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"Milord, are we heading in now?!"
Out in the wild, not far from Demon City, a massive evil dragon squinted its eyes as it asked the question.
The tone was calm, but the fire burning in its eyes told a different story. If Atto or Abel gave the word, the dragon would charge without a second thought.
Abel and Atto exchanged a quick glance, then nodded and shouted in unison, "Armies, listen up! Wipe out this city ahead of us! Expand the realm of the Lord of Fire!"
As soon as the words dropped, countless voices roared in reply.
"For the mighty dragon lord!"
"For the Dragon King—crush all who defy him!"
"For the Dragon King to rule this land!"
". . ."
In an instant, tens of thousands of demonic troops surged forward, flying straight toward Demon City. The evil dragon followed close behind, leading the charge.
At the same time, atop the walls of Demon City, Li Yan had already been informed of the dragon's arrival. He slowly turned, lifting his eyes to the sky where a massive swarm of demons darkened the heavens.
With fury boiling in his chest, he roared, "Everyone! What gives the so-called Demon Lords—spawned from black mist—the right to rule this land?!"
"The other seven lords of the Eight Demon Cities have already been killed by the Fire Demon. As the last surviving lord, I, Li Yan, must avenge them!"
"Sure, we're outmatched—but haven't you heard the saying? Even ants can kill an elephant if there are enough of them!"
"Now, the dragon's claws are right outside our last stronghold. We have to hold this place, and take back the other cities!"
"They're already outside the gates—this is it. Time to fight!"
Li Yan's speech struck a deep chord in the hearts of the demons. They remembered the kindness their lords once showed them, and now their masters were dead, murdered by the Demon Lords. That blood had to be repaid.
And honestly, even without Li Yan's rallying cry, they were done retreating. They'd run far enough. All of them were demons—why the hell should they be the ones running?!
"Lord Li Yan is right!"
"Let's avenge our masters!"
"Sure, we're demons who lie and cheat—but we ain't backing down from this!"
"Kill the damn dragons and make 'em pay!"
". . ."
In no time, all of Demon City was ablaze with fighting spirit. Everyone wanted to slaughter the Fire Demon from the Holy Capital and get revenge.
Seeing this, Li Yan shouted, "Attack!"
In a flash, the demon armies from seven of the Eight Demon Cities—countless in number, likely in the millions—poured out from the city.
Wave after wave of demons flew out to meet the charging dragons and the demons from Huomu City.
Standing atop the city walls, watching the demons he'd stirred into action, Li Yan grinned wickedly. He turned to Li Mo, his most loyal follower, and asked coldly, "Is everything ready?"
Li Mo blinked in surprise, then nodded. "Yes, my lord. I've done exactly as you ordered."
"But… when I was setting up those weird things, my magic started weakening. What exactly are those things?"
By this point, Li Yan didn't bother hiding the truth anymore. He said calmly, "It's a magic formation—one that steals magic and life force. An ancient and deadly array."
"They want revenge on the Demon Lords, right?"
"Fine by me. All they have to do is offer up their power and life to me—and I'll make sure their wish comes true."
His face didn't show a hint of emotion, as if the lives of millions of demons across the continent meant nothing.
Li Mo's eyes went wide with shock. But before he could say another word—a sword pierced straight through his chest.
"My… lord…"
He collapsed before finishing the sentence, dying right there on the wall.
Everyone else had gone off to fight. Only Li Yan and Li Mo had stayed behind. No one saw what happened.
"You knew too much."
Li Yan casually wiped the demon blood off the Pure Yang Sword, speaking as if it were no big deal.
The magic array—the Demon Drain Formation—would let him leap in power, and those lowly demons should've felt honored to fuel that.
Besides, it wasn't just about Li Yan getting stronger.
There was something else—something big.
He'd used the Chronicle of Time, and whatever cost came with it, he could feel it creeping closer. A dark, foreboding pressure was slowly closing in. It felt like it could drop on him any second now.
But no matter how heavy the price, once he activated the array and drained the power of demons across the land—he'd survive it.
This was all for the territory he'd fought so hard to build.
As for the demons? Ha!
Li Yan figured more black mist would spawn new ones over time. Hell, he could even bless a few humans and turn them into demons if needed.
With that thought, he looked out at the dark swarm of demon specks about to crash into each other. Stepping off into the air, Pure Yang Sword in hand, he moved like a god from legend—one step covered hundreds of meters.
After being refined by the Pure Yang Sword, his form now looked almost entirely human.
His eyes glowed with the pattern of the Demon Drain Formation, and trails of black mist flowed from his body into the earth.
The formation had begun activating.
All around the battlefield, demon corpses sank into the ground as the array drank their life force.
In the heart of the chaos, over fifty evil dragons were burning everything in their path, torching demons left and right. Nothing could stop them. The demon army—millions strong—was utterly helpless.
Li Yan stood in the sky, watching his side get crushed. Even with their numbers, not a single demon could put a scratch on those dragons.
On the other hand, the demon army the dragons had brought along was already buried outside Demon City.
Fifty versus millions—on paper, the numbers said the demons should win. But reality laughed in their faces. Not one of them could land a hit on those dragons.
Li Yan's face turned pitch black.
He lowered his head, stared at the Pure Yang Sword, and grinned.
Then—he swung.
A blinding sword light tore through the sky, splitting the clouds. A massive sword aura crashed down on one of the dragons being surrounded.
"BOOM————"
The dragon fell from the sky, its head flying off, its body slamming into the ground. It was dead. Just like that. The sky above was torn apart like a canyon in the heavens.
The sword didn't care about allies or enemies—every demon nearby was sliced to pieces along with the dragon.
"No wonder this thing once sealed a Demon Lord…"
Li Yan muttered with admiration.
Meanwhile, far above in the Nine Heavens, Shendu had arrived with Ling'er, hiding his presence and watching silently.
Seeing the power of the Pure Yang Sword firsthand, he couldn't help but be impressed.
"No doubt about it. That's the Pure Yang Sword once wielded by Lü Dongbin of the Eight Immortals. The strength is real."
"But still… looks like I won't even need to step in just yet."
"....."