Chapter 604: Really Dead This Time

For every human and demon it killed, the Blood Demon would seize the essence of their blood and refine it into its own body.

All of its power was contained within its blood.

Every single drop of blood contained terrifying energy. When used in alchemy, it could serve as the main ingredient for a Body Refining Elixir.

Diluted and used to water Spirit Plants, it could act as a rich fertilizer.

If a Tier Three Demon Beast swallowed a single drop, its bloodline would mutate, and it would develop all sorts of Divine Techniques.

It was this very same incredible blood that was now tainted with a layer of gray, gradually losing its spiritual essence.

The Blood Demon felt its own blood aging rapidly, undergoing centuries of change in just a few breaths.

With no fresh Essence Blood to devour during this process, the Blood Demon’s figure grew fainter and began to falter.

‘Fleeting time… This is Time True Intent!’

The Blood Demon had been in hiding, hunting for Blood Food, and was clearly unaware of the now-famous Time Sword Monarch.

Feeling the faint traces of Time True Intent within the Sword Light, this Ancient Demon, which had survived for who knows how many millennia, trembled to its very core.

This faint, almost nonexistent wisp of Time True Intent couldn’t harm its essence. A few rounds of Sword Light might only shave off a few days of its lifespan.

Although Bai Zichen had stepped onto the Time Path, he clearly hadn’t reached the point of mastering it.

He was activating the Time True Intent in the crudest way possible, relying solely on the effects of its radiating power.

Outside this array, the Blood Demon might have marveled at the legendary Time Path, but it would have completely disregarded such a minimal effect.

However profound or unfathomable, it wasn’t enough to make an Ancient Demon falter as long as it hadn’t been converted into true combat power.

But things were different inside the Sword Array. Relying on its Blood Sea as a fallback and believing itself to be Immortal and Undying, it had recklessly stormed the Star River Sword Array, hoping to take a gamble and win.

Even if it meant sacrificing its life to severely injure its opponent, it would have been a worthwhile trade.

Who would have known that the Star River Sword Array had evolved to such a degree in Bai Zichen’s hands? It couldn’t possibly imagine how anyone below the Divinity Transformation Realm could resist it from within.

Furthermore, the Sword Array sealed the space within, restricting its place of rebirth to its current location. This forced it into a cycle of death, rebirth, and annihilation.

But until this moment, the Blood Demon’s heart was filled mainly with resentment.

‘So what if I die a few hundred times? I’ll just exhaust all the origin I’ve accumulated since my last awakening, revert to a single Demon Seed buried deep within the Blood Sea, and await the next opportunity. I’m so furious for missing the golden opportunity of the war between the Human and Demon Races. I could have used that chance to grow rapidly and return to the Divinity Transformation Realm. Then, once both races were severely injured, I would have reappeared. Using the vengeful spirits of the hundreds of millions of creatures who died in the war, I would have performed a blood sacrifice of the entire continent to open a passage to the Heavenly Demon Realm. With that achievement, I might have been able to ascend back to the Heavenly Demon Realm.’

But when the Time True Intent descended lightly, even if it used Divine Power Magical Techniques to resist the Sword Light, the influence of the True Intent still seeped through.

One by one, its backup plans were severed, their invisible connections cut by the Time True Intent.

Once all the connections were broken, the next time it was killed, it would face true death.

“Stop! Stop at once! I can pass on the method to transform into a Blood Demon True Body! I can teach you the secret to breaking through to the Divinity Transformation Realm! I can tell you the secrets of Ascension!”

The Blood Demon began to panic, making a string of promises.

“With your talent, are you really willing to be confined to the Human World? Do you not wish to pursue a higher realm in the Upper Realm, one of eternal life and glory?”

‘Ascension? If you had that ability, you wouldn’t have been stuck in the Human World for so many years yourself.’

Bai Zichen paid it no mind. Even if the offers were useful, why would he, with his bright future, covet the narrow path of cultivating a Demon Skill and ascending to the Heavenly Demon Realm?

Du Heng had taken that extreme path because his lifespan was running out, the Zengguang Du Family had no successor, and he couldn’t protect the vast estate of their Immortal City.

Someone like Bai Zichen, with his genuine potential to reach Divinity Transformation, had plenty of time to accumulate the foundation needed for Ascension, given his current age.

Why would he give up such a bright future to choose a path that would make him an enemy of the world, gambling the lives of hundreds of millions and the fate of a world on a slim chance of ascending to the Heavenly Demon Realm?

At a time like this, the Blood Demon displayed the true power of an ancient being, unleashing an endless stream of Divine Power Forbidden Techniques.

It went from constantly begging for its life to spewing vicious curses, before finally falling silent.

Only the Blood Shadow remained, constantly shifting. Several of its counterattacks even broke through the Sword Light, and a bloody demonic claw threatened to tear apart the world within the Sword Array.

Three stars descended at once, smashing the bloody demonic claw to pieces, but a thread of blood managed to escape.

A chase ensued, a test of their respective abilities. It took a full half-year to finally corner the Blood Demon completely. The Thunderbolt Stars, formed from the Ziwei Dazzling Thunder Sword, then coalesced into a colossal bolt of Divine Thunder. It pierced through heaven and earth, blasting the finger-width Blood Shadow into a wisp of green smoke.

“When the Demon Venerable of the Asura Clan awakens, this world of yours, abandoned by the Earth Immortal Realm, will sooner or later become a blood sacrifice… I’ll be waiting for you down below!”

Following that final roar, which sounded like a venomous curse, tranquility finally returned to the starry space.

However, Bai Zichen did not immediately dismiss the Star River Sword Array. Instead, he meticulously searched it back and forth, waiting a full one hundred days without any sign of the Blood Demon’s revival.

‘Only then could I be certain that this Ancient Demon, which came to the Human World from the Heavenly Demon Realm during the Middle Ancient period, had finally died at my hands after surviving several calamities.’

‘This time, it’s truly dead.’

Integrating the Time True Intent into the Sword Array hadn’t made a significant difference to the Star River Sword Array’s destructive power, but it had invisibly elevated the fundamental nature of the array.

Even the resurrection technique of the Blood Demon Race was severed and stripped away piece by piece by the Time True Intent.

This made him even more confident in his own Great Dao. Even though he couldn’t yet wield it at will, his future prospects were boundlessly bright.

This first small test of his new abilities had already led to the complete demise of an Ancient Demon.