"What is that thing?"
Seeing the bizarre creature composed of writhing blue lines, a sense of unprecedented lethal crisis erupted in Ji Qingyue's heart.
The writhing blue lines—a dreamy yet eerie shade of blue—changed their shapes every single second. It was not a shape any normal living creature should possess.
'No information on this type of demon exists in any record.'
If it were just a matter of a strange appearance, that would be one thing. But what was the source of this primal dread and fear?
With her newly awakened Myriad Laws Floating Cup characteristic of her Myriad Law Celestial Physique, what could possibly pose such a terminal threat to her within the Void Refinement stage?
Because she did not possess Qi Ping's specially crafted spatial transmission talismans, she had not received any information regarding this bizarre demon. The Void-Aether Fish assigned to her sector had perished almost immediately upon entry, failing to deliver the talisman to her hand.
More terrifyingly, beside this Blue Demon General stood more than ten other demons. Among them were six King-rank Void Refinement demons!
It was a lineup of absolute horror.
Had she not grasped the essence of the Myriad Laws Floating Cup, Ji Qingyue would have had no choice but to wait for death.
But now?
Even now, a direct confrontation would likely result in her death. Was this a lineup intended for a single human to fight?
"Run!"
Ji Qingyue unhesitatingly triggered the Laws of Lightning, one of the paths she excelled in most, and cast a Lightning Haste divine ability to flee into the distance.
With the amplification of the Myriad Laws Floating Cup, her speed was only slightly slower than that of a Void-Aether Fish. Furthermore, she possessed a violent power capable of shattering all restraints and defenses.
Facing such a lineup, only a fool would refuse to flee!
No matter how arrogant she was, she wasn't so deluded as to think she could win. That bizarre Blue Demon General alone gave her a sense of fatal danger, let alone the encirclement of the other Void Refinement demons.
This was where the advantage of speed came into play. By turning and fleeing, very few demons could keep up with her. After her recent battles to the death, she had gained a clear understanding of the average speed of these demons.
'I hope a few of them try to keep up. That way, I can pick them off one by one and devour them.'
Fleeing was not her ultimate goal; avoiding a coordinated siege was. As long as she could systematically slaughter this group, no one in the entire World-Domain Battlefield would be able to stop her.
However, the moment Ji Qingyue transformed into a bolt of lightning to escape, a bizarre lethal crisis rose within her!
Immediately after, she discovered to her horror that eerie blue threads were growing out of various parts of her body—her eyes, mouth, nose, chest... even her soul had countless fine threads growing out like frantic weeds.
"What is this ghost-thing?"
Ji Qingyue's scalp crawled, and a chill rose from her heart. This scene was too macabre! She felt that being cleaved in two by a blade would be less terrifying than this.
The most horrific part was that Ji Qingyue could feel her life force and her very origin essence being drained away at a frantic pace. She manipulated her powerful and destructive Lightning spiritual power, yet it seemed to inflict no damage on these blue lines. It was as if she couldn't even touch them.
'Even the yang-heavy power of lightning is useless?'
Ji Qingyue was thoroughly shaken. To think such a terrifying power existed in the world! Lightning was the core power of Heavenly Tribulations; almost nothing in existence could ignore it, yet she had encountered such a thing today.
Feeling her life essence rapidly draining, Ji Qingyue grew anxious, but she did not allow herself to panic. In this moment, panic was a certain death sentence.
"Myriad Laws Floating Cup... Cycle of Ten Thousand Paths!"
Faced with this situation, Ji Qingyue unhesitatingly unleashed the specialized technique she had developed through her new insights.
This technique itself was not overly profound; any Void Refinement cultivator could perform it, though not with her speed. The process required a foundational understanding of various laws and spells.
Utilizing the Myriad Laws Floating Cup, Ji Qingyue could manifest the power of hundreds or even thousands of paths simultaneously in an instant!
