I Swear I’m Not a Demonic Cultivator - Chapter 27
Chapter 27: The Evil-Breaking Array
Above Willow Wind Manor, four simple characters, like invisible mountains, weighed heavily on the hearts of the hundreds of Hundred Herbs Valley disciples below.
A welcoming ceremony?
A grand occasion?
On the high platform, Sun Qing, sitting cross-legged, couldn’t control the twitching of his facial muscles.
He glared intently at the figure hovering in mid-air.
Black, ferocious armor, demonic patterns swirling as if alive.
In his hand, a pitch-black banner billowed without wind, its silhouetted figure radiating an evil aura that threatened to drag all living beings into the abyss.
Behind him, a pitch-black sky, formed from tens of thousands of writhing Ghost Shadows, emanated a palpable miasma of resentment that tainted the Spiritual Energy above Willow Wind Manor, rendering it viscous and foul.
There was no mistake.
The Jade Token warning Lu Chuxue had sent back hadn’t been exaggerated in the slightest.
This Demonic Might, this overwhelming aura, was far beyond that of an ordinary Demonic Cultivator.
This was undoubtedly a Peerless Demon Lord, awakened after ten thousand years of slumber, now risen from the depths!
Forcing down the tumultuous emotions in his heart, Sun Qing projected his voice through Spiritual Energy, his voice resonating across the battlefield.
“Demon Lord, you slaughtered my Medicinal Field and murdered my disciples. Yet you dare to invade Willow Wind Manor today! Do you truly believe Hundred Herbs Valley has no one left to defend it?”
His voice was righteous and resolute, embodying the righteous fury of the Righteous Dao.
But Fang Zheng heard not a word of it.
His attention was entirely drawn to a sudden disturbance at his feet.
Lu Chuxue, whom Fang Zheng had casually tossed to the ground, stirred awake amidst the oppressive, murderous atmosphere.
The first thing Lu Chuxue saw upon opening his eyes was Sun Qing, the Great Elder of his sect, along with hundreds of fellow disciples standing in battle formation, and the Azure Water Clear Sky Grand Formation shimmering with chilling killing intent.
His mind froze for a fraction of a second.
Then, a torrent of torment erupted from the depths of his soul—a hellish illusion a million times more terrifying than death itself!
The Nine Nether Demon Heart Seed had been activated!
He saw his Divine Soul devoured by countless Demon Insects, saw himself strung up on a Demon Banner, forced to watch as his sect was obliterated by his Master’s single palm strike.
All this, simply because his first glance upon awakening had fallen upon the Sect, not his Master!
Negligence! Treachery! A path to certain death!
“Ugh… Aaaah…”
Lu Chuxue let out a subhuman wail, his body convulsing violently. His features twisted into a grotesque mask, and white foam gurgled from his mouth.
“M… Master…”
Summoning every ounce of strength, he channeled his most desperate, terrified, and devout thoughts through the implanted Demon Heart toward Fang Zheng.
“Master! Beware!”
“This… this is Hundred Herbs Valley’s most vile Demon Suppression Altar!”
Lu Chuxue’s Divine Sense, distorted by sheer terror, still managed to convey the core of his warning with agonizing clarity.
“They… they knew you were coming to save the mortals here, so they set up this altar in advance! They want… they want to sacrifice the lives and souls of the entire village to power a Great Formation against you!”
“This Great Formation looks righteous and awe-inspiring, but it’s all a disguise! Its true purpose is to imprison the villagers’ souls, drain their flesh and resentment, and transform them into the most vile curse to attack you!”
“Master! You must not let them succeed!”
Boom!
Lu Chuxue’s Divine Sense struck Fang Zheng’s mind like a thunderbolt from the heavens!
Demon Suppression Altar!
Using the lives and souls of the entire village as sacrifices!
Imprisoning souls! Draining flesh!
These utterly depraved words perfectly aligned with the golden, seemingly righteous Great Formation before him and the sanctimonious old man on the high platform!
Fang Zheng understood instantly!
He understood everything!
No wonder they had lined up here!
No wonder they had staged such a grand spectacle!
This wasn’t a welcome ceremony, nor was it a trial.
Before his very eyes, they intended to perform a horrific live sacrifice!
They planned to provoke him and desecrate the Righteous Dao he guarded through this act!
What utter audacity!
How utterly vile!
An unprecedented rage erupted from Fang Zheng’s chest, surging like a volcanic eruption and blasting straight through the crown of his head!
The pitch-black armor, transformed from the Human Emperor’s Hell-Suppressing Body, sensed its Master’s fury. Demonic runes on its surface blazed with an eerie crimson light, and a chilling, savage aura—bent on annihilating everything—soared skyward!
Buzz—!
Behind Fang Zheng, the ten thousand Ghost Shadows unleashed a silent roar, causing the pitch-black sky to churn even more violently.
On the high platform, Sun Qing clearly sensed the Demon Lord’s shifting aura.
The Demonic Might had exploded tenfold in a single instant!
The killing intent was so frigid it felt capable of freezing one’s Divine Soul!
“Not good!” Sun Qing’s face twisted in alarm. “This Demon Lord is about to strike!”
Without hesitation, he leaped from the high platform, his hands flashing through a series of hand seals as he roared:
“All disciples, heed my command!”
