Chapter 62: How Can One Accept It?

Author: I Eat Tomatoes. Category:

"A demon king," Meng Chuan's heart tightened. It was a demon king comparable to a divine demon.

A vast black mist enveloped everything.

At this moment, Meng Chuan had only two choices: first, to flee forward, as the Poison Pond Demon King was still over a hundred zhang away from him, and utilizing this distance could offer a slim chance of survival. Second, to be engulfed by the black mist.

"I want to see just how powerful a demon king truly is," Meng Chuan thought. He chose not to flee forward. Forward lay Lieyang Pass, and if the hundred-zhang-wide black mist passed over it, how many people would die? Those who hid deep in the tunnels might survive, but July and the others, who couldn't hide in the tunnels, would all turn into blood.

Without hesitation, Meng Chuan integrated his Spirit Soul energy into his physical body. This was his first direct confrontation with a demon king in many years, and under the threat of death, he exerted himself to control every ounce of power within him. His Spirit Soul energy worked with him, unleashing his body's full potential. In that instant, he transformed into a lightning-like figure.

He became a bolt of lightning and charged into the black mist. This was the fastest Meng Chuan had ever moved in years, even faster than when he killed the three great demon commanders! Clearly, the pressure from the demon king was immense.

"Hm?" The Poison Pond Demon King was rushing forward at top speed. Meng Chuan, instead of fleeing, actively charged towards him, closing the hundred-zhang distance between them in the blink of an eye.

"Such speed," the Poison Pond Demon King exclaimed in surprise.

"What terrifying poisonous mist," Meng Chuan realized after entering the black mist. He immediately felt his protective True Essence being furiously corroded. Fortunately, under the control of his Spirit Soul energy, the circulation of his True Essence became more precise by over tenfold, significantly increasing his resistance. "My protective True Essence will be completely eroded within one breath. I must be fast."

Meng Chuan instantly arrived before the Poison Pond Demon King.

The black mist around the demon king's body was even denser, but the ten-zhang domain allowed Meng Chuan to 'see' its appearance. It was a humanoid snake demon with mottled greenish skin, holding a long spear, its gray eyes coldly fixed on Meng Chuan.

"Kill!" Meng Chuan's killing intent soared. The moment he closed in, a blade light flashed.

Lightning Limit Draw!

The blade light flowed like water, striking towards the demon king.

What if it was a demon king? It was merely a special life form, and it could still be killed! Meng Chuan believed that at his Core Condensation stage, his divine demon foundation was far deeper than that of his peers, giving him 'half-step divine demon' strength. With his Spirit Soul energy unleashed, he might even be able to threaten a demon king.

With a "chi-chi-chi," the blade slashed, cutting into the black mist covering the Poison Pond Demon King's body. This protective black mist was incredibly tough; the power of Meng Chuan's strike was greatly weakened, stopping completely after penetrating only about an inch into the mist. His full-power strike could only cleave an inch of the black mist? Yet, the demon king's protective black mist was about a zhang thick.

This single strike chilled Meng Chuan to the bone.

The gap was immense.

Too immense!

The Poison Pond Demon King watched this scene with a faint, mocking smile. He disdained even raising his spear to block, allowing Meng Chuan's blade to strike his protective black mist. He was delighted to see the despairing expression on the face of this mortal genius.

"Flee!" After unleashing his strike, Meng Chuan instantly activated a divine demon forbidden art. The acupoints throughout his body began to erupt with even stronger True Essence, and his entire skeletal and muscular system began to unleash power beyond its limits. Combined with his Spirit Soul energy... he transformed into a lightning bolt, moving at a speed far exceeding his previous burst, and fled rapidly into the distance. His speed was so astonishing that even the Poison Pond Demon King was taken aback.

But the Poison Pond Demon King immediately gave chase.

"That's a terrifying demon king." Inside Lieyang Pass, Dean Zhong and many experienced veterans immediately recognized the source of the dreadful black mist as a demon king.

"We're finished."

"Quickly, flee for your lives, scatter!" Some veterans cried out anxiously.

But then they froze.

Because Meng Chuan, transformed into a lightning-fast figure, had actively charged into the black mist, quickly passed through its range, burst out from the other side, and swiftly fled into the distance.

The black mist also quickly contracted, shrinking to a mere ten-zhang radius.

Within the black mist, the faint figure of a two to three zhang tall demon king could be seen pursuing Meng Chuan.

The two, one fleeing and one pursuing, quickly vanished into the distance.

"Young Master Meng fled in another direction to save us, drawing the demon king away," Dean Zhong said, his expression grim.

"To save us." Many veterans, soldiers, and academy disciples fell silent.

"Perhaps for Dongning Prefecture as a whole, for all of humanity, Young Master Meng is more important than our thousands of lives," a one-armed elder said in a low voice.

The others remained silent.

Some of them were willing to trade their lives for Meng Chuan's survival! But most still wanted to live.

"A'Chuan," Liu Qiyue watched from afar. Meng Chuan's figure was no longer visible, yet she still gazed in that direction, her eyes filled with tears.

After bursting out of the black mist, Meng Chuan immediately stopped using his Spirit Soul energy, as only a minuscule amount remained.

