Seeing this, the two demonic birds did not immediately give chase but instead circled above the forest, emitting eerie cries from their beaks.
Moments later, a faint red light streaked across the horizon, arriving near the two birds in the blink of an eye. The light dispersed, revealing a woman in palace attire, appearing to be in her twenties. With phoenix-like eyes and delicate brows, her expression carried a faint trace of ruthlessness.
“So, he’s finally run out of spirit stones and can no longer use his spiritual tools. You two are truly useless—taking so long to deal with a mere body cultivator. If I weren’t suppressing my aura to avoid detection, I would have captured him myself long ago.” The palace-dressed woman swept her cold gaze downward before casting a displeased glance at the two demonic birds.
Under her gaze, the two ferocious birds shrank back in fear, their wings trembling.
“Hmph, our clan’s bloodline cannot remain in human hands. No matter the cost, that little girl must be retrieved. Capturing this City Lord Zhao will lead us to her. This trip into human territory won’t be in vain.” The woman’s eyes lingered below, though she made no move to act, her expression instead revealing a hint of curiosity.
Just then, a loud explosion erupted from the forest below, followed by hissing and the relentless sound of fists cutting through the air—as if a fierce battle had broken out.
The palace-dressed woman and the two demonic birds hovered motionless in the air.
After a while, the commotion abruptly ceased. Then, three black clouds and one yellow cloud suddenly rose from the forest, swiftly flying toward them.
These were three more serpent demons and a massive sandworm beast, several zhang in size.
The serpent demon with a human head and snake body held a barely alive human in its grasp—none other than the purple-robed man who had fled earlier.
Now, however, he was covered in blood, missing an arm, and utterly powerless to resist.
The four demons approached the palace-dressed woman, respectfully placing the purple-robed man on the ground before prostrating themselves, not daring to utter a word.
“You’ve done well this time. There will be rewards later.” The woman glanced at the purple-robed man, satisfied to see he was still alive, and nodded.
The serpent demons and the sandworm beast let out low, strange cries of joy.
“Impossible… You’re an eighth-grade shapeshifting demon beast. How did you enter our Tianyuan Realm?” The purple-robed man seemed to regain some clarity, his face twisting in horror at the sight of the palace-dressed woman.
“Eighth-grade demon beast? Call me that if you wish. But right now, I’m the one asking questions, not you. And I have no patience for idle chatter with a mere mortal. Listen carefully—I want to know the whereabouts of a certain person. If you tell me, I’ll grant you a swift death. If you displease me, I’ll extract your soul and use a soul-searching technique to find out anyway. But I doubt I need to explain what will happen to you then.” The woman’s tone was elegant, yet her words were utterly merciless.
The purple-robed man’s already grim expression turned even uglier.
“Senior, you’re a high-ranking figure among the demon race. Why would you seek someone from a lowly body cultivator like me? Perhaps there’s been a misunderstanding—you must have the wrong person.”
At these words, a cold glint flashed in the woman’s phoenix eyes. With a flick of her slender finger, a thumb-thick red beam shot forth, piercing the man’s shoulder.
The man screamed as the smell of scorched flesh filled the air, leaving a charred hole in his shoulder.
“Did I not say that I’m the one asking questions? Who gave you permission to speak? Make another mistake like that, and I’ll sever all your limbs.” The woman’s voice was devoid of emotion.
“I understand, Senior. What do you wish to know?” The purple-robed man gasped in pain, no longer daring to speak out of turn.
“It’s simple. I want to know the whereabouts of a young girl named ‘Dai’er.’ Don’t pretend ignorance—she’s your only granddaughter, isn’t she?” The woman’s gaze was icy.
“Dai’er! You’re from the Black Phoenix Clan!” The man’s face twisted in shock.
“Correct. So you were aware that the girl carries our phoenix bloodline. If you hadn’t hidden like a turtle in your city, never letting her leave, I wouldn’t have needed to rally multiple beast hordes to attack Anyuan City. Now that the city has fallen, yet the girl is missing, I have no choice but to extract the truth from you.” The woman sneered but refrained from further punishment.
