……

"Half-Immortal Artifact!?"

Seeing the terrifying aura emanating from the crescent blade, the gray-robed elder's pupils contracted sharply, and he cursed inwardly once again.

Where on earth did this freakish Purple Mansion Realm come from, not only able to unleash a [True Immortal Strike] but also possessing a half-immortal artifact?! This is just too damn unfair!!

In the rush.

He barely had time to raise a layer of protective energy before the blade light, like a startling rainbow, had already struck him.

"Boom!"

A deafening explosion erupted.

The protective energy hastily raised by the gray-robed elder was instantly shattered, and he was blasted away like a cannonball.

"You filthy, dirty, shriveled, stinky, and grimy old man in a gray robe, I'm going to fight you!"

At this moment, Lan Wan'er, who had failed to seduce and was now furious, charged back.

The power of the [True Immortal Strike] just now was too overwhelming, and being so close, she inevitably suffered some shockwaves, causing her to arrive a moment later.

Beside her, a battle puppet at the Divine Realm level accompanied her.

The puppet rushed forward ahead of Lan Wan'er, launching a fierce attack on the gray-robed elder.

This battle puppet was the guardian puppet of the third-grade Lan Clan of Suiyun, passed down for countless years. The clan reluctantly brought it out to protect the highly potential yet trouble-prone Lan Wan'er.

For so many years, it hadn't been of much use until now, finally showcasing the power of a Divine Realm puppet.

This puppet was clearly excavated by the Lan Clan of Suiyun from some relic, bearing distinct features of the Shenwu Royal Dynasty. Even after several rounds of patching, its combat power was still slightly stronger than an average early Divine Realm.

Taking advantage of the Divine Realm puppet entangling the gray-robed elder, Lan Wan'er flicked her wrist and also summoned a "Dao Artifact."

It was a crescent blade, its curved blade full like a crescent moon, named [New Moon].

This crescent blade came from the warehouse of the Immortal No. 3 Base. Lan Wan'er had earned considerable merit points in the previous victory, but she was still short of exchanging for a Dao Artifact. It was Wang Lici who used her remaining merit points to help her exchange for it.

Under her spiritual control, the New Moon blade moved like the wind, its arc-shaped blade exuding a sharp aura, launching a continuous assault on the gray-robed elder.

With the cooperation of one person and one puppet, the heavily injured gray-robed elder was actually held in check by her!

Taking this opportunity, Wang Lici, who had just unleashed a charged strike, adjusted her breath and charged up again.

With the crescent blade in hand, the power of her bloodline was pushed to the extreme, and a massive gluttonous phantom suddenly appeared behind her, its terrifying pressure reaching the heavens and earth.

Under the backdrop of this Dharma Aspect, her originally playful demeanor transformed into something as wild and domineering as a primordial beast.

Even the massive crescent blade in her hand seemed to become more domineering with the enhancement of this Dharma Aspect.

She wielded the crescent blade, launching a series of powerful strikes at the gray-robed elder.

For Wang Lici, intricate moves were nonsense; she always believed that enough power could crush everything.

At this moment, her bloodline aptitude had reached the level of a Heavenly Daughter. Although she was only in the mid-Purple Mansion Realm, her bloodline awakening had reached a terrifying eighth level, stronger than an average Divine Realm by one level, fully capable of wielding the power of a half-immortal artifact.

With her terrifying physical strength, the power of the heavy half-immortal artifact crescent blade was unleashed to its fullest, each strike capable of splitting mountains and seas.

With such strength, she was far stronger than an average Divine Realm cultivator, almost comparable to mid-to-late Divine Realm combat power.

If the gray-robed elder were at his peak, Wang Lici naturally wouldn't be a threat to him, but he had first consumed a large amount of divine sense to separate the Nether Fiend True Demon Seed, then suffered a True Immortal Strike, losing nine-tenths of his life, already in a critical state.

As a result, at this moment, he was forced to take another charged attack from Wang Lici, adding insult to injury, leaving his health bar dangerously low, with only a sliver of life left.

In such a state, facing the combined assault of two women and a puppet, the gray-robed elder was almost completely on the defensive.

