the ancient demon's separated soul. Azure Bamboo's figure suddenly froze, a sword mark appearing on his brow, blood seeping from his orifices, his aura rapidly weakening.

*Thump! Thump!*

Lingzhuzi and the Demonic Lord fell to the ground, narrowly avoiding being thrown into the blood coffin. They looked at each other's wretched state, filled with bitter regret.

The ancient demon's true self was enraged. While the sword energy was affected by Azure Bamboo, it furiously manipulated the blood coffin to surge upward. However, as the three ancient tribe seals fully recovered, they were activated by the sword energy. When the power of the three demon-suppressing treasures—the Demon Suppression Stele, the Dragon Corpse, and the Divine Furnace—were also stimulated by the ancient seals, the sealing power greatly increased. The blood light dimmed, and the ancient demon's true self's counterattack became increasingly feeble.

*Boom!*

The blood coffin vibrated. Forced by the sword energy, it could no longer resist and plummeted into the boundless abyss.

Qin Sang recovered slightly. Seeing Azure Bamboo standing motionless, he was secretly alarmed. He quickly put away his demonic banners and flashed over.