ILDV Chapter 72

“Accept the challenge! Accept the challenge! Accept the challenge!”

The mountain-shaking, sea-crashing shouts.

Eyes filled with fanaticism and malice nearly drowned him completely.

What demonic cultivators valued most was strength, what they most revered was combat, and what they most despised were cowardly, timid shirkers of battle. If he didn’t want to lose all footing in the Northern Demon Territory from this day forward, with everyone watching, whether he died or was crippled in today’s battle, he absolutely could not retreat even half a step.

What a fine scheme Yan Guihe had calculated.

Using the crushing defeat at the Battle of Ming City as an excuse, no one would find it problematic for him, as the Third Demon Venerable, to challenge someone ranked lower.

For Yan Guihe, who had returned from the ‘future’ of another timeline, if he won, he could erase the shadow that the ‘future’ Yin Lang had cast upon him and break through his heart demon. If he lost, he could still smoothly join his camp by relying on the goodwill he’d shown beforehand, lying low and waiting for an opportunity to turn the tables.

If Yin Lang hadn’t first encountered Xu Rong, Ji Chang’an, Xie Tingxuan and the others, he wouldn’t have been able to deduce such an absurd matter as ‘rebirth’ from just an instinctive avoidance of eye contact and a drastically changed temperament, and would certainly have suffered a great loss at the hands of this venomous snake.

Thus, he didn’t know whether making such a deal with the Heavenly Dao was misfortune or fortune.

Using his wide sleeves as cover, Yin Lang gave his disciple’s palm a heavy squeeze, then stepped forward.

Spiritual qi and demonic qi intertwined as they roared out from his dantian, clearly divided as they surged through the meridians on his left and right sides. The crimson gem hanging from his wrist emitted a blinding light. As his robe sleeves billowed, they spread like thick ink dissolving in water, and a long spear wreathed in black flames was forcibly torn out from the void!

The black flames carved an arc-shaped rift in the air. The spear tip pointed diagonally at the ground as Yin Lang calmly raised his eyes.

“Please.”

Ink green and blood red tore through the sky, instantly becoming entangled together.

Before Yan Guihe, who had returned from the future, was stabbed to death by Xu Rong, his strength had already reached Yan Yan’s current realm. Even though he was limited by this body’s injuries and could only exert thirty to forty percent of his original power, it was still enough to equal late Tribulation stage combat ability.

In a one-on-one fight, combined with Yan Guihe’s understanding of his combat habits, this was bound to be a grueling battle.

Wide sleeves and robe corners billowing, for the first time since the Battle of Ming City, Yin Lang simultaneously mobilized both the spiritual qi and demonic qi in his dantian. Under the concealment of the Heaven-Concealing Stone, he squeezed out every bit of power in his body without reservation, ensuring that every strike could reach the maximum power of his current level.

The God-Slaying Spear burned with seemingly inexhaustible black flames. When the cold flame tail scorched the corner of his robe, even Yan Guihe had to abandon his offensive, waving his hand to cut off the silently burning torn hem to save himself.

No one knew where Yin Lang’s eerie cold flames came from. Since he first appeared in the Lantian Realm, these black flames had constantly accompanied him. Wherever they passed, all vitality was severed and souls scattered—once touched, there was no chance even for reincarnation. Everyone feared them.

The flame tail swept past Yan Guihe’s chin. Had he tilted his head back even a fraction slower, he would have lost at least half his face.

Yan Guihe drew a light breath and backhanded a palm of poisonous qi. “Young people really do have violent tempers. I just helped you out without holding grudges, and this is how you repay kindness with enmity?”

Yin Lang dodged to the side and said flatly, “If ‘Senior’ could immediately surrender and admit defeat on the spot, Yin would not mind discussing the matter of repaying gratitude with ‘Senior’ right here and now.”

“……”

Yan Guihe laughed shortly and didn’t respond. His left palm suddenly rose, and all the deadly poisonous mist on the high platform rapidly gathered toward his palm. Just like the final palm that had defeated the Sixth Venerable, it was so fast it left afterimages, heavily slamming into Yin Lang’s shoulder when he couldn’t dodge in time.