These individual powers were not particularly strong; for offense, they were far inferior to the Lightning Dao. The sole purpose of this technique was to allow Ji Qingyue to observe the reactions produced when ten thousand paths came into contact with a target. This allowed her to judge the enemy's specific characteristics and weaknesses, then strike accordingly.
This technique was most effective against exotic toxins and unknown powers. By using it against these bizarre demons, she could instantly test their properties.
As the Cycle of Ten Thousand Paths unfolded, a faint smile finally touched the corner of Ji Qingyue's mouth.
'A very strong and eerie power, but its weakness is remarkably obvious!'
The result was something Ji Qingyue had never expected. The power that the Lightning Dao could not damage was actually afraid of the Dao of Rhythm and Melody!
As the melody shifted and changed, the blue lines collapsed and shattered upon contact.
However, rhythm was not the only thing that could counter this power. Several other paths worked as well, such as the Dao of Concealment, which could hide her physical form and soul entirely from the lines' perception.
'Currently, the things that can counter this power are all very niche paths. It feels as if this power has been "immunized" against all common elements and laws.'
'If that's the case, this bizarre power likely possesses a form of growth, allowing it to adapt to various forces constantly.'
In an instant, Ji Qingyue deduced the characteristics of this power and formulated a solution. Immediately, she layered the power of rhythm over her body, causing it to vibrate continuously!
Under the specific lethality of the rhythm, the writhing blue lines melted away like snow under a hot sun. The power that had been devouring her life essence vanished instantly.
"Phew..."
With the drain on her life essence halted, Ji Qingyue let out a massive sigh of relief. That sensation just now had been truly horrific. Who could have imagined the demons would produce such a terrifying existence?
'What a horrific power!'
Though she had neutralized it, Ji Qingyue did not dare to look down on it. In that single instant, she had lost nearly half of her life essence. Her face had become deathly pale. Had she found the solution just a moment later, she would have been devoured entirely!
Ji Qingyue immediately utilized the Azure Wood Dao and the Dao of Extraction to facilitate a rapid recovery.
'I must kill this creature!'
After a brief recovery, her killing intent surged!
It wasn't just because this bizarre demon had nearly killed her; it was because the potential of such a demon was too terrifying. If her deduction was correct and it managed to adapt to every type of path in the cultivation world, how monstrous would it become? Who would be able to restrain it then?
Such an existence might not be invincible, but it would be very close. Without a specific counter, it might prove impossible to kill. Allowing such a thing to live posed too great a threat to the world of cultivators!
It could easily pick off several core combatants. Furthermore, the creature's inherent aura was already powerful. Even without its bizarre thread technique, its physical strength and cultivation level were likely beyond what an ordinary cultivator could handle. A Soul Transformation cultivator would probably be swatted to death even if they specialized in rhythm.
Therefore, this creature had to die!
As Ji Qingyue was purging the blue threads from her body, two of the faster King-rank demons caught up to her.
Seeing these two troublesome foes, the still-recovering Ji Qingyue showed no fear. Instead, she struck first.
"Myriad Laws Floating Cup... Cycle of All Things!"
As they clashed, Ji Qingyue was initially knocked back. Wiping the blood from her mouth, she manipulated her power to heal her injuries while formulating a plan to divide and conquer. Just now, she had already grasped the basic characteristics of these two King-rank demons.
She knew their weaknesses and which powers would counter them perfectly.
This was a trait of the demonic races: their species, physical forms, and innate divine abilities were mostly fixed. This was their strength, making their entire race formidable and consistent. But it was also their weakness. They did not cultivate powerful manuals and spells like human cultivators do. While some demons did, the proportion was small, and they never had the opportunity to master such a vast variety of top-tier arts as humans.
Thus, after just a few exchanges, they were completely seen through by Ji Qingyue.
Having gathered the necessary information, Ji Qingyue unhesitatingly prepared a killing blow.
"Blazing Sun Obliteration!"
