C349 The Moon Demon
With a soft sigh tinged with a hint of regret, the Silvermoon Queen set the soul sacrifice ball spinning with a mere flick of her finger, casting a hazy purple glow around her.
Her silver robes fluttered as she materialized suddenly before Chi Hongyi, who cradled her lute.
At the queen's sudden appearance, Chi Hongyi's face contorted with shock.
Suspended in the sky above the pit, Chi Hongyi had been alone, but the Silvermoon Queen's arrival made the space feel oppressively crowded, as if an immense, unseen entity had descended, claiming every inch for itself.
An invisible force seemed to compress the very air, leaving Chi Hongyi gasping in discomfort.
Despite her delicate appearance, the Silvermoon Queen exuded the presence of a colossal Demon God from a bygone era.
Her face obscured, she wielded the soul sacrifice ball in one hand and the Soul Sacrifice Diagram in the other, commanding the fates of souls, their cycles of rebirth and regeneration, like a deity.
The Soul Sacrifice Diagram snapped shut, transforming into a tightly rolled scroll.
Gripping it like a cudgel, the Silvermoon Queen struck down at Chi Hongyi with the force of a short stick.
The anguished cries of myriad tormented spirits filled Chi Hongyi's mind, the cacophony so intense that blood spattered from the corners of her eyes.
The descending Soul Sacrifice Diagram seemed to her like a collapsing realm of aggrieved souls, overwhelming her consciousness.
Dazed, she realized her mind had been inundated with countless lingering spirits and strange entities, scattering her memories, intelligence, and lucidity to the winds.
Her elegant fingers, poised to pluck the lute, were too slow to unleash a demonic melody that might wound the Silvermoon Queen.
Shen Feiqing, undeterred, shook her head and strode across the purple satin, charging towards the floating Jade Tower, a creation of Old Cash's alchemy.
Even from hundreds of meters away, the female commander's punch drilled through the air.
Her fist intent surged like a deluge, tearing through the void and slamming into the jade-constructed buildings without mercy.
Old Cash, rooted at the railing and fixated on her, his face turned ashen.
Behind him, the edifices of white, green, blue, and purple jade began to fracture, revealing cracks that spread like spiderwebs.
A three-story cottage crafted from black jade crumbled to the ground.
Old Cash's face quivered, his heart wrenching with pain.
The artifact he had refined and named "Jade Tower" was not only his place of cultivation but also the apple of his eye, into which he had poured years of blood, sweat, and tears.
For centuries, he had scoured empires and dynasties for copper coins, secretly infusing imperial jade seals into the Jade Tower, amalgamating the fortunes of ancient reigns into a singular blessed land that harnessed spiritual energy from various mystical regions.
The "Jade Tower" served as a nexus for the spiritual Qi of heaven and earth.
It was akin to a magical "Dantian," a repository connected to his being, storing spiritual energy and objects beyond his own microcosm.
The "Jade Tower" not only absorbed spiritual Qi to aid his cultivation but also functioned as a Universe Ring.
When Shen Feiqing intervened, the edifices within were either fissured or toppled, threatening his very life.
"Boom! Boom! Boom!"
Shen Feiqing swung her fists, unleashing the Void True Spell from the Ancient Desolate Realm, punching through the air.
Though her fists seemed to hit nothing, they manifested elsewhere, breaking through space, bypassing the Jade Tower's defenses, and striking directly at the interior structures.
Old Cash's face contorted with distress, on the verge of tears.
Next to the pit, the Earth Demon Bai Shang watched Xu Zixi with an impassive gaze.
Xu Zixi's brows were furrowed, her inner turmoil a fierce battle.
The Silvermoon Queen and the General had made their moves, overwhelming Chi Hongyi and Old Cash in an instant.
Yan Qiling, being a Soul Sprite, was inherently vulnerable to the Soul Sacrifice Ball and the Soul Sacrifice Diagram, leaving her no choice but to take refuge within the Jade Tower.
In this scenario, if Bai Shang and the white-haired snake demon chose to collaborate, they had the power to gravely wound or even slay her!
Bai Shang held back, biding his time.
Waiting for her decision.
Should she heed Shen Feiqing's counsel and extricate herself from the fray, she would remain unharmed.