"Flee," Meng Chuan thought, activating the divine demon forbidden art. His skin turned slightly red as he transformed into a lightning-fast figure, desperately fleeing.

"What technique did you just use? How did your strength increase so much?" The Poison Pond Demon King retracted his black mist, maintaining it at only a ten-zhang radius. He had previously expanded it to a hundred zhang to capture Meng Chuan in one fell swoop... but Meng Chuan's burst of speed was truly astonishing, even faster than his own as a second-tier demon king. "Your speed truly startled me. What a pity, your blade technique is far too weak, and now your speed has also slowed down."

Meng Chuan also understood the vast difference.

A demon king's power was formidable in every aspect.

He was, after all, merely a mortal, lacking in many areas. Though he could reign supreme among mortals, he was ultimately far too inferior when facing divine demons or demon kings.

"You won't escape," the Poison Pond Demon King said from behind him. With a wave of his hand, he pointed a finger, and streams of light shot out. They were incomparably sharp, their power far exceeding Meng Chuan's Lightning Limit Draw, even when infused with Spirit Soul energy.

As these streams of light shot towards him, Meng Chuan sensed a potent, spherical aura approaching and naturally dodged ahead of time.

The stream of light pierced through a nearby large tree, blasting a hole through its trunk, then flew dozens of zhang further forward, exploding only after striking a rockery.

"Just a casual flick of a finger, and it's this terrifying. Is this a demon king?" Meng Chuan understood the gap between them with increasing clarity. He had actually dared to strike at his opponent — truly, only the ignorant were fearless!

"He dodged it?" The Poison Pond Demon King continued his pursuit, casually flicking another finger.

Finger after finger, streams of light shot out.

Each stream of light either blasted a dark, gaping hole in the ground or consecutively pierced through multiple layers of civilian housing walls, their power making Meng Chuan's heart tremble.

Fortunately, the distance between them was nearly a hundred zhang. Although Meng Chuan was desperately fleeing without looking back, he could clearly 'sense' the spherical streams of light approaching and naturally dodge them in advance.

"Hmph," the Poison Pond Demon King snorted. All five of his fingers simultaneously shot out streams of light. He no longer cared about conserving his demonic power, yet Meng Chuan remained incredibly elusive, as if he had 'eyes behind his head' and could dodge them ahead of time.

"A mere mortal who can easily kill great demon commanders. His burst of speed in that brief exchange with me was even faster than my own as a second-tier demon king. Although he's weak in other aspects, he's just a mortal... and yet this powerful. He's absolutely a peerless genius among mortals. For such a genius, the bounty is very high," the Poison Pond Demon King thought, highly interested in Meng Chuan.

Although divine demons were powerful, some newly advanced, weaker ones posed a negligible threat to the demon race.

In contrast, the potential of peerless geniuses among mortals was terrifying; after becoming divine demons, they held the promise of becoming formidable powers among divine demons. Thus, for anyone deemed a 'peerless genius,' the demon race offered immense bounties.

In the Poison Pond Demon King's view, this young human in front of him could fetch a substantial bounty.

"My movement technique isn't fast enough. Fine, for the sake of a genius, I'll occasionally use a forbidden art." Forbidden arts had relatively minor side effects if used for short periods. With a thought, the Poison Pond Demon King's demonic power suddenly erupted.

Meng Chuan sensed that the aura of the demon king behind him suddenly turned violent, and its speed surged, rapidly closing the distance between them.

"Not good."

Meng Chuan grew increasingly anxious.

The nearly hundred-zhang distance between them rapidly shrank: eighty zhang, sixty zhang, forty zhang... The speed of closure was incredibly fast.

With a "whoosh," Meng Chuan was incredibly fast while employing the divine demon forbidden art, sweeping past numerous residences, ruins, and rivers. But the demon king behind him, also using a forbidden art, was clearly even faster.

"Spirit Soul energy."

Meng Chuan unleashed the last remaining bit of his Spirit Soul energy.

His speed surged once more, and he struggled to widen the gap. But soon, his Spirit Soul energy was depleted, and the distance, barely extended to sixty zhang, began to shrink again.

"What should I do, what should I do?" Meng Chuan desperately fled.

Of course, he didn't want to die.

He carried the hopes of his family, and he hadn't yet fulfilled the vow he made at his mother's grave to become a divine demon! He hadn't even killed a single demon king! After so many years of cultivation, he harbored too many aspirations. How could he possibly be willing to die?

"Flee, flee, flee!" Meng Chuan's intense inner thought deepened the integration of his True Essence within his body by a fraction, forcing his speed to increase by another twenty percent.

According to legend.

The physical body possessed immense potential; what was displayed in ordinary combat was merely the tip of the iceberg of that potential. If an incredibly powerful divine demon were to control this body, the unleashed strength might be ten or even dozens of times greater.

However, after Meng Chuan's speed increased by twenty percent in this desperate situation, he reached his limit.

Thirty zhang, twenty zhang...

The distance grew shorter and shorter. Meng Chuan clearly sensed the aura behind him drawing nearer.

"Am I, Meng Chuan, going to die here? Die at the hands of a demon king?" At this moment, Meng Chuan felt a surge of desolate unwillingness, yet there was nothing he could do.