Chains covered with dried blood and tiny, rotten pieces of flesh emerged from the void. They flew toward the large image of Demon God Da Mo's Demon Soul. Even the asura was terrified by such an ominous apparition. At the same time, vibrant roots were going straight toward him from Cao Yun's Nine Soul Peaks. The red demon was trapped between life and death at the same time.
From the vibrant roots, a powerful flame suddenly burned. It was the Solar-Orchid Flame. On the opposite side, the Black Heart Flame engulfed the bloody chains. Once again, Demon God Da Mo's Demon Soul was trapped between a vibrant blaze and a sinister fire. Finally, it realized why it was so slow to act. Cao Yun had been using his Dao of Death, combined with his mind and soul cultivation. Unfortunately, the Demon Soul fragment was fighting within Cao Yun's sea of consciousness. As such, it was already a bit weaker. On the upside, it meant that Cao Yun couldn't go completely overboard, or he would injure himself. Now that Cao Yun had accepted that this was a necessity, things had changed a little.
When Demon God Da Mo was injured by Sun Liao's ultimate attack, it also meant that his Demon Soul fragment suffered some form of backlash. Whether it was a big deal or not was meaningless. The only thing that mattered was that it distracted the fragment. And now, Cao Yun had unleashed everything. However, the young man had realized that he couldn't actually crush his enemy, even with everything that he had. At least, he couldn't do it now. So he simply needed to buy some time. As such, he thought back to the Empyrean Human Emperor. Apparently, he had used a similar strategy.
The chains and the roots pierced through the manifestation of the Demon Soul. Roots and chains coiled around his limbs to completely seal all of his movements. Barbed roots and chains pierced several key points of his flesh, going so far as to stab his organs. Then, without any delay, without giving him any chance to react, they went taut.
In an instant, Demon God Da Mo's Demon Soul was torn apart into nine pieces of mangled flesh. A torrent of blood fell from the sky. The surface of Cao Yun's ocean turned red as blood. To be fair, it literally turned into blood. As the blood fell, the water itself sizzled, and a large plume of gas rose in the air. Cao Yun could feel the burning pain in his very soul. All of his Turbid Demons were also in agony, but they didn't betray him. Unlike Demon God Da Mo's Turbid Demons, Cao Yun's seven Turbid Demons were completely under his control.
Before dealing with this blood, Cao Yun had to take care of the pieces of the Demon Soul. There was no way it wouldn't try to reform itself and kill Cao Yun. As such, the young man had to act as fast as possible. With all of his intent, he was dragging the pieces of flesh toward his Nine Soul Peaks. Each piece of the mangled body had to go to one peak. Those were the peaks Cao Yun had used to seal his Turbid Demons once, as per the Weaver of Souls' 'Sealing the Seven Demons in the Nine Peaks' method. Now, he would use the exact same means to seal Demon God Da Mo's Demon Soul fragments.
Since it was a fragment, it had been easier to break it apart than usual. That being said, Cao Yun's soul was absolutely exhausted. As the pieces were being pulled, drops of blood still fell, polluting the water below. With each drop, Cao Yun was in agonizing pain. The young man was gritting his teeth so hard that a few of them literally cracked. Blood was flowing from his mouth even in the physical realm. Completely disregarding the pain, Cao Yun only focused on the roots and the chains. In fact, he even forgot Demon God Da Mo's existence, or the war, or himself. Nothing existed except for those roots and chains, not even the fragments themselves. His sole goal was to bring the roots back to their peaks.
Finally, his agony paid off. Each of the nine pieces of flesh were now above one of the peaks. The Nine Soul Peaks themselves began to be covered in blood. As a result, Cao Yun felt as though nails were being driven through all nine of the chambers of his Upper Dantian. No matter what, he would endure!
Dian Mo realized how awful the situation was. But now, he could finally help. With the pieces of the Demon Soul fragment trapped where they had to be, he could act. Several seals appeared out of the Palace of Supreme Wisdom and flew directly toward the first piece of flesh. Dian Mo was helping Cao Yun seal it. After all, Dian Mo knew enough about Cao Yun's mind and soul cultivation to help him out. With Dian Mo's help, Cao Yun was able to seal the flesh of his enemy much faster. The blood was slowly being absorbed by the Nine Soul Peaks. To be more precise, the vibrant green vines around each peak were feeding off the blood.
