Volume 2: Travels in the State of Qi Chapter 166: How Do You Want to Die?

Finally, after an unknown duration of battle, the Demon Sovereign began to grow serious. He absorbed all the demonic Qi within the spatial boundary, condensing it into a colossal demonic orb. Radiating monstrous might, the orb surged forward to attack all the Sky Origin realm masters present.

The Sky Origin experts joined forces, exhausting the very last reserves of their strength to form a defensive barrier.

Yet.

Their combined attack could not even withstand the Demon Sovereign's demonic orb.

In an instant, everyone was sent flying backward, crashing down around the immortal spiritual spring, completely drained of all combat capability.

Seeing the mighty figures defeated, ordinary disciples were overcome with terror. Never had they imagined that such an unheralded entity, appearing so suddenly, could be this terrifying.

Having knocked down everyone, the Demon Sovereign stood in the distance, laughing triumphantly.

"Hahaha, pathetic human minnows. Even with less than ten percent of my strength remaining, I can still squash you like ants as I please. Obediently become my food."

With that, the Demon Sovereign advanced toward the crowd, wreathed in billowing demonic Qi. Absolute despair gripped everyone; some of the ordinary disciples even fainted from sheer fright.

The battered powerhouses glared coldly at the Demon Sovereign, but having sustained severe injuries, none of them could rise to fight again. They could only watch helplessly as he approached.

The Demon Sovereign drew closer and closer. Just as he was about to strike, Zhang Heng, who had been sitting cross-legged on the ground, stood up once more.

The crowd started in shock. What on earth was this brat Zhang Heng up to now?

Mu Wanqing instinctively wanted to pull Zhang Heng back, but noticing that none of the grand masters made a move, she suppressed her utter confusion and held her ground.

Even the Demon Sovereign was stunned. The human brat's strength was as weak as an ant's, yet he had survived a direct blow without dying. Moreover, the fellow must have rocks in his head; having miraculously survived once, he was now stepping out to grandstand again, simply itching for another beating.

At this moment, Zhang Heng was suffering internally.

The time had not yet come.

Since the experts were currently immobile, the task of stalling had fallen squarely on his shoulders once again.

"Human brat, I really should thank you. If you hadn't bought me that little sliver of time, my mission wouldn't have proceeded so smoothly." The Demon Sovereign halted his steps, in no rush whatsoever.

"Mister Demon Sovereign, if you really must thank me, how about treating me to a cup of tea?" Zhang Heng grinned, walking toward the Demon Sovereign.

To everyone's surprise, the Demon Sovereign's voice suddenly turned chilling. "Therefore, I shall give you a choice. How would you like to die?"

"Mister Demon Sovereign, what kind of execution methods do you have?" Hearing this, Zhang Heng's expression shifted in a split second, and he asked with a tearful whine.

"Hahaha," the Demon Sovereign laughed complacently. "First, I kill you, and then I consume you. Second, I devour you raw. Make your choice."

Naturally, the Demon Sovereign knew this human brat was stalling for time. However, he did not care; the longer the delay, the more of his strength would recover, making it all the more impossible for anyone to stop him later.

"Mister Demon Sovereign, is being devoured raw painful?"

"Brat, stop spouting nonsense and make your choice. If you don't choose, I'll choose for you." He sensed that the human brat's vitality seemed exceptionally vigorous. Consuming him would likely accelerate his recovery rate.

As he spoke, the Demon Sovereign forcefully swung his arms, and a colossal demonic shadow materialized behind him, opening a cavernous, blood-stained maw to gaze at Zhang Heng. The oppressive aura was utterly hair-raising.

The moment the demonic shadow appeared, Zhang Heng was terrified.

"Big brother, I choose, I choose!" Zhang Heng blurted out in a panic.

"I choose to be devoured raw by you," Zhang Heng declared.

Just as the Demon Sovereign opened his mouth to snap at Zhang Heng, the young man frantically waved his arms and cried out in agony, "Wait! Mister Demon Sovereign, being devoured raw is too painful! I choose to be killed by you first, and then eaten."

"Brat, let me choose for you instead." Having already recovered a considerable portion of his strength, the Demon Sovereign had no desire to waste time here with a human ant.

"Wait." Seeing the Demon Sovereign about to strike, Zhang Heng abruptly straightened his posture.

The Demon Sovereign paused instantly upon seeing this, sensing that the aura emanating from the human brat before him had somehow shifted.

