Cao Yun was fighting the fragment of Demon God Da Mo's Demon Soul. Despite all his efforts, and even with Dian Mo's help, he was unable to fully extract it from his sea of consciousness. The young man had also understood what Demon God Da Mo was doing. The red asura was purging his own blood in order to get rid of the Black Death Prison poison. Sadly, Cao Yun knew that this would be effective. Of course, Demon God Da Mo would be incredibly weakened after such a sacrificial move. However, if Cao Yun was still fighting his Demon Soul fragment, he would have to fight on several fronts. In the end, he would most likely lose.
This was the end of this fight. Both cultivators were exhausted. They had used everything they had and were at the end of their rope. Unfortunately, Cao Yun was already in a disadvantageous position to begin with. Three Sages had literally given their lives and their very souls to weaken Demon God Da Mo. Cao Yun had completely used up the very last weapon of the heroic war between the legendary Empyrean Human Empire and the Zhengxue Empire. That war was so ancient that no one on the Piaolu planet had even heard those words before. Most likely, the best warriors of this conflict would have completely crushed both Cao Yun and Demon God Da Mo.
Demon God Da Mo was covered in black blood. The process was extremely painful, and he was visibly getting weaker and weaker. Even the human cultivators could feel it as his killing intent was slowly dissipating. Not only was it getting weaker, but it was also focusing more and more on Demon God Da Mo himself. Clearly, he was trying to conserve as much strength as possible.
With his experience, Demon God Da Mo had finally accepted the hard truth: he had to kill Cao Yun no matter what. He couldn't afford to think about the future. Even if he had to destroy any hope of a future, he had to kill the bastard right now. Demon God Da Mo thought about escaping at some point. But a terrifying feeling had overtaken him. He was afraid. The man in front of him couldn't even be fifty, in fact, he was most likely in his thirties. And he was already an Exalted Demon. Now that humans had found a way to become Sages, he would also become one very soon. What more could this man accomplish in one more decade?
He had to die!
If he thought about anything else, if he tried to hold back to protect some hypothetical future, Demon God Da Mo could sense his own doom. Just like the young man was ready to lose everything in this battle, the ancient asura had to be prepared in the same way. This was the ultimate battle between humans and demons.
Demon God Da Mo could tell that his Empyrean Asura Theocracy wouldn't survive him. After all, he had never built it to last without him. The priesthood would never be able to hold power. In fact, Silver Wolf Marshal Shanyin Guan would probably join the rebels and annihilate the entire Empyrean Asura Theocracy. A strange thought went through Demon God Da Mo. Silver Wolf Marshal Shanyin Guan might kill him if he survived this fight. Indeed, if the Silver Wolf Marshal saw him in such a state, he might suddenly get the idea that he could win. As soon as this thought crossed his mind, Demon God Da Mo banished it. He couldn't be thinking about the future at all, not in the slightest. He had to be in the present. This was the only path to victory!
On the other hand, Cao Yun knew for a fact that the Empyrean Asura Theocracy would fall if Demon God Da Mo lost. He had made sure of it. Moreover, he had almost made sure that the Hongchen Kingdom could endure. Even without him, Sun Liao had found a way for cultivators to become Sages. That knowledge wouldn't go away. Huang Cixi was now the emperor, although her official imperial name had not yet been given. All of the Hongchen Kingdom could go on without Cao Yun. Unlike Demon God Da Mo, this political regime did not rely on a single ruler. Unity had always been mankind's strength. Thanks to Emperor Nuwa's policy, merit had always been superior to birth. As such, the Hongchen Kingdom had many talented people who could take over even if many died.
Unlike Demon God Da Mo, Cao Yun had no reason whatsoever to worry about his legacy. The only thing Cao Yun had to do was to kill Demon God Da Mo. In fact, he was convinced that simply weakening him would suffice. And now, before his very eyes, Demon God Da Mo was literally weakening himself.
