Three people, three spirit beasts, plus one puppet—barely equivalent to seven Nascent Soul cultivators. As for Stone, Mo Tiange had already disregarded it. While Stone was impervious to spells, it had not yet achieved human transformation and might never do so; it was impossible for it to harm these demon cultivators.
On the other side, after Old Hei issued the kill order, he cast them a cold glance and departed without a shred of hesitation, taking several demon cultivators with him. The torrent of low-rank sea beasts surging past had no intention of staying either, charging forward as if they were nothing. They left behind over a dozen demon cultivators, who stood in a tense, sword-drawn standoff.
Nie Wushang struck first. Having progressed from martial cultivator to demonic cultivator and merged the two paths, her combat style was direct and ferocious. The demonic clouds swirling around her grew denser, dark as dripping ink, as she charged headlong toward the demon cultivators.
*Boom! Boom! Boom!* Each punch carried the force to split rocks and shatter mountains, along with a strange, corrosive aura. The demon cultivators at the front were caught off guard, struck squarely and sent flying like kites with severed strings.
Seeing this, the demon cultivators who had initially looked down on them grew somewhat tense. Two Ninth Rank and one Eighth Rank cultivator simultaneously flew out, intending to surround Nie Wushang.
Mo Tiange snorted coldly. With a sweep of her Heaven and Earth Fan, a dragon's roar echoed as the Azure Dragon manifested, spewing golden lightning as it pounced on one of the Ninth Rank demon cultivators, hurling him far away from Nie Wushang.
The appearance of the Azure Dragon startled the demon cultivators. "Divine Monarch? This is the aura of a Divine Monarch!"
The demon cultivators were thrown into panic. How could a human possess the aura of a Divine Monarch? Divine Monarchs had vanished from the human realm! Could it be true, as the Qilins of the Xumi Sea said, that the descendants of the Divine Monarchs had appeared in the world? But what did that have to do with this human cultivator? Or had her magical treasure been obtained by slaying a Divine Monarch...
Before they could figure it out, they suddenly saw the seawater around the small island begin to boil, surging toward the opposite side.
Xiaofan was currently in his post-transformation appearance: a youth with a plain face, his bluish-grey robes flapping violently in the fierce sea wind. At first glance, he seemed unremarkable, but upon closer inspection, one would find his entire body suffused with a vast, sacred spiritual energy, making him as transparent as the purest water, clean and free of any impurities.
His eyes were closed, his palms pressed together as he formed hand seals. A sphere of pure, water-blue spiritual energy appeared between his fingers, gradually swelling. As this sphere of energy manifested, the surrounding waves seemed to be controlled by a mysterious force; even the water-attributed demon cultivators among them could no longer draw water spiritual qi from it.
Once the energy had grown to a certain degree, he opened his eyes and pointed forward with an unremarkable gesture. The shadow of a tortoise-snake hybrid suddenly appeared, casting a cold glance at the numerous demon cultivators. Instantly, the seawater churned, raising a colossal wave a hundred *zhang* high that came crashing down upon them.
*Crash!* The immense force swept over them. Most demon cultivators, stunned, forgot to move and were sent tumbling. However, Xiaofan had only recently advanced in rank, and the Xuanwu phantom he summoned was not particularly powerful. Moreover, its force was distributed among the many demon cultivators, causing them only momentary discomfort.
Yet, the appearance of the Xuanwu phantom drove these demon cultivators into a frenzy.
"Divine Monarch Xuanwu! That's Divine Monarch Xuanwu!" one demon cultivator shouted loudly.
"Is that all it takes to amaze you?" Feifei snorted and revealed his true form.
Among the spirit beasts, he was the earliest to obtain the breath of a Divine Beast, and what he received was the Divine Beast's true essence. When he deliberately released it, the White Tiger's breath surging through his entire body was intensely potent.
Enveloped in golden light, in the blink of an eye, a White Tiger phantom descended, overlapping with his true form.
"Hah!" With a sharp cry, the White Tiger phantom grew clearer, and the White Tiger's breath grew stronger.
