Ch170 The Fleeing Demon

I lean down to scratch Meimei’s head and compliment her for her kill.

She rubs her head against my ankles, then climbs up my back to sit on the opposite shoulder from Little Red.

I slowly make my way over the bodies of the three younger illusory demons and let my blood soul dagger absorb their essence until they’re dried corpses.

I pull their rings and remains into my system storage, then turn to where my Armored Warrior Puppet killed a mid stage demon before I could even sense its presence.

“You two… go back into my hidden realm.”

Meimei licks my cheek, then happily disappears.

Little Red grunts, staring forward at the fallen mid stage corpse, then turns his body up the mountain.

A loud series of explosions shakes the earth beneath my feet, and waves of pure hot white aura subtly flood through the air.

The toad’s expression eventually returns to a dull stare, and he disappears into my hidden realm too.

My senses are even more on alert now.

I stand over the corpse of the mid stage demon, and dense streams of qi, soul wisps, and vibrations of two mortal grade physiques pour into my blood soul dagger.

The three qi refiners made its base a milky white, but this kill makes it shine bright white and become a heavy foundational base of qi far stronger than the first time I used it.

The copper and white colored perfected physiques get lost in the dark red hue dominating the majority of the artifact’s stored vibrations.

I stow away the dried-up corpse and his mid grade spatial ring, then turn to the armored warrior.

It stares forward, with no consciousness in its eyes, awaiting my next mental command.

I didn’t tell it much…

All I asked was to kill the illusory demon in my system scans that I could not see.

It followed my gaze and scoured the area itself, locking onto the target and finishing the kill the instant it had the shot.

It returned to a dormant state, awaiting more orders the instant its job was done.

“Very good. Now, if any strong enemies following that blast come for me, kill them in the same way,” I command.

I pull out my golden sword slaughter formation to be safe.

If there is another mid stage demon like the one I couldn’t sense before, this is my only last means of protection if it attacks me before my puppet can close the gap.

The golden sword falls into my arm, glowing with hot pressure until I suppress it to a completely dormant state.

Next, I pull out the lightweight purple cloud bow while my heart beats louder in my ears.

I suppress my own aura, and hide behind a thick tree with a boulder as my cover if more enemies come up the mountain.

The paper-light bow does not give off any qi radiation, even when I pull it back and point a fully charged spirit arrow upward, ready to fire at any movement.

The leaves in the trees rustle, and the wisps of foundational qi from above the mountain have started to come through in the breeze.

A faint black and white blur of light soars by in the sky, and my instincts come alive.

There’s a rippling sensation that courses through my Martial Spirit Physique deep inside me. It pushes me to shift my stance, alter my aim a few degrees, and let go of the bowstring with total confidence that I’ll hit the shot.

The arrow flies through the night without releasing a hint of qi; it just looks like a white blur.

It doesn’t even pierce a single leaf in the trees above; it only hits its target.

The bottom of a flying vessel’s protective array formation triggers, but a bright white and purple-tinted explosion lights up the sky with far more force.

It’s difficult for me to see exactly what’s falling out of it, but my Armored Knight certainly can.

It disappears from sight, and I run after while keeping my distance.

The loud clanging noise of metal and auras clashing hits my senses, and I do not approach any closer once my spiritual senses just hit the edges of the battle.

A one-armed illusory demon battles with a long white blade made of pure energy, and two identical copies of itself that have all four limbs intact battle my armored knight.

[Automatic Inspect Function Activated…]

[Ye Motao] [Age: 214]

[6th Level Foundation Establishment]

[Fire and Wood Spiritual Roots][5th Grade]

[Acquired Illusory Demon Physique][Initial Stage - Spirit Grade]

[No Innate Physique]

[Shadow Elder of the Ye Clan, does not make public appearances. He has ventured to Lingshi City alongside his younger brother Ye Moran and three underlings in training to investigate the disappearance of their secret assassination team. After weeks of no leads and witnessing the Host’s Celestial Event, they have come to the conclusion that the Wang Clan is at fault.]

“What is the meaning of this? A Late Stage Foundational Puppet? Is this another hidden treasure of the Wang Clan?” he yells out in agony.

