Qin Rushui, Sect Leader of the Heavenly Demon Sect.
Born in humiliation, died in resentment.
In a way, though, that might count as a kind of luck.
After all, how much longer could the current "Qin Rushui" possibly remain alive?
...
Something really had happened!
Ai Yueli was anxious—more anxious than she had ever been in her life. This was the first time she had felt such agitation.
She had never imagined that the first time she lost her composure would be because of a man. She had thought, if anything, it would be over Bai Yiyi.
But the truth was, she had lost her calm.
The teleportation array in Tianqiong City had failed. She couldn't use the sect's array to transfer directly there.
Fortunately, Bai Yiyi had never used a teleportation array to leave the city. Otherwise, she would certainly have noticed something unusual.
Ai Yueli teleported to the city closest to Tianqiong City and was now flying toward it at full speed.
Thankfully, the protective Talisman she had secretly drawn on Ye Ling hadn't activated, which meant he wasn't in danger.
And Ye Ling hadn't triggered the power of the Nine Heavens Jade Pendant to return to the sect either. With the Nine Heavens Immortal Maiden's Avatar present, logically speaking, nothing should have gone wrong.
Yet until she saw Ye Ling with her own eyes, her heart refused to settle. A restless unease kept rising from deep within her.
Just then—
Whoosh!
A figure suddenly shot past her.
???
That direction...
Someone flying out from Tianqiong City?
Before the thought fully formed, her body had already moved.
She made no visible motion, yet in the blink of an eye, the fleeing figure—so fast that cultivators of slightly lower realms might not even perceive him—was covered head to toe in dense, profound runes. They coiled around him like a rope, binding him tightly.
"A member of the Demonic Sect?"
After capturing him and seeing his face clearly, Ai Yueli said, "Tell me. What happened in Tianqiong City?"
Great Ascension Stage… So they even involved Master.
The thought flickered through her mind as she sealed his Cultivation Level without hesitation.
A Great Ascension Stage cultivator would always have a few desperate tricks hidden away. She had no intention of overturning the boat in a gutter.
"???"
On the other side, the man froze completely when he saw Ai Yueli's Cultivation Level.
That figure was none other than Blood Edge.
The moment he sensed the aura of the Nine Heavens Immortal Maiden's Avatar on Ye Ling, he had fled.
Soon after, the effects of the Heavenly Demon Curse began to manifest within him. But compared to dying, he would rather suffer grievous injuries.
So he ran without the slightest hesitation.
And yet he hadn't gone far before another monster caught him.
Golden Core Stage?
A Golden Core Stage cultivator caught me?
A Golden Core Stage cultivator sealed me this easily?
Blood Edge seriously wondered if he was still in the midst of his tribulation. Were these centuries after it nothing but a world conjured by his Inner Demons?
Otherwise, he simply couldn't explain the miracle unfolding before him.
A mere Golden Core Stage cultivator had taken him down in an instant.
Honestly, he would rather believe this was all a delusion of his Inner Demons. Anything was better than accepting something this humiliating.
Even bending the rules should follow basic logic. Since when did a Golden Core Stage cultivator fight like this?
Where was the martial virtue?
But no matter how much Blood Edge wanted to retreat into denial, Ai Yueli was in a hurry. She had no time to indulge his despair.
"Hmph. If you won't speak, I'll take it myself."
She disliked doing this, but time was tight. The simplest solution was the Soul Search Talisman.
She directly examined Blood Edge's memories to find out what had happened in Tianqiong City.
The memories of a demonic cultivator like him were bound to contain plenty of unsavory things.
If she could avoid it, she would. And even when she couldn't, she only skimmed the most recent memories—
"Phew… Good. He's fine."
After reviewing the memories and confirming that Ye Ling was unharmed—and had even revealed an ability she had never seen before—she finally relaxed. Everyone had their own little secrets.
And…
That pen… hadn't he shown it to me before?
A faint impression surfaced in Ai Yueli's mind. She was almost certain she had seen Ye Ling take out that pen once. At the time, though, her attention had been on Bai Yiyi, and she hadn't given it much thought.
Mm, it must be because of Bai Yiyi…
The thought rose in Ai Yueli's mind, then quickly faded.
Even if Ye Ling didn't look like he was in trouble, he was still fighting an enemy. As his Master, she had to go and stand guard for him.
At the very least, she could take the opportunity to assess his abilities.
With that in mind, Ai Yueli casually dropped the unconscious Blood Edge from ten thousand meters in the air.
Soul Search Talisman had one major drawback: it was exceedingly vicious.
But most techniques related to soul searching were the same. At best, the target would be reduced to an idiot. If performed poorly, the result would be immediate soul destruction.
Humans possess Three Ethereal Souls and Seven Corporeal Souls. Among them, the Heavenly Soul governs memory.
