Chapter 917: The Power of Seven

While Daoist Yan was engaged in a fierce clash with the devil embryo, and Chu Liang was meeting with Yan Renjie, Caiyi, and the Azure Dragon had already crossed swords with Daoist Cangqiu and Daoist Cangyun.

Rather than a battle, it was more like a one-sided beating.

Among eighth-realm cultivators, Daoist Cangyun was no more than average, and Daoist Cangqiu barely qualified as an upper-tier eighth-realm cultivator. In contrast, both Caiyi and the Azure Dragon stood at the pinnacle of the eighth realm. The gap between them was clear.

Had it not been for the devilish qi coursing through their bodies, the two Daoists would have been forced to flee within moments, and if they failed to escape, they would have died. That power alone allowed the fight to last longer than it should have.

The Azure Dragon revealed half of his true form. His massive dragon head and claws emerged as he swooped down, seizing Daoist Cangyun by the shoulders with the clear intent of tearing him apart!

However, a surge of inky devilish qi burst forth, pushing back against the Azure Dragon’s immense strength. Daoist Cangyun let out several anguished screams, then suddenly unleashed a blast of spiritual breath. A violent hurricane, filled with countless wind blades, roared toward the Azure Dragon’s head. The Azure Dragon tilted its head to one side, dodging the attack, then swept out a claw and flung Daoist Cangyun into the air. He slammed against the cavern wall with a thunderous crash, and the Azure Dragon pounced without hesitation.

Boooooooooooooom!

With a single claw strike, the Azure Dragon slammed Daoist Cangyun into the cave wall, driving him several zhang deep into the rock.

Under normal circumstances, such a brutal beating would have long left Daoist Cangyun unable to fight. But today, he still roared with rage, tore himself from the wall, and summoned a massive tornado in a desperate attempt to shake the dragon’s form.

But what greeted him was an even fiercer barrage from the Azure Dragon—one claw strike after another, again and again!

Boom! Boom! Boom!

The Azure Dragon had always fought by enduring his opponent’s blows. He had never truly experienced the joy of delivering a beating himself. At one point, he even suspected that Daoist Cangyun had come here just to serve as his punching bag. With the devilish qi keeping Daoist Cangyun alive, the Azure Dragon did not have to hold back. He could strike as much as he liked.

While the Azure Dragon was still caught up in the thrill of the fight, Caiyi made a mistake.

...

Daoist Cangqiu was clearly no match for her. A surge of purple lightning and yin thunder coursed through his body, forming a massive net that he flung toward Caiyi in an attempt to trap her.

But Caiyi didn’t try to break free. She simply locked eyes with Daoist Cangqiu. In the next instant, the world tilted. Daoist Cangqiu suddenly found himself caught inside his own lightning net.

Ordinary illusions had no effect on eighth-realm cultivators. However, Caiyi did not construct a massive world of illusions. That would have been too draining, and far too easy to see through. Instead, she drew upon the power of the Great Dao of the Myriad Forms and distorted the space around them, blurring the line between illusion and reality.

To Daoist Cangqiu, the figure in front of him shifted without warning. Sometimes, it was Caiyi. Other times, it looked like him.

The infusion of devilish qi had indeed strengthened Daoist Cangqiu, but it had also dulled his divine intelligence. Faced with Caiyi’s deceptive and ever-shifting combat style, his confusion only deepened.

I was already dumb, and now you're toying with me?

After two rounds of distorted perception, Daoist Cangqiu was still floating in mid-air when several white fox tails suddenly burst out from behind him. They wrapped around his body and bound him tight. In the next moment, they swung him through the air and slammed him into the cave wall with a thunderous crash, just as Daoist Cangyun had been moments before.

Just as the fox tails rose to slam him a second time, Daoist Cangqiu suddenly erupted with a surge of purple lightning. The energy crackled along the tails and shot straight toward Caiyi.

"Ah..." Caiyi let out a cry of pain as the lightning struck. Her tails loosened at once, unraveling in mid-air.

Daoist Cangqiu seized the opening, dove downward, and disappeared into the dense black mist in an instant.

On the other side, the Azure Dragon had one claw locked around Daoist Cangyun. Sensing something was wrong, he turned his head sharply and shouted, "What are you doing? How did you let him get away?"

He and Caiyi had held the upper hand from the very start. But now that Daoist Cangqiu had escaped, Chu Liang, who was still below, would surely be in danger. Yet, none of them were in a position to descend. They were all stuck where they were, unable to provide any help.

