Chapter 174: Four Heavenly Demons' Pursuit

The Blackwater Palace Lord walked through the rain. As the current most accomplished figure of the Blackwater lineage within the Skyfiend Gate, he harbored a particular fondness for rain.

He recalled a great downpour when he had personally slain his enemies' entire family. That act led to him being hunted by the imperial court, and it was then that he joined the Skyfiend Gate.

"Soon, very soon," he murmured.

"The demon race's advantage is growing; it won't be long before the Skyfiend Gate's dream is realized." The Blackwater Palace Lord's eyes gleamed with anticipation. The Demon Emperor had bestowed upon the Skyfiend Gate a 'Demon Race Sacred Stele' from beyond the heavens. Inscribed on the stele was an oath between the demon race and the Skyfiend Gate, pledging that humanity would become one of the hundred demon races. It also promised that one-tenth of the human world's territory would permanently belong to humanity, eternally governed by the Skyfiend Gate.

Gods and demons would vanish completely, and the Skyfiend lineage would become the sole heritage of humanity.

"We won't have to hide in the shadows forever." The Blackwater Palace Lord naturally disliked living like a rat. Despite being a Fourth-Heaven Skyfiend, he wondered about the status and power of comparable Marquis Godfiends. Yet, he and his fellow Skyfiends lived in fear, confined to underground dwellings. On the surface, they risked being discovered by patrolling Godfiends.

"We will truly rule humanity."

"And humanity will become one of the hundred demon races, a part of the demon race itself."

The Blackwater Palace Lord continued to walk barefoot through the rain.

With a wave of his hand, a stream of water shot out, arcing through the air and piercing three human Godfiends in the distance who were rapidly moving. Despair and disbelief filled the eyes of the three Godfiends. They knew many Godfiends had fallen resisting the demon race and had considered that their own time might come. Yet, they never imagined they would die without even seeing their demonic attackers.

The Blackwater Palace Lord, however, didn't spare the three Godfiends another glance and continued on his way.

"The Cat Demon King is dead?" The Blackwater Palace Lord gazed towards a distant direction, his brow furrowing slightly. He immediately began to approach that location.

Meng Chuan, also using a token to sense the almost instantaneous demise of the three human Godfiends, had swiftly killed the Cat Demon King with his Primordial Spirit power and was now rushing towards the same spot.

A lightning-fast streak of light sliced through the rain, moving at astonishing speed.

"Hm?"

The Blackwater Palace Lord saw the lightning-fast streak of light, even discerning the blurred figure of a young man within it.

"A Godfiend of the Great Sun realm, yet his speed reaches the level of a Fifth-Heaven Demon King. Is it Meng Chuan from Yuanchu Mountain?" The Blackwater Palace Lord watched, a slight upturn at the corner of his lips. "I've found a big fish! This fish is nothing special otherwise, but his speed is astonishing. I mustn't let him get away."

The Blackwater Palace Lord actively moved to intercept the approaching streak of light.

The distance between them rapidly diminished.

They were now less than half a kilometer apart, but Meng Chuan remained completely unaware.

The Primordial Spirit's one-kilometer sensing range was not infallible. He had learned this at Yuanchu Mountain: King Godfiends and Marquis Godfiends could completely conceal all their aura if they wished, making them undetectable to a Primordial Spirit, as if they didn't exist in this world. At Meng Chuan's Primordial Spirit second-layer realm, King and Marquis Godfiends would only be detected if they entered his sixty-meter domain.

The Blackwater Palace Lord was no exception.

He had completely vanished.

He was invisible to the naked eye and undetectable by aura.

"It's in this direction! The opponent can kill Godfiends so swiftly; it's likely a demon king with divine abilities, or perhaps an even more terrifying Fourth-Heaven existence." Meng Chuan, gripping his demon-slaying saber, transformed into a streak of lightning and hurried along, exercising extreme caution.

He didn't know, however, that the Blackwater Palace Lord was already very close.

"Now!"

As the Blackwater Palace Lord and Meng Chuan moved towards each other, Meng Chuan's speed was astonishing. The Blackwater Palace Lord finally unleashed his own speed.

