That Man

Although Jiang Chen had guessed from Tian Mingye's punctual nature that she possessed some power to ensure punctuality,

he had never imagined that this demoness would conquer the Azure Mist Sect single-handedly.

Though Luo Qingzhou was also at the early Nascent Soul Realm and had put up a sufficiently fierce fight, he still quickly fell before the nearly invincible Nascent Soul demoness.

Her Demonic Flame was far too pure, like ultimate evil that no justice could ever destroy.

No wonder Reverend Guiqi, at the Nascent Soul Peak, had fled beyond the mountain-protecting formation the instant he received the news, leaving a paper effigy clone behind to set the trap.

At the same cultivation level, disregarding intelligence, demon cultivators were stronger than demon beasts, who were stronger than humans.

And Tian Mingye was a Heavenly Demon, a once-in-a-century genius among demonkind, nearly invincible within Fireburn Kingdom.

She had single-handedly led the declining Qiu Demon Sect across the land, then renamed it the Heavenly Demon Sect, slaughtering dozens of human cities and spreading her vicious fame throughout Xihe Prefecture.

Jiang Chen had doubted it before, thinking it was merely the Demon Sect threat theory spread deliberately in Xihe Prefecture to seek demon-slaying resources from the Daqian Dynasty.

He never expected the legend to be true...

Between the split Myriad Laws Peaks, Tian Mingye tossed aside the book she had been reading and raised her hand.

The white-haired old man flew through the air into her grasp. She seized him by the throat and lifted him into the air.

Tian Mingye paused slightly, then opened her hand and burned him to ashes.

"Just a paper effigy..."

At that moment, Reverend Guiqi's weathered voice came from the sky.

"It does not matter where this old man's true body is. What matters is that you are already inside the formation."

In an instant!

Layer after layer of projections from the mountain-protecting formation descended upon Tian Mingye, forming a Return-Form Formation.

With Tian Mingye at its center and the entire mountain-protecting formation driving its spiritual pressure, the Second-Stage Return-Form Formation was activated.

Devour!

"Hm?"

Tian Mingye's gaze shifted, chillingly cold.

The Azure Mist Sect's mountain-protecting formation had been a Fusion Realm formation constructed two thousand years ago when the sect joined the Dao Alliance, intended to ward off invading demons and monsters.

Due to years of neglect and the lack of a continuous supply of spirit mines, it had long since fallen to the Spirit Severing-tier.

Even so, a Spirit Severing-tier mountain-protecting formation was enough to crush Tian Mingye, who was only at the Early Nascent Soul Realm!

As long as the spiritual pressure driving Reverend Guiqi's Second-Stage Return-Form Formation exceeded that of its prey by one major realm, it could rapidly devour the target.

For instance, Reverend Guiqi had spent half a year exhausting Qu Yang and the Jiao Serpent until their cultivation fell to the Golden Core Realm before activating the Second-Stage Return-Form Formation and devouring them both in an instant.

This time was a battle, so there was naturally no time for a slow and careful devouring. The formation was pushed to its limit and forcibly consumed her.

Tian Mingye's eyes turned slightly cold, but she showed no concern at all.

"What trivial trick is this? How could it possibly harm me?"

Yet her demonic energy was soon devoured completely.

The Form-Returning Formation truly did not harm her, but it did return her completely to her original form.

Yet even after losing her demonic energy, Tian Mingye's imposing presence did not diminish in the slightest.

She sat cross-legged atop Myriad Laws Peak. Her black robes turned white, and the dark red mark between her brows became blood-red.

Her skin was fair, her figure voluptuous, and the darkness in her eyes vanished. In the blink of an eye, she had become an entirely ordinary voluptuous woman.

Jiang Chen took one look and had to admit that she was kind of cute...

Tian Mingye was accustomed to using demonic energy to devour spiritual power. She had never expected a mere human formation to devour her demonic energy in reverse, and she found it rather novel.

"Such a precise high-pressure formation could not possibly devour all my demonic energy without your true body controlling it."

As she spoke, she gave another order.

"Lingyin, that old thief's true body must be outside the formation. Use the formation to locate his position in reverse."

The little demon girl outside the formation remained utterly calm and said,

"Yes, Sovereign!"

"No need to locate me. I am right here."

Reverend Guiqi had victory in his grasp. He surveyed the battlefield, with everything under control, certain that Tian Mingye no longer had the strength to turn things around.

As he used the mountain-protecting formation to convert the devoured demonic power into spiritual power and absorb it into his body,

he seized Lingyin by the forehead with one hand, lifted her up, and said with disappointment,

"I had thought you possessed some secret, but you are merely a simple timekeeper."

Tian Mingye's demonic energy was thoroughly dissolved by the mountain-protecting formation into spiritual power, which entered Reverend Guiqi's body strand by strand.

He had never enjoyed such pure spiritual power before. She truly was the number one demon genius of the past century!

"Tian Mingye, why do you not thank this old man for removing your demonic obstruction and restoring you to a normal human body? Once I finish absorbing your demonic energy, this old man will surely reach Spirit Severing in one stroke."

"Is that so?"

Inside the formation, Tian Mingye responded coldly.

At the same time, the faint demonic energy covering the outer layer of the mountain-protecting formation gathered again, forming a giant of demonic energy that suddenly appeared behind Reverend Guiqi.

The surging Demonic Flame released a towering pressure, instantly rendering Reverend Guiqi unable to move.

