The formidable dark green claw, infused with astonishing power, finally dissipated under the grinding force of the ceaseless Sword Qi Lotus.
Ning Fa felt a slight sense of relief.
It seemed that even though this demon was a major realm higher than him, his Five Elements Thunder Body still suppressed beings like this lightning-attribute creature.
This was his greatest confidence in confronting this powerful Spirit Transformation Demon Cultivator, especially since Ying Xiao was no ordinary Spirit Transformation Demon Cultivator.
This was also why he chose to stay and face this demon, rather than the slightly weaker Spirit Transformation Demon Cultivator, Bai Ning.
Ying Xiao said with a grim expression, "As expected, you have some tricks. Now, I'll give you an opportunity. Submit to me and allow me to plant a Soul Restraint on you, and I can spare your life."
Ning Fa ignored him, changing his Hand Seal again, preparing to unleash another Divine Ability.
However, at this moment, the Immaculate Sword Heart he had just cultivated let out a clear, resonant sword cry and began to tremble wildly.
Immediately after, the Sword Qi Lotus that had enveloped him bloomed explosively. Countless lotus petals of Sword Qi rained down, emitting sharp whistling sounds as they slashed ferociously towards his right.
Almost simultaneously, Ying Xiao's figure appeared abruptly in that direction. A residual image slowly dissipated from the spot where he had stood several miles away.
This speed was almost akin to Teleportation, or more accurately, it was even more exaggerated than the Teleportation of ordinary Nascent Soul Cultivators.
At this point, Ying Xiao was less than a foot away from Ning Fa. A look of surprise flashed across his face, but his movements were not delayed in the slightest. His fair, jade-like right hand shot out.
The lotus petals of Sword Qi, condensed from Ning Fa's third step of Sword Intent, shattered without any resistance.
But this delay allowed the five Calamity Heaven Swords to recombine into one amidst a chorus of sword cries. They spun rapidly, transforming into a long rainbow of Sword Qi, carrying a tidal wave of Thunder Power, and slashed fiercely at the demon.
Ning Fa's heart leaped, and a chill ran down his spine.
This demon's speed was truly too fast. He suspected that even activating Lightning Escape would be a step slower.
This was understandable. After all, the demon's true form was not only a Spirit Bird but also possessed both Wind and Lightning attributes, which provided a significant boost to its speed.
He suspected that in the entire Human Realm, only a few Spirit Transformation Demon Cultivators whose true forms were also Heaven and Earth Spirit Birds could match its speed.
Although his Spiritual Sense had captured the demon's movements just now, his body's reaction was a beat too slow.
Fortunately, after reaching the third step of the Sword Dao, his Immaculate Sword Heart had anticipated the demon's attack, allowing him to intercept it in time.
Ying Xiao snorted coldly, a sinister smile playing on his lips. He reached out with his right hand towards the Sword Qi rainbow again, sharp dark green electric arcs coiling around his fingertips, carving deep marks into the void.
The demon had made up its mind; this grab was intended to directly tear apart Ning Fa's Natal Magic Treasure.
But soon, his expression changed again. The moment his right hand touched the Sword Qi rainbow, it felt as if it had entered a swamp.
The ferocious cyan electric arcs in his hand rapidly dispersed like melting ice and snow, instantly weakening the power of his claw by nearly half.
With a violent roar, the Sword Qi rainbow fiercely collided with his palm, stirring up a dazzling surge of Spiritual Power light. For a moment, the two were locked in a stalemate.
The Calamity Heaven Sword also shot out streaks of five-colored electric arcs, unceremoniously bombarding Ying Xiao's right hand.
Ying Xiao initially sneered, about to unleash his unique lightning-attribute Innate Divine Ability, which was a bane to other lightning-attribute beings.
But his expression quickly changed, as he found himself unable to execute his Divine Ability.
To Ying Xiao's utter astonishment, under the bombardment of the five-colored electric arcs, his entire right palm and arm, despite his formidable physical body as a Spirit Transformation Demon Cultivator, were torn open, bleeding, and emitting scorched fumes.
Even more so, under these five-colored electric arcs, Ying Xiao's vast, ocean-like Thunder Spiritual Power felt as if it were sealed, making it difficult to circulate.
With a flash of spiritual light, Ying Xiao's figure instantly vanished, retreating several miles back to his original position.
At this moment, his entire right arm was blackened, with residual five-colored electric arcs still raging.
Ying Xiao didn't even bother to circulate his energy to extinguish these residual arcs, instead staring at Ning Fa with a look of disbelief.
He finally understood why he had felt a sense of encountering his natural predator.