Suddenly, he charged forward, his four paws treading evenly on air, leaving behind a trail of White Tiger paw prints.
With the White Tiger phantom upon him, Feifei was like a creature of bronze head and iron arms, unceremoniously ramming his way through. Demon cultivators with slightly lower cultivation were sent flying by his impact.
Although he was the last to advance to Eighth Rank, his strength had increased the fastest after doing so.
At this moment, Xiaohuo also revealed her true form, spewing forth Vermilion Bird flames that blazed forward.
Compared to Xiaofan and Feifei, who directly obtained the Divine Beast's breath, Xiaohuo was somewhat weaker. Her Vermilion Bird breath came from Xiaofeng, and she herself was not a descendant of the Phoenix, so her bloodline evolution was not as complete as Xiaofeng's. But she had her own advantages: she had lived in the Void Heaven Realm the longest, consumed the most spiritual herbs, and her body was the most resilient.
The demon cultivators were already numb. First the Azure Dragon, then the Xuanwu, followed by the White Tiger and the Vermilion Bird—how could there be so many auras of Divine Monarchs? Who exactly were these people?
Should they fight back? Their instinctive reverence for Divine Monarchs made it impossible for them to retaliate without restraint.
And at that moment, a brilliant light suddenly lit up the distant horizon. Against the backdrop of blue sky and white clouds, the flames were especially distinct. A phoenix's cry carried from afar.
"Phoenix!" Watching the fiery bird approach, a demon cultivator exclaimed involuntarily.
The gazes of all the demon cultivators turned in that direction.
"Xiaofeng!" Mo Tiange watched as Xiaofeng gracefully flew closer, casting a haughty, cold gaze upon these demon cultivators.
Although she was only Eighth Rank, and Ninth Rank demon cultivators were not uncommon among them, under the weight of her gaze, the demon cultivators couldn't help but look upon her with reverence.
After a moment of silence, one demon cultivator mustered his courage and spoke up, "May I ask if you are a Divine Monarch, Your Excellency?"
Flames danced around her body as Xiaofeng radiated an aura of noble sanctity. She replied in a faint tone, "This seat is a descendant of the Divine Monarch."
"Divine Monarch! It really is a Divine Monarch!" The demon cultivators immediately grew restless.
"Calm down! Calm down!" another demon cultivator shouted loudly. "Descendants of Divine Monarchs have always existed in this world; what's so strange about that? If they were truly Divine Monarchs, why would they be with humans and oppose us demon cultivators? Divine Monarchs belong to us, not to humans!"
Hearing this, the restlessness among the demon cultivators quickly subsided. They began whispering among themselves.
"But such an aura—how could it not be a Divine Monarch? We demon cultivators have an innate instinct; we couldn't possibly mistake a Divine Monarch's aura."
"That may be true, but what Brother Wu says also makes sense. How could a Divine Monarch ignore us and side with humans?"
"Exactly! In my opinion, these humans must have used some method to steal the aura left behind by Divine Monarchs from somewhere..."
"Impossible! If there really were remnants of a Divine Monarch's aura, why wouldn't we demon cultivators know about it, yet humans managed to benefit? And they don't possess just one or two types of Divine Monarch aura, but four! What possible reason could account for such a coincidence?"
"If it's not a coincidence, that only proves they are scheming with malicious intent!"
"...Could they be from the Xumi Sea? The Xumi Sea's royal lineage claims to be descendants of the Qilin Divine Monarch. Add them to these people, wouldn't that make all Five Elemental Divine Monarchs present?"
"So that's it! The Xumi Sea instigated this war among the sea clans with ulterior motives from the start!"
"Then what about these Divine Monarch auras? And what about this Divine Monarch Excellency? These things can't be faked!"
"..."
"..."
The dozen or so demon cultivators could no longer maintain their composure. As soon as Xiaofeng appeared, they began chattering noisily, arguing among themselves first.
