I know this man! He's from the Three Sovereigns Sword Sect…

When they had arrived at the quiet recovery room, a few disciples from Nightless City who were skilled in medicine art were already busy tending to the injured.

As for Li Xun, who had already received proper treatment for his wound, he found himself with nothing much to do. He wandered around a bit, casually greeting a few new acquaintances among the other injured.

That familiar man from the Three Sovereigns Sword Sect, like Li Xun, was also wounded right on the face.

After having it cleaned, bandaged, and treated, what was once a decent-looking face now looked a little strange. Add two years of wear and tear, and it had taken Li Xun quite a while to recognize him. But eventually, he realized this man was the one who had stood behind Luo Yujie during the incident when she had been taken hostage.

The only reason he remembered him at all was because of the man’s eyes. Back then, they had been full of viciousness; so intense they sharply contrasted with the rest of his face.

Li Xun couldn’t help but worry. If this man still had that same fierce gaze, he might recognize him too. Bored and restless, Li Xun even started entertaining the thought: Maybe I should just take him out quietly and be done with it...

The idea amused him. His lips curled into a silent grin. No one could see his face anyway, so he let himself enjoy the moment.

But right then, his smile froze.

Anyone would react the same way when they suddenly saw someone, someone just like them, shattered into pieces right in front of their eyes, torn apart in a spray of blood and flesh.

It wasn’t just Li Xun. Every disciple from the surrounding sects stood there in shock, their eyes vacant.

It wasn’t until a second person was ripped apart, his guts spilling out with the blood, that someone finally snapped out of it and shouted, “We’re under attack!”

The one who shouted?

Became the third to die, shredded to pieces.

The sudden chaos came without the slightest warning, like a massive hammer crashing down on everyone’s heads, leaving them dazed and stunned.

Li Xun was no exception.

It wasn’t until the fifth person’s skull was shattered, and a chunk of it struck the corner of his eye, that he snapped out of his stupor.

His reflexes were lightning fast, but just as he figured out how to run for his life, the sixth, seventh, and eighth victims had already met the same brutal end.

Then he felt those blood-red eyes sweeping across his face. The sheer killing intent in that gaze burned straight through his soul, wiping his mind completely blank in an instant.

Ding!

The long-silent cry of Bixie Jade rang out sharply. But Li Xun wasn’t ready.

Still dazed, he acted on instinct, drawing his sword.

And forgot completely about the injury in his right shoulder.

The blade had barely come halfway out when searing pain exploded through both his shoulder and chest. Then his body was sent flying, like he’d been thrown into a storm, crashing straight through the wall behind him.

And it didn’t stop there. He slammed into a second wall before finally crashing to the ground.

Just that one hit shattered two rows of ribs in his chest. Who knew how many bones had stabbed into his organs? Even for a cultivator with a strong life force, he was barely clinging to life now.

But that blinding pain finally brought him fully back to his senses.

Why didn’t it just kill me in one blow?

The fact that he could still think about something like that was almost impressive. Just then, from the room next door, a long-delayed scream finally rang out.

The moment that scream began, the wall Li Xun had crashed through earlier crumbled completely. Unsurprisingly, the entire building came down with it.

Ignoring the pain, Li Xun crossed his arms, barely managing to shield his face and chest before he was buried under falling debris.

The impact was brutal. Another mouthful of blood surged up and sprayed against the inside of his mask, sticky and warm. It was disgusting.

Damn it... If I make it out alive from that demon’s claws, getting crushed ten more times would be worth it!

The image of those blood-red eyes flashed through his mind, sending a chill down his spine.

He’d seen red-eyed demons before; creatures like the Demon Phoenix or the Blood Wanderer. Whether due to their constitution or the techniques they cultivated, their eyes had all turned red.

But the Demon Phoenix’s eyes were filled with burning hatred, sharp and tragic. The Blood Wanderer’s gaze was cold and cruel, full of cunning and malice. Both were terrifying in their own ways. But this thing's eyes were something else entirely.

Li Xun had never seen a pair of eyes like those before. No emotion, no thought... just pure slaughter and bloodlust. So pure, it was almost impossible to understand.

There was no doubt about it; those were the eyes of a true

demon.

As that thought crossed his mind, he suddenly felt the pile of rubble above him start to tremble. A split second later, a powerful blast of energy erupted, sending chunks of debris flying in every direction. In the blink of an eye, the crushing weight on his body vanished completely.

What came next was far worse than being buried under rubble.

He saw those chilling eyes again.

And this time, Li Xun felt an unexpected calm settle over him.

After so many years training and surviving out in the world, if he still couldn’t steady his mind in a life-or-death moment like this, then he really would deserve to die.

The fear and panic were still there, but he forced them down, burying those useless emotions deep in the back of his mind, not letting a single ripple disturb the surface.