He knew that when he advanced to the Third-grade, he had comprehended a powerful lightning-attribute Divine Ability – Lightning Devour, which could forcibly absorb the Thunder Spiritual Power of other lightning-attribute beings.
This overbearing Innate Divine Ability made him the nemesis of lightning-attribute beings of the same rank.
Whether they were cultivators or other demonic beasts, even those with a higher realm could be defeated by him.
Especially after advancing to Spirit Transformation, he had greatly enhanced that Innate Divine Ability, making his suppression of other lightning-attribute beings even stronger. Thus, he often boasted of being the king of lightning.
Yet now, facing this human Thunder Cultivator at the Nascent Soul realm, his powerful Innate Divine Ability had failed, and he was instead being suppressed by the opponent.
This even made him wonder if he had cultivated too quickly recently and was experiencing an Inner Demon illusion.
This gave Ying Xiao a sense of absurdity.
His expression turned extremely grim. Looking at the five-colored lightning swirling around Ning Fa in the distance, a distant memory suddenly flooded his mind.
Then, as if realizing something, his expression changed drastically, and he exclaimed in shock, "Could you possess the legendary... Five Elements Thunder Body?"
Upon saying this, a look of dread appeared in Ying Xiao's fierce eyes.
Information about the Five Elements Thunder Body was briefly mentioned in the ancestral bloodline inheritance he received when he advanced to Spirit Transformation.
It stated that beings with the Five Elements Thunder Body were their clan's nemesis, and they should avoid them from afar if encountered.
Ning Fa remained silent. With a quick incantation, dazzling purple lightning surged around him, and a powerful aura, like a scorching sun, rapidly ascended within it.
Almost instantly, a purple lightning giant several feet tall manifested.
It was clad in exquisite lightning armor, with a sword-like mysterious lightning rune on its chest, a thunder crown on its head, and a flickering five-colored lightning wheel behind its back.
Fierce lightning overflowed from its surroundings, clouds gathered, and thunder rumbled, causing the heavens and earth to change color. A terrifying pressure, as if capable of destroying the heavens and earth, emanated from it, like a god descending from the lightning.
Facing this powerful Spirit Transformation Demon Cultivator, Ning Fa did not hesitate to activate his strongest form—the Divine Firmament Manifestation, which had already reached the First Transformation stage.
Ying Xiao's expression had become extremely grim. The feeling of encountering a natural predator intensified within him, confirming that Ning Fa indeed possessed the Five Elements Thunder Body and that the cultivation method he practiced was no trivial matter.
At this moment, after the opponent activated his manifested divine ability, Ying Xiao felt as if he were facing a cultivator of the same cultivation level.
He took a deep breath, his eyes filled with a chilling intensity. "Since you possess the Five Elements Thunder Body, I cannot allow you to live in this world! Today, even if I have to deplete some of my lifespan, I will surely kill you!"
The reply he received was hundreds, even thousands, of condensed lightning sword qi, slashing at him from all directions.
At the same time, a violent roar echoed.
The four tornadoes nearby, which were sealing off Hermit Wuxin and the others, were now tottering due to Ying Xiao's distraction. Under the fierce assault from Hermit Wuxin and his companions, they were on the verge of being broken.
Ying Xiao let out a cold snort, his shoulder suddenly shaking. A figure shrouded in a hazy green light, its face indistinct, detached from his body.
This light image split into four and instantly descended into the four deep green tornadoes. The tornadoes, which had been tottering under the impact of Hermit Wuxin and the others, were re-stabilized.
Ying Xiao then raised his hands. As spiritual light flickered on his ten fingers, black and green finger cots appeared on each.
Each finger cot had a different mysterious rune on its surface, flashing with a cold, eerie glow as if in response to each other.
As if connected by a mysterious link, a terrifying spiritual pressure emanated from them.
This was clearly a powerful Spirit Treasure, and a rare set of Spirit Treasures at that.
Although demon cultivators valued their formidable bodies the most, it did not mean they wouldn't use treasures to enhance their strength.
It was just that demon cultivators mostly used treasures as a supplement, maximizing the advantage of their robust physical bodies.
Take Ying Xiao for example; his sharp claws were his most powerful weapons, which was why he had invested immense resources to forge this set of finger cot Spirit Treasures.
Originally, using such a treasure against a mere Human Race Nascent Soul cultivator would have been beneath his dignity.
However, after confirming Ning Fa possessed the Five Elements Thunder Body, he could no longer afford to care about such things. His only goal was to kill Ning Fa, and to do so before the terrifying Heavenly Treasure Immortal Merchant could intervene.
Ying Xiao's face curved into a sinister grin.
