Chapter 879: Black Sky Demon

“Dark Demon…”

Zhou Yuan’s gaze narrowed as he looked at the black shadow standing behind Han Yuan. The chilling aura of slaughter emanating from it made even him feel shivers.

The Sword Pellet floated before Zhou Yuan, its sword light spreading out, transforming into an incomparably sharp sword shadow. In the next instant, the sword shadow shot out like lightning, aimed directly at Han Yuan.

Han Yuan stood motionless in the air. When the sword shadow was only about a foot from his face, a black scythe suddenly tore through the air, fiercely striking the sword shadow. The sword light shattered instantly, and the Sword Pellet vibrated, shooting back.

As the Sword Pellet flew back, the Dark Demon vanished from its spot. Zhou Yuan took a diagonal step at that moment. A piercing sound of air being torn came from behind him as the scythe’s shadow sliced past his body, leaving a gash in the very air.

The scythe’s attack missed, but its light shifted again, carrying an aura of slaughter and carving an incredibly tricky trajectory directly towards Zhou Yuan’s neck. Zhou Yuan’s brow furrowed slightly. The Dark Demon’s speed was astonishing; he wondered what kind of entity it was. However, facing the tearing scythe light, he remained calm. His five fingers suddenly clenched, and snowy white hairs emerged, covering his fist like a gauntlet.

He punched out, colliding with the scythe’s light. Ripples spread through the void. The instant they clashed, Zhou Yuan clearly felt a violent surge of slaughter energy transmitting from the scythe, attempting to invade and rampage within his body.

However, before that violent slaughter energy could spread, the Heaven Suppressing Dragon Qi within Zhou Yuan surged out, rapidly extinguishing it. This exchange, however, made Zhou Yuan understand the Dark Demon's formidable nature. This entity possessed almost all of Han Yuan's Genesis Qi strength, and combined with its innate violent slaughter, its combat power even surpassed Han Yuan himself.

However, after summoning the Dark Demon, Han Yuan's own Genesis Qi was depleted, preventing him from participating in the battle. Otherwise, Zhou Yuan would now be caught in a difficult one-versus-two situation.

The Dark Demon's figure was like a ghost. The scythe in its hand transformed into countless lights, slashing at Zhou Yuan like an overwhelming tide. Clang! Clang!

In the following seconds, Zhou Yuan and the Dark Demon exchanged dozens of lightning-fast blows. With each clash, Zhou Yuan would retreat half a step. The ferocity of the Dark Demon's combat power was such that even he found himself slightly at a disadvantage. It was no wonder Han Yuan considered this his ultimate trump card.

However, although the situation seemed to favor the opponent, Zhou Yuan's expression remained as calm as an ancient well. While the Dark Demon was indeed fierce, it ultimately couldn't possess the same battle awareness or grasp of changing situations as a human.

There was another forceful collision, but this time, Zhou Yuan's eyes flashed. Instead of retreating, he stepped forward, his figure eerily closing in on the Dark Demon. He appeared in a subtle blind spot of the scythe's swing. At the same time, he clenched his palm, and the Sword Pellet transformed into a sword light in his hand.

Zhou Yuan's figure reappeared dozens of steps away, while the sword light had directly pierced through the Dark Demon's chest. Outside, a clamor instantly arose in the surroundings. Had the Dark Demon, which Han Yuan had painstakingly conjured, been dealt with so easily?

However, despite successfully landing a blow, Zhou Yuan showed no joy in his eyes. Instead, a hint of doubt flashed across them, because he found that the Dark Demon, pierced by his sword, still had a formidable presence with no signs of weakening.

In mid-air, Han Yuan smiled faintly. "Lord Zhou Yuan, your Sword Pellet technique is indeed incomparably sharp, but unfortunately, it likely won't have much effect on my Dark Demon."

Zhou Yuan's brow furrowed at this. He stared intently at the Dark Demon. After a moment, his heart suddenly stirred, for he noticed that beneath the massive Genesis Qi fluctuations enveloping the Dark Demon, there was faintly a trace of spirit energy emanating.

"This Dark Demon, its core is actually a spirit, driving Genesis Qi?" Zhou Yuan's eyes widened in surprise. No wonder his previous sword strike didn't have much effect. The core of this Dark Demon was some kind of spirit or beast soul, and pure Genesis Qi attacks were inherently less effective against spirit-based entities.

Therefore, unless its inner spirit core was directly destroyed, no matter how Zhou Yuan attacked, it would quickly recover. In the long run, Zhou Yuan would be exhausted to death by it. To destroy the spirit core, one had to attack with spirit energy, but pure spirit energy struggled to break through its external Genesis Qi defense.

This was what made the Dark Demon so tricky. But as Zhou Yuan's thoughts raced, a violent aura, like a storm, surged from ahead. The Dark Demon's tall figure cast a shadow over Zhou Yuan. Its black scythe, carrying an aura of slaughter, tore through the void and savagely slashed down at Zhou Yuan.

Zhou Yuan rapidly retreated. Boom! Boom! Deep gashes appeared on the ground, torn by the Dark Demon's scythe. Its offensive was ferocious.

Roar! Roar! As its offensive grew increasingly frenzied, the Dark Demon let out a piercing shriek towards the sky, sucking in the Genesis Qi from the surroundings. Its body instantly grew larger, and its attacks became even more terrifying, continuously slashing at Zhou Yuan.

Thus, in the arena, Zhou Yuan appeared to be at an absolute disadvantage.

