Ao Zhan: "..."
He fell silent.
"You really do look fine, huh."
Yun Zui laughed at that, and Feng Jiuxiao landed beside her.
With a lift of his hand, phoenix true fire formed a ring-shaped wall, forcing back the Demon Beasts closing in again. He glanced at Yun Zui.
"Can you still fight?"
Yun Zui arched a brow. "With you personally coming to my rescue, Sister Jiuxiao, I'd have to manage even if I couldn't."
The four quickly took up positions with their backs toward the same patch of ground. Dragonblood Thornbushes rooted themselves in the earth, Heaven-Burning Drunken Flame circled them, dragon aura took shape, and phoenix true fire spread out. The horde that had been steadily closing in was finally stopped by sheer force.
Only then did Yun Shuanghua have a chance to ask, "What are you two doing here?"
He looked around. "What's going on with these Demon Beasts?"
Ao Zhan's expression grew grave.
"We came here chasing them."
On the other side, Feng Jiuxiao swiftly explained everything in a steady voice:
"After the Nine Heavens Gathering ended, the matter of Feng Hu, the Feng Clan Right Elder, put every major power on heightened alert."
"The Demon Court investigated its entire territory, only to discover to its horror that such vast numbers of Demon Beasts infected by demonic filth were lurking in the Southern Wasteland. Fortunately, most of those contaminated so far are lower- and middle-tier Demon Beasts. The high-ranking great demons and core clans haven't fallen, so the threat remains manageable."
Ao Zhan added, "It was precisely because the contamination was at such a low level that our mighty experts failed to notice it beforehand."
That was hardly surprising. Unlike the Human Race, the Demon Race had a clearly defined bloodline hierarchy within the Demon Court.