“Did your hand get hurt?” Yu Hengwei held Wen Qiwu’s hand, so tense that she momentarily forgot her sense of propriety.
Wen Qiwu hadn’t been injured at all—her hand was just a bit numb. The one truly hurt was Yu Hengwei.
A gash had appeared on her wrist, and blood trickled down her fair skin.
“…” Without a word, Wen Qiwu pulled Yu Hengwei’s injured hand over, then took out some healing salve from her storage ring and applied it to the wound. Anyone with eyes could see she was puffed up with anger, let alone Yu Hengwei.
Yu Hengwei had just opened her mouth to speak when Wen Qiwu shot her a glare with those beautiful eyes. Wen Qiwu was usually all gentle warmth and kindness; she wouldn’t glare like that unless she was truly upset. And in front of outsiders, she always kept a bit more distance. This look made her seem more vivid, even subtly drawing the two of them closer.
“The power inside the Phoenix Lord Tomb won’t harm me. You don’t need to be so tense next time, or block for me. That power doesn’t recognize you,” Wen Qiwu said through gritted teeth, finally adding the reminder anyway.
“I understand,” Yu Hengwei replied in a voice so obedient it sounded like she’d truly taken it to heart. But the next time danger struck, she would probably toss that promise straight to the heavens.
“If the Phoenix Lord Tomb won’t let you in, even forcing your way will get you repelled. Do you still want to try?” Yu Hengwei asked, worry evident.
She had originally thought the Phoenix Lord Tomb wouldn’t repel Wen Qiwu, given her Phoenix Clan bloodline. But the reality was different.
“I’ll take another look.” Wen Qiwu walked a couple more steps forward, standing in the middle of the rift. She glanced back at Yu Hengwei, who guarded her side closely, and said, “Fellow Daoist Yu, you’d better stand a bit farther back. Don’t let it hurt you again.”
“But…” Yu Hengwei clearly wasn’t willing to let Wen Qiwu get so close to the rift alone, yet she couldn’t withstand the truly intimidating look in Wen Qiwu’s eyes.
Yu Hengwei retreated just a little. Her brows drooped slightly, and a hint of grievance appeared on her cool beauty’s face—like some abandoned pet from a household.
Wen Qiwu nearly softened. She quickly warned herself not to look, then steeled her heart and turned to focus on the spatial rift before her.
This time, she released the immortal power belonging to the phoenix. When that power merged into the rift, it truly faced no rejection.
So she wrapped herself in that power and tried approaching the rift again. But just as her hand was about to touch it, the power inside pushed her out once more.
Wen Qiwu stumbled back several steps, crashing straight into Yu Hengwei’s arms.
“Hiss…” Wen Qiwu sucked in a breath of cold air. Her hand stung from the burn, but there was no real damage.
“Are you alright?” Yu Hengwei checked her over from top to bottom.
Wen Qiwu shook her head, indicating she was fine.
“This place probably rejects everyone—humans, demons, devils, or anything else. I’m no exception.” Wen Qiwu realized her plan had fallen through. Her identity brought no convenience at all, so she would have to find another way.
How had Yu Hengwei stumbled inside back then? It probably wasn’t a stumble—it was forced entry, wasn’t it?
After feeling the rift’s power, Wen Qiwu immediately understood that story of “stumbling in” was just to placate a child. With defenses this tight, how could an outsider accidentally enter? She was more inclined to believe Yu Hengwei had forcibly torn open the rift, but the power inside was stronger, quickly pushing her back out.
She had the phoenix bloodline, so the backlash against her wasn’t too severe. But what had she gone through back then?
A faint ache rose in Wen Qiwu’s heart.
“Let’s think of another way first. No more trying for now.” Yu Hengwei’s tone was laced with heartache upon seeing Wen Qiwu’s reddened hand.
“Mm. Let’s see if there’s another method.” Unless the Demon Sovereign back then had no intention of letting descendants enter, there had to be another way into the Phoenix Lord Tomb. But where to start? Wen Qiwu sank into thought.
At that moment, Wen Qiwu suddenly caught a whiff of a damp, fishy stench in the air. The concentration of water-attribute demonic qi had unknowingly risen to an extremely dense level!
Her heart began to race, as if some ominous event was about to unfold.
“Fellow Daoist Yu, do you smell that unfamiliar demonic qi in the air?” After the demonic beast outbreak, the center of the Endless Tree Sea had been shrouded in haze, with faint traces of demonic qi in the air. But this felt different from before—like some monster was very close, its fishy stench hitting them full force.
Yu Hengwei had already noticed, but strangely, the scent came from all directions, as if permeating every corner of the Endless Tree Sea. She couldn’t pinpoint the source.
