Demon Realm.
A woman wreathed in immortal aura suddenly seemed to receive some kind of news. She murmured to herself, thoughtful and faintly amused, "So something like this can happen?"
The immortal aura veiled her face, making her features impossible to see. Yet simply standing there, she gave people an immediate, undeniable sense of beauty.
It wasn't something you recognized with your eyes so much as something you accepted as a concept, as if her beauty was the way beauty was meant to be.
At that moment, she was walking slowly through the corridor of a grim, sinister palace.
Ahead of her was the darkness at the far end of the hallway, like a gaping maw waiting for someone to step in.
Behind her trailed a group of Immortal Lords and Immortal Emperors, all with an otherworldly bearing. They followed carefully, hardly daring to breathe.
As for the palace corridor itself—
It had already been smashed to pieces, riddled with holes, as if a gang of hooligans had barged in to smash, loot, burn, and wreck.
The precious materials once embedded in the walls had been stripped clean at the woman's command, seized by those Immortal Lords and Immortal Emperors without leaving so much as a scrap behind.
The whole stretch had been picked so bare that even a mouse would cry and offer up its own stash just to help this ruined corridor survive.
"Forget it. I'll spare them for now."
As she spoke, she casually lifted a hand and shattered the space beside her.
The space of the Demon Realm was nothing like the space of the lower realm. It was so resilient that only an Immortal Lord-level being, striking with full force, could break it.
Yet in her hands, it seemed as flimsy as paper, punctured with a flick.
"Come with me to the Saint Realm and the Infernal Realm."
The Outer Void Evil Demon couldn't tell the difference between the Western Hell and the Eastern Hell, so it simply lumped them together and called it "Hell."
But the woman knew exactly what she was talking about. She had already stirred up the Six Paths of Reincarnation from top to bottom. There shouldn't be any room left for someone to slip down into the lower realm from there.
So if something was attacking the lower realm now, it could only be the Infernal Realm—the one place she hadn't paid a visit to yet.
After ascending, she had understood one simple truth.
Rather than waiting to be provoked and then charging into someone else's home to smash, loot, and burn, she might as well let them understand her strength from the very beginning.
With her talent for attracting trouble, the outcome was going to be the same either way.
Since the karmic result wouldn't change, she might as well take advantage of the novelty of having just ascended and "greet" all the nearby worlds first.
More importantly, she knew her disciples in the lower realm were hardly orthodox. Seven disciples, and six of them walked the external path. If they ascended into some strange place and couldn't find her, that would be a real headache.
So she intended to make her name known across the realms first. That way, when her disciples ascended, they wouldn't be lost.
As for whether they might get beaten because of her?
If they couldn't even handle this bunch of trash, then it meant they'd been slacking off in the lower realm. A beating would serve them right.
Besides, once she heard about it, she could always go back and settle accounts.
Originally, she had been preparing to teach the Demon Realm a lesson. Up ahead was the heart of the Demon Realm—
The Demon God Hall.
But since she had received new information, she would have to go cause trouble somewhere else first.
She could always come back later and beat them again. The Demon Realm wasn't going anywhere.
The Immortal Lords and Immortal Emperors followed as she left, leaving nothing behind but devastation.
Deeper in the corridor, one Demon Emperor after another—terrifying existences in their own right—finally showed a trace of relief on their grim faces once they sensed she was gone.
"I told you, she wouldn't da—mmph!"
Before one Demon Emperor could finish, the Demon Emperor beside him clamped a hand over his mouth.
"You want to die, fine. Some of us still want to live!"
He knew the woman's reputation far too well. Even after she had left, he didn't dare let people speak recklessly.
At their level, it only took a faint sense to know whether someone was talking behind their back.
If that calamity suddenly came back, what would they do then?
Honestly, death itself wasn't what they feared. Every Demon Emperor present had clawed their way up through mountains of corpses and seas of blood. None of them were afraid of dying.
But being publicly humiliated, beaten senseless while the whole of the realms watched?
That was worse than death.
Back then, they had laughed their heads off watching the Immortal Lords and Immortal Emperors who provoked her get hung up and beaten, even making preparations to invade the Immortal Realm.
But after the Spirit Emperors of the Six Paths of Reincarnation were beaten by her… and after the Demon Emperors of the Demon Realm were beaten by her… they couldn't laugh anymore.
They even ordered their subordinates to make absolutely sure they didn't provoke the Immortal Realm, stopping just short of sealing off the entire Demon Realm.
Before they could even make a move, the woman had already stormed in.
Of the original one hundred and eight Demon Emperors of the Demon God Hall, only twelve remained. As for those bold enough to fight her head-on, every last one had been beaten senseless, their reputations dragged through the mud.
"Seal the Demon Realm. Until that woman ascends, we do not open it again."
