Chapter 915: The Silent Gears of Destiny (I)

When Daoist Yan flew to the edge of the sinkhole, she came face to face with a towering figure clad in black robes. The figure stood over ten feet tall, broad, and imposing. Their face bore a strange blend of sharpness and softness, making it impossible to tell whether they were male or female. The head was completely shaved, and one half of the face was marked with twisted, devilish patterns.

At a glance, the figure did not seem alive at all. They resembled a clay statue from an ancient evil temple rather than a living being.

Upon spotting Daoist Yan, the figure curled their lips into a sinister grin and began to chant in a strange, discordant tune. The voice shifted back and forth between male and female tones, rising high, then plunging low, each note piercing to the bone.

"Heavenly gods and Buddhas are inferior to mortal flesh.

Gods and Buddhas feel nothing,

Yet mortal flesh burns with countless desires.

Desire gives birth to humankind,

And from that same desire, devils are forged.

Without the harmony of dragon and tiger,

The golden core becomes a reflection of the Mother Devil."

The moment the chant began, Daoist Yan felt her mind falter, as if a giant hand had reached straight into her thoughts. Her spiritual platform had long since stabilized upon reaching the eighth realm, and it had been many years since anything had managed to invade her soul.

Fortunately, sword cultivators were known for their especially resilient souls. A sharp glint appeared in Daoist Yan's eyes as she forcefully severed all stray thoughts. She cast out greed. She cast out rage. She cast out delusion. In the next instant, the Heavenly Cloud Ancient Sword surged forward and rose to shield her from the invading chant.

But when she looked up again, the devilish being, the devil embryo, was gone. In their place now stood the Whale-Riding Immortal, Jiang Tiankuo.

"Die!" Daoist Yan shouted, her voice crisp and forceful.

The Heavenly Cloud Ancient Sword shot forth instantly, unleashing a roar of sword qi that surged like a boundless sea.

Booooooooooooom!

The devil embryo burst out from the sea of sword qi, his[1]towering frame riddled with countless gashes. Black-gold light spilled from the wounds, casting a flickering glow across his twisted form.

"What a ruthless woman," the devil embryo muttered in a low voice. "I uncovered the very obsession buried in your heart, yet you struck it down without even a second glance."

Daoist Yan responded with another sword strike.

It did not matter whether this was an illusion. Even if the real Jiang Tiankuo stood before her, Daoist Yan would not hesitate for a single moment. When it came to cutting personal ties without mercy, even Princess Di Nufeng had always conceded defeat to her.

The Great Dao of the Cloud of Determination surged forth, and sword qi filled the sky, once more engulfing the devil.

"Enough!" the devil embryo let out a piercing shriek.

In an instant, he expanded to hundreds of times his original size, transforming into a towering black silhouette a hundred zhang tall, casting half the sinkhole into darkness.

Yet, even after his transformation, he made no move to take advantage of his monstrous form. He did not launch a brute-force attack against Daoist Yan. Instead, he opened his mouth wide and began to devour all the sword qi in the sky. The brilliant streams of sword qi flowed visibly into his nearly translucent belly, where they twisted together with pitch-black devilish qi. The sword qi was quickly corrupted, assimilated, and then expelled all at once.

Boooooooooooom!

The sword qi, now laced with diabolical energy, was like a divine weapon coated in poison. Its lethality had been greatly amplified. When that surge of devilish sword qi burst forth, even Daoist Yan did not dare to face it directly.

She chose a more effective method.

The moment Daoist Yan realized she lacked the strength to slay this devil, she had already begun summoning Mount Shu Sect’s Vessel of God.

Within a few breaths, a deafening crack split the air. High above, the sky tore open, revealing a rift in the black void. From that tear, the bronze prow of a great ship pierced through and came crashing down in an instant.

Boooooooooooom! Craaaash!

Perhaps sensing the power of this legendary artifact, the devil embryo had already begun to retreat. But it never expected its method of attack to be so brutally direct.

It simply rammed straight into him!

With a thunderous boom, the devil embryo failed to dodge in time. The bronze vessel struck his right leg, shattering it on impact. The limb burst apart into a cloud of mist.

He let out a shriek of agony. "

Aaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!

"

The scream pierced her mind, stirring a sharp wave of irritation in Daoist Yan’s heart. For a moment, she nearly lost control of the Mount Shu Sect’s Vessel of God. But instead of faltering, she only grew more resolute. The vessel turned back and rammed into the devil embryo once again.

This strike landed squarely on his back, blasting a gaping hole through his manifested form. The devil embryo could no longer sustain the current monstrous form.

Empowered by the full force of the Great Dao of the Cloud of Determination, the Mount Shu Sect’s Vessel of God twisted through the air like a swimming dragon. By now, Daoist Yan had commanded the legendary artifact several times and could steer the airship with complete ease and control.

The vessel whipped its stern in a spiraling turn and swept through the air once more.

The devil embryo locked eyes with Daoist Yan. In the next instant, two beams of divine light burst forth with a sharp hiss.

A flash of black devilish light swept past Daoist Yan’s vision. She froze but only for a breath.

The devil embryo cried out in alarm as his manifested form crumbled apart. His true body, blood pouring from his wounds, plummeted from the sky. He had not expected that after finally exploiting a flaw in Daoist Yan’s defense and invading her soul, he would run headfirst into an even fiercer soul force that hurled him back out.

The devil embryo’s true form was a boiling mass of demonic spirit!

He glared at Daoist Yan, venom seething in his eyes. "Your demon blood burns, and your killing intent knows no bounds. One day, you will become a devil!"

Daoist Yan's gaze turned as cold as a distant star as she spoke with chilling resolve. "If I were ever to fall and become a devil, would trash like you even survive? You’d be the first I kill."

Her words were ruthless, and so was her strike. Without a hint of mercy, she stood tall on the vessel’s deck and brought it crashing down with thunderous force.

That surge of pressure made every wandering soul and evil entity in the Thousand Pavilion Valley tremble!

"Aaahhhhhhh!" The devil embryo howled in anguish. He could no longer influence Daoist Yan at all. He could only roar helplessly, "You're only winning because that legendary artifact is powerful!"

Daoist Yan stood expressionless atop the Vessel of God as it pressed down on the devilish corpse. Her voice was cold and calm as she replied, "Yes."

That’s right. That is indeed what is happening now. I am relying on the power of a legendary artifact. But so what? What can you do about it?

Booooooooom!

The vessel crushed the devil embryo and drove it into the side of the sinkhole with a deafening crash. A large section of the wall shattered, and a deep channel was carved into the rock. When Daoist Yan swept the area with her divine sense, the demonic presence had vanished completely.

Whether it had been reduced to dust or if a tattered remnant had slipped away remained unclear.

Daoist Yan frowned slightly. Something told her this wasn’t over.

𝘧𝘳𝘦ℯ𝓌𝘦𝒷𝘯𝑜𝑣𝘦𝓁.𝒸𝘰𝓂

Still, one thing was certain. The devil embryo was no match for a legendary artifact. And for now, that was good news.

...

1. The pronoun for the devil embryo has changed from “they” to “he” because they have transformed into Jiang Tiankuo. ☜