Chapter 1627: Moon Demon Slash (II)

The transition happened too fast. Neither the Nascent Soul cultivators near him nor the other Spirit Transformation experts noticed anything wrong. From their perspective, the red mist on his skin had simply begun to churn violently—a precursor to his display of true power. They were all very familiar with his techniques.

‘That woman is done for.’ ‘Try not to kill her; she’s a rare beauty.’

Some of the experts even sent lecherous voice transmissions to him. While they might not get the “first taste,” sharing the spoils was a tempting prospect. But in the next moment, a scene that was either bizarre or terrifying unfolded before their eyes.

As the red mist churned around him, the green-armored woman extended a slender finger and pointed forward. The black staff that had been locked with her blade let out a mournful wail and was knocked flying from the man’s hand. It vanished into the distance in a flash. Then, the moon-blade carved a straight path, instantly slashing across the man’s neck.

To the horror of everyone watching, the blade shifted its angle mid-strike, changing from a horizontal sweep to a vertical cleave.

Slash!

The sound was crisp and final. The man’s protective barrier, which was usually as tough as tempered steel, disintegrated into red light at the blade’s touch like it was made of paper. His body, which he had forged into the Night Yasha form, was split in half from top to bottom.

Crimson blood sprayed along the spinning edge of the blade, fanning out in a wide arc. Dark, red, green, and purple organs rained down upon the earth.

‘What… what just happened?’ ‘Squad Leader Feng… is dead?’ ‘What kind of power is this? How can it be so terrifying?’

Many only had time to form a single thought; they couldn’t even manage a cry of shock. Feng’s Three-Halberd Yasha Body was not yet complete, but it was still comparable to a minor Vajra body. Not even a Spirit Transformation expert’s magical treasure should have been able to cleave through it so easily.

Yet, before their eyes, he had been slain without even having time to scream. More horrifyingly, as the two halves of his body fell, no Nascent Soul emerged. A quick scan revealed that his Nascent Soul, located in his dantian, had also been cleaved in two. Its eyes were wide with a blank, uncomprehending stare, as if it hadn’t realized it had been cut until it was too late.

Mu Guyue’s combat style was as aggressive as fire, as unshakeable as a mountain, as swift as the wind, and as lethal as a lightning strike. Having launched a soul-based strike in secret, she gave no one time to suspect the nature of her attack. Her “Soul-Soaking Needle” had pierced his spirit, causing his soul to leak away through the puncture, and her blade had finished the job by sending him to the underworld.

The perfect internal and external strike had turned the man into a true ghost in an instant, sparing him the need for any further cultivation in the ghost arts.

Boom!

As the moon-blade continued its downward arc through the rain of blood, Mu Guyue didn’t even look at the result. She kicked off the void, her foot creating a sonic boom that blended with the sounds of the surrounding explosions. She charged forward like a demon lord, a blur of motion in the howling wind.

Her next target was not the lower-ranked cultivators nearby. In a war between two armies, one always prioritized high-value targets.

While Mu Guyue was clashing with Feng, a white-robed youth and his subordinates were frantically bombarding the array. Amidst the thunderous blasts, numerous cracks had appeared in the formation. The youth held a “mourning staff,” a cruel smile playing on his pale face.

He was very familiar with this situation. The fact that the array was cracking so soon meant the cultivators inside were weak and barely holding on. In his Divine Sense, he saw the green-armored woman clashing with Feng, but the other sectors of the wall were unguarded by Moji Dao Sect experts.

‘The Commander was right. Someone went out to ambush us, which means the array is currently…’

The youth had just reached a conclusion when his expression froze. In his Divine Sense, he felt a massive shock from Feng’s direction. Feng’s defenses had been shattered…

‘Is… is my sense wrong?’

Before the thought could even fully form, his vision blurred, and a green figure crashed toward him. She leaned forward, her long legs pumping in a sprinting motion. Because of her speed, the red plume on her helmet was pulled into a straight, horizontal line behind her. She had one knee bent and the other leg kicked out straight behind her. Hovering at her sides were two spinning, moon-shaped blades that radiated a lunar glow.

These were her moon-blades, which she had recalled after her initial strike. They were currently pressed against the armor on her elbows, spinning like wheels and helping her fly even faster through the air.

The Mocha Palace squads were only separated by dozens of li. For a Spirit Transformation expert—even a Golden Core cultivator—this distance could be crossed in an instant.

The white-robed youth was a late-stage Spirit Transformation expert. He practiced the “Earth Yin Impermanence Art,” a traditional, poisonous ghost technique. His corpse poison was something even experts of his own level found difficult to resist. However, he lacked Feng’s physical toughness and loathed close-quarters combat.

Despite the suddenness of the event, his Divine Sense had already caught the rain of blood from Feng’s direction. Even if he didn’t have time to confirm Feng’s death, the destruction of his body was an undeniable fact.

“Oh no!”

