Reverend Ecstasy

As the Desolate Ghost Tide collapsed and the Heart-Wrenching Cult disciples perished, the battle between Tusha and the demonized 14th Shentu elder carried on, approaching a climactic point. At first, the 14th elder didn't doubt that, with his background as a Wind Spirit of the imperial Shentu clan, once he relied on the Void-Shredding Claw to boost his cultivation base and battle-prowess, ten Tusha wouldn't be his match.

In theory, he wasn't incorrect. A peak-stage Supreme Clarity demon of such background should be enough to give most top Supreme Clarity experts a run for their money.

Alas, he faced Tusha.

Till now, though the 14th elder had the clear upper hand—using a multitude of spatial rifts to assault Tusha on multiple fronts—he failed to inflict meaningful injuries to his opponent.

Experience-wise, the infernal nun was a former peak-stage Demon Creed expert, a match for any peak Heavenly Immortal. Alongside her sisters, she scoured myriad forbidden grounds, accumulating treasures through lethal dangers for her former master's sake. Though now reduced to the equivalent of the early Integration realm, Tusha's battle experience and energy control weren't what an upstart that relied on a demonic treasure for an instantaneous boost could compare to.

Better, while her cultivation base hadn't improved much in these last three months, by relying on her experience, innate talent and Xinzi's blessings, Tusha had already cultivated the Sacrament of the Bloodstar to the peak, missing only one ingredient to break through the seventh and final barrier and become...a full-fledged Bloodstar Demon Noble.

That ingredient, a trial by blood, now presented itself. Seven large sanguine clouds assembled by Tusha's side. Each the size of a boulder, they dazzled the eyes with riveting and ominous orbs of scarlet starlight.

Large star-shaped orbs stood at the center of these clouds, pouring sanguine rays into Tusha's back and ax. All the blood that had been spilled from the start of this battle, the 13,000 Shentu loyalists, the 2,000 Heart-Wrenching Cult disciples, and even the blood shed from the 14th elder's various injuries, soared towards the sky, becoming a cluster of hardened red stone orbs that spiraled Tusha's form.

Alerted by his demonic senses, the 14th Shentu elder teleported closer to his landing position, putting miles of distance between Tusha and him.

It didn't matter. Her lips curled up, and as the 14th elder's eyes narrowed at her, Tusha raised her battle-ax into the air, then in one incomprehensible move, shoved it straight into her heart!

To say nothing of the Shentu elder, as soon as Tusha's ax broke through her armor and mangled her heart, all Liberation Temple members gawked, their eyes widened in a blend of terror and stupor. Warm blood gushed from Tusha's back, chest and lips. Still, her smile stayed unchanged. Better, it curved into a broad fiendish grin.

"Hey you, what's your name?" Tusha asked in a casual and remarkably impolite tone. Yet, despite the poor manners and ongoing conflict, prompted by a sudden impulse, the 14th elder couldn't resist the question.

"Shentu...Xiong." He answered in an absent-minded, almost mechanical tone. Blood-red flames lit up Tusha's eyes, and yanking the battle-ax out of her chest, Tusha arched her head back—her mid-long fiery hair twirling like demonic tendrils.

Sanguine flames billowed out, followed by circles of scarlet starlight that swirled up her form. The mangled heart broke into pieces, replaced by a flaming-red star that beat with a pulse so loud that it echoed throughout the land.

"Shentu Xiong, your lifespan expires now. For you, reincarnation will not be an option; so, to thank you for becoming the sacrifice for my breakthrough, I will engrave your name...on my Stele of Massacre!" Tusha said, and stepped forward.

Her form blurred across the scene, afterimages succeeding one another as the infernal nun bolted at Shentu Xiong with her battle-ax slashing at his neck.

Too slow to react, Shentu Xiong stood motionless, unable to defend from Tusha's ax. But here, as with every demon, his Demon Heart kicked in, channeling the Void-Shredding Claw to resist Tusha's blow.

Violet flames surged out of the claw, spreading towards the entirety of Shentu Xiong's body. In one deafening boom, the flames met Tusha's ax. But though they managed to prevent a clean strike, Tusha forced her way through and tore a large gash in Shentu Xiong's chest.

Before his brain could register the pain, Shentu Xiong cleft open a spatial rift and flew out of the way, desperately trying to put distance between Tusha and him.

Alas, with every step that he took, every portal that he opened, Tusha appeared by his side—anticipating his next position and sending him flying with brutal blows.

A ruthless back kick flew into Shentu Xiong's grievous chest wound. Tusha's spiked heels twisted in the demonized elder's chest, making his body and soul howl with grief. A blood-colored stele appeared above Tusha's chest, with the first character of Shentu Xiong's name joining a list of over one million names.

"Im-impossible! I can't follow her! Why can't I follow her?! Her cultivation base didn't increase! Just because of a method breakthrough, she's gotten so fast that a peak-stage Supreme Clarity powerhouse cannot follow her moves? I don't...I don't—" Panic took over Shentu Xiong, and he glanced left and right, desperately looking for Tusha's shadow.

The second character of Shentu Xiong's name appeared on the blood-colored stele, a unique Bloodstar Demon monument that not only recorded all of its owner's victims but also enabled them to trap the blood and souls of the deceased.

Seeing half his name being written on Tusha's Stele of Massacre, Shentu Xiong despaired. Now, only the "Xiong" part remained, and as the whimpering elder chased the infernal nun's trails, a cool breeze went up his crotch, going all the way to the top of his skull.

In that instant, the final character of Shentu Xiong's name appeared on the Stele. A thin line of blood formed from his crotch to his forehead, and by the time Shentu Xiong's brain registered the breeze, his body split into two neatly sliced halves. His soul perished on the spot, the blow never giving him the opportunity to realize that he'd died.

Here, Tusha appeared behind the bisected corpse and tapped the shoulders, making the 14th Shentu elder's remains burst into sanguine dust.