“Activate the Azure Water Clear Sky Grand Formation! Subdue and kill this fiend with all your might!”
“As you command!”
Hundreds of disciples responded in unison, channeling their Spiritual Energy without reserve into the Great Formation.
Buzz—!
The entire Great Formation surged to its peak activation.
A massive pillar of azure light, composed of pure Spiritual Energy, shot skyward, transforming mid-air into a vast illusion of a clear blue sky and tranquil sea. Bearing the supreme authority to purify all things and suppress demons, it crashed down upon Fang Zheng like a celestial hammer!
“Hahaha! Demon Lord, this is our Sect’s Great Guardian Formation, specifically designed to crush vile fiends like you! Today, your soul and body shall be utterly annihilated!” Sun Qing roared with laughter, his face brimming with smug confidence.
Yet Fang Zheng, staring up at the descending illusion of “Azure Water Clear Sky,” showed not a shred of fear. Instead, his expression twisted into one of utter contempt and rage.
Disguise!
What a sickeningly hypocritical disguise!
Cloaking the most sinister core in the most righteous light!
Using the purest facade to conduct the most depraved sacrifices!
This hypocrisy is more nauseating than pure evil!
“System!” Fang Zheng roared inwardly.
“I need power! An unparalleled Cultivation Technique capable of shattering this veneer of deceit, of destroying this accursed Demon Suppression Altar!”
Ding! Host’s grand aspiration to ‘Shatter Evil and Reveal Truth’ received!
Analyzing target Formation… Energy signature detected as ‘Pseudo-Righteous Qi’, core mechanism identified as ‘Life Force Exploitation’, exhibiting extreme deceptiveness and corrupting influence.
Activating optimal solution based on the ancient Formation-breaking principle: ‘With the Emperor’s Righteous Qi, shatter all illusions’!
Cultivation Technique replaced with ultimate Formation-breaking version—
Human Emperor’s Hell-Suppressing – Blood Sacrifice Law-Breaking!
Excellent!
Fang Zheng’s eyes blazed with intense light.
The Human Emperor represents the supreme guardian and justice!
Prison-Suppressing represents the suppression and judgment of all evil!
Blood Sacrifice utilizes the blood of the rescued Martial Spirits to cleanse the world of its impurities!
Law-Breaking harnesses this righteous power to shatter the false and malevolent Dao before us!
System, you truly understand me best!
“Today, I shall show you all what true… Guardian power truly means!”
Fang Zheng’s voice, icy and majestic, reverberated through the heavens.
He abruptly raised the Human Emperor Banner high overhead!
“My loyal subjects!”
“Follow me to crush this prison that imprisons the innocent!”
“ROAR—!”
At his command, the “rescued” Martial Spirits from both villages erupted from the Human Emperor Banner as two unstoppable torrents of righteousness!
In Fang Zheng’s vision, they shimmered with golden Merit light, their faces etched with fearless determination as they roared slogans of “Guardian” and “Justice.” They transformed into two golden, divine spears, piercing the false “Azure Sky and碧Sea” with relentless force!
But in the eyes of Sun Qing and all the disciples of Hundred Herbs Valley…
They saw a completely different hellish tableau.
From that sinister black banner surged an endless tide of pitch-black ghosts!
Each ghost radiated a cataclysmic resentment, potent enough to poison the entire Eastern Region!
Their faces bore only the most venomous curses and bottomless agony!
They coalesced into a black tidal wave, threatening to drag the entire world into the Nine Nether Hell. With a corrosive aura capable of dissolving all things, they collided violently with the radiant barrier of the Azure Water Clear Sky Grand Formation!
There was no earth-shattering explosion.
Only a hiss—, like a red-hot branding iron plunging into icy water.
The moment the azure light touched the pitch-black resentment, it began to corrode, become tainted, and assimilate at a speed visible to the naked eye!
The once-sacred clear sky instantly became foul and polluted.
The once-pristine azure sea transformed into a fetid pool of blood in an instant.
The light of the Great Guardian Formation dimmed rapidly at an inconceivable rate!
“What?!”
The manic laughter froze on Sun Qing’s face.
His eyes bulged wide, nearly popping from their sockets, his face a mask of incredulous terror.
“How… how could this be?!”
“Our Sect’s Great Guardian Formation… how could it be corroded by Demonic Energy?!”
Crack—!
A crisp, shattering sound, like glass shattering, echoed from the heart of the Great Formation.
Immediately followed by a second, a third…
Fissures, like spiderwebs, rapidly spread across the entire illusionary realm of “Azure Water Clear Sky.”
Pfft—!
Sun Qing, bearing the brunt of the assault, violently spat out a mouthful of blood, his aura instantly withering.
The hundreds of disciples behind him were struck simultaneously, as if by lightning. Their faces turned ashen, blood trickled from their mouths and noses, and they collapsed in a chaotic heap.
The Great Formation had fallen!
The Azure Water Clear Sky Grand Formation, renowned as the most formidable defensive power in Hundred Herbs Valley, hadn’t even withstood a single breath against this unprecedented, terrifying miasma of resentment. It had been corroded and shattered on the spot!
Boom!
The illusionary sky shattered.
The pitch-black tide of vengeful spirits surged relentlessly forward, crushing all before it, sweeping down upon the terrified disciples below!