Chapter 17: Sun Demon Emperor (Part 1)
In the dueling grounds, Xu Hui stared venomously at Li Qiye. He wished he could dismember Li Qiye into a thousand pieces, skin him alive, and pull out his tendons.
Yu He and the others had personally come to watch this martial duel. Everyone held their breath, their eyes fixed on the two combatants.
At this moment, neither Guardian Mo nor Nan Huairun believed that Li Qiye could defeat Xu Hui. Xu Hui was, after all, an expert at the True Fate Realm. Even more terrifying, he had cultivated a Great Sage Level Cultivation Technique! Li Qiye had only joined the Xiyan Ancient Sect a few days ago and hadn't even practiced a single Daoist Technique. Defeating Xu Hui was utterly impossible.
"Can he really defeat Senior Brother Xu?" Li Qiye had passed through fourteen levels of the Chaotic Heart Forest in one go, which had shaken the confidence of the Nine Saints Demon Gate disciples.
One of the senior brothers shook his head and said, "Impossible! A Mortal defeating a Cultivator? That's absolutely unheard of. Nothing like that has happened since the beginning of time! Unless he has an Immortal Emperor's True Artifact! But that's impossible too. Even if he had an Immortal Emperor True Artifact, he wouldn't have enough Blood Qi to activate it!"
"That's right. Someone who has never even practiced a Daoist Technique could never activate an Immortal Emperor True Artifact, even if he really had one! Junior Brother Xu's Slaughter Sword Technique is incredibly terrifying—profound, unparalleled, and fiercely domineering. If he goes all out, no one in our Nine Saints Demon Gate can defeat him, unless the Princess or Eldest Senior Brother takes action personally!" a senior brother who had sparred with Xu Hui before added with a nod.
Another disciple from the Nine Saints Demon Gate, also convinced a Mortal like Li Qiye couldn't beat Xu Hui, said, "Although Senior Brother Xu's Golden Eagle Body is a Postnatal Body, his physique is exceptionally swift and ferocious. When it comes to speed and attack power, Senior Brother Xu is quite famous among us disciples."
For a Cultivator, physique was extremely important. Physiques were classified as Innate or Postnatal, good or bad, and ranked from lowest to highest: Mortal Body, Postnatal Body, Innate Body, Emperor Body, Sacred Body, and Immortal Body!
Mortal Bodies were the most common in the world; the vast majority of ordinary mortals had them. Li Qiye, for example, had a Mortal Body! In terms of both Blood Qi and physical constitution, the Mortal Body was the absolute weakest!
"CLANG—CLANG—CLANG—" With a long cry from Xu Hui, streaks of Sword Radiance erupted from his body. The Sword Radiance transformed into a massive field of swords, each streak flowing around him like a Divine Sword! His defense was impregnable, like a Divine Spear Fortress that no one could breach!
"OPEN—" Xu Hui opened his mouth and spat out a Divine Sword. The sword flickered, instantly multiplying into eight Divine Swords that floated in the air. Each sword was a thousand feet tall, looking as if it could cleave the very earth.
"The Slaughter Sword Technique and the Flame Gold Divine Sword!" a disciple said with envy. "Senior Brother Xu's True Artifact was formed from a Flame Gold Divine Stone with complete Dao Patterns. With the Flame Gold Divine Sword for offense and the Slaughter Sword Technique for defense, I'm afraid no one in our Nine Saints Demon Gate besides Eldest Senior Brother and the others could easily defeat him."
A Cultivator's treasure artifacts were divided into True Artifacts and Life Artifacts. A True Artifact referred to a True Destiny Artifact, while a Life Artifact referred to an Ordinary Life Tool. True Artifacts were more powerful than Life Artifacts!
Seeing this, Guardian Mo fell silent. Nan Huairun sighed softly. 'With such Dao Practice, such a Cultivation Technique, and such a True Artifact, Li Qiye has no hope at all!'
Against an opponent like Xu Hui, forget Nan Huairun—even Guardian Mo himself couldn't break through his defense in a few moves. And if they couldn't break his defense early on, they would have to face the torrential onslaught of a Great Sage Technique. That would be even more terrifying!
"Come on, you little bastard! Today, I'll tear you to shreds!" Xu Hui roared, pointing his sword at Li Qiye.
"Ptooey, ptooey." Li Qiye spat into his palms and rubbed them together. The gesture was a complete departure from his usual leisurely and carefree demeanor; it was incredibly vulgar.
"Tear me to shreds?" Li Qiye said calmly. "You're not good enough. I'm going to beat you into a pig's head so swollen even your own parents won't recognize you!" With that, he slowly drew out the Snake-Beating Staff!
When he saw Li Qiye pull out the Snake-Beating Staff, Nan Huairun nearly fainted. Wasn't that the Fire-Burning Staff from the Xiyan Ancient Sect's Ancestral Hall? He had been hoping Li Qiye would use the Qimen Saber. With the miraculous Qimen Saber, he might have had a chance to turn the tide and create a miracle.
But Li Qiye didn't use the Qimen Saber, instead using this Fire-Burning Staff! This… this… wasn't this courting death? A staff like that would be snapped in two with a single light tap from Xu Hui's Flame Gold Divine Sword!
As for Guardian Mo, it went without saying. 'Li Qiye has absolutely no hope.' He had only one plan now: if Li Qiye's life was truly in danger, he would save him no matter what!
"The Xiyan Ancient Sect has really fallen. Daring to face Senior Brother Xu's Flame Gold Divine Sword with a broken wooden stick!" a disciple of the Nine Saints Demon Gate sneered.