On the other hand, the flesh itself began to solidify and to turn into stone. Before long, it fully merged with every peak.
The giant shape of Axiu Qian walked toward the bloody ocean. With his six massive hands, he scooped a large portion of the bloody water. Immediately, he drank it all. Within his heart, Cao Yun could feel his Drop of Wrath growing a tiny bit stronger. Even though it wasn't much, there was clearly a difference. Unfortunately, Cao Yun would have no time to fully assimilate even this tiny fraction of the Demon Soul. And it would probably take years, if not decades, to digest the rest of the Demon Soul fragment. However, it was now completely sealed.
Cao Yun's soul was on the brink of collapse. Hopefully, the fight to come wouldn't require him to use his mind and soul too much...
At last, Cao Yun came back to the physical world. His intent and will completely left his sea of consciousness. From now on, Dian Mo could take care of everything within. Now, Cao Yun had to deal with Demon God Da Mo's physical body.
In front of Cao Yun, Demon God Da Mo's Reborn Demon body was covered in black blood with golden arrows embedded in his arms and legs. On his chest, hundreds of golden splinters were also visible. There probably were many more that weren't directly visible, either too small or hidden by some more black blood. Although he looked much weaker, he also looked much more terrifying. Demon God Da Mo's killing intent was now fully focused on himself, as well as his True Fire. Any Mortal or Mortal Warrior would have been burned into nothingness just by getting too close to him.
Tightening his grip on his 'Dark Abyss Wrathful Serpent Spear', Cao Yun was ready to fight. Since Demon God Da Mo didn't seem to be able to move right away, Cao Yun wouldn't wait any longer. Although he was excited to fight such a powerful opponent, Cao Yun couldn't indulge in his desires. The fate of the entire Hongchen Kingdom, and even the Piaolu planet, hung in the balance. As such, he would use every dirty trick possible, just as he had done throughout this fight. Otherwise, they would have been crushed already. This wasn't a debate about morality and martial arts etiquette, it was an existential threat to all mankind. Demon God Da Mo might even endanger humans outside the Piaolu planet.
This was war, not a martial arts duel. Everything was fair because nothing was ever fair or just in war.
Cao Yun fully manifested his personal martial art, 'Azure Dragon Through the Seven Storms'. His Spear Heart had reached the apex of its power. Unless Cao Yun reached the Spear Spirit state, he couldn't make it any stronger than that. The young man only focused on his spear and his enemy. Unlike him, Demon God Da Mo had no weapon, this was yet another unfair advantage. On the other hand, Demon God Da Mo's body was formidable. Most weapons would have never even pierced through his skin, let alone his flesh or bones. However, Cao Yun had absolute trust in the weapon his brother had forged. Moreover, Cao Yun was wearing that armor Ren Chao had made for him. It wouldn't protect him perfectly, but it would reduce the force of a few strikes, hopefully.
Deep down, Cao Yun wanted a fight. But he knew that things would be better if he could simply kill Demon God Da Mo before he could even move. So he immediately used his most powerful techniques, there was no need to test an opponent vastly superior to himself.
Cao Yun turned into thunder and flew toward his enemy. A powerful flash of azure light slashed through the battlefield. In an instant, the young man was close enough to Demon God Da Mo that his large body could have grabbed Cao Yun.
'Asura God Bathes the World in Blood'!
Instead of stabbing his enemy, unsure how far his spear could actually penetrate the asura, Cao Yun swept with his spear. Using all of his strength and the immense weight of his weapon, Cao Yun tried to simply crush the skull of his opponent. There was no fancy move. This was the most direct and simple movement possible. Nothing was wasted. With Cao Yun's Spear Heart and his martial arts combined, the spear appeared to be as large as a giant pillar covered in black scales.
