Heaven's Devourer

"She's that strong?" Even the Black Smoke King was surprised that Li Chuxue's loud shout was actually able to cause 10,000 young wild board demons to lose color in their faces.

At this moment, Li Chuxue drew out a snow-white sword that seemed to be made out of crystal. This was a supreme immortal treasure of decent quality. She held the Black Smoke King at sword point as she shrieked, "Black Smoke King, as the king of this group of demons, do you dare to fight me in single combat to determine a victor?"

The Black Smoke King was surprised. He thought to himself, "This woman is such a shrew. She actually even dares to challenge a king like me!"

Before he could react, the young demons had already begun to seethe. They were applauding one after another and cursed Li Chuxue for overestimating her own capabilities. Even his little brothers by his side were angry as well. They said, "Big Brother, she dares to provoke you. Quick, show her just how strong you are!"

"Yes, Big Brother, deal with her quickly. Let your younger brothers see how strong you are. This human has such pale skin, your younger brothers here want to see how she looks naked."

The young demons also chimed in, "Oh, great King, quickly show us your moves. You can't let these cultivators look down on us!"

"That's right, I was so frightened by her shout earlier. This cultivator sure has a loud voice!"

"Fine, let me punish her for you all. Be sure to take a good look!" The Black Smoke King dismounted from his wild boar mount in a single move and stood up straight. As he showed off his sinewy body full of dark muscles, he gave off an air of complacency.

On the other end, Beishan Mo was quite dissatisfied with Li Chuxue's selfish decision. However, Li Chuxue understood him well enough. She quickly told Beishan Mo, "Among this bunch of stupid boars, the only one that's strong enough to be a serious threat to you is this Black Smoke King. He is probably almost as strong as me. Once I've dealt with him, you're free to slaughter the rest of these boar demons however you please. Of the Black Smoke King's younger brothers, the strongest one is only at the fourth tier of the Violet Kingdom of the Inner Sea."

Beishan Mo was also aware that he could not handle the Black Smoke King alone. Since Li Chuxue had also considered his desire to slay demons, he did not press the matter any further and replied, "Fine, calmly display your skills then. We'll wait for you."

Only then did Li Chuxue feel reassured. She prepared to first get rid of the Black Smoke King. 

On this end, Beishan Mo leaned his head to one side and addressed Nangong Wei beside him, "Big Sister Nangong, I'm going to kill at least a thousand demons or more today. These stupid, filthy, disgusting wild boars all deserve to die. This counts as part of avenging Sixth Master's wife as well. This shall be the first step."

Nangong Wei's expression did not look great, but she nodded nonetheless. Even without her saying more, Wu Yu could tell that she was the one that truly hated these boar demons. If not for the fact that she first had to wait for Li Chuxue to subdue the most bothersome Black Smoke King, she probably would have already failed to resist her urges and charged forward kill them all. 

"A grudge has to be avenged, but is it correct to involve others in it?" As Wu Yu listened to them talk, he began to ask himself such questions. In fact, he agreed that Nangong Wei should take revenge. On the other hand, treating all demons as enemies and wanting to exterminate all of them seems like too much of an overreaction. At the same time, he was the person that Nangong Wei trusted the most. During the times where she most required his support, what was the point in wondering about such questions that countless people had failed to answer?

Wu Yu had some opinions of his own. He felt that Nangong Wei should not let her thirst for revenge consume her. However, every time he saw her struggling with her feelings of hatred as she longed for her mother, he sometimes felt like it was shameful for him to have such thoughts. He suddenly felt that one's dao and feelings could be on two opposing ends. Perhaps one couldn't have everything in life.

Beishan Mo was far less complicated. Whatever revenge Nangong Wei wanted, he would carry out on her behalf.

At this very moment, Li Chuxue and the Black Smoke King, the two strongest individuals from their respective factions, had entered the area between the two camps and prepared to engage in a fierce battle.

By all accounts, once one was at the fifth tier of the Violet Kingdom of the Inner Sea, they would be able to become Heaven sword rank disciples. In fact, Beishan Mo and Nangong Wei's powers were not that far off from the weakest of all Heaven sword rank disciples.