Under the cover of blade light, his already pale face turned as white as gold paper, with bloodstains at the corners of his mouth, looking extremely miserable.

However, a Void Realm expert is still a Void Realm expert. Even in such a critical moment, the gray-robed elder did not panic. Instead, relying on years of combat experience, he seized a moment and tore open a small spatial rift, attempting to escape.

However.

He ultimately miscalculated.

Just as the gray-robed elder tore open the spatial rift, the Demonic Realm Burrowing Rat, which had been lurking nearby, suddenly sprang out.

"Squeak squeak!"

With an angry roar, the spatial power within the Demonic Realm Burrowing Rat suddenly erupted, causing the surrounding space to warp and distort, becoming a chaotic mess.

Clearly, it had been waiting for this moment all along.

Although the Demonic Realm Burrowing Rat, as an eighth-tier demonic beast, had weak combat power, it had a myriad of tricks up its sleeve. Ever since it followed Wang Lici, it had become increasingly cunning, as if its meridians had been suddenly unblocked.

Knowing that with its eighth-tier demonic beast strength, it was difficult to threaten a Void Realm Demon Lord under normal circumstances, its task now was not to attack but to disrupt.

A spatial rift is inherently an extremely unstable form, and under the disruption of the Demonic Realm Burrowing Rat, the spatial rift that the gray-robed elder had painstakingly torn open was instantly shattered by the spatial distortion.

The spatial shockwave released when the spatial rift shattered swept out, causing the gray-robed elder to spit out another mouthful of blood.

"Demonic Realm Burrowing Rat?!"

The gray-robed elder's eyes nearly popped out.

What is going on with the young people of the Purple Mansion Realm these days? How can they even tame such rare demonic beasts?

It's known that the ability to tear space is one of the greatest advantages of Void Realm experts, making them difficult to kill. After all, even if luck is bad and they encounter a life-and-death crisis, Void Realm cultivators can at least tear space to escape.

The gray-robed elder wasn't panicked before because of this. As long as he could seize a chance, he could escape, and Wang Lici, without the ability to tear space, even with her extraordinary bloodline, weapons, and combat power, would find it hard to catch him if he was determined to flee.

But who would have thought that these two juniors would be so abnormal, not even leaving him this last chance?!

For a moment, the gray-robed elder found himself with no way to escape, completely plunged into despair.

He never expected that today, he would die at the hands of two juniors!

With a sorrowful wail, he mustered his last strength to fight desperately against Wang Lici and Lan Wan'er.

Unfortunately, now in a near-death state, with less than a tenth of his combat power remaining, even fighting desperately couldn't change the outcome.

In less than half a stick of incense time, the gray-robed elder was cut in half by Wang Lici's "Sweep Across the Army."

His broken body fell to the ground, blood spraying out, instantly dyeing the surrounding ground a bright red.

Seeing this, Lan Wan'er breathed a sigh of relief, her expression gradually relaxing, "It's finally over."

This was the first time in her life she had fought against a Void Realm Demon Lord, and it was a life-and-death battle, so her mental pressure was imaginable.

However, at this moment, a mass of gray-black mist suddenly detached from the gray-robed elder's Lingtai Purple Mansion and shot off into the distance.

It was the remnant soul of the gray-robed elder!

"Oh no!" Lan Wan'er's heart skipped a beat, her face turning extremely grim.

How could she forget that the divine soul of a Void Realm expert is powerful, and even if the physical body dies, the divine soul doesn't immediately perish but can continue to exist for a while. If lucky enough to find something to attach to and nurture the soul, it could linger for tens of thousands of years.

She immediately wanted to command the Divine Realm puppet to chase after it.

But the speed of a Void Realm divine soul far exceeded that of a Divine Realm puppet, and the puppet had already started late, so how could it catch up?

Watching as the gray-black mist shot far away in the blink of an eye, the distance between it and the puppet growing ever larger, it seemed about to escape.

Suddenly.

"Roar!!"

A furious beast roar suddenly exploded in the heavens and earth.

Wang Lici's eyes blazed with anger, and the gluttonous phantom behind her suddenly expanded, its size doubling in an instant.