“I knew this day would come. With the Black Phoenix Demon King’s power, there was no hiding it forever.” The man’s eyes dimmed as he muttered to himself.
“Good that you recognize my master’s might. Your human race has quite the audacity—daring to seduce our Black Phoenix Clan’s young master and then fleeing back to human lands with our sacred bloodline. Did you truly believe that returning to the human territories would shield you from our wrath?” The woman’s brows furrowed, her tone growing increasingly menacing.
“My daughter already died because of Dai’er. What more do you want?” The man clenched his teeth, his voice filled with hatred.
“What more? Naturally, we’ll take the girl back to the Black Phoenix Palace. Even as a half-demon, she carries our sacred bloodline. She cannot remain among humans. Your daughter’s death is for the best—it saves me the trouble of killing her myself. Now, where is the girl? My patience wears thin.” The woman’s gaze darkened.
“I don’t know!” After a long silence, the man finally spat out the words with difficulty.
The woman’s expression remained unchanged, as if she had expected this answer. Without hesitation, she raised her hand and made a grasping motion in the air. The man’s body was yanked forward, her slender fingers pressing against the crown of his head.
“Take one last look at this world. You won’t exist much longer.” Her voice was icy as blue light flickered from her fingertips.
The man’s eyes rolled back as he lost consciousness entirely.
Some time later, a shriveled corpse, now only a few feet in size, plummeted from the sky and vanished into the forest below.
“This is troublesome. The old fool was a die-hard human supremacist. He secretly ordered his subordinates to execute his own granddaughter if they failed to reunite within ten days. They say even a vicious tiger wouldn’t eat its own cubs, yet he was willing to go this far. It seems he’d rather sever his own bloodline than allow our Black Phoenix Clan to gain another high-ranking demon cultivator. Fortunately, he was just a lowly body cultivator—had he been a true cultivator, he might have become a formidable figure. Still, when the city fell, he had his men escort the girl away separately. None of you saw her that day?” The woman’s sharp gaze swept over the demon beasts beside her, her voice turning frigid.
The demons exchanged glances before letting out a series of submissive whimpers.
Frowning, the woman flipped her palm, revealing a blood-red orb. She chanted a spell, then spat a mist of blood essence onto the orb, causing it to glow ominously.
She stared intently at the orb for a long while before closing her eyes in exhaustion. When she reopened them, her expression was resolute.
“The girl is still alive and hasn’t left this area. No matter what it takes, find her within three days. Fail, and you’ll have no reason to exist. But rewards come to those who serve well. Since you captured the city lord, here’s your due.” She flicked her fingers, sending several pale pills toward the demons.
The low-level demons eagerly swallowed the pills, their bodies trembling with joy before transforming into clouds of demonic mist and dispersing.
“What a nuisance. If only I could freely use my divine sense and magic without alerting high-level human cultivators, I wouldn’t have to rely on these fools. But I can’t linger here—I must finish this quickly.” With a sigh, the woman waved her hand, summoning a red silk handkerchief that enveloped her in a puff of smoke, vanishing without a trace.
Not long after her departure, an ordinary-looking tree in the forest below twisted unnaturally, morphing into a sinister-looking old man in black robes. In his hand was the desiccated corpse of the purple-robed man.
“To think it was a Black Phoenix demoness. Her cultivation surpasses mine by far—if she hadn’t been suppressing her divine sense, I’d never have escaped her notice. But who would’ve guessed that tiny Anyuan City harbored a half-demon with Black Phoenix blood? Hah! This is a rare opportunity. I won’t let it slip away. This corpse will prove useful.” The old man chuckled darkly before tossing the corpse into the air.
He rubbed his hands together and then flung them upward, releasing a gray mist that coiled around the corpse, seeping into it.
Miraculously, the withered body began to swell, its flesh restoring as if reborn, even regrowing the missing arm.
“With this corpse, I’ll find the girl before anyone else, and then—”
“And then what?”
A cold voice cut through the air behind him. The old man’s face paled as he instantly transformed into a streak of gray light, fleeing without a second thought for the reanimated corpse.
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