第22章 明明是我先来的

I, a dignified Demon Venerable, was molested by a mere Qi Refining cultivator?

That was indeed the truth.

Tian Mingye's Storage Ring contained many demon pills, but as long as her true body remained inside the formation, no matter how many pills she took out, the Form-Returning Formation would devour them all.

Usually overly confident in her Heavenly Demon power, she had not carried any magic artifacts... Of course, using demonic power to operate human magic artifacts was a waste to begin with.

Right now, unless she went berserk, transformed into a Heavenly Demon, and devoured every living creature within ten miles, she truly could do nothing to this audacious little Qi Refining cultivator.

Just as Jiang Chen had guessed.

As he carried the voluptuous beauty and ruthless demon overlord along the way, he only felt her body soft and cold, while his divine sense sank with it, as though he were falling into a bottomless Abyss...

It seemed that only by fixing his gaze upon the female demon's surging bosom could he keep his mind clear.

While the illusion atop the mountain-protecting formation still remained, Jiang Chen flew swiftly on his sword and brought Tian Mingye to the easternmost edge of the Azure Mist Sect, the Burial Ground.

Thousand-Faced Fox had set up an illusory restriction here.

At this moment, everyone in the Azure Mist Sect had their attention fixed on the illusion above the mountain-protecting formation. No one noticed Jiang Chen abducting the female demon.

Only after Thousand-Faced Fox's illusion faded did the crowd realize that the female demon had disappeared, assuming that she had escaped.

Tian Mingye sensed the illusory restriction. She sat cross-legged in the Burial Ground, her gorgeous eyes icy and piercing as she stared at Jiang Chen and said indifferently:

"Little Qi Refining cultivator, you do have some looks. Speak. Who are you, and what do you want? If you put it nicely, I will leave you an intact corpse."

I have some looks? You're the one who only has some looks!

Jiang Chen thought that this was not a place to linger. He had at most a hundred breaths of time. The arrow was on the string; he had no choice but to loose it.

There was no time to flirt with the female demon or play around with all that empty nonsense.

A graveyard was not a good place, but he had no other choice.

Jiang Chen also sat cross-legged before Tian Mingye.

With one hand circulating his power, he grabbed that towering, vast, indescribable thing with the other and said:

"I want you to give me Mana Replenishment!"

Tian Mingye looked down at it without much reaction.

A Heavenly Demon was an innate demonic creature, not something fallen from humanity. She knew about such matters between men and women, but she did not possess the feelings of human women.

"Mana Replenishment... what does that mean?"

Jiang Chen hurriedly withdrew his hand and touched his handsome face. Damn it, he was actually still alive!

He promptly explained in a serious tone:

"Mana Replenishment is a body technique in which yin and yang nourish one another. Through a certain form of deep exchange, both sides slowly channel spiritual energy and demonic energy into each other's bodies."

Tian Mingye frowned upon hearing this. Then she suddenly lowered her head and stared at Jiang Chen's sea of qi, coming to a realization.

"Take off your clothes!"

Jiang Chen froze... You're even more impatient than I am!

The moment he removed his upper garment, Tian Mingye pressed her palm against his lower abdomen, then took out a demon pill and swallowed it.

In an instant, rolling demonic energy surged forth!

The vast energy was not devoured by the formation. Instead, it flowed through Tian Mingye's palm and was absorbed by Jiang Chen's sea of qi.

Moreover, because the demonic energy was under Tian Mingye's active control this time, it did not harm his soul.

Jiang Chen looked completely bewildered, unable to figure out what she was planning.

"Raise your palm to the sky."

"Hm?"

"I told you to raise your palm toward the sky and activate the formation synchronized with that old thief Gui Qi."

Jiang Chen was stunned.

This female demon certainly had some wild tastes.

It seemed that she had already seen through the changes in his physique and sea of qi, realizing that his method of Qi Refining shared the same origin as Reverend Guiqi's Form-Returning Formation.

"Oh..."

With no other choice, Jiang Chen followed the female demon's instructions, raised his palm toward the sky, and activated the Return-Form Formation.

At the same time, the demonic-energy giant above the mountain-protecting formation struck toward Jiang Chen with its palm.

The demonic energy of both palms shared the same origin, as did their formations. In an instant, they pierced through the mountain-protecting formation.

Boom!

The Form-Returning Formation immediately collapsed.

Reverend Guiqi, who had already been gravely injured by the demonic-energy giant's grip, violently coughed up blood again...

