Everyone, Human or Ghost, Was Showing Off

The giant collapsed, the demonic aura dispersed, and the mountain-protecting formation returned to its pale cyan hue.

What had happened above the mountain-protecting formation shocked everyone in the Azure Mist Sect.

Jiang Chen finally saw the truth.

Everyone, human or ghost, was showing off. Only Gui Qi was getting beaten up.

Even Chen Gongxing, a Spirit Severing Realm cultivator, had let his guard down and fallen for an illusion. That meant Thousand-Faced Fox had made her move.

Could her illusions truly deceive even a Spirit Severing Realm powerhouse?

Jiang Chen paused the footage, pulled the view farther back, heightened the resolution of his five senses and divine consciousness, and searched everywhere.

Only then did he discover that Liu Ruyan's true body was inside the cave abode on Tranquil Heart Peak.

Through restrictions she had arranged in the clouds beforehand, working with Tian Mingye's Demonic Flame, she had created an illusion.

This was no longer merely an illusion, but a deception that was both real and unreal. Only that could fool Chen Gongxing into mistakenly killing Reverend Guiqi, whom he had thought was still behind him, with a single sword strike.

From Tian Mingye and Liu Ruyan's brief cooperation, it was clear that both the demon and devil races wanted Reverend Guiqi dead.

Having already cultivated the Form-Returning Book, Jiang Chen felt no sympathy for this whatsoever. He understood completely.

No wonder Reverend Guiqi only dared to live in seclusion within the Azure Mist Sect's Scripture Pavilion. If someone with that kind of cultivation method went strolling outside, the demon and devil races would beat him to death.

Fortunately, Jiang Chen cultivated only the single-player version of the Demi-Immortal's Book. It merely absorbed scattered demonic and devilish aura. At most, he could dual cultivate with a demoness or deviless for mutual benefit. He would not form some Second-Stage Form-Returning Formation and forcibly devour people whole.

At present, Chen Gongxing had fallen for an illusion and then crippled the person Liyue wanted with one sword strike. He was somewhat unable to save face.

He began humming a pleasant little tune again, then lowered his head to look toward Tranquil Heart Peak.

He had never expected it to be his own disciple, Liu Ruyan...

"I never noticed that a fox was living on my Tranquil Heart Peak."

Though he said that, his hand showed no mercy whatsoever.

Across the formation, he slashed his sword toward Tranquil Heart Peak.

A piercing sword howl of resonance rang out, mingled with a faint scent of wheat...

Inside the cave abode, Liu Ruyan coughed up blood. Her dantian cracked.

Chen Gongxing did not follow up with another strike. Instead, he glanced at Reverend Guiqi before him.

A shattered dantian might be treatable, but there was no hope left for his cultivation.

Chen Gongxing could not be bothered to take a cripple back with him. He looked up and let out a long sigh, saying only:

"Forget it. What Liyue desires is not Senior's strength, but your knowledge. Leaving the head will do."

Reverend Guiqi's head drooped. He was not dead yet, but upon vaguely hearing Chen Gongxing's words, he jerked his head upright in fright.

"Don't—"

Unfortunately, it was too late.

Chen Gongxing raised a hand and plucked off his head, pulling out an entire length of spine with it.

He then stuffed one end of the spine into a long cylinder resembling a vase and preserved it there.

His movements were so practiced that this was clearly not his first time doing such a thing.

Then his figure flashed, and he vanished beyond the horizon.

The entire scene fell deathly silent.

Jiang Chen felt as though he were watching a thrilling movie from behind a screen, twist after twist coming one after another.

He had long known Chen Gongxing was no ordinary man, but he had never expected him to be a Liyue Walker of the Spirit Severing Realm!

Why could Liyue offend the three great powers of the demons, devils, and Daqian Dynasty, yet still survive?

He had to admit, these Liyue Walkers could truly endure loneliness, and their methods were truly stylish.

He had ripped out someone's head and spine as though drawing a sword, then stuffed them into a pre-prepared sheath.

Guiqi's Spinal Sword... exquisite.

After Chen Gongxing left,

Sect Master Luo Qingzhou grew even more panicked.

The female devil was still inside the formation. Why had that Liyue Walker not killed her as well?

