It was that white-browed young man of the demon race.
At this moment, dark light flickered around his entire body as he desperately tried to resist the entanglement of the red threads. But these red threads were of some unknown nature — no matter how frantically the dark light flashed, he could not shake them off in the slightest.
Seeing this, a ferocious look appeared on the old Daoist's face as he slowly walked toward the white-browed young man.
Just then, several sharp howls rang out from within the city. Several streaks of light in various colors shot up into the sky and hurtled straight toward this location.
Seeing this, the white-browed young man knew at once that other members of the Shadow Clan had arrived. A flash of terror crossed his face. He let out a tremendous roar, and dark light circulated rapidly through his body as his frame swelled in size. At the same time, a pair of pitch-black iron wings materialized behind his back, and both his hands transformed into a pair of gleaming iron claws.
Realizing the situation had turned dire, he instantly shifted into a half-demon form, looking as though he were prepared to fight to the death.
For the demon race, their true reliance was naturally their own powerful bodies. And since the Black Eagle Clan was counted among the Seven Great Demon Tribes, they were far from ordinary. With a single shake of his razor-sharp claws, dark light roughly a foot long shot out from their tips. He swept them left and right, and wherever the profound dark light passed, the red threads around his body snapped apart inch by inch.
These rays of dark light were astonishingly sharp.
The white-browed young man was naturally overjoyed at this.
He was fully confident that once he severed every last red thread around him, he could use the Black Eagle Clan's unique escape technique to flee.
But before he could continue swinging his claws, the scene that unfolded next turned his face deathly pale, without a trace of color.
The severed red threads flashed and reconnected one after another, restoring themselves to their original state.
A mocking smile appeared on the old Daoist's face. His figure blurred, and he eerily materialized in front of the white-browed young man. Then, with one hand, he reached behind his head, and a vivid crimson shadow slowly emerged from within.
"Crimson Shadow — so you really are a member of the Shadow Clan!" The moment he saw the Crimson Shadow, the white-browed young man fell into utter despair.
In the Shadow Clan, a Crimson Shadow was equivalent to a Void Refining stage cultivator among humans — how could a mere Nascent Soul stage demon cultivator like him possibly withstand it?
"Good that you know. Your physical body is quite fine — I shall claim it. Rest assured, none of your companions will escape either. Before long, they'll all be joining you in the underworld." A flash of red light gleamed in the old Daoist's eyes, and an unfamiliar, piercingly shrill voice issued from him. Then the Crimson Shadow above his head darted forward, plunging fiercely toward the young man.
At the same time, the red threads that had been binding the white-browed young man pierced straight through his protective dark aura and wrapped tightly around his body.
Even though the young man possessed tremendous strength, he could not move a single muscle. All he could do was watch helplessly as the Crimson Shadow hurtled toward him.
"You won't get me!"
The white-browed young man's heart had already sunk to the depths of despair. Knowing that escape was utterly impossible, a surge of madness suddenly welled up within him. He gritted his teeth and bit off half his tongue, then opened his mouth and sprayed out a stream of black blood mixed with a thumb-sized black bead.
The moment the bead left his body, the young man's eyes went dim and lifeless. His entire body withered and shrank, instantly transforming into an old man with a head full of white hair.
This bead was none other than the demon core the white-browed young man had painstakingly cultivated for many years.
Suspended in the black blood, the bead radiated an extremely violent aura. After swelling and contracting once, it abruptly detonated.
The old Daoist's expression changed in alarm. Not only did the Crimson Shadow atop his head snap back as though recoiling from a venomous serpent, but he also pushed off with his feet and shot backward in a blur.
A deafening, heaven-shaking explosion rang out. A fist-sized sphere of black light materialized out of thin air, flickered briefly, and then expanded to over thirty feet across, still desperately spreading outward in all directions. Violent winds erupted, and clouds of yellow sand and dust shot skyward, forming several winding dragons of wind.
His phantom flickering, the old Daoist halted over thirty feet away and narrowed his eyes.
But the sphere of black light followed right on his heels, relentless as a burrowing parasite.
The old Daoist's face darkened, and he suddenly let out an indescribable, peculiar cry.
With a deafening whistle that tore through the air, a thick crimson shadow shot out from the empty space nearby without the slightest warning. It plunged straight into the black sphere of light, then retracted with lightning speed.
An eerie spectacle appeared!
The yellow wind dragons collapsed and dissipated in an instant. The black sphere of light, along with the white-browed young man, vanished without a trace from where they had been, as though they had never existed there at all.
Only then did the old Daoist let out a sigh of relief, but a trace of irritation immediately appeared on his face.
That the white-browed young man had still been able to detonate his demon core while under his restraints — that truly exceeded his expectations.
Just then, several streaks of light circled through the air nearby, revealing eight cultivators — men and women alike.
"There was an unexpected development. They didn't fall into the trap. This is going to be a bit troublesome, but I secretly released Shadow Fragrance — they've all been lightly contaminated with it, enough to last for two hours. I will personally hunt down the one who disrupted my plans, bringing the Mirage Beast with me. As for the rest of you — go and eliminate the other three." The old Daoist gave his orders in a sinister tone.
"Yes, Sovereign!" The eight cultivators in the air bowed and responded in unison. They then split into three groups of streaking light and shot off in three different directions.
The old Daoist was in no hurry to leave immediately. Instead, he opened his mouth and let out a series of strange, unending roars that shook the surrounding air with a deep hum, piercing straight through the clouds into the heavens above.
Then he waved one hand toward the city gate.
Instantly, over a dozen gray shadows flew out from the bodies of those Foundation Establishment cultivators stationed at the gate, each one vanishing in a flash as they merged into his own body. As for the cultivators themselves, they immediately collapsed to the ground, lifeless.
Then, an unbelievable scene unfolded.