The youth was terrified. He hadn’t expected this woman to be able to kill his comrade in a single exchange. He circulated his power, turning his body into a white blur that drifted backward at high speed, abandoning his subordinates in his haste to escape. Simultaneously, his mourning staff let out a piercing shriek, creating multiple layers of white phantoms to block her approach.

These phantoms were “Impermanence Ghosts” with long, red tongues. They swarmed the approaching shadow. These ghosts carried corpse poison; if they touched an enemy, they would erode their strength while pinning them down with their wailing cries until the victim was reduced to a pile of glowing green ash.

Seeing the swarm of ghosts between him and the woman, the youth finally breathed a sigh of relief.

‘She’s a terrifying physical cultivator!’ he deduced. The outcome of the previous clash had shocked him; this woman could apparently fight at a level at least two minor realms above her own. Feng’s true strength was comparable to the late stage, which meant this woman was at the peak of Spirit Transformation, or perhaps even stronger…

Just as he reached this conclusion, his retreating body suddenly jerked and stiffened.

In her charge, Mu Guyue had unleashed her “Soul-Splitting Slash.” While less subtle than the Soul-Soaking Needle, it was much faster—perfect for a frontal assault. While it was more likely to be noticed, Mu Guyue’s current attack was already warping the surrounding space with its raw power.

The Soul-Splitting Slash was incredibly fast, vanishing into the youth’s crown before he even realized it. Mu Guyue immediately felt that this man’s cultivation was higher and his soul much stronger than Feng’s. Her strike failed to shatter his spirit, but it caused his three hun and seven po to shake violently, creating overlapping, blurred shadows.

But that was enough. It was just like Li Yan’s “Soul-Tethering” technique; often, all one needed was that split second of vulnerability to turn the tide.

Mu Guyue spread her elbows. The moon-blades guarding her sides whistled forward, growing in size instantly until they were as large as a grown man. Demonic energy erupted from the blades, a rolling black mist that immediately obscured that part of the battlefield, swallowing both her and the retreating youth.

Demonic energy was a unique type of power, versatile in both offense and defense. Just as magical power could create a protective barrier, so too could demonic energy. It was the primary source of the Black Demon Clan’s strength and the reason they had been so formidable. Compared to normal spiritual energy, demonic energy was far more overbearing.

The barrier of demonic energy was something that even Spirit Transformation experts would find difficult to see through without specialized techniques. Within the churning mist, the white-robed youth dropped his staff and clutched his head. His face twisted in agony, and a piercing scream erupted from his throat, though the sound was muffled by the mist.

Seeing the youth incapacitated, the Impermanence Ghosts he had summoned began to falter. Mu Guyue slid beneath the ghosts with a graceful motion. The youth’s spirit was severely damaged; his soul was a chaotic mess. If someone were to give him a soul-healing pill now and provide long-term care, he might recover. Otherwise, after this agonizing experience, his soul would remain fragmented, and his cultivation would never advance again.

This was why soul cultivators were so feared. Even if you survived their attack, you were often left with a lifelong disability.

Chsh, chsh, chsh!

Several crisp sounds echoed within the mist, and the youth’s screams stopped abruptly. A moment later, a figure flickered and vanished. The youth was dead, his severed body falling to the ground. The demonic energy shrank into a black dot and vanished into Mu Guyue’s body as she reappeared.

“She’s a Demon!” “Do not fight her directly! The Demon Race’s bodies might be immune to corpse poison and ghost energy!” “How did a Demon cultivator end up in the Moji Dao Sect?” “Careful… retreat and surround her!”

Shouts rang out from the remaining Spirit Transformation experts. Mu Guyue was already closing in on a seductive-looking woman. The woman was leading her subordinates in a frantic retreat, her eyes filled with terror.

This green-armored Demon general was too savage. She was clearly an elite among elites. In just two exchanges, she had slain two squad leaders, and she herself was only a mid-stage Spirit Transformation expert.

‘She’s a Demon… a true human-shaped demonic beast!’ In the woman’s eyes, Mu Guyue seemed to rely entirely on her unbelievably powerful physical body to tear through her enemies. The impact was overwhelming. Furthermore, those moon-blades were incredibly eerie; the demonic energy they released seemed capable of invading one’s Sea of Consciousness. Both Feng and the youth had stiffened for a second before being cut down, clearly affected by something.

The woman surmised that the demonic energy had been hidden well during the attack on Feng, but the youth’s higher cultivation had forced Mu Guyue to use more of it, revealing her secret. As she retreated, she moved toward another Spirit Transformation expert.

In their retreat, the remaining four experts reached a silent agreement to converge on a single point and kill the green-armored woman together. They were only dozens of li apart, a distance they could cross in a heartbeat. But the shock of the white-robed youth’s death had caused a momentary lapse in their coordination.

As a result, Mu Guyue reached the seductive woman just as she began her flight.