Slaying Demons: Starting with Upgrading my Calligraphy-Chapter 511 - 447: Ancient Secret Technique

"This is..."

Just as the tiny vine emitting a seven-colored glow pierced into the Ancestral Aperture between the Snake Demon King’s brows, Lin Cong’s expression suddenly froze.

Yet before he could react.

A cold, indifferent voice quietly echoed from within him.

"Merely a tenacity retention, do you really think I can’t deal with you?"

The next instant!

A sword tip suddenly pierced out from the center of Lin Cong’s forehead.

Terrifying cracks instantly spread all over his body.

Rigid in place, Lin Cong strained to move his eyes and shook his head at Qi Xiu with his last ounce of strength. 𝒻𝑟𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝑛𝘰𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝘤𝘰𝘮

Then his figure suddenly dissipated into smoke and vanished.

Completely disappeared without a trace!

As expected!

That person had placed a prohibition inside these demonic bodies, triggering as soon as someone performed a soul search.

And he could even erase the tenacity retention...

With a solemn gaze, Qi Xiu looked at the dissipated traces of smoke before him and pressed his lips together.

Tenacity Retention is an anomaly even Primordial Spirit Bosses cannot resolve.

Even though Lin Cong had already dispelled the tenacity and was on the brink of vanishing, this person managed to forcefully erase it before that.

This shows his strength must be among the very top of the Primordial Spirit class!

The presence of such a figure in the Hundred Thousand Great Mountains is truly troublesome.

Confirming that a fearsome prohibition was also placed in the demonic soul this time, Qi Xiu quickly took out the Mind Sensing Spirit Plaque and left a warning.

[Investigation has confirmed that prohibitions have been placed in the bodies of all Demonic Evil Cultivators entering the Southern Ming Wasteland this time. Do not attempt soul searching on them, as it will trigger a severe backlash lethal enough to threaten your life. This has been verified. Fellow Daoists, heed the warning and do not attempt it, remember, remember!]

As soon as Qi Xiu’s message appeared on the Mind Sensing Spirit Plaque, it instantly aroused suspicion and marvel among many Dao Experts.

Firstly, they were astounded by the ruthlessness of the Hundred Thousand Great Mountains; to keep their information from leaking, prohibitions were placed in all Demon Kings and Demon Lords to prevent soul searching.

Secondly, they were astonished at how quickly one of them had already captured a Demon King or Demon Lord, even discovering the prohibitions set within them, and warned everyone.

"No soul searching?"

Somewhere in a forbidden zone blanketed with yellow sands that gnaw at the bones and grind the soul, Five-Colored Divine Light surged in Zhao Qianqiu’s hands. A demonic female cultivator, adorned in a black robe, enchantingly beautiful and covered in strange runes, frantically displayed various techniques.

Attempting to escape this Five Elements Heaven and Earth.

No matter what methods she employed, the cyclical Five-Colored Divine Light resembled an insurmountable cage, trapping her completely without escape.

"Prince, can we trust his words?"

Standing beside Zhao Qianqiu, Zhao Peng spoke in a low voice.

"Better to believe in them than not. Even though the power of the Hundred Thousand Great Mountains is not what it was,

the assistance from the Demonic Sect Heretics has made their methods more treacherous.

Who knows what unexpected power they might wield.

But without soul searching, discovering the intelligence of the Hundred Thousand Great Mountains is impossible.

Expecting them to speak willingly is utterly unrealistic.

Coldly glancing down at the demon cultivator within the Five-Colored Divine Light, Zhao Qianqiu spoke indifferently.

Since the Hundred Thousand Great Mountains could place prohibitions in these demons to prevent soul searching, surely they would also prevent them from divulging important matters.

"Then you are of no use either."

Casually issuing a death order to the demon cultivator trapped within the Five-Colored Divine Light, Zhao Qianqiu slowly closed his fingers.

The demon cultivator trapped within felt as if the heavens were collapsing, caught in the chaos of the Five Elements, while a force of annihilation swept over her; she struggled, but could only watch as she was consumed bit by bit by the extreme force.

Forming his fingers into a fist, traces of blood flowed from Zhao Qianqiu’s fingertips, dripping onto the ground.

Opening his palm again, he found an amber-like, orange-yellow crystal with the demon cultivator’s face solidified inside.

"Prince, what shall we do now?"

Gazing slightly upward, seemingly unperturbed by his own prince’s regular execution of Dao Experts, Zhao Peng calmly inquired about the next step.

"Let’s continue forward. The many Demon Kings and Demon Lords sent this time by the Hundred Thousand Great Mountains have done me a great favor.

The Great Five Elements Annihilation Heavenly Wheel I am refining requires the essence of twenty-five Dao Experts to reach its highest quality.

Initially, I hesitated on how to gather these.

This sword-seizing mission came just in time.

Thus, I humbled myself and asked my Emperor nephew to do the Dao Alliance a favor, securing our spot on this convenient journey."

Lightly holding the exquisite crystal in his hand, with limitless Dao Charm flowing within, Zhao Qianqiu took out a perfectly round artifact made of five bronze tracks, with five empty slots on each.

The Great Five Elements Annihilation Heavenly Wheel!

A Life-Bound Magic Treasure Zhao Qianqiu wished to refine.

Embedding the Daoist Spirit crystal into one of the bronze tracks, the entire track burst into blinding Divine Light, with visible Daoist patterns gradually emerging, emanating a grand aura of the Five Elements rotation.