He extended his right index finger. The rune on the surface of the finger cot on it flashed wildly. The surrounding world instantly turned pitch black, while a blinding green light emanated from Ying Xiao's fingertip, as if all the light in the world had been absorbed by it.
Then, Ying Xiao casually drew a line in front of him. With a flash of green light, a clear and hazy wind blade shot out.
Amidst a piercing howl, it instantly transformed into an extremely narrow, circular wind blade, sweeping outwards with a momentum that engulfed the surroundings.
This powerful attack launched by Ying Xiao contained only formidable Wind Spiritual Power; there was no Lightning Spiritual Power at all, clearly indicating he did not want to suffer any more disadvantages.
Although he primarily cultivated the lightning attribute after advancing to Spirit Transformation, his wind attribute divine abilities were still terrifying, especially with the enhancement of his Spirit Treasures.
The surrounding void rippled like a lake disturbed by waves, creating layers of violent ripples.
The incoming lightning sword qi, the moment it touched this wind blade, scattered into pieces.
In a flash, this circular wind blade instantly condensed into a wind blade no larger than a palm, trembling intensely. The spiritual pressure it emitted far surpassed its previous level, and it vanished in an instant.
With a deafening roar, amidst a blinding flash of lightning, Ning Fa's figure was forced back. He retreated more than ten miles before finally stabilizing himself.
He crossed his arms to protect himself, and on the surface of each of his Thunder Peak Gauntlets, a slender, elongated crack appeared.
This powerful strike from the Spirit Transformation Demon Cultivator had directly breached the defense of Ning Fa's manifested lightning armor.
The lightning patterns on the Divine Firmament Thunder Armor flickered erratically, and surging lightning power converged towards his fists. The two cracks rapidly repaired themselves.
With a crackling sound, Ning Fa instantly vanished from his spot.
Almost simultaneously, behind him, a phantom appeared like a ghost. It was Ying Xiao, his outstretched right claw grasping at empty air.
"Lightning Escape!"
Ying Xiao's eyes showed even greater apprehension, but he immediately let out a cold snort.
In terms of long-distance escape speed, he might be slightly inferior to the Spirit Transformation Ancestors of the Ice Phoenix and Fire Phoenix tribes.
However, when it came to movement within a certain range, he was confident that no one in the world could surpass him, not even the teleportation of Nascent Soul cultivators.
His figure also vanished instantly.
The next moment, a hundred feet away, Ning Fa had just reappeared when Ying Xiao, like a persistent maggot, had already caught up. He raised his hands and grabbed, unleashing a sky full of claw strikes that enveloped him.
Ning Fa's arms blurred instantly, and in the blink of an eye, he unleashed hundreds, even thousands, of purple-hued lightning fist shadows.
Amidst a series of violent roars, both the claw strikes and the fist shadows dissipated. New, slender cracks appeared on the surface of Ning Fa's Thunder Peak Gauntlets.
With a flash of lightning, Ning Fa activated Lightning Escape once more.
Ying Xiao laughed heartily and pursued relentlessly.
For a time, the two chased each other at speeds so high that even the spiritual sense of Great Cultivators could not capture them. Within a radius of dozens of miles in the air, their afterimages filled the sky due to their excessive speed.
It was clear that even though Ning Fa had pushed his speed to the limit, he was still a step behind Ying Xiao.
However, at this moment, a layer of bright yellow lightning radiance appeared on the surface of the Divine Firmament Thunder Armor, exuding a mountain-like dense aura. This was Ning Fa's Supreme Earth Divine Thunder.
This divine thunder was best suited for defense. With the enhancement of the Supreme Earth Divine Thunder, even though Ying Xiao's claws were extremely sharp, he could not deal with Ning Fa for the time being.
This made the demon's killing intent even more intense.
Meanwhile, Ning Fa continued to dodge and weave at extreme speed, not counter-attacking excessively. The demon's escape speed was too fast; he was waiting for an opportunity to trap and eliminate the demon.
After the time it took to brew a cup of tea, seeing that Ning Fa showed no signs of exhaustion, Ying Xiao's eyes grew even more somber.
He suddenly vanished, and in the next moment, appeared behind Ning Fa.
But just as Ying Xiao's figure abruptly appeared behind Ning Fa, Ning Fa reacted instantly. A flash of electricity flickered around him, and he was about to use Lightning Escape again.
At this moment, Ying Xiao, with a blank expression, reached out with his claw. His right claw had now transformed into a colossal Spirit Bird's claw.
With a fierce grab, the space within a hundred-zhang radius in front of him turned dark green and became as hard as iron. Ning Fa's Lightning Escape technique was rendered unusable for the moment.
