Chapter 2309: Dogged At Every Step

His fury yet to abate days into the chase, Celestial glared viciously at Jiang Chen when the latter finally stopped.
“What gives? I thought you’d try to run all the way back to Winterdraw. Don’t tell me you’re going to fight me to the death instead?” he sneered.
Jiang Chen calmly replied, “Celestial, I’d have killed myself by now if I were you. What of the grand host you once fielded? Ruined, all thanks to you. Tsk, I never imagined eradicating you demons would be so easy.”
Celestial snorted. “Boy, enjoy your smugness while you still can. After I kill you and conquer the continent, do you think I’ll have a hard time creating more demons? I’ve absorbed the ten tribes and combined their powers inside me. This world is mine for the taking. The others might be dead, but so what? Not even you can defeat me. In this world, I am invincible!”
Jiang Chen coldly retorted, “It seems you didn’t care all that much for your tribesmen.”
Celestial’s heart did bleed for his dead companions, but he had to put up a brave front, so he shrugged. “They made their own bed. How could they let themselves be killed by a snotty brat? Useless, the whole lot of them.”
Nonplussed, Jiang Chen could only chuckle. He truly had no good comeback against logic this shameless. “Is that so? Allow me to experience your strength then, Celestial!”
“Hahaha, kiddo, you’re not even at sixth level if I’m not mistaken. With this pitiful cultivation of yours, do you think you can stop me with a few treasures? You’re in for a rude awakening. I will engrave the true strength of a celestial demon onto your very bones!”
Jiang Chen responded calmly, “I know more of your power than you know of mine, at least. I’ve long since heard of your tribe’s so-called secret art, but you understand next to nothing about my skills. Don’t you think that’s a fundamental disadvantage?”
Celestial scoffed. “And what of it? You’re nothing but a local from a pathetic little continent. I’ve gotten the better of every single ancient powerhouse. Are you stronger than the Great Divine Veluriyam?”
“Why don’t you try it for yourself?” Jiang Chen suddenly activated the Scrutiny of Existence and fired its rays of annihilation without warning.
The beam of light would spell trouble for Celestial if it caught him unawares. But, on high alert from the start, the demon had anticipated this kind of move.
With a cold smile, his figure shifted aside and avoided the attack.
Be it as it may, the power of the light secretly rattled him. Not even he would dare weather it directly. This was a key difference from his fight against Goldenhowl and Bloodreed.
Back then, he’d been confident facing head-on whatever they could throw his way, but this destructive radiance could objectively threaten his life.
Damn it, this boy is truly all kinds of fishy. His figure transformed as he readied a celestial demon method.
He could employ his abilities in countless ways, allowing for unpredictable, ever-changing strikes. Yet down to its core, his style was derived from the fundamentals of his tribe. He suddenly howled, his voice carrying the momentum of an earthquake, producing a sound as grating as the gates of hell opening on a legion of wailing spirits.
This skill was named the Celestial Demon Howl. It wasn’t the most impressive-looking art, but it could seal off an expense of sky and compress space, or attack the flesh and threaten the soul.
A weaker cultivator would be powerless to resist the sound waves, his mind obliterated on the spot.
But Jiang Chen was more than a match for Celestial when it came to the mind. Deadpan, he countered the demonic howl with a shout of his own: the Dragon Roar!
An ability of the dragon tribe, it surged forth layer upon layer like the waves of an ocean, fully rivaling Celestial’s offensive in strength.
As a result, the frontal clash produced no clear winner between the two of them.
However, Jiang Chen had never intended to fight head-on to begin with. Using the Immaculate Robe, he absconded from the sky without a trace.
The next moment, the four sacred beasts appeared out of nowhere and deployed their formation, ready to duke it out.
Their combined strength immediately proved a worthy match for the demon forefather.
Each of them was at mid divine realm. Added to the mysteries of creation manifested when the four fought as one, their resistance proved prodigious enough to stun the demon.
Given their individual cultivation levels, they should have been far weaker than him. Granted that there were four of them, but it shouldn’t have been a hassle.
Yet, against all odds, they gave back as good as they got.
For Celestial, the most worrisome part was Jiang Chen’s disappearance. The human was nowhere to be seen despite repeated mental searches. The rumors about the boy owning a treasure of stealth seemed well-founded.
It was a sticky situation for him to be in. He wasn’t certain he could gain the upper hand against the beasts, to say nothing of defeating them outright.
Of course, he had other hidden skills up his sleeve. But the beasts could counter them by igniting their bloodlines and resorting to their own trump cards too.
With both sides putting their lives on the line, what would Jiang Chen do from the shadows then?
As a consequence, he remained prudent despite his anxiety. Rather than pressing on unconscionably, he continued to monitor his surroundings during the fight.
He even thought of withdrawing more than once. But, persistently beset by the sacred beasts, there were no opportunities to slip away.
The fight carried on for three days, then a week, then half a month, always in the same old dismal manner. Neither side could outstrip the other.
Celestial’s patience was wearing thin. He had a hunch Jiang Chen was waiting in the wings, ready to spring a trap on him. He wanted to leave, but the sacred beasts dogged his every step. His only chance would be forego his own safety in order to find an opening.
……
Meanwhile, Jiang Chen sat in a secluded spot somewhere in the Martial Sacred Land as he attempted to reach sixth level divine realm. Success was almost within reach.
He’d noticed the possibility of a breakthrough during the fight. As a result, he’d entrusted the fight to the beasts so he could leave and focus single-mindedly on cultivation.
The heavens help those who help themselves. Seven days later, he finally accomplished his goal. Though his strength didn’t make a dramatic leap forward, it’d clearly been enhanced nonetheless.