It was actually the white-browed young man from the demon race.
At this moment, black light flickered around his body as he desperately tried to resist the entanglement of the red threads. However, no matter how violently the black light surged, he couldn’t break free from the threads at all.
Seeing this, the old Taoist’s face twisted into a sinister expression as he slowly walked toward the white-browed youth.
At the same time, several sharp whistles rang out from the city, and beams of light in various colors shot into the sky, heading straight for this location.
Realizing that other members of the Shadow Clan had arrived, the white-browed youth’s face flashed with terror. He let out a deafening roar, and the black light around him surged violently. His body rapidly expanded, and a pair of jet-black iron wings emerged from his back. His hands transformed into gleaming black claws.
Faced with imminent danger, he instantly assumed a half-demon form, clearly preparing for a desperate fight.
For demons, their true reliance was always their formidable physical bodies. As one of the seven great demon races, the Black Eagle Clan was no ordinary force. With a flick of his claws, black light several feet long erupted from their tips. A single sweep severed all the red threads around him.
The sharpness of the black light was astonishing.
Naturally, the white-browed youth was overjoyed.
He was confident that as long as he could sever all the red threads, he could escape using the Black Eagle Clan’s unique evasion technique.
But before he could continue slashing with his claws, the scene below made his face turn deathly pale.
The severed red threads flickered and reconnected, restoring themselves as if nothing had happened.
The old Taoist sneered, his figure blurring as he appeared eerily in front of the white-browed youth. He reached behind his head, and a crimson shadow slowly emerged.
“Red Shadow! So you really are from the Shadow Clan!” The white-browed youth’s heart sank into despair.
The Red Shadow was equivalent to a Void Refinement-level human cultivator—far beyond what a mere Deity Transformation demon like him could resist.
“Now you know. Your body is quite good—I’ll take it. Don’t worry, your companions won’t escape either. They’ll soon join you underground,” the old Taoist said in a strange, shrill voice, his eyes flashing red.
The crimson shadow lunged at the youth, while the red threads pierced through his protective black light, binding him tightly.
Despite his immense strength, the youth couldn’t move an inch. He could only watch helplessly as the Red Shadow descended upon him.
“Not so fast!”
Realizing there was no escape, the white-browed youth’s heart filled with madness. He gritted his teeth, bit off half his tongue, and spat out a mouthful of black blood containing a thumb-sized black pearl.
The moment the pearl left his body, his eyes dimmed, and his skin withered rapidly, turning him into a white-haired old man in an instant.
This pearl was the demon core he had cultivated for years.
The orb pulsed violently within the black blood before exploding with a deafening boom.
The old Taoist’s expression changed. Not only did the Red Shadow recoil as if stung, but he himself also leaped backward.
A massive black halo erupted, expanding to over a hundred feet in an instant. A fierce wind howled, and yellow sand surged into the sky, forming several yellow wind dragons.
The old Taoist reappeared dozens of feet away, his eyes narrowing.
The black halo pursued him relentlessly.
With a grim expression, the old Taoist let out an eerie cry.
A thick red shadow shot out from nowhere, piercing the black halo before retracting just as quickly.
The yellow wind dragons dissipated, and the black halo—along with the white-browed youth—vanished without a trace.
The old Taoist sighed in relief but then frowned in annoyance.
He hadn’t expected the youth to still be capable of self-destructing his demon core under his restraints.
At that moment, eight figures—men and women—descended from the sky.
“There was an unexpected complication. They didn’t fall into the trap. But I’ve secretly released Shadow Incense—they’re all lightly contaminated, enough to last an hour. I’ll personally hunt down the one who ruined my plans with the Mirage Beast. You lot, split up and eliminate the other three,” the old Taoist ordered coldly.
“Yes, Venerable!” The eight cultivators bowed before splitting into three groups and shooting off in different directions.
The old Taoist didn’t leave immediately. Instead, he let out a series of eerie roars that shook the air, reverberating into the heavens.
Then, he gestured toward the city gates.
Over a dozen gray shadows flew out from the Foundation Establishment cultivators there, vanishing into his body. The cultivators collapsed instantly.
An unbelievable scene followed.
The children playing by the lake and the ordinary townsfolk dissolved like bubbles under the roars. The entire city flickered like a reflection in water as black mist rose from everywhere, shrouding the ground and walls.
A piercing croak echoed from within the mist.
The old Taoist stopped roaring and flicked his sleeve toward the black mist.
A fierce wind swept the mist away, revealing a monstrous creature over a hundred feet long—a two-headed beast with gold and silver serpent heads and an emerald-green toad body. Its four blood-red eyes rolled eerily.
With a wet crunch, the golden serpent head spat out a skeletal remnant.
The white-browed youth’s demon core and body had been devoured by this beast.
The city, its people, and most of the cultivators had all been illusions conjured by this monster.
The old Taoist vanished, reappearing atop one of the serpent heads.
“Go,” he commanded coldly.
The beast croaked, leaped into the air, and transformed into black mist, vanishing into the distance.
Its target was none other than Han Li’s fleeing figure.
—
A streak of crimson light shot across the sky, carrying a beautiful but grim-faced young woman.
Suddenly, her expression changed. She flicked her sleeve, revealing a shattered green jade plaque with a milky-white orb—now completely destroyed.
Taking a deep breath, she tapped the orb, which crumbled into dust.
She stowed the plaque away, and her crimson light intensified, accelerating her flight.
But half an hour later, she glanced back.
Two beams of light appeared on the horizon, merging into one and closing in rapidly.
Her face darkened. Realizing escape was impossible, she stopped mid-air, hovering coldly.
The two pursuers—a handsome young man and a stunningly beautiful woman, both expressionless—halted a few dozen feet away.
Unfazed by their appearances (knowing they were Shadow Clan puppets), the woman formed a hand seal. Two black flames shot from her sleeves, morphing into firebirds that lunged at the pair.
The man and woman snorted, releasing gray beams from their backs to counter the flames.
A thunderous explosion erupted as gray light and black fire clashed.
The woman’s eyes narrowed. She rolled onto the ground, her body erupting in blinding black light.
A phoenix’s cry rang out as a massive black bird—three to four yards long, with a brown crest and emerald-green eyes—soared into the sky and dove at the pair.
The two gasped but quickly retaliated, releasing two green shadows from their heads to intercept the black phoenix.
The battlefield erupted in chaos, spiritual energy surging as explosions echoed.
—
At the same time, Long Dong was also intercepted by two pursuers.
Facing the two green shadows (who had abandoned their human hosts), he smirked.
Yellow light flashed as his bronze armor materialized, his massive copper wings unfurling. He clenched his hands, summoning a blood-red sword—three feet long, with a dragon’s head and phoenix’s body, pulsing as if forged from blood itself.
His blood-red mole glowed vividly as he swung the sword at the green shadows.
Silently, the shadows screamed, their bodies splitting into countless white threads before disintegrating completely.
With another flick of the sword, the remnants vanished without a trace.
Tai Sui Yellow Amulet Paper FuLu Taoist Love Talisman Traditional Chinese Spiritual Charm Attracting Love Protecting Marriage