Chapter Twenty-Five: The Storm's Child Dancing in the Wind

With a series of crisp pops like firecrackers, the berserk fiend suddenly grew stronger, snapping every talisman restraining him in the Myriad Sigil Demon-Binding Array in mere moments. With a furious roar, his four arms, like a storm unleashed, all slammed toward Zhuang Xiaoyuan.

Planting her feet firmly on the fiend’s back, Zhuang Xiaoyuan pushed off with all her might, soaring high into the air. From above, she looked down at the raging fiend. All four of his fists struck his own back, leaving deep indentations.

But as the dark-red flesh on his back squirmed, the dents healed within seconds. The fiend’s regenerative powers seemed to increase with his rage. Yet, in that fleeting instant before the wounds closed, Zhuang Xiaoyuan keenly caught a flash of crimson light.

Suspended in midair, she formed seals with her hands, and more talismans flew from her sleeves. This time, it was no mere Immobilizing Talisman. “Spirit Array: Edict Talisman, Million Spirit Array!”

Sheets of yellow talismans shot toward the fiend like machine-gun bullets. Unlike ordinary bullets that left him unscathed, these talismans packed true power. While a single Edict Talisman could only leave a small wound that the fiend healed almost instantly, the sheer number made the difference.

A Million Spirit Array—true to its name, it comprised a million Edict Talismans. When detonated together, the power was staggering. As the barrage ended, the fiend lay twisted and unrecognizable on the ground.

As the smoke from the explosions faded, the fiend’s body was revealed: no longer any semblance of its former shape, just a mass of dark-red flesh. Yet, even this gruesome heap, oozing black blood, began to slowly mend itself under Zhuang Xiaoyuan’s gaze.

These fiends were terrifying indeed—reduced to nothing but a lump of flesh, yet still able to heal. But this was the end. Gravity took hold. Zhuang Xiaoyuan plummeted, her gaze fixed on a single spot in the fiend’s flesh: a bright red, transparent crystal core—the fiend’s heart.

“Vanish, fiend!” Eyes wide, Zhuang Xiaoyuan shouted, channeling the force of her fall as she drove the Immortal-Slaying Sword straight into the core.

With a crack, the crystalline heart shattered.

The fiend’s body, which had been slowly healing, went still. In the next instant, the flesh around the core crumbled to powder and vanished. From the split core, a stream of pale blue energy burst forth, merging instantly into Zhuang Xiaoyuan’s body.

Startled by the sudden surge of blue energy, Zhuang Xiaoyuan braced for a final counterattack. But there was no discomfort—quite the opposite: her divine power surged to a new level.

As the blue energy flowed into her, she felt her power soaring, breaking through from the mid-level Faith Rank to the third stage—High Faith Rank. As the surge slowed, she was only a step away from the Prayer Rank. With this advancement, all the divine power she had nearly exhausted was restored in an instant—she was reborn at full strength.

Time rewound: elsewhere, Wen Hui, spear in hand, charged into the storm. The fierce winds did not hinder her; instead, they became her ally, propelling her forward even faster.

Wen Hui, holding her spear horizontally, became a flash of emerald light streaking through the tempest. The Hurricane Spear, wreathed in green wind, drove her through the storm and, without pause, straight at the fiend’s chest.

Emerald wind enveloped Wen Hui, and with a piercing howl, she shot through the fiend’s chest, leaving a gaping hole behind. Then, the green winds gathered at the tip of her spear, turning its point toward the evil god on the fiend’s back.

Unfortunately, the fiend’s crystal core was not near the chest she had just pierced. Though she had bored a hole through him, such a wound would be healed in time.

The evil god atop the fiend never expected Wen Hui to attack so brutally, passing straight through the fiend’s body. But this evil god was stronger than the one Zhuang Xiaoyuan faced, sturdier in form. Without a corrupted black blade in hand, he simply sidestepped Wen Hui’s attack, his blackened right hand striking at the side of Wen Hui’s Hurricane Spear.

This evil god had been the first to awaken. While the other had spent his awakening corrupting and assimilating his black blade, this one had focused on assimilating his own body. By now, his upper torso, hands, and head were shrouded in darkness, the blackness creeping steadily downward. When an evil god’s entire human body was fully corrupted, their power surpassed their original rank. But he had not yet completed the process.

With the wind howling, the evil god launched his attack, confident—but before his hand could touch the Hurricane Spear, the emerald wind swirling around it blocked him.

“Fool! You’re just a mid-tier evil god. Do you really think you can dodge my divine descent? Hurricane Spiral Spear!”

A glint of mockery flashed in Wen Hui’s green eyes as the wind around her spear began to spin, transforming into razor-sharp blades. The evil god’s blackened right hand was sucked in and shredded to ash.

“Argh—damn it, my hand!” He staggered back, barely escaping the Hurricane Spiral Spear’s pull. The price for saving his life was his right hand, but survival would only last a moment longer.

“This is the end, evil god. Let the raging storm purify you,” Wen Hui declared, reversing her spear and aiming the tip downward. The winds around her grew ever stronger.

“Wait, wait! I have vital information for you! We’re not the only ones who infiltrated the city—” Sensing the divine power surging from Wen Hui, panic twisted the evil god’s face. Grasping at his last hope, he tried to bargain for his life.

“You think I’ll believe the words of an evil god? Die. Hurricane Howl!”

With both hands, Wen Hui thrust her spear downward. The winds around her became an overwhelming vortex, swirling into a visible tornado. Centered on Wen Hui, the emerald hurricane descended.

“I’m telling the truth—no—!” A roar, then the emerald tornado erupted from the ground, spreading outward from Wen Hui. T