Chapter 596 517: Whoever Touches Brother Pei Dies

"It's you, Nangong Jin!"

"You forced your way into the heartland of our Fiend Race and stole our Holy Key. I can't believe you have the audacity to come back for our Holy Grail!

Are you trying to steal every single one of our Fiend Race's sacred treasures?!"

A few suppressed, thunderous roars echoed.

A monster with the head of a ferocious crocodile, a pair of bat wings sprouting from its back, and the lower body of a giant python burst from the woods.

Its eyes, fixed on Nangong Jin, were crimson as blood. Its grotesque, scaled face was twisted in fury, and wisps of scorching, sulfuric air drifted from the gaps in its armored scales.

The greatest difference between the Fiend Race and the Demon Race is that Fiends are creatures of the Cultivation Realm corrupted by the Demonic Qi that seeps from the rifts of the Abyss.

Their bodies and bloodlines, catalyzed by Demonic Qi, manifest as malformed hybrids of various creatures, plants, or even inanimate objects.

The chimerical, crocodile-headed Void Refining Peak powerhouse before them was a textbook example of this fiendish mutation.

"Demon Fiend, the key to the Abyssal Sea Palace was originally given to your kind for safekeeping by a Saint of the Human Race.

Now the Human Race needs to open the Abyssal Sea Palace, so I merely took back the key you were holding onto. How can you call that theft?"

Nangong Jin stood on the tips of her toes atop a cloud, her beautiful, indifferent eyes looking down on the crocodile-headed Demon Fiend as she spoke in a voice as crisp and cold as shattered jade.

"Crocodile Ghost, why are you wasting your breath on this little bitch? Whether she stole it or took it, she came here... so we kill her first and ask questions later!"

Several more Void Refining Fiend powerhouses surged out from Ghost-Back Mountain, taking their places behind Crocodile Ghost.

They had varied forms: one was covered in pale bone spikes, another resembled a giant, rotting tree, and a third looked like a twisted centipede pieced together from countless arms of flesh and blood.

At this moment, their scarlet eyes were locked onto Pei Yuhang's group of four, their killing intent surging like a tangible tide.

Nine Void Refining Powerhouses!

Pei Yuhang's expression was grave, his brow tightly furrowed.

If he had his Lifebound Spirit Sword, Silence, with him now, he would be confident in their ability to fight their way out alongside the nigh-invincible Junior Sister Nangong.

But unfortunately, without his Lifebound Spirit Sword, he, a Sword Cultivator, had lost half his combat strength.

Although Junior Sister Nangong's record was one of unbroken victory, having never known defeat, facing so many Void Refining Fiends, on top of the endless Fiend Army in the mountain... a head-on clash would surely end in their deaths from exhaustion!

Pei Yuhang didn't want his junior sister and disciples to get bogged down in a war of attrition.

His gaze turned cold and heavy as his Divine Sense spread out like a tide. He decided to avoid a direct fight and search for an escape route.

Just then— "You can kill the others, but this man... is mine~"

A cloying, effeminate voice spoke up. A female Demon Fiend, formed entirely from a viscous yellow liquid, slowly raised a hand, her fingertip pointing directly at Pei Yuhang.

Her body flowed like water, and her face, though bewitching, was unsettling. A sick smile played on her lips as her scarlet tongue gently licked them.

"His life force... it's so strong. He'll probably last a long time~"

SWOOSH!

In almost the same instant, killing intent erupted from both Nangong Jin and Qing Yueqiu, focusing squarely on the female Demon Fiend!

It was as if they planned to target her first the moment the battle began. Win or lose, they had to kill this bitch of a Demon Fiend first!

"..."

The female Demon Fiend's smile froze. She instinctively shrank back, silently withdrew her finger, and even took half a step back.

[Yueqiu, Junior Sister Nangong, the situation is bad.]

Pei Yuhang's calm, deep voice suddenly echoed in everyone's Sea of Consciousness.

[I've scouted the area. The entire sky above Ghost-Back Mountain is sealed by a barrier... If we can't break through it quickly, then we're just sitting ducks up here for the Fiend Race.

But the demonic miasma in the mountains is thick. We might be able to use it to break through. While the miasma will hinder our senses, it will also limit the Fiends' vision! We have to get into the forest immediately!]

"Alright."

Nangong Jin and the other two trusted Pei Yuhang completely and agreed to his plan without any objection.

"Not good, they're trying to escape!"

A Demon Fiend composed entirely of eyeballs suddenly trembled. Hundreds of its scarlet eyes swiveled in unison, locking onto the movements of Pei Yuhang's group.

As its viscous pupils contracted, it could actually analyze every detail of a target's limbs to predict their actions three seconds into the future.

"Stop them!"

The Fiend powerhouses, who had originally planned to send their army up first to wear down Nangong Jin's group, could no longer worry about being dragged down with them by the formidable Nangong Jin.

Crocodile Ghost roared, his serpentine tail whipping up a foul, bloody wind. The slime-like female Demon Fiend shrieked and transformed into a yellow shadow, pouncing straight for Pei Yuhang.

The other Demon Fiends erupted into action as well. With Demonic Qi churning, they pressed in from all directions like a black tide!

"Those who block my path, die!"

Nangong Jin's cold eyes flashed like lightning as she let out a sharp cry.

The Celestial Extinction Sword in her hand suddenly left its sheath. Its ring was like the cry of a dragon and the screech of a phoenix as a golden light flared in an instant! A vast wave of Sword Qi, like a furious ocean squall, swept out, warping space and dissipating the Demonic Qi wherever it passed!

BOOM—!!

The nine Void Refining Demon Fiends were actually forced back by this single strike!

Qing Yueqiu and Bei Lingyin were utterly stunned.

'This Junior Martial Uncle Nangong, who's always so gloomy and melancholic around Master... is actually this powerful?!'

"Don't just stand there, keep up!"

Pei Yuhang pulled the two of them along. The three followed closely behind Nangong Jin, leaping like fish into the roiling demonic miasma. In a flash, their figures were swallowed by the thick, turbid fog.

Behind them, the roars of the Demon Fiends shook the heavens and the earth.

"Warriors of the Fiend Race! Stop them for me!"

"Anyone who reports their position and successfully stalls them will be rewarded with a drop of the Blood of the Holy Grail!"