Because Li Qiye had left a deep impression on Yu He by passing through the Chaotic Heart Forest, his eyes narrowed. He activated his Celestial Eye to carefully inspect the wooden staff, genuinely worried that it might be a treasure refined by an Immortal Emperor.
But no matter how he looked at it, the wooden staff was just a wooden staff. It hadn't been refined by any Daoist Technique, nor was it imbued with any Cultivation Technique. It was just a stick, so ordinary it couldn't be more ordinary.
Yu He couldn't help but feel bewildered. 'A wooden stick daring to contend with a True Destiny Level True Artifact? This is the height of ignorance, just courting death!'
Guardian Xu sneered coldly. 'Li Qiye is courting death. My disciple can cleave him in two with a single strike!'
"Kid, get over here. Let your grandpa here beat your ass black and blue!" Li Qiye said, leisurely yet arrogant, pointing the Snake-Beating Staff directly at Xu Hui.
"You're courting death!" Xu Hui roared. The eight Divine Swords instantly merged into one. With a CLANG that shot to the heavens, the Divine Sword chopped down, carrying with it countless raging flames that seemed ready to incinerate the vast dueling grounds!
"It's over—" Seeing that strike, Nan Huairun couldn't even bear to watch. He was afraid that when the sword fell, not even Li Qiye's bones would remain. Xu Hui was clearly trying to kill him with a single blow!
"Nice one!" Li Qiye, however, didn't seem to care at all. With a strange cry, he rushed forward, casually swinging the Snake-Beating Staff as if it were nothing!
"Senior Brother Xu, kill him!" Seeing Li Qiye rushing to his death, the disciples of the Nine Saints Demon Gate grew excited. If Xu Hui killed Li Qiye with this one strike, his blood would be enough to wash away their humiliation!
BANG— However, the result wasn't the gruesome scene everyone had imagined. It wasn't like they thought, with Li Qiye's body being obliterated by the descending sword.
As Li Qiye swung the Snake-Beating Staff, it incredibly struck the Flame Gold Divine Sword at its weakest point—right on the spine of the blade. CLANG! Xu Hui's Flame Gold Divine Sword was knocked to the ground, just like a venomous snake struck at its vital spot, collapsing limply to the floor.
"I'm gonna beat you into a pig's head, kid!" Xu Hui couldn't believe his eyes, but Li Qiye was already upon him, casually swinging the Snake-Beating Staff!
"KILL—" Xu Hui roared furiously. Instead of retreating, the Sword Radiance all over his body instantly transformed into a Sea of Swords that surged toward Li Qiye to crush him. He refused to believe what was happening!
BANG! However, even his Great Sage Level Slaughter Sword Technique was useless. The Snake-Beating Staff came down, instantly striking a flaw in the Slaughter Sword Technique and landing viciously on Xu Hui's face. The blow sent blood flying! Xu Hui was struck so hard he saw stars, his head spinning dizzily!
BANG, BANG, BANG… In the blink of an eye, Li Qiye had struck more than ten times, each blow landing on Xu Hui's most vulnerable spots. Xu Hui was instantly beaten to the point where he couldn't fight back. He became like a deboned snake—his Blood Qi was disrupted, his Cultivation Technique fell into disarray, and his bones felt like jelly! Within moments, he was beaten to the ground, his face covered in blood after taking several hits.
The Snake-Beating Staff was not a treasure, nor was it a Divine Artifact. It was just a wooden stick! But it embodied the principle of "striking a snake at its vital spot." A single swing was aimed at a person's weaknesses and critical points, exploiting every opening! Unless one reached the Heavenly Essence Realm, it was nearly impossible to dodge this staff! The Snake-Beating Staff could be called the bane of ordinary Cultivators.
A three-foot-long Snake-Beating Staff was a rarity in this world. Back in the early years of the era of All Emperors, Li Qiye, as the Yin Ya, had entered the Ancient Evil Land and expended great effort to obtain this very three-foot-long staff from the Ghost Forest!
Forget a mere Xu Hui; back when Mingren Immortal Emperor had not yet become an Immortal Emperor, he had suffered immensely at the hands of this Snake-Beating Staff. Even that group of Invincible War Generals under the Mingren Immortal Emperor's command had been beaten black and blue by this staff in their youth, howling in pain!
Dodging the Snake-Beating Staff wasn't an impossible feat. Once you broke through to the Heavenly Essence Realm, it became much easier. If you hadn't reached the Heavenly Essence Realm, however, you could only stand there and take a beating.
The Snake-Beating Staff was not a treasure, nor was it a Divine Artifact. It was cut from a small tree that had grown for countless eons in the Ancient Evil Land!
While it was still possible to be beaten black and blue by the Snake-Beating Staff even after reaching the Heavenly Essence Realm, the staff would not kill. It was precisely for this reason that Li Qiye, as the Yin Ya, had gone to such great lengths to obtain it from the Ghost Forest in the Ancient Evil Land—so he could properly teach a lesson to that bunch of brats like Mingren Immortal Emperor!
BANG—BANG—BANG— In the blink of an eye, Xu Hui had been knocked to the ground. Li Qiye showed no mercy, viciously whipping Xu Hui's body with the Snake-Beating Staff. In moments, Xu Hui was covered in lacerations and welts, unable to even get up from the floor!
This scene left everyone dumbfounded! Yu He was shocked and immediately used his Celestial Eye to observe the Snake-Beating Staff again. But it was still just a wooden stick. There were no fluctuations of Divine Power, no circulation of Laws, and certainly no Forbidden Techniques sealed within it. It was just an ordinary wooden stick.
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