Nine Nether Demon Flame

A fierce glint flashed through his eyes. He no longer concealed his strength, and his cultivation at the Heart Inquiry Realm erupted with a roar!

Pale golden true qi burst through his entire body like a breached riverbank, and his speed abruptly soared.

At the critical moment, the true qi beneath his feet exploded. His entire body defied inertia as he leaned sharply backward by a hair's breadth, his back nearly grazing the ground as he narrowly evaded the combined killing strike of Shadow Thirteen and the giant man.

At the same time, he slapped the ground with his left hand and sprang up with the force, then flicked his right fingers, sending a stream of true qi precisely at Aji.

With a soft clang, Aji's wrist trembled, his dagger flew from his grasp, and his attack slowed.

Seizing the chance, Li Yuan performed a black dragon twisting around a pillar, flipping back onto his feet and opening the distance from the three once more.

Even now, he had yet to fight with his full strength, keeping his power at the level of someone who had only just broken through to the Heart Inquiry Realm.

Because he could sense that a dangerous aura still seemed to be lurking in the shadows.

"The Heart Inquiry Realm? You actually broke through?"

Shadow Thirteen's strike missed, surprise flashing through her eyes before it turned into even denser killing intent. "No wonder you dared use yourself as bait. Pity—even if you're in the Heart Inquiry Realm, you are doomed to die today!"

The three exchanged glances and joined forces once more to launch their attack.

Meanwhile, Mr. Mo looked around and discovered that he stood in a desolate, deathly silent wasteland.

The sky was gray and hazy, with neither sun, moon, nor stars. The air was thick with the stench of blood.

Standing atop a boulder with his hands behind his back, his gray robe snapping in the wind, he swept his gaze over this unfamiliar world and immediately understood.

"Not a trapping formation, but a teleportation... It seems we are no longer in Chang'an City."

He muttered softly, cold light flickering in his eyes. The enemy had actually activated a long-distance spatial teleportation formation right under his nose. It seemed the Demon Race had truly gone all out this time. He had been careless.

"Mo Wentian!"

"You old bastard! Hand over your life to this Saint!"

A roar brimming with boundless hatred exploded like thunder. Space warped atop a distant mountain peak, and an enormous creature appeared.

It was a giant ape standing three zhang tall, its entire body covered in snow-white fur.

It stood upright, muscles bulging, sharp fangs protruding from its mouth. Its blood-red eyes overflowed with frenzied killing intent as they locked tightly onto Mr. Mo.

Even more chilling was the demon power radiating from its body—it had unmistakably reached the Demon Saint level.

Within this strange space, it seemed unaffected by the nation-protecting grand formation. Its aura was complete and ferocious.

"White Ape Demon Saint?" Mr. Mo frowned slightly, recognizing his opponent. "You? I never expected a defeated foe like you to dare sneak into Chang'an."

"Shut up!"

The White Ape Demon Saint roared, its voice shaking loose stones from all around. "You killed my only son and destroyed my cave abode! I cannot coexist under the same sky as you!"

"Today will be the burial ground I carefully prepared for you! I will use your heart as an offering to my son's spirit in heaven!"

"It is only natural that you came seeking revenge." Mr. Mo's tone remained calm. "But you, a defeated foe, think you can kill me? You think far too little of me, Mo Wentian."

"Ha ha ha!"

The White Ape Demon Saint threw back its head and laughed wildly, its eyes filled with venomous hatred. "Old bastard, you still dare talk tough when death is at your doorstep!"

"Back then, you barged alone into our Demon Race's sacred land and forcibly took that treasure. Though you succeeded, you were injured by the Nine Nether Demon Flame, damaging your foundation. You have yet to recover!"

"This place is a world formed from a fragment of our race's sacred artifact, the Thirty-Three Heavens Map. It suppresses human cultivators!"

It bared its teeth smugly. "And this treasure can completely isolate all auras. Neither Divine Martial Academy nor the Demon Suppression Bureau can save you!"

