Vermilion Bird was clearly bewildered by the sudden remark, his red lips parting slightly. The next second, he realized he had been tricked. Clenching his little fists, he asked, "You dragged me into this on purpose?"
Little White did not deny it, giving Vermilion Bird a brilliant smile. "What's so fun about recuperating in seclusion? Come out and play, Little Red!" White Tiger enunciated the words "Little Red" with particular clarity.
Grinning, Tang Yao put an arm around Vermilion Bird and earnestly questioned her divine beast. "Little Red, is this whole secret realm under your control? Are there any other heavenly treasures nearby?"
Vermilion Bird's face darkened with exasperation. He felt more and more that he had been tricked.
But White Tiger did have a point. Aside from the comfortable temperature, the spiritual power here was nearly exhausted, and there were no heavenly treasures left.
The human before him really did have decent talent. Besides, even White Tiger had formed a contract, so forming one himself would not disgrace his birdhood!
"I absorbed all the Law Artifacts and Spirit Plants left here."
Hearing this, Tang Yao shook her head regretfully.
Just then, Chu Song took out the talismans remaining in his Storage Bag-explosive talismans, invisibility talismans, and voice transmission talismans. "How about using up these explosive talismans? We could earn some more points!"
Chu Song silently shed tears. Now he knew why his "spirit beast" had such an enormous appetite. Of everyone in the Beast Taming Sect, he alone was so hopeless that he had come out to secretly learn others' techniques. Any extra points he could earn would help!
Tang Yao opened the leaderboard and checked it. The current rankings were:
[First place, Chu Xiaohua, 3526] [Second place, Chi Wang, 2580] [Third place, Tang Xiaocao, 1682]
Tang Yao pondered for a moment before holding back a laugh and saying, "Chu Song, I have a great idea."
"What?" Seeing Tang Yao's smile, Chu Song instantly perked up.
"Let's use these last two invisibility talismans to give Chi Wang a good beating and steal his identity token. We'll split his points evenly!"
"Little Red created this secret realm, so he should know where Chi Wang is. Once we get outside, Little Red and Little White can enter our Divine Sense and help conceal our presence. With the invisibility talismans on top of that, we'll catch him completely off guard." The more Tang Yao spoke, the more workable it sounded.
After hearing her out, Chu Song all but raised both hands and feet in approval! That Chi Wang was always hostile toward him!
If he did not teach him a lesson, the fellow would really think this young master was easy to bully!
Little Red and Little White had no objections. They liked stirring up trouble, and besides, they would get a share of the things exchanged for those points.
Vermilion Bird closed his eyes, and the phantom of a crimson bird appeared behind him. A moment later, he said, "There are only four people left in the secret realm now. Aside from you two, there's a man and a woman outside. The man is in the Withered Wood Forest, and the woman is on the Fire Plasma Plain."
"I'll lead the way!" With that, Vermilion Bird turned into a streak of red light and entered Tang Yao's Divine Sense.
White Tiger followed closely, turning into a streak of golden light and entering Chu Song's Divine Sense.
Tang Yao and Chu Song retraced their steps to the cave entrance, only to discover that hordes of Demon Beasts still filled the area outside, completely blocking the way. Vermilion Bird frowned. "What's going on?" He had initially thought the Demon Beasts liked high temperatures, which would make gathering near his cave reasonable, but now he could see that none of them had any reason left.
Vermilion Bird instantly unleashed his oppressive might. In an instant, every Demon Beast within a li prostrated itself, not daring to move.
Tang Yao told Vermilion Bird through her Divine Sense, Little Red, these Demon Beasts are being controlled by Devil Qi. Withdraw your oppressive might first, or our ambush will be too obvious later. Just help conceal our presence.
Chu Song stared, dumbfounded, until a disgruntled voice interrupted him within his Divine Sense: I can do that too.
Chu Song wore an expression that said, If you can, why didn't you help me earlier?
Little White: That was because I was afraid of exposing myself. But if this is a secret realm created by Vermilion Bird, those sect elders probably can't observe what's happening inside through recording stones.
"Chu Song, flying talismans and invisibility talismans!" Tang Yao's cheerful voice rang out.
Chu Song took the two kinds of talismans out of his Storage Bag. Each of them held one talisman in each hand. As the talismans gradually dissipated, their figures vanished from the cave entrance. Vermilion Bird also withdrew his oppressive might, and the two divine beasts concealed their respective masters' presence.
