Chapter 343 - 334: Sun and Moon Wheel of Formless Life and Death, Testing Its Blade

On Celestial Dragon Mountain, sword light crisscrossed in an instant.

But Song Ciwan knew full well that the Fox Demon hadn’t drawn his sword to kill mortals—his true target was her!

Just as Xiang Zhuang performed his sword dance with the intent to kill Pei Gong, so too was this attack a feint.

The Fox Demon’s move was likely a test to see if she, Song Ciwan... this Human Race Cultivator, would be willing to step in and block the strike to save the mortals.

The seemingly gentle and refined Fox Demon had, in fact, never held the lives of others in any regard.

A demonic gale billowed like the heavenly river pouring backward, and the sword’s glare blazed like a cascade of falling stars.

In a flash, Song Ciwan flicked a finger, and the Sun and Moon Wheel of Formless Life and Death shot from her fingertip.

This treasure had not been seen in the Mortal World since its Refinement. Today, its edge would be tested with the blood of a Celestial Pride!

The Sun Wheel streaked across the sky like a perfect disc. Whistling through the air, it was launched second but arrived first, intercepting the Senluo Sword at an utterly unbelievable speed.

As the two Spiritual Artifacts collided, the Senluo Sword drew upon the power of the stars. Its starlight burned fiercely, and its grim Energy, carrying an aura of fated Death Qi, swept away everything before it.

The sharpness of the Sun and Moon Wheel of Formless Life and Death, however, was not so obvious. As the Sun Wheel spun, it merely shed a bright, clear radiance. But in the next instant, the majestic Senluo Sword, like a wild steed finding its true master, suddenly heeded a new command. It reversed course!

Yes, the Senluo Sword had changed direction. Like a deflected arrow, it seemed to cross space and time in an instant, ricocheting at an impossible angle back toward Tushan Keji, who stood higher up the mountain path.

Its speed was something not even a Celestial Pride of the Demon Race could defend against. In fact, Tushan Keji had no time to react at all before the blade was upon him.

In the moment the blade reached him, whatever countless techniques, myriad abilities, or endless defenses Tushan Keji possessed were all rendered useless.

He was struck by his own Senluo Sword!

From below the sea of clouds, a demonic beast’s roar that seemed to shake heaven and earth rang out. The Fox Demon shrieked, "AWOOO—"

Further down the mountain path, a group of merchants, who had been struggling up the trail while engaged in lively conversation, heard the demonic howl. In an instant, the color drained from their faces.

Their conversations died. One by one, they tilted their heads back and looked up.

A merchant cried out in horror, "Quick, look! What is that?"

Another asked hesitantly, "Is... is that a fox?"

They saw it then: below the sunset-tinged sea of clouds, at the peak that seemed to tower between sky and earth, a colossal fox silhouette hundreds of feet tall suddenly appeared. With a mournful shriek, it charged violently in one direction.

The sheer force of its charge, even from such an unknown distance, left the merchants below utterly terrified.

One of the younger merchants even let out a cry of "Ah!" He missed his footing and tumbled dozens of feet down the steep plank road.

If not for a quick-footed man bringing up the rear who swiftly caught him, there’s no telling how far the young man might have fallen.

Still reeling from the shock, the young man hastily thanked him, "Brother Luo, thank you for saving me!"

Brother Luo didn’t answer. At that moment, no one could spare him a glance.

They were all craning their necks, utterly transfixed by the fox silhouette above.

The giant fox seemed both solid and illusory. Bathed in the shifting hues of the evening glow, its four Fox Tails billowed in the wind.

As the Fox Tails swayed with the great fox’s lunge, myriad phantasmal images were rapidly generated by their movement.

What were they?

There seemed to be scenes of Northern and Southern Jiangnan, the Great Desert Wilderness, the Endless Sea, the Deep Jungle, and magnificent city streets;

There were wealthy clans feasting in grand manors, an old man trudging alone through a blizzard with firewood on his back, a Scholar poring over books by a frosty window, a hedonistic heir consorting with courtesans by day. Some wept while others laughed, some were cruel while others were kind—every facet of life in the Mortal World was there...

These countless illusions formed the fox’s Ultimate Skill: Senluo Wanshang! The Visage of All Beings!

This Demon Technique and his Senluo Sword were complementary. The more images appeared, the greater the power of the Senluo Sword. In turn, the sword’s presence caused the images to converge like a tidal wave, a roiling sea of green, merging all phenomena into one as they surged forward with immense power.

Face after face materialized within the sword’s light—some twisted like ghouls, others as serene as a Buddha.

Countless hands reached forward. The merchants witnessing this spectacle from below were rendered utterly speechless.

They gawked blankly at this scene, more magnificent than any they had ever witnessed, feeling as if they were submerged in a crushing tide of pressure. They didn’t just lose their voices; they forgot to breathe, forgot their own heartbeats, forgot who they were, forgot everything...

Indeed, they were but mortals. How could they possibly witness the attack of a Fox Demon and remain unscathed?

It was impossible.

Not only would they be injured—they might even die.

Their very thoughts seemed to freeze. An unknown amount of time passed; they lost all concept of it. All they knew was that at some point, they heard a sigh.

That single sigh was like a gentle moonbeam, shattering the stagnant darkness and casting its clear light upon the Mortal World.

Down on the path, the merchants’ thoughts and vision returned to them.

They then saw it: on the mountaintop, all the scenes flickering within the swaying Fox Tails suddenly accelerated, spinning hundreds, even thousands of times faster than before.

The images blurred into a single streak, as if the passage of time itself had become a tangible, accelerating count.

It was all a blur to the merchants. In their daze, they vaguely thought they saw the fur on the very tips of the yellow fox’s tails momentarily turn from a rich, lustrous yellow to a dull, ashen white.

The great fox cried out in shock and fury, "Fellow Daoist, is it worth harming yourself by eight hundred to harm me by a thousand? Must you insist on this today?"

From the peak, a calm female voice replied, "Where one’s heart lies, there one’s Dao is found. Fellow Daoist, my will is now clear. You constantly speak of the Dao, yet when I put it into practice, you fail to understand. Could it be that your Dao is nothing but a sham?"

Before her voice had even faded, the great fox on the peak flicked its four tails, turned, and fled.

He fled with incredible speed. The mortals below couldn’t follow his movements at all.

All they saw was a shadow flit past. Then, amidst the great fox’s long, agonized howl, a massive, furry Fox Tail fell from the sky.

Fox Blood sprayed through the air, refracting the sunset light like scattered rubies.

The merchants on the path stared blankly, expecting the Fox Blood to rain down upon them. But the spray of blood hung in midair for only a moment before vanishing completely.

Of course, the merchants had no way of knowing that Song Ciwan had collected both the Fox Blood and the severed Fox Tail into her Heaven and Earth Scale.

The Fox Demon had escaped. Song Ciwan had intended to give chase, but her concern for the fragile mortals below delayed her for a crucial moment. By then, the fox’s figure had vanished without a trace.

Since that was the case, she decided not to pursue him.

For a Demon of Tushan Keji’s Level, it was impossible to know what life-saving trump cards he might still have. This wasn’t the Demon Realm, and she wasn’t hunting down some second-rate noble’s son. Song Ciwan knew when to quit while she was ahead and chose not to press the attack.

Though she appeared to have had the upper hand for the entire fight, in truth, it had been far from easy.