After a moment of silence in the Demon God Hall, the Demon Emperor seated at the head spoke in a low voice.
"Agreed!"
"Agreed!"
"Agreed!"
The other Demon Emperors responded without hesitation. Even the one who had nearly blurted something earlier reluctantly raised his hand.
Still, he couldn't help asking, "But if we do this, won't the demonic cultivators in the lower realm be unable to ascend?"
"Idiot!"
"Better they die than us!"
"What does the life and death of those trash have to do with us?"
"…"
Spittle flew straight into the questioning Demon Emperor's face.
Furious though he was, two fists couldn't fight twenty-two hands. He could only swallow his anger and mutter, "But how can you guarantee that woman won't tear open our seal?"
"…"
The Demon God Hall fell into deathly silence.
Then—
"You're the only one who talks too much!"
"Then what do you suggest?"
"Go on! Why aren't you talking now?"
"Hit him! Damn it, hit him!"
"Move aside, I want a kick too!"
"How did this guy even become a Demon Emperor?"
"No sense at all!"
"…"
A storm of fists and kicks rained down on him.
For a time, the hall echoed with nothing but the sound of flesh colliding with flesh.
As for screaming?
He'd already been beaten too dizzy to make a sound.
…
Tianqiong City Plaza.
Time had passed quickly. After the assessment and the battle, the sun had already tilted westward, slowly sinking toward the horizon.
Did I misjudge him?
Leng Qingqiu's thoughts were in turmoil. She couldn't believe Ye Ling was truly only at the Foundation Establishment stage. And yet, every piece of evidence pointed to that fact.
If that was true… then was that statement also true?
"Five days. My disciple reached Foundation Establishment in just five days. You absolutely won't lose out being his Dao companion!"
Bai Yiyi's innocent, childish voice echoed in her ears.
Could there really be such a peerless genius in this world?
Leng Qingqiu bit her lip, her gaze lingering on Ye Ling's handsome face.
If Bai Yiyi was telling the truth, then from the start of his cultivation until now… it had only been two months?
Late-stage Foundation Establishment in two months.
She wouldn't dare say there would never be another after him. But she was certain there had never been one before—purely through one's own cultivation.
No. Impossible.
He must have used—
The thought had barely formed before she stopped herself.
During the Qi Refining stage, she had rebuilt her foundation nine times before reaching her limit and advancing to Foundation Establishment.
If even she couldn't defeat Ye Ling, who had reached Foundation Establishment in five days, then did that mean her talent was trash?
No matter how little affection she had for the Leng Clan, she had to admit that the body they gave her was unparalleled.
Right now, she could defeat an ordinary Golden Core cultivator without pressure. That relied not only on the peerless sword art she had obtained through life-and-death struggles, but also on the extraordinary talent of this body.
Otherwise, learning the Void Sword Technique would have been impossible.
And yet—even with all that—she was completely outmatched by Ye Ling.
Being defeated at the same realm was one thing.
The real problem was that Ye Ling was already at late-stage Foundation Establishment, while she was only at early-stage Foundation Establishment.
The gap would only widen.
No.
I have to become stronger.
This was different from her previous naïve resolve. This time, Leng Qingqiu made a serious decision—
Return to the Leng Clan.
If she didn't rely on their power, then in this lifetime she might not even be able to see Ye Ling's back.
The Leng Clan might dislike her, but they would never abandon the value of this body.
As long as she was willing to work for them, they would be willing to invest in her.
She used to believe she could rise step by step on her own.
But now, after seeing Ye Ling, she understood.
Compared to a true genius like him, she was still too far behind. She would have to put aside her insignificant pride if she wanted to grow stronger.
Honestly, if she had endured the Leng Clan's cold treatment from the start, she might already be at Golden Core by now. With her talent, even reaching Nascent Soul wouldn't have been impossible.
The difference between struggling alone and having a powerful family behind you was simply too great.
Just then, while she was lost in thought, a presence—strange yet faintly familiar—snapped her back to her senses.
Not good.
But before she could react, the Eve in her arms had already reverted to her succubus form.
The last trace of sunset faded, swallowed by darkness.
"Deacon Leng, I suspect you have colluded with the demon race. Please cease resisting and come with me for investigation."
At some point, new reinforcements from the Righteous Path Alliance had arrived.
At their head stood a cold-faced woman. She was the one addressing Leng Qingqiu.
The woman was beautiful, but deliberately wore a frosty expression. Compared to Leng Qingqiu, she felt like a cheap imitation.
"So it's Deacon Hua."
Leng Qingqiu rose to her feet. Though the situation was clearly unfavorable, she remained calm.
In front of her stood the cultivators of Tianqiong City.
It was because of them that the other side was speaking so politely.
Otherwise—
They would have attacked her directly.