Chapter 73: Demons Dancing Wildly

Before the echoes of his words faded, Wang Ping realized something was wrong.

The reason was simple: no soul drifted up from Yan Weichuan's fallen corpse, and the surrounding soldiers of the Tabai Camp showed no reaction to their commander's death.

More importantly, the gale had not dispersed.

Far from fading, it had intensified. An overwhelming black wind swept sand and stones across the sky, ignited raging fires, and sent raindrops crashing down like sharp swords.

"This is certainly..."

Wang Ping shifted his gaze to Yan Weichuan's corpse. Above the neck, there was nothing but empty space; below, the shockwave had mangled his flesh and blood.

No matter how one looked at it, this was a corpse.

At the very least, the Great Shun Martial Dao could never revive someone in this state. That left only one possibility: "Another extraordinary art handed down by the Immortal Gate?"

Wang Ping sighed.

At that exact moment, Yan Weichuan stood up. He had no head, his ruined internal organs were spilling out, and his spine and bones seemed barely pieced together.

Yet he stood anyway. He turned his body rigidly, raised the saber he had previously drawn halfway, and swung it down at Wang Ping. Instantly, the black winds and raging fires swirling high above poured down alongside the storm of sand and swords, completely swallowing Wang Ping's figure.

Wang Ping didn't bother to dodge.

He let the black winds, raging fires, and storm of sharp rain crash over him. His body remained as steady as a reef beneath crashing waves; he did not even sway.

Then, he looked up at the sky.

The moving corpse was merely a sleight of hand—some external force was manipulating the body like a puppet. His spiritual sense had already pinpointed the manipulator's exact location.

High in the heavens.

Wang Ping's spiritual sense parted the black winds and pierced the raging fires until it finally found the source—a paper windmill, suspended in the sky like a massive compass.

The windmill had four blades, each painted with talismanic incantations. Right in the center stood a little figure similarly cut from talisman paper. It was forming hand seals, doing everything in its power to drive the windmill beneath its feet. The sky-filling black winds, fires, and storm of swords and sand were all generated by this spinning.

On the paper figure's head rested a remarkably lifelike face.

It was Yan Weichuan.

"...Found you."

Wang Ping grinned. His voice wasn't particularly loud, yet in an instant, it overpowered the howling wind and rain, traveling unerringly into the paper Yan Weichuan's ears.

The paper Yan Weichuan's heart skipped a beat. He looked down, meeting a pair of perfectly calm golden eyes.

'He found me!?'

The paper Yan Weichuan was in disbelief. In theory, the life-saving talisman he had received from Perfected Wandering Spirit should have hidden him even from a martial artist's Divine Intent.

'How did this person discover me?'

'Just who is he?'

But the paper Yan Weichuan quickly regained his composure.

'It doesn't matter. I am now in a paper body, light as a feather, and capable of flight. No matter how strong he is, there is no way he can hit me.'

Then, Wang Ping vanished from his sight.

"!!!"

In a flash of lightning, Yan Weichuan didn't dare to be careless. He immediately formed a seal and pointed. The windmill turned, and the talismans on all four blades erupted with dazzling light.

Beneath the veil of night, it sounded as if ten thousand blades were chopping and vibrating. Ghastly white blade light flashed like thunder, illuminating the sky and turning the world blindingly white.

The light also exposed Wang Ping's figure.

He was standing in mid-air, his long hair fluttering in the wind. He was still completely unharmed, merely looking at the paper Yan Weichuan in the distant sky with an expression of mild boredom.

"Rumble!"

Wherever one looked, the earth shook and mountains swayed. Above the black winds, it seemed as if an army of thousands of horses and soldiers was stampeding wildly, quickly layering over Yan Weichuan's figure and shielding him from behind.

Shielded by this military formation, Yan Weichuan's figure rapidly blurred until it vanished without a trace. This protection possessed a profound mystery; not only did it block physical sight, but it also shielded against spiritual sense. This was clearly not something a mere martial artist like Yan Weichuan could achieve.

'Perfected Wandering Spirit...'

Wang Ping frowned slightly. He knew his opponent was no longer Yan Weichuan, but Perfected Wandering Spirit, who was using Yan Weichuan's body to cast spells.

At the same time, Yan Weichuan was staring back at Wang Ping with extreme wariness.

"Senior extraordinary person, may I ask why you are making things difficult for this general here? This general is stationed here on the direct orders of Perfected Wandering Spirit."

Yan Weichuan did not recognize Wang Ping, but he understood that since the other party could fly, he was clearly no Mortal. Therefore, he immediately lowered his posture.

"Whoosh!"

As the windmill spun, more and more cavalrymen rose on the wind, forming a surrounding array. Earth, water, wind, and fire gathered together, crowding around Yan Weichuan.

