Just as Qin Guiya departed on his Flying Sword, the first bolt of lightning struck from the sky!
A bucket-thick purple heavenly lightning bolt directly hit the center of the Formation, its blinding light temporarily rendering everyone sightless.
When their vision returned, a horrifying scene unfolded.
The Demonic Cultivator actually opened his gaping maw and swallowed the entire bolt of heavenly lightning!
"Thunder Devouring Demonic Technique!"
Qin Guixiao's face turned ashen, and he crushed a jade talisman.
"Hurry and leave! This person's background is not simple! We must report to the Family immediately."
Everyone fled the desolate island in a panic, with rumbling thunder behind them, and one terrifying bolt of heavenly lightning after another striking down.
Qin Guiya flew at the rear of the group, his unease growing stronger.
He couldn't help but look back, only to see the black-robed Demonic Cultivator howling up at the sky, a bloody vortex forming in his mouth, devouring the third descending bolt of heavenly lightning whole!
Bloody mist boiled around the Demonic Cultivator, and two Nascent Soul phantoms simultaneously appeared in his abdomen.
One was as black as ink, the other as red as blood.
"Dual Nascent Souls!"
Qin Guixiao, who was flying ahead, exclaimed in shock.
"This person Cultivates the 'Bloodfiend Double Saint Art'!"
Before he finished speaking, the last bolt of heavenly lightning was devoured by the Demonic Cultivator.
In an instant, the weather changed drastically, and a terrifying pressure far exceeding that of an Early Stage Nascent Soul swept across all directions.
Qin Guiya felt his Flying Sword sink, almost causing him to fall into the sea.
"Qin Family little bugs, trying to escape already?"
A chilling voice echoed in everyone's ears, like a venomous snake slithering into their ear canals.
Qin Guiya's hairs stood on end, as he saw the Demonic Cultivator had already teleported in front of them, his black robes fluttering, revealing a scarred, hideous face.
Most alarming was that two solidified Nascent Souls floated in his abdomen—one wielding a blood-red blade, the other a black banner.
Dual Nascent Soul Cultivators were as rare as Phoenix feathers and Dragon scales, even in a Void Refining power like the Qin Family!
Qin Guixiao roared, summoning a silver Flying Sword and a golden mirror.
The Flying Sword was as transparent as crystal, with what seemed like a flowing galaxy within its blade.
The ancient mirror's back was engraved with the sun, moon, and stars, and its surface glowed with Chaos light.
"Starfall Sword! Grand Void Mirror!"
A Golden Core cultivator from the Main Branch exclaimed, "They are Spirit Treasures bestowed by the Old Ancestor! We are saved!"
The Demonic Cultivator sneered at the sight: "Old Ghost Qin even gave you his most prized treasures; it seems you are very favored!"
As he spoke, he spat out a blood-colored long saber, its blade covered with twisted human faces, emitting mournful wails.
"Let's see if my Myriad Souls Blade can sever your direct Bloodline!"
Two Nascent Soul-level pressures collided with a roar, instantly creating a giant pit a thousand zhang in diameter on the sea surface.
Qin Guixiao's silver sword transformed into a rainbow, clashing with the blood blade in the air, the resulting shockwave raising huge waves across ten li of the surrounding sea.
"You all go first!"
Qin Guixiao roared, and the Grand Void Mirror shot out a beam of light, temporarily trapping the Demonic Cultivator.
Qin Guiya, without hesitation, activated his Golden Edge Sword and fled afar.
Behind him came the screams of two Golden Core cultivators from the Main Branch.
They had long lost their composure; one carelessly dropped his Magic Treasure into the sea, and the other's Daoist robe was torn by the aftershocks, leaving him in a sorry state.
"Split up and run!"
Qin Guihai gritted his teeth, taking the lead and turning east.
Several Golden Core cultivators from the side branches also chose their own directions and scattered.
After flying only a hundred li, an earth-shattering explosion suddenly came from behind.
Qin Guiya looked back, only to see a silver sun rising in the sky, and vaguely, Qin Guixiao's figure rapidly dissolving at its center.
"Nascent Soul Incineration Secret Art!"
Qin Guiya's heart trembled.
This Main Branch Nascent Soul Cultivator was willing to burn his Nascent Soul to perish together with the Demonic Cultivator!
The most crucial thing was that a Middle Stage Nascent Soul Cultivator failed to kill a newly advanced Demonic Nascent Soul Cultivator!
