Lin Mu didn't have ti to ponder further.
His aura flared like an erupting volcano, the air around him thick with energy so dense it rippled visibly. From his skin flowed waves of red mist, like rivers of blood that pulsed with violent life.
The Abbot, watching this display, felt a tremor of disbelief.
"This aura... the Demonic Path?!" he gasped.
How could Lin Mu, one chosen by the Buddhist Path, manifest sothing born from such opposition?
The contradiction seed impossible.
And yet, the Abbot did not let fear take root. He had seen Lin Mu's character firsthand. He knew that so paths, no matter how dark they appeared could be harnessed for righteous purpose. There was no room for dogma in the face of evil such as this.
Besides, he even knew of certain Demons in ancient tis who had taken on the Buddhist Path and had created the Dao of Demonic Buddha.
"Amitabha... may the will of Buddha guide you," the Abbot whispered, pressing his palms together.
ROAR!
Lin Mu's voice, now a thunderous bellow, shook the battlefield. The ground trembled beneath his feet. Every eye turned toward him, disciples and enemies alike frozen in awe and disbelief.
Where Lin Mu had stood monts before was now a monstrous figure, part bear, part bull, part demon, his eyes twin embers of wrath.
Then, without hesitation, Lin Mu charged. His massive claws, each nearly a ter long, collided with the Titan's branch-forged arms.
BOOOOM!
The impact resounded like colliding mountains. Shockwaves burst outward, splitting the ground and scattering debris like shrapnel. Sparks of red and green light flared where demonic aura t corrupted wood Qi.
Now, the battlefield was host to a duel between two towering beings, the Darkblood Treant Titan and the Demonic Form of Lin Mu. Each blow shattered the air, each collision releasing roars that echoed through the crypt like divine thunder.
"How? How do you wield demonic power? And of such purity!" the Ancestor bellowed in disbelief. "That is not a corrupted imitation-it's true Demonic Qi!" Lin Mu didn't answer. His eyes burned with unrelenting determination. He swung his arm once more, claws cleaving through bark and splintering branches in a storm of sparks.
The Ancestor recoiled, not from pain, but from realization. Lin Mu's strength was climbing with every heartbeat.
Even the High Priestess, who had been concentrating on maintaining the ritual, faltered for a split second. Her gaze snapped toward Lin Mu's towering demonic figure, her concentration slipping as astonishnt overtook her expression.
"What manner of being is that..." she whispered.
Before her eyes stood a creature that seed born from the union of vitality and chaos, neither wholly demonic nor human. Lin Mu's Demonic Form exuded raw life force entwined with the essence of destruction itself. He looked like a being that had walked straight out of hell, carrying the fury of ten thousand beasts within his heart.
And he was only getting started.
CLANG CLANG CLANG
BOOM BOOM BOOM
Every attack from Lin Mu's colossal claws ripped through the Titan's vast wooden body, splintering branches and cracking bark that glistened like obsidian. For the first ti since the transformation began, the Ancestor of the Ephera Sect was truly wounded.
"This... what is this? How's this even possible?" The Ancestor's voice trembled with disbelief.
The form he had assud, the Dark Blood Treant Titan was ant to be invincible, bolstered by the endless power of Baleful Energy. Yet Lin Mu's strikes carved through it as if splitting flesh instead of hardened bark.
Then ca the searing burn. The Ancestor felt it at once, the crimson Qi latching onto his wooden flesh, eating through him like acid made of pure agony.
"The Demonic Qi! He's using Demonic Qi to oppose Baleful Energy?!" he howled, horrified.
Even a true demon would have struggled against the concentration of Baleful Energy sustaining the Titan's form, yet Lin Mu's Demonic Qi seed to originate from the primal depths of the Demonic Path itself.
The sheer ferocity of his aura was sothing ancient, predatory, and absolute.
The Ancestor wondered if Lin Mu had been a disguised Demon all along, a being who had hidden his monstrous nature under human skin. The raw strength Lin Mu displayed now only reinforced that thought.
While Lin Mu fought like a storm incarnate, his companions seized the mont.
The Patriarch of the Xian Sword Sect distanced himself and began gathering Qi at a terrifying rate. His Dao Embryo manifested beside him, an ethereal blade shimring like liquid silver and rged into his sword.
The air warped under the rising pressure, and still, the Patriarch poured more Sword Intent and Essence into the blade. His strike would need to be final.
anwhile, the Abbot, Grand Elder Huo, and the Elder Ice Drake kept up their assault. The Titan was montarily pinned, giving them a chance to attack freely. Each strike of frost, fla, and sword energy chipped away at its towering form.
Seconds stretched into eternity. Every heartbeat was like a thunderclap.
"I'm ready!" the Patriarch finally called out.
Lin Mu gave no verbal reply.
Instead, he slamd a burning fist into the Titan's side, forcing the massive creature to stagger. His claws pierced deep into the wooden flesh, crimson demonic fire bursting out of the wounds.
With one mighty twist, Lin Mu swung himself behind the Titan and wrapped his enormous arms around it, locking the creature in a crushing grip.
"Patriarch, now!" Lin Mu's roar tore through the sky, his voice sounding more beast than man.
"Xian Sword Style, Final Form-Mortality Shedding Slash!"
The Patriarch's sword moved.
It did not glow, nor did it produce a visible wave of light. It was simple, unadorned... just a blade cutting through air.
Yet what followed defied reason.
The sword transcended form and existence, bypassing every barrier of matter and energy. The strike landed exactly where the Ancestor's brain was located. The wood parted like wet parchnt, and the massive Titan's trunk split open.
The force of the attack did not stop there, it cut through the Ancestor and even grazed Lin Mu's chest.
"GRAAAH!" Lin Mu roared in pain as crimson blood spurted from the wound.
The Demonic energy and vitality within him quickly sealed the bleeding, but the pain was very real. His ribs cracked, his flesh burned, and yet his eyes glead with triumph.
"NOOOO!" The Ancestor scread as his brain and body were cleaved.
The blackened wood that once seed indestructible was no match for the
Patriarch's transcendent sword.
And the calamity for the Ancestor had only begun.
"Emperor, do it!" Lin Mu bellowed.
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