### Chapter 86: A Draw
”Not good!” Jin Bihan narrowly escaped the pursuit of the Nine-tailed Demon Lord. Frowning, her fingers flew, and her zither sang.
As the zither music spread, over a dozen Golden Jade Immortal Butterflies erupted with resplendent divine light. Jade and gold intertwined as they sacrificed their lives to unleash the Illusionary Immortal Dreamscape, temporarily holding back the charging horde.
”Hehehe!” The Nine-tailed Demon Lord seized the opportunity to attack. Xiao Xiaoxian tried to intervene but was struck by Wolf Fang Lord’s saber, spewing blood and sustaining grave injuries.
Chu Yun swung his saber, about to assist, when a ringing sound echoed in his ear, causing his soul to tremble within him.
”Where do you think you’re going?” It was Marquis Wu Chang, shaking the Soul Lament Bell in his left hand, relentlessly pursuing Chu Yun like a cat toying with a mouse.
”A fine Jade Pure Heart Lotus. This item and I are destined to meet,” Zen Lord’s eyes gleamed as he blocked Erlang Tian Jun, who had come to support.
”The tide has turned!” The Nine-tailed Demon Lord chuckled and hurled the Reincarnation Seal. The seal, like a meteor, crashed towards Jin Bihan.
A golden cicada shedding its shell!
At the critical moment, Jin Bihan activated the cultivation method of her Golden Cicada Robe, narrowly escaping death.
Xiao Xiaoxian, however, was pushed to the brink, watching as Wolf Fang Lord’s Black Demon Dagger plunged towards his chest. He glared with rage but was powerless!
*Boom—!*
On the edge of life and death, spiritual energy surged, and the air exploded. A large shield suddenly appeared, protecting Xiao Xiaoxian and blocking Wolf Fang Lord’s fatal blow.
It was Wine King’s timely intervention.
”Hahaha, Wine King, you withdrew your Destiny Demonic Soldiers. This is your own demise!” Greedy Wolf King laughed heartily, seizing the opportunity. He unleashed several of his demonic creatures, breaching Wine King’s defenses and launching a fierce assault, their divine path techniques blazing like the sun.
Wine King spat blood and retreated, heavily wounded!
”Greedy Snake!” Greedy Wolf King revealed his trump card: a seven-colored, resplendent long snake, petite and delicate, coiled in his palm like a string.
Its body was like crystal, its scales like agate, its eyes like diamonds. Its patterned scales formed clusters from head to tail, in the colors of “red, orange, yellow, green, cyan, blue, violet, white, and black” as miniature, colorful cloud patterns.
With a single gulp, countless beams of light flew out from Wine King’s Immortal Pouch, all swallowed by the Greedy Snake.
”Hahaha, the dragon corpse of Cangmang Earth is finally mine!” Greedy Wolf King cackled maniacally. “Wine King, you cultivate through wine, but you foolishly dream of comprehending Divine Path Techniques under my nose!”
”Ocean of Wine!” Wine King’s eyes flared, his fury erupting into a roar like that of a dragon or tiger.
The Primordial Strange Beast Taotie, which had retreated to a corner after swallowing the Great Wine Vat of Mountains and Rivers, suddenly changed its expression, letting out a pained howl. Its distended belly rapidly expanded. In an instant, it grew to three times its original size!
Taotie swelled like a balloon, its belly round and plump, its limbs and tail pushed to the edges.
*Puff—!*
The next second, it could no longer hold it in, and it spewed out a torrent of wine, filling the air with its aroma.
The surging wine formed a waterfall, cascading down with a thunderous roar.
Greedy Wolf King quickly stopped laughing and steered three demonic beasts to block the wine flow. However, the wine suddenly exploded, releasing the Great Wine Vat of Mountains and Rivers.
Instantly, the air shattered, and the wine vat ballooned to the size of a small mountain, carrying a world-ending, terrifying aura as it slammed into Greedy Wolf King.
The three Tribulation Demon Beasts that tried to block it were all sent flying. Greedy Wolf King, unable to evade, was grazed by the edge of the wine vat, his chest collapsing and nearly all his ribs broken, leaving a trail of blood in the air.
All this talk covers mere moments.
In the blink of an eye, both kings were severely wounded!
”You are ruthless!” Greedy Wolf King straightened himself, his face contorted with hatred, his eyes filled with unending resentment. “Now we are both injured, but I have experienced Jun-level experts on my side. Wine King, let’s see how you intend to protect these juniors!”
If Wine King intervened, his combat power would be weakened and his focus divided, presenting Greedy Wolf King with a prime opportunity for a sneak attack. If he didn’t intervene, he’d watch Xiao Xiaoxian, Jin Bihan, and the others be annihilated by Marquis Wu Chang and his group, ultimately leading to Greedy Wolf King and Marquis Wu Chang ganging up on Wine King anyway. Either way, it was a massive disadvantage.
Unless Wine King fled immediately, abandoning Erlang Tian Jun, Chu Yun, and the others to their fate.
But given his character, could he possibly do that?
Marquis Wu Chang pointed at Chu Yun, and the Black and White Imps moved to attack Xiao Xiaoxian from both sides. Wine King remained silent, grabbing the edge of the great wine vat and lunging towards Marquis Wu Chang.
Seeing this, a triumphant glint flashed in Greedy Wolf King’s eyes. Just as he expected, Wine King would try to protect the juniors. If he played his cards right, he might even cause Wine King’s downfall.
”Alas, it seems I must use this jewel secret message,” Chu Yun sighed inwardly, taking out the jewel secret message gifted to him by Ten Thousand Poisons Queen.
He understood the entire battle situation like the back of his hand. Even with his full effort, he couldn’t resolve the crisis. Just as he was about to toss the secret message to summon Ten Thousand Poisons Queen for help, Greedy Wolf King’s expression suddenly changed.
