The Devil Sect disciples' faces darkened like storm clouds.
That was Lord Flower Demon, and Li Ye was treating her like this.
Outrageous!
Mad Devil's expression turned murderous.
He and Flower Demon appeared to be dual-cultivation partners. Seeing her "enslaved" by Li Ye made him feel as if a vast green prairie had sprouted over his head.
Mad Devil wanted blood.
"Why aren't you kowtowing? Do you want her to die?"
Li Ye bellowed. The hand gripping Flower Demon suddenly tightened, making the ravishing beauty let out a faint, involuntary moan of pain.
Only then did Flower Demon come to her senses. Remembering the questions Li Ye had just asked her, she nearly went mad.
How could she have let him treat her like this?
Damn it.
What kind of wicked sorcery was this?
Mad Devil glared at Li Ye. If looks could kill, Li Ye would have died more than ten times over.
"Fine, I'll kowtow! Don't do anything rash!"
Mad Devil gritted his teeth. For Flower Demon's sake, he had no choice but to give in to Li Ye.
He waved for the others to honor their wager, too.
Thud! Thud! Thud!
And so, a group of Devil Sect experts knelt and kowtowed to Li Ye, a mere Body Tempering Realm cultivator.
"Hahahaha!"
Li Ye laughed with unrestrained delight. A faint glow shimmered over his tongue as he ordered Flower Demon, "Sword Flight!"
Flower Demon's gaze turned hazy. She obeyed Li Ye's command without question.
Hum!
A jade-green flying sword appeared beneath her feet, carrying her and Li Ye into the air.
Before Mad Devil and the others could react, the two had already vanished.
Li Ye's arrogant voice echoed through the sky. "Lord Flower Demon is passing through! If you don't want to die, get out of the way!"
Mad Devil and the others' faces turned pitch-black.
"He's making enemies for the Devil Sect."
"Even our Devil Sect doesn't act that arrogantly."
"Outrageous!"
The Devil Sect disciples seethed with anger.
"That aura from the Object Manipulation Realm—it really is Flower Demon of the Devil Sect."
"Could that man be the legendary Mad Devil?"
Li Ye's voice sent many in the Great Barren Forest into a panic. They pointed at the two in the sky and whispered among themselves.
Cultivators flying on swords through the sky hastily veered out of their way.
To avoid getting his second account scrapped—the one he was using while wearing the Shapeshifter Mask—Li Ye had covered his face with a handkerchief in advance.
Just then, a stern voice rang through the night sky ahead. "My Second Master Cao has issued an order: anyone who provides a lead on the murderer of Eldest Young Master Cao Bing will be rewarded with a Low-Grade Magical Artifact!"
The voice grew louder as it drew nearer.
The speaker's cultivation was clearly formidable.
A Low-Grade Magical Artifact?
Many people's eyes blazed with greed. The Cao Family's generosity had stunned them all.
The Cao Family certainly lived up to its reputation.
Were they looking for me?
Li Ye hadn't expected the Cao Family to still be bent on revenge after a whole day and night.
He narrowed his eyes. A tiny glimmer rapidly grew in the distance, and a middle-aged man riding a flying sword appeared before him in an instant.
Nine strands of Spiritual Power coiled around the man, and his aura was astonishing.
Li Ye flew into a rage. "You insolent fool! How dare you shout in Lord Flower Demon's presence? Are you tired of living?"
The middle-aged man slammed on the brakes and stopped in front of them. He glared furiously at Li Ye. "The Devil Sect may be full of experts, but don't push us too far. The Cao Family has several experts at the Object Manipulation Realm here, too."
"If we really tear off the mask, neither side will come out unscathed."
Li Ye's expression darkened at once. "Are you threatening Lord Flower Demon?"
"Have you even bothered to find out who Lord Flower Demon is? She's never feared anyone. Prepare to die!"
"Lord Flower Demon, kill him!"
Flower Demon opened her mouth, about to say something, but Li Ye had used Words Manifest Reality in that last sentence.