Wen Qiwu drew her Nine Tribulations Bow, bracing for battle. Yu Hengwei stayed vigilant while searching for traces of the monster. She felt like she’d overlooked something.
Drip, drip…
The patter of “raindrops” fell to the ground. Yu Hengwei suddenly looked up at the sky, her pupils contracting as her hand went to her sword hilt.
“Urgh!” Wen Qiwu clutched her head and staggered, startling Yu Hengwei into immediately looking away and supporting her.
“Fellow Daoist Wen!” Her heart nearly stopped.
“Something… something’s wrong!” Wen Qiwu’s face paled. In her mind echoed the mournful cries of birds, one after another.
Something had definitely gone wrong at the Trial Ground!
Wen Qiwu was right. The Feather Race’s Trial Ground had already turned into a hellish scene of devastation.
Not long ago, the younger generation of the Feather Race had leaped into the Trial Ground under their elders’ guidance. The kings watched as the children flew into the trial space, but before they could relax, a black shadow appeared inside.
The kings hadn’t even gotten a clear look at what it was when several young Feather Race members fell, bloodied. Their bodies hadn’t even hit the ground before the shadow flashed again, and the corpses vanished, leaving only a few scattered feathers.
Those sent to the Trial Ground were the cream of each clan’s younger generation—the future hopes and pillars of their race. Their deaths cut into the kings like knives carving flesh!
“Quick! Reopen the Trial Ground entrance! Get all the participating children out immediately!” one king roared.
In their desperation to save their own kin, they never imagined this action would nearly doom the entire Feather Race to remain forever in the Endless Tree Sea.
“Buzz…”
The Trial Ground entrance reopened, and panicked Feather Race members flew out. But just as they were about to reach their clan’s territory, a black, viscous liquid snared their bodies.
The kings didn’t even have time to rescue them before the ensnared Feather Race lost their vital signs.
They became part of the black viscous liquid, then turned to attack their own companions.
The kings charged into the Trial Ground and tore apart the mass of black goo. But no sooner had they finished than a drizzle of black rain began falling outside.
Each raindrop swelled rapidly upon hitting the ground, transforming into the very things the kings had just shredded.
How many raindrops were there in the sky? The kings couldn’t kill them all fast enough. Finally, some birds noticed the anomaly overhead and looked up.
One glance turned the faces of even these worldly kings pale.
“That’s…” Directly above them loomed a phantom enveloping the entire area, like an invisible sludge freshly dredged from a stinking ditch.
But long, long ago, this thing had nearly destroyed the entire Cangwang Realm.
“A True Demon?!” No matter how you looked at it, this resembled the True Demon slain by the Phoenix Lord back then!
It was this thing that caused the Phoenix Lord’s demise. The Feather Race’s hatred for it was etched into their bloodline inheritance, and the kings remembered it vividly.
That was a Divine Realm being! The Phoenix Lord had paid a tremendous price to shoot it down! Even if it had been dead for so many years with only a fraction of its power left, these Golden Immortal Realm kings weren’t guaranteed to defeat it! Worse, they had unknowingly been trapped inside the True Demon Remains’ body and were already at a disadvantage.
The battle hadn’t even started, and the kings’ morale had already faltered.
“Heh…” The culprit hiding in the distance, the Bone-Eroding Demon Lord, quietly concealed his form. The True Demon’s remnant soul then went berserk.
To digest all the “food” in its body, it attacked all living things. Yu Hengwei pulled out various artifacts to fight back. There were many, but they were still a bit weak against that True Demon remnant soul.
Gradually, the remnant soul realized they were tricky, so it diverted more power toward Yu Hengwei and Wen Qiwu.
Between Yu Hengwei and Wen Qiwu, the latter’s strength seemed weaker. The instinct-driven monster remnant soul targeted Wen Qiwu as the breakthrough point.
Swish!
Wen Qiwu vaguely heard a faint whoosh, but by the time she registered it, it was too late. A black spike laced with poison was nearly at her back!
Clang! Yu Hengwei’s eyes flashed with a crimson light. She drew her sword, and a sword qi slashed through, pulverizing the black spike.
She panted lightly, her body trembling slightly. With her sword intent unleashed, cracks split the sky and earth. The True Demon Remains’ soul body was also pierced, the monster shrieking in agony as its tidal attacks weakened.
In her fright, she had struck purely on instinct, without thinking of anything else.
Once she came back to herself, Yu Hengwei realized her sword intent was exposed. There were no two identical sword intents in the world—how was she supposed to explain this? She lowered her eyes, not daring to look at Wen Qiwu’s expression.
Someone as clever as her would surely notice the issue.
