As surging flames illuminated the entire mountaintop, Ji Yuan's body was instantly suffused with abundant sword intent.
He had, at some unknown time, put away his long whip. His entire being was now like the long sword in his hand, filled with sharp, piercing intent.
As Li Buwei decisively struck, Ji Yuan also unleashed his sword without hesitation. The sword intent flowing within him poured into the fleeting sword energy.
*Puff!!!*
With a strange sound, a heavy splash of blood was bisected. With lightning speed, it landed on Hong Lie's back!
Instantly, a terrifying wound, deep enough to see bone, appeared. Sword energy crisscrossed the wound, yet not a drop of blood fell.
Hong Lie threw a punch, carrying endless bloody light, pushing the fire monkey in front of him several feet away. Only then did he slowly turn, a sneering smile on his face as he looked at the young Daoist behind him.
"Blood Sea... Manifest!"
He whispered, and the sound of surging waves suddenly emanated from within his body.
In just two or three breaths, countless drops of blood seeped from his pores, then all gathered together, forming a stream that flowed beside him.
A pungent, nauseating smell of blood immediately spread. Just by smelling it, one felt dizzy and disoriented.
Everyone quickly held their breath. Without a second thought, they knew this bloody smell carried poison.
No, to be precise, it was the opponent's blood that contained astonishing toxicity!
Ji Yuan raised an eyebrow. His wrist turned, and several streams of sword energy shot out, breaking through the heavy bloody light. In an instant, they appeared before the opponent.
However, the blood flowing around Hong Lie seemed to possess sentience. With a swell, it swallowed all the sword energy!
The sword energy erupted within the blood but could not break free. It could only be eroded by the bloody light, finally collapsing with a bang and transforming into pure spiritual energy that was rapidly assimilated.
"You like to devour so much? Then I'll let you devour to your heart's content!"
A sharp light flashed in Ji Yuan's eyes. Seeing the opponent still seemed unsatisfied, he let out a cold snort.
His arm became a blur of afterimages. Every swing unleashed fierce sword energy, instantly forming a dense net of sword shadows.
A continuous stream of sword energy shot forth, yet Hong Lie's face showed no sign of panic. Instead, his eyes were full of anticipation.
Previously, just one strand of sword energy, after being swallowed by the blood flow, had provided him with pure spiritual energy that increased his cultivation by a sliver, equivalent to seven or eight days of strenuous breathing.
At this moment, he wished he could devour it directly. Naturally, the more sword energy, the better.
However, Hong Lie's expression soon changed. The blood flow surrounding him suddenly showed signs of collapse.
Without hesitation, he slammed his palm heavily on his chest. As he coughed up blood, blood beads constantly seeped from his entire body, then all merged into the blood flow beside him.
The small stream of blood swelled by several tenths within a few breaths, finally showing a slight sign of a blood river surging.
If it were an ordinary person, releasing so much blood would have already turned them into a dried husk. Their body wouldn't even contain that much blood to squander.
But Hong Lie was different. Originating from the Blood Fiend Hall, he cultivated the sect's unique demonic art. His internal essence blood was extremely potent, and his ordinary blood was immeasurably abundant.
Yet, no matter how he tried, he could not change the tendency of the blood river beside him to collapse. After devouring thirty to forty strands of sword energy, it was already occupied by pure white light.
"Ten Thousand Swords Return to One!"
Ji Yuan whispered. This was the first time he had unintentionally uttered the name of the technique he was using.
Beside him, Zhou Lianying was stunned. She instinctively looked towards the blood river and saw the crisscrossing sword energy within it rapidly fusing.
As many as forty strands of sword energy rapidly merged with each other. In just four or five breaths, only one remained, a sword energy condensed to its extreme.
The white light pierced through the thick blood. As soon as it appeared, it caused the blood river to collapse. Then, with a flash, it descended under Hong Lie's horrified gaze.
*Puff!!!*
With a strange sound, although no blood splashed, a right arm shot into the sky.
Under the threat of life and death, Hong Lie finally reacted. He narrowly dodged to the side, otherwise, it would not have been an arm that was severed, but his chest.
At the same time, seeing Hong Lie severely injured and the blood river beside him collapsed, the fire monkey, which had been waiting for an opportunity, immediately moved to deliver a fatal blow.
But just as it was about to advance, a white light shone on its face. Looking over, it saw that sword energy had turned in the air and was now shooting towards it.
Upon seeing this, the fire monkey's face drastically changed. Although it cultivated both body and spirit, it did not feel that its physical body alone could withstand this strand of sword energy.
On the other side, Ji Yuan glanced at Hong Lie, who was exerting all his might to resist dozens of sword energies condensed into one, and then withdrew his gaze.
He then looked at Hong Lie in front of him, seeing him gritting his teeth against the severe pain. Though his forehead was covered in cold sweat, he was still forming hand seals with one hand.
Instantly, the collapsed blood river beside him regrouped. Although its volume had shrunk significantly, the power contained within it had become much more potent.
Ji Yuan's mind suddenly moved. Instead of immediately striking with his sword, he opened his mouth and spat out a stream of light. As the light dispersed, it revealed the Profound Heaven Spirit Devouring Pagoda.
