Chapter 120: Nine Mystical Cave Trial

Meng Chuan stood calmly in place, stating indifferently, "Unleash all your techniques, because this time, I will kill you!"

"Hmph, you talk a big game," the white-robed wolf demon sneered, tossing aside its scroll with a fierce expression. "Human boy, you've escaped seven times before, but this time, you won't get away."

No sooner had it spoken, the white-robed wolf demon let out a roar.

A black wind erupted, sweeping fiercely through the area. Sand and stones flew everywhere, and some rocks on the ground were even pulverized by the wind. Meng Chuan calmly observed as the black wind enveloped him. Inside, countless tiny, star-like points sliced and shattered everything. A newly ascended Godfiend encountering this black wind would instantly be disintegrated. Even an ordinary Indestructible Godfiend would be severely wounded and reduced to dust within three breaths if caught by the gale.

"Sizzle, sizzle, sizzle!"

Meng Chuan stood his ground, his protective true essence shimmering three feet thick around him, shielding his entire body like an armored shell. No matter how the black wind blew and cut against his protective true essence, it couldn't budge it. Meng Chuan's true essence shield was formed by exquisitely woven threads of true essence, making it far more resistant to impact and cutting than thousands of ordinary ropes. Meng Chuan had once envied the formidable black mist defense of the Poison Pond Demon King, but now his own protective true essence was more than ten times stronger.

What is the 'Indestructible Realm'? It is a realm where true essence undergoes a qualitative transformation; every strand becomes both sharp and incredibly resilient. The protective true essence, woven from countless threads, provides a terrifyingly powerful defense. While newly ascended Godfiends might still be vulnerable to mortal tactics like human wave attacks or specialized tools, Indestructible Godfiends are beyond the threat of any number of mortals.

Although Meng Chuan remained at the Indestructible Godfiend level, his perfected Thunder Annihilation Demonic Body allowed both his Godfiend body and his true essence to suppress even ordinary Great Sun Realm Godfiends.

"Come," Meng Chuan said, staring intently at his opponent. He had clashed with the wolf demon seven times and was very familiar with its capabilities.

His opponent was a Third Heaven Demon King who had cultivated for many years!

Even the four demon kings who once invaded Dongning Prefecture together might not be able to defeat this wolf demon.

"Roar," the wolf demon growled, its eyes blazing with murderous intent. It unleashed the black wind simply to impede the human's speed, given that Meng Chuan had escaped all seven previous encounters.

The wolf demon, a mere blur within the black wind, instantly covered a hundred zhang, its claw appearing before Meng Chuan in a flash, poised to shred him. The speed of its strike was terrifying.

Meng Chuan's protective true essence could withstand the furious assaults of ordinary Second Heaven Demon Kings, but he did not dare to carelessly endure a strike from this wolf demon.

"Clang."

Meng Chuan remained rooted to the spot, his blade already drawn without a hint of warning. The flash of his blade instantly intercepted the incoming claw in mid-air. The claw was swift! Meng Chuan's blade was swifter still! So swift that the process of drawing the blade was imperceptible; one could only see the blade blocking the claw.

"How can he be this fast?" the wolf demon exclaimed in disbelief. It was a Third Heaven Demon King exceptionally skilled in speed, and its claw techniques had even reached the 'Soul Realm' level. In the past, it had relied on its superior realm, its claw speed being slightly faster than Meng Chuan's blade arts, and its power utterly suppressing him. Yet now, Meng Chuan's mere first strike had sent a shock through its heart.

"Impossible," the wolf demon snarled, its murderous intent driving it to greater frenzy. Without hesitation, it unleashed dozens of consecutive claw strikes.

In an instant, dozens of claw shadows converged upon him. Meng Chuan's blade movements were completely invisible; one only saw his long blade appear precisely where needed, intercepting each claw.

"Clang, clang, clang!!!" A continuous symphony of blade and claw collisions echoed, every single strike parried. Meng Chuan had not even moved a step from his position.

After fully entering the Blade Soul Realm, Meng Chuan's explosive speed and power had reached an entirely new level. Having cultivated the "Heart Intent Blade" from the Black Iron Heavenly Book, Meng Chuan's blade techniques now suppressed his opponent in terms of finesse, and his striking speed utterly overwhelmed him.

"Do you have any other moves?" Meng Chuan asked calmly, still standing in place.

"How arrogant! You're not even using your lightning and fiend aura, which you specialize in? Just letting me attack wildly?" The wolf demon grew frenzied. "You will regret your arrogance." It then unleashed its full power, its eyes turning blood-red as it clearly activated a forbidden technique, entering a berserk state.

Meng Chuan remained perfectly calm.

In a genuine life-or-death struggle, one would naturally not allow the opponent to fully utilize their strength. Instead, the goal would be to incapacitate them and dispatch them as quickly as possible.

But this was the Nine Xuan Cave trial!

