The Demon King Seeks Snow

“Heh~”

The demonic sword let out a short scoff, as if it had just heard an extremely childish question.

“What else can that little head of yours hold, besides being scrambled by that Yin Soul Bell?”

Her thoughts were filled with unconcealed contempt and mockery:

“That demon king… it was the target of those Yin Soul Sect trash all along!”

“If not for a little bug like you having such ‘explosive’ luck, happening to land right in the Withered Bone Abyss where I was sealed…”

“…and then happening to be chased down by those demonic brats who were tracking my faint fluctuations…”

“…and finally, happening to interrupt their plan to besiege the demon king…”

“…they would have succeeded long ago!”

“You included, you might have all ended up as scrap material for them to forge that broken bell!”

The demonic sword even simulated the expression of rolling its eyes in his mind, mercilessly ridiculing Lu Qiancha:

“You ask how I know?”

“Though I was sealed and dormant for most of the time, I can still perceive a hunting plan of this scale and the concentrated fluctuation of demonic power nearby!”

“With that pathetic spiritual sense of yours, you aren’t even qualified to eat the dust behind them. What could you possibly sense?”

Her words were like ice picks, piercing Lu Qiancha’s last shred of hope.

‘So… so the true target of those wolf-like Yin Soul Sect disciples hunting me was never just the demonic sword.’

‘Their greater scheme was this demon king entrenched in the center of the forest.’

‘And I was just the unlucky fool who accidentally crashed their hunting party and ruined their rhythm.’

‘Sigh, I’ll go check the forest first. Delaying any longer will only lead to a dead end.’

Approaching the center of the forest along the creek, what met his eyes was a land of utter devastation, littered with shattered trees and the dense smoke of fires.

‘What’s going on?’

Lu Qiancha’s heart sank as he hid behind the remains of a giant tree felled by a shockwave, holding his breath.

‘Could there still be people from the Yin Soul Sect? Are they fighting the demon king now? Or perhaps… they’ve already succeeded?!’

The thought that the royal demon essence blood, which his life depended on, might have already fallen into enemy hands sent an icy panic clutching at his heart.

Lu Qiancha gritted his teeth. Using the remaining tree trunks, protruding charred rocks, and the lingering smoke as cover, he crept forward like a phantom.

His speed was as swift as a fleeting shadow, yet with every step, he did his utmost to conceal his aura, avoiding detection by any potential presence in the distance.

He hadn’t gone far when, after crossing a clearing that had been violently plowed open by immense force, a series of chimes that made his very soul tremble instinctively, a sound that pierced deep into his marrow, cut through the chaotic aftermath of demonic qi and smoke.

“Ring… ring… ring…”

‘It’s the Yin Soul Bell! And more than one!’

Lu Qiancha’s pupils contracted, and his movements instantly slowed to a minimum.

He pressed himself against a massive, cracked black rock face like a gecko and slowly peeked his head around the side.

The sight before him made his breath catch in his throat!

Not far ahead, on the edge of a large crater, sat a full thirteen Yin Soul Sect disciples in a ring formation!

They sat cross-legged, forming hand seals, their faces pale and solemn. Before each of them floated a copper bell the size of a fist.

In the center of the crater was a giant wolf with aquamarine fur, though its current state was wretched, its fur marred by multiple scorch marks.

The giant wolf’s massive body rose and fell slightly, its rapid pants accompanied by low whimpers, clearly indicating it was severely injured.

But its enormous wolf head was still held high, its pair of eyes burning with icy-blue soulfire, filled with boundless rage and monstrous ferocity!

Its gaze was locked deadly on its enemy—not the disciples in the formation ringing their bells, but a figure hovering in the low altitude directly in front of it.

It was a slender man, clad in an ink-black martial suit embroidered with a multitude of strange, twisting, dark-gold runes.

His face was covered by a similarly black metal mask that revealed only two deep, emerald-green eyes.

“Humans! I occupy this desolate land and have never actively disturbed your Yin Soul Sect! We have always kept to ourselves! For you to mobilize such forces today, even using such insidious and wicked artifacts to lay a death trap for me… what madness has seized you?!”

Its voice carried the authority of a mighty demon king, yet it could not hide a trace of bewilderment and grief from being ferociously besieged and heavily wounded!

The Yin Soul Sect Protector did not respond. He simply stared coldly at the wolf king before him, quietly waiting for its life to fade.

Just then, the demonic sword’s voice sounded.

“Listen up, those thirteen broken bells are the key!”

“These ants are using a wicked formation to link their own spiritual power with the Protector’s domain of deathly qi. Only by pooling their power have they barely managed to suppress that sick wolf!”

“As long as you make one of them shut up, I can borrow your body to kill that fiend.”

“With the spiritual energy provided by his death, dealing with a wolf king at the end of its rope will be effortless.”

Hearing this, Lu Qiancha frowned slightly, mentally calculating the feasibility of the sword’s plan.

But he ultimately shook his head. He was a fish on their chopping block; he had no choice at all.