Of course, Li Chuxue and the Black Smoke King demon were evidently not the weakest of all Heaven sword rank disciples. As such, even Beishan Mo and the rest were not at the stage where they could interfere in the battle between the two of them.

On the side closer to the Endless Demon Seas, the young wild boar demons started to cheer and squeal with delight as they saw that their very own king was ready for battle. The chaotic and clamorous ruckus annoyed the Shushan disciples to no end. At this point in time, they had all stopped working and had come out of the mines. They were already well-prepared to fight these demons hand-to-hand.

There were indeed too many wild boar demons. If the battle devolved into a free-for-all and the Black Smoke King was not dealt with, the Shushan disciples would most likely suffer heavy losses.

"Black Smoke King, how did you know that we were here despite your stupidity?" Li Chuxue suspected that someone else had told him, or else he would not have come here only a month after Wu Yu had killed the bat demon.

However, the Black Smoke King was not truly that stupid after all. He chortled as he replied, "Once you give birth to a monster of mine, I'll tell you."

"Drop dead!" Li Chuxue felt even angrier as she looked at his ugly face, fat head, and large ears. His mouth of yellow teeth had stains all over them, and looking at it made her feel like vomiting.

The entire Shushan Immortal Sect had only 100 or so Heaven sword rank disciples. These Heaven sword rank disciples truly made up the core of Shushan's strength. Their level of cultivation was sky-high, and their battle prowess was exceptional as well. In the field of battle, their destructive powers were far more tyrannical than that of the Earth sword rank disciples. In the blink of an eye, hills started to flip layer-by-layer and rivers stopped flowing as Li Chuxue started to use her sword cultivation dao technique. On the side closer to the Endless Demon Seas, countless mountain creeks started to smooth into flat ground. There were even some trivial young demons that squirmed as they were flattened into a blend of blood and flesh on the ground.

With a single slash, snowflakes started to dance in the air. Ice spread out across 500 kilometers!

Li Chuxue's dao technique directly turned this place into a snowy mountain that resembled Shushan itself. The countless snowflakes floating through the air were all densely filled with sword qi as they covered the heavens and the earth. Cold ice began to solidify into sharp ice shards that pierced violently through the air. They were all headed toward the Black Smoke King. 

"Little lady, how strong!" The Black Smoke King had an imposing gaze as he changed shape in a single shake. He transformed into a giant, pitch-black wild boar demon that was much larger than the others. Black smoke billowed from his body and further enhanced his intimidating presence. A boundless and pungent demon aura started to diffuse over, nauseating everyone in the process.

Both fighters had already shown the extent of their abilities. Under the close attention of the crowd, they began their fierce battle. In an instant, sword qi and demon techniques flew through the sky as the two fighters used their respective mystiques in attempts to kill each other. The battle was too dazzling for Wu Yu to follow. 

Li Chuxue had not shown her true strength all this while and had constantly deferred to Beishan Mo. One would not have imagined that her true battle prowess was this strong. The Heaven sword rank was highest of all four major sword ranks. Out of Shushan, every Heaven sword rank disciple was considered a prominent figure. They were all sect leaders of their own, and had at least one sect under their control. There were some who had many sects yielding to them as well. 

This was a chaotic battle under a murky sky and over the dark earth indeed. Wu Yu and the other were dazzled by the fight, but Wu Yu put in serious effort to understand Li Chuxue's sword dao. Li Chuxue's sword was stark and cold, and her dao was the same. In particular, there was a strong sense of disgust and hatred toward demons within her. Every time she struck, it seemed like she was using all her strength. She had an aura that was even more intimidating than the Black Smoke King's. This was why she was able to stifle the Black Smoke King toward the later stages of the fight. She was even able to leave some bloody scars beneath the thick skin of the Black Smoke King.

