Chapter 425: Counterattack

Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh!

Sharp yet eerily elusive void threads attacked from all directions.

Although Meng Chuan's 'Cloud Mist Dragon-Snake Movement Art' was adept at transformation, it was merely at the Great Perfection of the Dharma Domain realm. Threadmaster Saint, on the other hand, possessed exceptional talent, including in the primordial spirit. However, its efforts were almost entirely devoted to thread manipulation. Its self-created ultimate technique, the 'Thread Manipulation Art,' was at a significantly higher level than Meng Chuan's, even excelling in its influence over the void.

Its greatest lifelong aspiration was to elevate the 'Thread Manipulation Art' to its theoretical pinnacle, thereby achieving rejuvenation. Historically, some late-blooming human and demon cultivators, unable to reach the Creation realm (Demon Saint) due to age, yearned for rejuvenation to restore their bodies to peak vitality and break through.

However, rejuvenation was incredibly difficult to achieve.

Firstly, it typically required reaching the 'Heaven and Earth Realm,' a barrier that countless Marquis Godfiends (fifth-tier demon kings) could not overcome. Secondly, it depended on the cultivation path. For instance, while Ancestor Guo Ke's 'Heart Intent Blade' also reached the Heaven and Earth Realm, this lineage did not offer the effect of rejuvenation.

This was precisely why Threadmaster Saint devoted itself entirely to studying the 'Thread Manipulation Art.' According to its vision, the 'Thread Manipulation Art,' when cultivated to the Heaven and Earth Realm with Yin-Yang fusion, could indeed lead to rejuvenation. The challenge, however, lay in reaching that Heaven and Earth Realm—it was simply too difficult.

"Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh!" These void threads were sharper than any blade, yet incredibly soft and yielding. They embodied both yin and yang, combining hardness and softness.

"'Die!' the gaunt youth, the hunchbacked demon king, and the burly demon king charged at Meng Chuan. They were willing to risk everything for the immense reward."

Killing Meng Chuan would guarantee their meteoric rise.

"'Mind Confusion!'"

The white-furred rat demon gazed at Meng Chuan, unleashing an invisible primordial spirit technique directly at him.

In an instant, all five demon kings attacked simultaneously!

The primordial spirit technique, being the fastest, was the first to infiltrate Meng Chuan's sea of consciousness and envelop his primordial spirit. However, his primordial spirit, slowly rotating like a star, naturally resisted the illusion's influence. The 'Primordial Spirit Star' might not have been remarkable in other aspects, but its stability and defensive capabilities were astonishingly strong. It was stable to an incredible degree.

Meng Chuan's primordial spirit only perceived a few fleeting illusions; his consciousness remained perfectly clear, and his strength was unaffected in the slightest.

"'While his primordial spirit is affected, seize him!'" The void threads, manipulated by Threadmaster Saint, were equally astonishingly fast, following immediately after the primordial spirit technique and attacking Meng Chuan.

Bloodblades flew to intercept them, but against the eerie and unpredictable void threads, they all missed their mark, utterly failing to block.

Pfft! Pfft! Pfft! Pfft! Pfft! Pfft!

The void threads closed in on Meng Chuan.

Meng Chuan stood on his Bloodblade Disc, with six bloodblades circling him protectively. He activated the defensive array runes of the Tribulation Realm secret treasure, the 'Bloodblade Disc,' causing the six bloodblades to form an autonomous array that blocked all incoming void thread attacks.

"'He wasn't affected by the primordial spirit technique?' Threadmaster Saint's expression shifted slightly."

"Whoosh."

The gaunt youth also closed in. Bloodblades struck it, merely piercing holes through its body, but it continued its charge.

"'Gurgle, gurgle, gurgle.' The gaunt youth transformed into a hundred-zhang expanse of black sludge, sweeping over Meng Chuan."

The fifth-tier demon king 'Marsh Thread Demon King' was a rare species among demons, a 'Black Marsh Earth Dragon.' Its divine ability allowed it to transform its body into black mud. While its offensive capabilities were mediocre, it was virtually immortal. Among fifth-tier demon kings, Old Ancestor Poison Dragon's 'Undying Body' was the most perfect, having completely transformed itself into a 'Blackwater Poison Pond' with the aid of an exotic treasure from beyond the realms. Its very essence of life had changed; the Blackwater Poison Pond was its true form, while the dragon shape was merely a form it habitually maintained.

The Marsh Thread Demon King, however, relied on its innate divine ability. Once it transformed into black mud, it could simply envelop an enemy, instantly entangling them. Weaker opponents would be directly killed. Stronger ones, though entangled, would be significantly hampered, greatly increasing Threadmaster Saint's chances to strike again. When facing powerful adversaries, the Marsh Thread Demon King could also be used to entangle and delay.

The Marsh Thread Demon King had followed Threadmaster Saint since it first became a demon king, and their bond was exceptionally deep.

"'Hmm?' Meng Chuan watched as a large amount of black mud clung to him. Although the bloodblades flew around, forming a self-contained system that isolated the external void, the constant adhesion of the black mud made the array's operation somewhat strained."

"'This is truly troublesome.'"

With a thought, Meng Chuan reacted.

Some of the bloodblades from outside swiftly flew back, and with twelve bloodblades now reinforcing the array, it finally stabilized.

