During the Ziling Sect’s moment of crisis, the first to return wasn’t Xiang Shaoyun. Rather, it was Devouring Ghost, who had been away for several years. The person who had spoken was none other than Devouring Ghost. Having recovered to the Heaven Battling Realm, he now possessed rather formidable strength.
However, he was still a first-stage Heaven Battling Realm expert. What gave him the confidence to stand against Di Batian? Du Xuanhao, who had left with him, was nowhere to be seen. It was unknown if he was held up by something else or if something bad had happened to him.
With one look, Di Batian ascertained that Devouring Ghost was only a first-stage Heaven Battling Realm cultivator. He roared with laughter and said, “Hahaha, here comes another idiot who overestimates himself. You can die as well.”
He then used the turtle and the toad as weapons and swung them at Devouring Ghost.
“You really think I’m a weakling you can do whatever you want to?” said Di Batian with a sneer. A powerful silhouette appeared before him and blocked Di Batian’s attack.
“What is that?” exclaimed Di Batian with a frown.
The silhouette before Devouring Ghost was actually the puppet of a non-human emanating traces of life force for some reason. The life force originated from none other than Devouring Ghost’s blood demon clone. The clone was the one controlling the puppet, allowing the puppet to fight with great might and agility.
“Something that can kill you,” said Devouring Ghost as he controlled the blood demon and charged Di Batian.
The puppet was something he had found accidentally. During his absence from the sect, he had allowed the blood demon to devour a large amount of Saint blood, upgrading the blood demon all the way to the Saint Realm. With that, the blood demon had gained the ability to fuse with the puppet and unleash a terrifying combat strength.
The puppet moved rapidly, instantly appearing above Di Batian. It sent down a furious attack. The puppet’s strength exceeded Di Batian’s expectations. By the time he reacted, the puppet’s punch was already at the back of his head. He dodged aside in panic, and the punch grazed his face and assaulted him with intense pain.
The blood demon puppet was relentless. It continued attacking Di Batian’s vitals. It was as powerful as a seventh-stage Saint. Thus, it was an extremely difficult opponent for Di Batian. As for Devouring Ghost, he moved like a gust of wind and arrived near the turtle and the toad before freeing them.
The beautiful woman from Di Batian’s side was in shock. When she finally recovered, she wanted to make a move against Devouring Ghost. But when she saw Di Batian’s difficult situation, she was forced to go help him deal with the puppet. The turtle and the toad hurriedly started healing themselves.
Devouring Ghost stood guard for them as he barked a command to the sect, “The Ziling Sect will never be defeated. Those who surrender to the enemy shall be executed.”
His appearance and the blood demon’s strength successfully roused the sect’s morale. Before his reappearance, the sect might have fallen apart from the inside. Unfortunately, a good thing would not last forever. Di De appeared from the void.
“It is quite surprising for you to gain so many new Saints. Too bad you don’t have an actual expert here, so you won’t be able to escape destruction,” said Di De as he charged Devouring Ghost.
Devouring Ghost raised his brow and said, “You are not enough to kill me.”
He then engaged Di De in battle. Although he was only a first-stage Heaven Battling Realm cultivator, he was a Great Saint in his past life, an expert incredibly close to the Rebirth Realm. The moment he returned to the Heaven Battling Realm, he had regained his ability to punch above his class.
He circulated the energies of yin and yang before merging the two. His combat strength rose to a new high as a unique energy field formed around him, allowing him to fight Di De equally. With the puppet suppressing Di Batian and the beautiful woman and with him stopping Di De, the Ziling Sect was given some breathing space.
“This tiny sect is quite capable, it seems,” remarked the Di Clan Great Saint in the void.
“Just some minor Saints. What can they do? I’ll eliminate all of them,” said Xun Kong, the person who had previously spoken up against Di Batian.
“Lord Xun, let me go instead. I’ll treat this as warming up. It is still not time for the two of you to make a move personally,” said the other Saint who had been silent all along.
The one who had just spoken was a fifth-stage Heaven Battling Realm cultivator. He was the weakest of the three, but even so, he was strong enough to overwhelm the Ziling Sect by himself.
“No rush. Another little fish is coming,” said the Great Saint as he looked in a certain direction.
Sure enough, a figure appeared. The newcomer was Li Juetian, who had gone missing for a long time. He had returned. His strength had grown considerably, reaching peak third-stage Heaven Battling Realm. He was only a step away from the fourth stage.
As the leader of the seven villains, he had always been the strongest among them. That he maintained such a speed of growth even after reaching the Heaven Battling Realm was a testament to his talent in cultivation.
The moment he appeared, he drew his sword and swung it at Di De, who was facing Devouring Ghost. An overbearing energy sword ripped through the air and instantly arrived behind Di De.
Li Juetian’s attack was direct and clean. His grasp on timing was also impeccable. Just as his attack was about to hit Di De, the Di Clan’s fifth-stage Saint appeared and blocked the slash.
“Hehe, what a powerful sword. Let’s have some fun together,” said the Di Clan Saint, smirking as he stabbed at Li Juetian with his silver sword.
As a fifth-stage Heaven Battling Realm cultivator, he was stronger than Li Juetian. Regular third-stage Saints would be completely helpless against such an opponent. However, Li Juetian showed no fear. He swung his sword repeatedly, sending out several breathtaking sword slashes. He was actually able to put the fifth-stage Saint at a disadvantage.
In the void, Xun Kong could no longer hold himself back. He said to the Great Saint, “Lord, let me go out and kill all of them. It’s pointless to drag this on.”
“Fine. Go. I want to see just how many hidden experts a tiny sect like this will have,” said the Great Saint with a nod.
With the Great Saint’s permission, Xun Kong charged out and erupted with the aura of a seventh-stage Heaven Battling Realm cultivator. He roared, “Little fishes, time for all of you to die!”
He was incomparably haughty, believing firmly that he alone was enough to crush all the sect’s oppositions.
However, those in the midst of battling continued battling and completely ignored him. As for the regular Ziling Sect members, they were already numb to the appearances of experts. Thus, their disregard bruised Xun Kong’s ego.
“You think a tiny formation like this can save you? Break!” shouted Xun Kong furiously as he moved to attack the formation, aiming to destroy the entire sect.
Just as he was about to make his move, a new voice sounded, “Where is this clown from? You dare be impudent here?”