In the beast's roar, the gray-black mist seemed to take a heavy blow, suddenly pausing, dazed and frozen in mid-air.

At the same time.

The Dharma Aspect behind Wang Lici suddenly opened its massive mouth.

The mouth grew larger and larger, eventually exceeding the size of its body. A terrifying suction force erupted from the giant mouth!

In an instant, the giant mouth seemed to transform into a black hole devouring everything, the terrifying suction force dragging everything around into the giant mouth.

For a moment, withered branches and stones flew up, trees were uprooted, and everything within a few miles seemed to be caught in a level twelve gale. Even the demonic energy permeating the air stopped flowing, all rushing towards the black hole.

Even Lan Wan'er nearby almost flew up, only managing to stabilize herself at the last moment by fully activating her bloodline power and the power of the Dao Artifact [New Moon].

Major Divine Ability—[Devour the Heavens]!

With her bloodline awakening to the eighth level and possessing a true spirit body, Wang Lici's major divine ability had already been greatly enhanced, to the point where it had seemingly touched the threshold of the "Dao." Now, striking in anger, its power exploded.

The gray-robed elder's divine soul, without a body to rely on, was already weak, with speed as its only advantage.

Under this terrifying suction force, it was almost without resistance as it was dragged back, heading towards the black hole vortex.

"No!!!"

The gray-robed elder's soul let out a piercing scream.

However, no matter how desperately he struggled, the distance between him and the black hole vortex grew closer and closer.

Just as he thought he would be swallowed by the black hole, Wang Lici slashed with the crescent blade, its domineering power sweeping out, directly obliterating his weakened divine soul into nothingness.

Without a body, the divine soul was as weak as a turtle without a shell, pitifully weak, and Wang Lici didn't even need to use much profound energy.

Thus.

A Void Realm expert was quietly eliminated, leaving not even a trace of his soul.

The terrifying gluttonous phantom behind Wang Lici gradually dissipated.

Without the terrifying suction force, the items forcibly drawn in fell from the air, scattering all over the ground.

The surroundings suddenly fell silent.

After a while, Lan Wan'er came back to her senses, "Is it really over this time?"

"Yes."

Wang Lici nodded.

During the fight, driven by adrenaline, she didn't feel much, but now that she had really killed this Demon Lord, even she felt a bit dazed, let alone Lan Wan'er.

However, now was not the time for sentimentality.

After catching her breath, she called Lan Wan'er and the meritorious Demonic Realm Burrowing Rat and began to clean up the battlefield, destroying the bodies and erasing all traces related to the two of them and the rat.

She knew that this matter was too big, involving the death of the Nether Fiend Young Master and the theft of the "Demon Sovereign's" desired treasure. No matter how bold she was, she couldn't let anyone know it was her and Wan'er who did it.

Otherwise, who knows what kind of retaliatory actions the Demon Sovereign might take against her or the Wang Clan in his anger.

In any case, making everything vanish into thin air was undoubtedly much safer.

However, it was fortunate that this Void Realm expert was relatively weak, probably due to poverty, with few life-saving trump cards. The only thing worth mentioning was a "demonic Dao Artifact."

It was a demonic sword Dao Artifact, which, when ambushed and heavily injured, didn't play much of a role, completely suppressed by the half-immortal artifact crescent blade, making it quite insignificant.

As for the greatest credit this time, it undoubtedly went to the "True Immortal Strike."

In the Shenwu Army Officer Training Academy, the [True Immortal Strike] was a prize in the intermediate prize pool, intended as a life-saving trump card for outstanding elite students. After all, given the difficulty settings of the academy's assessment checkpoints, students who could pass the elite mode would likely grow into high-ranking Void Realm generals, even in the Shenwu Royal Dynasty, considered extremely valuable talents.

The Holy Emperor had always been generous in nurturing and protecting talents.

However, no matter how imaginative the Holy Emperor was, he probably never expected that these rewards would one day be calculated by the Wang Clan, almost completely plucked clean in a short time.

Wang Lici hadn't counted how many True Immortal Strikes the clan had taken, but there were at least dozens.