As soon as this pagoda appeared, even Ji Yuan was taken aback. He saw that the originally sky-blue pagoda body was now covered with a dense, vibrant green life force.
Within one of its levels, black and green blood clots had appeared, containing immense spirituality.
He immediately had some suspicions in his heart, but now was not the time to dwell on these matters. After a brief moment of stunned surprise, he immediately cast several streams of spiritual energy.
As pure spiritual energy was injected, the Profound Heaven Spirit Devouring Pagoda immediately flew out, casting wisps of brilliance in mid-air. With a gentle sweep, it began to rapidly devour the power within the blood river.
In just a moment, Hong Lie could feel that the life force in the blood river had suddenly decreased by one or two tenths!
He gritted his teeth, enduring the severe pain of his severed arm, and poured spiritual energy into the blood river without regard for consumption. Only then did he barely manage to stabilize the life force within it, but it was still inevitably being devoured bit by bit by the small pagoda in mid-air.
However, compared to before, the speed of devouring had undoubtedly slowed down considerably.
Hong Lie gritted his teeth fiercely. With a thought, he manipulated the blood river to surge, splashing layer upon layer towards the small pagoda in mid-air, intending to use its murky power to erode this extraordinary magic treasure.
However, upon seeing this, a smile suddenly appeared on Ji Yuan's face.
He released his control and fully activated the power of the Profound Heaven Spirit Devouring Pagoda. A vortex appeared at the bottom of the pagoda, its center transforming into a dark opening, releasing a powerful spirit-devouring force.
In a moment, Hong Lie's controlled blood river surged forward but was swallowed by the bottom of the pagoda, making it seem as if he had deliberately sent the blood river into it.
At this moment, even though he had reacted, no matter how his internal spiritual energy surged, he could not pull the blood river back. He could only watch as it was continuously devoured.
Hong Lie even wanted to sever a portion of the blood river to preserve the rest, but found that his own spiritual energy poured out like a bursting dam, utterly beyond his control.
In just over ten breaths, more than half of the blood river had been devoured, and even two or three tenths of his internal spiritual energy had been poured out, swallowed by the mere inches-sized pagoda along with the blood river.
Hong Lie panicked. This was the first time he had felt fear since entering the arena.
Even when seizing jade tokens amongst dozens of cultivators, he had still been confident. At worst, he would expose his identity as a demonic cultivator. With the Blood Fiend Hall's techniques he cultivated, he was not afraid of being besieged.
But at this moment, he was truly panicked, his heart filled with dread.
No matter what he did, he could not stop the devouring power of that small pagoda. He could only watch as the blood river, the foundation of his great Dao, and his internal spiritual energy were continuously devoured.
Even as more than half of the blood river and his spiritual energy were devoured, the countless life force accumulated within him was also drawn by this power and began to flow out uncontrollably.
From wisps at first, then flowing like a small stream after a few breaths, and now like a river surging.
In just over ten breaths, more than half of the life force, which concerned his own Dao foundation and life, had been forcibly extracted.
At this point, Hong Lie's blood river and internal spiritual energy had been completely devoured, leaving not a trace behind!
"Devil! You are the true demonic cultivator!"
He yelled uncontrollably, his voice trembling.
As a person of the demonic path, feared by ordinary cultivators, Hong Lie collapsed in fear, babbling madly.
The state of mind of demonic cultivators was inherently much weaker than that of normal cultivators. The rapid increase in cultivation and the means of seizing others' cultivation had led to their rapid growth.
This resulted in insufficient mental cultivation. Although most demonic cultivators were obsessed, holding firmly to a certain belief, their outer appearance of strength was merely an illusion; they were actually fragile within.
Once they experienced a great blow, the defect of insufficient mental cultivation would be exposed.
Just like now, Hong Lie watched as the foundation of his great Dao, his internal spiritual energy, and his life force were continuously devoured, yet he was utterly powerless to stop it, unable to even move a finger.
This feeling of watching himself walk step by step towards death immediately shattered his already flawed state of mind.
After a roar of anger, his head hung down listlessly. There was nothing left within him. Only his three souls and seven spirits were slowly dissipating, summoned by an unseen force, entering the cycle of reincarnation.
"I didn't expect you to be a demonic cultivator too!"
After Hong Lie's death, the fire monkey finally dispersed the sword energy in front of it and spoke with a grave expression.
Although Ji Yuan's body did not surge with demonic energy, and the techniques he used exuded an aura of orthodox cultivation, such an act of devouring others' life force and spiritual energy was no different from the demonic path.
Sometimes, the standard for judging whether a cultivator was of the demonic path was not necessarily whether they cultivated demonic techniques.
Instead, it was whether the methods they employed violated the principles of the righteous path.
For example, devouring others' life force and cultivation was a genuine demonic method!
Not to mention, being able to shatter the mental state of a demonic cultivator and call someone a devil was hardly the act of an orthodox cultivator.
"Demonic path or righteous path, who is to say?"
Ji Yuan's brow furrowed slightly. He asked unconsciously, his state of mind remarkably calm, not a ripple stirring.