However, if she stubbornly sought to defend Yu Yuan and struck again, she would face the full brunt of Bai Shang and the white-haired snake demon's combined assault.
If she failed to recognize the danger, it could cost her life.
The Python Queen, Xu Zixi, gazed intently at Yu Yuan, her eyes filled with hesitation and inner turmoil...
Amidst the chaos of battle, neither they nor Xu Zixi, wrestling with her own conflict, noticed a crucial detail.
The soul sacrifice ball that the Silvermoon Queen had been holding vanished into thin air!
A tiny speck of purple light, no larger than a grain of rice, slipped unnoticed into the pit, making its way into the brown eyeball of the Asura from the Dark Domain, disappearing in an instant.
"The soul sacrifice ball!"
"It's entered the eye of the Dark Domain Asura!"
"Even in the heat of combat, the empress found a moment to covertly work her magic, shrinking the soul sacrifice ball and slipping it into the Asura's brown eye, intertwining it with Yu Yuan's sword strike!"
"I believe the Silvermoon Queen's true intent in attacking Chi Hongyi was to unleash that soul sacrifice ball!"
Zhan Tianxiang, Zhao Yafu, Yuan Lianyao, and Qin Yun, watching from above, exclaimed in shock.
Lau Ying, wielding the Fallen Star Eyes, voiced her growing unease in a soft murmur, "Why did Yu's sword intent encounter such complications when striking at the Dark Domain Asura's lingering spirit? Between the Yellow Old Devil and the soul sacrifice ball, I'm concerned he might be overwhelmed."
"He's got this," Yuan Lianyao breathed out, her voice a mix of determination and anxiety. Despite her inner turmoil, she chose to trust in Yu Yuan, to believe he could handle the battle within the brown eye.
The Silver Moon Sect girl regarded her with a peculiar look, as if questioning the source of her unwavering confidence.
"Brother Yu will be just fine!"
Zhao Yafu clenched her fist with conviction, her lips pursed in a defiant pout, "Neither that Yellow Old Devil nor the soul sacrifice ball can harm Brother Yu!"
Lau Ying, puzzled, inquired, "The Silvermoon Queen is your nation's empress. As one of her subjects, why do you not waver in your support for Yu Yuan?"
"Because Brother Yu has been there for me, time and again, even saving my life in the Fallen Moon Forbidden Area," Zhao Yafu stated earnestly. "From what I've seen, he can do no wrong."
In the Dark Domain, Yu Yuan's ethereal figure was cleverly coaxing information from the Yellow Old Devil, trying to understand the chaos and complications of the outside world.
Suddenly, his shadowy projection, a mere wisp of thought, felt an overwhelming pressure descend upon it.
A tiny amethyst began to swell silently, morphing into a purple crystal sphere!
"The Soul Sacrifice Ball!"
Yu Yuan, having witnessed Lee Yu wield this very object in battle against the Moon Demon, would have surely let out a cry of alarm if he were capable of making a sound.
From within the murky depths of the Soul Sacrifice Ball, a shadowy figure gradually loomed larger.
When the figure became distinct enough to discern, Yu Yuan was struck with an incredulous horror. "Yuefei?"
A year prior, during the Forbidden Area Trial, he had faced the awakening of the long-sealed Moon Demons.
Many participants, like him, had fallen victim to the Moon Demons, with numerous young lives lost.
The instigator, the leader of the Moon Demons, was none other than Yuefei.
He had once subdued Yuefei with his sword intent, albeit briefly.
Wasn't Yuefei supposed to have perished in the Fallen Moon Forbidden Area? Why then did her visage reemerge within the Soul Sacrifice Ball?
Plagued by these persistent doubts, Yu Yuan felt as though he was trapped in a dream, enshrouded by dense fog, unable to ascertain the reality of his surroundings, or if he was indeed within the world of the Dark Domain's Asura.
"The Silvermoon Empire, named and established in honor of the moon."
Within the Soul Sacrifice Ball, Yuefei projected her thoughts and will. "We, the remnants of the Moon Demon Clan, have been bound to the Silvermoon Empire from time immemorial. The third shadow behind Her Majesty the Empress is me—it is our Moon Demon Clan!"
