149 Yi Ling
Since Pang Yue had already made his move, he no longer held anything back.
The moment he beheaded a mutated heavenly demon, the Fixed Mystery Mirror flashed through the air and illuminated the space, instantly freezing the remaining two mutated heavenly demons.
Immediately after, a beam of icy light shot from his fingertip!
In a fraction of a second, it pierced right through both heavenly demons.
Two bewitching, colossal blue flames manifested in the void.
The hundred-foot-tall mutated heavenly demons began to disintegrate and shatter within those silently burning blue flames!
Pang Yue turned to look at the woman in white, suddenly pointing a finger. The sword puppet transformed into a brilliant, dazzling rainbow and slashed downward fiercely.
"I underestimated you..."
Sensing the intense killing intent within the sword light and the faint sense of danger it brought her, the woman in white turned solemn.
The sword puppet, centered around a Tier 3 flying sword, possessed a brilliant and razor-sharp sword light. Combined with the Ice Demonic Intent Sword Art—a top-tier swordsmanship of the current era—no Golden Core cultivator dared to take it lightly.
A flash of light appeared before the woman in white, and a crystal coffin materialized out of thin air, blocking the sword light.
Having missed its target, the sword light instantly retreated back to Pang Yue's side.
Pang Yue still remembered the insights he gained when his Heavenly Sword avatar was dueling on Hutuo Island.
A sword cultivator should always retain a reserve of unexhausted momentum!
Although the woman in white was only at the early Golden Core stage, the methods and various signs she displayed did not resemble someone who had just stepped into the Golden Core realm.
The crystal coffin before her was a magical treasure surpassing Tier 3, making it extremely difficult to break through easily.
Pang Yue calculated in his heart that only by deploying the Primordial Sun Axe would he have a sliver of a chance to win!
If even the Primordial Sun Axe failed, his only option left would be to make a strategic retreat!
Suddenly.
The woman in white chuckled softly, "I didn't expect to see a dueling genius like you in this desolate extraterrestrial void... You shall be my very first immortal servant upon my return to the mortal world!"
With that, she formed a gentle incantation gesture.
Nine black shadows emerged from the void.
Amidst those shadows were nine mutated heavenly demons radiating terrifying auras!
Pang Yue glanced at the nine black shadows with a placid expression, his figure shifting to transform into a pitch-black, archaic, and battered great bell.
Clang!
The bell rang.
Dark golden ripples of light expanded outward.
Time froze.
The very instant the dark golden ripples swept over the woman in white, a look of profound shock finally appeared on her exquisite face!
With a flash of her figure, she vanished into the crystal coffin.
The next moment, the dark golden ripples quietly swept past...
The nine mutated heavenly demons and the woman in white were all "trapped" within the dark golden ripples.
Before Pang Yue had first arrived here, it probably wouldn't have taken even a breath for the dark golden ripples to be shattered.
But now, without ten full breaths of time, nothing could hope to shake the ripples even in the slightest.
Suddenly, a thousand-foot-long river surged out of the void.
The Yellow Springs Heavenly Demon Water surged across the sky, gathering into a single mass before transforming into a flame giant dozens of feet tall.
The blindingly fierce white firelight turned almost corporeal, illuminating the void into a sheet of stark white.
Pure Yang True Fire!
An astonishing heat spread outward, melting all the scattered floating debris in the void into crimson magma.
The flame giant opened its massive hand, revealing a broad, grayish-white stone axe.
Boom!
Wielding the axe with both hands, the flame giant raised it high and brought it down heavily upon the crystal coffin!
Simultaneously, a brilliant sword light carved out a flawless arc in an instant.
Along that arc were nine nodes, and at those nodes were the nine mutated heavenly demons!
The nine surging pillars of monstrous demonic intent were also extinguished as easily as blowing out a candle in that very instant!
The grayish-white stone axe radiated a dazzling white glare, its astonishing heat seemingly melting and distorting the void itself.
The axe blade struck the crystal coffin, causing ripples to instantly spread across the void.
"Crack..."
