Chapter 1 The Carnage

A misty sword light chased after the Hell Demon Dragon, seemingly slow but actually as swift as lightning.

The moment the sword light was unleashed, the Hell Demon Dragon halted its escape, its body convulsing violently, trapped in the inescapable power of the rules.

Unable to dodge, it could only withstand the blow. The two observers in the distance, seeing this, immediately came to its aid, erecting two walls of wind between the sword light and the dragon.

The wind walls rose, then shattered instantly.

A cross-shaped shield appeared, solidifying into a protective barrier, only to collapse with a thunderous crash.

The Hell Demon Dragon transformed into a golden lion, roaring as it constructed a golden barrier, but it disintegrated the moment it came into contact with the sword energy.

Within a second of the sword light's release, the wind walls, cross shield, and golden barrier shattered almost simultaneously.

This sword strike concentrated all of Fu Qingyang's sword energy and will, while also being empowered by the Swordsman's Cloak, gaining a 40% boost. This seemingly ordinary sword strike was actually stacked with buffs.

Finally, a faint white, illusory fish scale pattern appeared on the surface of the golden lion. In the limited time available, it had made its best effort.

The sword light pierced the fish scales, swept past the golden lion's neck, and crashed into the arena below with a roar.

Earth and stone exploded in all directions, and the lion's head slowly slid off. At the severed neck, flesh wriggled, and a ferocious canine head grew out. The body also transformed into a slender, pitch-black demon dog.

Only a head remained of the Purgatory Demon Dog.

Fu Qingyang's face was pale, revealing a look of exhaustion. His eyes shifted from clear to cloudy, showing signs of imminent death.

A swordsman kills with one step and one sword, in the simplest and most unadorned way. Although his two previous swords seemed ordinary, their power was unimaginable, considering they had consecutively slain two Sovereigns of the same level.

Power and consumption were directly proportional. This was already his current limit. If the technique of "approaching the Dao" could allow for unlimited slashes, then all level eight Sovereigns in the world would have to kneel and beg: "Father, spare my life!"

"President, counterattack!" the Purgatory Demon Dog roared, then quickly fled, creating distance between himself and Fu Qingyang. After being famous for many years, he felt fear for the first time from a newly advanced Sovereign.

This Fu Qingyang appeared to be on the verge of exhaustion, but who knew if he would risk his life in one last burst of power, dragging him back to the Lingjing (Mystic Realm) with him?

Among the orderly professions in the Second District, the Fire Master was the most unyielding, followed by the Swordsman.

In the distance, Stephen Simpson's body rapidly transformed. Goat horns grew from his head, his legs turned into goat hooves, and membranous wings on his back ignited with blue flames. A heavy sulfurous odor emanated from him.

His muscles were clearly defined, and dark red skin was etched with eerie demonic patterns.

He had transformed into a demon with goat hooves, goat horns, and membranous wings—Cromie.

One of the Gods' Ten Sons, a demon that Typhon had once transformed into.

Among the Gods' Ten Sons, Cromie was the most balanced in combat, possessing a powerful physique, considerable combat power, and both petrifying beams and poisonous smoke. He also excelled at dark incantations.

He was a powerful demon who could fight in close combat and cast spells. Cromie the demon flapped his membranous wings and soared into the sky, striking at Fu Qingyang with the speed of an eagle.

When he was less than ten meters away, he suddenly spread his membranous wings, hovering in mid-air, and spewed out a ghostly blue flame.

Fu Qingyang grabbed a rusty black iron shield and raised it to the sky. The ghostly blue flame impacted the shield's surface, burning towards Fu Qingyang behind it. His flesh rapidly carbonized, revealing shoulder bones and skull.

Zhang Yuanqing, in the arena, was about to switch the Golden Crow Seal's purification to scorching, releasing a scorching beam to attack Cromie the demon, when out of the corner of his eye, he saw three chaotic Sovereigns, led by the cowboy Locke, staring at Fu Qingyang with predatory eyes.

He could only suppress his anxiety and maintain the purification.

At this moment, the Sovereigns on the battlefield were fighting their own battles, mutually restraining each other.

Palace Master Zhisha, Zhang Yuanqing, and Katherine were in a standoff. The latter was looking for an opportunity to seize the Golden Crow Seal, while the former was protecting her little lover.

Chris was entangled in a fierce battle with another "Giant Demon," constantly retreating, relying entirely on her set of illusionary fish scale armor for support.

The Demon Eye fought against two Wind Mages, suppressing both with his own strength.

Vinnie was also fighting two opponents alone, but she was struggling. The Federal Investigator was even able to free up his hands to summon lightning to attack the Demon Eye, reducing the burden on the two Wind Mages.

Pansy Edison was engaged in close combat with the cowboy Locke. The Merchant's fighting skills were extremely strong, and he possessed life-saving abilities such as "teleportation" and "voidification." The two peak Sovereigns were locked in a fierce battle.

