Mingzhu Appears, Fei Lian Suffers

"And you are?"

Fei Lian spoke first.

The presence of the man before him was no weaker than their own, marking him as a Zenith Heaven Golden Immortal as well.

Moreover, the Twelve Divine Pearls in the Daoist's hand appeared to be at the level of an Innate Spiritual Treasure.

One must know that ever since Hongjun had passed down the Three Corpses Severing Method, the number of Zenith Heaven Golden Immortals in the entire Primordial Wilderness who possessed an Innate Spiritual Treasure had grown exceedingly scarce.

Because the Three Corpses Severing Method required an innate object to host the three corpses, Innate Spiritual Treasures had become the best choice.

Powerful Zenith Heaven Golden Immortals used Innate Spiritual Treasures to sever their corpses, attaining the Quasi-Sage realm.

Weak Zenith Heaven Golden Immortals could not hold onto their Innate Spiritual Treasures and were slain by the strong.

Thus, the number of Zenith Heaven Golden Immortals who could keep an Innate Spiritual Treasure by their side was dwindling.

Even among their Demon Race, the Ten Demon Gods, whose status was second only to the Four Demon Emperors, few possessed an Innate Spiritual Treasure.

Even if they did, the grade was not high.

At the very least, Fei Lian and Nine Infants did not.

This was also why they had yet to sever their corpses.

Fei Lian had been thinking that during this attack on the Witch Clan, after earning merit in battle, he would beg the Demon Emperor for a treasure to use for corpse severing.

But the Daoist before him actually possessed an Innate Spiritual Treasure of no poor grade.

This forced Fei Lian to tread carefully.

On the other side, Nine Infants had already revealed a greedy expression.

If not for his injuries, he would have lunged forward to seize the Innate Spiritual Treasure long ago.

Hou Yi, however, breathed a slight sigh of relief.

From Fei Lian's tone, this man did not seem to be an ally of the Demon Race.

In truth, this person was Mingzhu, one of Styx's Blood God Doppelganger incarnations.

He was formed by Styx using his own divine soul combined with Nether Bone Bamboo. Though he had originally been merely a Primordial Unity Golden Immortal.

With Styx as his true self and Wu Mo to lecture him on the Dao, he had now achieved the Zenith Heaven Golden Immortal realm.

The Twelve Sea Stabilizing Divine Pearls in his hand were naturally bestowed upon him by Styx.

As for why Styx had sent him here?

That was to repay a karmic debt.

Do not forget, earlier Di Jiang and Zhu Jiuyin had helped Styx open the Strange Space, allowing Styx to find Wu Mo and incidentally obtain a fragment of the Jade Disc of Creation.

This had incurred a karmic debt.

What better way to repay a karmic debt than with a life-saving favor?

It was just that the karmic connection between Styx and the Witch Clan was not great, so he did not act personally.

He only sent Mingzhu.

Of course, sending Wu Mo would have been possible too.

But the demonic aura on Wu Mo was too heavy.

If he walked the Primordial Wilderness too often, he might be slain by others.

After all, the Mystic Gate now held sway, and the Demonic Path was regarded as an aberration.

Mingzhu did not answer Fei Lian's question. Instead, he directly offered up the Twelve Sea Stabilizing Divine Pearls and smashed them onto one of Nine Infants' heads.

His sudden strike caught everyone off guard.

Fei Lian had been on guard. The moment Mingzhu moved, he struck instantly, but Hou Yi on the other side had also been waiting for a long time.

"Your opponent is me!"

Hou Yi quickly loosed an arrow, blocking Fei Lian.

He saw clearly that on this battlefield, the chaotic melee of Primordial Unity Golden Immortals and below among the Witch and Demon Races was not the decisive factor.

The battle between them, the Zenith Heaven Golden Immortals, was what truly mattered!

This suddenly appearing Daoist, no matter his origins, since he had struck at the Demon Race, that was a good thing for him!

Seizing the opportunity, Hou Yi directly engaged Fei Lian in chaotic combat.

Fei Lian also struck with full force!

They had thought that dealing with a mere Hou Tu Tribe, sending two Zenith Heaven Golden Immortals from the Demon Race, along with the Xi Emperor's full-powered strike, would be more than enough.

Who would have known that another Zenith Heaven Golden Immortal would suddenly appear!

