The returning Yin Ghost was Chen Jian's eyes. He was the first to see that dawn had arrived, and his taut nerves finally relaxed.
Zhao Changfeng could hardly contain his excitement either. "Master must have believed me!" he cried.
Though he had slain many Demon Spirits and exposed the movements of Song Zejun and his wife, fleeing Tamu Town with Chen Jian had, after all, violated his master's orders.
Without a great achievement to his name, he had feared Old Devil Teng would hold him accountable afterward. Now, however, he had nothing to fear.
For the catastrophe in Tamu Town and the demonic disaster in Heavenly Shield City, he, Zhao Changfeng, deserved the greatest credit!
According to Ruan Meizhen, Teng Kun had always been fair in his rewards and punishments. He would never overlook Zhao Changfeng's contribution.
"Changfeng..."
Zhou Jin's voice suddenly came from outside, warm and pleasing to the ear. "We were driven into a corner by demonic cultivators," she said softly, "and had no choice but to turn to the aberrations of the Unordered Zone."
"Don't blame us. In time, you'll understand the unjust persecution one faces as a member of a Righteous Dao sect."
"As for you..."
"Back then, your parents recognized us as Righteous Dao cultivators and stubbornly refused to let us take you away. We had no choice but to wipe out your entire family. Please don't blame us."
Her voice was gentle, yet her words chilled them to the bone.
Chen Jian frowned slightly, afraid Zhao Changfeng would lose control and step outside. "Don't go out!"
Zhao Changfeng remained calm, without the desperate urgency of a cornered dog leaping over a wall. Instead, he moved a little closer to Chen Jian.
"Only Zhou Jin is there. Who knows where Song Zejun is hiding?"
"You'll die if you go outside. If I go out, you might die just the same."
Chen Jian warned him.
Zhao Changfeng nodded lightly.
Zhou Jin was vicious at heart. Seeing her carefully laid plans crumble at the last hurdle, she likely intended to join forces with Song Zejun and the high-rank Demon Spirit to eliminate Zhao Changfeng, who had ruined their grand scheme, and prevent future trouble.
Yet she clearly feared Chen Jian's presence, so she meant to lure either Zhao Changfeng or Chen Jian outside and leave whoever remained in the house to the others.
Zhao Changfeng did not take the bait at all. If the original owner of this body were here, suddenly learning that the couple murdered his entire family would probably drive him to do something irrational.
A moment later, Chen Jian said, "She's gone."
"Zhao Changfeng, she also said those things to plant an indelible heart-demon obsession in your heart. You mustn't sink into it!"
Ruan Meizhen spoke with worry written all over her face.
She knew well that once demonic cultivators like them developed a heart-demon obsession they could not resolve, the strength and frequency of their demonic cultivation art's backlash would skyrocket.
She had suffered deeply from it and did not want Zhao Changfeng to become afflicted with a heart-demon now.
Zhao Changfeng sneered. "It's fine. Zhou Jin isn't capable of shaking my demonic heart."
Chen Jian studied him closely. Seeing that he truly showed no sign of emotional upheaval, he could not help admiring him. "Impressive. If I'd heard her say something like that, even I might have lost control."
He had served his enemies for so many years, then ruined all the couple's plans in one stroke, killing their daughter and beloved disciples to the last.
At that thought, something stirred in Chen Jian's mind. "You knew all along?" he asked softly.
Realizing Chen Jian had misunderstood, Zhao Changfeng lowered his head with a bitter smile. "I suspected it long ago," he said evenly.
Understanding suddenly dawned on the three of them. Their gazes changed as they looked at Zhao Changfeng, each filled with heartfelt admiration.
Every doubt and oddity was resolved in an instant.
Knowing his whole family had been murdered, he had played the fool and served them cautiously, hiding his resolve to avenge his parents while quietly watching the couple's movements.
After enduring for so many years, he had finally found his chance and torn apart the couple's painstaking scheme with his own hands.
Cui Pinyuan patted his shoulder and sighed. "Brother Zhao, I could never do what you did. You truly have my admiration!"
Ruan Meizhen's eyes softened. She felt she had finally grasped the whole story and understood why Zhao Changfeng had defected from the Lingxiao Sect, going to such lengths to kill Song Zejun and his wife.
How could the slaughter of his entire family go unavenged?
As though sensing a powerful enemy's approach, the Demon Spirits scattered with shrieks, bringing Heavenly Shield City's disaster to an end.
The four of them finally stepped outside. Amid the wails around them, they raised their heads to gaze at the towering Demon Mountain.
Whoosh!
A young woman in a plain white gauze dress suddenly stepped out of the cave at the very peak of Demon Mountain. She stood above Heavenly Shield City, looking down over the entire city with cold eyes.
Her skin was whiter than snow. Beneath the moonlight, she seemed an immortal maiden standing apart from the mortal world, yet her aura blanketed heaven and earth, brimming with disgust for all living beings.
"A high-rank Demon Spirit can manifest or conceal its body at will, and take countless forms."
"It's the mastermind behind this catastrophe!"
Chen Jian braced as though facing a formidable foe and immediately exposed the young woman's true identity, terrified she would swoop down and kill him.
The Yin Ghost carrying the message was under his control. As the only Ghost-Controlling Sect disciple in the city capable of such a feat, he feared the young woman already knew everything he had done.
Yet she paid him no attention. After looking down at Heavenly Shield City for a moment, she flew toward the "World Membrane."
Ruan Meizhen keenly sensed Zhao Changfeng's terror. Turning to him, she demanded, "Who is she? Have you seen her before?"
Zhao Changfeng drew a deep breath, forcing his tumultuous emotions under control. "Song Ziyan," he said, his voice strained.