Yin Lang’s pupils constricted. Unfortunately, his movements couldn’t keep up with his thoughts. His right shoulder took the full force of the palm strike, and his entire body was sent flying, smashing a massive crater into the Nanshan stone surface.

Yan Guihe walked over leisurely, smiling as he looked down at him. “Young people should still be more modest.”

He wasn’t afraid of Yin Lang holding a grudge. If the future Demon Lord only had this much magnanimity, he might as well continue mixing around under Yan Yan’s command.

He’d already shown his goodwill. Being too eager would instead arouse the other’s vigilance and risk revealing something unusual.

Yin Lang struggled up from the bottom of the crater, his right arm trembling violently, the God-Slaying Spear nearly slipping from his grasp.

His expression remained unchanged as he raised his hand to quickly seal his acupoints and prevent the poison from spreading, then drew his fingers like a sword across his wrist. Only when the blood infused with demonic qi turned red again did he let the wound heal normally.

This palm from Yan Guihe had cost him nearly a third of his demonic qi—truly a severe loss.

Truly the most venomous snake under heaven.

When Yin Lang was sent flying, the observing Wu Mantuo nervously gripped her armrest, her body unconsciously leaning forward.

Chao Liang stroked his chin, gloating. “Serves him right! Calling this underhanded fellow out for cheating people everywhere—now he’s run into an iron plate, hasn’t he? Having the guts to attack Yan Guihe at full strength is one thing, but not being quick enough to finish him off directly—now look, he’s getting his comeuppance.”

Wu Mantuo stared nervously at the smoke-filled high platform.

Chao Liang continued musing. “Still, I can’t figure out why he’d actively attack Yan Guihe. This fellow usually keeps such a low profile. I remember Yan Guihe never provoked him… Oh right, Yan Guihe has no grudge with him, but he does have a grudge with his father! Back when Yin Jiuxuan had that foul temper… tsk tsk tsk, no wonder.”

Wu Mantuo anxiously twisted her eyebrows into a knot.

Chao Liang’s gaze gradually filled with pity. “Ah, speaking of which, this kid is quite unlucky. Though he’s called the first person below the Three Demon Venerables of the Northern Demon Territory, his connections are really not great. Look at all these people sitting here—aside from that fool Jiao, who else is willing to hang around with him?”

Fool Wu Mantuo: “……”

Fool Diwu Hong: “……”

Fool Yan Guihe: “……”

Chao Liang: “You…”

Wu Mantuo: “Shut your mouth!”

Chao Liang: “……”

He was baffled. “Why are you so irritable today? Hey, I’ve been wanting to ask—why do you care so much about Yin Lang? Just now too, when Yan Yan was clearly in a bad mood and taking it out on him, what were you getting all anxious and heated about?”

He seemed to think of something, his expression gradually becoming horrified. “You couldn’t be…” secretly in love with him, could you?

Wu Mantuo said sinisterly, “Whatever nonsense you’re thinking, if you dare say it out loud, watch out or this lady will smash your mouth to pieces!”

Chao Liang: “……”

Forget it, why bother arguing with this mentally unstable madwoman?

Yin Lang wiped the blood trickling from the corner of his lips and slowly climbed up from the crater. He raised his head to look up at Yan Guihe, his expression as calm as ever. “Thank you.”

Yan Guihe smiled. “Don’t mention it. This Venerable hasn’t sunk so low as to take advantage of someone’s misfortune.”

Yin Lang touched down with his toes and landed lightly on the flat ground. With a beckoning gesture, the God-Slaying Spear fell into his palm. He suddenly said, “Speaking of which, when we met again after Ming City, I wonder if it was Yin’s imagination, but Venerable Yan seemed rather… fearful of Yin?”

Yan Guihe’s raised palm paused briefly in its movement.

Yin Lang stood motionless in place.

Yan Guihe quickly covered his slip, shaking his head with a laugh. “You won’t let go of even this tiny verbal advantage? However, being able to fabricate such a reason truly does greatly surprise this Venerable.”

Yin Lang: “Whether it’s fabrication or not, Venerable Yan knows better than anyone in his heart.”

He was too lazy to say more. His five fingers turned to grip the spear shaft tightly, the spear tip pointing forward. As black flames rose, they also concealed a small stream of golden liquid sliding down from his palm, soundlessly merging into the spear shaft.

