Shen Yi did not rush forward. He waited quietly where he stood.

Back at the Division, he had learned something important.

The Junior Demon King’s Red Cloud treasure artifact was faster than his Unfettered Wind-Riding Art at full power.

That assessment came from Jiang Qiulan.

And having experienced it firsthand, she had not revised her opinion.

About two days later, Aqian and Wu Feng finally arrived. Neither of them had a translocation technique, and threading through the mountain wilderness while maintaining their qi-concealment and illusion arts — so as not to draw the attention of the local demons — had taken time.

“We’ll set up the gold-thread artifact in advance. Once it’s in place, we’ll send word through the bells.”

Both Gold-bell demon-hunters had trained their qi-concealment arts well, and their experience showed — even with their nerves running high, not a trace of qi leaked out.

Shen Yi watched the two of them work their way toward the ridge in the distance.

Their concealment technique was noticeably more refined than his own. He would have to ask about it when they got back.

For now, he closed his eyes and brought himself to his sharpest state.

“…”

Jiang Qiulan stood with her hands at her sides, quietly regulating the killing-intent within her inner core.

The harsh light overhead softened as the sun descended, draping a thin red veil along the ridge of the mountains.

Then the silver bell at Shen Yi’s waist gave a faint tremor.

Move.

In an instant, a jade dragon dozens of zhang long came howling out, carrying a boundless chill that froze everything in its path. The dragon’s body was formed from countless Mysterious Ice swords, its layered blades ringing against each other like scales of metal.

Roar—

Nothing remained but the piercing cry of sword-song, and a surge of killing-intent that flooded the air.

The jade dragon bore down on the distant target with tremendous force.

At the same moment, a crimson greatsword burst through the killing-intent with the sound of dragon and tiger’s roar, wrapped in towering demon qi, and shot toward the same point.

Shen Yi vanished.

He reappeared above the waterfall cliff. Beneath his cold black armor, Deep Abyss slid from its sheath without a sound, its hilt locked firmly in his grip, dense black mist coiling along the bracers of his arms.

He held the blade in both hands, leveled across his body.

His eyes were calm as he looked down into the valley below.

The next moment, the jade dragon and the crimson greatsword crashed down together as if to split the valley in two.

BOOM.

Dust and debris exploded outward, rocks flying in every direction.

From within the chaos came a deep, thunderous roar: “JIANG QIULAN!!”

Then a massive figure, roughly eight zhang tall, surged into the sky. Beneath its sharp horns, a terrifying face twisted with rage, its huge eyes blazing with fury.

It loomed like a tower — broad-shouldered, every muscle in its body coiling under skin that was torn and bleeding in great gaping wounds all across its frame, the edges of each injury rimed with dark killing-frost.

In the shadow of that immense figure, Aqian and Wu Feng, maintaining their hand-seals at a distance, felt their pupils contract involuntarily.

Their impression of the Junior Demon King was still from the last ambush attempt.

How many years had passed since then — and yet its presence had grown several times more ferocious. What kind of bloodline talent could produce a leap like that?

The Junior Demon King raised its ring-pommel broadsword, opened its mouth, and roared again.

Then a shadow fell across it.

Dense black mist swept downward from above. The blade’s edge grazed the top of its head, and a blinding green light burst in the air.

A thin line of blood extended from between its brows downward.

Then split open.

A massive gash ran from the Junior Demon King’s face all the way down to its chest.

It swung the ring-pommel broadsword upward with every ounce of strength it had.

As the blade came down, Shen Yi gripped Deep Abyss with one hand and steadied the flat with the other. In both arms, the combined strength of seven demon and immortal transformations erupted through his palms at once.

Clang.

The moment that enormous force came through the blade, the Junior Demon King abandoned all arrogance and grabbed its sword in both hands, teeth clenched, pressing down toward the young man with everything it had.

The ring-pommel broadsword — as wide as a cliff face — crashed against the three-foot length of Deep Abyss.

Crimson demon qi detonated across the Junior Demon King’s body, savage and boundless, blazing against the sky.

In that same instant, from within Shen Yi’s black armor, an answering column of crimson demon qi erupted upward.

The once-quiet valley had become something like a demon’s hell.

“You.”

The bull demon’s voice was deep and loud. It finally made out the face of the one who had ambushed it.

A beat of surprise — and then recognition. It had seen this person before.

He had been standing behind Jiang Qiulan when the White Deer gave chase, and had vanished in an instant using some kind of translocation technique.

And yet now, throwing its full strength into the press, it could not force the blade in its hands down even a fraction further.

In that split second of stalemate, the Mysterious Ice Seven-Kill Sword Intent gathered again into a jade dragon and tore into the Junior Demon King from behind.

The bull demon’s back — broad and solid as cast iron — had a thick layer of flesh ripped away in an instant.

“AAGH!”

The Junior Demon King let out a howl of pain.

It could not understand how they had found it — Jiang Qiulan, and this young man whose strength was beyond anything it had felt before.

“Ambushing this king — shameless!”

Dense red mist poured out of its body and gathered into a scarlet cloud beneath its feet.

It saw clearly now: this was a planned ambush, prepared specifically for it.

It rode the cloud and launched itself upward — and a golden net dropped from the sky and wrapped tight around it.

Aqian and Wu Feng worked their hand-seals in unison, seized the two ends of the gold-thread net, channeled their path embryos, and with a great surge of qi hauled the bull demon back down.

“Let go of this king!”

The Junior Demon King lurched into momentary panic, swinging its broadsword wildly, trying to cut through the gold threads.

The threads did not seem to owe their strength to any special material — it was the golden light coating them that held. Even the ring-pommel broadsword, which had matched Deep Abyss without losing ground, could not cut through those fine threads.

It only dimmed the light slightly.

The price: Aqian’s face went pale, and Wu Feng spat a mouthful of blood.

No wonder it called itself demon king. Its strength had long since exceeded anything a Core-Nurturing demon should possess.

The jade dragon lunged in for a third time.

And before it arrived, the young man in black armor had already moved. He launched himself upward, right leg swinging down from the air — with the power of the Immortal-Demon Nine Transformations and the Flood Dragon’s Power behind it, and the green light and path embryo layered on top of that.

His leg came down like a blade, like a hammer. With a sharp crack, it sheared off one of the great bull horns cleanly, then drove down hard onto the top of the Junior Demon King’s skull.

A dull, heavy sound rang through the valley.

The Junior Demon King’s sword hand went limp. Its eyes lost focus. Its immense frame staggered backward and began to fall.

The jade dragon arrived an instant later and tore open its abdomen.

The bull demon hit the ground with a crash that shook the valley walls.

It stared up, eyes wide, fixed on the woman walking toward it from across the clearing. “Jiang Qiulan… Jiang Qiulan…”

The Junior Demon King had never felt rage like this.

It had principles. It could have broken through long ago, but had chosen to wait — to defeat her at the same cultivation level, fairly and squarely.

And yet she had brought people to ambush it while it lay wounded.

Aqian watched the bull demon, and felt nothing stir in her heart.

It might have its principles. But when it opened its mouth and swallowed a city’s worth of Qingzhou’s people, it had not felt a moment’s hesitation on their behalf.

Four hundred years. Seventeen cities and counties.

Millions of lives demanded an accounting.

Then, lying on the ground, the bull demon’s face slowly broke into a strange smile. “So that’s how we’re playing it. Well — this king’s house is actually quite well-stocked.”

Before the words had finished leaving its mouth, a bronze mirror slipped through the gold-thread net.

It rose into the wind and expanded, hanging in the sky like a second sun.

(End of Chapter)