Chapter 34: Unmasking the Dao Lord

Qi Ning had seen countless cultivators of this demonic path.

Their demonic arts were strange and unpredictable; a ruthless massacre of others would instantly skyrocket their cultivation.

Having witnessed the pleas of the weak so many times, these demonic cultivators grew boundlessly arrogant.

Yet, the moment they encountered someone with superior cultivation or a harder fist, their true, repulsive faces would immediately surface.

Even if their cultivation didn’t immediately crumble upon facing a stronger opponent, a slight display of power, a mere spiritual pressure, would send them to their knees, begging for mercy like children.

“Hmph, a mere Demonic Sect Golden Core, how dare you flaunt your trivial skills before a Soul Transformation Dao Lord?”

Qi Ning meticulously observed his reaction, simultaneously intensifying her spiritual pressure.

However, Su Qin remained utterly unmoving, his slightly crimson eyes glinting with a hint of killing intent and disdain.

‘What’s going on?’

Qi Ning’s peach-blossom eyes narrowed imperceptibly as she discerned a clue, then a playful smile curved her lips.

As she chuckled softly, dozens of sharp sword qi emanated from her, swiftly splitting into thousands of smaller sword qi after detaching, which then darted chaotically through the air.

She had realized the reason this demonic fiend could withstand her pressure: the bats in the air were subtly forming an array, secretly sharing his burden.

This simply wouldn’t do; she had to make them move, to let the demonic fiend truly feel the full weight of her power.

Gazing at the myriad of small sword qi swirling erratically through the sky, Su Qin’s expression grew troubled.

Regardless, the sheer number of his beast horde had to be preserved, so he could only allow them to evade on their own.

Yet, without the beast horde to share the burden, the pressure on Su Qin surged instantly, making even aerial flight somewhat difficult.

“Heh heh, what’s wrong? Your face has gone quite pale, hasn’t it?”

From above, Qi Ning’s mocking words drifted down, prompting Su Qin to clench his fists; the immense pressure tautened his entire body, yet his eyes remained remarkably clear.

The demonic fiend slowly lifted his head, and Qi Ning looked on eagerly, ready to seize any opportunity to shatter his Dao Heart the moment he showed the slightest sign of yielding.

‘Heh, stop pretending. All those born of the Demonic Sect are nothing but trash.’

Qi Ning couldn’t wait to utterly crush his arrogance, then trample him mercilessly beneath her heel.

Since she was going to die anyway, Qi Ning no longer cared to maintain any image or etiquette.

However, upon clearly seeing the demonic fiend’s expression, Qi Ning’s pupils constricted sharply.

There was no hint of yielding, nor any discernible emotion—it was an utterly placid gaze she had almost never encountered.

No, that wasn’t right.

Qi Ning shook her head.

It was a gaze of condescension, as if he stood on an infinitely higher plane, looking down upon this world, filled with an involuntary pity and cold indifference born from knowing their insignificance.

The corner of Qi Ning’s mouth twitched almost imperceptibly, her peach-blossom eyes now alight with fury.

How dared he?

A piece of Demonic Sect trash, how dared he look at her with such eyes?

From childhood to adulthood, in terms of physique, appearance, talent, and cunning, she had always been a paragon among her peers; she was the only one who had the right to look down on others!

How much more so for a demonic cultivator, someone she utterly despised for their countless evil deeds and their twisted, shadowed heart!

Su Qin caught a whiff of a pungent, spicy scent, and a faint smile played on his lips.

The fish had taken the bait.

“Hmph, a mere demonic insect, how dare you be so insolent!”

Qi Ning gradually increased the spiritual pressure on Su Qin, determined to see how long this demonic fiend could maintain his stubborn defiance.

Su Qin silently endured the pressure, a faint, contemptuous curve gracing his lips.

Qi Ning was on the verge of exploding with rage.

By all conventional wisdom, having cultivated to her current age, she ought not to be so easily provoked.

Yet, that gaze was simply too hurtful, even more egregious than the way she looked at demonic cultivators.

Had Gao Pei still been present, he would surely have understood, for the elders of the Demonic Sword Sect harbored deep resentment, almost all of them due to that very same gaze.

Moreover, she was on the brink of death; what did image matter, or adhering to cultivation precepts?

To hell with “Supreme Forgetfulness of Emotion,” to hell with “cultivation requiring abstinence from anger and joy”—all she wanted was to please herself!

‘Hmph, so contemptuous that you don’t even deign to speak? I’d like to see just how precious your mouth truly is!’

With a cold huff, Qi Ning amplified her spiritual pressure tenfold.

