Chapter 157: White Hair Against White Hair

“Master Yaotzu, help!” Ling Mo’s hair was disheveled, her face pale with fear. As the Celestial Demon Zither was thrown high into the air, her terrified voice echoed alongside it.

The moment Ling Mo’s cry fell, the Celestial Demon Zither suddenly exploded mid-air. Endless runes surged forth like a raging divine tide, crashing relentlessly toward Luo Hao.

“Bang!”

Fearless, Luo Hao clenched his right fist sharply and unleashed a punch forward. The roar of his blood qi was like the howling of dragons and roaring of tigers. Countless runes condensed into a divine flood, colliding violently with Luo Hao’s fist imprint in the void.

A sonic boom erupted, a terrifying storm sweeping across the scene. Countless cracks rippled through the void like waves stretching to the horizon. Several human cultivators nearby were instantly engulfed by the storm.

“Pfft, pfft, pfft...”

The sound of bursting blood echoed as several heavily wounded human cultivators were swallowed by the storm, dissolving into clouds of blood mist. Yu Qiongxue swung her battle sword, cleaving through the sweeping storm.

At the same time, a layer of blue light swiftly enveloped her delicate figure, protecting the three women of Twilight Mountain. Her face turned pale, her heart still trembling as she stared into the storm.

“Kill!”

Suddenly, a terrifying killing intent pierced through the storm. Ling Mo’s pupils contracted sharply. Then, a figure clad in black with white hair appeared—the image of an invincible war demon. With bare hands, he tore through the storm with brute force. Who could fathom the terrifying physical strength required for such a feat?

“Roar, roar, roar...”

The majestic roar of a dragon resounded. Luo Hao’s claw-like hand slammed down like a dragon’s paw, his palm exuding the dark and domineering power of the Dragon Demon.

With the strike, a fearsome black dragon with a grotesque face roared out from between his fingers—the overwhelming dragon aura was majestic and invincible.

“Pfft!”

Under the dragon’s might, Ling Mo spat a mouthful of fresh blood, her delicate body blasted hundreds of yards away, trembling uncontrollably. The dragon’s aura instilled deep-rooted terror within the snake tribe.

“True Dragon Hand!”

Bloodstains adorned her gown. Ling Mo’s eyes widened in shock. Luo Hao’s palm strike clearly carried the pure essence of the dragon clan, even harboring an extremely destructive and domineering power.

“Whoosh!”

A streak of black lightning flashed across the void. The killing intent returned. Ling Mo’s entire body chilled as if her blood had instantly frozen. The black figure of slaughter imprinted once again in her pupils, accompanied by a hand cloaked in Dragon Demon power.

“Roar, roar...”

The dragon’s roar shook the heavens. Luo Hao’s palm strike fell with unstoppable force, like an ancient black dragon charging downward, tearing through the void with terrifying might.

“No!”

Seeing herself about to be swallowed, Ling Mo’s face turned deathly pale. But at that moment, Luo Hao, whose palm had been poised to strike, suddenly flipped his hand, reversing the momentum and striking horizontally into the sky. The black dragon roared furiously, soaring straight into the heavens.

“Boom!”

As the black dragon overturned the heavens, the sky suddenly tore open with a crack. A single finger sharply tapped down. At the touch of that finger, the chaotic void currents and the void thunderfire instantly shattered.

“What’s happening?”

Yu Qiongxue and the others were filled with suspicion and alarm. What kind of finger strike could disperse both the chaotic void currents and the void thunderfire?

A thunderous roar echoed as the finger collided fiercely with the black dragon, erupting with the most intense blaze. The wild storm of spiritual energy spread wildly, shattering the void for thousands of miles.

In Luo Hao’s chaotic eyes appeared a flicker of fluctuation. His body was suddenly knocked back hundreds of steps as he fixed his gaze on the sky. The person who struck from the void rift also let out a muffled grunt.

“There’s someone in the void rift!” Yu Qiongxue’s beautiful eyes flashed with sharp light.

“What a dense blood aura, and it seems mixed with powerful demon energy.” Xin Lan, dressed in white, accompanied by two handsome men, stood side by side near the battlefield, whispering quietly.

After a brief hesitation, the three of them moved forward.

“Looks like this is the place!” From another direction, a gray-haired man with a giant bow quietly muttered, then stepped forward with determined strides and disappeared.

At the same time, many human cultivators arrived from different directions. Among them were Liu Mingfei of Spirit Valley, Little Thunder King of the Thunder Platform Sect, Swordmaster Jiang Jianli, and Wulie Tian. They had all been drawn by the power that was affecting the laws of the small world.

Passing through, many human cultivators wore solemn expressions. The ancient forest of thousands of miles had been utterly destroyed, reduced to scorched earth. Within it lingered dense killing intent and demonic power; it was clear this place would become a dreadful land of calamity.

“They’re from Twilight Mountain! Snow Fairy Yu Qiongxue!”

Within mere breaths, many human cultivators gathered nearby. Upon seeing Yu Qiongxue, numerous male cultivators showed admiration. The women of Twilight Mountain were each breathtakingly beautiful, naturally attracting attention. Yet all could see that Yu Qiongxue was in serious trouble.