This made Yan Weichuan feel much more secure. After all, the current Tabai Camp was vastly different from its past. With the extraordinary arts cast by Perfected Wandering Spirit supporting them, plus the mystic treasure, the Myriad Blade Spirit Chariot, bestowed by the Perfected one in his hands—with these two combined, who could possibly defeat him other than someone at the Martial Dao Grandmaster Rank?

Thinking of this, he gained quite a bit of confidence. "Senior extraordinary person, Perfected Wandering Spirit currently has important matters to attend to. If this is merely a misunderstanding, how about Senior withdraws for now and visits another day?"

"And if I say no?" Wang Ping said casually.

"...Senior, do not make a mistake." Hearing this, Yan Weichuan's voice turned cold. "Senior is only one person, after all. Do you still intend to fight a multitude single-handedly?"

Wang Ping laughed. "The one fighting a multitude single-handedly should be you."

As his words fell, the Six Desires Heavenly Demon Flag unfurled behind Wang Ping, instantly stirring up surging black clouds. Immediately after, thousands of demons flew out like a swarm of locusts.

"Screech!"

The shrill shrieks of the demons naturally possessed the power to shake the soul. Yan Weichuan's vision instantly went black. By the time he recovered, the demons had already charged into his military formation.

Seeing this, Yan Weichuan didn't dare to hesitate. He immediately spun the Myriad Blade Spirit Chariot beneath his feet, generating endless blades once more to slash at the demons.

This slash was like lightning tearing through dark clouds, splitting the heavy gloom. Yet, in just a brief moment, the torn dark clouds actually stitched themselves back together.

Several soldiers at the front of the formation fought back desperately, but they were immediately surrounded by the swarming demons. The demons opened their bloody maws, sparing no part from top to bottom. They bit into flesh, drank blood, gnawed on bone, and continuously bewitched their targets' minds, forcing them to involuntarily give up their resistance.

It was like locusts passing through.

In just a few short breaths, several Tabai Camp soldiers and their horses were eaten clean by the demons, leaving not even a single bone behind.

"You must be joking..."

A chill ran down Yan Weichuan's spine. Left with no other choice, he pushed the Myriad Blade Spirit Chariot to fire wave after wave of blade light, endlessly chopping and slashing. This caused over a hundred demons to howl in agony as they dispersed into wisps of green smoke.

"Thank goodness."

Seeing that the Myriad Blade Spirit Chariot's attacks were effective, Yan Weichuan finally breathed a sigh of relief. "A disorganized mob with nothing but numbers. They can't beat my magic treasure."

There were thousands of demons, with dozens swarming a single Tabai Camp soldier, meaning they could only attack a hundred men at once. This window of time was more than enough for him to drive the Myriad Blade Spirit Chariot and slaughter every last demon. In this kind of trade, he would suffer at most a few dozen casualties to wipe out the entire demon horde.

"Magic treasure?"

Looking at Yan Weichuan and the ongoing battle between the Tabai Camp and the demons, Wang Ping let out a cold laugh. "This is exactly why I say you martial artists have no vision."

His gaze landed on the Myriad Blade Spirit Chariot beneath Yan Weichuan's feet.

"And you think this deserves to be called a magic treasure?"

Its material was the most common talisman paper from the Immortal Gate, something even an independent cultivator could afford. The only thing with a shred of value was the talisman drawn upon it. It couldn't even be considered a magical artifact.

"Watch closely."

Wang Ping tapped his toe lightly.

"The term 'magic treasure' is meant to describe something like this."

Behind him, the true form of the Six Desires Heavenly Demon King surfaced. With crimson hair flying and golden eyes gleaming, the flag in its hands spread into the sky like a surging flood.

Wherever the flood passed, heaven and earth fell completely silent. The flag blotted out the sun and sky, indiscriminately sweeping up Yan Weichuan and all the Tabai Camp soldiers surrounding him. Then, with a resounding pull, the clouds scattered and the sky cleared in an instant. Not a single person was left standing there!

The black winds, raging fires, and storm of swords and sand...

All the celestial phenomena and anomalies Yan Weichuan had previously created were completely swept away at this moment. Only a clear breeze and a bright moon remained, as if an illusory bubble had just been popped.

Meanwhile.

Yan Weichuan merely felt a brilliant light explode in front of his eyes. When the light dimmed, the surrounding scenery had completely changed, and he found himself plunged into a Bottomless Abyss.

"This is...!?"

On the other side, Wang Ping parted the flag's surface and stepped out, surrounded and guarded by demons. He ignored the terrified Yan Weichuan and instead shook his head inwardly.

'Still too weak.'

