Xia Wantang's words struck precisely at the heart of Ye Shang's inner thoughts.
He naturally knew what kind of state his body was in.
He was acting against the heavens and cultivating the Heavenly Demon Art, able to feel himself growing stronger and stronger.
Yet the stronger he became, the more hollow his body felt, growing increasingly out of control.
But... so what?
As long as he could grow stronger and become someone above others, he was willing to pay any price.
"Heh, you sharp-tongued little girl, you'd better worry about yourself first."
"Release this seat's nourishment, and kill this seat's cult members; no matter what, none of you are leaving today!"
Yan Wen's gaze was ice-cold. Although his cultivation was inferior to Ye Shang's, his voice was resonant and resolute:
"Your Heavenly Demon Cult has slaughtered numerous cultivators and demonic beasts, and even caused our Asking Dao Valley to lose five disciples. From the moment you chose to cultivate the Heavenly Demon Art, you were destined to stand as an enemy to cultivators across the world."
Hearing this, Xia Wantang could not help tilting her head to look over.
She had not expected that while Yan Wen looked so gentle, he still possessed such backbone.
If previously she only felt that his strength and appearance matched the status of a "Holy Son," now it seemed his temperament was also filled with universal compassion, making him fully worthy of the title "Holy Son."
Hearing Yan Wen speak up, Qu Zhuowen also plucked up her courage:
"That's right, that's right! You didn't just kill Asking Dao Valley's disciples, you also killed Fellow Daoist Tang's dearest, life-or-death best friend!"
Xia Wantang: Ah, yes, yes, yes. Junior Sister Zhuowen reminded me well, or else I almost forgot.
She hurriedly put on a heartbroken expression and said with deep resentment:
"You killed my friend, so today I will definitely execute justice on behalf of heaven!"
Yet who would have thought that upon hearing this, Ye Shang's gaze swept back and forth over Xia Wantang a few times, before an evil smile suddenly curled at his lips:
"In these past few months, everyone coming to Luoshui Town for trials has been male cultivators—there are no female cultivators. To think you'd be willing to travel this far to find this seat and take revenge for a male cultivator..."
"A dearest, life-or-death best friend? I think a dao companion is more like it. Then this seat has truly committed a wrongful deed, ruthlessly tearing apart a mandarin duck."
Xia Wantang: ?! It wasn't me, I didn't, stop talking nonsense.
She worried that Ye Shang's words would cause Yan Wen's favorability to drop.
Fortunately, it didn't drop.
Her gaze inadvertently glanced behind her.
The expressions of the crowd were either gossipy or astonished.
Only Yan Wen remained wearing a faint expression, unreadable for joy or anger, except that the glance he had just cast over was somewhat chilly.
It was as if he were saying: You already have a dao companion, so what does that make me?
That expression, that favorability—could it be... jealousy?
Although Yan Wen's favorability toward her was quite high, in reality, over the short span of half a day, the two of them had barely spoken at all.
Who would have guessed? Was Yan Wen truly this pure and devoted? He was practically a match for Xiao Rui.
"My friend showed me grace by saving my life, and now that he has met with disaster, I cannot be unfaithful and break my oath."
"As for romantic feelings between a man and a woman, that is utterly impossible."
Yan Wen's expression improved slightly at that.
Tang Wan has gained 5 favorability with Yan Wen, current favorability is 50, exchanging for 50 faith points.
Ye Shang let out a cold snort:
"You all still have the leisure to chat, but this seat does not."
With that, he suddenly drew a long sword and directly hacked toward the direction of Xia Wantang and the others!
Because of Xia Wantang's warning, the crowd did not dare to dodge. Watching the black demonic energy rush toward them, Qu Zhuowen was so frightened she nearly closed her eyes:
The pressure radiating from a powerful Spirit Channeling Realm cultivator was simply too strong!
Yet the next instant, a fierce gale swept past, and that long sword was directly cleaved in half by a wind blade.
As for the culprit behind this, Xia Wantang hadn't even used a weapon.
Qu Zhuowen couldn't help exclaiming:
"Fellow Daoist Tang, you are way too badass!"
Seeing this, Ye Shang wore a look of utter disbelief, clearly having taken a heavy blow:
"Impossible! The Heavenly Demon Art that this seat worked so bitterly to cultivate—even risking having my dao heart destroyed—how could it be easily resolved by you?"
Xia Wantang sent out yet another sweeping wind blade:
"Blame only your own penchant for taking shortcuts and slaughtering innocent living beings. Cultivation gained through such means is ultimately nothing more than a flashy facade with no substance."
Without a trace of mercy, she launched her final attack directly at Ye Shang.
Accompanied by a muffled groan, Ye Shang vomited blood and collapsed to the ground, utterly devoid of breath.
Seeing this, Xuan Yu couldn't help widening his eyes in astonishment:
"Fellow Daoist Daoist Tang, you're too overpowered! From start to finish, you only used a single move to deal with the Great Devil King??"
Xia Wantang: It's not that I wanted to use only one move; it's that I can only use this one move.
To be safe, under this current identity, whether it was weapons or cultivation techniques, none of them could have any overlap whatsoever with Xia Wantang.
Therefore, no matter what she used, aside from arrays that were difficult to see through, she could only rely on the most basic wind blades.
As for other Wind Attribute techniques, apologies, she didn't know them yet.
The crisis resolved, everyone breathed a collective sigh of relief and returned to Luoshui Town at the first opportunity.
Before leaving, they did not forget to destroy the Heavenly Demon Art manuals and the Bloodthirsty Array on the ground.
These pernicious pests were better off never seeing the light of day again.
Upon returning to Luoshui Town, looking at the already pitch-black sky, Xia Wantang decided she would part ways with Yan Wen and his group tomorrow morning after all.
Actually, she hadn't been in a rush to leave, but she worried that if Yan Wen's favorability continued to rise, it would exceed her control.
Originally, she had figured that 30 was fine, 40 was no loss, and 50 was an absolute bloody profit.
Yet now that her favorability had already reached 50, it was no longer suitable to continue interacting closely.
After all, this identity of hers was a demonic beast, and one that rarely ever appeared.
More importantly, this was her trump card for escape.
In the future, even if the identity of the Azure Cloud Palace Saintess completely overturned and crashed, she could still escape scot-free under the pursuit of the Sons of Destiny.
Just as she was gazing at the firmament in thought, a pleasant male voice suddenly rang out beside her:
"Fellow Daoist Tang, why aren't you resting so late? How did you end up running to the rooftop to admire the moon?"
Xia Wantang looked up to see Yan Wen standing beneath the moonlight, smiling radiantly. His gentle features were even more dazzling than in the daylight.
She had reason to suspect that after pushing the favorability up to 50 points, this repressed man could finally hold back no longer and had come to cultivate their relationship.
By day, she had been the one more eager to approach Yan Wen; now, the situation was subtly beginning to reverse.
"Hasn't Fellow Daoist Yan also failed to rest?"
The young woman's face was like a silver disk, her pair of alluring peach-blossom eyes intoxicating enough to capture souls even without carrying any emotion.
The corners of Yan Wen's mouth ticked upward as he familiarly seated himself right beside Xia Wantang.
Whether intentional or not, the moment he sat down, their thighs brushed rather closely together, his gentle body heat radiating right against her flank.
Xia Wantang:...?!
Good grief, you actually have two faces.
Before you continue