The demon laughed. "It's just making use of these dead bodies. They are already dead; it would be a waste to bury them. Why not sacrifice them to temporarily increase my battle strength? You were able to kill thousands of us single-handedly, but now all thousands of them, and even these hundred thousand mortals, will be your enemy. Can you handle this?"

Li Yuxong had already reached Rank 6 peak stage. He glanced at the demon deeply and said while gritting his teeth, "You have lost all your morality. You have lost all your shame. I swear to the heavens, today, either you will die, or I will kill myself!"

The demon laughed as his battle strength started soaring: Rank 5, Rank 6 early stage, Rank 6 mid stage, Rank 6 late stage, Rank 6 peak stage, Rank 7 early stage, Rank 7 mid stage! Finally, it stopped at Rank 7 mid stage!

This was a blood sacrifice secret technique. It was a very rare Grade 7 Secret Technique, which allowed one to increase their battle strength by sacrificing countless people. Blood Sacrifice Technique had many variants, and they were available in all ranks; however, they were so rare that fewer than 10 or 20 people may be aware of it in the whole world! However, this skill came with a deadly side effect. A normal Rank 5 Warrior's body was incapable of handling a Rank 7 battle strength. If the Warrior didn't control himself and exerted too much strength, his body might not be able to bear the impact and could die mid-battle.

The demon laughed. "What do you say now, Holy Son?"

Li Yuxong glanced at the demon indifferently, took out his sword, and said calmly, "Spiritual Imprint: Poplar Resilience."

The demon also smirked. "You are not the only one with a Spiritual Imprint..."

"Spiritual Imprint: Lightning Armor."

Whenever a Spiritual Imprint is activated, it not only invokes a skill but also affects certain attributes of the Warrior, such as strength, defense, speed, and others, which may either be boosted or diminished.

Lightning Armor boosted speed while the skill increased defense. It was a Rank 5 Spiritual Imprint.

Poplar Resilience increased strength, healing ability, and defense while at the same time reducing speed.

A Rank 7 Warrior's speed was at least three times higher than a Rank 6 Warrior's! However, in this case, the demon's speed was around five times higher than Li Yuxong's.

The demon quickly moved and came behind Li Yuxong. Yuxong was shocked and barely able to react before he was attacked with huge strength and blasted about five miles ahead!

He was heavily injured in just one move. His 15 bones broke apart, and his internal organs started bleeding. However, he was lucky. He was lucky that the demon didn’t know any Rank 7 level attacking method. Otherwise, his Rank 6 Spiritual Imprint might not have been able to sustain him.

His whole injury healed within a few seconds, and he stood back as if nothing had happened. However, before he could think of fighting, the demon appeared in front of him.

Li Yuxong was shocked. He couldn’t react and was hit hard again. This continued for multiple rounds, and soon the demon realized the problem.

He immediately captured Yuxong and held him in the air by his throat. "Your Spiritual Imprint is special. You can heal yourself quickly with its help. I envy you. It’s a pity you have to die now. I am a good person, and I will help you complete your vow."

Li Yuxong smiled. "I underestimated you. But don’t worry, I will give you a brutal death."

The demon narrowed his eyes and increased the force of his hand to crush his neck, but he could only clench his fist with nothing in it.

He was shocked and then glanced behind.

Li Yuxong appeared behind him and punched him hard.

His whole body, which was previously covered with green and brown shades, now started showing a black color. His eyes had completely turned black, and his shadow faded from existence.

Yes, it was his second Spiritual Imprint: Warp Walker.

This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

Warp Walker allowed him to bypass the spatial dimension and appear anywhere in geometry. This ability went beyond what mere spatial control could achieve, as it directly bypassed space itself. Even if one closed down space, he had the ability to bypass it! However, it needed a very high level of control and spiritual essence. At the base level, he could only move through space like a short teleportation, and only after reaching higher levels could he bring out its true potential.

Warp Walker not only increased his speed but also his strength, defense, and durability.

When Warp Walker merged with Poplar Resilience, his battle strength increased exponentially, reaching overwhelming Rank 7 peak strength in an instant.

He glanced at the demon with deep eyes.

The demon glanced at Yuxong and felt an unknown fear within him. He didn’t speak, as his instincts were telling him to run. Run as far as possible.