“After being tainted by devilish qi, his spiritual force became incredibly strong. I slipped up for a moment,” Caiyi replied.

The Azure Dragon’s fury surged as he spoke. "If anything happens to Chu Liang, I will not forgive you."

Caiyi cast a glance downward and said, “Let fate decide.”

With that, she soared upward.

The Azure Dragon wanted to attack Caiyi, but he hesitated. If he did it now now, it could cause a mess, and Daoist Cangyun might seize the opportunity to escape. Though subdued and sealed with twelve dragon scales, Daoist Cangyun was still dangerous.

Left with no other choice, the Azure Dragon gritted his teeth, rose into the air, and flew after Caiyi. Once he was sure that Daoist Yan had defeated the devil embryo with the power of the legendary artifact, the Azure Dragon was determined that he would settle things with this fox demon.

...

Deep at the bottom of the sinkhole, just after Yan Renjie died, something fell from midair.

It was an unusually shaped object; it appeared to be a segment of golden bone, roughly the length of a palm, with a raised ridge running down its center. Though it looked light, the moment it hit the ground, the earth around it trembled.

Chu Liang immediately sensed that this was the source of the spiritual energy within the sinkhole. It was this object that had been suppressing and repelling all demonic forces. Even the White Pagoda within his body began to tremble in response. This was something that had never happened before.

Across from him, Daoist Cangqiu, now corrupted by diabolical qi, also turned his gaze toward the bone. A flicker of greed passed through his eyes. It was clear that this was his goal as well, or more accurately, the goal of the devil embryo that now controlled him.

Yet, neither Daoist Cangqiu nor Chu Liang made a move. After glancing at the object, they turned their eyes back to each other.

They both understood the unspoken truth. Whoever killed the other would walk away with the treasure.

For Daoist Cangqiu, attacking Chu Liang felt completely natural. He had already harbored killing intent toward him, and now that no one else was around, this was the perfect moment to act.

But Chu Liang’s killing intent made no sense. He was only a seventh-realm cultivator, going up against someone in the eighth realm. By all logic, he should have been trying to escape. Or perhaps... he simply had no way out.

But with his mind eroded by devilish qi, Daoist Cangqiu didn’t think that far. There was only one thought left in his head—he wanted to kill the boy he so hated standing before him.

Kill!

"Raaagh!" Daoist Cangqiu let out a hoarse, beast-like roar.

Lightning surged wildly around him as he activated the Great Dao of the Lightning Serpent and lunged forward. He turned into a streak of crackling light as he struck again.

I couldn’t beat the fox. Don’t tell me I can’t beat you either?!

Facing the ferocious onslaught, Chu Liang raised his hand ever so slightly and shouted, "Strike!"

Booooooooooooooooom!

A surge of spiritual energy erupted from Chu Liang, stronger than anything he had ever released before. A burst of purple-gold light flared outward from within him, like a star detonating in a single instant. The lightning that followed came in a blinding flood, its power utterly overwhelming.

Daoist Cangqiu was caught completely off guard. The sudden burst of force surrounded him in an instant, and his entire body shuddered. At that moment, Chu Liang’s fist came crashing toward him with unstoppable power.

Smash!

The punch struck Daoist Cangqiu squarely in the face, driving his head back with brutal force. His features twisted under the impact, but the devilish qi reinforcing his body absorbed just enough of the blow to keep his skull from collapsing.

Even so, he couldn’t stop himself from being sent flying. He tore across the ground, carving a deep trench dozens of zhang long before slamming into the cavern wall with a thunderous crash.

"What was that..." Despite taking a heavy blow, Daoist Cangqiu sprang back to his feet, staring at Chu Liang in disbelief. "The Divine Clouds of Yang Lightning?"

That was exactly what it was.

What Chu Liang had just unleashed was clearly beyond the limits of the seventh realm. He had become the master of the Great Dao of Divine Clouds, which represented yang lightning.

How could this be possible?

Daoist Cangqiu’s thoughts spun.

He is so young. Just reaching the seventh realm at his age is already astounding. And now this, all in such a short time?

Daoist Cangqiu, whose mind was already clouded by devilish qi, felt even more lost than before.

However, Chu Liang only gave a faint smile.

You see me standing here, calm and carefree, and think this shouldn't be possible. But what you don’t see... is that my Large-Headed Doll has already comprehended the Dragon God’s Orb and taken hold of the Great Dao of Divine Clouds. Right now, it’s spinning with blazing sparks and crackling lightning.

That punch just now didn’t come from me alone. It came from me and my six Large-Headed Dolls—the power of seven.

How are you going to block that?!