After the dazzling silver light dissipated, the Demonic Cultivator's figure reappeared; though his black robes were tattered and half his body was scorched black, his two Nascent Souls remained intact.
He sneered, wiping the blood from the corner of his mouth: "The Qin Family Main Branch is nothing more than this!"
Before his words finished, this person transformed into a bloody rainbow, chasing after the nearest side branch Golden Core cultivator.
Screams soon came from the southeast, another kinsman had fallen.
Cold sweat poured down Qin Guiya's back as he pushed his escape speed to the limit.
But in less than fifteen minutes, that suffocating pressure approached again.
"Little bug, can you escape?"
The Demonic Cultivator's voice was close at hand.
Qin Guiya abruptly turned, only to see that hideous face less than ten zhang away, the blood blade bringing a monstrous Evil Qi as it chopped down!
At this critical moment of life and death, the "terror" on Qin Guiya's face suddenly vanished.
His Molten Crystal Sword slid out from within him, its crimson blade instantly swelling, transforming into a vividly scaled Fire Dragon that met the blood blade.
"Clang—!"
The clang of metal resounded across the sea and sky.
The Demonic Cultivator was astonished to find that his certain-kill strike had been blocked!
The Fire Dragon reverted to the appearance of the Molten Crystal Sword.
With a crack!
The Molten Crystal Sword was completely incinerated.
Qin Guiya's heart ached, but his left and right palms had already struck out.
The Perfection-level Fire Dragon Palm Divine Ability was no longer a single Fire Dragon, but nine!
Nine Fire Dragons roared out from his palms, each lifelike.
The Demonic Cultivator hastily summoned his black banner Nascent Soul to block, but it was entangled and torn by the nine Fire Dragons.
Seizing this gap, Qin Guiya also summoned the flame heart mirror, its surface shooting out a crimson glow that caused the seawater to boil wherever it passed.
The Demonic Cultivator's black banner finally couldn't hold on, its spiritual light dimming.
"Good! Good!"
The Demonic Cultivator, furious, laughed instead, "I didn't expect the Qin Family's side branch to hide a character like you!"
As he spoke, he suddenly tore open the front of his robe, revealing a hideous Qin Family side branch mark, "Look closely! I, Qin Guixiao, am also from a side branch! How the Main Branch persecuted my clan back then, is how I will exact my retribution today!"
Qin Guiya's heart jolted.
He had an impression of the name Qin Guixiao; he was a survivor of a side branch that had been almost completely suppressed by the Main Branch a hundred years ago, and he never expected him to become a Demonic Cultivator.
Just as he was momentarily distracted, Qin Guixiao suddenly spat out a mouthful of vital blood.
Within the blood mist, the two Nascent Souls merged into one, transforming into a terrifying two-headed, four-armed Demonic God Aspect, its pressure instantly surging several times over!
"To force me to use the 'Blood Demon True Body' secret art, you are worthy of pride!"
The Demonic God Aspect swung all four arms simultaneously, and four Magic Treasures flew out from its body—the Myriad Souls Blade, the Black Evil Banner, the Blood Thunder Pearl, and the Bone Poison Nail; while the first two were Spirit Treasures, the latter two were of Magic Treasure quality.
Qin Guiya immediately felt the pressure double; the crimson glow of the flame heart mirror was scattered by the blood thunder, and the Molten Crystal Sword had been destroyed long ago.
"Die!"
Qin Guixiao sneered, urging the Bone Poison Nail directly towards Qin Guiya's glabella.
At this critical juncture, the ancient tree in Qin Guiya's Sea of Consciousness suddenly swayed violently, and an Enlightenment Leaf, plus a cluster of flowers, combined to form a layer of defensive spiritual light in front of his glabella.
The Bone Poison Nail struck the spiritual light, sinking into it as if into mud, its speed greatly reduced.
Qin Guiya was slightly puzzled but immediately seized the opportunity, with a thought, his spiritual power and Divine Soul poured out frantically, condensing nine Fire Dragons in front of him.
This was the Fire Dragon Palm, when it reached the Perfection level, the Divine Ability automatically changed and combined into an even more powerful Divine Ability.
The nine Fire Dragons suddenly merged into one, transforming into a vividly scaled five-clawed Blazing Dragon, finally becoming a gigantic fiery palm!
"Nine Dragons Sky Burning Palm!"
Qin Guixiao's Demonic God Aspect shattered inch by inch under this giant palm, and his two Nascent Souls let out mournful screams.
"You... are not an ordinary Golden Core cultivator..."
These were the last words left by the Demonic Cultivator.