"Demon Sovereign, is it? I wonder how many tenths of your power you've recovered by now?" Zhang Heng brushed his hands together and asked casually.

Zhang Heng's demeanor was utterly infuriating. Had the onlookers not been able to sense his actual cultivation, they might have genuinely mistaken him for a peerless master looking down upon the world.

"This sovereign's strength has recovered to six-tenths! Well, terrified yet?" The Demon Sovereign laughed triumphantly. With his initial battle yielding victory, he seemed to envision the Demon race once again walking the surface of this continent.

"Six-tenths, huh?" Zhang Heng said indifferently, his expression hardening.

"Since you've only recovered six-tenths of your power, then... go die."

Zhang Heng delivered these words with immense imposing momentum. Believing he was about to unleash a supreme ultimate technique against the Demon Sovereign, the crowd watched with eager anticipation.

Who would have thought that the moment he finished speaking, Zhang Heng would instantly retreat at high speed using the Lesser Aurora Phantom movement technique, darting straight behind the Emperor of Qi and the assembly of Sky Origin experts to hide.

The Demon Sovereign was enraged. "Hahaha! Six-tenths of my strength is more than enough to sweep across this entire continent. Now, all of you, go die!"

With a casual push of his palm, the demonic shadow behind him lunged forward to attack Zhang Heng and the others.

By now, the Sky Origin masters possessed zero combat capacity, while the looming demonic shadow radiated heaven-shaking might. Everyone was utterly powerless.

Right at that moment.

A voice resonated from the edge of the horizon.

"Is that so?"

The voice carried a deeply magical resonance.

It sounded as though it were right beside them, yet simultaneously as if it came from the ends of the earth.

It sounded utterly placid, yet it seemed imbued with extraordinary, peerless power.

Yet, upon hearing these two words, the ferocious demonic shadow lunging toward them instantly dissipated on the spot.

A wave of ecstatic joy washed over the crowd. Judging purely by its momentum, that demonic shadow possessed the strength of the Void Shattering realm at the very least, yet it was frightened into non-existence by a mere two words. It seemed a supreme powerhouse had arrived.

The Demon Sovereign was equally shocked. Who on earth was this? The voice was actually laden with the ultimate profound truths of martial dao.

Glaring coldly at the sky, he said indifferently, "Show yourself."

At that instant, a sudden spatial ripple disturbed the air directly in front of Zhang Heng and the others.

Following that, a middle-aged man stepped out from the distortion. Clad in ordinary garments and possessing remarkably plain features, he wore a deadpan expression. His sole distinctive feature was the sword he carried in his arms—a blade entirely wrapped in coarse cloth.

The Demon Sovereign stared coldly at the newcomer, sensing an extraordinary, non-ordinary aura radiating from him.

Compared to the Demon Sovereign's wariness, the rest of the people shifted from profound shock to sudden, rapturous cheers.

He sweeps the mortal world of injustice, crossing thirty provinces with a single sword.

Dugu Bai.

Sword Sage Dugu Bai had arrived.

They were saved.

This ordinary-looking middle-aged man who had traversed the void to appear before them was none other than the undisputed peak of swordsmanship on the Immortal Cultivation Continent—the peerless master of the Tribulation Crossing realm, Sword Sage Dugu Bai.

"We pay our respects to Senior Sword Sage!"

Everyone dropped to their knees in unison.

Ordinary disciples, peerless prodigies, sect elders, Bai Chen and Wu Hong from the Profound Palace, and even the Emperor of Qi knelt on the ground.

Zhang Heng knelt as well. After all, with so many people kneeling, it would be terribly impolite not to follow suit. Besides, he was counting on Dugu Bai to handle whatever came next.

Dugu Bai was a living legend. Back when he was at the ninth stage of the Spirit Severing realm, relying purely on the ultimate profound truths of swordsmanship, he had been able to battle mighty beings of the Tribulation Crossing realm.

Now, having successfully broken through to the Tribulation Crossing realm, his combat power stood undisputed at the very apex of the continent.

Upon appearing, Dugu Bai ignored the kneeling figures behind him, keeping his cold gaze locked entirely on the Demon Sovereign ahead, who radiated boundless demonic Qi.

The man and the demon simply stared at each other.

One was the Sovereign of the Demon race who had wreaked havoc across the world six tens of thousands of years ago.

The other was the supreme master of swordsmanship across the entire continent six tens of thousands of years later.