Chapter 71: Neither Human Nor Demon

Beneath her lay a mountain of stacked demonic beast corpses; the surrounding air was thick with a bloody mist that made it hard to open one’s eyes.

The woman’s eyes were filled with an eerie black light. As she swallowed more and more beast blood, the tail that had grown from her lower back at some unknown point grew longer and longer…

This person was none other than Liu Ruyan!

She had slaughtered over a thousand demonic beasts here, frantically drinking their blood. With the Fox Master using demonic arts to guide her cultivation, combined with the Blood Demon Art, her Supreme Bone, and the frantic practice of the Great Plundering Immortal Art, she had now fused demonic Qi and monster Qi into her body, turning into this bizarre appearance!

However, she was incredibly satisfied with her current self!

“Fox Master!”

“My current strength has successfully advanced to the 6th-grade Jindan! Even against a peak 9th-grade Jindan expert, I have the power to fight!”

Beside her, a black shadow floated out. It was the old woman who had been hiding within Liu Ruyan’s body.

Behind that manifested shadow, nine tails were clearly visible! As those nine tails swayed, skeletal patterns flickered in and out of existence upon them.

“This is the merit of over a thousand demonic beasts! The Great Plundering Immortal Art is all about frantically plundering all cultivation resources!”

The Fox Master’s voice carried a hint of savagery: “The Blood Demon Art you practice has already merged with your Supreme Bone! Combined with such majestic beast blood, this Master can now pass onto you a high-grade Heaven-tier manual: the Heavenly Demonic Sword Art!”

“If you practice diligently using the power of the Supreme Bone, you will certainly achieve great mastery in the short term. By then, across the entire Jindan Realm, you will have no equal!”

Hearing this, a sharp light surfaced in Liu Ruyan’s black-lit eyes!

“Thank you, Fox Master!”

Meanwhile, outside the Beast-Tamer Grand Formation, as the life force of the beasts within dissipated, the array power that had condensed here for untold years finally began to scatter slowly.

When the array dispersed, Yang Dianfeng, who had been standing guard for Liu Ruyan, saw the scene inside and was completely petrified on the spot.

A moment later, his body shot up and soared into the sky!

Liu Ruyan, you are neither human nor demon now. How the hell am I supposed to dual cultivate with you!

To think you have a demon master in addition to Shizun Chi Yu! I must inform Shizun Chi Yu about this matter!

Yang Dianfeng was utterly shocked. He even felt a trace of fear in his heart. Previously, Elder Chi Yu had said that Liu Ruyan’s talent was above his own and that it wouldn’t be long before she surpassed him. Only now did he finally understand the reason.

However, he did not belittle himself. With his current strength, he already possessed the qualifications to enter the Holy Land Tower. Once he entered to cultivate, his strength would inevitably advance by leaps and bounds. At that time, if Liu Ruyan was disobedient, he would beat her until she submitted! But right now, with that demon Fox Master possessing her, he was quite wary, so he chose to leave without saying goodbye.

When Chu Tianxiong and Lu Jin returned to the Ten Thousand Swords Sect, they did not make a grand display of reorganizing the sect.

The enemy was in the dark. Even Chu Tianxiong could not clearly see how many followers of the Blood Moon Ancestor remained within the sect. Therefore, with opponents hiding in the shadows, it was best for them to hide in the shadows as well.

Lu Jin did not take this matter to heart. Since the followers of the Blood Moon Ancestor were too numerous to track down, it was better to focus his mind on how to destroy the Ancestor himself.

Thus, over the following period, he peacefully cultivated in the sect’s forbidden grounds. Naturally, he had to practice the Demon-Sweeping Heavenly Tome, while he also did not neglect the Great Transformation Dragon Art, the Hell-Prisoner Calamity Sword, and the tempering of his mental power!

During this time, the Ten Thousand Swords Sect appeared much more peaceful. After all, the bizarre disappearance of several Peak Master-level figures was enough to shock everyone into submission.

However, one day, when Liu Ruyan returned to the sect, the entire atmosphere shifted again.