The demonic energy above the formation that had yet to fully transform into spiritual energy, the demonic energy that had already transformed into spiritual energy, and even the damaged demonic-energy giant outside the formation all returned to Tian Mingye's body.

Tian Mingye rose with a sweep of her sleeve, once more recovering the appearance and dark aura of a Demon Venerable.

Jiang Chen was dumbfounded.

Who said that the big ones had no brains?

He had wanted the female demon to perform Mana Replenishment for him, yet the female demon had used his body for free?

The mountain-protecting formation gradually crumbled, and ancient, sealed spiritual energy gushed out and slowly rose.

While everyone stared in shock, Tian Mingye appeared in the rising air with Jiang Chen in tow.

The female demon child who served as timekeeper also walked over. She was not surprised that her sovereign had returned to power; her lively eyes merely kept circling Jiang Chen.

With eyes like cold stars, Tian Mingye drew the Violet Star Sword once more. With a swing, scarlet radiance stretched for thousands of yards and swept straight toward Chen Gongxing.

"Second-stage Heavenly Demon energy..."

Chen Gongxing did not dare be careless and countered with a Resonance Sword Technique.

A piercing sword cry shot into the heavens.

Sword qi split the scarlet Demonic Flame in two, sweeping inward from both sides like two surging waves.

Soon, the scarlet Demonic Flame receded.

Both Chen Gongxing and Tian Mingye emerged unscathed.

Reverend Guiqi behind them died...

Only then did Tian Mingye sheathe her sword in satisfaction and swagger away with Jiang Chen and the female demon child.

Though shocked, Chen Gongxing did not stop them.

Anyone capable of wielding the second stage of the Crimson Flame Heavenly Demon had the power to transform into a true Heavenly Demon. If that happened, the entire Azure Mist Sect would become a wasteland of death, and even he could only protect himself.

Without lingering, he casually removed Reverend Guiqi's spine, summoned a flying vessel, sat cross-legged at its prow with a wine jug in hand, and departed the Azure Mist Sect in carefree fashion.

The matter of the Azure Mist Sect had settled.

Luo Qingzhou and the others had not even fully figured out what had happened before everyone was gone...

Tranquil Heart Peak, a certain cave dwelling.

Just now, Liu Ruyan had seen everything that happened in the Burial Ground with perfect clarity.

Theoretically, Jiang Chen had done nothing wrong. He had helped Tian Mingye break through the formation and successfully kill Reverend Guiqi. It was only this mana replenishment business that made her unhappy.

"Obviously, I was here first..."

On the way to the Demon Sect.

Tian Mingye, the timekeeper, and Jiang Chen stood atop a huge rotating stone disk that spiraled through the sky, heading somewhere unknown.

Jiang Chen asked curiously:

"Why do I have to go to the Demon Sect with you?"

Tian Mingye sneered.

"Didn't you want me to perform Mana Replenishment for you? You rendered meritorious service this time, so I shall take you as my cauldron. You can have as much demonic energy as you want!"

Jiang Chen was stunned. In cultivation novels, being a cauldron was never a good thing.

"I heard that becoming a cauldron means losing one's freedom... and draining one's body?"

Tian Mingye stood before Jiang Chen with her hands behind her back.

She was about the same height as Jiang Chen. Though they were looking levelly at each other, her dark, icy gaze still looked down upon him.

"There is no need to underestimate your physique.

"As for freedom... once you completely become a member of the demon race, you may become my sole man.

"You may stand beneath me and above all demons."

Jiang Chen was speechless.

His physique could never become part of the demon race. If he could not merge the powers of humans, demons, and devils, his cultivation would not even be able to advance.

Wouldn't that mean he would have no freedom for the rest of his life, left to be ravaged by the female demon?

Beside them, the female demon child covered her mouth and laughed.

"Your Majesty, didn't you say that you would never give yourself to a man?"

Tian Mingye thought for a moment. Unable to bear giving up Jiang Chen yet unwilling to break her word, she said:

"Then how about turning him into a woman?"

Jiang Chen:

"..."

The female demon child suddenly felt a little neglected. She looked Jiang Chen up and down and asked in confusion:

"This guy has no talent, no cultivation, and aside from being handsome... what other strengths does he have?"

Tian Mingye did not explain directly and merely said:

"You will understand in time."

Then the female demon child activated the Stone-Carved Bell and opened a spatial rift.

A colossal demonic creature resembling Leviathan slowly rose from the Abyss and opened its mouth to swallow the three of them.

It then plunged into the Abyss and headed straight for the Heavenly Demon Sect.