First Clash

The blood-red sea of the second realm suddenly transformed into a celestial cosmos. The enduring, dazzling brilliance left me speechless; this wasn't the first time I'd witnessed such a phenomenon. I remembered first seeing it in the Nine Nether Cave, when I was also in dire straits. So, was that last time just a dream?

He stared in disbelief at the endless starry sky, as if countless stars were watching him. This illusion vanished almost instantly, and before him stood Yan Zhuixing and Man Hu, chatting animatedly, discussing how to manipulate him.

"You bastard! Luckily, I'm blessed with good fortune and a long life! How dare you try to use me as a puppet? You Evil Dao little devil, I'll exterminate you and uphold justice today!" Yue Qianchou, but he didn't act rashly. He first tried circulating his True Essence within his body—normal! Then he tried connecting his Divine Sense with Utopia. It returned to normal as well!

"Junior brother, is he really completely under your control now?" Man Hu asked, staring at Yue Qianchou.

Yan Zhuixing smiled with a hint of pride, "That's right. His consciousness and primordial Primordial Spirit have been controlled by my Demon Eye. He will obey any command I give."

"But if he goes back looking so dazed, Wen Lanfeng and the others will definitely notice something amiss. I'm afraid even if he goes back alive, he'll still be a problem." Man Hu suddenly said with a ferocious expression, "Why not just kill him and be done with it?"

"Kill your mother's head!" Yue Qianchou almost jumped up and beat the Man Hu, but he held back and continued to maintain his dazed appearance, wanting to probe the two beasts' true intentions.

Yan Zhuixing frowned slightly and said, "Senior brother, please calm down. Revenge isn't urgent. Although my cultivation level isn't high enough to control someone stronger than me, Yue Qianchou's cultivation is similar to mine. He's been afflicted by my Demonic Eye Technique and is already my puppet. Even with the help of late Spirit Transformation stage expert, he can't escape my control and won't find a way to break free. No matter how high his cultivation level, he'll struggle to break through the demonic barrier in his sea of consciousness. As long as he's under my control, killing him is incredibly easy. Even if I told him to commit suicide, he would do it. With the Demonic Eye Technique, the soul is no longer in control! Once I awaken his consciousness control, even if I release him, he'll appear normal, and others will hardly notice anything amiss."

"The Demon Eye?" Yue Qianchou was shocked. He had never imagined there was such an evil Method Formula.

"I never imagined the Demon Eye was so powerful!" Man Hu exclaimed, then said with some delight, "In that case, wouldn't it be possible for us to plant a spy next to Wen Lanfeng, who could be of great help in a critical moment?"

"This is one of the reasons why we're not killing him for now." Yan Zhuixing stared at Yue Qianchou and sneered, "This kid has always been elusive, and who knows how many secrets he's hiding. I need to interrogate him properly."

"Not bad." Man Hu clapped his hands in praise, "It's a good opportunity to ask him where he got so many Seven Star Blood Orchid."

Seeing that he had figured it out, Yan Zhuixing finally felt relieved and stared at Yue Qianchou, asking, "Yue Qianchou, I'm asking you, where did the Blood Orchids you sold at your stall go?"

Yue Qianchou felt a surge of joy, then replied with a dazed expression, "They've all been sold."

Why is the same answer as before? Yan Zhuixing frowned slightly, sensing something was amiss. He didn't believe this guy, spouting nonsense, had been telling the truth earlier. After a pause, he asked, "Who did you sell it to?"

"Niu Youde," Yue Qianchou replied.

Yan Zhuixing and Man Hu exchanged a glance, both still wary of the enigmatic and unfathomable Niu Youde. Yan Zhuixing asked, "Why did he buy the Seven Star Blood Orchid?"

"He said we can't let the Seven Star Blood Orchid fall into the hands of that little beast Yan Zhuixing, otherwise it will harm the world sooner or later," Yue Qianchou replied.

The two didn't pay any attention to the insults, but instead felt a chill run down their spines. It seemed that Niu Youde really saw through Yan Zhuixing's true nature, even knowing that he needed the Seven Star Blood Orchid. Yan Zhuixing immediately pressed, "Do you know who Niu Youde really is?"

"A deity descended from the celestial realm," Yue Qianchou said, bewildered.

"A deity?" The two couldn't help but exclaim in surprise. Yan Zhuixing asked again, "How do you know he's a deity from the celestial realm?"

Yue Qianchou replied, "I was summoned down from the Immortal Realm unintentionally during my ascension in the Misty Forest."

The two exchanged bewildered glances. They had heard Bing Chengzi mention his suspicion that there might be Ascension Platform in the Misty Forest, but it turned out to be true. Man Hu couldn't help but ask, "Yue Qianchou, is that Myriad Sword Demon Lord's relic really real?"

"It's fake," Yue Qianchou replied casually.

Little did he know that his casual remark would cause such trouble. Yan Zhuixing's eyes narrowed sharply as he stared intently at Yue Qianchou, saying in a deep voice, "Yue Qianchou, I order you to commit suicide immediately to atone for your sins."

Man Hu looked at Yan Zhuixing in astonishment, wondering why he suddenly said such a thing. Just now he was listing the benefits of keeping Yue Qianchou alive, and now that he was in great need, why did he want to kill Yue Qianchou?

