Chapter 1149: The Might of the Heart Demon Flute
The flute Yang Haoran handed to Jing Miao was none other than the Heart Demon Flute, an artifact capable of wildly amplifying the negative emotions deep within a target's heart, successfully awakening their inner demons. However, the Heart Demon Flute he now offered Jing Miao was no imitation, but the genuine article. Though Jing Miao had never witnessed the true power of the Heart Demon Flute, that didn't mean she knew nothing about it. Not just her, even Jing Qi had some understanding of the Heart Demon Flute. As both siblings cultivated Demon Cult techniques and wielded Demon Weapons, they often delved into Demon Cult texts in their free time to deepen their understanding of their practices and armaments. This allowed them to fully unleash their combat prowess and broaden their knowledge. Consequently, the siblings were now quite well-versed in all aspects of the Demon Cult, certainly more so than their boss, Yang Haoran. Since both siblings were individuals who pursued ultimate power, they paid immense attention to the Demon Cult's top-tier Demon Weapons, yearning to possess them. Acquiring such a weapon would mean a significant boost to their combat capabilities. For this reason, the siblings had a certain grasp of all the most formidable Demon Weapons throughout the Demon Cult's history, naturally including the Heart Demon Flute, which was capable of awakening inner demons, as it was indeed one of the Demon Cult's supreme Demon Weapons. Each of the Demon Cult's top-tier Demon Weapons possessed exceptionally formidable power. Not only were they incredibly difficult to forge, but even creating imitations was an arduous task. Putting other matters aside, take Wan Wu Yi, for instance; he had expended monumental effort, consuming vast amounts of time and an astonishing quantity of resources, just to successfully forge an imitation Heart Demon Flute. If even an imitation Heart Demon Flute was so difficult to forge, one could only imagine the immense difficulty involved in creating a genuine one—it would undoubtedly be hundreds, even thousands of times harder than its imitation. This was precisely why the Demon Cult's top-tier Demon Weapons were so exceedingly rare; they were simply too difficult to replicate. Jing Miao's current expression of astonishment wasn't due to surprise that the Heart Demon Flute was in Yang Haoran's hands; on the contrary, she wasn't surprised by that at all, as she knew something of the great battle between Yang Haoran and Wan Wu Yi back then. Her astonishment stemmed from Yang Haoran actually entrusting her with such a paramount Demon Weapon of the Demon Cult, and instructing her to play it, sending everyone present on their way.
"Hehe, what are you gaping for? Could it be you don't know how to use this Demon Weapon? " Yang Haoran asked with a faint smile, seeing Jing Miao's stunned expression and her hesitation to immediately take the Heart Demon Flute. His voice instantly jolted Jing Miao back to her senses.
"N-no, it's not that," Jing Miao stammered in response, then, with a surge of inner excitement, she took the Heart Demon Flute from Yang Haoran. After a slight hesitation, she brought the Heart Demon Flute to her lips and began to play. Playing the Heart Demon Flute required no musical score, only sufficient power. As long as one possessed enough power, they could successfully play the Heart Demon Flute, but this power had to be from the Demon Cult; even immensely strong power of another kind would be unable to make the Heart Demon Flute sound. Jing Miao knew this, as the method for playing the Heart Demon Flute was mentioned in the ancient texts describing it, so she had a clear idea of how to proceed. As Jing Miao gently blew into the Heart Demon Flute, an ear-piercing and eerie flute sound immediately emanated from it, while the power within her body surged wildly into the Heart Demon Flute, for her internal power was the very foundation for playing it. Though she had long known this, she was still greatly startled upon sensing that more than half of her internal power was instantly drained by the Heart Demon Flute. If not for her formidable current strength and profound internal power, that single draw would have left her completely depleted, like a dried husk. From this, it was clear that the Heart Demon Flute, as a top-tier Demon Weapon, was not easily controlled. To attempt to wield it without sufficient power would lead to only one outcome: failure to control it, and the loss of one's own life in the process. Simultaneously, Jing Miao understood another thing at this moment: since their boss, Yang Haoran, had long possessed the Heart Demon Flute, why hadn't he given it to them? It now seemed highly probable that he had been considering whether the siblings' strength was sufficient. Her inner shock, however, did not cause Jing Miao to stop, for after the initial draw of more than half her power, while the Heart Demon Flute continued to extract her energy, the subsequent drains were no longer as terrifying as the first. She felt she could endure for a while in this state.