Her entire body fell beyond her control. An immense pressure burst from within her, and she swept out a surging wave of Object Manipulation Realm Spiritual Power. The world lost its color.
"You!"
The Cao Family expert, who was at the Qi Gathering Ninth Layer, hadn't expected Flower Demon of the Devil Sect to attack without warning, utterly disregarding the Cao Family's strength and showing not the slightest concern for reason.
His face changed dramatically.
But against an expert at the Object Manipulation Realm, the middle-aged man had no chance to fight back.
Flower Demon's power pierced straight through his chest.
"Ah!"
The middle-aged man let out a despairing scream, plunged from the sky, and died.
"You must have a Storage Bag or something, right? Collect his corpse and Spirit Sword."
Li Ye gave the order.
Flower Demon did as she was told. She reached out from afar and drew the middle-aged man's corpse and Spirit Sword to her, then put them into the Spatial Storage Bag she carried.
A Spatial Storage Bag was a type of storage artifact used in the cultivation world. It contained a separate space.
These artifacts were worth a fortune; the larger the space inside, the more valuable the artifact.
Given Flower Demon's status, she naturally had no shortage of such things.
No one had expected the Devil Sect to be even more domineering—and even more ruthless—than the rumors claimed.
That was a Qi Gathering Ninth Layer expert from the Cao Family, and they'd killed him without a second thought.
Everyone was terrified and scattered in all directions.
"Cao Family, Zhang Family, Li Family—whatever! Remember this: I, Lord Flower Demon, specialize in killing people from the Cao Family."
"Next time, be smart. When you see Lord Flower Demon, kowtow three times first. Maybe she'll spare your miserable lives."
Li Ye shouted into the sky.
"Don't take this too far!"
Flower Demon, finally coming to her senses, snapped furiously. Even her voice had changed. She felt like crushing Li Ye to death.
This man was practically driving the Devil Sect—and her—straight into a grave.
The Devil Sect was domineering, but it didn't kill everyone it laid eyes on. Li Ye was making enemies left and right. If he provoked the wrath of every sect, the Devil Sect would find itself in a terrible position.
"Beauty, you'd better behave."
"Otherwise, the sword in my palm won't show mercy."
Standing behind Flower Demon, Li Ye smiled at her.
Her delicate body stiffened. She sharply sensed a tiny sword appear in Li Ye's palm, its razor edge gleaming. A chill crept over her neck.
Flower Demon asked in surprise, "You have a flying sword. Why didn't you fly on it earlier?"
Li Ye's free left hand promptly flicked her on the forehead. The sharp snap rang out as her little head jerked. "Don't go poking your nose into things you shouldn't know. Remember, you're my prisoner now."
Flower Demon stared blankly for a moment, unable to believe it. Setting aside her noble status and powerful cultivation, no one could bear to lay a hand on a beauty like her.
And yet he'd hit her.
The sharp pain made her clutch her head, tears welling in her eyes.
Li Ye really had no idea how to treat a beauty gently. He'd used who knew how much force; her head felt like it was about to swell into a lump.
"Are you even a man?"
Flower Demon asked miserably.
In that moment, she didn't look like an expert at the Object Manipulation Realm at all.
She looked like an ordinary young girl who'd been wronged.
Flower Demon was confident in her peerless beauty, but this guy had mistreated her again and again since she'd fallen into his hands.
She was starting to realize he was a rather unusual man.
"No!"
Li Ye replied.
Flower Demon looked as if she'd seen a ghost.
Did this man have no dignity?
Then Li Ye added, "At my age, I should still count as a boy."
Flower Demon couldn't help glancing back at him. Her eyes then drifted lower, settling on Li Ye's crotch, and she giggled. "Want to learn Mad Devil's cultivation method?"
Li Ye didn't catch on. "W-what?"
Flower Demon's smile deepened. "I'll teach you. Once you've mastered it, you'll become a man."
Li Ye asked in surprise, "Mad Devil can't?"
Flower Demon's face filled with question marks.
Li Ye went on, "Otherwise, why would he need to cultivate the Blood Demon Great Law to become a man?"
