Chapter 484: Chapter 484

Chapter 484: Chapter 479: Gathering Demons

The night was deep, the starlight soft and melting.

Outside the bronze tree, the old woman’s walking stick lightly tapped the ground, the decrepit wood colliding with the bronze tree roots, emitting a heavy, droning boom.

Those teeming in the darkness—Heavenly Ghosts—suddenly opened pairs of blood-red eyes, their sharp horns tearing through the dark, as shadowy images of demons charged forth.

Clang! Clang! Clang!!!

Countless shallow, sharp white scars were left on the bronze Divine Tree.

As the old woman’s wooden staff tapped the thick vines ever more frantically, the corpses of the Heavenly Ghosts stacked higher and higher beneath her, almost submerging her hunched, buckled figure.

But with her rhythmic tapping on the root vines, each heavy strike unleashed an unimaginable gale of energy, sweeping the mountainous piles of War Ghost corpses away in a mist of blood.

The tinkle of Blood Pearls splattered in the cold trunk, leaving mottled and cruel traces.

The old woman’s white hair fluttered like disordered cotton, the sound of sharp claws scraping the hard roots growing more intense. Her stooped body pressed lower, the loose, yellowed skin on her face decayed and pale as if drained of vitality.

At that moment, there was a soft pop on her shoulder, and within a Gale, three fresh claw marks, deep enough to reach bone, appeared.

The old woman turned and struck with her staff, the dragon head atop it piercing through a Heavenly Ghost’s skull.

And that Heavenly Ghost, with a pair of bright red, formidable horns and a vitality unusually tenacious, not dead despite its head being smashed, growled hoarsely from deep within its throat, its claws rapidly regrowing. As they sliced through the air, sharp as lightning, they viciously clawed towards the old woman’s heart.

The old woman snorted coldly, her bony fist like a chicken claw struck out, delivering an indescribably tyrannical punch that impacted stably against the Heavenly Ghost’s fierce claws.

The Heavenly Ghost uttered a dying wail of agony; its entire arm exploded apart, its chilled corpse hanging from the dragon-headed staff, flung aside heavily by the old woman.

Perhaps intimidated by the old woman’s powerful aura, or for some other reason, the roars of the Heavenly Ghosts in the forest suddenly quieted down a lot, the multitude of blood-red eyes flickering uncertainly in the dark, gradually becoming silent.

But the old woman’s heart sank more and more.

The Spiritual Body of Su Jing she guarded had not yet returned to its position, and with the premature opening of the Great Cambrian Era, the shadow of calamity loomed over her heart. Her cultivation had been devoured by this world bit by bit over the years; her strength was no longer what it once was.

The tide-like onslaught of the Heavenly Ghosts already left her overwhelmed; what made her even more unable to relax was the absence of the four Ghost Kings of the Heavenly Ghost clan.

In the years she had been in the Bronze Gate world, though she had never seen the true forms of the four War Ghosts, she knew that if the four War Ghosts were to arrive, she alone would simply be unable to resist them.

Just then, a sinister sense of crisis arose spontaneously.

Before she could react, an unremarkable Heavenly Ghost, the size of an eight-year-old child, blended into the twilight, utterly silent.

Its aura perfectly concealed by the other members of the Heavenly Ghost clan, a single jet-black horn on its forehead was the size of a warrior’s scythe, engraved with ghostly blue thunder patterns.

He appeared like a ghost; by the time the old woman captured him with her Divine Sense, it was already too late.

The Heavenly Ghost passed swiftly by the old woman’s side. The whistling sound of its black robe slashing through the air was sharp as a bee’s sting, penetrating directly into her mind from her temple. Although it caused no substantial harm, her body reacted as if injected with a potent toxin, her blood roiling uncontrollably, her entire body rigid and numb.

Fortunately, it seemed the fearsome Heavenly Ghost’s target was not her; the moment they brushed past each other, the old woman clearly saw those cold, blood-red eyes under the black mist, not deigning to spare her even a flicker of attention.

What puzzled the old woman was that his target for the assassination was actually the young man lying under the bronze Divine Tree?

She felt a pang of guilt in her heart. If it were not for her drawing the young man’s soul into the tree, he would not have encountered this predicament defenselessly.

The Heavenly Ghost’s whole body erupted with a cold, pale electric stream. The electricity coiled around his arm, transforming into an electric blade of incredibly long length, already fully materializing in front of Baili An, his gaze fixated on his throat.

Powerless to stop him, the old woman thought the Heavenly Ghost to be exceptionally powerful, surely one of the mysterious four War Ghosts. She could only watch as the cruel white electric blade fell mercilessly in the dark.

The young man under the bronze tree remained asleep, his eyes peacefully closed.

A pair of dark jade eyes suddenly opened in the Dark Night Forest.

