Chapter 89: Chopping Off Without Hesitation

　　“What if I insist on taking offense?” Shen Lian replied casually.

　　“Such a joker you are.” The woman clothed in colorful clothes covered her mouth as she smiled slightly.

　　Shen Lian sighed and extended his right hand with a tree leaf on it. He managed to pluck it somehow and it flew out of his hand.

　　It would seem that he had used the Jifeng Talisman on the leaf earlier.

　　Any fighter with strong enough inner strength could use anything from their surroundings as killing weapon, including grass, wood, bamboo, or rock. Moreover, Shen Lian had planted runes on the leaf.

　　The Jifeng Talisman was considered one of the basics in talisman Dao. However, it was impressive how Shen Lian could conjure it so casually and discreetly. The leaf barely made a sound after leaving his hand, and the shapeless Qi flowed within it, speeding it up. The leaf drew an arc in the air and ended up right next to the woman clothed in colorful clothes.

　　It cut toward her fair neck like a spinner.

　　It was as though her head was not supported by bones, it spun around for half a circle at high speed. The speed was not something that could be followed by human eyes. Quickly, it snapped back into its original position.

　　To normal people, she did not move at all. However, Shen Lian saw what she did, though not completely. This showed how quickly she was moving.

　　Her shiny black eyes turned into a shade of dull green. Light shone from her green eyes and it was a sight that would send chills up anyone’s spine.

　　Shen Lian faced her glare head on. Meanwhile, the woman held the leaf between her red lips. It was an eerie sight to behold.

　　She swallowed the leaf and licked her lips with her reddish tongue, eerily seductive.

　　However, if one were to look at her green eyes, any lustful desires would be extinguished and turned into the terror that could fill one’s heart

　　Words were not needed and Shen Lian held his tongue. He was still looking at the woman’s neck, because that was her weakest point, her Achilles’ heel.

　　As for why Shen Lian acted the way he did, that was because his opponent was not human. She gave off a hint of cold-bloodedness and cruelty.

　　Even her beautiful appearance could not mask the dangerous aura that she was giving off.

　　The leaf was merely a test and not Shen Lian’s goal.

　　However, what happened just now confirmed Shen Lian’s suspicion and there was no mistaking it.

　　“If you were to let me have some fun with you, I might even spare your life due to your good looks. But since you have made your choice, don’t blame me for being cruel.” The colorfully clothed woman shifted, and a strong gust of wind followed. Out of sudden, a giant snake with the circumference of a bucket appeared.

　　Even though it was quite the sight to behold, it did not have the powerful presence that Jingqing had when he appeared in his original form.

　　It took a lot of mana for demons to shapeshift. However, that might not apply to the demonic snake in front of Shen Lian. The vital Qi it was giving off was not even as strong as the toad from earlier.

　　Faced with the giant snake, Shen Lian snickered and pointed his finger at it.

　　Snakes are cold-blooded animals, yet the demonic snake felt a tinge of coldness stemming from its soul and pain followed. It could not respond immediately.

　　To the outside world, the giant snake stood frozen and there was a momentary pause.

　　Shen Lian remained sharp. He had not used the Deity Vanquishing Sword for a while now and the effect was better than expected.

　　With his spirit condensed as a sword, he could slay one’s heart and soul.

　　He used it naturally without putting much thought into it, merely acted on the spur of the moment.

　　Subsequently, he directed his wooden sword at the third inch of the snake, which was the neck that he was looking at before.

　　The third inch referred not to distance, but to the weakest and most fragile point on the spine of the snake. Shen Lian did not base his estimation on its size, but on what he felt from the blood flow and the meridians of the demonic snake.

　　It sounded simple but it was a manifestation of all the years he spent cultivating. On top of that, he applied the medical knowledge from his past life in this actual battle.

　　The wooden sword was blunt, but with the mana instilled by Shen Lian, it was sharper that the sharpest sword in the world and the snake’s head fell with just a slash.

　　Its eyes were still open after it got beheaded, as though it could not believe that it was killed by a plain, young cultivator who did not look like he had much supernatural power.

　　The mana within Shen Lian was extremely condensed and focused, which was why he did not give off a pressuring presence, unlike most powerful cultivators. The runes on the leaf showed that despite he was good with talisman Dao, his mana was not especially strong.

　　Even though one could not judge a cultivator based on his age, the passing of time would no doubt leave a mark on them. Shen Lian was too young, and if he really was that good, he would need to have attained much in terms of cultivation at a really young age. Yet, cultivators as such had always been a rarity.

　　More importantly, if Shen Lian were really powerful, he would not have remained unmoved at the mention of Mister Hai.

　　The demonic snake did not manage to get the answers to all of these questions.

　　The demonic snake’s questions were hard to answer, and Shen Lian had some questions of his own too. After the demonic snake died, the condensed form of spirit did not escape from its body.

　　It was as though its spirit and soul were dispersed at the moment of its death.

　　Both the extremely condensed form of Qi, blood, and the inner core that had not taken shape was not found on the demonic snake.

　　Compared to Hali Zi, the demonic snake was useless. Surprisingly, it was able to shapeshift and that was not just any simple illusion trick.

　　…

　　There was not much to see on the sea, however, the underwater world was a different story. It was interesting and happening unlike the surface above.

　　Under the sea, different type of fishes swam around. There were the occasional fights between demons and beasts, and normal fishes that got caught up in it. Every moment, countless lives were lost and at the same time, countless lives were born.

　　However, all of the lives in the sea within the three hundred miles radius belonged to the Nine-Headed Demon King.

　　Despite the fact that demon king could not care less about these worthless lives, to these creatures, he was still the king.

　　The Nine-Headed King’s underwater palace was grand and it had been a thousand years since he had attained the Dharma. However, he was not the one who built the underwater palace. He snatched it from one of the demon kings who was in the Dragon Clan.

　　The Dragon Clan was rich in all four seas, it would make sense that their underwater palace was grand. It was as good as the palace built by humans, if not better.

　　Never-ending music came from the underwater palace, and that was because the Nine-Headed Demon King was having a guest over.

　　That was an esteemed guest.

　　The demon soldiers knew that the guest was an esteemed guest, as their king wore the scarlet purple robe that he rarely wore and had the gold-twined python belt with the grain pattern of rhinoceros on his waist.

　　More importantly, the king had nine heads which he usually showed even in his human form, giving off a strong presence. However, he kept his eight other heads today. He only had one head and appeared in the style of human princes and marquises.

　　As for what did the human princes and marquises looked like, the demon soldiers had no idea. They just believed everything that the king said.

　　The demon clan had a longer lifespan than human cultivators, and correspondingly, their cultivation progress was hundred times harder as well.

　　Which was why most of the powerful demon kings did not care about cultivation, but they enjoyed having fun and making new friends.

　　The more powerful their friends were, the prouder they felt.

　　The friend he was hosting that day was just that powerful friend indeed. As the humans would say, ‘to be greatly honored by one’s gracious presence’, and that perfectly described how the demon king felt having the esteemed guest over.