Soul-searching techniques essentially forcefully extract the contents of the Heavenly Soul. Once the memories are stripped away, the Heavenly Soul is inevitably damaged beyond repair.
Without it, a person loses the ability to remember and becomes little more than a living shell of flesh.
If the process is too violent, the soul simply shatters.
That was why orthodox cultivators avoided such techniques unless absolutely necessary.
Ai Yueli, however, was not bound by such scruples. She only cared about the people she cared about. As for everyone else, their fate had little to do with her.
Besides, Blood Edge was a Great Ascension Stage cultivator of the Demonic Sect. In a sense, eliminating him was a good deed. Even the Heavenly Dao would likely grant her Merit for it.
As for Blood Edge?
He had spent his entire life fleeing, yet in the end, he could not escape fate.
His plan had been to reach the nearest city and then teleport randomly tens of thousands of times. He refused to believe that woman could still find him that way. The Heavenly Demon Curse had left him gravely wounded; he could not keep flying indefinitely.
Unfortunately, he happened to run into that woman's disciple.
His fate, in the end, was not much better than Qin Rushui's.
"Alright. I hope he's fine."
Ai Yueli set off again. This time, however, she was far more composed.
At the very least, she was no longer racing forward in a panic.
...
Meanwhile, at the Golden Sparrow Tower.
"Phew… The taste is decent."
"Qin Rushui" turned to Ye Ling and the others.
"Even if we didn't make it to the Demon Realm directly, waking up to so many delicacies is still a kind of blessing."
The former Sect Leader of the Heavenly Demon Sect, now occupying Qin Rushui's body, had greed gleaming nakedly in his eyes.
He had no idea what was about to happen to him.
"Little brother, go!"
Seeing that he truly could not stall any longer, Tie Chunsheng endured the intense pain wracking his body. He forced himself to his feet, grabbed Ye Ling's sleeve, and tried to fling him into the teleportation array.
But—
Huh?
Why can't I move this kid?
It wasn't that Tie Chunsheng looked down on Ye Ling. The gap between Great Ascension Stage and Foundation Establishment spanned several major realms. Even in his current severely injured state, a Foundation Establishment cultivator could attack him all they wanted and still fail to kill him.
If he were to die, it would be from his wounds worsening beyond treatment, not from being beaten to death by someone at Foundation Establishment.
Simply put, Nascent Soul Stage and below could not even break his defenses. Not a single drop of blood would fall.
So even if Ye Ling was unusually talented and possessed strange abilities, there was no reason he should be unable to toss him aside.
"Don't worry."
When Ye Ling spoke again, his bearing had completely changed.
"You little brat, go sit over there."
Ye Ling… no, Ye Ling possessed by the Avatar, casually threw the stunned Tie Chunsheng to the ground. Then he looked at "Qin Rushui."
"Ready?"
"Hm?"
"Qin Rushui" was puzzled.
Oh?
Someone dares to imitate me?
I just devoured my host over here, and you have one too?
"You—"
Before he could finish speaking, a fist the size of a sandbag filled his vision.
Bang!
Without the slightest suspense, "Qin Rushui" was punched straight out of the Golden Sparrow Tower by "Ye Ling."
It was only because "Ye Ling" had aimed for the existing hole in the Golden Sparrow Tower. Otherwise, another massive breach would have been blasted open, and Tie Chunsheng might have fainted from sheer shock.
The punch sent "Qin Rushui" soaring ten thousand meters into the clouds. Before he could even react—
Bang!
"Ye Ling" teleported behind him at an even greater speed. Before the force of the punch had fully dissipated, his right leg came down like a heaven-splitting axe.
"Qin Rushui" did not even have time to respond. He plummeted toward the ground faster than he had risen.
BOOM!!!
That single kick drove "Qin Rushui" a full hundred meters underground. The earth split apart in a vast web of cracks.
The sheer force destroyed half of Tianqiong City and triggered a massive earthquake.
"You all, evacuate everyone from Tianqiong City."
"Ye Ling" appeared before the dumbfounded Tie Chunsheng.
"The spiritual qi veins here are ruined. This land is no longer suitable for habitation."
To be precise, this was not the result of his recent attack. The spiritual qi of this land had already fallen into chaos when the Otherworldly Demons descended.
Even the laws and structure of this region had begun to mutate.
Anyone who remained would soon run into problems. Their sanity would rapidly deteriorate.
"Understood… S-Senior?"
Tie Chunsheng did not know what exactly was going on with "Ye Ling," but he was not a fool.
The wisest choice now was to obey.
Besides, Tianqiong City was finished. At the very least, this land would be unusable for centuries.
"Hurry."
"Ye Ling" waved him off, unconcerned with the title. He muttered to himself,
"This body is still too fragile. It needs more training."
"Two moves, and I still can't finish off such a weakling."
Floating above the shattered earth, his tone was openly dissatisfied.