Chapter 180: Chemical into Ashes

After moving sideways for merely two hundred feet, Meng Chuan saw the black demon core explode in the distance.

"Boom!"

The demon core contained the accumulated cultivation of a fourth-level Sky Demon. Its explosion instantly pulverized everything within a hundred-foot radius. Fortunately, the domain suppression contained the blast, minimizing its destructive range; otherwise, the damage would have been far greater.

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh... Seven streams of black water frantically fled in all directions. Although slightly affected by the explosion, the impact on the outermost streams was minimal. The most terrifying aspect of the demon core's explosion remained at its very center.

"The demon core forced Meng Chuan and the others to retreat far away. I even sent out avatars to escape; Meng Chuan won't be able to find my true body immediately. I might be able to get away," thought the Blackwater Palace Lord, who was hidden within one of the black water streams, frantically fleeing.

"Trying to escape?" The white-haired elder, Zhang Junfeng, thought to himself. Within his vast, white domain, nine streaks of sword light materialized. These nine lights pursued the seven black water streams, and Zhang Junfeng was supremely confident. "My Nine Absolute Sword Array isn't exceptionally powerful, but it can certainly destroy your avatars."

Although his primary expertise lay in domain abilities, he had also refined the "Nine Absolute Sword Array" technique from within his domain.

The swords were condensed from True Essence.

The Nine Absolute Sword Array also possessed power approaching that of a Marquis Godfiend.

"What?" The Blackwater Palace Lord was greatly alarmed.

The black water streams fleeing in all directions were all pursued by the sword lights. In an instant, six of the black water streams dispersed, leaving only the one containing his true body, which then twisted and reformed into the Blackwater Palace Lord's appearance.

"What do I do, what do I do?" The Blackwater Palace Lord had abandoned his demon core, and his avatar escape had been thwarted. He was truly desperate.

When it came to escaping, how could he compare to Meng Chuan's speed?

"Sky Demon, this day next year will be your death anniversary!" Meng Chuan exclaimed, swiftly pursuing with Senior Brother Yang Fang.

"Water escape," the Blackwater Palace Lord urgently muttered, having no other option. "I'll use the river for water escape."

He frantically rushed towards the nearest river.

Under the domain's influence, the hope of escaping via water escape was slim, yet it was the Blackwater Palace Lord's only remaining method.

"Be careful," Meng Chuan immediately transmitted, urgently warning them. "The Blackwater Palace Lord is the strongest among the Sky Demon 'Blackwater Lineage' and excels at water escape."

"Don't worry," Senior Brother Zhang Junfeng replied confidently. "I wouldn't make such a mistake."

The nearest river was fifty to sixty feet wide, considered a relatively wide river within the city.

Just as Meng Chuan and Yang Fang closed in, the Blackwater Palace Lord suddenly lunged! His body transformed into a stream of black water, directly surging towards the rushing river before him.

"Whoosh!" The river before him, surprisingly, parted in the middle. The Blackwater Palace Lord leaped into the river, but only met empty space; he couldn't touch the water at all.

Meng Chuan was the first to catch up, a flash of saber light already streaking towards him.

The Blackwater Palace Lord stared resentfully at the parted river. Holding his Water-Splitting Dagger in one hand, he barely managed to fend off Meng Chuan's saber light. Without his demon core, his strength was greatly diminished, and dealing with Meng Chuan became increasingly difficult. After barely blocking two more strikes, he frantically lunged towards the river, even allowing Meng Chuan's subsequent saber strike to pierce his thigh. His body then transformed into a river, successfully slipping into the water.

"I'm in!" The Blackwater Palace Lord burrowed into the river, a glimmer of hope rising within him. "Water escape, flee!"

With water escape, his evasion speed could surge several times over.

But suddenly,

To his astonishment, he discovered that an entire mile-long section of the river had levitated.

Furthermore, that mile-long river section had already been divided into eighteen segments! The shortest segments were only several dozen feet long, while the longest were merely two to three hundred feet.

All eighteen river segments hovered in mid-air, each separated by the domain. The 'black water' that was the Blackwater Palace Lord was confined to one segment, unable to escape into the others.

