Chaotic commotions erupted within the city. It seemed as if battles were breaking out everywhere.

Although the main combatants were the Corpse Transformation Cultivators and Demon Fiends, their underlings—the lesser Demon Fiends and Junior Cultivators—were fighting just as fiercely.

The Demon Fiends were simply too numerous, and the Cultivators were undoubtedly on the losing end.

The Cultivators below the Visceral Stone realm were the first to suffer, being swiftly eliminated.

Only Cultivators at the Visceral Stone realm and above were resisting, relying on their tenacious Life Force. But under the suppression of so many Demon Fiends, they were being beaten miserably. They couldn’t even escape and were already surrounded.

Yang An watched the show from the city gate, firmly suppressing two Demon Fiends. This naturally attracted numerous other Demon Fiends.

These Demon Fiends didn’t care who their target was; they killed mortals and Cultivators alike without hesitation.

When it was his turn to be targeted, Yang An naturally wasn’t going to stand idly by.

The Buddha’s Radiant Wheel and copious amounts of Golden Radiance danced around him. Any Demon Fiend that came within a five-zhang radius was dismembered as easily as dicing vegetables. Not a single one managed to reach him.

The mortals in the city who hadn’t yet escaped seemed to have found their savior. They didn’t care how terrifying Yang An was; at the end of the day, he hadn’t laid a hand on them. One by one, they ducked behind him to avoid being caught in the crossfire, filled with both fear and awe.

Yang An paid them no mind, nor did he deliberately divert his attention to look after them. ’Whether they live or die is up to them.’

His actions soon caught the attention of the other Cultivators as well.

As if they had seen a glimmer of hope, they too rushed toward Yang An’s position. Seizing the opening he created while slaughtering Demon Fiends, they scrambled to escape through the city gate.

Yang An paid them no mind either, neither stopping nor targeting them. His targets were the Corpse Transformation Demon Fiends and Cultivators. As for everyone else, he couldn’t care less.

Of course, the Seal remnant didn’t let the flesh and blood of these Demon Fiends go to waste. A massive torrent of gore converged and flooded into the silver bead.

With the bead in his hand, Yang An looked for all the world like an incomparably cruel Demon Fiend himself.

He stood at the city gate like an unbreakable wall. Any Demon Fiend that drew near died.

This continued for the time it takes half an incense stick to burn. Inside the city, the battle between the top-tier Cultivators and the Great Demon Fiends remained a stalemate. All of them were entangled, unable to break away and escape.

After Yang An had slaughtered a massive number of Demon Fiends, fewer and fewer of them approached him. The only ones left were those with enough sense remaining to know not to get any closer. They understood how formidable he was; after all, far too many Demon Fiends had already died by his hand.

Even those creatures running on pure instinct sensed how dangerous Yang An was.

The silver bead in Yang An’s hand finally showed a reaction, albeit a very faint one.

It felt as if something had formed inside. It had grown heavier than before and was vibrating faintly. Yang An was keen enough to notice the abnormality.

He glanced at the two Corpse Transformation Demon Fiends under his suppression. They were growing increasingly weak; their Immortality was clearly beginning to fail. Soon, they would be completely annihilated, leaving not even flesh and blood behind.

’I can’t believe it took absorbing so much flesh and blood, plus a continuous supply from two Corpse Transformation Demon Fiends, just for the Earth Spirit Stele to show some signs of revival.’

’This thing is like a bottomless pit; there’s no telling when it will finally be full. Still, seeing some results makes all my effort worthwhile.’

’Hopefully, I can collect enough flesh and blood next.’ He looked toward the heart of the city.

The battle in the city seemed to have reached a fever pitch. Even though everyone was suppressed by the Power of Rules, which limited the destructive power the Corpse Transformation entities could unleash...

...the scene of more than a dozen of them attacking at once was still staggering.

Buildings were constantly being destroyed in the battle. Both Cultivators and Demon Fiends fought as if they had lost their minds, resorting to any means necessary and aiming to kill.

One Cultivator detached his head from his body, and from high above, it continuously spewed large amounts of a yellow liquid. The fluid rained down like a sudden storm, its foul stench mixing with a sanguine wind.

Anything the yellow water touched, be it earth or stone, was rapidly corroded. The flesh of the Cultivators and Demon Fiends it splattered on also began falling off in chunks.

One Demon Fiend twisted the bodies of smaller Demon Fiends into a meatball and swallowed it, strengthening itself and bloating into a hideous giant.

With every punch it threw, the howls of Demon Fiends would issue from within its body, the sound like a life-reaping demonic tone with the power to bewilder the mind.

Yet another Cultivator sliced open his own chest and abdomen, spewing scarlet fire that ignited on contact. Its power was immense, but he too was burned by the flames, suffering such excruciating pain that it felt like his eyes would burst from their sockets.

But among them all, one Demon Fiend was the most formidable.

Its body broke down into countless tiny insects, which in the blink of an eye submerged the body of a Corpse Transformation Cultivator. No matter what techniques the Cultivator tried, he couldn’t expel the insects, let alone escape.

The insects burrowed into his flesh, crawling in through every pore of his body, making him look as if he were covered in sesame seeds.

The Cultivator immediately began to shrivel at a speed visible to the naked eye. It was as if all the flesh and blood had been hollowed out of his body, leaving only an empty skin husk, which was ultimately devoured by the insects as well.

