Chapter 561 - 557: Demon Skill Reappears

Chapter 561: Chapter 557: Demon Skill Reappears

CLANG—!!!

A peculiar, crisp sound pierced through the roar of the Sword Gang cleaving the air.

The immense, dark-gold Sword Gang, so powerful it seemed capable of cleaving through anything, trembled violently the moment it made contact with the Cyan Sword Light that resembled a crack in space.

Faint yet dense cracking sounds emanated from within the Sword Gang. Its surface, once as solid as glazed glass, was now covered in a web of fissures.

The fissures spread rapidly, covering the entire Sword Gang in the blink of an eye.

The next moment, the terrifying, several-zhang-long Sword Gang shattered just three feet in front of Fang Han.

It disintegrated into a shower of dark-gold specks of light that scattered like rain, peppering the surrounding ground with countless pits of varying depths.

SWOOSH!

Unleashing the full force of his Early Stage of Second Grade Inner Qi and three hundred thousand jin of physical strength, Fang Han’s figure flashed out from behind the dissipating Sword Gang.

With his Cloud Splitting Sword pointed diagonally at the ground, he activated his Wind God Step to its fullest, his cyan robes whipping loudly in the fierce wind.

In a single step.

The distance of several zhang between him and Qi Zhen was instantly erased. Like a bolt of cyan lightning, he appeared abruptly before Qi Zhen.

The Cloud Splitting Sword swept upward from below.

The blade tore through the air with a sharp whistle.

He fully channeled the Sky-Splitting Sword Technique at the Great Success Realm. His Wind Sword Intent was so condensed it was almost tangible, imbuing the strike with a sharpness that could tear through anything as it aimed straight for Qi Zhen’s waist.

Qi Zhen’s pupils contracted sharply.

Fang Han was too fast, so fast that he didn’t even have time to gather his strength for a counterattack.

But the combat instincts of a Breaking Through Martial Artist allowed him to react in the nick of time—

In an instant, he brought his long saber horizontally before him, frantically pouring Inner Qi into the blade.

Having broken through the Qi Pass of the Three Gates of Essence, Qi, and Spirit, his Inner Qi had undergone a qualitative transformation, becoming as dense as mercury.

Under the influence of this mercury-like Inner Qi, the long saber radiated a dazzling golden light, as if a golden sun were blooming on the blade.

CLANG—!!!

Saber and sword met, sending sparks flying. A visible shockwave spread out from the point of impact.

While Qi Zhen’s strength had increased more than tenfold by becoming a Breaking Through Martial Artist, Fang Han’s own power, having advanced his Sky-Splitting Sword Technique from Mastery to Great Success, had grown just as much, if not more.

An irresistible, immense force traveled up from the sword. Qi Zhen felt his entire right arm go numb in an instant.

The incredibly condensed, sharp intent pierced through the body of his saber, causing the qi and blood in his body to churn violently.

The impact sent him sliding backward, his feet carving two deep furrows into the ground.

Fang Han followed like a shadow.

He slashed out with the Cloud Splitting Sword again. This strike was faster and fiercer, aimed straight for Qi Zhen’s throat.

Qi Zhen gritted his teeth and blocked with his long saber.

CLANG—!!!

Another deafening screech of metal on metal.

The shockwave, like a physical tsunami, spread madly in all directions from the point where their weapons clashed.

A layer of the ground was violently scraped away, sending rubble flying and filling the air with dust.

Fang Han retreated half a step, but Qi Zhen was forced back three whole steps.

BOOM, BOOM, BOOM—

The distance between the two flickered, repeatedly closing and widening, only for them to collide again the next instant.

The Cyan Sword Light and the dark-gold Sword Aura intertwined, each collision erupting with a deafening roar, each exchange leaving more scars on the already ravaged wilderness.

Empowered by his Wind Sword Intent, Fang Han’s sword moved too fast for the naked eye to follow.

That sharp intent, capable of tearing through anything, made every one of Qi Zhen’s blocks feel like he was parrying an invisible divine weapon.

The Sky-Splitting Sword Technique at the Great Success Realm amplified the power of this Sword Intent. The sword light would flash like a sudden thunderclap, incomparably fierce, then flow like mercury spreading across the ground, seeping into every opening.

Although Qi Zhen’s Sword Momentum, driven by his vast Inner Qi, was fierce and domineering, with each strike carrying Mountain-Splitting Stone-Shattering force, Fang Han’s sword was simply too fast and too tricky, always finding a way to slip through the gaps in his Sword Momentum and force him onto the defensive.

After dozens of exchanges.

A glint flashed in Fang Han’s eyes. Seizing a minute opening after one of Qi Zhen’s slashes, he suddenly accelerated his Cloud Splitting Sword.

This strike held no probing, no building of momentum—it was just a simple, direct thrust.

But the moment it was unleashed, a fine, silent fissure opened in the air where the sword tip passed.

Qi Zhen sensed the terror of this strike. His pupils constricted as he tried desperately to pull his saber back to defend, but Fang Han’s sword was too fast.

He only had time to slightly twist his body, causing the sword that had been aimed at his heart to land on his left side instead.

SHIIING—!

The sword’s edge sliced across Qi Zhen’s left ribs. His dark-gold brocade robe tore open, revealing the Soft Armor beneath it, which gleamed with a faint light.

The blade scraped across the surface of the Soft Armor, creating a shower of dazzling sparks. It didn’t break through the defense; this had to be a precious piece of Soft Armor at the Mid-grade Spiritual Soldier Level.

However, the incredibly condensed, sharp intent pierced through the Soft Armor’s defense.