On the surface of the crystal coffin, a crack appeared.
At the same time, a tiny fragment chipped off the edge of the Primordial Sun Axe blade.
With a blank expression, the flame giant raised the giant axe with both hands once more, channeling the entirety of its magic power to bring it crashing down with earth-shattering force.
Boom!
Boom!
Boom!
Three consecutive strikes!
The transparent lid of the crystal coffin instantly shattered!
The woman in white was finally exposed before the blade of the Primordial Sun Axe.
And less than five breaths had passed.
Following that, Pang Yue's figure appeared in front of the crystal coffin, abruptly extending a finger to press against her smooth, fair forehead.
A chilling light flashed and vanished.
Deep within the sea of consciousness of the woman in white.
A sapphire ray of light darted briskly, plunging into her soul in the blink of an eye and disappearing.
Then, countless ice-blue lightning arcs flashed into existence, instantly weaving together into a restriction shaped like chains that bound tightly around the soul of the woman in white.
Seven breaths...
The dark golden ripples in the void began to tremble slightly.
Eight breaths...
The nine remaining remnants of astonishing demonic energy struggled and battered frantically.
Nine breaths...
The dark golden ripples began to fracture.
Ten breaths...
The dark golden ripples dissipated.
The flow of time returned to normal!
Pang Yue withdrew, putting some distance between himself and the woman in white.
The nine towering, massive mutated heavenly demons stood motionless in the void.
In the distance, the aftermath of the clash between the Immeasurable Light Buddha and another mutated heavenly demon swept over, causing the nine gigantic heads to suddenly tumble off their necks with a rolling thud.
The woman in white was still inside the crystal coffin; the fragments of the coffin lid had originally been frozen in the void, but the next instant, they suddenly shot forward, grazing her cheeks and body.
Faint bloody trails appeared on her face.
Ten breaths ago.
The shock that had surfaced on her face slowly receded.
"Epochal Light Heavenly Demon."
With a complex expression, she looked at Pang Yue and softly said, "So you are a cultivator of the Demonic Talisman Sect."
"Indeed."
Pang Yue nodded and asked, "Does Your Excellency still wish to force me to be your immortal servant?"
The woman in white smiled coldly, "Do you really think that relying on your Ice Soul Divine Light and that strange thunder technique is enough to subdue me?"
A glint of killing intent flashed across Pang Yue's eyes as he said indifferently, "Your Excellency is entirely welcome to try."
The woman in white fell silent for a moment.
After a long while, she sighed softly, "Had I not been heavily injured, how could I ever let myself be humiliated like this by you... Speak, what do you want?"
With that, she waved her hand, and the mutated heavenly demon in the distance instantly transformed into a black shadow and vanished.
The moment Pang Yue had shattered the crystal coffin with the Primordial Sun Axe earlier, there had still been a few breaths of time left—he had possessed the opportunity and the possibility to slay the female cultivator.
Yet he chose to leave a restriction within her soul... From the perspective of the woman in white, the other party surely didn't just fancy her looks.
To Demonic Path cultivators, appearance was truly the most negligible factor.
"Your Excellency can now reveal your origins!"
Pang Yue asked unhurriedly.
The woman in white furrowed her delicate brows, her expression somewhat unnatural as she replied, "Qianluo Palace of the Southern Sea, Yi Ling."
Pausing for a moment, she added, "You have just entered the Golden Core stage, so you probably haven't been to the Southern Sea yet... You should have never heard of my moniker."
Pang Yue nodded and asked again, "Fellow Daoist Yi, if I'm not mistaken, before you were injured, you must have been a Divine Soul master, right?"
Yi Ling cast an astonished look at him with her beautiful eyes, surprised, "The Demonic Talisman Sect shouldn't be able to nurture someone like you. Which elder of the Heavenly Demon Sect are you a demonic seed trained by?"
Anyone capable of discerning her Divine Soul foundation must have laid eyes on a Divine Soul entity before!
