“Your clan?”
The black-robed elder let out a rasping cackle, as though Jared had just delivered the punch line of a joke. “I have guarded this range for a century,” he sneered, “and never once knew that. The Nine Serpent Mountain has belonged to no one for ages. Blackshade Demon Palace took it, therefore it is ours. What right does a lowly human have to question me? Begone-unless you have decided you want to die”
Fury blazed across Flaxseed’s scarred face. His remaining spiritual power surged, dull yet formidable Both palms flew through a flurry of seals, and a gigantic earthen hand-mud-brown and jagged-crashed toward the elder with mountain-splitting force.
“Pathetic.” The elder’s lips curled He could not be bothered to summon a weapon One careless flick of his sleeve sent a condensed claw of demonic aura raking forward. The claw shredded the earthen palm, then continued on, smashing into Flaxseed’s chest.
Blood burst from Flaxseed’s mouth. He shot backward like a cut kite, slammed into the ground, and left a deep crater in the rocky soil.
Jared’s eyes went cold. In a blur, he appeared before the fallen Flaxseed, Dragonslayer Sword leveled at the elder. “A demon dares act so brazenly in front of me?”
The elder ran an appraising gaze over him. Noting Jared’s cultivation level, the elder snorted. “Another cub who doesn’t know the height of the heavens Kill a few witless beasts, and you think you can strut through the Fourth Heaven? The gulf between Earthly Immortals and Wandering Immortals is beyond your imagination”
“Is that so?” A thin, icy smile crossed Jared’s mouth. “Then let me see just how terrifying an Earthly Immortal truly is.”
He vanished. A killing intent sharp enough to flay skin rushed at Julmis, who instinctively raised a black shield carved with writhing wraiths. Steel shrieked The Dragonslayer Sword struck the shield, the impact so violent that the elder’s arms went numb. In that instant, he realized the youth before him was anything but ordinary
“Interesting,” he growled. “But this is as far as you go.”
Demonic aura boiled out of him. The wraiths on the shield screeched and leapt at Jared while fissures split the ground, birthing black vines that lashed toward their prey.
“Parlor tricks.” Jared’s Nethersky Eye flared, tracing every hostile trajectory. He drifted among the vines and wraiths as though strolling through a garden, sword weaving golden arcs that shredded everything in his path.
The elder’s grin froze. None of his attacks had so much as brushed Jared’s sleeve. “Impossible!”
“Nothing is impossible,” Jared answered, his voice echoing like a wind from the abyss. “You called humans lowly, claimed the chasm between us cannot be crossed. Watch closely-I’ll show you how ridiculous that arrogance looks from where I stand”
His aura exploded. His cultivation trembled, on the verge of achieving a breakthrough Arcane runes surfaced along the sword, and the very air quivered under the rising pressure
“Break!” The sword became a streak of light, too swift to follow. The seemingly understated strike carried the pure, blazing power that dispels illusion, severs deceit, and annihilates evil-the bane of every demon.
