novelraw Chapter 97 : The Reborn Demon
Chapter 97 : The Reborn Demon
This young master’s aura suddenly shifted dramatically, instantly drawing the attention of the maids serving at his side.
One of them, who appeared to be the head maid, had served her young master since childhood and was deeply familiar with his every expression and bearing. At this sudden change, worry clouded her face as she softly asked,
“Young Master, are you all right? Do you feel unwell?”
The youth addressed as “Young Master” had, at this moment, already undergone a strange transformation.
His eyes were now dark as an abyss, glimmering with a chilling light that made one’s heart tremble.
Hearing the maid’s inquiry, he slowly turned his head. His gaze swept across the girl’s face, surging with killing intent.
Before she could even react, his mouth suddenly opened wide. A stream of pitch-black, unfathomably sinister suction force erupted from within.
That suction, like an invisible chain, instantly coiled around the girl’s body, dragging out her essence, vitality, and life force straight into the young man’s mouth.
Amid the horrified cries of the other servants, the girl’s complexion shriveled at a speed visible to the naked eye.
Her once rosy cheeks drained of all color, her jet-black hair turned gray-white, and in just a few breaths, she had transformed from a vibrant maiden into a dried corpse, collapsing weakly to the floor.
Swallowing the essence, the young man’s eyes gleamed faintly. He licked the corner of his lips and let out a low chuckle.
“Not bad. Much purer than ordinary mortals.”
He slowly rose to his feet, his gaze sweeping over the terrified maids and servants who screamed and fled in panic. The corner of his lips curved into a cruel smile as he opened his mouth once more.
In that instant, the entire room seemed to transform into a black hole that devoured life. All those fleeing were frozen in place by an unseen power.
Despair filled their eyes, yet they lacked even the strength to struggle, forced to watch helplessly as their essence was drained away bit by bit, until, one by one, they too became withered corpses scattered across the ground.
“Hu…”
The young man exhaled deeply, rolling his neck with a satisfied look in his eyes. Yet beneath that satisfaction burned a deep, venomous hatred.
“That wretched woman dared to strike me with thunder! If I hadn’t used a secret art during my transmigration to anchor a strand of my soul within this body, I would have been utterly annihilated!”
“When I regain my strength, I’ll make sure you beg for death!”
Recalling that golden thunderbolt, hatred boiled in his heart, his aura growing ever more sinister.
Meanwhile, the commotion inside had already alarmed the rest of the household.
The master of the manor and his wife, upon hearing their son’s screams, grew frantic with worry. Leading a group of servants, they hurried toward the room, calling out loudly as they ran.
“My son! What’s wrong? Open the door quickly!”
Li Yang’s eyes grew cold at the sound. Muttering under his breath, he said,
“Blood relatives of this body? Perfect. They’ll make good nourishment.”
Even before his words faded, his right hand waved lightly—boom! The door exploded into fragments.
He stepped out slowly, shrouded in rolling black mist, resembling a fiend crawling out from the depths of hell.
The master of the house, upon seeing his son’s figure, was just about to approach when the steward beside him grabbed his arm.
The steward’s expression was grave as he whispered,
“Master, look at Young Master’s eyes… Something is wrong.”
The master looked closer and saw that the gaze before him was sinister and vicious, radiating a bone-chilling killing intent. He was utterly unlike the gentle, refined son of the past.
A great alarm sounded in the master’s heart. Trembling, he demanded,
“You… who are you? Where is my son?”
Li Yang sneered coldly.
“You want to know where your son is? Don’t worry—I’ll send you to meet him soon.”
As his words fell, the black mist around him suddenly surged outward like a tidal wave, engulfing the entire manor.
Wherever the mist spread, everyone within felt searing pain, as though countless tiny worms were gnawing at their flesh and blood.
Moments later, an irresistible suction force emanated from the black fog, draining their essence and blood in an unending stream into Li Yang’s mouth.
Miserable screams echoed throughout the manor… before everything fell into silence.
Li Yang licked the blood at the corner of his lips and smacked them in satisfaction.
“As expected of blood relatives—their essence is especially pure. My strength has recovered quite a bit.”
His gaze swept across the corpses strewn across the floor, a flash of disdain flickering in his eyes.
“The remnant will within this body has finally been completely erased.”
With those words, his figure flickered and vanished from the manor.
Under the cover of night, he stood atop a high point, overlooking the entire city. His eyes gleamed with madness and greed.
“My strength is still far too weak. I cannot afford to alarm those great cultivation sects… But there are plenty of mortals in this city—enough for me to replenish myself well.”
With that, he transformed into a shadow and slipped into another prosperous household.
In a single night, several great manors across the city were raided in succession. Blood flowed like rivers, and the air grew thick with the stench of blood and death.
By the next morning, when sunlight fell upon what had once been a flourishing city, it could no longer illuminate the mansions steeped in deathly silence.
Standing atop the city walls, Li Yang felt the surging power within his body. A savage grin spread across his lips.
“The peak of Qi Refinement… Not bad. Next, it’s time to head for a more prosperous place.”
Before his voice faded, he leapt into the air, vanishing beyond the horizon—leaving behind only a city gradually consumed by fear and death.
---
At this moment, Lu Xueqi was still unaware that the black-clad man she had struck down had preserved a fragment of his soul, hiding somewhere in the shadows of this world.
Once she confirmed the enemy’s aura had completely dissipated, she followed the plan she and Zhang Xiaofan’s group had agreed upon beforehand, flying in the direction of Kong Sang Mountain.
Before their escape, they had made it clear: if they survived, they would regroup at Kong Sang Mountain.
After she left, in the deep pit blasted open by thunder, clear spring water slowly began to seep forth.
The water bubbled up from beneath the earth, gradually pooling at the bottom of the crater.
The pool continued to expand, eventually filling the entire pit. Perhaps after several years—or even decades—it would grow into a lake. The charred scars on the crater walls bore silent witness to the battle that had once taken place.
---
Elsewhere, Qi Hao, Lin Jingyu, and Zhang Xiaofan each fled in different directions, following separate paths.
After running for a while, Qi Hao realized that the terrifying aura had not pursued him. His taut nerves loosened slightly, and he let out a long breath.
Recalling the violent tremors behind him during his flight, a sense of lingering fear surged in his heart.
He knew that the black-clad man had ultimately chased after Lu Xueqi. His mind could not help but speculate: Was Lu Xueqi able to escape from such a powerful foe? Or had she already perished?
Regret welled up in Qi Hao’s heart.
Though he had long been dissatisfied with Lu Xueqi’s cold attitude toward him—vowing to one day surpass her in strength and wash away his humiliation—now, imagining that this beautiful woman might have perished, he could not help but feel a pang of loss.
He had once dreamed that after attaining sufficient cultivation, he would make Lu Xueqi pay the price for her past “humiliations,” even fantasizing about subduing her completely.
Now, it seemed, such thoughts might only remain empty fantasies.
Steeling his mind, Qi Hao scanned his surroundings. Once he confirmed there were no pursuers, he rose into the air and sped with all his strength toward Kong Sang Mountain.
In his heart, he knew well that Kong Sang Mountain housed a Heavenly Tome—the foundational scripture of cultivation in this world, the source of every sect’s Daoist arts. If he could obtain it, his strength would soar to new heights.
More importantly, Qi Hao was acutely aware that Lin Jingyu, too, coveted this Heavenly Tome.