"What does Little Friend mean by this?"

Zhang Mingxuan watched the streaming light scatter, glancing first at the golden dharma form, then letting his eyes settle on the young man before him.

The man's face was utterly unfamiliar — no impression of him whatsoever.

Where had a Spirit-Transformation cultivator this young sprung from?

"Enough. Nothing worth discussing here. Let's go."

Liu Jingyuan's expression had turned grim. The young man himself was nothing much, but that Spirit-Transformation golden body was a genuine same-realm cultivator, no mistake about it. And its appearance was strange enough that there was no telling what tier of Golden Body method it represented.

If it came to a drawn-out fight, there was still a Crimson-Heart Serpent Emperor to reckon with.

They'd only stepped in on a whim, doing someone a favor out of good spirits — now that the favor threatened to burn back onto themselves, there was no sense courting more trouble.

"Senior Zhang! Senior Liu! Wait!"

Feng Huasheng finally grasped his situation and cried out in alarm. "Take me with you!"

But before his words had even finished—

A dark-red shape plunged down from the clouds, and by the time it touched ground, Feng Huasheng's figure was already gone from where he'd stood.

The dragon-sized serpent's bulk shook the earth.

Its overwhelming demon qi swept outward in an instant.

Tasting the familiar flavor in its mouth, hatred surged suddenly into its eyes.

In the next moment, the great serpent transformed into a beautiful woman in a crimson dress, who lifted her gaze to the golden dharma form, her voice low: "This Emperor will give you one chance. Hand her over."

The dark-gold dharma form made no move at all, only stood in silence, cradling Jiang Qiulan in its palm.

As though it hadn't heard the Serpent Emperor's words at all.

"This is unbearable."

Liu Jingyuan's face darkened, and he said flatly, "Dao Friend, this is all simply a misunderstanding. With a demon before us now, we cultivators ought to join forces against the common threat. And besides, that boy is already dead — you may…