A foot-long gash opened on Qi Zhen’s left side, and blood instantly gushed out, soaking half of his robes.

"Ugh—!"

Qi Zhen let out a muffled groan, his body sliding backward uncontrollably.

His feet plowed two deep furrows in the ground, and he had to retreat more than ten steps before he could barely steady himself.

He glanced down at his bleeding left side, then raised his head to fix his gaze on Fang Han.

On his dark, rugged face, his initial composure had vanished without a trace, replaced by extreme gravity and a hint of irrepressible terror.

’If I don’t change something, this will end up just like last time in the Commandery City, or even worse.’

’Last time in the Commandery City, we were under the public eye. Fang Han had to consider the relationship between the Qingxuan Sect and the Tiejiang Gang, so he didn’t dare to kill me.’

’But this time—’

’We’re surrounded by a vast, empty wilderness. There’s no one around.’

’If Fang Han kills me here, the Tiejiang Gang might be suspicious, but without proof, they can’t do anything to him.’

"I can’t let this continue."

Qi Zhen gritted his teeth, his voice as hoarse as rubbing sandpaper.

He took a deep breath, and the Inner Qi in his body began to circulate in a different way.

The Magic Gate he used to circulate it was completely different from before. He was no longer suppressing its power for the sake of concealment; instead, he released it completely.

He released his suppression of the violent and sinister Inner Qi hidden deep within his body.

BOOM—!

At that moment, the aura around Qi Zhen changed abruptly.

His dark-gold Inner Qi, which had been flaring like a raging fire, began to change color from the inside out, as if being corroded by some invisible force.

The gold faded.

In its place was a strange, intense blood-red.

The bloody color wasn’t bright, but had a dark, dull quality, like dried blood.

As the Inner Qi churned, the faint, nauseatingly sweet smell of blood began to spread.

On his long saber, the dark-gold Sword Aura was also stained blood-red.

The blade hummed and trembled, letting out a screech like that of a starving beast.

In the depths of his eyes, a strange trace of blood-red appeared in his pupils.

BOOM!

As his Inner Qi turned from gold to blood-red, Qi Zhen’s aura visibly surged in power.

SWOOSH!

His dark-gold brocade robe snapped in the wind as Qi Zhen shot forward like a blood-soaked streak of light, crossing over ten zhang in an instant.

The blood-red Inner Qi on his long saber writhed and pulsed like a living thing, carrying a nauseatingly sweet stench as it hacked straight for Fang Han’s face.

Fang Han’s pupils shrank slightly. He brought his Cloud Splitting Sword up horizontally and channeled his Wind Sword Intent to its absolute limit.

CLANG—!!!

Saber and sword met, sending sparks flying.

An immense force, far more violent and ferocious than before, traveled up from the sword. Fang Han felt his entire right arm go numb as the qi and blood in his body churned as if boiling.

He was forced back, each step leaving a deep footprint in the ground. He retreated more than ten steps before he barely managed to stabilize himself.

He raised his head, his gaze falling on Qi Zhen.

A bloody aura suffused Qi Zhen’s long saber.

The red was not merely a change in color; it flowed slowly across the blade’s surface like a living entity, exuding a heart-pounding, violent aura.

Deep within Qi Zhen’s pupils, a strange glint of blood-red could be faintly seen.

On his dark, rugged face, veins bulged slightly, as if something inside him was awakening, struggling, and roaring.

"You...?"

Fang Han spoke, his voice low.

His gaze swept over the churning, dark-red Inner Qi around Qi Zhen, then fell upon the blood-soaked long saber. A flash of insight struck him.

A Demon Skill.

The aura was exactly the same as when he had fought Chu Feng—violent, sinister, and carrying a hunger that seemed to want to devour everything.

No, it was even stronger and deeper than Chu Feng’s Demon Skill.

’No wonder I always felt a sense of unease whenever I thought of the Tiejiang Gang. I never understood the source of that feeling, but now I finally get it.’

’The reason is the Demon Skill.’

"You’re cultivating a Demon Skill!"

Fang Han’s grip on his sword tightened slightly. The initial shock and doubt in his calm eyes were replaced by a cold understanding.

"No wonder your strength improved so quickly. No wonder you were secretly targeting the experts of the major factions—"

He paused, his voice growing even lower.

"You kill people to devour their Essence Qi, using the Demon Skill to convert it into your own Cultivation."

A cold smirk slowly formed on Qi Zhen’s lips.

He neither denied nor explained, merely holding his long saber horizontally before him as the blood-red Inner Qi on the blade churned even more violently.

"So what if you know?"

Qi Zhen’s voice was hoarse and carried an irrepressible violence, a clear sign that his mind had been unknowingly influenced by the Demon Skill.

"You’re not leaving here alive today."

Before the words had even faded, he moved again.

The blood-red saber light, like a bolt of lightning tearing through the night sky, hacked straight at Fang Han with mountain-toppling, earth-shaking momentum.

Before the blade arrived, the violent killing intent washed over him like a physical force, causing the surrounding air to seem to stagnate.

Fang Han’s expression turned grave.

He pointed his Cloud Splitting Sword diagonally at the ground as the Wind Sword Intent around him erupted with unprecedented intensity.

He channeled the Sky-Splitting Sword Technique at the Great Success Realm without reservation. The cyan-gold sword light and the blood-red Sword Aura collided brazenly in mid-air.

BOOM—!!!

A massive explosion erupted, and a shockwave spread madly in all directions.

A layer of the ground was violently scraped away, sending rubble flying like rain and dust shooting into the sky.

Two figures flickered rapidly within the cloud of dust, cyan and blood-red interweaving and clashing, each impact producing a deafening roar.