"What a mischievous girl! You're certainly something, aren't you? Although you're not as great as my kingly self, you're still a prominent figure after all. As a king, I shall not badger you any longer today. After I rest for a bit and find some help, I'll come back here. I'll torture you so much that you'll be pleading for me to kill you instead. Let's retreat, y'all!" The moment the Black Smoke King was suppressed by Li Chuxue, he actually made such a decision that nobody could predict. In a flash, he turned around and started to run.

"That's right, let's retreat for now. Go on, we'll prepare for a few days before returning. This lady is way too bold!"

With such words, the young wild boar demons hesitated for only a second before reacting. They all turned around and thundered about as they ran away with the Black Smoke King. The ones who were the fastest to flee were the Black Smoke King's few brothers.

He had come with such gusto, yet he was now running away so dejectedly. The Black Smoke King's true personality was difficult for others to decipher. Li Chuxue also did not expect that her opponent would turn and run the moment she got the upper hand.

Not only did they run away, they scattered as they ran too. As the 10,000 or so wild boars dispersed away, they hid the mountains and covered the plains. This place was quite close to the Endless Demon Seas, so once they started to flee, they would be able to quickly enter the Endless Demon Seas and disappear without a trace. 

In the crowd, only Liu Jin heaved a sigh of relief as he said, "As expected, the legends did not lie. The Black Smoke King is truly as cowardly as a mouse. If he was not certain that he would win a battle, he would never try his best and fight to his death. He has always tried to seek out easy enemies. The moment he saw that it would be difficult to defeat Li Chuxue, he decided to slip away."

So that's what it was.

However, Liu Jin's expressions immediately darkened as he added, "There could be trouble now though. The Black Smoke King is a complete scumbag. Like the pack of scoundrels he's friends with, once he's set his eyes on something, he'll never, ever give it up. After he escapes, he'll definitely go seek help until he's certain that he'll be able to easily defeat us. With his skill, I'm sure that it'll only take a few days for him to bring other demons here to come deal with us."

Beishan Mo was originally feeling dispirited over not being able to use his skills, but Liu Jin's words made him say in a deep voice, "That's great, I was worried that he wouldn't dare to return. If that's the case, I'll wait for them to come back to court death in a few days.”

When they finished their conversation, almost all 10,000 of the wild boars had managed to enter the Endless Demon Seas. As the black miasma roiled around the area, it was very difficult to find them. In fact, the Shushan Immortal Sect had forbidden its disciples from barging into the Endless Demon Seas unauthorized. Time and time again, history had shown that even the most skilled of cultivators rarely returned alive from the Endless Demon Seas after entering it.

As such, the fact that Wu Yu had managed to leave the Supreme Hunting Ground and return to Shushan was a miracle in itself.

Li Chuxue's face had a gloomy expression, but once she returned to Beishan Mo, she suddenly forced out a smile and gently said, "I can't believe that dumb boar actually ran away just like that. However, I'm sure he'll be back in just a few days. The only problem is that with his personality, I'm sure that he'll bring more trouble along with him. He'll probably not make such flamboyant moves again, and will likely rely on some tricks instead. In the days to come, we have to be more cautious than before."

"There's no need to worry.” Beishan Mo was well prepared for this.

Li Chuxue planned things out. "In order to prevent any sneak attacks from these wild boar demons, we have to split up once again. Inspect your surroundings carefully. The moment you come across any enemies, immediately send a core-tail talisman over to the rest."

Their positions were the same as before. 

However, they pulled back slightly towards the center in order to ensure that they could offer each other assistance more readily.

With that, Wu Yu headed back to the area near the southernmost mine and surveyed his surroundings.

"Who told the Black Smoke King about the mines here?" Wu Yu pondered.

He felt that the focus of the group was still over at Nangong Wei and Beishan Mo's positions. Even Li Chuxue was positioned closer to them, and was no longer in the dead center of all the positions. The ones secretly protecting them were probably there as well.

The wild boar demons could appear at any time, so things were rather tense.

Three days passed.

All of a sudden, Wu Yu heard a noise from the south. He quickly went on high alert, and had already readied his core-tail talisman.

Suddenly, a familiar voice drifted over. "Wu Yu, it's me, Jiu Ying."