The situation now reminded him of that ambush by Gu Yin a few months ago; except for one crucial difference:

This time, he could still fight back.

The Bixie Jade let out its piercing cry once again, but now, it was because Li Xun had activated it. He unleashed its mysterious ability to protect its master.

A faint burst of blue-green light flared from it, sharp like shattered stars, flashing briefly before vanishing into the air. At the same time, a strange low hum echoed out, impossible to describe; followed immediately by a sizzling, skin-searing sound.

Finally, there was a heavy, thunderous explosion.

At the exact moment of impact, it was like a tornado had erupted from the center. Dust and shattered stone whipped into the sky, blanketing everything for dozens of yards around.

Li Xun was blown away like a scrap of torn paper, flung who-knew-how-far through the chaos.

Before he even hit the ground, a sharp, ear-splitting shriek exploded beside his ear. So full of pain and rage that it seemed to twist itself into a solid weight and slam directly into his skull like a hammer.

Another mouthful of blood burst from his lips. The bloody foam already collected inside his mask got sucked up into his nose, making him gag. It was miserable. Gritting his teeth against the pain, Li Xun forced himself to scan his surroundings.

The swirling dust and rubble still hadn’t fully settled. And then, from deep within the haze, another piercing screech rang out. This time, though, the resulting shockwave didn’t burst outward. Instead, it pulsed in a tight radius, bouncing violently within a confined space.

Wherever the shockwave passed, flying debris was shredded into finer particles. And under the effect of  true breath, it even began to dissolve into smoke.

The dense fog of dust thinned out considerably. The demon finally came into view.

Calling it humanoid was technically accurate. At a glance, it did have a vaguely human shape.

But who had ever seen a person nearly ten feet tall, with sharp, backward-facing spikes growing out of their shoulder blades?

Its face was still mostly hidden in the fading mist, but its obsidian-black skin, dried and cracked like a dead tree, and its long, twisted body were clearly visible; along with those glowing blood-red eyes, seething with madness and killing intent.

If Li Xun wasn’t mistaken, those six grotesque spikes on its shoulders were actually releasing some sort of vapor.

Though it blended well with the surrounding dust and fog, he could clearly sense the thick aura of tormented souls and bitter resentment clinging to it.

He was only seeing a hint of it, but the deeper that miasma ran, the denser it became.

Could its entire body be filled with those things?

Just imagining getting slapped by that demon made him feel sick. He grimaced and quickly sank into the earth.

Above him, the demon let out another roar. The sound waves pierced straight through the ground, shaking Li Xun to his core. His heart pounded, his mind reeled. It was all he could do to hold onto his technique. Any less, and he would’ve been crushed underground.

"Can't you give a man a damn break? Come down here if you’ve got the guts!”

Remembering that the demon had first crawled out from underground, Li Xun was sure it would chase him down.

So, he summoned Nether One and Nether Two, suppressed his presence, and hid in the layers of soil, ready to strike hard when the demon came after him.

But just as he let out a trace of true breath to lure it in, a quiet voice suddenly whispered in his ear.

His heart skipped a beat. The moment he understood the meaning and source of the voice, Nether One and Nether Two, who had been poised to act, silently disappeared.

Then, a slender hand gently wrapped around his waist. He felt his body go light as he was pulled away.

“Chief Archivist Qin?” Li Xun asked tentatively.

The other person’s earth escape technique was way beyond his own; before he knew it, they had already traveled miles.

But he got no reply.

If she responded at all, it was just a faint hum. Then, everything suddenly brightened. Li Xun realized they were already back on the surface, and he finally saw Qin Wanru’s face.

She looked extremely pale, and her eyes barely registered him. She was simply staring at a spot on the ground not far away.

Li Xun glanced around, confused. “There’s no one here... Why did we come to this place?”

“Sometimes, we’re prisoners of fate,” Qin Wanru said calmly, even managing a small smile.

But that calmness, and that smile, coming from someone who looked so delicate and fragile, carried a quiet sense of resignation. It made Li Xun feel a pang of guilt. Was he really going to let a woman protect him?

He shook his head, pushing the thought aside. It wasn’t the time for something so irrational. And soon, he understood what she meant.

All around them, the air was laced with flickering qi mechanisms, forming a massive net. It stirred the surrounding primordial qi, producing an eerie hissing sound. Like snakes flicking their tongues, it was strange, and cold.

Within this web of energy, the demon clearly had the power to restrict Qin Wanru’s movement and force her to appear exactly where it wanted.

The image of that demon flashed through Li Xun’s mind again. And as he connected it with fragments of knowledge he’d gathered over time, it struck him like lightning.

“Net Throat Demon!”

Li Xun muttered. It finally made sense; this thing that looked three part human and seven parts demon was actually the most mysterious and bloodthirsty among the Seven Great Demons of the world.

....

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