"I may as well tell you outright — that cultivator's rate of growth has even his own Dao friends terrified."

The Gold-Winged Demon Emperor walked briskly ahead.

She had been watching the shifts in Tong Xinchuan's expression the whole time, and had noticed that, compared to herself, he had been far more shaken by that black-robed young man's methods.

Which meant the man was not some trump card the three-way alliance had deliberately cultivated.

But a variable.

For demons, a variable of that sort was truly terrifying. Human cultivators, whether in physique or in lifespan, fell far short of demons.

Their greatest advantage lay in those intangible, insubstantial things.

A single moment's enlightenment, and they could turn defeat into victory.

Utterly without reason — just as Nie Jun had once done.

If the lion still clung to its earlier contemptuous attitude, it would very likely suffer badly for it. She had seen too many examples of the sort over the years.

"You've a grudge against that Shen fellow, haven't you?" The Gold-Winged Demon Emperor glanced back.

"Merely a defeated opponent who escaped with his life by luck." Shen Yi seemed still to be steeped in his fury over the destroyed cave estate; though his face stayed calm at the mention of the cultivator, his voice cooled a few degrees despite himself.

"Then your ability is rather good after all."

A smile rose on the Gold-Winged Demon Emperor's face. Compared to that Eldest Senior Sister of Wutong Mountain, this Gold-Eyed Lion, forged in the Thousand Demon Den's slaughter, was immeasurably more agreeable to look upon.

She was certain that in a fight between equals of the same realm, that woman wouldn't last three exchanges against the lion.

"But This Emperor would offer one word of warning: as you are now, you may well not be his match."

The Gold-Winged Demon Emperor's expression grew rather graver. "Don't be careless. His formations are somewhat uncanny... though with a formation like that, at his realm, he certainly needs time to set it up. If you can strike him unawares..."

"Without a formation to aid…