Nie Li was in his courtyard meditating, trying to better control his strengths, when he suddenly heard whistles and alarms. Thousands of people and ten towering demon gods attacked the City Lord's mansion. They appeared suddenly, without anyone sensing them.
Nie Li was quickly alarmed, and for the first time, he was shocked. But he reacted quickly, rushing to the frontlines. Soon, he spotted two figures leading the army: Long Sha and Gui Sha. What was surprising was that both of them had reached the Legend rank. Their aura was so strong, but Nie Li was confident he could take them both on. While strong, one was at the three-star Gold rank, and the other was at the peak of the one-star Gold rank.
Long Sha said, "City Lord, we've heard that someone killed many of our people. Hand him over, along with the hostages, and we won't annihilate the Snow Wind Family tonight."
The City Lord responded, "Long Sha, is it? Well, this City Lord has never been a coward. You think you can scare me? If it's a fight you want, a fight you'll get." He sent a mental message to Nie Li:
"Brat, I know you have many methods, but I can't guarantee your safety. Get Ziyun and escape as quickly as possible, or we will all die."
Nie Li sent back, "City Lord, don't worry. If it's just the two of them, I can take them both down. You have to protect the others. I can't afford to lose focus when engaging both of them. As for those demon gods, let my friends deal with them. By now, they're all Black Gold Demon Spiritualists, and they're stronger than ever. They can help."
The City Lord wasn't as confident as the boy, but he nodded. Everyone engaged their enemies, and as Nie Li predicted, it wasn't much of a struggle for his friends to fight the "demon gods" — or so the Dark Guild called them. The people of the Snow Wind Family weren't useless either; they quickly summoned the Snow Wind Spiritual God, which overwhelmed any enemy it encountered. The City Lord also engaged three peak Black Gold spiritualists without losing ground. So far, things looked good, and the battle seemed winnable.
Long Sha and Gui Sha still hadn't made a move, hovering above the City Lord's mansion, looking down on everyone as if they were ants. Nie Li quickly fused with his Fanged Panda, draconic wings forming on his back. He flew up, looking directly at both of them.
"If you're looking for your enemy, it's me. I annihilated your guild members, but you can't blame me for that. They were so weak and still had the audacity to come after me. As for you two, you'll soon see your comrades in the underworld."
Gui Sha and Long Sha looked at each other, then laughed loudly. "Brat, you think you can take both of us? Maybe you should take a good look at yourself — a brat like you, still reeking of his mother's milk, thinking you can kill us?"
Nie Li didn't say any more. He brandished the Thunder God Sword, coating it with his Yang Fire, and took a stance. His swordsmanship was infinitely closer to the Grandmaster level than ever before. For the first time in this life, he released all his strength. His aura was so intense that some weaker people fainted.
Gui Sha and Long Sha sensed his aura, and a slight fear erupted deep in their bones. They knew they had to take this seriously. They quickly fused with their own demon spirits. Nie Li was surprised because they were quite different from what he remembered. He attributed this to the possibility that they were small villains in his past, and perhaps his memory wasn't perfect.
Gui Sha fused with a Dark Wyvern, a draconic bloodline creature, making him quite strong. Long Sha fused with a Lesser Lightning Dragon, which was even more troublesome. They rushed at him. Nie Li used his Gravity Field to pressure them. They were stunned for a moment, and that was all it took for him to launch a surprise attack. He targeted Gui Sha and tried to cleave him in two. Gui Sha realized this and quickly unleashed his own technique, Dark Wall. Although it didn't stop the sword, it weakened it enough to prevent a lethal blow. In the end, Gui Sha only suffered a small cut on his shoulder.
Nie Li knew this wouldn't get him far. He deactivated his Yang Fire and coated his sword with Frost Poison, which wasn't noticeable and didn't alter the sword's appearance. Gui Sha thought Nie Li had used a technique that had drained him, so he deactivated his defenses and rushed at Nie Li with a Dark Dragon Claw attack, which had corrosive properties.
Seeing this, Nie Li smirked and parried the attack with his sword. Long Sha felt that things would go badly and tried to warn his friend, Gui Sha, to retreat, but it was too late. Long Sha unleashed an attack targeting Nie Li's back, hoping to buy his friend time to retreat.