‘Either take the gamble or wait to die.’

Lu Qiancha quickly selected his target: the bell-ringing disciple closest to him, seated at the northwestern edge of the crater!

‘Kill!’

He moved, leaving only a faint afterimage in his place, one almost entirely concealed by the chaotic aura of the battlefield.

Relying on his peak Spirit Transformation cultivation, in the next instant, Lu Qiancha’s figure appeared like a ghost, silently materializing behind the Yin Soul Sect disciple who was focused on ringing his bell.

The disciple seemed to sense a faint chill behind him, but his bell-ringing motion had already become second nature, his spiritual power flowing out continuously. He had no time to react!

Pfft!

A soft sound, like a ripe fruit being pierced.

The rusty iron sword in Lu Qiancha’s hand had run through the disciple’s back, piercing his heart.

Time seemed to freeze for a second.

The disciple’s body stiffened abruptly, and the copper bell in his hand trembled violently!

“Ding—”

The once rhythmic, chilling chime was suddenly interrupted, letting out an ear-piercing shriek that signified a broken connection!

The very instant the chime broke and the formation’s flow of qi fell into that infinitesimally small disarray—

BOOM!!!

The demonic sword in Lu Qiancha’s hand erupted with an unparalleled, deathly black light.

It instantly transformed into a black bolt of lightning that tore through space, aimed directly at the Yin Soul Protector who was hovering in mid-air, preparing to increase the pressure on the wolf king.

“?!?”

The emerald pupils beneath the Yin Soul Protector’s mask contracted sharply!

He seemed to have sensed a terrifying aura that should never have appeared in this place!

But it was all too late!

The demonic sword’s speed was ultimate!

It completely ignored air resistance, as if sliding along the very fabric of space itself!

Before the Yin Soul Protector could even react, as the first flicker of alarm rose in his mind—

Pfft!

The rusty iron sword had already pierced through the Protector’s head, metal mask and all!

“ROAR—!!!”

The long-suppressed wolf king, Xun Xue, let out a heaven-shaking roar!

A violent torrent of icy-blue demonic power flooded the edge of the crater like a bursting tsunami!

Hundreds of sharp ice crystals condensed from thin air, accurately piercing through the remaining twelve disciples of the formation!

Looking at the Yin Soul disciples and the Protector who had been turned into ice shards, Lu Qiancha felt a bitter taste in his mouth—the wolf had stolen all the kills!

He didn’t get a single drop of spiritual energy feedback.

‘Whatever, I’ll risk it all!’

Quickly popping a spirit-recovering pill into his mouth and looking at the dumbfounded wolf king, Lu Qiancha mentally cried out, ‘Good chance!’ and then channeled his spiritual energy, decisively smashing a fist onto the wolf’s head.

-1

…

An inexplicable number seemed to float by.

Lu Qiancha froze. Man and wolf stared at each other for a long moment.

“You… why did you hit me on the head?” the wolf king’s voice sounded, filled with deep confusion and even a trace of bewilderment at having its thoughts interrupted.

“Ahem, ahaha.”

Lu Qiancha laughed awkwardly, trying to brush it off. “It’s nothing, nothing. Your Majesty is busy, I’ll be on my way.”

‘An automatic spiritual shield… this wolf must be at least in the Tribulation Transcendence realm!’

‘How the hell am I supposed to fight that! Might as well go home and wait to die.’

“Wait,” the giant wolf called out. “This king is Xun Xue, the steward of this Yaoshan Forest.”

“My clan has always repaid kindness and avenged grievances.”

“You helped me break the siege and kill these despicable ambushers. This is a debt of rebirth to me.”

“Whatever you require, feel free to ask. Spirit herbs? Rare treasures? Or… do you need me to help you deal with someone?”

“Senior Wolf King! My name is Lu Qiancha. I don’t want treasures, nor do I need you to fight for me. I only ask that you… grant me a single drop of your royal essence blood to save my life.”

Lu Qiancha stopped abruptly, turned around, the last spark of hope igniting in his eyes.

“That…” Xun Xue hesitated for a moment.

‘Is it a no?’ Lu Qiancha’s heart skipped a beat. ‘Am I going to meet my end here today?’

“Essence blood condenses our bloodline, power, and heritage… I can only condense one drop in my entire life… I was originally saving it for my heir.”

Xun Xue paused, then spoke again: “Without you breaking the stalemate today, this king would be nothing but withered bones. What heritage would there be to speak of? Though the essence blood is precious, it cannot compare to the grace of saving my life!”

After speaking, the wolf opened its mouth, and a small, shimmering aquamarine droplet of blood floated out.

“Thank you.”

Lu Qiancha quickly expressed his thanks, then received the droplet with both hands and called out to the demonic sword in his mind.

The next moment, his vision was enveloped in a blue light that lasted for several minutes.

The instant his vision returned, Lu Qiancha suddenly felt that something was not right.

The wolf before him seemed a little taller.

Was it an illusion?