It was a colossal entity in the night.
Even the bright moon was obscured.
One cultivator at the fourth layer of Foundation Establishment didn't even understand the situation before dying, leaving no corpse behind.
The bodies of the remaining two Demon Slayers began to tremble uncontrollably.
The Black Mountain Old Demon was real.
The eighth layer of Foundation Establishment was also real!
How could such a powerful demon have no record in the Great Jing Demon Slayers' Bureau?
"Run!"
Without any hesitation, the two surviving cultivators turned into streaks of black light, fleeing in the opposite direction of the colossal entity.
"Stay."
A cold voice rang out.
The colossal entity in the darkness seemed to tremble, and then, a gust of black mist spewed out, faster than the fleeing cultivators, instantly engulfing the two Demon Slayers.
The sound of bones being crushed echoed, and screams could be heard incessantly from within the black mist.
Li Qi's expression tightened slightly at the sight, as the enmity with the Black Mountain Old Demon wasn't his concern.
"Gotta go, gotta go."
As Li Qi began to move, the Black Mountain Old Demon's voice sounded again.
"There's one more, don't think you're getting away. You all shall die!"
The black mist, which had engulfed the two Demon Slayers, surged and expanded, then rolled towards Li Qi, swallowing him in the next moment.
As soon as he entered the black mist, Li Qi was hit by a pungent smell of blood.
"Help me... please help me."
A weak cry for help sounded.
Li Qi steadied himself. Not far from his feet, the only cultivator at the fifth layer of Foundation Establishment, who had been there earlier, was covered in blood. His lower body had vanished, and he was pleading for help.
The other cultivator at the fourth layer of Foundation Establishment had already disappeared without a trace.
At this very moment, a terrifying pressure swept through the black mist, intending to crush Li Qi and the remaining half of the Demon Slayer completely.
"Hmph!"
Li Qi let out a cold snort, finding himself inexplicably caught in the crossfire.
"I want to see just how powerful this Black Mountain Old Demon really is."
With this thought, Li Qi lightly tapped his finger, rapidly sketching out a formation in his hand.
A formation formed at the time when the sun was most radiant.
Its name was the "Great Sun Radiance Array."
In the next moment, the Great Sun Radiance Array was completed by Li Qi.
Li Qi flicked his finger, and the Great Sun Radiance Array suddenly soared towards the sky. Simultaneously, the array's patterns expanded dozens of times in size.
In an instant, a blinding radiance, like the sun itself, erupted from the formation.
Where the light shone, the surrounding black mist dissipated like snow meeting the scorching sun.
The sound of "sizzle, sizzle, sizzle" was heard.
All the surrounding black mist vanished into thin air at that moment.
With the black mist gone, the effect of the Great Sun Radiance Array continued. The area for several miles around was illuminated as brightly as day.
And the true form of the Black Mountain Old Demon in the sky was revealed.
It was a colossal, black mountain.
"Sizzle, sizzle, sizzle."
The radiant sunlight generated by the Great Sun Radiance Array shone upon the Black Mountain Old Demon, scorching patches of its mountain body, causing it to let out pained grunts.
"Hmph! What kind of technique is this! It can actually harm me."
The Black Mountain Old Demon's voice, cold and filled with surprise, rang out. Its gaze turned towards Li Qi, who had conjured the Great Sun Radiance Array.
But all of this was meaningless; the opponent's strength was too low.
Only at the third layer of Foundation Establishment!
The gigantic black mountain began to tremble, and from within the mountain, a colossal stone hand, hundreds of meters tall, emerged and slammed towards the Great Sun Radiance Array in the sky.
Terrifying power surged, crushing the air and producing bursts of explosive sounds.
"Boom!"
With a violent explosion, the array patterns of the Great Sun Radiance Array began to shatter inch by inch. After a few breaths, the formation exploded.
Darkness returned to the world.
"Without this means, you all shall die too."
The Black Mountain Old Demon's voice, cold and murderous, rang out as it directly struck down towards Li Qi and the half of the Foundation Establishment cultivator on the ground.
Seeing this, the remaining half of the Foundation Establishment cultivator, who had held a sliver of hope, now despaired again.
He looked at Li Qi beside him, his strength at the third layer of Foundation Establishment offering no hope of a miracle.
"My lord, I apologize for implicating you. I have one last strike left to delay it. You should find a way to escape quickly. If you can escape, immediately report this unrecorded Black Mountain Old Demon to the Capital Demon Slayers' Bureau."
With that, the half-cultivator's eyes were filled with resolve. Blood flowed wildly from his lower body, but he no longer cared. His aura, that of a fifth-layer Foundation Establishment cultivator, was pushed to its peak.
Just then, Li Qi placed a hand on his shoulder.
Several streams of spiritual energy shot into his body, completely suppressing his elevated spiritual power and stopping the blood flow from his lower body.
This was naturally thanks to some kind of dark attribute points, such as "Medical Skill" or "Healing."
Looking at the giant hand descending from the sky, Li Qi was calm and composed, a faint smile on his lips.
"There's no need for self-sacrifice in front of me."
"Do you believe me if I say I can blow this guy up in one minute?"
"Huh?"
Hearing this, the cultivator at the fifth layer of Foundation Establishment was stunned, even suspecting he was hallucinating due to his severe injuries.
A cultivator at the third layer of Foundation Establishment could defeat a powerful demon at the eighth layer of Foundation Establishment in one minute?
In the next moment, Li Qi's gaze changed completely.
"Kuangji, Ju Man. Talent activated!"
A terrifying aura emanated from Li Qi. The Demon Slayer beside him felt a suffocating pressure descend upon his heart.
This was a deep sense of powerlessness, akin to how he felt when facing the nine Grand Commanders, perhaps... even more intense now.
Previously, Li Qi in his normal state could defeat the fifth-layer Foundation Establishment Blood Bat Old Demon with a few punches.
And now, Li Qi, with a hundred times the speed and a hundred times the strength!
Facing the Black Mountain Old Demon's colossal hand attack, hundreds of meters tall.
His expression was calm, not even a trace of change.
Then, Li Qi unleashed a punch without any fanfare.
The manipulation of spiritual energy seemed insignificant to Li Qi at this moment.
Because... this was the pinnacle of power.
The moment Li Qi threw this punch.
"Boom!"
The Black Mountain Old Demon's hundred-meter-tall hand instantly turned into complete dust.
"How is that possible!"
The Black Mountain Old Demon's voice, filled with disbelief, rang out.
"Whoosh."
Then, even the Black Mountain Old Demon couldn't keep up with Li Qi's speed. When Li Qi stopped, he had already soared into the sky, standing opposite it.
This was a disparity in size more exaggerated than that between an ant and an elephant.
And yet, Li Qi, the ant, was completely unfazed.
He threw three punches.
"Boom!"
The first punch.
The black mountain shook violently, earth-shattering.
"Boom!"
The second punch.
The black mountain crumbled, tottering precariously.
"No!" The Black Mountain Old Demon's terrified scream echoed.
The third punch arrived as expected.
"Boom!"
The Black Mountain Old Demon turned into complete dust.
Li Qi gradually descended, looking at the half-Demon Slayer on the ground, whose mouth was agape, his face filled with disbelief.
"From the moment I took action until now, how much time has passed?"
"Three... three breaths?"
"I overestimated it."