And this Hou Yi was extraordinary in combat, a fearless man whose solid muscles were not much inferior to a low-grade Innate Spiritual Treasure.

Fei Lian could gain no advantage in close combat.

And once Fei Lian tried to create distance, Hou Yi's superb archery left him with no retreat.

This was the most stifling battle Fei Lian had ever fought!

Nine Infants beside him was even worse off.

Already heavily injured, he was then ambushed by Mingzhu!

He hurriedly summoned an Acquired defensive Spiritual Treasure to block, but how could an Acquired Spiritual Treasure possibly withstand an Innate one?

Under Nine Infants' astonished gaze, the Twelve Sea Stabilizing Divine Pearls pierced through the Acquired Spiritual Treasure's defense and slammed directly into him!

Nine Infants winced in pain but still threatened, "Who do you think you are? A mere Zenith Heaven Golden Immortal daring to oppose our Demon Race—aren't you afraid our Demon Emperor will hold you accountable?"

Mingzhu sneered contemptuously and said, "Your Demon Emperor? If he's got the guts, let him come! He'd better watch out—he might come in alive but never leave!"

Behind Mingzhu stood Styx. If Di Jun and Eastern Emperor Taiyi truly dared to come... they'd probably have to bleed again!

But Fei Lian and Nine Infants knew nothing of this.

Nine Infants simply thought Mingzhu was bluffing and said, "Big talk!"

Then he raised a sword-shaped Acquired Spiritual Treasure and charged at Mingzhu.

Mingzhu's attack had struck Nine Infants, but it hadn't dealt much damage.

It wasn't even as severe as the injury Hou Yi had inflicted earlier.

This gave Nine Infants a measure of Mingzhu's strength—he probably wasn't skilled in offense.

That rekindled Nine Infants' hope of victory. If he could kill Mingzhu, the Innate Spiritual Treasure in Mingzhu's hands would be his!

And indeed, as he thought, Mingzhu was not adept at combat.

Mingzhu's role was more that of a healer, meant for recovery.

So!

Though Nine Infants launched a frenzied assault on Mingzhu, it wasn't lethal.

Mingzhu could naturally use his powerful recovery ability to heal instantly!

Thus, Nine Infants was already panting from exhaustion, while Mingzhu remained in top condition.

Moreover, under Mingzhu's deliberate control, they drew closer and closer to the battlefield between Hou Yi and Fei Lian.

Hou Yi hadn't yet figured out why this suddenly appearing Daoist was approaching him, when he felt a surge of Wood Elemental Power flow into his body, continuously repairing his injuries!

Overjoyed, Hou Yi let out a roar, then charged at Fei Lian and sent him flying!

Fei Lian couldn't believe it.

"How is this possible!"

He and Hou Yi had been fighting for a long time; both had expended considerable energy. How could Hou Yi have recovered so much in an instant?

Connecting Mingzhu's suspicious move of approaching Hou Yi, Fei Lian instantly guessed the truth.

He cursed Nine Infants, "You useless piece of trash! Can't even win, and you can't even keep him occupied?"

Originally, he had expended about half his strength, and Hou Yi was about the same, maybe a bit more.

Overall, he had the upper hand.

But now Hou Yi had reversed the losing trend, and Fei Lian found himself at a disadvantage.

Nine Infants kept thrusting his sword at Mingzhu.

But with his heavy consumption, his reflexes and speed were far inferior to Mingzhu's.

Hearing Fei Lian curse him, Nine Infants grew annoyed.

"You try it then!"

Although Mingzhu's offensive power was lacking, his tenacity far exceeded Nine Infants' expectations.

"Fine!"

Fei Lian agreed without a second thought.

In his view, Nine Infants couldn't beat Mingzhu because Nine Infants was too weak. Could Mingzhu be more troublesome than Hou Yi?

Nine Infants began to swap battlefields with Fei Lian, and his remaining four uninjured heads simultaneously spat out a mouthful of Black Water, trying to force Mingzhu back and create an opening for himself.

But the Sea Stabilizing Divine Pearls in Mingzhu's hand happened to counter him.

"Stabilize!"

The Divine Pearls emitted a blue Spiritual Light, freezing the Black Water in midair.

Hou Yi seized the opportunity, drawing his bow and firing an arrow with all his might—this time aimed at Nine Infants' heart!