Her delicate face bore a trace of pallor; her beautiful hair was somewhat disheveled, and her pristine palace robes were stained with spots of fresh blood, clearly wounded.

Soon, Xin Lan and her two companions appeared among the crowd, followed shortly by Little Thunder King and others. Though Yu Qiongxue was beautiful, as a fellow woman, Xin Lan held no particular attraction for her.

But when Xin Lan followed Yu Qiongxue’s gaze, her eyes suddenly sharpened, and she lost composure, exclaiming, “It’s him!”

None of the human cultivators present were ordinary. Upon hearing Xin Lan’s shout, they immediately turned their gaze toward the sound. Several hundred yards ahead, the ground was stained with blood and dust.

“What is this?”

Within the dust, a figure gradually emerged. His back was straight and proud, his hair entirely white, standing out amidst the chaotic dust. More shocking was that within a three-zhang radius around him, not a speck of dust or blood could be found—only a chilling killing intent permeated the air.

“Finally found you, you little bastard!” A voice in the crowd welled with tears.

“How is it him?” Upon recognizing the figure in the dust, Little Thunder King and Liu Mingfei’s eyes revealed rare traces of caution and shock. In just a few days, the figure’s owner had broken through to the mid-stage of Blood Gathering Realm.

“No, no, no, impossible!”

Wulie Tian, who had come with Little Thunder King, suddenly stepped back, disbelief etched on his face. He had personally witnessed that figure plunge into the abyss. How could he still be alive?

Back then, to escape that cursed place, he had even used the life-preserving token given by his grandfather. At this moment, the voice like a curse echoed again in his mind. He would never forget the cold words, as cold as death itself, that were spoken when the figure leapt into the abyss.

“Who exactly is he?” A human cultivator could not help but wonder why these exceptional prodigies reacted so strongly upon seeing this figure.

“He is the War Demon, Luo Hao!” One cultivator’s voice trembled as he gazed upon the figure in the dust. Not for any other reason but because the killing intent radiating ahead was overwhelmingly terrifying, making it impossible to remain composed.

“Is he strong?”

“Strong! Very strong!” Another human cultivator took a deep breath and said, “You haven’t witnessed it firsthand, so you don’t know. This man’s combat power is peerless—ranked tenth on the wanted list of the most notorious criminals. He once slew members of the Bone Clan at the Martial Dao Monument, engaged in fierce combat with an ancient true dragon at the birthplace of the Ten Thousand Fires, and later, with just one against three, defeated Liu Mingfei of Spirit Valley, Little Thunder King of the Thunder Platform Sect, and the Asura Blade master Yan Qing.”

Though he spoke briefly, those nearby sharply inhaled. Slaying alien clans was a great honor, but to battle an ancient true dragon—an unimaginable feat. The ancient true dragon was the sovereign of the Eight Desolations, a forbidden relic of the ancients. Even a single figure of such a dragon was not to be desecrated lightly.

When they heard that he had defeated Liu Mingfei, Little Thunder King, and Yan Qing with just one against three, many cast their eyes toward the two men among the crowd. Neither spoke, tacitly acknowledging the truth.

In martial contests, defeat was defeat. And in the battle for true blood, they had indeed lost. Moreover, it had happened openly before many witnesses; there was no room for denial now.

“What is he looking at?”

As the dust gradually dispersed, the crowd noticed that Luo Hao, surrounded by killing intent, was staring coldly at the sky. Following his gaze, they saw a giant rift tearing across the firmament like a scar that split the heavens. Enormous demonic power was surging forth.

“Pfft!”

In the next moment, the void rift completely ruptured. A white-robed, white-haired man stepped out slowly. Neither the chaotic void currents nor the void thunderfire could harm him in the slightest.

The white-haired man in white robes held an unconscious woman—the very Ling Mo of the Serpent Clan. His face was strikingly handsome, almost demonic, with skin even fairer and more delicate than that of a young maiden. Yet every human cultivator present shuddered; they could sense the terrifying aura emanating from him.

His eyes opened and closed, stars swirling within them. He looked down from above, fixing his gaze on Luo Hao, who wore black robes and white hair. A rare flicker of emotion appeared in his eyes as he said, “The way of the killing king, a path of no return! If one cannot transcend, one will ultimately become a puppet of slaughter. I never thought that even now, among humans, there are those bold enough to pursue this desperate path, to break through beyond predecessors. It seems the humans’ conquest of Tiangu was not without reason.”

“What? The way of the killing king? So he has comprehended the way of slaughter!” Most human cultivators were bewildered, but Xin Lan inwardly gasped in astonishment.

Ancient records of the Spirit Clan described the way of the killing king as entering the Dao through killing—a supreme and ruthless path, a true road of no return. Even the Asura Killing God, who had traversed the supreme path of conquest, had not fully transcended it.

Besides Xin Lan, Hong Yu, the gray-haired man with the giant bow, also revealed a glint of strangeness in his eyes. When he looked again at the figure in the crowd, his gaze had clearly changed.

(End of chapter)