He directly used his fastest escape method and fled with all his strength. He resolutely sacrificed his own blood to increase his speed, but everything was pointless at this point.

Li Yuxong disappeared and instantly appeared in front of the demon, grabbing his head and holding him in the air in the same way he had been held.

He said coldly, "Now feel the pain of all those you killed."

Saying this, he used his full strength and shattered the Heavenly Core present in the demon's body.

The Heavenly Core was the source where the entire spiritual essence was stored in the body. It nourished the body and also aided in healing. It was unique to Intermediate Warriors, and once it was destroyed, their cultivation instantly fell back to Rank 3! In this process, one felt immense pain, so unbearable that in most cases people just died of it! For a Warrior, it was also known as the worst death one could have.

The demon screamed loudly in pain and soon died, unable to bear it!

Li Yuxong glanced at his dead body and didn’t care. He left the scene and returned to the Heaven’s Hand Sect.

As soon as he returned, a young man came towards him.

"Greetings, Saint. The Holy Maiden invited you to her abode."

Li Yuxong nodded and left.

Heaven’s Hand Sect was situated in Heavenly Terrace. There were many mountains and caves in the sect and various isolated worlds.

On one of the mountains, a large house was present. The entire mountain was filled with rich spiritual essence and strong defensive formations.

Li Yuxong easily bypassed the formation and entered the house.

He looked at the woman tenderly and smiled. "Ling-er."

She was Huang Ling. She had also reached Rank 6 peak stage.

Huang Ling stood up and looked at him gently. "I was waiting for you."

Li Yuxong gently hugged her, and then he heard her say, "I have something to tell you."

Li Yuxong looked into her eyes, and before he could ask, she took his hand and led it to her belly.

Li Yuxong was surprised. "Are you..."

Huang Ling smiled. Her eyes were filled with tears of joy. "Yes!"

Northern Continent, Battlefield of Wei and Shu Dynasty

The formation was about to be completed.

Shu Pang shouted loudly. "Hurry, make the Snake Formation!"

Shen Lin also shouted. "Every warrior, take your sword as a weapon and get ready for a full-scale battle."

Shu Pang nodded at Shen Lin. "This battle doesn't need an archer. Discard your bows, take your swords, and enter the formation as soon as possible!"

The formation looked like a circular maze. From the front, there was one open door through which they had to move toward the right, as the left side was blocked by defensive warriors.

Shu Pang realized that staying in the open could be deadly, as the enemy's archers would soon start their attack. He also understood that this battle was not going to be easy.

He shouted, "Units 10 to 15, all of you go around the circular formation, find their weakness and attack at one point, and forcefully breach it."

Shu Pang resolutely chose to use all five million soldiers for this battle. He understood there was no need to waste any warriors. He was afraid—afraid of the unknown. He didn’t know the internal structure of the formation.

At that moment, Li Gang, who was sitting on his chariot, got the news that the enemy side was making a Snake Formation.

He smirked. "Every archer, get your bows ready and fire arrows in the direction of the entrance of the formation!"

Shu Pang's strategy was clear. He wanted to enter the entrance and, from behind, attack the outer-layer warriors carrying the shields. If those warriors shifted their defense to guard against inside attacks, the units present outside the formation would attack them from behind.

The reason he chose the Snake Formation instead of the Sword Formation was that he anticipated this move by Li Gang. He knew that if the opponent saw a Sword Formation, they would attack in the same direction, killing 20% of the warriors instantly before they could even enter! He realized how deep this formation was and how dangerous any wrong move could be.

However, they still faced billions of arrows being shot at them. These arrows were so fast that even Rank 4 warriors were barely able to dodge them. They came in overwhelming numbers—around hundreds of millions every few seconds!

Due to the snake-like formation, the destruction was reduced, and only a few tens of thousands died, while around a hundred thousand were already injured.

By this time, thousands of their warriors had also entered the formation and attacked in the right direction. They attacked the warriors holding shields from behind!

The moment they attacked from behind, those defensive warriors immediately switched to an attacking stance and started countering. However, before they could be outnumbered, Shu warriors faced a barrage of arrows and various spears!

These arrows came from the core part of the formation, while the spears came from behind them.

Yes, the left direction, which was initially blocked, suddenly opened, and hundreds of warriors attacked Shu warriors from behind, catching them completely off guard.