Deep black gashes open up in this demon’s body.

The armored warrior tanks hits from the illusory copies, ignoring them entirely. It only focuses on aiming its next heavy blade swings at the old Ye Clan Demon.

The black aura left behind in each slash is only that of the perfected mortal grade vibration ranking, but it contains late stage foundational qi.

Ye Motao is already badly injured, and he’s used up his strongest hidden artifacts.

His grey eyes fill with blood as he tries to look for routes to escape, until his gaze lands on me.

A hot pressure of his spiritual senses pulses right through me, scanning my true cultivation, physique, and deep into my souls. I can’t do a thing to stop it.

Even more confusion builds in his half destroyed face.

“What is that…? A… An unregistered golden core artifact…?!”

The black aura in his wounds grows as his concentration wavers, and it cannot be healed by the illusory souls he drains from the jade pendants around his neck. There is a limit to how fast he can assimilate this foreign energy in such an injured state.

He coughs up blood and pulls out large chunks of soul jade from his spatial ring. Each one is being drained to dust in seconds while he releases low grade tier 2 soul explosion talismans to run further away.

“You hold what the Patriarch was truly after, but you are not a member of the Wang Clan… Who are you?!”

The old demon has one of his legs sliced clean off, and a devastating slash to his side right after breaks half of his soul jade necklaces.

The Armored Warrior does not slow down; it keeps attacking relentlessly.

After about a minute, half of the puppet’s charge is gone, but it fights with the same intensity.

The old demon realizes he has no hope of escape, and lets out a crazed laugh filled with agony.

He pulls out a thick green jade talisman and screams into it.

“This is Ye Motao, my final report! The Attack on the Wang Clan Peak was a failure!”

A pulse of qi bursts out of it, sending a message far away from this peak as the demon is slashed across the chest and send flying backward with a deep hole in his dantian.

“It was not who we thought! The young Heir Wang Ming has nothing to do with the reported Celestial Event! It is a rogue 7th level qi refiner, with a spirit grade physique! He has a late stage foundational puppet and the unregistered sword shaped golden core artifact you’re searching for, I saw it with my own eyes!”

The armored warrior catches up with him as another pulse of qi is sent out, another deep black cut breaks his dantian to pieces, and shatters all of his remaining soul jade.

A dense layer of spirit grade vibrations still hold his consciousness and body intact even as he’s sent flying backward against a boulder tens of meters away.

Upon impact, his eyes widen in despair like he knows his end is near.

The communication talisman glows in his hand, “Black hair, sharp eyes, wears an Azure Cloud Sect Outer Disciple robe. His bone structure is nothing like the Wang or Mu Clans… He’s a rogue force using them for cover… He tricked us! There is nothing more I can do, Patriarch, forgive me!”

This message is sent out before a wave of darkness slashes through the remains of his physical form, shattering his physique and body.

His pupils shrink, and he tries to activate the talisman again, “He’s… practicing the Illusory Demon’s Concealment Art. It is an inferior understanding but the foundation feels as sturdy as one of the other big three clans-”

Ye Motao’s final words are cut short as his soul completely breaks apart.

Life leaves his eyes, and the talisman no longer holds a stable imprint. The jade is destroyed from the pressure, and his last message fails to be sent.

The side quest in my mind ticks up to 2/5 mid stage kills, and the forest returns to silence.

The Armored Warrior steps back and turns to me in its semi dormant state, waiting for its next command.

I slowly walk into the chaotic mess of a battlefield still stirring with illusory souls and physiques.

My blood soul dagger latches onto the demon’s essence and drains it greedily without any problem. The qi base of the dagger grows heavier white, and the vibrations turn a slightly lighter shade of red.

I pull the shriveled remains and mid grade ring into my storage, then hide my aura and return to safety behind a gathering of trees, waiting to see if more enemies will arrive.

My armored warrior stays on guard, dormant nearby, but after about a minute, it comes to life and stares upward again.

A flying vessel comes into view, and I draw my bow back too, but stop when I spot a Wang Clan character on its hull.

“Stand down… those are allies…” I whisper and pull the puppet, bow, and golden sword back into my storage.