"Back then, the Heaven Within the Pot cast by that Immortal Gate disciple surnamed Lin was enough to generate an entire realm out of nothing, complete with mountains, rivers, sun, and moon. That was true Divine Powers."

In comparison, what he was doing was nothing more than a crude imitation, merely using the internal space of the Six Desires Heavenly Demon Flag to stuff Yan Weichuan and the others inside.

Of course, there were advantages.

Inside the Six Desires Heavenly Demon Flag, there were profound enhancements. Compared to the outside, the combat strength of the demons here was boosted across the board by more than thirty percent.

"Come out, all of you."

At Wang Ping's command, the flag's gates swung wide open. This time, there were no longer just thousands of demons, but tens of thousands! They poured out like a ruptured dam!

Besides them, the demons formed from Senior Brother Guo and the Soul-Falling Studio Master also materialized one after another. Compared to the rest, these two were visibly far more ferocious. Although they had lost the spells and techniques they possessed in life, their abilities as demons were many times stronger than those formed from ordinary Mortals.

"Kekeke!"

The two demons cackled wildly. Their figures shot forward like black lightning, instantly bypassing the military formation's blockade and heading straight for Yan Weichuan, giving him a terrible fright.

"Get lost!" Yan Weichuan formed a seal and pointed.

The Myriad Blade Spirit Chariot spun, sending blade light howling forward. However, the previously invincible blade light actually sparked and exploded with fire when it struck these two demons.

The two demons were sent flying backward by the slashes, but upon closer inspection, they were completely unharmed!

Yan Weichuan was instantly horrified. He hastily pulled the surrounding Tabai Camp soldiers to guard his front while he rapidly retreated, continuously urging his blade light to chop and slash.

Under the barrage of slashes, the two demons naturally retreated again and again.

But when the blade light finally dissipated, they remained completely unscathed. Their laughter grew increasingly piercing, and they simply abandoned Yan Weichuan, turning to slaughter their way into the military formation instead.

With the addition of these two demons, the military formation immediately showed signs of collapsing.

The agonized wails rose and fell, echoing endlessly.

"It seems... I can only use that."

Gritting his teeth, Yan Weichuan finally made up his mind. The hand seals in his grasp shifted somewhat clumsily. Finally, facing the fallen soldiers, he shouted out, "Awaken swiftly!"

Boom!

As his words faded, even though the corpses of the soldiers who had just been gnawed by the demons were completely eaten, streaks of souls suddenly drifted up from the spots where they had fallen.

Immediately following this, these souls attached themselves to pieces of talisman paper. Fluttering in the wind, they actually transformed back into armor-clad soldiers in the blink of an eye. Even the dead horses were resurrected one by one, filling the ranks of the Tabai Camp's military formation and stabilizing the situation once more.

"The Perfected one really didn't lie to me!"

Seeing this, Yan Weichuan let out a long breath. This art of Paper Soldiers and Talisman Horses was his final trump card, capable of granting the Tabai Camp a second life.

Because the resurrected soldiers no longer possessed bodies of flesh and blood, and had talisman paper protecting their souls, strictly speaking, their combat strength was actually greater than during their Mortal lives.

"Senior, do you still intend to keep fighting?"

Thinking of this, Yan Weichuan looked toward Wang Ping and finally revealed a smile. "Tens of thousands of demons are formidable indeed, but my soldiers can revive to fight again. If this battle of attrition continues, you will not win. We might as well each take a step back..."

"Revive? That is quite a misunderstanding."

Watching more and more demons get slaughtered, Wang Ping sneered. "What gave you the impression that I couldn't do what you can do?"

With that said, he took a heavy step forward.

In an instant, the flag behind Wang Ping fluttered, and the demons that had perished in battle were reborn once again. Compared to their previous numbers, there was not a single one missing!

Moreover, most of these fallen demons had claimed victims before their deaths. By devouring the flesh and blood of their enemies, they had gained a considerable amount of strength. Now that they were reborn, the fruits of their previous lives were not erased. They retained the boosts in strength, making them even more powerful than when they first appeared!

"This... how is this possible..."

The continuous, savage cackling of the demons made Yan Weichuan's current wail seem incredibly weak. His terrified face was perfectly reflected in the demons' eyes.

All around them, the military formation of the Tabai Camp also showed clear signs of wavering.

This undoubtedly further stimulated the ferocity of the demons.

"Roar—!"

"It seems they are already starving."

Seeing this, Wang Ping gave a soft chuckle, then slowly raised his hand. "Relax. Fear is completely normal. Just endure it for a bit; soon enough, you won't feel fear anymore."

Saying so, he slashed his hand downward forcefully.

And so, the demons danced wildly in absolute pandemonium.