Simultaneously, with a supremely fierce and malevolent cry, a terrifying Spirit Bird phantom, as if capable of obscuring the sun and moon, appeared behind Ying Xiao.
Ying Xiao's aura surged wildly, and his powerful Spirit Transformation stage Divine Soul Power pressed down on Ning Fa.
Although Ying Xiao had not cultivated any Divine Soul Cultivation Methods, nor had he comprehended any special Innate Divine Abilities for Divine Soul attacks.
As a Spirit Transformation Cultivator, his Divine Soul, tempered by the Spirit Transformation Heavenly Tribulation, was sufficient to forcibly crush the Divine Souls of lower-ranked beings.
A sinister grin spread across Ying Xiao's face. The five finger sheaths on his right hand flashed with spiritual light, and he lunged towards Ning Fa's chest with the force of tearing mountains and splitting seas.
But at this moment, a look of horror appeared in Ying Xiao's fierce eyes.
His expression then turned ferocious and pained, as if his Divine Soul had suffered a severe blow. The right claw he had launched slowed down.
Ning Fa spun around abruptly. On the face of his manifested form, which resembled a god, the corners of his mouth curved slightly.
He had been waiting for Ying Xiao to lose control and use his Spirit Transformation stage pressure to forcibly assault his Divine Soul.
While his Divine Soul had not been tempered by the Spirit Transformation Heavenly Tribulation, nor did it possess the unique oppressive aura of Spirit Transformation Cultivators.
However, after cultivating the Moon God Art to the Moon Soul Crystal Core stage, augmented by the Immaculate Sword Heart, his Divine Soul was now even more powerful than Ying Xiao's.
Thus, caught off guard, Ying Xiao immediately suffered a backlash, giving Ning Fa this rare opportunity.
At this moment, his eyes, resembling a vortex of lightning, spun rapidly. A silvery-white luster emanated from the center of the vortex. The space around him even became hazy and distorted, a sign that he was fully activating the Moon God Art.
At this moment, within Ying Xiao's sea of consciousness, countless moon-white light blades appeared, slashing ferociously towards Ying Xiao's Divine Soul.
And within Ying Xiao's sea of consciousness, a dark green phantom of a fierce bird also appeared, madly shooting out feathers to counter the bombardment of the moon-slashing divine light.
At this moment, the lightning wheel behind the Divine Firmament Manifestation spun rapidly, covering Ying Xiao's outstretched right claw and transforming into five-colored crystals, sealing his right hand.
Simultaneously, the Zhou Tian Spirit Reflection Mirror flew into the sky. As the runes on its surface flashed wildly, surging lightning, like a tide, gushed out, instantly condensing into thick, five-colored lightning chains that firmly bound Ying Xiao.
The lightning spread rapidly, forming a five-colored thundercloud, with streaks of lightning pillars appearing at its edges, forming a circular cage that trapped Ying Xiao within.
At this moment, the surrounding Heaven and Earth Spiritual Energy seemed to boil, surging towards these lightning pillars.
This caused the pillars to become thicker and more solid, while mysterious thunder runes appeared on their surfaces, with terrifying spiritual light surging within.
Ning Fa did not hesitate to unleash the ultimate Divine Ability of the Zhou Tian Spirit Reflection Mirror – the Zhou Tian Thunder Domain.
At this moment, Ning Fa's three Great Divine Thunders had reached the Innate stage. The power of the Zhou Tian Thunder Domain was now incomparable, especially his Supreme Wood Divine Thunder, which had reached the peak of Fourth-grade.
This was not all. With a thought from Ning Fa, the Heaven-Shattering Swords, which had been hidden in the void, all appeared. They trembled rapidly, unleashing more sword light, like an ocean of Sword Qi, covering an area of over ten li.
A moment later, this ocean-like Sword Qi vanished instantly.
However, the entire space felt as heavy as a mountain.
What originally required nearly a hundred breaths to set up the Heaven-Shattering Sword Array was now completed within five breaths. This was the bonus gained from reaching the Third Step of the Sword Dao.
At this moment, the surrounding Heaven and Earth Spiritual Energy surged towards this location even more intensely, making this space like a volcano on the verge of eruption, with terrifying and destructive energy rising within.
At this moment, Ning Fa's god-like manifested face held a slight smile.
He paid no mind to the mana, spiritual sense, and blood essence being consumed frantically within his body, nor the power of the Five Elements Divine Thunder. He continued to absorb the surrounding Heaven and Earth Spiritual Energy madly.
He wanted to see if this Spirit Transformation Demon Cultivator could still emerge unscathed under the combined might of his Zhou Tian Thunder Domain and Heaven-Shattering Sword Array.