Even if the wolf demon had a chance to crush his throat with a claw, an invisible force would intervene the instant before impact.

The wolf demon was merely a puppet, completely controlled by Yuanchu Mountain, though it remained oblivious to this fact. Meng Chuan, on the other hand, intended to savor this opportunity to battle a demon king. Once he descended the mountain, any mistake he made would come at a steep cost.

"Roar," the wolf demon roared, its entire body subtly turning reddish. While maintaining the black wind to encircle Meng Chuan, it furiously attacked him, its form shifting to appear on all sides of Meng Chuan in an instant.

Meng Chuan gently shook his head, as flashes of his blade effortlessly parried every attack.

When his realm was lower, the speed-proficient Third Heaven Demon King had prevented him from leveraging his speed advantage. But after he comprehended the Blade Soul, the tables had turned! The Wolf Demon King, renowned for its speed, truly had no means of retaliation against Meng Chuan, who now possessed even more terrifying speed.

"This Third Heaven Demon King no longer poses any threat," Meng Chuan mused. As the demon king lunged with an enraged claw, Meng Chuan's body blurred, effortlessly evading the wolf demon king's desperate strike.

He struck with his blade! With a swift flash of light, his blade touched the wolf demon king's brow and instantly pierced through its entire skull.

The wolf demon king instantly froze. Deprived of its control, the black wind dissipated. It stood dazedly in place, gazing at the dark-red world. "I remember now, I remember."

In this final moment, on the very brink of death, it finally broke free from Yuanchu Mountain's control and regained its full consciousness.

It remembered.

It remembered attacking a human city gate alongside other demon kings. It had successfully torn apart a human Godfiend and was filled with excitement, knowing that killing a human Godfiend brought great rewards for the demon race! It howled and continued to charge with its companions toward more human Godfiends. However, a grey-robed human woman approached, and the twelve demon kings fighting nearby suddenly froze. Their minds struggled to resist, but ultimately, they all succumbed.

From that moment on, they were entirely under human control.

It was only today, in its final moments, that it fully regained consciousness.

Its body slumped to the ground, its eyes filled with distant memories. It thought of its home, where it had been a regional demon king, surrounded by countless lesser demons, roaring through the mountains and forests, devouring meat to its heart's content.

"How unwilling," it let out a low growl, and then its life force completely extinguished.

The ground, however, silently receded, swallowing the wolf demon king's corpse.

Meng Chuan watched as his opponent was swallowed by the earth, stating indifferently, "Such a fate is entirely self-inflicted."

He harbored no sympathy for the demon race, only intense murderous intent.

Meng Chuan continued his advance.

The Nine Xuan Cave trial required him to kill every demon king he encountered. Eliminating all of them would signify passing the trial and earning the right to descend the mountain. Failing to kill even one meant failure, and he would face that same demon king again in the next attempt.

Yuanchu Mountain had clearly captured a large number of demon kings for its disciples to slay.

So far, Meng Chuan had killed two demon kings in the Nine Xuan Cave. The first was a Second Heaven Demon King, significantly stronger than the Poison Pond Demon King. The second was the Third Heaven Demon King, the 'Wolf Demon King,' whom he had just slain.

"Hmm?"

After walking for a moment in the desolate, dark-red world, Meng Chuan noticed a small mountain in the distance begin to tremble. This small mountain, tens of zhang high, then completely stood up, transforming into a massive mountain monster!

"A mountain demon?" Meng Chuan exclaimed, startled.

The demon race comprised many different types of demons, including those with exceptional talent. A demon's talent was largely linked to its bloodline. Mountain demons were a particularly powerful type of demon, with strength far exceeding others of the same cultivation level.

"The seniors at Yuanchu Mountain are truly good to me, letting a rare mountain demon king serve as my whetstone," Meng Chuan mused inwardly, yet his heart grew even more vigilant.

"Ugh, I feel like I've slept for ages," the mountain demon rumbled, shaking its stony head. A peculiar mountain peak insignia was visible on its forehead.

"A Yuanchu Mountain insignia? Is this the final demon king I need to slay to pass the Nine Xuan Cave trial?" Meng Chuan immediately understood. The appearance of a mountain peak insignia on a demon's forehead signified it was the last demon king of the Nine Xuan Cave trial; slaying it would grant him the right to descend the mountain.

"Judging by its aura, it should also be a Third Heaven Demon King, but being a mountain demon! It could probably swat the previous wolf demon to death with a single palm," Meng Chuan mused inwardly. Much like the Phoenix God-Body and Dragon God-Body bloodlines represent peerless geniuses among humans, mountain demons are also peerless geniuses among the demon race, renowned for their immense physical prowess.

The mountain demon spotted Meng Chuan, its eyes glinting fiercely as its voice boomed like rolling thunder: "An Indestructible Godfiend dares to stand before me? You seek death!"