A powerful sound echoed throughout the battlefield as the spear collided with the thick skull of the red asura. Clearly, it had cracked, and some blood even poured from a wound. But Demon God Da Mo's head was still whole. Even a lower or middle Spirit Warrior's head would have become a mist of blood. After all, the spear itself weighed around five hundred thousand dan. Just wielding it was a feat of strength.
The Reborn Demon didn't seem to react. Of course, his head moved because of the impact, but there was no voluntary movement. As such, Cao Yun didn't hesitate. He immediately struck again. Without stopping the momentum of his spear, Cao Yun rotated it and crushed Demon God Da Mo's shoulder. His collarbone fractured, and a piece of it even pierced through his skin. However, there was no blood. Demon God Da Mo had already bled so much that there was little left in his own body.
This time, Cao Yun's spear had lost all of its momentum upon impact as the massive body didn't move. Instinctively, Cao Yun pulled back in order to prevent anyone from grabbing an immobile weapon.
At this very moment, Demon God Da Mo finally moved. At last, the Black Death Prison poison had been purged. In fact, Sun Liao and Cao Yun's attacks might have ironically helped. His hand grabbed the weapon. Immediately, his eyes opened, and his other hand went straight for Cao Yun. Without thinking, Cao Yun let go of his spear and moved downward. Demon God Da Mo's massive body was more of an inconvenience when they were so close. Cao Yun easily moved away from his arms.
'Axiu Qian's Blood Wrath'!
Switching from his spear to his empty hands, Cao Yun used the martial art derived from Axiu Qian's fighting memories. His elbow sank into Demon God Da Mo's hip and shattered part of the bone. Grabbing his lower back, Cao Yun sent a heavy knee directly into the spine of the demon. Once again, his bones cracked. Cao Yun turned into lightning and moved like a fly around the immense demon. His fists, elbows, knees, and feet kept on attacking the demon everywhere he could. From behind, Cao Yun saw the tip of an arrow that had pierced through his entire arm.
Cao Yun grabbed the tip of the arrow and pulled it toward him. As the arrow brutally exited the limb of the demon, the pain was unbearable. More than the pain, the large asura was frustrated. Although no attack was lethal yet, the young man was slowly chopping down a huge tree. Demon God Da Mo tried to push his True Fire further and further.
The heat around Demon God Da Mo was hellish. Unfortunately for the demon, Cao Yun was protected by his Wei Qi, but above all else by his Black Heart Flame. There was a thin layer of Black Heart Flame around Cao Yun that got thicker upon contact with the red body. Moreover, Cao Yun was constantly feeding more Death Energy into it. As such, the True Fire wasn't much of an issue for him at the moment.
Driven mad by frustration, Demon God Da Mo was trying to move around in order to grab the small human. Each movement made the arrows move around. Realizing that he had little strength left, Demon God Da Mo made up his mind. Suddenly, all the golden arrows and splinters flew out of his body. He bled some more and lost even more strength. But now, he was free to do what he needed to do. His body suddenly shrunk to Cao Yun's size.
The young man was surprised but reacted immediately. Cao Yun tried to grab the spear from Demon God Da Mo. With a rapid pull, he sliced the fingers holding the spear and took his weapon back. The very next moment, Demon God Da Mo moved so fast that he was already beside Cao Yun before the young man realized he had moved. A punch went for his ribs. Cao Yun moved his elbow downward, and his arm cracked under the impact of Demon God Da Mo's punch. However, his other hand was already going straight for Cao Yun's head. In fact, he was aiming directly at his throat with an open palm.
Instead of waiting, Cao Yun bent his head toward the palm. His skull took the brunt of the impact. Cao Yun could feel it throughout his spine. His position was terrible to strike his opponent, who was on his side. As such, his priority was to reposition himself relative to Demon God Da Mo. Using the powerful impact, Cao Yun let his body move further away from his enemy. At the same time, he used the weight of his spear to more easily rotate. Finally, he was facing his opponent once more.
Before Demon God Da Mo could attack again, Cao Yun rushed toward him. He withdrew his spear into his spatial ring, realizing that it was useless for the moment. However, he could take it out at any moment. In fact, it was better to make his enemy forget he even had it unless he needed it again.