At present, although Tian Mingye had lost her demonic power, no one in the Azure Mist Sect dared step forward to capture her.

Tian Mingye slowly rose to her feet.

Her face was pale and she looked somewhat weak, yet the bearing of the Heavenly Demon Lord remained. She ordered Luo Qingzhou:

"Remove the mountain-protecting formation. Do not blame me if the Azure Mist Sect suffers a massacre."

Logically speaking, Tian Mingye's true body had exhausted its demonic power, and the demonic aura outside the mountain-protecting formation had also been consumed by Chen Gongxing. This was the best time to capture the Demon Lord.

Yet Luo Qingzhou and the few surviving elders exchanged glances. None dared take the risk.

Who knew whether she still had another trick up her sleeve?

Did her demon ring contain pills that could rapidly replenish demonic aura?

Was a Demon Sect army still lying in ambush around the Azure Mist Sect?

In the end, Luo Qingzhou obediently withdrew the mountain-protecting formation and let Tian Mingye leave.

Tian Mingye arrived in the sky, met with the timekeeper, and asked coldly:

"How long has it been?"

From beginning to end, the young female devil had not shown even the slightest panic.

"Exactly one incense stick's time."

Tian Mingye frowned. She was in no hurry to restore her demonic aura, merely shaking her head with a sigh:

"I never expected a small place like Fireburn Kingdom to have a Liyue Walker lurking about. I was careless."

The young female devil asked with a smile:

"What if we cannot kill that thief?"

Tian Mingye answered calmly:

"Then I will raise my cultivation to the Spirit Severing Realm and kill that Liyue Walker along with him."

Those words alone made everyone in the Azure Mist Sect tremble, praying for the plague god to leave quickly.

Tian Mingye lowered her head and glanced at Tranquil Heart Peak. Without saying anything further, she flicked her sleeve and departed.

Jiang Chen could not determine whether this female devil was boasting or telling the truth.

Either way, this female devil's manner was simply far too arrogant...

After Tian Mingye left, the Azure Mist Sect finally breathed a sigh of relief. They hurried to tend to the injured and bury the two elders who had unfortunately perished.

"I never expected Elder Gui Qi from back then to have survived until today..."

Luo Qingzhou decided to investigate the cause of this matter thoroughly.

Jiang Chen shifted the view to Tranquil Heart Peak.

Liu Ruyan's dantian had cracked, her demon aura was leaking away, and there was no longer any possibility of healing her.

Her face was pale. Her clear eyes, deep as bottomless pools, seemed to pierce through the footage as they stared directly at the center of Jiang Chen's view.

She suddenly smiled, as though waiting for Jiang Chen to see her one last time.

"If you truly are my destined opportunity, you will surely be able to deduce this scene. We will meet again."

After saying that, Liu Ruyan's body slowly collapsed and dissolved into dust and smoke.

Only a collapsing pocket of space remained, drawing her Storage Ring into the Abyss.

A chill ran down Jiang Chen's spine.

It was as though she had waited for him to look at her, to see her one last time, before she fell.

Liu Ruyan had died just like that?

Thousand-Faced Fox seemed to still be alive.

Could it be that she was some old man... old granny hiding inside Liu Ruyan's ring?

Had Thousand-Faced Fox possessed Liu Ruyan, or had Liu Ruyan been her avatar from the start?

On the night of the third simulation in the main storyline, was the woman who helped him cultivate Qi Refining Thousand-Faced Fox or Liu Ruyan?

Jiang Chen voiced the same question as Linghu Chong.

No matter what, after spending so much time together, Senior Sister Liu had vanished before his very eyes. Jiang Chen felt somewhat lost.

Should he save Senior Sister Liu?

That was the question.

After the viewing ended, Jiang Chen felt that this storyline was far more complicated than the previous ones!

A Spirit Severing Realm powerhouse had even appeared...

This was a stage for the strong. A minor Qi Refining cultivator like him had no chance to interfere at all.

Yet precisely because of that, the rewards for successfully interfering would be rich enough to tempt anyone.

So far, the system had merely provided him with a platform, without any rewards whatsoever.

Fortune was found amid danger. Every one of his opportunities had come from risks he chose to take himself.

Since this was the main storyline, he absolutely could not retreat.

[The first simulation begins. Please choose a drop location!]