The Ancient Sword in its sheath, fiercely unsheathed, pouring forth its edge!

The sword light, pure and vast, blazing across thousands of miles, illuminated the shadowy figures of the Heavenly Ghosts hiding in the dark below the night sky.

Intense Sword Intent, like a blazing sun breaking through the clouds or countless stars, could all become fuel beneath this sword.

The numb old woman couldn’t help but tremble and cry out, “The Great Futu Technique! It’s the supreme divine method of my Taixuan Sect, the Great Futu Technique! My sect has successors… successors at last…”

The Heavenly Ghost’s descending arm’s movement stalled, the cold, chilling energy of the electric blade dissipating greatly, yet his attack did not cease there.

His arm chopped horizontally, with such force and power that even the majestic, immortal bronze tree shook slightly, its leaves rubbing against each other, emitting a crisp tremor.

But his attack hit nothing.

The small but immensely powerful Heavenly Ghost appeared bewildered as he looked below his disappearing target.

The cool aftermoonlight broke through the clouds, the serene moonlight, the sparse stars, all fused to cast a cold light clad in white.

The Emotion Slayer Sword of Su Jing, when she had returned it to its sheath, was unknown. She held the still unconscious young master in her arms, her slender figure clear and cold like a beautiful silhouette beneath a sheer curtain, her black eyes coldly staring at the Heavenly Ghost, her expression extremely indifferent and stark.

Her free right hand hung by her side, a deep red liquid winding from her snow-white sleeve to her fair fingertips, coalescing into Blood Pearls, dropping to the ground like red gemstones.

The old woman’s eyes widened, clearly not expecting her to wake up at this time, even more so that her great-great-great-granddaughter, known for her indifferent and cold disposition, would rashly save him.

That moment she saw clearly, the Heavenly Ghost’s remaining indomitable momentum was not wasted, but had been fully borne by her alone.

The eyes of one of the four War Ghosts, the Flute Boy Ghost, shone with a fierce cold light as he slowly turned to stand again, ready to continue the fight.

But just then, the deep dark shadow beneath Baili An undulated and rolled, ultimately transforming into the shape of a lone wolf’s black silhouette.

The Flute Boy Ghost’s expression stiffened, and he took three cautious steps back, his face turning grim.

As the soul gradually repositioned itself, when Baili An’s consciousness returned to the real world, the first sensation he detected was the unusually cold sweetness of fresh blood in the air, seducing his empty stomach into growling.

He opened his eyes, the bleak moonlight passing over her pale, Ruoxue-like skin and reflecting in the boy’s deep eyes.

Baili An stared blankly for a long while before understanding who the woman currently holding him was.

Su Jing lowered her head slightly, her gaze calmly observing him, rationally analyzing, “Just now, as Xihe and Huaxu were bestowed their names, the exertion was tremendous, hence you awoke somewhat later than me.”

Baili An was dressed quite warmly, but coincidentally at the moment she held him with one hand, her palm passed through the large cloak on his body, separated by just a layer of thin clothing, the temperature of her palm felt so real.

He opened his mouth wordlessly, unable to utter a single phrase.

Because he couldn’t understand the current reasonable situation.

Su Jing narrowed her lovely eyes slightly, a furrow in her brow as she scrutinized him closely, misunderstanding Baili An’s open mouth and silence. After hesitating for a moment, she then raised her injured hand, letting the blood-stained fingertips lightly touch his lips.

This gesture truly startled him.

Su Jing, a lady of a noble house, always loathed demons, vowing to eliminate them without consideration of cause and effect.

Although in the past few days, after saving her twice, she granted him clemency from the Taixuan Young Master and did not pursue to remove him, the demon.

But to feed him fresh blood, Baili An dared not imagine such an act coming from Su Jing.

The warm and pure sweet liquid slowly flowed into his mouth.

Baili An’s scalp tingled slightly.

But on second thought…

When had she been injured?

Baili An’s eyes widened slightly, realizing what had happened. He shook off the hand wrapped around his waist. With fresh blood still lingering on his lips, as he steadied himself, he saw countless Heavenly Ghosts under the dense bronze leaves.

He exclaimed, “You are injured?”

Baili An did not continue to drink her blood.

Su Jing looked down at her fingertips, thoughtful, and after a moment, she responded with a soft “Mhm.”

Though not utterly overwhelmed, Baili An was indeed shocked once more today, “Miss Jing… did you save me just now?”

Su Jing folded her hands behind her back, “It’s merely returning the favor. You’ve saved me three times; it’s only right I repay the debt threefold. After two more debts are repaid, I’m duty-bound to continue capturing demons and performing Demon Suppression.”

At that moment, Baili An did not notice that she spoke of capturing demons, rather than the more commonly uttered phrase of eliminating demons.