Before its words had faded, the White Ape Demon Saint's enormous body had already transformed into a streak of white light, crossing hundreds of zhang in an instant. A giant fist covered in hard white fur, wrapped in violent blood-red lightning, smashed down at Mr. Mo's head.

Wherever the fist wind passed, even space gave off an overloaded hum, revealing fine black cracks.

"Die—!"

Mr. Mo's gaze sharpened. Faced with that heaven-shaking punch, he did not meet it head-on. His body flickered like a phantom, seeming to merge into the folds of space around him, leaving behind only an afterimage that slowly faded.

The White Ape's punch struck empty air and blasted the boulder below into dust. Violent force swept outward, plowing a deep trench through the wasteland.

"Roar!"

The White Ape Demon Saint roared furiously and beat its chest with both arms. Every strand of white fur stood on end as a strange force abruptly spread out, turning the surrounding space as viscous as a swamp.

Mo Wentian frowned slightly, sensing a trace of sluggishness.

"Nine Nether Demon Flame!"

The White Ape opened its mouth and spat out an incomparably blazing pale flame. Laden with sinister demonic qi, it surged forth, scorching even space into distortion and melting it away.

Mr. Mo's expression remained unchanged, but a trace of gravity passed through the depths of his eyes.

It seemed the White Ape Demon Saint had come prepared. Every part of this Thirty-Three Heavens Map had been arranged to target him. More troublesome still, he could not spare any attention for Li Yuan at the moment. He did not know whether Li Yuan could hold on.

"It seems I cannot get away without slaughtering you first."

Mr. Mo murmured. The hands that had hung casually at his sides slowly rose, and a vast, profound, unfathomable aura gradually awakened from within his lean body.

A peak confrontation erupted with a thunderous blast within this isolated, otherworldly space!

Laws collided, divine abilities clashed—every strike was enough to change the color of mountains and rivers and blot out the sun and moon.

Chang'an City, Pingkang Ward.

Realizing something was wrong, Chen Shuo led the Demon Suppression Bureau's elite into Leaning Red House. The building was now in complete disarray, and the few remaining trembling lackeys knew nothing when questioned.

Li Yuan, Mr. Mo, and Aji had all vanished.

Not even a trace of battle had been left behind.

"It was a teleportation formation!"

Liu Hongyan's lovely face turned cold. She sniffed the lingering aura in the air and immediately reached her conclusion.

Her heart skipped a beat. For someone to silently take them away under the noses of both her and Chen Shuo, matters had already gone beyond their expectations.

"Seal off the entire city at once! Search it thoroughly!"

Chen Shuo's face was ashen as he issued the order harshly.

Within the Demon Suppression Bureau, a mysterious high-ranking figure who had rushed over upon receiving the news flew into a rage and smashed the sandalwood table before him with one palm.

"A bunch of fools!"

"A dignified Demon Suppression Bureau captain was played like a fiddle by the Demon Race! You let a student with ninth-grade talent fall into a desperate situation, and now even Mr. Mo's whereabouts are unknown!"

"Chen Shuo, what crime should you answer for?"

Chen Shuo's face went deathly pale. He dropped to one knee, unable to offer any reply.

He had proposed the plan. Now that such a massive blunder had occurred, he could not escape blame.

"Now is not the time to pursue responsibility." Liu Hongyan stepped forward, authority shining in her phoenix eyes. "The urgent matter is to find them immediately and rescue them with all our strength!"

"For every moment we delay, they face another measure of danger. I ask that you immediately issue orders to mobilize the experts within the Bureau proficient in secret tracking arts, and contact the Imperial Observatory to calculate the heavenly secrets and seek clues."

That high-ranking figure seemed somewhat wary of Liu Hongyan. Intimidated by her bearing, his anger eased slightly. "Fine. I will issue the order at once. But if anything goes wrong, none of you will escape responsibility!"

The orders were swiftly delivered. The entire Demon Suppression Bureau was mobilized, and Divine Martial Academy sent experts skilled in formations as well, yet they still could not pinpoint the exact location of the two.

Time slipped away second by second, but the rescue effort remained without a clue.

Liu Hongyan was frantic with worry. Where exactly were they now? Were they alive or dead?