Celestial Dragon Sword Venerable

Chapter 306: Devouring Demonic Qi, Sweeping Through the Demon Cave

’And I was going to temper his character... This is tempering *my* character instead! The kid doesn’t scheme at all; he just crushes everything with raw power... He’s too brutal, too monstrous!’

’Sigh... I wanted to temper him, but I guess that’s not happening now!’

’Is... Is he planning to burn all, kill all, and loot all? These Hidden Dragon Shackles are brutal things that even Sword Ancestors and Half-step Sword Saints fear. How are they so useless? So terrified?’

’And they’re running? Scurrying away with their tails between their legs? Where’s your dignity?’

At first, Ji Tianxie was delighted to see Ye Tianling in a bit of a tight spot, but after a short while, he could no longer smile.

Ye Tianling’s ability to adapt was simply terrifying.

After adapting, he began to harmonize with the space’s energy laws, as if achieving a Unity of Celestial Dao and directly grasping some of the patterns governing the Laws.

Then, he began to suppress them with his energy before forcefully crushing them.

One punch obliterated a Sinful Dragon.

One sword strike pierced through a Sinful Dragon.

One blast of True Fire incinerated several Sinful Dragons.

One grab, a violent tear, and a Sinful Dragon was ripped apart alive.

The entire Hidden Dragon Demon Cave was thrown into utter chaos, a complete mess.

Although the will of the Hidden Dragon Shackles was incomparably defiant, this was the first time it had ever encountered such a brutal existence!

It was one thing to be completely unafraid of the Hidden Dragon Shackles’ Order Chain attacks, but he could actually grab the violent and evil killing intent—the Dao Marks derived from the Laws of the Shackles themselves—and refine it? Treat it as a delicacy to eat? To play with?

The will of the Hidden Dragon Shackles was now beginning to feel true dread.

But it still refused to believe what was happening.

But gradually, as more of it was devoured and the more brutally it was beaten, the will of the Hidden Dragon Shackles began to consider retreat.

What followed were scenes that were simply dumbfounding.

"Why are you running? This is no fun!"

Ye Tianling chided, thrusting out with the Xuanyuan Celestial Evil Sword in his hand.

"SHLICK—"

The pitiful Order Chain had just wavered and dodged when it was pierced through by the sword.

"BZZZZ—"

A ball of flame erupted, and the Order Chain, a Sinful Dragon manifested from the will of the Hidden Dragon Shackles, was instantly barbecued once again.

"Hsss—not a bad energy reserve, but my Celestial Dragon Sword Spirit still isn’t transforming? Little Dragon Girl, is it tasty? Want another?"

Ye Tianling asked the Little Dragon Girl.

"Mmm, no! I’m already full! I’ve recovered a lot, so I’m fine. Don’t give me any more, I’ll get fat and won’t be cute anymore."

Little Dragon Girl wiped her mouth, still munching with a ’CRUNCH, CRUNCH’ on the Sinful Dragon’s Dragon Sinew.

"Oh, alright then."

With a single thought, Ye Tianling retracted all the burning Samadhi True Fire energy.

At the same time, he stopped slaying the evil Sinful Dragons manifested by the will of the Hidden Dragon Shackles and instead sat down cross-legged in the incredibly heavy gravitational field.

The Xuanyuan Dragon-Controlling Immortal Sword Technique began to circulate on its own, growing increasingly refined.

Between his brows, within the Space-Time Soul-locking Tower, twenty layers of Dragon Blood were completely generated, flowing to every part of his body.

The losses he had previously sustained were now completely replenished; his body was once again filled with reserves and energy.

’So what if I don’t have an Ancient Divine Body? It doesn’t matter. It doesn’t matter if I can’t form one in the future either—the Samadhi True Fire is still here, the Xuanyuan Dragon-Controlling Immortal Sword Technique is still here, and the Huaxia Dragon Soul Divine Blood is still here. So, even without those Sword Bodies, I, Ye Tianling, can still slaughter geniuses like mowing grass!’