Once the news spread that Liu Ruyan had been accepted as a disciple by Elder Chi Yu, many of the elders and disciples who had originally supported Lu Jin switched sides once more.

Of course, Lu Jin did not care about such things. The strong did not need the support of the weak; they only needed their fists to make the weak shut their mouths.

When Liu Ruyan returned to the Ten Thousand Swords Sect and learned that her Shizun, Ji Yaoyue, as well as Wan Helai and other Peak Master-level experts had all fallen, her heart was shaken. Yet she did not sit idle. She personally went to the Blood Moon Holy Land to inform Elder Chi Yu of the matter.

When she returned from the Holy Land, two unfamiliar women were by her side.

Since they followed the Saintess Liu Ruyan into the sect, others naturally had no right to question them. However, this news still reached Chu Tianxiong’s ears. Chu Tianxiong did not make a fuss, but rather arranged for Holy Tabernacle disciples to investigate secretly, though they found nothing.

Soon, the day of the sect’s internal selection arrived, just before the Blood Moon Holy Land’s disciple selection.

This day was also the designated date for the life-and-death duel between Lu Jin and Liu Ruyan.

Early in the morning, the central plaza of the Ten Thousand Swords Sect was bustling with extraordinary excitement!

Whether the Saintess could withstand Lu Jin’s forceful return all depended on today!

On the crowded plaza, gasps of awe rang out from time to time as powerful disciples appeared, causing ripples of commotion. Yet, without a doubt, the ones everyone anticipated the most were Lu Jin and Liu Ruyan!

At a certain moment, almost everyone coincidentally looked in the same direction. It was toward Saintess Peak. In the mid-air there, the experts of Saintess Peak surrounded a woman flying through the sky. This instantly drew exclamations from the crowd, their eyes brimming with fervent zeal.

“Look! The Saintess is here!”

“The Saintess’s aura is too powerful! As expected of someone who was selected in advance by an Elder of the Blood Moon Holy Land!

“I heard the Saintess has already taken a master? Her arrival today must be solely for the life-and-death duel! After all, the disciple selection is already redundant for her!”

“The Saintess is already a member of the Blood Moon Holy Land. No matter how strong Lu Jin is, he probably wouldn’t dare offend the Holy Land!”

“That’s hard to say! There is a deep, irreconcilable blood feud between them!”

“I wonder who will emerge the victor in this life-and-death duel…”

Amidst the disciples’ discussions, Liu Ruyan took her seat in the Saintess’s chair.

As the Saintess, she held a supreme position; even the sect elders treated her with the utmost respect.

At this moment, Liu Ruyan had completely concealed her demonic aura. Her gaze was lofty and cold, making her look pure as ice and clean as jade, forbidding any profanation.

Not long after Liu Ruyan sat down, Lu Jin’s figure also appeared in everyone’s line of sight.

However, he strolled over at a leisurely pace, like he was taking a walk in a courtyard, completely lacking Liu Ruyan’s overbearing momentum.

“Senior Brother Lu Jin is here! I am so looking forward to his grand battle with the Saintess!”

“During this period, lightning lingered over the sect’s forbidden grounds for a long time. I wonder if Senior Brother Lu Jin advanced his cultivation again?”

“I wonder what level Senior Brother Lu Jin’s cultivation is at? And what level is the Saintess at?”

“Both are dragons and phoenixes among humans. In today’s life-and-death duel, no matter who wins or loses, it will be a pity…”

“Look! The Sect Master has arrived!”

Swish!

When Chu Tianxiong appeared on the scene, everyone’s gaze instantly swiveled toward him.

This helmsman of the Ten Thousand Swords Sect was like a divine dragon whose head could be seen but not its tail; he never participated in many sect tournaments. Seeing his figure today made the eyes of many disciples burn with fervor!

“Is that Sect Master Chu? This is my first time seeing him!”

“It must be the life-and-death duel between the Saintess and Senior Brother Lu Jin that prompted the Sect Master to attend personally!”