The other two chaotic Sovereigns were in a "half-crippled cultivation" state. As non-peak Sovereigns, they found it difficult to use powerful control to affect the orderly Sovereigns in the scene of all-encompassing purification.

As for the Sovereign of the Eternal Night profession, he lay on his side in the distance, as if no one else was around, in a state of half-sleep and half-wake.

This Sovereign's task was to seal off the space, preventing Pansy Edison from opening a teleportation channel. He would not participate in the battle, because the sleeping domain did not distinguish between friend and foe.

If he were to join the battle, it was likely that both sides would be taken down together.

Seeing that the President's transformed Cromie demon was suppressing Fu Qingyang, the Hell Demon Dragon immediately transformed into Scylla and was about to shout to kill Fu Qingyang.

Demon Eye Heavenly King suddenly turned his head, and the bewitching eye on his forehead shot out a scarlet-gold beam, hitting Scylla.

The demon, wearing a chitinous mask and with a tall and slender figure resembling a woman, cried out miserably. The spiritual energy in her body went out of control, wings grew from her back, her legs turned into goat hooves, and her head became a lion's head.

Demon Eye Heavenly King shifted his gaze and looked at Cromie, who was spewing ghostly blue flames.

Lieutenant Stephen's transformed Cromie demon shot out two pale beams from his eyes, colliding with the oncoming scarlet-gold beam.

The scarlet-gold and pale beams collided and annihilated each other.

The Demon Eye's rescue failed.

In the arena, Zhang Yuanqing suddenly took out the "Armor of Lightning" and the "Bracers of Lightning," quickly putting them on. Then, he took out the Purple-Gold Set and put it on. Next, he opened his palm and aimed it at the ground.

He was surrounded by flashing arcs of electricity, like a bright blue ball of light. Then, the surrounding electric light surged towards his right arm, constantly compressing and compressing...

His strange behavior was first noticed by Katherine, but she didn't understand Jù Mang's (Zhang Yuanqing's Spirit Avatar name) actions, only knowing that he might have a next step.

As the lightning-attribute spiritual energy compressed and his power broke through to the Sovereign level, the Sovereigns present noticed the abnormality on his side and turned their attention to him.

But it was too late!

When the lightning was compressed to its limit, Zhang Yuanqing transformed into brilliant starlight and disappeared. Then, a ray of starlight rose from beside the Hell Demon Dragon.

At this time, the Hell Demon Dragon was affected by the "Bewitching Eye," and the spiritual energy in his body was in chaos. Multiple demonic bodies protruded, all gathered on one body. He was unable to use his skills. Seeing the starlight rising beside him, his heart tightened. Before he could calm his spiritual energy, he quickly grabbed a fish-skin garment and draped it over himself.

The next second, a bright blue beam of light as thick as a water tank shot out from Zhang Yuanqing's palm, engulfing the Hell Demon Dragon. The air was filled with the crackling of electric arcs.

After a moment, the electromagnetic cannon ceased, and a charred and enormous body stood staggering, emitting scalding heat and the stench of burning.

"Ant...!" the Hell Demon Dragon roared weakly: "I will crush you!"

It spat out poisonous smoke and shot out petrifying beams from its eyes. These were his only two means of attack at the moment.

His spiritual energy was still in a state of chaos, and he had suffered a powerful blow from the electromagnetic cannon. He was already extremely weak.

The Golden Crow Seal on Zhang Yuanqing's head continued to emit clear golden light, killing the poisonous smoke and weakening the petrification. In addition, with his own 50% resistance, the Hell Demon Dragon's attack had almost no effect.

Wearing a purple-gold mask, he calmly took out the Form-and-Soul-Annihilation Blade and activated the "Form Severing" skill.

The short blade was covered in a milky white light. He held a shield in one hand, raising an electromagnetic shield in front of him, and charged towards the seriously injured Hell Demon Dragon.

In that instant, the chaotic Sovereigns' powerful control fell on him like a rainstorm: limb dysregulation, distance dysregulation, perception dysregulation, frenzy… But they were all weakened and resolved by the Golden Crow Seal.

In terms of negative buff immunity, he, who wielded the Golden Crow Seal and cultivated the Pure Yang Body Cleansing Record, was stronger than Fu Qingyang and others.

Lieutenant Stephen Simpson, transformed into the Cromie demon, suddenly turned his head and shot out two pale beams from his eyes.

The electromagnetic protection shattered first. The purple-gold shield met the pale beam, rapidly petrifying and shattering. Then, the purple-gold suit was stained with a pale color, freezing his whole body.

Three defensive items failed to hold out for even a second.

A single gaze from a peak Sovereign shattered his strongest defensive system, but Zhang Yuanqing's purpose had already been achieved. He quickly deactivated the purple-gold suit and escaped before his body was affected.