"'Boom!' The hunchbacked demon king also arrived. It grew six arms, each wielding a long saber, and furiously hacked, splitting fissures through the void in that instant."

With a large amount of black mud already clinging and countless void threads continuously assaulting, the hunchbacked demon king's six consecutive slashes were even more terrifying. At full power, their might surpassed even the mere void thread attacks of Threadmaster Saint. The continuous bombardment on the bloodblades created openings in their defense. Void threads immediately seeped through the cracks, piercing towards Meng Chuan's head.

The burly mountain demon, which had been lagging behind, now revealed its true form, transforming into a thousand-zhang-tall giant. It raised a massive rock arm high and brought it down with immense force.

The combined attack of the five demon kings was, indeed, formidable.

"'Divine Ability: Quicksand.' Silver secret patterns appeared on Meng Chuan's temples, streaks of silver lightning flickered around his head, and his eyes glowed with silver electricity."

In that instant, everything outside slowed down.

The originally astonishingly fast threads suddenly moved at only one-tenth of their speed! Meng Chuan subtly tilted his head, allowing the void threads to brush past his face.

"Whoosh!"

Meng Chuan, standing on the Bloodblade Disc, experienced an explosive surge in speed. The twelve bloodblades, protecting him, flew at hyper-speed, even faster than the void threads could spread!

"'What's happening?' Threadmaster Saint and the five demon kings only saw Meng Chuan's figure blur as he broke free from their encirclement with a speed that left them dumbfounded. Hundreds of miles in an instant—what did that signify? It meant that many of the demon kings' techniques couldn't even match Meng Chuan's movement speed."

Having just broken free from the encirclement, Meng Chuan looked towards the distant white-furred rat demon king, which was now encircled by void threads. Threadmaster Saint, realizing the situation was beyond its control, sought to protect the white-furred rat demon king, who had the weakest physical body.

"'Kill.' Meng Chuan thought."

"'Boom!'"

Threadmaster Saint and the five demon kings only saw dazzling lightning erupt from Meng Chuan. This thick bolt of lightning instantly traversed several miles, striking the white-furred rat demon. Its speed was so immense that none of the demon kings present had time to react. In terror, the white-furred rat demon was directly reduced to dust by the furious lightning strike.

This was the divine ability 'Heavenly Wrath.'

It was one of Meng Chuan's five great divine abilities. Among his many techniques, its power wasn't particularly strong, merely at the level of an ordinary Creation realm cultivator. However, its true strength lay in its 'absolute speed'—it was genuine lightning speed! It was so fast that no demon king could react; they could only endure the hit, which also had a paralyzing effect.

Against physically strong opponents, it was merely a tickle; for example, Meng Chuan had never used it against Demon Saint Jiuyuan.

During his Marquis Godfiend stage, he had used it against Blood Asura, causing Blood Asura's attack to be slightly delayed, which allowed King Anhai to escape with his life. However, it hadn't harmed Blood Asura in the slightest, and the demon race hadn't realized how potent this technique truly was in terms of offense. Now, having reached the Dripping Blood realm, the power of this divine ability had greatly increased, reaching the level of an ordinary Creation realm cultivator. A single strike might only severely wound physically strong fifth-tier demon kings. However, 'Cave Lord Baicang' specialized in illusions, and its physical body was merely average among fifth-tier demon kings. With one strike, it was instantly reduced to dust and killed on the spot.

"'I thought it would take two or three consecutive strikes,' Meng Chuan mused, raising an eyebrow as he watched the white-furred rat demon king turn to dust."

"'How is this possible?' Threadmaster Saint's eyes widened in disbelief."

"'Baicang is dead,' the mountain demon and the hunchbacked demon king murmured, unable to believe their eyes."

They had believed that their combined five-way attack would give them an absolute advantage. Who would have thought that Meng Chuan could escape even their united assault? And with one counter-attack... Cave Lord Baicang was dead. They couldn't even help in time.

They had long realized that the 'fifty billion merit' reward wouldn't be easy to claim. However, Meng Chuan's true strength still far exceeded their expectations.

"'The intelligence is incomplete,' the hunchbacked demon king transmitted mentally. 'The lightning King Dongning Meng Chuan unleashed already possesses the might of a demon saint.'"

"'His speed also vastly surpasses what was recorded in our intelligence,' the black mud coalesced back into the gaunt youth, its expression grim. 'The speed at which my demon power spreads can't even keep up with his flight. It means I can't cling to him at all.'"

Threadmaster Saint also grew extremely solemn. The lightning didn't concern it much. But a movement speed of hundreds of miles in a single flash was truly terrifying.

"'To think I was forced to employ the divine ability 'Quicksand',' Meng Chuan muttered to himself. He had no other choice; without this ability, he would have been utterly unable to break free from the void threads' encirclement. He wasn't even confident that twelve bloodblades would suffice for defense, fearing he might have to use all eighteen for protection. But that would leave him no means to counterattack."

"'Divine Ability Quicksand' has a short duration, so I must finish this quickly.' Under the influence of this divine ability, Meng Chuan's speed was terrifying. His blurred figure instantly appeared before the hunchbacked demon king. 'You're next.'"

Killing Threadmaster Saint would be incredibly difficult. He first needed to clip its wings to have any hope of success.