Dao Lord Lingxi glanced at them with some surprise, then transmitted his voice in a low tone, "Junior Sister Qingwei, what do you make of this..."
"Since Xiaofeng has come, it means Senior Brother is safe," Mo Tiange replied. "It's best if these demon cultivators fall into disorder without a fight. That leader, Fellow Daoist Old Hei, is not easy to deal with. Back when we escaped from the Guixu Sea Immortal Palace together, he had two companions, one of whom was no weaker than him. Now that he's advanced to Tenth Rank, it's likely that the other has as well..."
Mo Tiange paused, then continued, "So the reason for their southern invasion is that they've had a falling out with the Xumi Sea. In that case, I have an idea!"
She flipped her wrist, and a palm-sized, shimmering shell appeared in her hand. The shell seemed to contain boundless spiritual energy and some profound spells. Mo Tiange raised it and blew gently. A strange, mournful sound, as if echoing from the depths of the soul, spread across the entire sea region.
As soon as this sound rang out, the demon cultivators' arguments abruptly ceased. After a long moment, one demon cultivator shouted, "They really are from the Xumi Sea!"
As soon as these words fell, the demon cultivators no longer held back out of reverence for Xiaofeng, the Divine Monarch descendant. They swarmed forward in a frenzy.
"Junior Sister Qingwei..." Dao Lord Lingxi was at a loss for words at this sudden turn.
"We were going to fight sooner or later anyway. Let's finish them off first!" Throwing out these eight words, Mo Tiange unleashed the Heavenly Thunder Technique. A net of lightning descended from the sky.
Instantly, chaos erupted on the small island as humans and demons clashed fiercely.
At the edge of the Southern Sea, an army of sea clans numbering in the tens of thousands stood ready in strict formation.
At their head was Third Princess Xuanmiao of the Southern Sea. She no longer resembled Jin Jing from the Six Paths Palace. Instead, she appeared as a maiden of seventeen or eighteen, clad in a water-blue palace gown, with small Qilin horns on her forehead—mysterious, noble, and aloof.
Not far beside her were Xuanri and Xuanyue, while behind her, Dieyi and Ni Qi stood guard. Jing Hu, Jing Tao, and other Tenth Rank demon cultivators were positioned further back, directing the numerous sea clans.
"Report!" From afar, an Eighth Rank demon cultivator flew over swiftly, kneeling on one knee before Xuanmiao. "Reporting to Third Princess, the Guixu Sea army is still one day's journey away."
Xuanmiao narrowed her phoenix-like eyes and asked in a deep voice, "How many above Eighth Rank?"
"Replying to Third Princess, according to scout reports: nine at Tenth Rank, over twenty at Ninth Rank, and approximately fifty or sixty at Eighth Rank."
Hearing these numbers, Dieyi behind Xuanmiao said softly, "The Guixu Sea has mobilized more than half of its high-rank demon cultivators. It seems they're determined to give us a hard time this time."
Xuanmiao smiled mockingly. "And they think this is enough to give us a hard time? The Guixu Sea looks down on us too much! In terms of high-rank demon cultivators, we are no fewer than they are, and we are waiting at our ease while they are weary from travel. They really aren't very clever."
"Naturally," Dieyi said with a cold expression, though her words were flattering. "They are merely ordinary demon cultivators; how could they compare to the noble bloodline of the royal lineage? Moreover, Third Princess is now a true Divine Monarch."
Xuanmiao smiled faintly, but then her smile abruptly froze. She took out a shell from her bosom. This shell shimmered with light, surrounded by spiritual energy, and now it inexplicably vibrated, emitting a mournful, humming sound.
"Report!" Another Eighth Rank demon cultivator flew over swiftly, kneeling before Xuanmiao. "Reporting to Third Princess, a group of humans has pinned down roughly half of the demon cultivators. They possess the auras of the other four Divine Beasts. The Guixu Sea army has halted its advance ahead."
"It's them?" Third Princess pondered briefly, then raised her hand. "Pass the order: the army shall advance and meet the enemy head-on to cut them down!"