He flipped his hands, each grasping a water-dividing stinger. This was the first time he had used a weapon since entering Jiangzhou City; Meng Chuan was worth using one for.

A burst of speed.

The Blackwater Palace Lord, now a blurred phantom, could not naturally conceal his aura the moment he burst forth with speed.

"What?" Meng Chuan was moving at high speed when he suddenly detected an aura fluctuation about 165 meters away. As they moved towards each other, the enemy covered the distance in the blink of an eye, appearing right in front of him.

In that instant, his own speed was exploited by his opponent.

Meng Chuan's Primordial Spirit domain, which extended for sixty meters, clearly sensed the opponent: a bald man in black robes, relentlessly thrusting a water-dividing stinger towards him! The stinger seemed to pierce through the very void, and the sheer power, felt within his Primordial Spirit domain alone, sent shivers down Meng Chuan's spine!

He would die!

He would surely die if he couldn't block it! His Vajra Body, while tough and formidable, only rivaled the strength of a Great Sun realm Godfiend. A Fourth-Heaven Skyfiend's killing strike, aimed at a vital point like the head, would instantly be fatal even to a Vajra Body.

Boom.

The attack was too sudden! The distance was too close!

Meng Chuan didn't even have time to unleash a Godfiend forbidden art. He could only fully unleash his Primordial Spirit power, mobilizing his physical body and his Great Sun realm True Essence!

"Crimson Lotus Style!" Meng Chuan executed his saber technique with all his might, while also desperately trying to alter his movement direction.

The advantage of possessing Primordial Spirit power was that 'observing the enemy' was done through the Primordial Spirit domain.

The Primordial Spirit made direct judgments and controlled the body and True Essence directly, bypassing neural transmissions. This made Meng Chuan's reactions incredibly swift, allowing him to barely manage half a move of the Crimson Lotus Style.

Clang.

The water-dividing stinger directly struck his demon-slaying saber.

"Blocked it!" Before Meng Chuan could feel relief, he felt his demon-slaying saber being twisted and pushed aside, completely overwhelmed by the terrifying force.

In terms of skill and profundity, the opponent had broken through his Crimson Lotus Style.

In terms of raw power, he was utterly crushed.

However, Meng Chuan's strongest movement technique still played a crucial role at the critical moment. He had been desperately trying to change his movement, and even as he felt a sweet taste in his throat from the overwhelming force, he immediately retreated, using the force to his advantage.

*Pffft.* The water-dividing stinger still pierced Meng Chuan's dark-green robes, tearing a hole, but he had already swiftly pulled back.

"Hm?"

The Blackwater Palace Lord was somewhat surprised. His ambush wasn't just with one water-dividing stinger; the right hand's thrust was followed by a hidden strike from his left! But Meng Chuan's retreat was too swift, and the concealed left-hand strike was about to miss. The Blackwater Palace Lord instantly changed tactics, flinging his left-hand water-dividing stinger with full force! Boom!!! The stinger warped the very air as it launched a super-high-speed attack towards Meng Chuan.

Meng Chuan, still retreating rapidly, instinctively swung his saber to block. Clang! The water-dividing stinger, wreathed in water currents, despite being deflected, still struck Meng Chuan's chest. This time, he was truly hit, unable to disperse the force with his movement technique.

Meng Chuan was sent flying backward at an even greater speed.

Smash! Smash! Smash!

He smashed through more than a dozen consecutive residences and trees behind him!

"Cough, cough, cough." Meng Chuan landed amidst the debris, spitting mouthfuls of blood. His robes were completely torn open at the chest, and his protective inner armor was dented and cracked, though not shattered. The sheer impact alone caused immense pain to his internal organs. "Thank goodness I cultivated the Vajra Body," he thought. "Otherwise, my Godfiend body would likely have been shattered into pieces, and I would have died instantly."

Meng Chuan's Primordial Spirit domain immediately sensed the bald, black-robed Blackwater Palace Lord, his form blurred as he moved through the rain, already closing in for another attack.

"You're still alive?" the Blackwater Palace Lord's voice rang out.

Simultaneously, a massive black serpent tail arced through the air, carrying a far more ferocious power than the previous water-dividing stingers, sweeping towards Meng Chuan, intent on pulverizing him.