Yan Guihe slightly restrained his smile, spreading his palms in a combat stance. His ten fingertips condensed nearly black poison, and near the fingertips, space contracted and expanded, revealing small patches of black collapse—even space itself was being corroded.

“Getting serious now?”

Yin Lang stared at those constantly contracting black collapses, then suddenly flashed backward. In the next instant, Yan Guihe’s figure, which should have been thirty meters away, slowly materialized where he had just been standing, his pitch-black five fingers shaped like claws, viciously stabbing into what should have been Yin Lang’s lower abdomen.

“Quick reactions.”

Yan Guihe, whose attack had been dodged, wasn’t annoyed. In the blink of an eye, his figure disappeared again.

“They can be even quicker.”

Yin Lang didn’t even blink, holding the spear horizontally before him. After a resounding ‘clang!‘ of collision, the spear shaft rotated nimbly between his fingers, whistling as it swept out horizontally. Black flames surged upward, forcibly pushing Yan Guihe back three positions, then reversed with a thrust straight toward his heart.

Yan Guihe raised his hands to intercept, but halfway through the motion he froze, looking in bewilderment as the spear tip suddenly flashed forward nearly ten feet, stabbing at a tricky angle into his left chest.

His sense of crisis skyrocketed. Yan Guihe’s entire body’s demonic qi surged rapidly, gathering in his chest to prevent the God-Slaying Spear from advancing further. After a brief obstruction, his right hand, flashing with ink-green luster, grasped the spear shaft, preventing the spear tip from penetrating even a fraction deeper.

He could feel the cold spear shaft mere fractions away from the surface of his heart. The flesh wrapped around the spear convulsed and twitched, cold sweat uncontrollably seeping from his temples.

How could this be…

He raised his head and saw the smile that had appeared at some unknown moment on the red-robed Venerable’s face.

“Did you think that was the end? That would really be looking down on… too much.”

Yan Guihe didn’t catch that last word clearly. The spear shaft gripped tightly in his palm suddenly transmitted a terrifying heat, like a spark falling on withered grass, spreading with prairie-fire momentum to everything that could burn!

It wasn’t merely simple heat—within that extreme, terrifying high temperature seemed to be mixed something even more frightening, something that with just the slightest touch would make one feel crushed into kneeling, worshiping from the depths of one’s heart.

The poison he took such pride in was like ice and snow under the blazing sun, melting away completely.

“Urgh—”

The God-Slaying Spear swept horizontally again. Yan Guihe, who had nearly lost consciousness, was sent flying without any power to resist, just like Yin Lang earlier, heavily smashing into the ground and unable to climb out for a long time.

The roaring flames showed off in the air with a triumphant spin before drilling back into their master’s dantian.

For a moment, the arena fell eerily silent.

Bloodthirsty smiles froze on faces, and with so many people it formed an extremely comical picture.

Yin Lang calmed his somewhat rapid breathing, holding the long spear reversed as he leaped down from the high platform, landing lightly on the ground.

The people closest to him hurriedly bowed in panic and retreated, actively clearing a path to the Venerable seat. The moment he took his seat, mountain-shaking, sea-crashing shouts rang out again, deafening and unending.

Successfully defeating the Third-ranked as the Seventh-ranked was a completely different concept from Yan Guihe easily defeating the Sixth Venerable. In the eyes of the vast demonic cultivation masses, he had successfully crossed the chasm from early Tribulation stage to great perfection Tribulation stage.

It should be said that from this moment on, Yin Lang could already be called the ‘Third Demon Venerable.’

And if by the end of this Demonic Dao Grand Assembly no one could defeat him again, all the Demon Venerables would automatically advance one position. Only then would Yin Lang truly have secured the throne of first person beneath Yan Yan.

Diwu Hong’s beautiful eyes lit up. After Yin Lang took his seat, just as she was about to say something to him, another figure descended onto the high platform.

Wu Mantuo raised an eyebrow, provocatively raising her weapon toward her. “Fifth Venerable, after sitting motionless and watching the show for so long, can your waist really take it? Why not come down and warm up a bit?”