No Chance Given

If Le Lingzhao had beheaded this Shadow Demon General back when she was a Spirit Emperor, she would have broken through at least three levels, doubled her holy attribute, and saved a year of bitter cultivation.

Unfortunately, such an improvement was negligible to her now, but... it was better than nothing.

Adhering to the principle that "even a mosquito's leg is meat," Le Lingzhao followed the aura toward the strongest demon. While speeding along, she raised her hand to condense a holy sword, then swung it backward without looking, sending a golden sword qi dozens of feet long whistling through the air.

The three demon commanders were terrified, wanting to dodge, but it was already too late.

Because the Shadow Demon General had been running the fastest, Le Lingzhao's position had already brought her ahead of those three demon commanders.

Desperate to flee toward their monarch, they ran headlong into Le Lingzhao's sword qi and were reduced to dust filling the sky.

At level 98 spirit power, Le Lingzhao was no weakling among Limit Douluos once she donned her Four-Word Battle Armor.

Her sword qi was unstoppable; after slaying the three demon commanders, it sheared through eight more mountain peaks before dissipating with a thunderous roar.

Wherever the sword qi passed, the demons were slaughtered to the last.

With this, Le Lingzhao had wiped out all four demon commanders who were besieging the two young leaders of the Yuanen Family with just a flip of her palm and a backhanded sword strike, incidentally clearing the area in the process.

Moreover, it hadn't delayed her in the slightest from hunting down the demon monarch Wu Jie.

Her combat power was so strong it bordered on that of a quasi-god.

Not far away, Leng Qingning was no less impressive.

Her natal spirit fire transformed into a hundred-foot Purple Phoenix, and the moment its wings spread, purple flames descended like a torrential downpour.

Wherever they passed, the demons were instantly incinerated into ash.

She shared the same thought as Le Lingzhao: both intended to surround and kill that strongest extra-dimensional powerhouse from dozens of miles away right here.

Back on the ground, Yuanen Tiandang, wearing his tattered Three-Word Battle Armor, saw the two Four-Word Battle Armor Masters heading straight for the enemy leader and didn't hesitate for a moment either.

He glanced at his younger brother, who was rushing toward his wife, ignored any remaining demon fodder, gathered his spirit power, and charged in another direction.

The battlefield between the Yuanen Family and the demons was too scattered; although the demons here had been cleared, clansmen elsewhere were still locked in bitter struggle.

Leng Qingning and Le Lingzhao did not delay for a single moment, clearing out demon commanders and fodder alike as they went.

Yet even so, the two were a step too late.

In the valley where the Demon Gate stood, when the golden and purple streaks of light arrived, they happened to see a gaunt figure dash into the gate, while Yuanen Zhentian stood to the side, making no move to stop it.

Leng Qingning landed in the valley, looked at the vanished demon passage, then at Yuanen Zhentian's tattered Three-Word Battle Armor, and couldn't help but frown: "Your Excellency Zhentian, why did you not stop it?"

She knew that even without a Four-Word Battle Armor, Yuanen Zhentian was a genuine demigod who surely could have sensed that she and Le Lingzhao were on their way.

More importantly, although he looked disheveled, he was not injured and could have easily held off that otherworldly powerhouse until they arrived.

Yet he had stood by and watched, allowing the great enemy who had slaughtered his clansmen to escape, which was truly baffling.

Yuanen Zhentian did not answer, instead looking at Yehui, who lay unconscious not far away, a bitter smile tugging at the corners of his mouth: "This is my daughter-in-law."

Le Lingzhao looked toward Yehui, sensed the dense evil aura within her, and frowned, but said nothing more.

Yuanen Zhentian took a deep breath and continued: "Her name is Yehui, her martial soul... is a Fallen Angel! If nothing goes wrong, the opening of the demon plane passage was because of her..."

