As descendants of the Wangshu family, Murong Lian naturally had his own divine weapon of a musical cultivator as well. He simply had never liked it, and therefore almost never summoned it.
But now, resting against his waist was a divine huqin with a dragon-scale leather covering. Meeting Gu Mang’s gaze, Murong Lian glared at him.
“What are you looking at? Stop staring! And don’t you dare laugh!”
“…”
Gu Mang did not laugh.
He simply had not expected that Murong Lian also possessed such a divine weapon, one capable of shattering the three armies with a single person’s music.
Murong Lian raised his hand and drew across the full string.
The sound of the huqin rang out brilliantly. Together with Fengbo’s suona on the opposite side, the two streams of sound were like invisible dragons bursting out of the water, violently colliding with each other as wind and thunder surged!
This was a duel between descendants of musical cultivators, and neither side treated it lightly.
Murong Lian narrowed his peach-blossom eyes, staring at that familiar “Gu Mang” opposite him. His fair hand pulled at the strings.
The sound grew sharper and more vicious, more ruthless with every moment.
The two forces intertwined and slaughtered one another. Everyone’s eardrums were shaken by the sounds of silk strings, bamboo, metal, and stone, while spiritual currents surged violently.
The music of the two men was like dragons churning through waves.
At times, Murong Lian’s huqin gained the upper hand. At others, the Fengbo of that phantom Gu Mang overwhelmed him.
Though this kind of battle was not as bloody as clashing with blades, its danger was in no way inferior.
Murong Lian twisted his wrist and drew the bowstring of the huqin upward. The music suddenly became fierce and piercing.
After being at a slight disadvantage for a moment, the phantom Gu Mang suddenly narrowed his eyes. His lips moved slightly away from the suona.
The real Gu Mang immediately saw what was happening and shouted a warning.
“Look out!!”
Murong Lian instantly became vigilant and drew the string to its fullest.
Just as the sound of his huqin reached a critical point, “Gu Mang” suddenly closed his eyes and raised his fingers. Throwing back his head, he blew out the sharpest note yet!
“Zheng!”
In an instant, a sonic blast exploded.
Murong Lian lowered his head and coughed out a mouthful of blood.
Gu Mang exclaimed, “Murong Lian, are you all right?!”
Murong Lian licked the bright red blood from between his lips and teeth. He raised his head grimly and murmured,
“I’m fine… I won’t die.”
He stared coldly at the “Gu Mang” opposite him.
That phantom “Gu Mang” did not possess his full strength either. Under the violent clash of their powers, the phantom was blasted apart, its entire form dispersing into a hazy mist before slowly vanishing altogether.
The crowd fell silent.
Once Gu Mang’s phantom had completely disappeared, a burst of cheers erupted from the Chonghua army.
“It’s gone! It’s gone!”
“Oh my god, Lord Wangshu can do this too? How come he’s never used it before?”
Gu Mang went over and confirmed that Murong Lian truly was unharmed before finally letting out a sigh of relief.
“…Why have you never shown this side of yourself?”
Murong Lian snorted and impatiently dispersed the divine huqin. His face darkened as he said,
“What’s there to talk about? What I hate most is musical cultivation. Playing instruments and singing songs, fussing around like an old woman—it’s completely pointless.”
But when he saw those young cultivators cheering and then throwing themselves back into the battle against Liao to seize the Demon-Refining Furnace, some measure of smugness still appeared between his brows.
However, at that very moment—
From the distance suddenly came a roar capable of shaking a person’s internal organs to pieces!
The sound and impact were like Mount Tai collapsing and the Yellow River flooding, as though the earth itself were about to be destroyed at that very instant.
Everyone froze.
Some of the young cultivators still had smiles on their faces, believing victory was within reach. They stiffly raised their heads.
The fiery red glow of the lava illuminated their faces, washing away hope and painting them with fear.
“Blood… blood… blood…”
The young cultivators stammered,
“It’s the Blood Demon Beast… the Blood Demon Beast!!!”
As the Demon-Refining Furnace reached a dazzling golden-yellow color, torrents of molten magma surged up from beneath the earth, breaking through soil and stone.
It was as though Pangu himself were breaking out of primordial chaos, carrying a force that was both solemn and terrifying.
The magma continuously poured upward from the earth, then howled and roared skyward like a whirlwind sweeping across the ground, instantly filling the phantom of the Blood Demon Beast that had originally stood between heaven and earth!
Gu Mang’s skull suddenly split with pain!
“Ah…”
—He was it, and it was him.
He had wanted to stop its reappearance.
But at this moment, Gu Mang could feel with absolute clarity an insane torrent of demonic power capable of moving mountains, filling seas, and destroying heaven and earth surging through its flesh, bones, and every inch of its body.
Inside its shell of blazing flames, it was about to…
□□.
Be reborn!!!
“Get back!!! Water barriers, now!!!”
“Mo Xi, Tuntian—!!!”
Gu Mang’s furious shout jolted the cultivators, whose entire bodies had been tense, back to their senses.