Outside, at the Fire Pavilion, Zuo Ya couldn't help but sneer upon seeing this. She said, "I thought Zhou Yuan had great abilities, but he's been forced into such a sorry state by Han Yuan..." Zhu Lian, however, shook his head and said, "It's Lord Han Yuan who has hidden his strength too deeply. This Dark Demon technique of his, I've never seen him use it before. It's extremely tricky and troublesome. Let alone Zhou Yuan, even Senior Brother Lu Xiao would probably be entangled for a while."

Zuo Ya pouted and said, "If Zhou Yuan is really stopped here by Han Yuan, then it will truly be a joke."

At the Wind Pavilion, Yi Qiushui, Ye Bingling, and others watched the battle on the plaza with solemn expressions. They couldn't help but sigh at Han Yuan's hidden strength, acknowledging that none of the four pavilion masters were simple individuals.

Although Zhou Yuan seemed to be at a disadvantage, the two women did not show much worry, as they also had confidence in Zhou Yuan. They didn't believe that Zhou Yuan would truly be stopped here by Han Yuan.

The black scythe slashed down, and a deep fissure spread across the ground, sending dust billowing. Zhou Yuan's feet scraped the ground as he shot backward.

However, the Dark Demon was even faster, appearing directly behind him. The scythe's shadow tore through the void and savagely slashed down towards Zhou Yuan's head.

At this moment, a sharp glint appeared in Zhou Yuan's eyes. On his palm, snowy white hairs surged out, swiftly turning completely black. He directly grabbed the blade with his palm. The blade and the black hairs rubbed fiercely against each other, producing a piercing screeching sound.

"Hmph!" In the sky, Han Yuan snorted coldly upon seeing this. The scythe was permeated with venom; the longer the contact, the deeper the poison's erosion.

Black mist rapidly spread on Zhou Yuan's arm, but his expression remained calm. He suddenly flicked his sleeve at that moment, and a dazzling sword light shot out, once again piercing through the Dark Demon's body.

"Useless!" Han Yuan's voice was indifferent. "Zhou Yuan, it seems you're going to lose this time."

For this attack, Zhou Yuan had directly endured the poison's erosion. At this moment, black energy could be seen flowing within his arm. Once the poison spread, Zhou Yuan would be unable to tend to himself, losing all combat ability.

"That may not be the case," Zhou Yuan's voice resounded at this moment.

Han Yuan's brow furrowed, but in the next instant, he suddenly perceived something and abruptly looked at the sword light that had pierced the Dark Demon's body. At this moment, the sword light gradually shattered, revealing a faint, lantern-like phantom within it.

And inside the lantern, a roaring flame was burning. That was... "Soulflame?!" Han Yuan's expression drastically changed.

Zhou Yuan had actually hidden a Soulflame within the sword light, intending to send it inside to destroy the Dark Demon's spirit core. "Truly cunning!" Han Yuan's hands swiftly formed seals. Inside the Dark Demon, boundless black poisonous mist suddenly surged out, rushing towards the Soulflame.

"However, I already knew you possessed an advanced-stage spirit. With your initial-stage Soulflame, destroying the Dark Demon's core might not be enough!" Han Yuan's eyes darkened. Since an advanced-stage spirit could condense Soulflame, how could he not have made preparations?

The black poisonous mist hidden within the Dark Demon was sufficient to counter an initial-stage Soulflame!

Zhou Yuan also noticed the surging black poisonous mist. He shook his head without saying much, only a soft whisper escaping his lips: "Soul Lantern Technique!"

The instant his voice fell, a roaring Soulflame suddenly erupted from within the lantern, like a fire serpent hissing, directly colliding with the boundless black poisonous mist. As the Soulflame blazed, the poisonous mist was instantly incinerated completely.

Han Yuan's pupils sharply contracted, and a chill ran through him. He discovered that Zhou Yuan's Soulflame was far more potent than that of a typical initial-stage advanced spirit.

The Soulflame fire serpent darted out like lightning, directly coiling around a certain spot within the Dark Demon's body. As invisible flames rose, the spirit core residing there instantly vanished into thin air. The Dark Demon let out a piercing shriek, and black mist furiously surged from its body. In just a few seconds, it turned into a pile of black ashes.

Poof! With the Dark Demon destroyed, Han Yuan, who was connected to it, immediately spat out a mouthful of blood. The next moment, his figure hastily shot backward.

However, he had only retreated a few steps before he was forced to stop. Behind him, a sword shadow pressed against his back, its sharp sword qi piercing tiny drops of blood from his back. Blood began to drip. That sharp chill penetrated deep into his body.

On the plaza, Zhou Yuan completely resolved the poison on his arm, then shook his hand and calmly stared at Han Yuan in mid-air.

He felt quite satisfied with this counterattack. He had only used the Demon Cleansing Sword Pellet Technique and the Soul Lantern Technique to break Han Yuan's ultimate move, and his Genesis Qi consumption was not significant.

In mid-air, Han Yuan's expression showed some reluctance, but he eventually despaired. He hadn't expected his trump card, hidden for so long, to be defeated even before he met Lu Xiao... This Wind Pavilion Master truly was not simple.

Han Yuan wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth and slowly descended under countless gazes, saying with some difficulty, "Lord Zhou Yuan, truly impressive methods. I have lost."

Zhou Yuan waved his sleeve, and the sword shadow against Han Yuan's back dissipated. A Sword Pellet shot back towards Zhou Yuan; he opened his mouth and swallowed it, then cupped his fist and smiled.

"Lord Han Yuan, thank you for the concession."

In the competition for the Chief Pavilion Master, Zhou Yuan secured the first round.