The instant Chu Song's presence was concealed, the Demon Beasts outside the cave began to look confused. The scarlet faded from their eyes, revealing their original colors. Before long, they stopped gathering at the cave and scattered in small groups.
Vermilion Bird was dumbstruck by the sight, then remarked sarcastically, "Little White, you'd better protect your master. This was clearly aimed at him!"
White Tiger laughed. "Stop hopping about. Protect Miss Tang first. Her cultivation isn't even as high as Chu Song's."
These two really could not stop for even a moment...
Following Vermilion Bird's directions, they swiftly flew toward the Withered Wood Forest.
Among the many withered trees, the youth in the distance lay on a branch with his eyes closed and his head pillowed on his hands, idly swinging one leg, utterly bored.
He seemed to be wondering how Chu Song had managed to hold out for so long, completely unaware of what was about to happen.
Tang Yao and Chu Song flew closer. Seeing the conspicuous identity token at Chi Wang's waist, they nodded to each other.
"Ah!" Chu Song punched Chi Wang straight in the face while Tang Yao swiftly tore off Chi Wang's Storage Bag.
Staring at the "empty air" before him, Chi Wang seethed with anger and quickly stood up. "Who?!" He clutched talismans in his hand.
Chu Song ignored him. Suddenly, he delivered an over-the-shoulder throw from behind, hurling Chi Wang off the three-meter-high branch and slamming him hard into the ground. Dizzy with rage, Chi Wang immediately summoned flames around himself for protection.
Chi Wang abruptly realized that his identity token was gone. Narrowing his eyes, he said, "Chu Xiaohua, I know it's you! You're using an invisibility talisman, aren't you? Just wait until I get out. I'll make you pay!"
Tang Yao sat on the branch, enjoying the show. Just then, Vermilion Bird spoke within her Divine Sense: Want to play with fire? What do those paltry talisman flames of his amount to?
By "his," he probably meant Chi Wang beneath the tree.
Tang Yao immediately became interested. She held out her hand, and sure enough, Vermilion Bird's Li Fire sprang to his fingertips. After jumping down from the tree, Tang Yao extended her hand toward Chi Wang, who was protected by flames. The Li Fire rushed toward him, directly tearing through his protective talisman flames.
Chu Song, who had been preparing to brave the flames and beat him anyway, stopped, his mouth hanging wide enough to fit an egg. He asked White Tiger through his Divine Sense, Do you have any flames or something?
Little White: *...?*
Chi Wang felt a stab of pain in his back and whipped his head around, glaring viciously at the empty air. His eyes had already turned purplish-red, sinister and terrifying. Certain that it was Chu Song, he said, stressing every word, "Chu Xiaohua, you're finished."
Tang Yao could sense that Chi Wang truly wanted to kill Chu Song. Even though Chu Song had White Tiger to protect him, White Tiger was still only in the Golden Core Realm for the time being.
At this thought, Tang Yao voluntarily canceled her invisibility talisman and revealed herself. Immediately afterward, another ball of Li Fire flew toward Chi Wang, forcing him straight down onto one knee, panting.
Seeing that the person before him was Tang Yao, Chi Wang's eyes widened. His face filled with confusion and anger, and a sense of betrayal surged through him. He forcibly suppressed the urge to cough up blood.
He did not dare let his guard down. That last strike had been utterly pure and scorching hot, strongly suppressing Devil Qi.
As she drew closer and closer, Chi Wang narrowed his eyes, not daring to act rashly. He still felt lingering dread of that fire.
Once she was close, Tang Yao crouched down, three balls of Li Fire floating behind her. She pressed down on Chi Wang's head and whispered into his ear, "Stop targeting Chu Xiaohua, or don't blame me for showing you no mercy."
"Since ancient times, strength has reigned supreme in the Devil Realm. I'm stronger than you, so you have to listen to me."
When Chi Wang remained silent, a flicker of fire appeared before his face with a thought from Tang Yao. He looked up and glared viciously at her, saying reluctantly, "Understood."
Satisfied, Tang Yao stood up, holding Chi Wang's identity token. The next second, with a crack, the identity token shattered.
Chi Wang's figure slowly grew insubstantial before vanishing from the secret realm.
Having dealt with Chi Wang, Tang Yao smiled. "Half for each of us!"