"Within my domain, you still think you can use water escape?" Zhang Junfeng quickly approached, his eyes filled with confidence.

The several-dozen-foot-long river segment trapping the Blackwater Palace Lord completely disintegrated, breaking into countless water droplets. The 'black water' that was the Blackwater Palace Lord was forced to reveal himself and re-condense into his true body.

"Die."

Yang Fang and Meng Chuan attacked him again, surrounding him.

"No!" The Blackwater Palace Lord's face showed despair. Having abandoned his demon core, his strength was severely diminished, and he could barely contend with Meng Chuan under the domain's suppression, let alone face Yang Fang.

After only two exchanges, he barely managed to evade twice.

A great axe swept horizontally, and the Blackwater Palace Lord could no longer dodge. The axe sliced through his waist, severing him in half!

The Blackwater Palace Lord's upper and lower body were separated.

"Congeal!" He desperately tried to control them, but his lower and upper body, both airborne, struggled to reconnect. A physical body at his level possessed extremely tenacious vitality; unless a vital point like the head was struck, death wasn't so easy.

"Fix."

Zhang Junfeng stood nearby, a thought forming in his mind.

His vast, white domain bound both the lower body and the Blackwater Palace Lord's upper body, preventing them from reconnecting.

"Thud." A flash of saber light, streaking from behind, traversed a hundred feet, piercing the back of the Blackwater Palace Lord's head and emerging from his glabella!

The Blackwater Palace Lord's eyes widened in disbelief.

At that moment, countless scenes flashed through his mind...

That night, torrential rain poured down as he slaughtered his enemies' entire clan, laughing madly amidst a field of corpses and the downpour.

Within the Sky Demon Sect, amidst the fierce competition among disciples, he survived until the end, ultimately becoming a Sky Demon.

The cultivation methods for Sky Demons were inherently incomplete. Through repeated trial and error, and even by forcing his fellow disciples to make mistakes to rule out numerous failed approaches, he continuously grew stronger, becoming the most powerful figure in the 'Blackwater Lineage'.

"As long as I live, the world has meaning. If I die, let the floods rage!"

The Blackwater Palace Lord, having become a fourth-level Sky Demon and one of the true powerhouses in the human world, now yearned to stand in the sunlight, truly leading countless subjects, rather than perpetually hiding in the shadows.

That day...

The Demon Emperor descended the 'Demon Race Sacred Stele' from beyond the heavens to the Sky Demon Sect. The sacred stele, etched with their mutual oaths and agreements, offered him hope.

Humanity would become one of the hundred demon races, with a tenth of the current world's territory allotted to them, to be ruled by the Sky Demon Sect for generations. The Sky Demon lineage would be humanity's only cultivation system. As the supreme leader of one of the seven lineages, the Blackwater Palace Lord would also become one of humanity's highest rulers.

He saw hope; he felt this was what he should pursue in the future.

"Thud."

A saber strike from behind pierced through the Blackwater Palace Lord's glabella.

The Blackwater Palace Lord felt a chill spread through his body. His consciousness began to dissipate; this life was, after all, coming to an end.

Immediately after, he felt his spirit and flesh being frantically absorbed. His consciousness continuously sank, plummeting into endless darkness...

"Hmm?"

As Meng Chuan's saber pierced the Blackwater Palace Lord's head from behind, he noticed that the Demon Slaying Saber began frantically devouring him. Even the severed lower body in the distance was being absorbed, as waves of bloody qi continuously surged into the saber. Since acquiring the Demon Slaying Saber, the Blackwater Palace Lord was the second entity, after the Lion Demon King, that the saber had actively devoured.

In just a single breath,

The Blackwater Palace Lord completely turned into ashes, dissipating into the world. Only his Water-Splitting Dagger and other artifacts fell to the ground.

Meng Chuan, Yang Fang, and Zhang Junfeng stood together, having ceased their Godfiend forbidden arts, watching the Blackwater Palace Lord turn to ash and vanish.

"He's dead?" Yang Fang whispered softly, still somewhat disbelieving after killing the Blackwater Palace Lord.

"He's dead, completely absorbed by my Demon Slaying Saber," Meng Chuan stated.

"He's nothing but ash now," Zhang Junfeng added.