At that moment, he was finally certain his deduction had been entirely correct. The high-rank Demon Spirit allied with Song Zejun and his wife had been hiding inside the Soul-Pacifying Bead all along, plotting against Teng Kun.
Not only had Song Zejun and his wife observed everything he did in Rock Cave with piercing clarity, but this high-rank Demon Spirit had known it all as well.
Yet everything he had done then happened to suit the plans of both the Demon Spirit and the couple. Thus, the Demon Spirit had merely watched coldly, without emerging to interfere.
However.
Whenever he thought of that terrifying Demon Spirit hidden within the Soul-Pacifying Bead inside Song Ziyan's body back in Rock Cave-a being even the extraordinary perception bestowed by the Bronze Cauldron had failed to detect-Zhao Changfeng broke into a cold sweat with belated fear.
Chen Jian sighed. "Zhao Changfeng, you really are lucky to be alive."
Cui Pinyuan said, "Brother Zhao, my admiration for you has me prostrating myself on all fours now. Incredible!"
Just how many monsters and demons had been hiding in the Lingxiao Sect?
Had Cui Pinyuan been caught in that situation, even ten lives would not have been enough!
In the hands of his master and mistress, both in the Three Calamities Realm, and a peak fifth-rank Demon Spirit, Zhao Changfeng had somehow survived to the very end!
Not only had he survived, but he had pierced the layers of fog and danger to uncover the ultimate scheme hidden behind it all, then used Chen Jian's Yin Ghost to tear it apart single-handedly!
For overcoming this calamity, Zhao Changfeng was indisputably the greatest contributor!
Not only would Teng Kun be unable to eclipse him, he might even shed tears of gratitude, thanking him for averting this calamity for both Heavenly Shield City and himself.
The cold moon became a blazing sun, and daylight arrived.
The gloom hanging over everyone's hearts in Heavenly Shield City seemed to disperse at that moment as well, as though the radiant sunlight had shone straight into their hearts.
A slender figure, likewise clad in a bright red robe, flew through the sky without riding any artifact, shooting like a streak of rainbow light into the cave entrance at Demon Mountain's highest point.
"Senior Qin is here!"
Sharp-eyed Chen Jian instantly recognized the newcomer. "No wonder the Demon Spirits retreated in such a hurry!"
Respect shone in Cui Pinyuan's eyes. "Now that she's here, we no longer need to worry about the Demon Spirits striking back!"
Zhao Changfeng had only seen a streak of rainbow light flash across the sky and had not even made out whether the newcomer was a man or a woman. He asked the beauty beside him, "Who's here?"
"Elder Qin! Elder Qin Qingyao!"
Ruan Meizhen's beautiful eyes sparkled with utter adoration. "The greatest demonic genius in our Crippled Demon Sect-no! In our entire Lingyao Realm!"
Zhao Changfeng immediately understood. "So it's her," he murmured.
She had reached the Freedom Realm in less than a century and become one of the Crippled Demon Sect's seven great elders. She was truly a figure who commanded the winds and clouds of the Lingyao Realm.
Rumor had it that she possessed none of the seven emotions or six desires. Because her talent had not manifested in childhood, the Primal Demon Temple had not taken her in. Instead, Shi Wangsheng, the Crippled Demon Sect's grand elder, had recognized her potential and brought her away.
From the moment she set foot in the Crippled Demon Sect, she had soared into the heavens, advancing at an extraordinary speed no one could match.
In just a few decades, she had entered the Freedom Realm, towering over all the young talents of the Beichen Demon Kingdom. An undisputed cultivation prodigy, she was adored by countless men and women throughout the Demon Kingdom.
Because of her, a handful of exceptionally gifted boys and girls in the Demon Kingdom had even forsaken the Primal Demon Temple and chosen to join the Crippled Demon Sect.
"Now that she's here, I should..."
Ruan Meizhen let out a long breath. After leaving those words behind, she hurried away without offering any explanation.
Inside Demon Mountain, deep within the dim cave.
Teng Kun sat quietly against the wall, covered in filthy blood.
He was doing his utmost to suppress two conflicting forces of vitality. The Brain-Devouring Snake curled within his eye socket, guarding him and helping shoulder the strain.
Hiss, hiss!
The Brain-Devouring Snake was the first to sense something amiss. Its eyes watched the uninvited guest warily before it quickly settled down again.
"I nearly went under."
Relief washed over Teng Kun, his aged face steeped in bitterness. He first explained the situation succinctly, then said, "The high-rank Demon Spirit's true target was me. It wanted to devour my primordial spirit and possess my body, then return to the sect under my identity."
"More precisely, its target was what our sect keeps suppressed. It wanted to release those aberrations."
"I must be getting old. I actually failed to notice beforehand."
Looking at the shattered remains of the Soul-Pacifying Bead, Teng Kun added, "It even used the Unordered Zone's peculiar Turbid Stone. If my disciple Zhao Changfeng hadn't sent a warning ahead of time, I'm afraid this time I..."
Qin Qingyao was tall and slender. Gold and silver threads intertwined along the edges of her bright red robe, woven into exquisite patterns of luan birds and phoenixes.
Her flawless face was as white as luminous crystal jade. When her long, narrow phoenix eyes narrowed slightly, she looked like a phoenix high in the ninth heaven gazing down upon the multitude of living beings.
"Can you suppress the backlash?"
Qin Qingyao asked softly.
Teng Kun assessed the condition within his body. "It should be fine."
Qin Qingyao nodded. "I'll try to kill it."
As soon as she finished speaking, the Beichen Demon Kingdom's greatest demonic prodigy turned into a streak of rainbow light just as she had upon arriving, vanishing from Heavenly Shield City in the blink of an eye.
After she left, Teng Kun swallowed another pill and touched the fragments of Turbid Stone on the ground. "Zhao Changfeng," he murmured.