They too realized that a great calamity was upon them and hurriedly raised water-element barriers to defend themselves.
At the same time, the earth shook and the mountains trembled. Countless fragments and waves of fire surged toward the vast heavens and earth like shrieking vengeful ghosts, erupting and exploding everywhere before crashing heavily against the defensive barriers they had raised.
How could the strength of one person possibly withstand a Blood Demon Beast forged from hundreds of thousands, even millions, of resentful spirits?
As the demonic beast was reborn, the flames did not diminish. Instead, they surged even higher, as though they intended to sweep away the very energy of heaven and earth.
The cultivators gradually began to lose their ability to hold out.
Some with weaker spiritual power found their water barriers overwhelmed by the raging flames. In an instant, the flames swallowed and wrapped around them, dragging them into the spiritual vortex of the Blood Demon Beast’s rebirth.
Mo Xi gritted his teeth, pouring every last bit of strength in his body into the summoning.
Once again, he shouted furiously,
“Tuntian! Come forth!!!”
Amid the blood and fire, the enormous whale finally leapt into existence.
Blue radiance instantly illuminated the entire sea of flames, sheltering the Chonghua cultivators and the human sacrifices who had nowhere else to flee.
Through the blue light of the enormous Tuntian whale, people could be seen with scorched wounds across their faces, carrying fear, unwillingness, and despair…
They stared at the Blood Demon Beast within the flames as its fur was refined into silver-white, revealing claws as enormous as a palace and deep blue eyes.
“Wuu-aah—!!”
Amid the splitting earth and collapsing heavens, the legendary demonic beast leapt out of the flames.
It was so tall that it nearly blotted out the sky. Even standing on the ground and craning one’s neck upward, it was difficult to see its entire form.
It raised its head and howled.
And standing atop its head was the National Preceptor of Liao, holding his qin, his robes fluttering in the wind as he coldly looked down upon the human world that was about to submit completely to him.
Then, upon the crown of its skull, a man dressed in white with gold trim drifted down, landing steadily on the tips of his feet.
It was the National Preceptor of Liao who had been manipulating the entire demonic-beast resurrection from behind the scenes!
“Jingchen, go.”
At the National Preceptor’s command, the Blood Demon Beast Jingchen let out a long howl and soared into the sky, carrying the flames that had yet to be extinguished as it flew toward Chonghua’s Imperial Capital Barrier—
“It’s coming!”
“Form the formation! Hurry, form the formation!”
The Imperial Guards stationed along the Chonghua side of the Fu River shouted.
They fired countless streams of spell light, gathering them upon the Imperial Capital Barrier.
At the same time, Jingchen slammed into the barrier with a force like a mountain plunging into the sea.
With a thunderous “boom,” after its first impact, the Imperial Capital Barrier already split open with a long, narrow crack.
The power of an ancient demonic beast was ultimately far too strong.
Even if the Imperial Guards poured all their strength into repairing the barrier, they probably could not withstand three impacts.
Murong Lian and Mo Xi wanted to return and provide support.
However, at that moment, the National Preceptor descended from Jingchen’s head on a current of wind.
The music of the qin moved in his hands, and seven of the Nine-Eyed Qin’s eyes opened one after another.
Apart from Gu Mang’s eye, which had just been destroyed, and the final eye at the tip of the qin, the phantoms of the original owners emerged from all the remaining eyes.
Those refined into the National Preceptor’s qin included the Black Tortoise Heavy Armor and the grandmaster of lightness techniques from Lichun Kingdom, whom they had already encountered before, as well as various other demonic creatures, strange beasts, cultivators, and evil spirits.
At this moment, these seven streams of illusory light represented seven kinds of power that were extraordinarily exceptional in their respective fields.
They blocked the path of Mo Xi and Murong Lian as they attempted to return and provide support.
Murong Lian said darkly,
“What the hell are you? You scurry around like a rat, relying on other people to fight for you, and you even wear a mask when you go outside—is your face too ugly to show people?!”
The National Preceptor was completely unfazed.
His robes fluttered as he stood behind the seven phantoms and smiled lightly.
“A mask? I’m simply accustomed to wearing it. There is nothing about me that cannot be seen.”
“And I won’t wear it forever, either. Once Chonghua City falls and I enter the capital, I will naturally take it off.”
He paused, his smile becoming even sweeter.
“Lord Wangshu, you only need to pray that you can survive until then.”
As he spoke, he waved his hand.
The seven rays of light shot toward Mo Xi and Murong Lian like sharp swords.
Meanwhile, although Gu Mang had already reached the Imperial Capital Barrier, the Blood Demon Beast had ferociously slammed into the barrier for the third time.
Amid the terrified cries and shouts of everyone present, the barrier exploded into countless points of light that fell toward the ground like hail.
The Blood Demon Beast shook its fur, then leapt forward and smashed through the final, precarious layer of the restriction. It soared into the sky like it were swallowing wind and clouds, then abruptly flew toward the royal capital.
The cultivators along the Fu River had never expected the barrier to be broken so quickly. For a moment, they stood frozen, none knowing what to do.