At this time, he had already reached the charred Demon Dragon. The short blade spat out a vast white blade light and slashed down.

*Pfft!*

The Demon Dragon's body was instantly cut in half, and blood and warm internal organs were scattered all over the ground.

Form Severing ignored physical defense.

Then, black, viscous energy appeared in Zhang Yuanqing's eye sockets. He saw the level eight Sovereign's Yuanshen (Primordial Spirit) floating into the sky, trying to escape.

Having reached the level eight status, the spiritual power was already extremely powerful, condensing a Yuanshen. Even if the physical body died, the soul would not dissipate on the spot, and could even fight.

Zhang Yuanqing switched to the "Soul Capture" skill, covering the blade with the black light.

He opened his palm and aimed it remotely at the Yuanshen in the sky, drawing it back to his side. Then, he activated the Battle Soul skill and slashed down.

Soul Severing and Form Severing were the same. The former had a fatal effect on spiritual bodies, while the latter ignored defense against the physical body.

During this process, Cromie abandoned Fu Qingyang and came flying, shooting out pale beams from his eyes.

Zhang Yuanqing's chest was stained with a pale color. However, the peak Sovereign's petrifying beam had little effect on a Saint.

The pale color spread, but it did not immediately petrify him.

The Golden Crow Seal's purification and the 50% resistance of Unyielding Will were Zhang Yuanqing's greatest confidence, and also the reason why he suggested killing the Giant Demon first.

The black blade slashed through the Hell Demon Dragon's spiritual body.

In a shrill scream that only a Night Wanderer could hear, the Yuanshen transformed into black smoke and dissipated.

Zhang Yuanqing curled the corner of his mouth. In the instant that Cromie the demon descended, he transformed into starlight and disappeared, returning to Palace Master Zhisha's side. The purple-gold suit was left behind in place.

Almost simultaneously, the semi-viscous Fu Qingyang drove his sword light and escaped back to the arena.

Chris, covered in blood, drove her horse, taking Vinnie with her, and escaped with agile movements amidst the bombardment of lightning pillars and wind blades.

Demon Eye Heavenly King stayed behind to cover the retreat, opening pairs of scarlet-gold demon eyes all over his body, polluting the enemy Sovereigns' spirits and spiritual energy. After his teammates regrouped, he then withdrew to the arena.

With Pansy Edison teleporting back, the battle came to an end.

The Sovereigns of the evil faction stared at the Sovereigns of the orderly faction with gloomy eyes, without saying a word.

Those Saints who had fortunately not been affected were dumbfounded and completely unable to accept the result.

Twelve Sovereigns on their side, two peak Sovereigns. Such a lineup had actually suffered a crushing defeat, losing a level eight Sovereign. That was a level eight Sovereign!

In a relatively peaceful era, the death of a level eight Sovereign was big news.

And in the case of losing a level eight Sovereign, they had failed to kill even one Sovereign from the orderly faction.

Stephen Simpson walked to the purple-gold suit, bent down to pick it up, intending to take the spoils, but suddenly, he froze!?

The three pieces of purple-gold equipment seemed to weigh a million pounds, firmly fixed to the ground, and could not be picked up no matter what.

Binding-type items?

The knowledgeable Lieutenant Stephen realized, feeling a little regretful. Through the previous battle, he could see that these three pieces of equipment were both a set and rules-based.

Palace Master Zhisha gently rubbed the side of the bronze pot, letting the spout spray out streams of golden life essence, irrigating the bodies of her teammates.

Chris, Vinnie, and Demon Eye Heavenly King all showed expressions of enjoyment. Fu Qingyang's face and hands regenerated flesh, and his skin became delicate and fair.

Zhang Yuanqing's body, which had been scorched by the Golden Crow Seal and carbonized by the Thunder God Suit, also regained its vitality.

Vinnie Berent was looking at Jù Mang with a complex and surprised gaze.

A few days ago, Jù Mang in her eyes was just a talented person worthy of care and training, but today, this subordinate's displayed combat power and inventory of items made her frightened.

She realized one thing: Jù Mang's items did not originate from Fu Qingyang, because Fu Qingyang did not have so many high-level items.

Who exactly is he?

Chris held up the fish tank, nodding in satisfaction, and affirmed the musician who hadn't participated much in the battle.

The little fish Ruth in the fish tank spoke for its owner: "The quality of the life essence is higher than any I've ever used."

Life essence could not replenish physical strength, but the golden liquid in this musician's pot had restored most of her physical strength. It was very magical.

Chris looked at Jù Mang again, and the little fish Ruth exclaimed: "They really lost a member! I feel like we can counterattack and kill them all."

Successfully eliminating an enemy Sovereign greatly boosted the morale of the orderly faction.

At this time, the cowboy Locke in the distance sneered: "We haven't used our items yet!"