None of the other Cultivators had fallen yet, but now one was already dead, his body and spirit extinguished. Such a method, which even Immortality could not resist, was a terrifying sight for anyone to behold.

Yang An watched, clicking his tongue in amazement. He was quite surprised.

’I have to say, you can’t underestimate anyone. Who knows what kind of killing moves these guys have mastered? A moment of carelessness could lead to an unexpected and humiliating defeat.’

So, he continued to wait, biding his time until they had exhausted their techniques and their strength.

It was unrealistic to wait for the price of their powers to manifest. After all, everyone knew that if the backlash occurred mid-battle, it would greatly impact their combat strength.

The Pain Amplification of the Corpse Transformation state could delay the backlash, so it was better to count on them consuming too much Mana and running on empty.

As time went on, the Seal remnant finally finished absorbing every last bit of flesh and blood from the two suppressed Demon Fiends. They vanished without a trace, not even leaving bones behind.

The Cultivators in the city were in steady retreat; two of them had already died, while in contrast, every Demon Fiend was still standing.

The Cultivators seemed to have lost their will to fight and were looking for an escape route, ready to flee at any moment.

At this point, it was time for Yang An to make his move.

The Buddha’s Radiant Wheel appeared behind Yang An, shining brilliantly. His figure suddenly vanished from the city gate.

In the middle of the raging battlefield, a black shadow flashed past, and Yang An’s figure abruptly appeared on the scene.

With his arrival came a great expanse of black light that spread silently through the night, instantly enveloping every Cultivator and Demon Fiend present.

In an instant, everyone’s bodies—be they Cultivator or Demon Fiend—seemed to suddenly stiffen. Their movements froze, as if they had been flash-frozen.

But in the next moment, all of their bodies began to tremble violently as they quickly recovered their mobility.

Yang An frowned slightly. ’There are a few too many Cultivators and Demon Fiends. The Dark Communication Secret Spell can’t suppress all of them at once.’

’If I want to suppress them all, it will be a huge drain on my Mana.’

’Looks like I need to eliminate a few of them first!’

Two Demon Fiends and one Cultivator recovered their mobility first. When the Cultivator saw it was Yang An, he instinctively backed away, but the Demon Fiends charged at Yang An in unison.

But before the two Demon Fiends could get close to Yang An...

RUMBLE—

A massive amount of dazzling red lightning burst forth from around Yang An, striking the two Demon Fiends head-on.

The lightning, as if it had found an outlet, ravaged the two Demon Fiends’ bodies without reservation.

If Light Magic was a Forbidden Technique that neither Demon Fiend nor Cultivator could withstand, then Thunder Technique was an absolute counter to Demon Fiends.

The lightning that struck the Demon Fiends was immensely powerful. The two Corpse Transformation Great Demon Fiends didn’t even last two breaths. All their flesh looked as if it had been cooked, emitting a nauseating mixture of rich, roasted meat and a foul stench.

But even so, Yang An didn’t let their flesh and blood go to waste; it was all absorbed by the Seal remnant.

’Still not enough!’

’There are more than a dozen Demon Fiends and Cultivators here in total. I need to get rid of at least two more to be able to suppress the others with relative ease.’

He glanced around at everyone, and his gaze suddenly landed on the Demon Fiend that had been the most dominant earlier—the one that had killed two Cultivators in succession.

But before Yang An could make a move, the Demon Fiend instantly transformed into a swarm of tiny insects, breaking free of the Dark Communication Secret Spell’s control in a flash and surging toward Yang An like an overwhelming tide.

A cold sneer touched Yang An’s lips.

’That trick might work on others, but it’s useless against me.’

HUM!

A brilliant white light suddenly emanated from Yang An’s body; he had merely activated a single Light Magic Technique.

Just as the insects were about to land on him, they were swallowed by the emanating light, disappearing without a trace in the blink of an eye.

As the insects disappeared, the Demon Fiend’s aura vanished along with them. Not a shred of flesh and blood was left behind; it was as dead as could be.

This scene might not have registered with the other Demon Fiends, but for the Cultivators present, it was as if they had witnessed something horrific.

The only Great Demon Fiend that had been capable of killing them, a fellow Cultivator, was annihilated in an instant! ’This...’

Yang An was also a bit surprised. He hadn’t expected to be able to destroy this Great Demon Fiend so easily. ’It died so fast I didn’t even have time to absorb its flesh and blood.’ 𝐟𝕣𝕖𝐞𝐰𝕖𝚋𝐧𝗼𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝗰𝐨𝐦

’It seems Light Magic really is the nemesis of this kind of monster. Killing it was almost too easy.’

However, after destroying this one Demon Fiend, it was also surprising that the Dark Communication Secret Spell’s suppression of the Demon Fiends and Cultivators present had stabilized. No one was struggling or resisting anymore.

"Fellow Cultivator, you must also have been dispatched by the Golden Thread Pavilion to resist the demonic disaster in Celestial Jing State. We’re all in the same boat. Why don’t we join forces and slaughter all these Demon Fiends? It would be a great accomplishment!"

Most of the Cultivators had gone berserk from the fighting. The only one who remained rational was the man who had just broken free of the spell’s suppression. Knowing how powerful Yang An was, he spoke up at once.

But when he finished speaking, his words were met with a cold laugh from Yang An.

"Sorry! I’m not!"