Chapter 559 - 72: Venting

Chongxuan Academy possessed nine tall towers, each a Teleportation Array established by a Tribulation Realm Great Power. The academy’s many School Principals had then worked together to build a Treasure Pagoda around each one, integrating it with the array to allow for instantaneous travel deep into the Outer Void.

Over many years of development, the academy had invested countless resources into these nine towers. Today, the combined value of the towers, the Outer Floating Lands, and their arrays was truly immeasurable.

The nine towers each corresponded to a different region of the Outer Void. The one Du Ruo stood guard over was exceptionally distant from Qianyu Heaven, even farther than the space between two World Heavens.

This area was originally on the fringe of the lair belonging to the Nine Netherworld Dragons, a type of Outer Celestial Demon. On normal days, students and School Principals from the academy would come here to harvest Outer Celestial Demons, accumulating Cultivation Resources while honing their combat adaptability.

But when other migratory Celestial Demons clashed with the Nine Netherworld Dragon clan in the void, the risks here became uncontrollable.

「At this moment.」

With the arrival of Fang Cheng and five other Dharma Realm School Principals, the pressure on Du Ruo eased considerably.

In less than the time it takes an incense stick to burn, all the surviving students who had been scattered and trapped within the Demon Tide were rescued.

While the academy had countless methods for students to protect themselves during a Demon Tide, it could not guarantee everyone’s safety.

With every Demon Tide, the number of fallen students ranged from the dozens to the hundreds, or even thousands.

This time was no exception.

As Fang Cheng made his move, he could sense the final bursts of energy from many students just before they perished.

He returned to the edge of the Grand Array, a great net of Profound Gold, and formed a hand seal. Nine dazzling Sword Auras materialized around him.

The nine Sword Auras instantly merged into a single, colossal Sword Aura that shot forth with explosive force.

A rolling thunderclap followed in its wake.

The sword light was magnificent!

Like a blazing sun, it illuminated the darkness of the void.

At a terrifying speed, the colossal Sword Aura instantly streaked past tens of thousands of Celestial Demons in a straight line, emerging on the other side of the Demon Tide.

The next moment, the Sword Aura changed direction and plunged into the swarm of Celestial Demons, darting about like lightning and weaving through them with serpentine grace.

One after another, the Celestial Demons roared, struggled, and were annihilated.

Many Celestial Demons unleashed astonishing beams of Demonic Light, attempting to intercept the Sword Aura.

Yet the Sword Aura moved like a fish through water, completely unimpeded by the torrent of Demonic Light. Accompanied by rolling thunder, it harvested the lives of the Celestial Demons at incredible speed.

Even Tier Four Celestial Demons, whose power was comparable to the Dharma Realm, could not withstand a single blow from the terrifying Sword Aura.

As Fang Cheng slayed the Celestial Demons, he remained secretly vigilant, monitoring the shifts in energy within the Demon Tide.

’A Demon Tide of this scale must be secretly controlled by a powerful Tier Five Celestial Demon.’

At the same time, he was also observing the combat performance of his colleagues from the academy.

Those School Principals were currently clad in Profound Celestial Battle Armor, which elevated their Magical Power to the level of the Peak of Dharma Form. They calmly held back the Celestial Demons outside the Grand Array.

The Female School Principal who had drawn so much attention earlier was now standing atop a great turquoise river, wielding the Infinite Water True Light to hold back the Demon Tide.

Countless droplets flew from the great river, weaving and dancing through the Demon Tide. Wherever they passed, the Celestial Demons perished.

Her speed at slaying Celestial Demons was in no way inferior to Fang Cheng’s.

Unbeknownst to Fang Cheng, several of the other School Principals were also watching him, secretly stunned by the Slaughter Swordsmanship he had just revealed.

They suddenly recalled that this was Fang Xuezhen, the man who had passed the academy’s recruitment test by slaying a Tier Five Celestial Demon in the time it takes an incense stick to burn!

It was just that his "Jade Furnace Golden Cauldron" reputation had become so prominent in recent years. Everyone knew Fang Xuezhen was an expert in the Dual Cultivation Secret Method, but they had forgotten that his Swordsmanship was also superb, with few rivals in the entire Dharma Realm.

From a distance, seven brilliant spheres of spiritual light could be seen enveloping an immense, spherical net of Profound Gold. At its center lay an Outer Floating Land.

On the side Fang Cheng was defending, sword light permeated the void, having already cleared out a vacuum a thousand zhang in every direction.