Under the amplification of the Myriad Laws Floating Cup, a power of extreme yang and heat lunged toward one of the King-rank demons with terrifying momentum. She poured almost all her strength into this strike, leaving only a fraction of her power to manifest a defensive spell—the Nine-Fold Mountain Canopy—to block the other King-rank demon behind her!
As the power in Ji Qingyue's body was instantly drained by more than half, a supreme blazing sun hammered into the target. This demon, which possessed a powerful but niche ability but a relatively weak foundation, was hit by its exact elemental counter. It was blasted into charred fragments, its spirit and form both obliterated!
The other King-rank demon struck Ji Qingyue's defensive spell. Being countered by the earth-element defense, it only managed to barely break the shield and inflict minor wounds on Ji Qingyue.
But as she triggered the Azure Wood and Extraction laws, she frantically devoured the remains of the fallen demon and the energy of the surrounding environment. Her injuries began to heal at a visible speed.
"Now it's your turn!"
Ji Qingyue looked at the remaining King-rank demon, her eyes flashing with vigorous killing intent!
The surviving demon was completely stunned. No one had told it that this human cultivator was so terrifying! She had instantly used the perfect defensive counter, and as for her recovery speed—who was the real demon here?
Furthermore, this cultivator had actually withstood the divine ability of the Thread Demon General?
In an instant, the remaining King-rank demon turned and fled toward the direction it came from without a second thought.
"You want to run? Too late!"
Ji Qingyue triggered the Lightning Dao once more. With her Lightning Haste at full power, she quickly caught up. Shortly after, a shriveled demonic corpse fell from the sky—drained of everything!
"They haven't caught up yet?"
Ji Qingyue looked back at the distance where the other demons should be, a flash of doubt in her eyes.
'Did the Thread Demon General get scared and run because I broke its divine ability? Is it that cautious? But that won't do...'
Ji Qingyue licked the blood from the corner of her mouth, a hint of dissatisfaction in her gaze. She turned around and unhesitatingly pursued the direction she had just fled from.
It had swallowed so much of her life essence and thought it could just leave? There was no such thing as a free meal! More importantly, she could not let that creature leave this place alive. Who knew what other powers it might develop a resistance to by the next time they met?
What if it grew even faster at devouring life essence, to the point where she wouldn't even have time to release the Cycle of Ten Thousand Paths? No matter what, she had to slaughter that thing!
On her return path, she saw several demons that had been left behind. They were the ones who had intended to besiege her earlier but had been abandoned. Clearly, the Thread Demon General didn't want to be slowed down by these slower creatures, or perhaps it wanted to use them to stall her.
Ji Qingyue did not fall for the trap. She ignored the abandoned demons entirely. Having just devoured two King-rank corpses, her internal recovery speed was quite high.
By fully manipulating her lightning-spatial movement arts, she finally caught up to the creature after a period of pursuit.
To her surprise, the Thread Demon General was not alone. Of the original four surviving King-rank demons, three of the faster ones were still by its side.
The moment Ji Qingyue caught up, the Blue Demon General stopped its flight. It clearly hadn't expected her to pursue it!
The moment its divine ability was shattered, it had sensed that things were going poorly. It had fled with the remaining kings, leaving decoys to distract her while it planned to regroup with more King-rank demons to hold out until the end.
But now, it seemed that plan was failing!
"How did you track me down?" the Blue Demon General sent a message to Ji Qingyue. It had clearly erased all traces and used numerous decoys to confuse her vision. It needed to understand her method so it could escape more effectively.
"How did I track you? Heh..."
Ji Qingyue sneered. Naturally, it was because she had the Myriad Laws Floating Cup stacked with the Dao of Tracking! She had studied that too!
With the Myriad Laws Floating Cup's amplification, she might not be the best at combat, but when combined with Divination, tracking them was child's play.
"Heh... Just wait for death. Why ask so many questions?"
In this moment, it felt as if they were the ones surrounded... surrounded by Ji Qingyue alone.