Feeling his Life-Bound Magic Treasure advancing another step, Zhao Qianqiu’s lips curled slightly.

At this rate, the treasure’s completion was within sight!

...

"Since soul searching is impossible, there’s no use keeping you around."

Lin Cong dissipated, and the Snake Demon King naturally fell back into Qi Xiu’s hands.

Looking at the laughing and cursing Demon King before him, Qi Xiu was about to crush him when a spiritual light suddenly flashed in his mind.

"Killing you just like this would make your cursing seem undeserved."

With a beaming smile, Qi Xiu slowly opened his palm, and strands of Essence-infused Dao Blood were extracted by him.

Immediately, he used a secret technique, transforming the Essence Dao Blood into colorful soil. In no time, a peculiar seed, resembling a Golden Core and covered with ancient divine patterns, was summoned by him.

The technique Lin Cong used before, "Endless Azure," was akin to the Buddha Sect’s "Dharmic Revelation."

He directly transmitted all his cultivation insights to Qi Xiu, naturally including the "Azure Eternal Wood Scripture," this Wood Dao Scripture.

The seed he summoned now is a secret technique called "Parasitic Fruit" recorded in this scripture.

"Here, open your mouth and swallow this."

Cradling the basin-sized seed, Qi Xiu gently spoke to the Snake Demon King.

"Are you blind? Look how big my mouth is compared to this thing. How the hell am I supposed to swallow it?"

Rebellious to the core, the Snake Demon King glaringly retorted, not holding back at all.

"Nonsense, aren’t you a snake? Swallowing a large object should be a breeze.

Come on, open your mouth, I’ll help you."

With a facade of kindness, Qi Xiu forced the Snake Demon King’s mouth open and stuffed the oversized seed, which was ten times the Snake Demon King’s size, inside.

As it was swallowed, the Demon King was reduced to tears, his body inflating into a spherical shape.

"See, it’s swallowed now."

Dusting off his sleeves, Qi Xiu maintained a calm gaze, slowly forming a Daoist Incantation with two fingers and reciting an ancient mystical chant.

With the chant echoing ceaselessly, the peculiar seed consumed by the Snake Demon King erupted tens of thousands of red silken threads, tearing its body apart with countless gaping wounds.

"You..."

Engulfed by excruciating pain, the Snake Demon King’s eyes shattered like glass, oozing blood.

The red threads recoiled, enshrouding and binding the Snake Demon King completely, transforming into a cocoon as red as bloodstains.

Gazing at the slowly pulsating red cocoon, Qi Xiu smiled, swiped his sleeve to gather it up, then shapeshifted into a wisp of cloud that surged out of the underground Forest Sea.

The ground splintered, soil and stones bursting forth.

Emerging back to the surface, Qi Xiu frowned slightly at the pervasive muddy fog.

"Spare your life, don’t let me down."

Casually tossing the red cocoon away, Qi Xiu’s lips curled into a sneer before turning and striding off.

With time flowing by,

Unaware of how much time had passed.

Quietly lying on the ground, the red cocoon unexpectedly bulged, a black as ink, scales-edged tail tearing through the cocoon’s red silk.

Tearing open with a ripping sound, the Snake Demon King burst free from the red cocoon, gasping heavily, its pale golden slit-eyes warily scanning the surroundings.

"Hmm? Where’s that bastard?"

Having broken free, the Snake Demon King found Qi Xiu’s figure inexplicably missing.

Could it be he encountered an attack from other fellow monsters?

Let’s hope so, that brat is sinister and cunning. Unless an insurmountable crisis struck, he wouldn’t have just let me go.

After confirming Qi Xiu’s absence, a malicious grin spread over the Snake Demon King’s face.

You bastard, just wait.

The humiliation suffered today, I shall repay a hundredfold another day!

Swearing inwardly, the Snake Demon King dared not linger, for his condition was poor, and a confrontation with other Human Race experts would spell disaster.

Summoning up the little strength accumulated, the Snake Demon King instantaneously turned into a black shadow and sped across the ground.

However, whether it was due to the excitement of narrowly escaping death or the declination of power affecting his attention, the Dao Body Demon King was oblivious to the growing bright red welts spreading beneath his scales.

This strange rash, being painless and non-itchy, induced no awareness in the Dao Body Demon King.

...

A thousand meters away, using his Tenacity Retention eyes, Qi Xiu saw the Snake Demon King departing triumphantly.

"Back when Dianchuan suffered a great calamity, I too participated in concocting a plague specifically for monsters. But its effectiveness was less than optimal.

Their robust blood and flesh made it difficult for plagues to erode these monsters.

Yet the Parasitic Fruit is an Ancient Secret Technique, modeling after monster flesh to evolve into a plague that isn’t lethal yet weakens their combat prowess.

Its main function is to make monsters unknowingly misjudge their strength.

Becoming the last straw during a death battle."

With his sleeves gathered, the memory of the secret technique unfurled in Qi Xiu’s mind.

Attempting to poison a Dao Body Demon King with a single secret technique,

Such an attempt is unrealistic.

If such a secret technique truly existed, the Hundred Thousand Great Mountains would have long been leveled.

Yet an imperceptible minor influence is enough to work wonders at a critical moment.

This was why he didn’t kill the Snake Demon King outright.

Rather, he invested time and effort to deploy a secret technique.

What he sought was mastery over the entire situation.

Not merely life and death matters between a man and a demon.

...