The man before her had repeatedly exceeded her expectations. In her heart, she had long since defaulted to assuming Pang Yue was a demonic seed personally trained by some powerful Demonic Path Divine Soul expert.
Pang Yue sighed inwardly; the other party truly was a Divine Soul master!
She was merely severely injured and had set up a magic altar in the extraterrestrial void to recover her strength by borrowing the power of heavenly demons.
Viewed in this light, the Southern Sea Qianluo Palace must be a colossal behemoth comparable to the three great sects of the Eastern Sea: the Heavenly Sword, Heavenly Zen, and Heavenly Demon sects!
He sighed, "Senior Yi, I have no intention of making an enemy of you. Everything that happened before was merely a misunderstanding."
"If you make a Dao oath that for the rest of your life, you will never harm me or anyone close to me in the slightest, how about I lift the restriction for you?"
Yi Ling said indifferently, "This seat has never submitted to threats... If you are afraid, you can trigger the restriction right now and kill me."
"It's just a pity that you've already revealed your trump card, so you might not get what you wish!"
Pang Yue was unwilling to admit it out loud, but deep down, he implicitly believed Yi Ling's words.
Divine Soul masters possessed a myriad of methods.
Once she figured out the secret of his Epochal Light Heavenly Demon, fighting her again probably wouldn't be so easy.
Even if nothing else... at the very least, the person before him possessed the capability to drag him down to hell together.
Rather than suffering mutual destruction, it was better to stall for time first.
Thoughts raced through Pang Yue's mind.
His Heavenly Sword avatar had indeed seen quite a few treasures capable of holding Divine Soul masters in check while wandering through Youtian Market. If he could purchase one as soon as possible, he would gain an extra layer of security.
With a sudden, radiant smile, he said, "In that case, please wronged Senior for a brief moment to temporarily reside within this magical treasure of mine. When the time is ripe, I will naturally lift the restriction for Senior."
With that, he cast out the Mountains and Rivers Tripod.
Yi Ling gazed at him deeply, uttered not a single word, and directly transformed into a streak of white light that plunged into the Mountains and Rivers Tripod.
Pang Yue stood in place, carefully sorting through the sequence of events that had just unfolded. After pondering for a long while, he finally transformed into a streak of sword light and departed.
...
Eastern Sea.
Above a certain expanse of ocean.
A seven-colored vortex was spinning slowly across the horizon.
Waves of spatial fluctuations emanated from the vortex, faintly radiating a peculiar aura that stood in stark contrast to the surroundings.
Beneath the vortex, a few cultivators were dueling and slaughtering one another.
One faction held an overwhelming advantage.
The leader was a woman in a plain green dress. The divine abilities she wielded were immensely powerful, striking down her opponents one after another. Her methods were ruthless and heart-chilling.
This woman was tall with apricot eyes and peach blossom cheeks. Her demeanor was like an orchid in an empty valley, and her beauty was peerless.
The divine ability she used was a towering, archaic giant ancient stele condensed entirely from ice.
As the ancient stele vibrated, a massive, invisible force erupted, instantly shattering her opponent into a mist of blood.
There were two reasons why her faction could secure the upper hand.
First, their opponents were too weak.
Second, her divine ability was simply too formidable.
The might it erupted with surpassed even top-tier magical tools.
Although it fell short of a Tier 1 magical treasure, it was already exceedingly close!
In the blink of an eye.
Only two opponents remained.
One of them let out a shrill cry, spat out a mouthful of blood, and with a flash of crimson light, abruptly transformed into a streak of scarlet fleeing light, escaping toward the edge of the horizon in an instant.
The speed of that fleeing light far surpassed ordinary Dao Foundation cultivators.
The other person shouted in panic, "Don't kill me! My uncle is an elder of the Taiqing Sect..."
Before the words could fully leave his mouth, he was suppressed by the ice-blue ancient stele and instantly blasted into a bloody mist!
His entire body was pulverized into microscopic particles the size of needle tips, forcibly scattered into nothingness.
The woman in green looked toward the distant horizon, frowning, "Such a bizarre fleeing technique. It's probably too late to chase them now."