From the moment his will and the Eight Great Ancient Divine Bodies were taken from him to the present, with his will now returned, Ye Tianling’s state seemed to have reached an even greater peak.

Time flowed on like this.

Although the murderous will of the Hidden Dragon Shackles no longer manifested evil Sinful Dragons to attack, the negative energies filling Heaven and Earth—violence, evil, fear, resentment, darkness, and more—did not diminish in the slightest.

All sorts of temptations also followed one after another.

These negative energies constantly manifested all kinds of scenes. Some were even projections from Ye Tianling’s own past, showing people he cared for deeply.

But no matter how the scenes changed, his sharp, wise eyes could often see through them at a glance, and he would pierce the illusion with a single sword strike.

The Xuanyuan Celestial Evil Sword was now in perfect harmony with him. It was exceedingly obedient, and just like Little Dragon Girl, it seemed terrified that Ye Tianling would abandon it.

...

「Three days passed.」

At the final moment, the power of the Hidden Dragon Shackles reached its peak. Within the Demon Cave, ten thousand demons roared, and Demonic Qi surged to the heavens.

All kinds of destructive energies viciously assaulted and tried to crush Ye Tianling’s soul, but his soul remained as firm as a mountain, completely unharmed.

It was as if bursts of golden light emanated from within his soul. The light did not disperse the Demonic Qi; instead, it was like a peerless Buddha, capable of delivering all living beings from suffering.

"TCHH TCHH—"

When this Demonic Qi reached its peak, it began to dissipate.

Within the Hidden Dragon Demon Cave, everything—from the powerful gravitational field and the destructive energy storms to the Celestial Tribulations capable of sundering the heavens and the Order Chains—began to weaken.

At their strongest, they could not shake Ye Tianling’s heart; now that they were gradually weakening, they were no longer a concern.

In three days, Ye Tianling’s Samadhi True Fire Celestial Dragon Sword Spirit only reached eighty percent completion, ten percent less than before.

His Realm recovered to the Half-step Sword Spirit Realm, but he could not advance any further.

"The three days are up, Elder Tianxie. Are there any more trials?"

Ye Tianling dropped all his defenses and walked out from the endless Demonic Qi. Upon seeing his figure, the Sinful Dragons manifested by the will of the Hidden Dragon Shackles let out a strange cry and immediately vanished in a series of WHOOSHes, disappearing without a trace.

Between Heaven and Earth, only the will-less Order Chains remained, clattering with a ’CLANK, CLANK’.

"BZZZZ—"

A power that rippled through the void enveloped Ye Tianling, pulling him out of this place.

The next moment, Ye Tianling returned to the Forgotten Dust World, back in front of the stone monument.

"The suffering of ten thousand tribulations upon your body, the taste of destructive, Soul Devouring Demonic Qi... how was it?"

Ji Tianxie asked coolly.

He hadn’t been able to see what happened after Ye Tianling was enveloped by the Demonic Qi, so he assumed that Ye Tianling had, in the end, suffered at least a little.

"Are you talking about this Demonic Qi?"

As he spoke, Ye Tianling exhaled a single breath. Heaven-shaking Demonic Qi billowed out, forming rolling black clouds.

The sight shocked Ji Tianxie so much that he staggered back five steps with a ’THUMP, THUMP, THUMP’.

"You—"

Ji Tianxie was utterly astonished.

"Huuuh—"

Ye Tianling exhaled a cloud of black smoke, burped, and said, "I’m full. It was passable, I guess. Actually, after experiencing the Hidden Dragon Shackles, I realized that my previous understanding was indeed wrong."

Ji Tianxie breathed a sigh of relief. "As long as you realize your mistake. Try not to be so arrogant in the future."

Ye Tianling shook his head. "The Hidden Dragon Shackles... it’s not that they’re nothing special, it’s that they’re less than nothing! Seriously, they’re just garbage! Supposed to control a person’s will? All I had to do was scowl and they practically pissed themselves in fear! Something like *that* is supposed to shackle a person’s will?"

Ye Tianling’s words left Ji Tianxie utterly speechless.

But the thing was, Ye Tianling was telling the truth—because that was genuinely how he felt.