Flower Demon couldn't help bursting into laughter as she explained, "It can make you even more of a man."
Li Ye asked, "Can it help me command a hundred women? If not, I'd rather not cultivate it. I don't want to grow weaker."
Flower Demon laughed so hard she shook like a flower in the wind. "Young master, you're hilarious."
As she spoke, her body trembled. She felt her buttocks brush against something... enormous.
Flower Demon's bright eyes widened, and her pretty face instantly went pale.
But the next moment, the enormous thing vanished.
Flower Demon immediately understood. Their conversation had gone so far off the rails that someone had unwittingly grown hot-blooded.
A virgin's desire wasn't easy to control. Li Ye had forced it down using the breathing method of the Nine Heavens Crimson Thunder Art, and now he didn't dare keep chatting with this ravishing beauty.
But he absolutely didn't think his self-control was lacking.
Flower Demon wasn't charming at all.
"Daily Divination!"
Li Ye silently recited in his heart.
Hum!
The next moment, his Mental Magnetic Field shifted. He felt as though he had become one with heaven and earth.
The location of the Golden Ginseng appeared in his mind.
Eighty li due east, beneath a black stone!
It was a little far, but that was no problem for Flower Demon, an expert at the Object Manipulation Realm.
The Heavenly Secrets didn't show where the Golden Ginseng would be later, which meant it wouldn't move anytime soon.
"Straight ahead!"
Li Ye ordered Flower Demon to speed up.
She obeyed, then asked, "Young master, you're not going to kill me, are you?"
Before Li Ye could answer, she added, "I advise you to put that thought out of your mind. Let me go, and we'll be even. I can swear to it."
"But if you kill me, the moment I die, the Soul Devouring Great Law I cultivate will release a projection of my soul-light, casting everything that happened here into the sky. Everyone within a hundred li will see it."
"There are many Devil Sect experts in the Great Barren Forest, and Mad Devil is probably on his way, too. If you do this, tonight will be your last."
What? The Soul Devouring Great Law could do that?
Li Ye was stunned. Doubt flickered in his eyes. "Beauty, you're not trying to scare me, are you?"
Flower Demon giggled. "You can try."
"Also, Elder Qianlin of my Devil Sect has a talisman. The instant you kill me, he'll appear right in front of you."
Li Ye's expression darkened.
The Saint's memories held no specific information about the Soul Devouring Great Law, but they did mention ancient talismans capable of Instant Movement.
What Flower Demon said could very well be true.
What was he supposed to do with this woman?
Let her go?
If he let her go, she'd probably strike back immediately.
Li Ye couldn't help feeling a headache coming on.
Flower Demon was too dangerous. If he mishandled things, she'd bite him.
Flower Demon seemed to see his dilemma, so she offered an idea. "I have a Thousand Worm Pill and its antidote."
"Taking the Thousand Worm Pill won't kill me right away. With my cultivation, I'll need half an hour to suppress it. During that time, I won't be able to attack you."
"I'll give you the antidote, then take the poison pill. You let me go. How about it?"
Li Ye's eyes lit up. "Brilliant!"
"But I need to check something first."
"Tell me: was everything you just said true?"
A faint glow flowed across his tongue as he used Words Manifest Reality to question Flower Demon.
Damn, I forgot about his wicked sorcery.
Flower Demon was taken aback, then answered obediently:
"It was all a lie. I don't have a Thousand Poison Pill. I tricked you."
"What kind of pill is that?"
"One Snake Flower Pill. After I take it, I'll only need thirty percent of my power to suppress you, and I'll still be powerful enough to decide whether you live or die."
"So, your plan is..."
"Revenge!"
"How?"
"I'll use the Soul Devouring Great Law to make you bark like a puppy and croak like a frog. Once I've had my fun, I'll deal with you."
After Flower Demon broke free of the power of Words Manifest Reality, she found Li Ye staring at her with a cold, hostile look in his eyes.
"I'm very interested in your way of taking revenge."
Li Ye said.
Flower Demon's face changed dramatically.
Before you continue