Since he wasn't worried about anything, Cao Yun only focused on his fight. Strangely, he felt calm. In fact, he felt excited. Even he was shocked. After all the death and misery he had suffered, he should have been filled with hatred against his enemy. But, no. Cao Yun was simply excited that he could fight such a powerful cultivator. Maybe it was the excitement of improving his spearmanship... At that moment, Cao Yun realized that he had indeed improved his spearmanship, he had not even realized what had happened.
Cao Yun suddenly laughed. It was the stress and the excitement. On the ground, Sun Liao was one of the only cultivators who heard it. This confirmed his decision. Cao Yun was at the end of his strength. Now, he was ready to burn everything that he was in order to fight until the very end. As a matter of fact, Sun Liao had perfectly understood his brother. Cao Yun wanted to reach the pinnacle of cultivation and of martial arts. He might forsake cultivation, alongside his life, but he would absolutely pursue his martial arts, no matter what. If he died in a blaze of glory, he would give it his all. Of course, he would rather survive, not just for himself, but for others. So many people had given their lives for him and were counting on him that he didn't want to betray them or spit on their sacrifices. However, he knew that he didn't have any choice in the matter.
Suddenly, he felt a huge shadow fall over him.
Behind Cao Yun, a giant tree had appeared, casting a shadow on the entire battlefield. His brother Sun Liao had used his ultimate array formation. It wasn't his most powerful or complex array formation, but it would be the last one he could use because it required too much Qi. All the chief elders were helping as they flew on the main branches of the tree. Every single cultivator who could fly was now standing on the branches, while the cultivators on the ground were standing on the immense roots of the tree. With their Qi, the tree grew bigger and bigger.
It was the Fusang and the Ruomu trees merged into one. The bark of the tree looked like ashes with glints of silver. Nine Suns appeared on the branches like fruits. As the Suns grew, the mantra of Sun Liao's 'Houyi's Nine Suns' echoed throughout Heidai Peak. At the moment, Sun Liao was directing the power of almost a hundred Spirit Warriors and thousands of Mortal Warriors. Considering that most of them were exhausted, the total power was reduced, but it was still incredible. As a matter of fact, Sun Liao might have even been able to kill a lower Sage with such a move. But this also meant that it was incredibly difficult to control it. Any powerful cultivator could simply dodge the attack or even strike before Sun Liao had gathered enough momentum. Thankfully, Demon God Da Mo was still completely paralyzed while he was getting rid of the Black Death Prison poison.
"One Sun from Tang valley
From the East, the Vault rises
Three Lights in Its Claws
The winged Longma pulls
Xihe with veiled eyes
Diri and Chunsheng
Seven points passed
To the West, Ruomu lies
Nine back at Fusang
If ten, the green turns yellow!"
Finally, a large, ominous, tenth Sun appeared. It was above the merged Fusang and Ruomu tree. A powerful screech echoed as the shape of a golden crow could be seen in the tenth Sun.
In his hands, Sun Liao was holding his 'Heavenly Mirror Longbow'. It was fully drawn with all of Sun Liao's strength. A large golden arrow appeared between the string and the bow. Sun Liao focused all of his mind and all of his intent on this one arrow. The combined strength and Qi of all the cultivators present gushed through his body. Such a power was absolutely too much for him. Sun Liao could feel his entire body about to burst open. His meridians, vessels, and Dantian were in so much pain that he thought he was about to die. And he was. There was no way he could sustain it for very long. Even he realized that all of this strength was inferior to Demon God Da Mo's, and probably around Cao Yun's. In other words, what could kill him in an instant was natural for those two behemoths.
Simultaneously, Sun Liao felt more powerful than ever. His ego inflated, and he thought he was the strongest cultivator in the entire Hongchen Kingdom and even the Piaolu planet, at this very moment. On the other hand, he realized how powerless he was when compared with actual powerhouses. He couldn't let his ego get in the way. Never should Sun Liao relent in his training. Never! Besides, mankind had found a way to become Sages. Sun Liao would aim higher and higher.
Indeed, Sun Liao aimed higher. His 'Heavenly Mirror Longbow' was targeting Demon God Da Mo's body.
