In the void, Yang Kai's figure materialized once more, his face pale as paper, looking as though he had nearly exhausted every last ounce of his strength. The Mountain River Bell had also transformed into a colossal object floating before him, ceaselessly emitting a desolate, primordial sound. Waves of sonic force rippled down along the bell's surface, blasting countless demons clinging to the Evergreen Divine Tree off its branches. The weaker demons exploded into bloody mists before they even touched the ground, their bodies annihilated completely. Only the stronger ones possessed enough resistance to survive the fall.
But even those Demon Commanders were left bleeding from every orifice, their minds muddled and severely wounded. Only those of Demon King caliber and above could barely withstand the onslaught, and even they were steadily tumbling to the ground, putting distance between themselves and the bell.
After a dozen or so peals, every last demon clinging to the Evergreen Divine Tree had been cleared away.
Only Mo Duo's titanic body continued its rapid ascent. The bell's concentrated waves of sound crashed against his flesh, sending ripples across its surface, but they could not halt his advance.
"You scum — did you come out here to die?" Mo Duo bellowed, his climbing speed accelerating even further. Through layer upon layer of leaves, his enormous eyes locked onto Yang Kai's position.
At last, he cleared every obstacle and spotted the insignificant barbarian. Mo Duo bared his teeth in a savage grin and reached out to grab him. Yang Kai didn't dodge — or rather, couldn't. A casual strike from a Demon Saint embodied the supreme principles of the Great Dao. Though it appeared slow, it was the crystallized essence of a lifetime of cultivation, and it was not so easily evaded.
The great hand closed around Yang Kai as though pinching a negligible insect, and Mo Duo brought him up before his face, squeezing slightly.
Crack, crack — the sound of bones fracturing. Even the Dragon Transformation Secret Art couldn't withstand the brute force of a Demon Saint, let alone one at his absolute peak.
Yet Yang Kai's face showed no trace of pain whatsoever. Instead, it was eerily calm — a calmness that set Mo Duo's teeth on edge.
"If you've got any tricks left, use them now. Let's see if any of them can slow me down," Mo Duo snorted coldly, the gust from his nostrils alone enough to form a gale.
"As a matter of fact, I do have one..." Yang Kai gave him a faint smile.
Mo Duo fell silent, seemingly having not expected that this insignificant barbarian had been holding something in reserve even now. But his expression quickly turned indifferent once more. Whatever trump card the other side might have, it couldn't possibly be effective against him at restored peak strength — not unless the barbarian possessed power equal to his own.
Mo Duo said nothing more and abruptly intensified the force in his hand, preparing to simply crush the barbarian to death.
The cracking of bones grew more frequent, but Yang Kai seemed utterly oblivious to pain. Without warning, he extended a finger and tapped his own forehead, his expression more solemn than it had ever been, and murmured in a low voice: "Demonic Awakening!"
Crack.
A sharp, crisp sound — as though something had been shattered.
An instinctive surge of dread washed over Mo Duo, a profoundly unsettling sensation that made him profoundly uncomfortable, as though something catastrophic was about to unfold. Demon Saints possessed razor-sharp instincts regarding danger, so he trusted the feeling.
The force in his hand surged violently — but in that very instant, Mo Duo's expression changed. His already enormous eyes widened even further, as though he had witnessed something utterly inconceivable.
An incomprehensibly powerful repulsive force erupted from within his grip. To Mo Duo, this force felt as though it originated from the same source as his own demonic energy — yet somehow more ancient, from a far more distant era. This discovery sent waves of astonishment through him.
Pitch-black energy seeped through the gaps between his fingers like thick tar, gradually coalescing into a concentrated mass that radiated an aura capable of making one's heart seize with terror.
And the insignificant barbarian clutched in his grip — his right eye had suddenly transformed into a sphere of absolute blackness, resembling a black hole that could devour everything in existence.
Meeting that pitch-black eye head-on, Mo Duo's mind went blank for a split second, his composure shattered and his soul trembling.
The next instant, his face drained of color and he barked, "How do you carry the aura of an Ancient Demon?!"
He finally understood what that inexplicable aura brewing inside the barbarian truly was — it was undeniably the purest essence of an Ancient Demon's aura. Ancient Demons were far more ancient than even himself. They were the progenitors of the entire Demon Race, the first beings to exist when the Demon Domain was born. It was these Ancient Demons who had carved out territory within the Demon Domain and forged the space in which the Demon Race could survive. Only through countless millennia of reproduction had the later demons come into being.
The Ancient Demons had not gone extinct. To this day, Ancient Demons still survived within the Demon Domain, and every single one was a being of terrifying power — figures even Demon Saints had to treat with deference.
Though the Ancient Demons were immensely powerful, their intelligence was pitifully low. They were like untamed beasts, acting entirely on instinct, and even the Grand Demon God could not command them.
Within the Demon Domain, the Ancient Demons were exceedingly rare. Forget about ordinary demons — even Demon Saint-level powerhouses might go an entire lifetime without encountering one. They inhabited the most hostile, most concealed environments, never surfacing lightly.
Mo Duo had once been fortunate enough to witness one. He had accidentally stumbled into territory where several Ancient Demons dwelled, and had been hunted as an intruder for tens of thousands of miles, nearly losing his life. The memory of an Ancient Demon's aura was etched into his mind with perfect clarity.