Chapter 294: Chapter 178: Mutual Destruction

As he spoke, Nangong Yaoguang formed a hand seal. Divine Wondrous power surged and vanished in a flash.

"BOOM~!"

An explosion instantly rang out.

The sound came from about a hundred meters away from the wall where the two were hiding, exactly in the intended direction.

WHOOSH~! WHOOSH~~!

Sharp whistling sounds, practically simultaneous with the explosion, came from all directions.

"Woooo~"

"AWOO! AWOO~!"

Low roars followed the whistling wind, reaching their ears.

Within Gu Zheng’s Shadow vision, four Demon Fiends shrouded in whirlwinds charged out at extreme speed. They first rushed toward the source of the explosion, but halfway there, they all pounced on a wiry old man who had followed Gu Zheng and Nangong Yaoguang into the cavern.

"Get lost~!"

The wiry old man clearly hadn’t expected something like this.

With no time to hide, he was immediately entangled by the four Demon Fiends.

BUZZZZ~

The physical pressure of a Heroic Body·Divine Seed erupted, unleashing a suppressive aura on the four Demon Fiends, whose auras were only at the second rank.

But unfortunately, these four whirlwind-clad Demon Fiends were not normal Demon Fiends. They were Ancient Demons, and the pressure of the Heroic Body Realm was ineffective against them.

WHOOSH WHOOSH WHOOSH~~!

Amidst the violent gale, the four Ancient Demons launched a frenzied assault on the old man.

Gu Zheng could clearly sense the auras of these four Ancient Demons swelling and rising in their frenzy.

Originally around the mid-second rank, they shot up to the peak of the second rank, then broke through to the third rank, then mid-third rank, and finally the peak of the third rank!

"BOOM BOOM BOOM~"

The explosive sounds of their clashes reverberated endlessly throughout the cavern, echoing back and forth.

Although the four Ancient Demons’ auras had surged and their power had erupted, the old man was, after all, a Heroic Body·Divine Seed. His counterattacks were equally terrifying.

With fists and palms, the swings of a long spear, and ice spikes rapidly condensed from surges of Divine Wondrous power, he fought until the four Ancient Demons soon revealed their true forms.

They had silver-blue bodies, each standing two meters tall and three to four meters long. They all had three heads, with wind blades constantly circling them.

Three-headed Wind Dogs!

"Damn it!"

The old man was shocked and enraged. "All of you, just die!!"

BOOM~ BOOM~ BOOM!

The explosive blasts grew even more intense.

The four Three-headed Wind Dogs besieged the old man, knowing no fatigue, no pain, and no fear—only a savage charge to kill.

Gu Zheng could feel their frenzied, crazed auras even from his position.

"He’s one of the people who followed the Yang Family’s group into the Shadow Realm."

Nangong Yaoguang peered at the fighting old man through a small hole in the wall, speaking via Divine Strange Sound Transmission.

"Which Noble Family?" Gu Zheng asked, also using Divine Strange Sound Transmission.

"I think it’s the Han Family. Yes, definitely the Han Family!"

Nangong Yaoguang’s eyes were sharp as he watched the old man’s True Skill and sensed the Divine Wondrous fluctuations. "The Nine-Life Ice Demon, the Han Family, the Ice Soul Spirit Body, and the Ice Devouring Palm—those are their trademarks."

"Nine-Life Ice Demon?" Gu Zheng was more interested in the "Nine-Life" part. "Do people from the Han Family really have nine lives?"

"Not quite."

Nangong Yaoguang chuckled in his Divine Strange Sound Transmission. "The Nine-Life Ice Demon is a powerful race among Demon Fiends, but even they rarely have nine lives; a fifth-rank Nine-Life Ice Demon has six lives at most. The Han Family integrated the Bloodline Power of the Nine-Life Ice Demon, so at the Heroic Body Realm, they have three lives at most!"

"Three lives?"

Gu Zheng muttered, "That’s still incredibly powerful."

"It is powerful, but to revive, most of the body must remain intact at the time of death."

Nangong Yaoguang continued via Divine Strange Sound Transmission, "For example, if the head is completely shattered, no number of lives will bring them back!"

...’That makes sense.’

’Regenerating limbs isn’t the same as being reborn from a drop of blood, after all.’

’If the head and heart are too badly destroyed, the integrated Demon Bloodline Power alone can’t repair the damage.’

’Only treasures like a Regeneration Source Fruit or a Giant’s Heart could do that.’

’Of course, there’s also the Holy Wood Essence Flame.’

...

"ROAR~!"

"BOOOM~!!"

A furious roar, accompanied by a massive boom, suddenly erupted.

