Chapter 40: All Cards Revealed

Seeing that the Second Leader was about to pursue Jiang Fan, Chen Shanhe hurriedly called out, "Second Brother, that brat is not much of a threat. Let’s join forces to eliminate this old demon first, then we can deal with him later."

The Second Leader paused abruptly, a fierce light flashing in his eyes as he charged toward Old Demon Xu. "Old demon, die!"

Old Demon Xu’s expression shifted drastically. His body was pinned firmly to the ground by a giant crossbow bolt; even the slightest movement caused excruciating pain, and he dared not pull himself free. In other words, he was effectively immobilized.

"You aren't qualified to claim my life!" Old Demon Xu retorted coldly. "It is you who will die!"

Seeing the Second Leader charging at him, Old Demon Xu split his focus to conjure a massive Cyan Wood Seal, launching it toward his attacker.

Boom!

The Second Leader had barely closed the distance when he was sent flying by the two-meter-wide Cyan Wood Seal. Lacking the protection of his armor, he spat out a mouthful of blood as his internal organs suffered severe trauma, his body slamming heavily into the ground.

"Old demon, die!" The First Leader roared in fury. Taking advantage of Old Demon Xu’s distraction, he cleaved through the terrifying silver talisman sword and charged fearlessly toward him. His speed was immense, and in an instant, he was upon his prey.

"Protection Talisman!" Old Demon Xu hurriedly pulled out a talisman and slapped it against his body, instantly shrouding himself in a cyan energy barrier.

"Break for me!" the First Leader roared. The precious blade in his hand released a three-foot-long blade aura, slashing through the barrier until it was on the verge of shattering.

"Break!" The First Leader roared again, delivering another full-force strike. The fearsome blade aura tore the crumbling cyan barrier apart.

Meanwhile, Old Demon Xu manipulated the talisman sword to pierce the First Leader’s head. Anticipating the attack, the First Leader ducked at the last second, narrowly avoiding the fatal blow. However, the sword still drove into his body. With a metallic clang, the blade struck the armor on the First Leader’s back, which halted its momentum. Although the armor cracked instantly, it shielded the First Leader from a lethal wound.

"Die!" The First Leader slashed again, wielding the same three-foot blade aura with overwhelming power, intending to split Old Demon Xu in two!

"Wind Blade Technique! Kill!" Instead of fear, a ferocious grin appeared on Old Demon Xu’s face. He unleashed the wind blades he had been gathering, sending them slicing directly at the First Leader’s body.

There were two wind blades, both possessing terrifying power. These two strikes had drained nearly all the spiritual energy Old Demon Xu had recovered using low-grade spirit stones. This was a desperate, final gamble. If he failed to kill the First Leader, he would be in grave danger.

"Oh no!" The First Leader’s expression changed, but it was too late. The precious blade in his hand was struck by a wind blade, nearly being knocked from his grip, and the blade aura dissipated instantly.

The second wind blade sliced directly toward the First Leader’s neck. At such close range, he had no way to dodge or time to react.

Splat!

The wind blade passed through the First Leader’s neck with lethal precision. He remained standing, his eyes wide, a thin red line appearing across his throat. Then, his head toppled from his shoulders, and his body collapsed with a thud. Fresh blood splattered everywhere, filling the air with a pungent, metallic stench.

"Finally... they are all dead!" Old Demon Xu had just let out a sigh of relief and was preparing to find a way to remove the giant crossbow bolt from his body when his expression suddenly shifted.

"Old Demon Xu, die!" Jiang Fan, who had been observing the battle, seized the moment to strike. He channeled all his power into a Cyan Wood Seal, suppressing it down upon the old demon from behind. If everything went according to plan, Old Demon Xu would be crushed into pulp.

"Xiao'an! Kill him!" Old Demon Xu commanded coldly. This was his trump card; he was confident that no one knew of Xiao'an’s existence.

"Yes, Master!" Xiao'an, unable to defy his master's order, manifested instantly. His already large head swelled to an enormous size, forming a three-meter-wide ball of flesh that collided with Jiang Fan’s Cyan Wood Seal.

With a wet thud, the skin of Xiao'an’s massive head tore open. The creature was sent flying, but the impact caused the Cyan Wood Seal to veer off course, missing Old Demon Xu.

"Ah!" Xiao'an returned to his normal state, most of his head destroyed. He clutched his skull and let out a harrowing, shrill scream, his soul-form rapidly fading into transparency.

"You little wretch, I was prepared for you all along! Lesser Fireball Technique!" Taking advantage of this brief window, Old Demon Xu absorbed more energy from the spirit stones to restore his cultivation and launched a fireball at Jiang Fan.

The fireball was only the size of a human head, but it was enough to severely injure or even kill a Qi-refining practitioner who had exhausted their spiritual energy.

"You must be out of spiritual energy by now. Let's see how you block this!" Old Demon Xu watched Jiang Fan coldly, his eyes filled with killing intent.

"Who told you I was out of energy?" Jiang Fan replied coldly. To Old Demon Xu’s shock, he conjured another one-meter-wide Cyan Wood Seal and slammed it directly into the incoming fireball.

Bang!

The fireball exploded, sending scorching flames flying in all directions. Some of the fire clung to the Cyan Wood Seal, which began to burn rapidly. Though the seal shrank as it burned, it still retained a diameter of half a meter when it reached Old Demon Xu.

Boom!

The Cyan Wood Seal smashed into Old Demon Xu’s head, driving it into the ground and shattering his skull; he had no way to resist such terrifying force. With the death of Old Demon Xu, Xiao'an’s fading spirit disappeared into the void.

"Xiao'an, rest in peace. I kept my promise and helped you... find release." Jiang Fan looked at the spot where Xiao'an had vanished with mixed emotions before turning his gaze to the old demon’s corpse.

"Now, it’s time to see what this old monster left behind!" Jiang Fan stepped forward and began to search the body. Soon, a small storage bag appeared in his hand, along with the partially consumed low-grade spirit stone.

"How do I use this storage bag? Do I need to drip blood on it?" Jiang Fan picked up the First Leader’s blade, transferred the damage to the still-dying Second Leader, and sliced his own finger. He dripped his blood onto the bag.

Instantly, his consciousness was drawn into a half-meter-wide space where Old Demon Xu’s most precious items were kept.

"Did it bind? Old Demon Xu certainly had plenty of good things. This is..." A look of pleasant surprise lit up Jiang Fan’s eyes.