Chapter 649: Flying Savage Mountain

A twin-winged Demon in a green robe embroidered with wind patterns flew at top speed, pushing its Demon Power to the very limit.

He was a Flying Swallow Rider from the Demon Court, a courier specializing in urgent intelligence. Though his Cultivation was only at the Great Demon Realm—equivalent to Foundation Establishment—his Innate Wind Escape Talent allowed him to fly faster than even an ordinary Golden Core Cultivator when at full speed.

The Demon Sect could use Flying Boats for communication, and Human Race Cultivators possessed communication Arrays. The Demon Court, however, could only rely on these incredibly fast Flying Swallow Riders to transmit military intelligence.

Most Flying Swallow Riders had already been assigned to the Eastern Expedition Army to serve as couriers. Within the Demon Court, unless it was a matter of grave military importance, not even the ruler of a Demon Country was permitted to mobilize them.

Right now, this Flying Swallow Rider’s Tunneling Light was tinged with blood-red, a clear sign he was burning his own Essence Blood to increase his Tunneling Speed.

The Human Race’s Flying Boats were simply too fast. If he didn’t burn his Essence Blood, there was no way he could deliver the intelligence in time.

Only after reaching a Demon Army encampment surging with Demon Qi did the Flying Swallow Rider stop burning his life force and descend to the ground.

“Urgent military orders! The allied armies of the Xuancang, Feiyan, and Baichuan countries are to immediately advance fifty li south, seize and hold Mount Feiman, and repel the Rescue Army.”

His face was pale. After this single instance of burning his Essence Blood, he would need to recuperate for several years just to recover from the loss.

As the order was relayed, an expression of terror mixed with exhaustion appeared on the face of every Demon present. This was not the first time they had received such a command.

To prevent the Demon Countries within its domain from being picked off one by one, the Demon Court had ordered several neighboring countries to combine their elite forces into an allied army. This was so they wouldn’t be instantly routed upon encountering the Rescue Army.

This allied army of Demon Countries currently had three Demon Saints—Lupeng Great Saint, Duqi Great Saint, and Jiao Yuan Great Saint—and as many as a hundred Great Demons at the Golden Core Realm.

However, the Rescue Army possessed a vast number of Flying Boats. Their speed was beyond anything the allied Demon Country army could hope to match.

Over the past half month, they had already traveled thousands of li. Their forces were utterly exhausted, yet they hadn’t so much as seen a shadow of the Rescue Army. To make matters worse, they’d heard that several other armies had suffered disastrous losses in attacks by the Rescue Army, and resentment had been festering in the ranks for a long time.

However, facing a direct military order, the allied Demon Country army dared not delay and marched toward Mount Feiman.

Mount Feiman was the most prominent mountain range within a ten-thousand-li radius. The entire area was permeated with Muddy Qi, leaving the Spiritual Mechanism with nowhere to go, causing it to concentrate and flourish on Mount Feiman.

Although the Spiritual Mechanism within the Feiman Mountain Range was far inferior to that of the Six Sects, there were still numerous Tier One Spirit Veins hidden in the mountains.

According to intelligence from defected Cultivators, the Rescue Army had been fighting nonstop for the past month, and their Spiritual Qi expenditure must be enormous. There was a high probability they would seek to occupy a Spirit Vein within the Demon Court’s territory—such as Mount Feiman—to lessen the load on the Spiritual Eye Objects inside their Flying Boats.

The Demon Court had already been thrown into chaos by the Rescue Army, and as a result, even the morale of the Eastern Expedition Army was wavering.

Under orders, the allied army had no choice but to rush to Mount Feiman without rest. They forced themselves to endure the discomfort caused by the mountain’s Spiritual Qi and set up an ambush.

For several days, the army lay in wait in the mountains, concealing their Demon Qi. Some of the Demons were already beginning to show signs of physical distress from absorbing too much Spiritual Qi.

Then one day, a tremendous roar suddenly echoed from the sky. Three Flying Boats, thick with Demonic Qi, were fleeing in the lead, while seven even larger Flying Boats pursued them from behind, firing streaks of Divine Light that blasted toward the Demon Sect vessels.

These three Demon Sect Flying Boats were vessels the Demon Court had borrowed at great expense from the Four Great Demon Sects of the Northern Continent, hoping to use them to tie down the Rescue Army.

Although the Four Great Demon Sects were allies of the Demon Court, given the nature of those Demon Cultivators, they would never pass up an opportunity to fleece their partners. The price to lease twenty Flying Boats was enough to buy three of them outright.

The Demon Sect’s Flying Boats were already inferior to those of the Six Sects to begin with, and this borrowed batch consisted mostly of Tier Two Flying Boats. When facing the Rescue Army’s fleet, they could only tail them from a safe distance. At the slightest hint of a pursuit, they had no choice but to turn tail and flee.

They had never expected the Rescue Army to secretly detach several Flying Boats, fly up into the Taixiao Celestial Realm, and use the True Thunder of Taixiao Heaven to mask their presence before launching a surprise attack from above.

By the time the Demon Sect’s Flying Boats sensed something was amiss, the Rescue Army’s vessels were already upon them. Three boats were destroyed on the spot, and another two were picked off during the pursuit.

The three that had been fortunate enough to survive were also heavily damaged.

BOOM!

The Defensive Array of the rearmost Demon Sect Flying Boat was blasted apart. Under the Divine Light, its incomparably tough hull was sliced open as easily as tofu.

Even its sturdy Dragon Bone snapped in two with a cringe-inducing crack.

The Demon Sect’s Flying Boats were mostly powered by Outer Celestial Demons. A great number of the Celestial Demons shrieked in agony as they were instantly annihilated by the Divine Light.

Having lost power, the entire Flying Boat plummeted like a Meteorite, crashing to the ground with a tremendous roar.

A few surviving Demon Cultivators and Demons flew out of the wreckage, still shaken, and scattered in all directions.

The pursuing Rescue Army Flying Boats flew right past them, firing just a single volley of Fire Crows before continuing their pursuit of the two remaining Demon Sect vessels.

The Fire Crows spread out like fireworks, incinerating the Demon Cultivators and Demons who failed to evade in time.

Seeing their own side’s Flying Boats being utterly crushed, the already low morale of the allied Demon Country army on the ground plummeted even further. Some Demons within the allied force had already begun to desert.

The majority of the allied army was composed of Little Demons, equivalent to Qi Cultivators. With the exception of those Demons with an Innate ability to fly, they were all ground-bound. Against Flying Boats, they were nothing more than living targets.

Even Lupeng Great Saint, the commander of the entire allied Demon Country army, felt his resolve waver and paid no attention to the deserters.

As a Nascent Soul Great Saint, he certainly had the power to intervene and stop the pursuing Flying Boats, creating an opportunity for the two remaining Demon Sect vessels to escape.

If the three Demon Saints attacked together, the Flying Boats would be powerless against them.

But he did not make a move. Instead, he chose to stand by and watch as the two Demon Sect Flying Boats fled in desperation.

‘These Tier Three Flying Boats have incredibly powerful Defensive Arrays. Even for me, it would be impossible to break through them quickly. But the offensive Arrays on those ships could slaughter my allied forces with absolute ease.’

‘The allied army was recruited from the Demon Countries under our rule. If our losses are too great, the strength of our nations will be crippled.’

Just as they prepared to stand by and see what would happen, a commanding voice echoed in their ears.

“The three of you will remain concealed. Order all Demon Armies in the allied force to attack the Flying Boats in the sky!”