What he didn't know was that a person controlled by the Demon Eye would only obey one person. Logically, in this dazed state, they shouldn't be able to reply, naturally arousing Yan Zhuixing's suspicion. However, Yan Zhuixing wasn't entirely sure, as he didn't have much experience using it and didn't know if there was another problem with Yue Qianchou Er's calculations. He thought to himself, "I'll have to try it out." He thought to himself, "Oh no!" He racked his brains, but couldn't figure out what went wrong. Could it be that his reply to Man Hu had given him away? He was a little frustrated. He had wanted to feign madness to take advantage of the two of them, but it seemed that wouldn't work.

"Yes!" Yue Qianchou replied blankly. He casually pulled a Great Black Saber from his Storage Bag, raised it high, and seemed to be truly prepared to commit suicide to atone for his sins.

Suddenly, Yan Zhuixing opened his eyes and swiftly retreated. Yue Qianchou raised his sword and chased after him, slashing wildly, shouting, "You dog, prepare to die!"

The attack happened suddenly; one was preparing for a strike, while the other was caught off guard. Yan Zhuixing was caught off guard and was about to be struck. As he retreated, he suddenly clapped his hands together and shouted, "Demonic Phantom, clone!"

In a moment of haste, Yan Zhuixing split into three, the three Yan Zhuixing scattering like ghostly shadows. Yue Qianchou's vision blurred; he had clearly already struck his opponent, but suddenly, the opponent separated like three wisps of green smoke. The sneak attack failed, leaving him unsure which one to chase.

Three figures converged behind him. Instantly, they reverted to Yan Zhuixing's true form. Yue Qianchou instinctively sensed their location and swept his sword wildly behind him. Almost simultaneously, Yan Zhuixing swung his fist, wreathed in Sha Qi, and roared, "Little Demon Fist!"

Startled by the sudden change, the Man Hu reacted quickly after the two clashed. A cold light flashed from his Storage Bag and shot directly at Yue Qianchou without hesitation.

The flying sword was faster than Yan Zhuixing's fist. Yue Qianchou spat and changed the direction of his blade, slicing it in two as easily as cutting tofu. He then turned the blade again to deal with the incoming fist, but it seemed too late; the fist, wreathed in black energy, slammed directly into the side of the blade.

With a resounding bang, Yue Qianchou's hand went numb from the impact, forcing him to release the knife. Otherwise, with such immense force, forcing his grip would have surely resulted in injury. Black fragments flew everywhere; the Great Black Saber had been shattered into hundreds of pieces by Yan Zhuixing's punch.

Yue Qianchou was shocked, never expecting Yan Zhuixing's punch to be so powerful.

Seeing that Yue Qianchou no longer held his treasured sword, Man Hu shouted, "Mysterious Yin Palm!" He teleported over in an instant and swung his palm, which carried a chilling aura as it descended upon him. Although it was not as powerful as his master's Mysterious Yin Palm, if it struck Yue Qianchou, the chilling poison would be enough to render Yue Qianchou unable to resist.

"Demon Claw!" Yan Zhuixing's swung fist instantly transformed into a ferocious five-fingered claw, each finger becoming withered and sharp, whistling past with five streaks of red light, joining forces with the Man Hu to attack from both sides. The three of them leaped into the air and rapidly exchanged blows within the room.

Yue Qianchou dared to be arrogant, and he naturally had the capital to back it up. He wasn't someone to be trifled with either; he naturally had his own killer, Tong. All that was heard was the word "Explode" uttered from his mouth.

In that instant, Yan Zhuixing's pupils contracted sharply as he sensed the terrifying aura he had witnessed at the Blade Drawing Tournament. While still in mid-air, he shouted, "Go!" Five Claws grabbed the Man Hu's arm, unleashing a powerful force. He shoved the tiger away, then, like a bat, spread his arms and retreated rapidly through the air.

The moment the Man Hu's body crashed through the wall, it witnessed the scattered fragments of the Great Black Saber explode, engulfing Yan Zhuixing in a sea of fire, and a chilling, terrifying aura swept over it.

The Man Hu shuddered and quickly teleported away into the air, exclaiming down in surprise, "Junior Brother!"

Yue Qianchou dared not let the black fire spread too much, otherwise it would surely arouse suspicion about Niu Youde and himself. After the black fire exploded to relieve the danger, it quickly recoiled back into his body. The instant he leaped into the air, the entire shop, though not on fire, turned a deathly gray, cracked, and collapsed with a deafening roar. He directly tore through the roof and soared into the air...

A commotion erupted in the street. Those nearby had felt a sudden, terrifying, chilling aura, which vanished in the blink of an eye, as if it were an illusion.

The commotion immediately attracted the attention of Mu Lianqiu's Law Enforcement Guard, who surrounded Yue Qianchou, who was floating in the air. Mu Lianqiu roared, "Yue Qianchou, what explanation do you have?"

Yue Qianchou ignored the Law Enforcement Guard surrounding him. He glanced coldly at the Man Hu diagonally above him, then looked around and, gathering his True Essence, declared loudly, "Yan Zhuixing, I know you're alright. Why hide? We weren't going all out just now. If you're so capable, come out and fight again. Let me, Yue, properly experience your Devil Cultivation Method." His voice resounded throughout the surroundings.

There was no reaction from Yan Zhuixing, only a growing crowd of onlookers gathering on the ground. Seeing his blatant arrogance, Mu Lianqiu was immediately enraged and shouted, "Yue Qianchou, what do you think the Tianxia Chamber of Commerce is?"

"This is none of your business. Get out of my way if you don't want to die!" Yue Qianchou didn't even glance at him. He flicked his sleeves, and a smooth, flowing blue light emanated from his cuffs as countless blue flying swords swirled and dispersed around him.

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