Tian Mingye raised a hand and grabbed.

The demonic giant's massive hand followed suit, reaching for Reverend Guiqi's forehead.

"You—"

Reverend Guiqi's aged eyes froze. His cultivation was forcibly suppressed by the Demonic Flame, leaving him completely unable to move...

He inwardly sighed at the terror of a Heavenly Demon's bearing!

He could open the Qi Sea Abyss and directly absorb Tian Mingye's Demonic Flame, but unfortunately, his divine soul could not withstand it. He would surely lose consciousness immediately.

This sight horrified everyone in the Azure Mist Sect!

Jiang Chen was dumbfounded as well.

This was the demonic energy she had released earlier, originally meant to slowly corrode the formation. Yet Tian Mingye could gather it remotely from across the formation and use it to kill Reverend Guiqi in return...

Was this the control of a Heavenly Demon?

Reverend Guiqi had calculated everything, with all matters under his control, yet he still could not account for a cheat user going berserk.

Who could have expected the demonic energy released at the beginning to become the turning point of this battle?

And this timekeeper carrying a Stone-Carved Bell had happened to draw everyone's attention, causing them to overlook the demonic energy whose presence was even fainter.

Even after Tian Mingye's true body lost its demonic power, she could still remotely control the dispersed demonic energy through the mountain-protecting formation. That meant it was her natal demonic energy!

It seems this demoness is not as brainless as her figure makes her look.

Jiang Chen thought this.

A sword pierced through his chest, and Demonic Flame bound him.

"For all these years, I heard that this old thief had some value. But to me, you are nothing more than a disgusting corpse."

"Y-you cannot kill me—sell this old man to Liyue, and it will be enough to feed your Heavenly Demon Sect for ten years!"

Tian Mingye suddenly burst into cold laughter.

"Liyue is my enemy."

As she spoke, the demonic giant's hand instantly crushed Reverend Guiqi's skull, while overwhelming Demonic Flame invaded his dantian.

Suddenly!

Spirit Severing Realm pressure suppressed the entire battlefield.

Even through the screen, Jiang Chen could feel that overwhelming intimidation.

The compressed Demonic Flame could not move and found it difficult to maintain the giant's form.

A leisurely hummed tune, carrying an unusual scent of wheat, slowly drifted over from Tranquil Heart Peak.

Then a sword suddenly rose into the sky!

A man trailed behind its hilt as it shot through the sect-protecting formation in an instant.

The sword slanted through Reverend Guiqi's robe, then swept upward and hoisted his entire body onto the blade.

A figure wearing a bamboo hat suddenly appeared in the skies above the Azure Mist Sect.

The man tied Reverend Guiqi's long white beard to the sword behind his back, then lifted Reverend Guiqi with the blade and rested the sword on his right shoulder.

Reverend Guiqi breathed a sigh of relief.

Tian Mingye had also been suppressed by this sudden Spirit Severing Realm expert. If her true body had been outside the formation, she might have been able to fight him, but relying only on the demonic giant, she could not possibly be his match.

"Who are you!"

The man smiled and removed his bamboo hat, revealing a face with cracked skin, sparse curly beard, and an infinitely carefree air. Between his brows was the mark of Heaven-Worm Eats the Moon.

"A man from Liyue?"

Jiang Chen saw Deacon Chen's face for the first time.

Damn, he was actually a Spirit Severing Realm powerhouse...

No wonder the annotations on that jade slip were so exquisite!

A Spirit Severing Realm powerhouse had actually lived quietly in the Azure Mist Sect for a hundred years, burying himself in wheat farming. What kind of spirit was that?

Jiang Chen vaguely guessed that it might be related to cultivating Myriad Phenomena Resonance, or perhaps to Reverend Guiqi.

And what exactly was Liyue?

Jiang Chen had only been transported to this world for three years. There were still far too many unknowns.

Chen Gongxing ignored everyone's reactions and merely asked Reverend Guiqi,

"I have observed the Azure Mist Sect for a hundred years. Congratulations on passing Liyue's test. I am Chen Gongxing, an agent of Liyue, and I formally invite you to join Liyue... what do you say, Senior Guiqi?"

Being called Senior by a Spirit Severing Realm powerhouse... Reverend Guiqi, still skewered on the sword, was suddenly overcome with complicated emotions.

No matter how he looked at it, this boy could not be older than five hundred, yet he was already a Spirit Severing powerhouse.

Damn gifted genius!

At present, Reverend Guiqi was gravely injured and near death. He no longer had the right to choose.

"Joining Liyue means becoming enemies with Demonkind, the demon clans, and the Daqian Dynasty all at once. It will ultimately be a dead end... but does this old man still have a choice?"

Chen Gongxing smiled without answering.

"You may also choose to become ashes!"

Tian Mingye controlled the demonic giant and made it erupt again. Its entire body became scarlet Demonic Flame and swallowed both men.

"There is even such Demonic Flame?"

Chen Gongxing was greatly startled as well. He suddenly realized that a boundless sea of fire surrounded him on all sides.

He had no choice but to draw his sword. A streak of sword qi flew out and stabbed toward the scarlet flame giant's dantian.

"Hm?"

The flames receded. Chen Gongxing looked closely and discovered that his sword qi had pierced through Reverend Guiqi's dantian.

Looking around, Tian Mingye's scarlet flame giant had burned away completely, mixed with an illusion spell of unknown origin.

"Even I fell under an illusion?"