A demon, two zhang tall, continuously flicked its long tongue, a thick tail swaying behind it, while its hands each gripped a massive hammer.
"Hehehehe..."
The demon pointed the great hammers in its hands at the three approaching Ancestors, its demeanor exceedingly arrogant, showing no regard for the three Nascent Soul powerhouses.
"Come on, you three little bastards! Let me show you what a true demon is!"
The trio was enraged. As Ancestors of the Nascent Soul stage, they were respected everywhere. Never had they been looked down upon by something that was neither human nor beast.
"Let us three join forces and slay this demon today, eradicating a great harm to humanity."
Ancestor Jiang of the Ziwei Sect shouted, unleashing a cyan talisman. The talisman emitted a cyan light in the air, transforming into a giant wolf with wings on its back.
The giant wolf let out a howl and pounced towards the demon.
The Ziwei Sect excelled in talisman arts; the Thousand-Mile Teleportation Talisman in Xiao Fei's hand originated from the Ziwei Sect.
This wolf, formed from a talisman, could actually exude the pressure of the Nascent Soul stage, effectively adding a Nascent Soul combatant out of thin air.
Concurrently, the other two Ancestors were not to be outdone, each displaying their divine abilities.
Ancestor Jin of the Chiyang Sect unleashed a great saber ablaze with flames, while Ancestor Shangguan conjured a bronze cauldron. Both attacked the demon simultaneously.
The demon, facing attacks from all sides, remained unfazed. It swung its great hammers towards the cyan wolf formed by the talisman.
"Boom!"
With a single strike, the cyan wolf dissipated into countless cyan light spots in the air.
In just one exchange, the four-pronged encirclement had lost a corner.
At the same moment, Ancestor Jin's flaming saber and Ancestor Shangguan's bronze cauldron landed on the demon.
The flaming saber sliced into the demon's head, but only carved a two-cun deep gash, not even revealing its brain matter.
Before the bronze cauldron could smash down, it was blocked by a hammer. The collision sent the bronze cauldron flying far away with a deafening clang.
This demon was exceptionally powerful. Under the siege of three human Nascent Soul powerhouses, it did not seem to be at a disadvantage.
Moreover, its skin was thick and its combat style ferociously aggressive. Wielding its pair of great hammers, it charged wildly within the encirclement of the three, often forcing the Ancestors to adopt defensive stances.
The power of this pair of great hammers had already been witnessed. The three Ancestors did not believe their physical bodies could withstand a single blow; a hit would render their bodies crippled.
"Hahaha..."
"You humans are all trash. Just surrender obediently and become our demon race's servants!"
The demon attacked ferociously with its great hammers, favoring offense over defense, its demeanor arrogant and presumptuous, showing no regard for the human powerhouses, as if it had, single-handedly, surrounded the three human Nascent Souls.
The three Nascent Soul Ancestors felt a deep sense of humiliation. When had they ever suffered such a grievous insult?
At this moment, Ancestor Shangguan changed his hand seals, and the lid of the giant cauldron suspended in the air opened, descending upon the demon's head.
Ancestor Jin of the Chiyang Sect beckoned, and a colossal puppet, five zhang tall, appeared before him. The puppet held an oversized bow and arrow, which lit up under the infusion of spiritual energy.
Drawing the bow, an arrow as thick as an arm and over a zhang long shot out with a *whoosh*.
The demon paid no mind, swinging its great hammers to smash at the bronze cauldron once more.
Just then, it suddenly felt its vision darken, its head swim, and its body weaken. It could only muster its strength to dodge the cauldron's strike.
"You stinking bitch, you dared to poison me with a sneak attack!"
No matter how arrogant the demon was, it knew it had been poisoned by Ancestor Shangguan.
At that moment, an arrow over a zhang long arrived, striking its knee.
Following that, several more arrows flew in succession, *whoosh, whoosh, whoosh*...
Taking advantage of the demon's poisoned state and sluggish reaction, several arrows consecutively hit its body.
"Using such despicable and base methods, are you still a hero?" The demon was enraged and indignant, refusing to accept defeat.
"I was never a hero to begin with. Any method that can subdue you is a good method."
Striking while the iron was hot, the three Nascent Soul Ancestors attacked in unison.
"Boom!"
The demon's body was blasted into pieces.
From its shattered form, a black Nascent Soul, only three cun in size, flew out. With a single blink, it escaped the encirclement of the three, and then, after a few more flashes, it vanished into the distant horizon.
"Alas! It still managed to escape!"
Ancestor Jin of the Chiyang Sect slapped his thigh, feeling a sense of regret that he hadn't managed to kill the opponent here.
"Reduced to just its Nascent Soul, it won't be easy to recover its peak strength."
"Nascent Soul stage demons are so difficult to deal with. We must intensify our screening efforts and find all hidden demon seeds."
After this battle, the three Nascent Soul Ancestors had witnessed the demon's combat prowess, and their apprehension towards demons had multiplied severalfold.
Demon seeds grew rapidly and possessed strong combat capabilities. If these hidden demons were allowed to mature, humanity would have no way to survive in the cultivation world.
Therefore, preventing trouble before it happened and nipping danger in the bud was the most pressing matter at hand.
Seeing the heavily injured demon flee, Xiao Fei, who had been hiding in an armored fish at the bottom of the lake, finally flew out of the water.
"Thank you, three Ancestors, for saving my life!"
"You need not be grateful. We originally intended to use you as bait to lure out and slay both the evil cultivators and the demons.
We didn't expect them to appear at the same time, and in the end, our efforts were in vain."
Ancestor Shangguan directly revealed the truth of using him as bait and then looked at the other two Ancestors before speaking.
"You have made a great contribution this time, and you have also preserved the strength of the cultivation world by treating cultivators parasitized by demons.
Combined, these are great merits."
"I decree today that the pair of great hammers used by the demon will be rewarded to you as spoils of war."
Ancestor Shangguan said, his eyes falling on Ancestor Jin and Ancestor Jiang.
The two Ancestors were not purely body cultivators, and their need for this pair of great hammers was not urgent. Acquiring them would merely be for selling them for spirit stones.
Since Ancestor Shangguan had already spoken, neither of them objected. It was also good to forge a good relationship with Xiao Fei.
After all, in the entire cultivation world at present, only Xiao Fei could treat cultivators parasitized by demon seeds.
"Thank you, three Ancestors, for your bestowal!"
Xiao Fei, who had initially been somewhat displeased about being used as bait, felt his spirits lift instantly upon receiving the reward.
Having value was, after all, a form of life's worth.
The demon's body had been shattered, and its pair of great hammers had fallen into the lake. After thanking the three Ancestors, Xiao Fei leaped into the lake with a splash.
Amidst a pile of mud, Xiao Fei found one of the great hammers.
This great hammer was entirely black, its head about the size of a large watermelon, covered in scale-like patterns.
The hammer handle was about three feet long, seamlessly integrated with the hammer head, and also covered in scale-like patterns.
Xiao Fei attempted to lift it, finding it to weigh at least a hundred thousand jin.
He could barely lift it with both hands using his full spiritual energy, but he couldn't swing it with one hand.
It seemed he could only store it away for later use.