As a pillar of the family, a noble second-sequence elite of the clan, it was only natural for her to have a True Immortal Strike for protection.

If used appropriately, this thing could slay a Void Realm!

"Come, come, both of you, don't make me use force~" Halfway through cleaning the battlefield, Wang Lici noticed something amiss and called over the only two items left by the gray-robed elder, a storage ring of Divine Spirit Artifact level, and that demonic sword Dao Artifact.

They had already witnessed Wang Lici's terrifying strength and were very afraid of her. Seeing her summon them, despite being very scared, they still trembled and flew over, not daring to flee.

"Where's this old man's Lingxu Codex?" Wang Lici rummaged through the corpse cut in two, furious, "Could it be that the Lingxu Codex actually ran away?"

Although the Wang Clan now had quite a few Lingxu Codices, such things were the foundation of a family, and the more, the better.

"Well... Demon Lord Moluo had already completed the Void transition, passing the codex to the next generation heir." The demonic sword Dao Artifact weakly explained, "I was only left temporarily with the True Lord because I was on a mission."

A Void Realm expert who completed the Void transition?

Wang Lici was immediately disappointed.

Isn't this just like His Majesty Long Chang? No wonder his combat power was much weaker, and in a critical moment, he didn't even summon the codex to fight, leaving many of her prepared methods unused.

The Lingxu Codex is not only a tool for inheritance but also provides some enhancement to its owner. Once summoned to fight, it makes mobilizing the laws of heaven easier, allows for stronger law power, and reduces the consumption of divine sense.

Of course, the codex itself doesn't have much combat power, merely providing an amplification effect.

But this amplification is proportional, so in battles at the Void Realm level, it significantly impacts combat power.

For example, Emperor Longchang, without the codex and the Canglong Sword, his combat power is significantly weakened.

The absence of a codex among the spoils left Wang Lici somewhat disappointed. She looked at the demonic sword Dao Artifact with a critical eye, "Your strength doesn't seem that great. During the fight, you didn't even dare to clash head-on with my crescent blade. Isn't that a bit too cowardly?"

"..." The demonic sword Dao Artifact.

He almost couldn't help but curse, but the words turned into flattery at the last moment, "Honorable Fairy, I'm just an ordinary demonic Dao Artifact. How can I compare to the esteemed Miss Crescent? She is a half-immortal artifact, and one that follows the path of strength~~"

"Alright, I'll reluctantly take you for now." Wang Lici mused, "Once this wave passes, I'll see about selling you to the Treasure Pavilion headquarters, or let the Immortal Palace reclaim you."

The demonic sword Dao Artifact never expected to be so despised one day.

His self-esteem was severely bruised, but he didn't dare to confront this fierce girl Wang Lici, fearing she might destroy him in displeasure, so he silently endured.

With a casual wave, Wang Lici stored the obedient demonic sword Dao Artifact into the storage ring.

"And you?" Wang Lici looked at the storage ring of Divine Spirit Artifact level, "What good stuff do you have inside?"

"Honorable Miss..." The storage ring's Spirit Artifact spoke in a flattering tone, "Although the master, no, the former master's soul connection with me has been severed, as a storage ring, I cannot disclose such information to you."

Before Wang Lici could get angry, the storage ring's Spirit Artifact quickly added, "However, you can first sever the soul connection with your own storage ring, then erase the remaining soul imprint on me, and re-refine me. Then you will be my new master."

She thought to herself that following this very formidable master might not be a bad thing.

Unexpectedly, Wang Lici casually tossed it to Lan Wan'er, "Wan'er, you're still using a top-grade storage ring that can't talk, right? Sort out your things later and switch to this storage ring."

"Thank you, Sister Lici." Lan Wan'er happily accepted, but transferring storage rings was a rather cumbersome task, not urgent at the moment.

After dealing with the two spoils, Wang Lici rummaged through the gray-robed elder's corpse and finally found the most precious small box.

Opening the box, inside lay the Nether Fiend True Demon Seed, the soul of the Nether Fiend Young Master pinned by the Thousand Mechanisms Soul Locking Nail, and the storage ring of the Nether Fiend Young Master.

