Chapter 167 — The Decisive Battle
The Sword Questions the Heavens · Page 1 of 6
The dreaded demonic creature, which appeared to have been gravely wounded, cut a rather sorry figure—half of its body a ghastly white, the other half scorched black, making for a bizarre and even faintly comical sight. Yet amid the jeers of the righteous cultivators watching from afar, the colossal, terrifying monster slowly raised its head and suddenly let out a furious roar. Its massive head opened wide its maw, and from within surged a black miasma that spun out like a whirlwind, hurtling straight toward the three figures in midair.
Masters of cultivation like Dao Yan and his companions were hardly about to be caught off guard. All three shot upward by several zhang, and in the same instant, halos of blue, gold, and crimson blazed around them as protective wards. Even so, that black miasma, amid the fierce winds above the sea of clouds, held together without dispersing, and even from a great distance one could catch a strange, foul stench—clearly it was virulently poisonous.
At the same time, the Beast Sovereign, standing atop the giant monster's head, expressionlessly waved both hands in a grotesque yet archaic manner, like the movements of ancient, uncivilized forebears paying homage to heaven. With his gestures, some uncanny power seemed to come rolling in on invisible currents. The dark clouds in the sky gathered once more, thick as ink, and among the churning winds and clouds, strange flashes of lightning darted, illuminating patches of the layered darkness.
The people on the ground were momentarily struck with awe, uncertain what sorcery he was working now. But ever since the Beast Sovereign's arrival, every bizarre witchcraft he had displayed had been on a vast and awe-inspiring scale, and fear had quietly taken root in many hearts.
In midair, Dao Yan's brows knitted tightly. Suddenly he waved his hand, ordering all the elders to fall back.
The black clouds hung low, pressing down lower and lower, until at last someone noticed something amiss and cried out in alarm. Then, before the astonished eyes of all present, that boundless expanse of black cloud, layer upon layer, sank ever lower, until at last it descended from the highest heavens to the mortal world, and there above the sea of clouds, swallowed the Beast Sovereign and the giant demonic spirit's body into its depths.
The black cloud that touched the ground clearly spanned dozens of zhang across. The righteous cultivators withdrew one after another, while many of the beast-demons lingering above the sea of clouds were engulfed within it. Dao Yan and the other two descended from the clouds and halted in midair some ten zhang beyond the black mass, their expressions gravely solemn as they fixed their eyes upon that churning, surging black cloud.
Upon the plaza of the Sea of Clouds, a strange silence once again fell. Yet such silence could not hold for long. The black cloud tumbled faster and faster, and even those standing far off could now sense the surging, turbulent demonic power within it.
At last, in the direction facing Dao Yan, that vast mass of black qi slowly opened a small gap.
There was not a glimmer of light—it was as though eternal darkness itself. That pitch-black aperture faced forward coldly, and the surrounding cloud vapor suddenly began to spin madly, swirling and pouring into it. The aperture devoured without end all the black qi that rushed in, slowly expanding—from an inch to a foot, from a foot to a zhang—until in but a short time, the most horrific, ferocious visage of some monstrous beast appeared before the three leaders of the righteous path.
From the deepest depths of that darkness, an arrogant, shrill howl came crashing forth!