*Roar!*
Taotie let out a sudden, earth-shattering roar, like that of a dragon and a lion. The sound waves rolled like thunder, sweeping in all directions.
Reeking of wine, it attacked wildly like a berserker, its divine path light engulfing everything around it. It didn’t even spare its own master, Greedy Wolf King.
It was because it had swallowed the Great Wine Vat of Mountains and Rivers, and Wine King had played a trick, subtly using the wine’s fumes to affect it. However, the battle situation changed, forcing him to deplete the Great Wine Vat’s power to forcefully activate the “Ocean of Wine” divine path technique, causing Taotie to drink an immense amount of wine and fall into a state of drunken madness prematurely.
”Damn you, Wine King, for trying to scheme against me! But my goal has been achieved. Without the dragon corpse, you cannot brew your Nine Dragon Wine. This matter is not over; I will settle the score with you later!”
Greedy Wolf King’s face turned ashen. Taotie was his main Demonic Beast and his most powerful combatant. Now, it was attacking indiscriminately, recognizing neither friend nor foe. This completely stripped him of his ability to pursue Wine King.
He spat threats, and despite his Immortal Pouch being damaged, he forcefully retrieved Taotie and decisively retreated.
”Go!”
”Hmph, you’re lucky.”
”We’ll settle this next time, and I’ll take your lives.”
Before the words were out, Wolf Fang Lord activated a Spatial Demonic Creature, Black Mountain Barbarian Lord forcibly broke through the Battle Formation Space, leaving a large group of cannon fodder Demonic Beasts to cover their retreat. Marquis Wu Chang, like a phantom, vanished from his spot…
Now that Greedy Wolf King had left, how dared they confront Wine King? Although Wine King was injured, he was still a King. Not daring to challenge his might, they successively disengaged from the battlefield.
”Where do you think you’re going! Moon Rabbit!” Chu Yun targeted the closest enemy and activated time cultivation methods to hinder their escape.
”Capture him!” Wine King snorted coldly and activated the Great Wine Vat of Mountains and Rivers, emitting an immense suction force that immediately pulled the unlucky Nine-tailed Demon Lord into the wine vat.
”That was close… cough, cough, cough!” Xiao Xiaoxian looked fortunate, but each cough brought up a mouthful of blood.
Life Spring Jade Seal!
Chu Yun quickly deployed this Demonic Soldier to heal him and stabilize his injuries.
”We cannot stay here. We should leave too.” Wine King clutched his chest, a pained expression visible on his face. His injuries were undoubtedly severe.
Not only him, but Chu Yun, Erlang Tian Jun, Jin Bihan, and the others also had their spiritual light dimmed, their combat power at its lowest.
The previous battle had been too chaotic. Commanding various demonic creatures consumed a great deal of spiritual light. Everyone needed rest and recuperation.
They immediately withdrew from the Battle Formation Space and traveled thousands of miles to the Snow Cap Mountains. Amidst the peaks, they carved out a hidden cave dwelling for healing and recovery.
After setting up defensive measures, an overwhelming sense of fatigue washed over Chu Yun, making him want to collapse on the ground, close his eyes, and forget everything.
During the fierce battle, he hadn’t felt it. Now that they were temporarily safe and relaxed, Chu Yun felt pain all over his body.
Upon closer inspection, he had quite a few wounds on his front and back. Although not serious individually, they added up, causing him to bleed profusely and feel slightly dizzy.
These wounds needed immediate attention. At the same time, the spiritual light within him had dimmed to its lowest point, faint as fireflies. Among the Demonic Creatures, Sky Fox, Moon Rabbit, and the Colorless Rainbow Demon were all injured, some severely. Jianmu was heavily wounded, the Golden Jade Immortal Butterflies were near death, and the Five Virtues Wheel was utterly shattered, its components scattered as five Destiny Demonic Soldiers. Reassembling it would require significant effort and reforging.
The Spirit Snake was unharmed but completely drained of its demonic essence. The same applied to the Drunken Snow Saber. This innate Demonic Weapon had acted as a stabilizing force in the battle, playing a crucial role. However, despite its exceptionally rich demonic essence, it was now nearly depleted, indicating it had given its all.
The previous battle was, by far, the most perilous one in history.
On the opposing side were four veteran Jun-level experts and one Marquis-level powerhouse. Meanwhile, Chu Yun and his companions were only four newly promoted Jun-level cultivators. In terms of combat experience and Demonic Creature reserves, they were inferior to their opponents.
More critically, the spiritual pressure of the two Kings and Marquis Wu Chang permeated the battlefield, forcing them to exert their own spiritual pressure to resist constantly. This greatly exacerbated the depletion of their spiritual light.
The higher a Beast Tamer cultivated, the more pronounced the disparity in ranks became. According to historical records of Xingzhou’s classic battles, a Jun-level cultivator attempting to challenge a Marquis-level expert would need at least five companions. This highlighted the immense deterrence of Marquis-level spiritual pressure on Jun-level Beast Tamers.
For a Marquis-level expert to challenge a King, at least ten veteran Marquis-level cultivators would be needed for any chance of success.
The fact that Chu Yun and the other three managed to hold out for so long was partly because Chu Yun and Erlang Tian Jun were both at the peak of the Jun level, with one foot in the Marquis level. Xiao Xiaoxian and Jin Bihan were also Sky-level cultivators with extraordinary potential, continuously improving during the battle, pushing their limits, and exceeding expectations.
On the other hand, it was also due to Wine King’s support.
It could be said that achieving a mutually destructive outcome, with no fatalities, was a cause for pride. If this feat were to spread, it would further enhance everyone’s reputation.