Unfortunately, the Nether Eight Dragon Flag of the Nether Fiend Young Master was left at the Blood Demon King Fortress.

But that couldn't be helped. If they had forcibly taken the Nether Eight Dragon Flag at the time, the death of the Nether Fiend Young Master would have been immediately discovered, and the ensuing serious consequences would have erupted instantly.

In that case, they might not have been able to escape smoothly.

Wang Lici was most interested in the [Nether Fiend True Demon Seed].

She had a strong desire to swallow it whole, but deep down, she had a vague feeling that it seemed very dangerous.

This left Wang Lici very conflicted.

"No, no, I can't eat it." Wang Lici swallowed hard, forcibly suppressing the restless power of her bloodline, "This feels more useful for Ancestor Long Yan. She's always been so kind to me, I can't eat it, I have to save it for the Ancestor."

Saying this, she quickly took out the storage ring of the Nether Fiend Young Master, then "snap" closed the lid, and carefully put away the sealed box, out of sight, out of mind.

If she looked any longer, she feared she wouldn't be able to resist.

The storage ring of the Nether Fiend Young Master was, of course, of high grade, a rare Dao Artifact-level spatial storage ring.

"Zhazha Rat, bury the gray-robed elder's body a bit deeper, destroy the traces thoroughly, and then let's hurry and retreat. This place is not safe for long." Wang Lici instructed, then she and Lan Wan'er began to clean the battlefield, disrupting various traces, before flying into the night sky.

Poor True Lord Moluo, once a well-known True Lord of the True Demon Hall, ended up dying in the Demonic Realm. And Wang Lici, who killed him, didn't even remember his name.

After cleaning up the battlefield, they began to rush back at full speed, not even having time to deal with the storage rings.

After all, dealing with storage rings was very cumbersome, requiring first emptying the contents of one's own storage ring, then severing the refinement, re-refining the new storage ring, and then loading the items, too troublesome.

Given the urgency of the situation, they naturally chose to hurry back.

In fact, even as they were chasing the gray-robed elder, a crisis had already erupted like a tsunami.

The demons first discovered the disappearance of the Nether Fiend Young Master and Sulaya, then found that the Nether Fiend Young Master was dead, his body hung on the Demon Suppression Monument in front of the forward fortress of the Human Race's Immortal No. 3 Base Eastern Defense Zone.

Hanging demon bodies on the Demon Suppression Monument had always been a tradition on the Human Race's side, serving to boast of military achievements, boost morale, and intimidate the demons, achieving multiple goals.

The greatest achievement in the history of the Immortal No. 3 Eastern Defense Zone was hanging the body of a Demon King on the Demon Suppression Monument, but that was over two thousand years ago.

Although the Nether Fiend Young Master was temporarily only at the lord level, his status was too special. Once hung on the Demon Suppression Monument, it stirred up a huge wave.

Based on preliminary investigations and some clues, the demons were almost certain that it was the handiwork of Zhao Tingjian, the commander of the Human Race's Immortal No. 3 Eastern Defense Zone.

Upon learning of this, the Nether Fiend Demon God was immediately furious.

In a fit of rage, he prepared to personally seek revenge at the Immortal No. 3 Defense Zone, only to be restrained by the Demon Sovereign himself.

However, the death of the Nether Fiend Young Master also involved the inheritance of the Nether Fiend True Demon Seed. If that Nether Fiend True Demon Seed wasn't retrieved, the Nether Fiend Demon God's lineage might have no successors, and the Nether Fiend Demon God wouldn't easily let it go.

Immediately, he ordered several Demon King Fortresses, including the Blood Demon King Fortress, to cross the border and attack the Immortal No. 3 Eastern Defense Zone.

At the same time, other Demon King Fortresses also received war orders, instructing them to immediately mobilize troops to contain the Human Race's Immortal No. 2 Base, preventing its army from supporting the Immortal No. 3 Eastern Defense Zone.

Additionally, the Nether Fiend Demon God secretly communicated with the Yincha Demon God.