As Gu Zheng and Nangong Yaoguang watched from a distance, the old man slew two of the Three-headed Wind Dogs, but one of his arms was bitten off, and his right calf bore a gruesome bite mark, blood streaming from it.

"Go to hell!"

With a furious roar, the old man’s Ice Power abruptly converged around him, enveloping both himself and the two remaining Three-headed Wind Dogs.

KRAK KRAK KRAK~

"BANG!!"

The encroaching ice swiftly turned them into an ice sculpture, which then violently exploded.

Amidst a sky full of ice shards, the two Three-headed Wind Dogs were shattered into pieces that flew through the air before scattering across the ground.

The old man himself knelt motionlessly, his aura completely extinguished.

"Ha, he’s dead."

Nangong Yaoguang chuckled via Divine Strange Sound Transmission. "He really took them down with him. But let’s wait a moment before we go over. I wonder how many of that old bastard’s three lives are left..."

SWISH SWISH SWISH~!

A cold light suddenly flashed, slicing through the air.

SHING! SHING! SHING!

Several beams of light crisscrossed, piercing the old man’s torso and head, dicing him into more than a dozen pieces that fell to the ground.

SHH SHH~

Gu Zheng strode out from behind the wall, recalling the blades he had sent out.

"..."

Nangong Yaoguang’s jaw dropped, and he stood there in a daze.

A moment later, he followed, shaking his head with a wry smile. "Gu, that was a bit too..."

"Too rash?"

Gu Zheng finished his sentence, then pointed at the old man’s dismembered corpse and said softly, "Cut up like this, how could he possibly revive, no matter how many lives he has?"

Nangong Yaoguang was speechless. "..."

WHOOSH~

Gu Zheng used Absorption to take the two Storage Pouches from the old man’s body.

Then, with a surge of Divine Wondrous power, he used Fire Manipulation to ignite the chunks of the old man’s corpse.

"Burned to ash, can he still revive?"

Gu Zheng said, tossing one of the Storage Pouches to Nangong Yaoguang.

"The spoils of war. One for each of us."

Nangong Yaoguang, who had caught it out of reflex, quickly shook his head and tossed it back to Gu Zheng. "No, no, this is your prize, Gu. I didn’t do anything just now."

"Then let’s just call it a share for those who were here."

Gu Zheng flicked his wrist, tossing it back to Nangong Yaoguang again. "If you won’t accept it, Nangong, then I’m not going into these ruins."

"...Fine."

Nangong Yaoguang was speechless but accepted the Storage Pouch.

Then, he looked at the corpses of the Three-headed Wind Dogs and frowned. "It seems like the existence of these four Ancient Demons was about to come to an end."

"Is that so?" Gu Zheng hadn’t sensed it.

Spirit Capturing!

[Demon Points +98]

[Demon Points +101]

...

The four Three-headed Wind Dogs yielded a total of over four hundred Demon Points!

A hundred per head!

’The Demon Essence contained within Ancient Demons is this rich?’

Gu Zheng felt the urge to hunt down other Three-headed Wind Dogs.

But despite the huge commotion earlier, only four of them had appeared.

Apparently, there were only four Three-headed Wind Dogs in the ruins.

"There’s no mistaking it. When an Ancient Demon enters a berserk state, its power and aura should be on the same level."

Nangong Yaoguang replied, "But just now, only the auras of these four Ancient Demons surged, while their actual power was average. This only happens when an Ancient Demon’s time is almost up."

Ancient Demons were not immortal.

After existing for tens of thousands of years, the special power that sustained them would fade, and they too would die.

"Then it seems they’ve finally been released."

Gu Zheng commented in agreement.

"Released?"

Nangong Yaoguang paused for a second, then realized what he meant and nodded. "You’re right. For an Ancient Demon, death is a release."

"Anyway, let’s not talk about them. Without the Ancient Demons, we can search these ruins at our leisure."

"Gu, let’s go, let’s go!"

Nangong Yaoguang called out excitedly, heading toward the nearest ruined street.

"Alright."

Gu Zheng chuckled softly and followed at a leisurely pace.

The two stepped onto the street. As far as the eye could see, there was nothing but collapsed walls and rubble.

Not even a single bone fragment.

After crossing a street, the two split up. Nangong Yaoguang went left, and Gu Zheng went straight ahead.

He released the perception of the third stage of Heroic Body.

As Gu Zheng walked, the interiors of the stone houses on both sides appeared in his "mind’s eye" one by one.

There were no anomalies, no special presences.

After turning past three streets, he still hadn’t found anything.

But then, the few Exotic Insects he carried suddenly awoke one after another, stretched their bodies, and shot off of Gu Zheng, disappearing into a stone house.

"Are there other Exotic Insects?"

Gu Zheng was slightly surprised. He followed behind them, walking slowly into the stone house...