While the flute sound produced by the Heart Demon Flute also counted as a sonic attack, it differed vastly from the Howling Ghosts and Wailing Wolves technique unleashed by the Cripple. The latter was an indiscriminate attack, meaning anyone caught within its range, except for the caster, would become its target. However, the flute sound emanating from the Heart Demon Flute was entirely different. It was not an indiscriminate assault, but an attack with extremely precise targeting. Whom the Heart Demon Flute's sound targeted was not decided by the flute itself, but by the person playing it. Achieving this was remarkably simple, requiring no complex procedures, merely a thought. To put it plainly, Jing Miao was the one playing the Heart Demon Flute at this moment, and her mere thought was enough to direct the flute's targets, without needing to employ any other means.
At this moment, none of the Yin Division members present found the Heart Demon Flute's sound melodious; on the contrary, they found it extremely grating and unpleasant, even causing a sense of unease. However, compared to the Spirit Masters, the slight influence they experienced was negligible, as Jing Miao's target was inherently all the Spirit Masters, not the Yin Division. Under the influence of the Heart Demon Flute, frantic screams erupted one after another. The instant Jing Miao played the Heart Demon Flute, many among the Spirit Masters had their inner demons awakened by these crazed cries, and under Jing Miao's control, they launched attacks on their own comrades. Even those with stronger cultivation or more resolute minds, though not immediately awakening their inner demons, could not withstand the Heart Demon Flute's sound for long. They, too, were swiftly awakened, including the Great Spirit Masters and Gold Talisman Masters of the Talisman Order among the Spirit Masters. Had it been an imitation Heart Demon Flute, achieving this in such a short time would have been impossible. But the genuine Heart Demon Flute did precisely that, demonstrating the immense disparity in power between the two. Under Jing Miao's control, all the Spirit Masters, except for those outside the Heart Demon Flute's range, devolved into killing machines, launching frenzied attacks upon their own allies. In mere moments, a significant number of Spirit Masters tragically perished at their own hands! Apart from Yang Haoran, this scene utterly shocked everyone on the Yin Division's side, even Jing Miao, the one playing the Heart Demon Flute. Although Jing Miao had read descriptions of the Heart Demon Flute's power in ancient texts, what was recorded was ultimately one-sided. Nothing compared to the true, accurate shock of witnessing it firsthand. Thus, even with prior mental preparation, she was still startled by the immense power the Heart Demon Flute wielded. If even Jing Miao, the player of the Heart Demon Flute, was astonished, it went without saying for the other members of the Yin Division. Whether it was the Emissary of Death from the Ancheng Yin Division, the head of the Ancheng Demon Hunter Association branch, Bai Xue by Yang Haoran's side, or even Jing Qi, who had been jointly suppressed by several people just moments before—all of them were, without exception, utterly stunned. As for the other Yin Division members, there was even less to say; some gaped in shock, while others even rubbed their eyes vigorously, as if unable to believe that the scene before them was real. The reason Yang Haoran remained unshaken by the sight before him was that he had previously witnessed the power of the imitation Heart Demon Flute. The true Heart Demon Flute's power, he knew without a doubt, would be vastly superior to its imitation. He was fully prepared mentally, and thus, when the Heart Demon Flute's might was revealed, he showed no surprise. Not only did he display no shock, but his heart, too, felt no astonishment. The calm on his face at this moment was not feigned; it was genuine, for everything was unfolding exactly as he had anticipated. The inner shock caused many members of the Yin Division to freeze, making them completely forget that this was a prime opportunity to launch an attack on the Spirit Masters. Yet not everyone reacted this way; a fair number quickly recovered and seized the chance to attack the Spirit Masters. As soon as some began their assault, it instantly jolted the remaining shocked individuals back to awareness. They, too, swiftly launched attacks against the Spirit Masters. Although the uncanny nature of the Heart Demon Flute was evident to them all, they didn't know how long Jing Miao could maintain her control. Therefore, they had to seize this moment to inflict as much damage as possible on the Spirit Masters! Because the Spirit Masters were under the Heart Demon Flute's control, they remained indifferent even when facing the Yin Division's assault. They continued to attack their own comrades, completely ignoring the massacre being inflicted upon them by the Yin Division. In just a few short minutes, the Spirit Masters suffered devastating losses, with eight or nine out of ten personnel wiped out. The battle, once dominated by the Spirit Masters, had, thanks to the Heart Demon Flute's appearance, transformed into a one-sided slaughter by the Yin Division against them!
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