He retracted the Sword Aura, then with a slight shift of his Sword Technique, sent a sky-full of sword light surging forward. It spread across the heavens, blanketing this region of the void and continuing to reap the lives of the Celestial Demons.

The Netherworld Banner materialized behind him, expanding to a hundred zhang in size. Its pitch-black surface billowed and writhed, sweeping countless Demon Souls and Celestial Demon corpses into the Long Banner.

Suddenly, Fang Cheng’s gaze sharpened. He fixed his eyes on a distant point in the Demon Tide, where a trace of a powerful aura had just been exposed within a swirling vortex of black Demon Fog.

’A Tier Five Celestial Demon!’

With a wave of his sleeve, he left the Fire God Gu in his place and vanished.

The sky full of Sword Auras disappeared along with him.

The moment the Fire God Gu appeared, it erupted in blazing golden flames, like a great sun materializing to fill the void.

Raging flames ignited on countless Celestial Demons and spread rapidly.

This sudden change drew the attention of the other six.

Then, a booming, whistling sword cry echoed between heaven and earth. It seemed to come from an immense distance, yet it grew steadily louder until, after only a few breaths, it vibrated so powerfully that it caused a slight pain in their very souls.

Du Ruo and the other School Principals exchanged glances. Knowing that Fang Cheng was attacking with his full power, they all wore complex expressions and fell into contemplative silence.

Finally, the sword cry from the depths of the void erupted with a heaven-rending shriek!

A blindingly bright sword light tore through the void within the Demon Tide, streaking down like a bolt of lightning. In an instant, an aura of Heaven-Slaying Earth-Cracking power descended upon the area.

Netherworld Sword Technique, Fourth Style: Immortal Slayer!

In that instant, the Demon Tide recoiled, and endless waves of pitch-black Demon Fog billowed violently.

A Tier Five Celestial Demon appeared. Its body was a solid, dark cyan, resembling a great fish with an impossibly long tail. A blinding beam of sword light, like a world-shaking rainbow, descended from the highest heavens and brutally sliced it in two.

A Tier Five Celestial Demon had been slain in the void.

The Sword Aura shot straight through the Outer Void, its momentum unparalleled. After slaying the great cyan fish, it flew another thousand zhang, suddenly surged in size, and then slashed toward another location!

The Demon Tide was rent asunder, revealing a ceaselessly spinning vortex of Demon Fog. At its center was a horrifying, mountain-sized sphere of scarlet flesh.

It was another Tier Five Celestial Demon.

This Celestial Demon had no visible mouth or nose—only countless fleshy tumors. Each tumor pulsed with a strange Demonic Light, and together they converged into a bizarre, kaleidoscopic torrent of energy that intercepted Fang Cheng’s strike.

Fang Cheng flashed into view, a brilliant light shining in his eyes. His Sword Technique shifted, and in the space of a single thought, a new sword light erupted.

One sword light became ten, ten became a hundred, and a hundred became millions. In an instant, the void for Baili in every direction was filled with chilling sword shadows.

One after another, the sword lights slashed down viciously. The blazing sword rainbows struck the Demonic Light protecting the Celestial Demon, producing a piercing shriek and a clang of metal that echoed endlessly.

The Tier Five Celestial Demon was sent spinning and wobbling from the assault. The tumors covering its body squirmed, and its Demonic Light trembled as if it were on the verge of collapse.

Fang Cheng, in contrast, fueled his peerless sword light with vast Magical Power. His aura was overwhelming, even greater than that of the Tier Five Celestial Demon.

No one would have believed this was a mere Dharma Cultivator.

Among the School Principals present, only Du Ruo and the graceful Female School Principal managed to remain composed. The others watched, unable to contain their astonishment, as Fang Cheng trapped and relentlessly attacked the Tier Five Celestial Demon. Their awe was plain to see.

After a hundred consecutive slashes from Fang Cheng’s sword light, a crack finally appeared in the Tier Five Celestial Demon’s Demonic Light. A moment later, a blade slipped through.

In a flash, Fang Cheng had extinguished the Celestial Demon’s life force.

"Haha! How satisfying!"

He collected the Celestial Demon’s corpse and, with a long laugh, returned to the edge of the Grand Array.

For the past few years, he had been fighting the Demon Lord’s incarnation inside the Spirit Ruins Treasure Realm. He had fought a hundred battles and lost them all, leaving him incredibly frustrated.

But today, relying only on the Sword Technique he had loved since the beginning of his cultivation journey, he had slain two Tier Five Celestial Demons. He felt a profound sense of ease and clarity as all the pent-up frustration in his heart was finally released.

...