Yue Chenqing, who was leading the bamboo warriors, armored soldiers, and groups of strange beasts, was the first among them to recover.
He hurriedly shouted,
“What are you standing around for?! Are you waiting for it to destroy the entire royal city?! Go stop it!”
The cultivators jolted back to their senses and were about to pursue it when they saw Gu Mang riding his sword back toward them.
He shouted loudly,
“Don’t chase it!”
“Marshal Gu…”
“You won’t catch it this time.”
“But it’s already flying toward the royal city! It destroyed the Imperial Capital Barrier in an instant, let alone a single city—”
Gu Mang said,
“It won’t do that immediately.”
“!?”
Gu Mang continued,
“The Blood Demon Beast has only just been reborn. Its power may appear formidable, but that is only compared with ordinary humans. It is still physically weak at this moment.
“And because of what happened with Murong Chen a few days ago, demonic qi has spread throughout the Imperial Capital.
“For us, this demonic qi is a death warrant. But to the Blood Demon Beast, it is rare and precious nectar.
“Before it has finished absorbing all the demonic qi inside the city, it will not destroy the city.”
Sure enough, while they were still speaking, the Blood Demon Beast had already flown over Chonghua’s royal capital.
But just as Gu Mang had said, it did not immediately launch an attack.
Instead, it circled several times in the sky before finally crashing down beside a mountain on the outskirts of Chonghua City.
It opened its enormous maw and began continuously drawing the demonic qi into its body.
Everyone watched in horrified awe.
Gu Mang, however, merely gave a cold laugh.
“That works out well enough. Let it relieve the suffering of the civilians who have been poisoned by the demonic qi for us.”
After saying this, he turned back toward the soldiers.
“While it is absorbing and refining the demonic qi, its defenses will be at their weakest.
“Watch carefully.
“Seven chi beneath its chest—that is its fatal point.”
He then turned to Yue Chenqing.
“Yue Chenqing, come here.”
Yue Chenqing approached, not understanding what was happening.
Gu Mang straightened his slightly disordered robes and armor. He raised his azure-blue eyes and said,
“I want you to immediately lead half the defending army to Soul of War Mountain.”
Yue Chenqing was slightly stunned.
“What are we going to Soul of War Mountain for?”
Gu Mang paused briefly before saying,
“According to the military records of Liao, the stone statues of Chonghua’s successive founding rulers on Soul of War Mountain form a barrier formation.
“Beneath the seven statues is the weapon of the commander who founded Chonghua.”
Yue Chenqing exclaimed,
“What?! There’s actually such a thing? Then why does Chonghua itself not know about it…?”
“Because that founding commander was none other than the brother of Chonghua’s first ruler—the original sovereign who was demoted to slavery after losing the struggle for power.
“He was Hua Po’an’s ancestor.”
“!!”
As he watched the Blood Demon Beast devour the demonic qi in the distance, Gu Mang continued,
“After that man fell from power, the first king erased all traces of his achievements and deeds.
“The special weapon he possessed, half divine weapon and half demonic weapon, was also sealed at the summit of Soul of War Mountain and guarded by stone statues.”
“But the sealing barrier needed to be reinforced once every hundred years. Since this secret could not be made public, the first ruler established a rule:
“Whenever a sovereign stepped down, regardless of whether he had been virtuous or not, a statue would be erected using a Spirit-Suppressing Stone and placed atop Soul of War Mountain.”
Yue Chenqing murmured,
“Even if a ruler died of old age, his reign would last no more than a hundred years or so. In that way, the statues would indeed serve as the pretext for reinforcing the barrier…”
“Yes.
“But even so, because the weapon was so powerful and battle-hungry, its baleful energy never dissipated even after hundreds of years.
“Although the seal has continuously been reinforced, when the yin energy grows heavy at night, one can still hear the sounds of war drums, fighting, and marching coming from Soul of War Mountain.
“That is the roar of that weapon.”
Yue Chenqing asked,
“What kind of weapon is it?”
“According to legend, it is a longbow forged a thousand years ago by a swordsmith using the power of gods and demons.”
As he spoke, Gu Mang continued to Yue Chenqing,
“Remember what I’m about to tell you.
“Based on Liao’s secret records, you only need to take half the defending army and destroy every stone statue at the summit.
“Then, using the palm blood of one hundred people as a sacrifice, the Divine-Demon Bow will break free of its seal.
“At that time, combine everyone’s strength and condense it into a spiritual-power arrow.
“When the Blood Demon Beast has absorbed all the demonic qi within the city, use that arrow to kill it.”
“And what about you?”
“I’ll lead the other half of the defending army behind the Blood Demon Beast and use a spell to immobilize and restrain it.
“Only at that moment, after the Blood Demon Beast has taken in too much demonic qi and cannot digest it all at once, will it be at its weakest.
“If you miss that moment, it will only grow stronger and become unstoppable.”
Gu Mang stared at Yue Chenqing.
“Remember. Seven chi directly beneath its chest is its fatal point.
“You only have one chance.”