No one knew the specifics of their conversation or what benefits were promised to the Yincha Demon God, but the result was that the various demon armies under the jurisdiction of the Yincha Demon God Hall were also mobilized, advancing towards the Immortal No. 3 Base's Western Defense Zone and Central Defense Zone!

The purpose was clear: to suppress the Immortal No. 3 Base, preventing them from rushing to aid the Eastern Defense Zone.

Meanwhile, the Redstone Demon King Fortress and two other major Demon King Fortresses, old adversaries of the Human Race's Immortal No. 3 Eastern Defense Zone, would join forces with the Nether Fiend Demon God's army to jointly attack the Eastern Defense Zone.

The Nether Fiend Demon God even declared that the strategic goal this time was singular: to flatten the Human Race's Immortal No. 3 Eastern Defense Zone at all costs and to dismember Zhao Tingjian, the chief culprit, as revenge!

……

As the demon side was in turmoil, the Human Race naturally responded.

The first to bear the brunt was the Eastern Defense Zone.

Within less than a tea's time after receiving the news, the Eastern Defense Zone began full-scale operations, rapidly constructing a three-dimensional defense system according to the highest specifications and immediately convening a high-level meeting at the command center.

"Wang Yingxuan!"

Amidst the gathering of generals, Zhao Tingjian slammed the table, his beard bristling with anger, "You better come clean, was this your doing? You've been taking your troops out for training recently!"

He seriously suspected that Wang Yingxuan was retaliating against him. Having vetoed her military plan, she secretly acted on her own, trying to force a fait accompli!

"Old Zhao, calm down." Wang Yingxuan, spirited and invigorated, said, "Although I didn't do this, I truly admire whoever did. Penetrating enemy forces to decapitate the Nether Fiend Young Master, how impressive."

"Impressive my ass, where are Wang Lici and Lan Wan'er? You better come clean, it wasn't you guys?" Zhao Tingjian cursed, feeling like crying, tears almost falling.

He truly felt like he was sitting at home, and trouble fell from the sky.

The Nether Fiend Demon God had specifically named him as the number one target on the kill list, wanting to grind his bones to dust!

"Old Zhao, why are you so nervous?" Wang Yingxuan's eyes burned with fiery determination, "This is a great opportunity to achieve monumental feats. Old Zhao, the chance to be remembered in history has arrived."

"Bah! Who wants this chance to be remembered in history?" Zhao Tingjian felt dizzy.

Such a deadly opportunity, whoever wants it can have it, this marshal just wants to retire quietly.

At this moment.

Princess Suiyun also led her team of advisors and some elite troops to the Eastern Defense Zone first.

Accompanying her were the energy projections of the Immortal Sovereign and the Immortal Emperor.

The Immortal Emperor and the Immortal Sovereign were both very busy, usually hard to see even one, let alone both appearing at once. The fact that both sent projections and appeared in this small Eastern Defense Zone showed the gravity of the situation.

The gathered generals were stunned.

Being able to attend a meeting with the projections of both the Immortal Emperor and the Immortal Sovereign was something they never dared to imagine before!

As soon as the group met.

The Immortal Emperor patted Zhao Tingjian on the shoulder, full of admiration, "Old Zhao, they all say you're the Turtle King, best at hiding and surviving. I never expected you were holding back, saving up for a big move! Well done~~ You make your Zhao Clan ancestors proud~"

"Your Majesty~" Zhao Tingjian's face turned red with frustration, "It wasn't me."

"If not you, then who?" The Immortal Sovereign snorted coldly, "You made such a big move on your own, without consulting me or the Immortal Emperor first. Do you still have us in your eyes?""Alright, alright, Old Zhao has indeed made significant contributions," the Immortal Emperor interjected, his eyes gleaming with excitement as he looked at Zhao Tingjian. "Old Zhao, I believe you're a cautious person. Since you've pulled off such an earth-shattering feat, you must have a follow-up plan."

"Come on, tell us, what's the next step? Both the Immortal Sovereign and I are ready to fully support your subsequent plans."

Follow-up plan? I don't have any follow-up plan!

Zhao Tingjian's mind was screaming internally.

I really just want to retire quietly...