Sun Liao kept on waiting to amass more and more power. When he felt as though his body couldn't take it anymore, he finally released his arrow.
In an instant, the merged Fusang and Ruomu tree disappeared as the string of Sun Liao's bow vibrated. The golden arrow flew through the air and split into ten identical arrows. The ten Suns flew along the exact same trajectory. Demon God Da Mo had no way of dodging anything. From his body, an intense heat emerged as he summoned his True Fire from within. The flames were invisible, but their heat was felt by all.
The heat was so intense that it affected the trajectory of the arrows. However, Sun Liao was still connected to them and pushed his intent as much as he could. Eight arrows pierced Demon God Da Mo's limbs. Sun Liao had targeted his knees, hips, elbows, and shoulders to completely pin him down. Unfortunately, they pierced Demon God Da Mo a bit away from his joints. One arrow even missed, lacerated his thigh and disappeared into the distance. The other two arrows were targeting Demon God Da Mo's head and heart. Of course, the asura had focused his True Fire around those vital areas.
The arrow targeting his head vibrated as if it were being hit by a torrent. Some invisible force was trying to destroy it, but it endured. However, its trajectory was off. Demon God Da Mo was huge, but his head was still a difficult target, even for Sun Liao. The arrow completely missed him and didn't leave a mark at all.
Finally, the tenth golden arrow went straight for Demon God Da Mo's heart. It also vibrated. But Sun Liao had put more strength and more Qi into this one golden arrow, it was the tenth Sun. The golden arrow was covered in yellow flames that suddenly exploded and turned green. A golden crow screeched, and some were able to see the claws of the golden crow on the arrow itself. The green flames began to falter as they clashed against the invisible True Fire. The arrow slowed down slightly. At last, it collided with Demon God Da Mo. Instead of directly striking his heart, it hit a rib. The tip of the arrow pierced his skin and exploded into millions of small splinters. Some did pierce Demon God Da Mo's skin, drawing out even more black blood.
Ironically, those arrows had probably helped Demon God Da Mo get rid of his poisoned blood a bit faster, but it was marginal. However, the limbs of Demon God Da Mo were clearly damaged. With the amount of blood he had already lost, it wouldn't be easy for him to heal, especially not during combat. Moreover, Demon God Da Mo had no pill on him at all. In other words, he wouldn't recover before his fight against Cao Yun.
Sun Liao collapsed on the ground but immediately used his 'Heavenly Mirror Longbow' as a cane in order to stay standing. All the other cultivators were exhausted. Sadly, they were also terrified. Although they had injured Demon God Da Mo tremendously, they also realized that all of their strength combined wasn't enough to kill him. Clearly, no one in the Hongchen Kingdom could kill him in a fair fight. Hopefully, Cao Yun would kill him now. Otherwise, the Hongchen Kingdom would be in danger. After all, no one was sure whether they could kill Demon God Da Mo even if he was near death after his fight against Cao Yun.
Seeing Sun Liao's determination, Cao Yun restrained himself a little. He wouldn't use his Soul Embryo unless it was absolutely necessary. Considering Demon God Da Mo's current state, it might not be. Cao Yun would pit his own asura cultivation against the body of a Reborn Demon. However, his determination didn't diminish. He steeled his will.
'Death Splintering Palm'!
Cao Yun used the one martial move he had derived from 'Death Verses'. His palm became rotten as if it belonged to a corpse. His very bones could be seen beneath his pungent flesh that was falling apart. With no hesitation at all, Cao Yun struck his own head. A powerful wave of Death Energy entered his skull and his Upper Dantian. The fragment of Demon God Da Mo's Demon Soul was in as much pain as Cao Yun himself. But Cao Yun was prepared for the pain.
'Sealing the Seven Demons in the Nine Peaks', 'Seal All Demons'.
The young man used the mind and soul cultivation method of the Weaver of Souls. If he couldn't take the Demon Soul out easily, he had to get rid of it in another way.
The Nine Soul Peaks shone with a bright green light as the roots of the world tree shot out like chains, aiming directly at the Demon Soul fragment.