"Lightning Dragon Roar!" Long Sha shouted.
Gui Sha was stunned by the thunder released by the Thunder God Sword. Sensing the attack from behind, Nie Li summoned three Ice Walls and then used his sword to sever Gui Sha's head. The latter fell to the ground, motionless, with unwillingness in his eyes.
Long Sha, seeing this, couldn't believe it. He had thought that, with their strength, they could run amok in Glory City and that nobody could stop them. Oh, how wrong he was. With this monster (Nie Li) in front of him, Long Sha couldn't even guarantee his own life. Grieving for his friend, Long Sha unleashed his strongest technique, "Lightning Dragon's Railgun," a beam of compressed lightning energy that destroyed everything in its path.
Nie Li knew it was unavoidable and used every ounce of his strength. He felt the bottleneck in his swordsmanship realm loosen but couldn't afford to lose focus. He gathered all his energy into the sword and unleashed "Ittoryuu: Sword's Supremacy." He cleaved the Railgun in two, and his sword didn't stop there — it sliced through Long Sha's protective treasure and left a deep slash across his torso. Frost Poison quickly rushed into Long Sha's body toward his heart. While not immediately lethal, it would reduce his combat abilities by 60%, making him vulnerable to Nie Li's sword.
Long Sha realized that Nie Li's attack had drained him of energy and knew he should retreat, or he would lose his life. As he was about to use his flight treasure, Nie Li's face turned grim. A man who appeared to be in his teens, with white hair and a handsome face, stood behind him. He looked celestial but carried a sinister aura.
The man said, "Brat, with your little strength, you dare to kill my people?"
This "Demon Lord," unlike Nie Li's memories, was overwhelmingly strong, at the Demigod realm, with a deep understanding of Hell's Laws. Nie Li, in his current state, wasn't his opponent. Perhaps at full strength and with Grandmaster-level swordsmanship consolidated, he could face him, but not now.
Ziyun, who was nearby, watched with worry in her eyes. Nie Li tried to warn her to run away, but it was too late. The Demon Lord, sinister as ever, gathered Hell Law energy and unleashed a blast toward her.
Nie Li rushed at her with all the speed he could muster, but he knew he wouldn't reach her in time. Just as the attack was about to hit her, time seemed to slow in Nie Li's mind. He felt extreme anger — not toward the Demon Lord, but toward himself. He hated his weakness, his inability to protect her once again. Deep in his mind, a desolate voice could be heard, a dragon roaring with a force that seemed capable of shattering the heavens.
Soon, the Dragon Transformation technique began to revolve faster and evolved both quantitatively and qualitatively. Nie Li quickly regained his strength, reaching the peak of the Black Gold rank. His swordsmanship also consolidated at the Grandmaster level, and information about a new skill appeared in his mind: True Dragon Palm.
Time resumed. Nie Li, with his newfound strength, rushed forward at a heaven-defying speed. In the blink of an eye, he was in front of Ziyun. He used Dragon Palm, and a huge shadow appeared, covering the sky as a massive dragon's palm descended. It quickly suppressed the Hell Laws and continued to rush at the Demon Lord.
The Demon Lord was shocked at the strength of the palm. He knew it would be dangerous to take it head-on, but it was too late. He fused with his Thousand Hands Asura demon spirit and used all his treasures to protect himself. Seeing this, Nie Li knew this was his chance to take him down.
Nie Li, in his Fanged Panda form, with his sword intent at full strength, released his strongest technique: "Ittoryu: Dragon God's Sword, Cleaving the Heavens." The Demon Lord, with all his treasures destroyed and his soul force exhausted, tried to counterattack using Hell Law energy. But his efforts were useless. The Hell Law energy was like butter being cut by a hot knife when it met the Yin-Yang Fire combined with the electricity of the Thunder God Sword and Nie Li's newfound skill.
As the sword came into contact with the Demon Lord's body, many thoughts flashed through his mind: "How could I lose to this kid? I still have so much to do, so much to achieve. If only I hadn't underestimated him, if only I had been on guard from the start, I could have killed him before he could break through."
But all his thoughts were in vain. Everyone is equal in the face of death. And so, the Demon Lord died with unwillingness in his eyes.