Chapter 9: An Invincible Mien

A massive snake demon, a tiny eagle demon.

Before this fifth-tier Golden-Armored Snake, the Demon Lord felt as insignificant as an ant. What filled him with even greater despair was the realization that the gaping maw lunging toward him could easily swallow several of him whole.

"Wait! I only ate a few scraps! I didn't kill your wife or your children!" the Demon Lord shrieked. "Go find whoever did it—ah!"

The Golden-Armored Snake’s head slammed into the ground with bone-shaking force, biting a massive crater into the earth. At that hair-breadth moment, the Demon Lord channeled his spiritual energy, fluttering his wings just enough to narrowly evade the strike. Hanging in the air, he watched the crater below, his heart racing with lingering terror as a few of his black feathers drifted downward.

"A mere third-tier weakling, yet you dream of escaping my clutches! Die!"

Suddenly, a fierce gale howled. The same foul-smelling, bone-crushing wind tore through the void, surging toward the Demon Lord. Trapped in mid-air and knowing he could not escape, he desperately channeled the *Heart Sutra of Ten Thousand Demons* to defend himself.

The *Heart Sutra* is the supreme cultivation technique of the demonic path. Once activated, it can destroy all things in heaven and earth, imbuing the practitioner with an instinct for slaughter, rage, and hatred. Anything it touches is instantly withered and disintegrated. Yet, at this moment, the Demon Lord’s strength was far too meager; he could not unleash the true power of the technique. He couldn't even erode the soul of the fifth-tier snake. The black mist he summoned to shield his body dissipated the moment it touched the gale.

"Die!"

The roar of the Golden-Armored Snake echoed in his ears. After struggling for less than three seconds, the Demon Lord was sent tumbling through the air, caught in the wake of the gale. His black feathers were torn away one by one, and he howled in agony.

"No! I don't want to die here! I have been reborn only to reach the Great Dao; how could I be killed so shamefully by a lowly worm?"

The terrifying wind shredded his wings, exposing gray skin and oozing blood. To his further despair, the foul-smelling gale was laced with toxic mist. His exposed flesh began to rot and fester.

"Even killing you is not enough to quench my fury! My wife and children! You wretch, I will make your flesh rot away and force you to endure a thousand deaths of suffering!" The snake demon was incensed, releasing toxic gas from its fangs that congealed into a cage, trapping the Demon Lord within.

Soon, however, the snake noticed something strange: the wounds on the little black bird’s body were healing even as they rotted.

"This... how is this possible?"

"Heart Sutra of Ten Thousand Demons! Convergence of All Evils!"

Inside the purple cage, the Demon Lord threw his head back and shrieked hysterically. He had not expected that in his desperate attempt to resist the poison, he would passively awaken the first supernatural ability of the *Heart Sutra*. The *Convergence of All Evils* allowed the practitioner to resist and absorb all worldly evils, granting them immense resistance against all negative effects.

Whether it was luck or misfortune, the Demon Lord was now swimming in the toxic gas, and he even appeared to be—dare he say—enjoying it.

"Hmph! I never imagined a mere third-tier weakling would have such tricks. But so what? That will only make your suffering last longer!" With a roar, the snake opened its blood-stained maw, unleashing a gale even more violent than the last.

The Demon Lord was plunged back into a losing battle. Against these razor-sharp winds, his newly awakened ability was completely useless. He could handle magical attacks with ease, but physical ones left him battered and broken.

"Ah!"

His shrill cries echoed across the cliff top as fresh lacerations appeared all over his body. After holding on for a while, his consciousness began to fade. No matter how he fought, the pain of being flayed alive was inescapable.

Suddenly, a brilliant light erupted in the sky, as if a sun the size of an egg had appeared overhead.

"Hiss! What is that?" The snake demon looked up, nearly blinded by the intense radiance. As he lowered his head, a chill ran down his spine. The scorching sun hung high, and flames of extreme yang descended like arrows, raining down upon him without end.

"This fat bird actually..."

Seeing the red sun above, the Demon Lord felt a surge of gratitude. If Jiang Xuan hadn't appeared, he would undoubtedly have lost his life. At this moment, Jiang Xuan was flapping his wings with reckless abandon. Empowered by the might of the Golden Crow, his already sturdy wings were casting forth torrents of flame. Wind and fire fueled each other, turning the sky a burning crimson.

"Impossible! How can a fifth-tier eagle demon possess such a fearsome ability? He carries the scent of my children and my mate... was it him?!"

Sparks showered off the snake demon’s body. The flame arrows unleashed by Jiang Xuan’s golden wings tore through his defenses without resistance. The snake demon was shaken to his core. His golden armor could usually withstand the full-force strike of a sixth-tier demon, yet this fiery hurricane was shattering it piece by piece.

Just as the snake attempted to channel his remaining spiritual energy for a final defense, Jiang Xuan dove from the sky and appeared before him in a flash.

"A Golden Eagle? A Golden Crow? No, just an eagle demon! No wonder your strength is so formidable! With such destiny, even an ant can stand at the peak of the Great Dao!" Looking at the eagle demon—whose body was less than a fifth of his own—the snake demon was filled with bitter resentment. It was impossible not to be jealous. Those golden wings, infused with the power of the Golden Crow—this was clearly a child of destiny.

As a fellow fifth-tier beast, the snake knew he had no chance of defeating this bird. He also understood that his wife and children had surely perished at the talons of this demon.

"Hey, hey, this is all hard work and sweat. Luck always favors the diligent, you know? But sorry about this—it’s a world of the strong eating the weak. You’d better just accept your death." Jiang Xuan let out a scoff. Even he was shocked by his own strength. *Goodness, the power of the Golden Crow is truly something; no wonder this snake is so furious.*

"You killed my family! Even if I die, I will drag you down with me!" The snake demon whipped his bleeding body, hurling himself at Jiang Xuan with suicidal intent.

Facing this desperate sneak attack, Jiang Xuan opened his wings, unhurried.

"We are both fifth-tier, but you are leagues behind me."

"Your family died because they brought it upon themselves. Did they expect me to just sit back and be slaughtered along with those two little ones?" Jiang Xuan muttered to himself, but as the snake’s tail slammed toward him, he realized now was not the time for lectures.

Flapping his wings, he unleashed the flames once more, displaying an invincible posture. The flame arrows shot forth, and the moment they touched the snake’s body, the fifth-tier Golden-Armored Snake was sliced clean in two.

The Demon Lord, now completely bald and scorched, watched the scene with his mouth agape, his gaze frozen in disbelief.