As he spoke, his heart was filled with pain. Countless images flashed through his mind: the sweetness of Yehui and his son's love, his own resolute opposition, Yehui's persistence in stopping her cultivation to avoid losing control, the joy of his little granddaughter's birth, and the tragic sight of his clansmen bleeding out...

But he had to save Yehui.

Yuanen Zhentian understood his son; he was a man of deep devotion. If Yehui were gone, he would surely not wish to live alone.

If both of them were gone, how would his six-year-old granddaughter survive?

So many had died in the clan because of Yehui; without the protection of her parents, a six-year-old girl would surely have to endure the wrath of the clansmen.

He was the patriarch of the Yuanen Family; logically, he should kill Yehui to give the clan an explanation. But he was also a father and a grandfather; he could not watch his son walk to his death and his little granddaughter lose her family only to be targeted by the clan's resentment.

As long as Yehui was alive, Tiandang would not go to his death, and there would be room for everything to be reconciled.

At worst... he would simply strike the family of three from the clan records.

Yuanen Zhentian laid everything bare, the pain and struggle in his tone nearly overflowing.

Leng Qingning and Le Lingzhao had done the Yuanen Family a great favor; in both reason and sentiment, he owed them a satisfactory explanation, so he held nothing back.

Although the two were dissatisfied with his letting the tiger return to the mountains, they could understand his predicament after hearing the reasons.

In such a situation, anyone would be in a difficult position.

The demon monarch Wu Jie had used Yehui's life to secure his own escape; if he had refused, he would undoubtedly have been the culprit who destroyed his son's family with his own hands.

Moreover, that demon monarch Wu Jie was also decisively ruthless.

Sensing the two approaching, he hadn't even fought, instead using Yehui's life as a hostage to force Yuanen Zhentian to step aside and let him leave.

To escape as quickly as possible, he had even compromised with Yuanen Zhentian—who was a step weaker than him—by extracting the so-called Purple Gold Imperial Clan bloodline from Yehui's body, allowing her to return to human form.

He hadn't given them a single chance; it was hard to say if it was being sensible or just cowardly.

Having poured out the helplessness in his heart, Yuanen Zhentian was both explaining to the two and unburdening himself.

He put away his severely damaged Three-Word Battle Armor and bowed solemnly to them: "Many thanks to you both for resolving the crisis of my Yuanen Family. May I ask your names?"

"Purple Phoenix!"

"Judgment!"

Leng Qingning and Le Lingzhao retracted their Four-Word Battle Armor in unison, showing due respect to Yuanen Zhentian, a powerhouse at the demigod level.

Their identities were easy to guess; Leng Qingning's title was Purple Phoenix, and the holy aura radiating from Le Lingzhao was impossible to conceal.

Yuanen Zhentian suppressed the shock in his heart and asked again, "Could it be that you are friends from the Phoenix Family and the Angel Family?"

The two had nothing to hide and both nodded in agreement.

Upon receiving a definitive answer, the shock on Yuanen Zhentian's face lasted for several seconds before he slowly calmed down.

He gave a light cough and said apologetically, "I apologize for my lack of composure just now."

With a self-deprecating smile, he continued, "It seems this old man has been looking at the sky from the bottom of a well. I never imagined that besides the Eternal Family with their three Limit Douluos, the Federation actually harbored a Phoenix Family and an Angel Family, each with two Limit Douluos."

Leng Qingning did not offer any further explanation upon hearing this, and Le Lingzhao did not deny it, even though she had yet to break through to the Limit Douluo realm.

After all, the breakthrough was only a matter of time; there was no need to deliberately clarify, as doing so would only seem forced.

Yuanen Zhentian did not actually have any ulterior motives. If he cared about fame and power, the Yuanen Family would not have chosen to live in seclusion, and as a dignified demigod, he would not be unable to find a way to acquire the heaven-forged metals needed to craft a set of Four-Word Battle Armor.

He simply felt that the Phoenix Family and the Angel Family were hidden too deeply; two Four-Word Battle Armor Masters had appeared without even the slightest rumor leaking out.