Pressure, as tangible as a physical force, pressed in from all directions, instantly making Su Qin’s breathing difficult, his joints creaking audibly throughout his body.

But, the demonic fiend’s eyes still held only contempt.

Qi Ning’s eyebrow twitched, her rage intensifying further, and she ceased to care about multipliers, simply piling on the intensity without restraint.

Finally, as if exceeding his body’s limits, a series of bone-cracking sounds emanated from Su Qin, and his upper body dipped slightly.

‘Finally, are you going to yield? Are you going to reveal your hideous true form…?’

Qi Ning’s gaze sharpened, her focus fixed entirely on the demonic fiend, no longer bothering to conceal her obsession, her eyes brimming with a fervent desire to conquer him.

The demonic fiend’s lips parted and closed, as if he were speaking.

The rate at which her spiritual pressure increased slowed; he likely understood the extent of this woman’s abilities, but before the true battle began, he needed to light one last fire.

Su Qin’s face displayed reverence as he recalled the opening move of an earth-shattering flame war he had once witnessed on a certain forum (TL Note: “某吧” refers to a Baidu Tieba forum, a popular online community in China) in his previous life.

Qi Ning leaned in to listen, having been in seclusion for a long time; this was her first time tormenting a demonic cultivator in nearly a century, and her body thrummed with excited warmth.

“Hmph, you old hag.”

Her face flushed scarlet.

Qi Ning’s eyes widened in shock, visibly reddening with fury.

Su Qin’s gaze was utterly offensive, as he disdainfully eyed her ample bosom, which sagged slightly from its sheer fullness.

“Where did this come from? It’s enough.

Tone it down; it’s too overpowering.”

Su Qin whispered softly, delivering the final, devastating blow.

“You seek death!!”

Qi Ning utterly erupted, brandishing her sword and transforming into a streak of light, vowing to cleave him in two with a single strike, while simultaneously unleashing her spiritual pressure upon him without mercy.

Su Qin felt the warning signals from his body, yet he calmly watched Qi Ning’s form rapidly approach.

One thousand meters, five hundred meters, three hundred meters… within range!

Su Qin’s eyes gleamed with sharp intelligence; he abruptly lifted his head, then swept his arm, and the sky-darkening Blood Bats in the air rearranged themselves, forming a grotesque blood array that covered half of Immortal Slaying Valley.

And Qi Ning was precisely at the array’s center!

Before Qi Ning could react, the humming of the blood array and its terrifying malevolent energy completely engulfed her.

Her judgment had been accurate; with the blood beasts evading sword qi in the air, it would indeed be exceedingly difficult for Su Qin to form an array based on his power alone—even a divine being could not accomplish it.

However, she did not know that Su Qin hailed from the Blue Star (TL Note: A common term in Chinese web novels for Earth, implying advanced technology or knowledge).

To make the blood beasts simultaneously dodge sword qi, control the force of each wing flap according to airflow, and thus adjust their positions to construct an array… such a colossal amount of computation was beyond even a Soul Transformation divine soul.

Coincidentally, he had brought modern mathematics from the Blue Star.

Utilizing coordinate systems, the bat swarm, though seemingly flying chaotically, was in fact constantly changing its coordinates according to specific periodic functions.

Concurrently, several of his commonly used killing arrays had already been converted into digitized commands.

During those days spent mending his body, he had not been idle; he had completed the automation of his beast horde’s control.

However, he did not expect such an attack to yield any significant results.

Seizing this momentary lull, Su Qin was about to quietly transform into a bat and conceal himself when a sudden sense of crisis inundated his heart.

Not good!

He glanced back to see Qi Ning, who had been struggling against the array just moments before, instantly appearing right in front of him, sending a jolt through Su Qin’s heart.

It was a spatial technique!

Moreover, under Qi Ning’s utterly furious gaze, a gleaming, treasured sword shot straight towards his chest.

There was no time; the spirit sword plunged directly into Su Qin’s chest, and with a flick of her wrist, it twisted, shattering his heart—a seamless sequence of movements that left Su Qin almost no chance to react.

Yet, Su Qin suddenly smiled.

The demonic fiend’s face glowed with a sharp glint; he gripped the spirit sword with one hand, while his other hand finally revealed its fangs, savagely swinging them towards Qi Ning.

The perilous aura emanating from the fangs caused Qi Ning’s expression to change dramatically, prompting her to withdraw, abandoning her spirit sword.

The demonic fiend chuckled; after such a tremendous effort, he had finally uncovered what he sought.

“You are not a Soul Transformation cultivator at all!”