“Shameless!” Wen Qiwu cursed under her breath, her bright eyes brimming with fury.
She faintly sensed that those monsters still harbored signs of life within their bodies, which meant the curse hadn’t truly killed the city’s inhabitants!
In contrast, the Demon Dragon’s corpse eyes held no spark of divinity—it was already dead, so someone else was controlling its body!
That person’s scheme was utterly vicious. They had turned the city’s living residents into a barrier between them and the Demon Dragon’s corpse. If they hadn’t noticed, and killed these monsters only to discover living people inside, how could they remain composed after innocent lives vanished under their sword tips?
Moreover, her senior sister already had a Heart Demon. If blood were poured into her consciousness at this moment, it would be no different from a death sentence.
Even if they did notice, they would be thrown into a passive position, hesitant to act. If the mastermind was clever, they would have the dragon corpse attack other parts of the city, forcing them into an even more difficult dilemma.
Wen Qiwu suddenly felt an ominous premonition, and it wasn’t long before it came true. The Demon Dragon at the sea bottom began to move. It didn’t go after those two indigestible hard bones in the sky but headed toward other bustling areas of the city.
This matter was undoubtedly linked to that fellow called the Wise Master by the Demon Domain. She didn’t know what method he had used to turn the corpse into a dragon—perhaps it was related to that missing jar of sacrificial offerings…
Yun Heng hesitated no longer and directly slashed off the opponent’s left foreclaw with one sword strike.
Who would have thought that just as she made her move, a humanoid monster emerged from the Demon Dragon’s wound? The sword intent was too close to withdraw, and it cleaved the monster—along with the person inside its body—in half, blood splattering everywhere.
The monster’s wound gradually healed, while the humanoid one turned into a thin layer of desiccated monster remains.
Phoenix Fire erupted into the sky, attempting to dispel the dark curses, but their numbers were overwhelming. Even if her Phoenix Fire scattered some, more curses would frenzy back in retaliation.
“Clang!” Another sharp gleam tore through the horizon, splitting both heaven and earth—and the curses—in two.
The Demon Dragon’s corpse split open from the middle, held together only by the last bits of skin and scales. This time, it actively devoured more “monsters,” with pieces of desiccated corpses falling into the sea. From afar, Yun Heng’s eyes gleamed crimson, faintly showing ominous signs.
The Demon Dragon, now a corpse, knew no pain, fatigue, or fear. From the crack in its body surged foul-smelling lumps like rotting flesh, the nauseating odor spreading instantly. Wen Qiwu found the smell familiar and realized with a jolt that it matched the stench from that sacrificial jar!
“Senior Sister! That dragon’s body is made of sacrificial offerings…” Wen Qiwu gently tugged at her senior sister’s sleeve.
“Mm, this should just be a Pseudo-Dragon.” The moment this dragon corpse appeared, Yun Heng had known where the other jar of sacrificial offerings had gone.
The Demon Jiao’s dragon transformation power had been taken by Bai Jiao. Without the Dragon Gate open, how could a mere jiao turn into a dragon? Yun Heng had pored over all the books left in that secret chamber, and one mentioned Pseudo-Dragons.
It only had fragmentary notes, but someone had actually recreated that forbidden method to create a Pseudo-Dragon.
“You stay here and don’t get close. I’ll go find its heart.” Yun Heng instructed.
Creating a Pseudo-Dragon required sacrificial offerings as the core to build the dragon’s bloodline—that core was the Pseudo-Dragon’s heart, which Yun Heng suspected was this corpse’s fatal weakness.
To eliminate it quickly and save more curse-controlled people, she had to end the fight swiftly to minimize casualties.
“Got it. You must be careful.” Wen Qiwu lightly squeezed her senior sister’s palm.
Yun Heng nodded, then vanished from the spot, leaving only a trail of frost.
The dragon corpse’s power had approached the True Immortal Realm, but if it weren’t using innocent lives as shields, Yun Heng would have long since minced it into pulp.
The dragon corpse’s attacks slowed. Its body was sliced into countless pieces, rotten flesh chunks splattering out. No matter how strong its regeneration, it couldn’t keep up with Yun Heng’s sword speed.
Amid the writhing rotten blood and flesh, Yun Heng found a suspicious lump. She shook off the obstructing dragon claw and pierced out what seemed to be the heart with one sword thrust. Then, an extreme chill sword intent stabbed through it.
The lump turned into an ice sculpture, then shattered inch by inch from the sword-pierced hole. With a massive “boom,” the sacrificial corpses—enough for an entire city—hidden inside exploded out, resonating with the floating rotten chunks in the air.
Standing at the center, Yun Heng realized she had stepped right into the trap’s heart. As she prepared to retreat, a pitch-black mist rose from the sea, completely enveloping her.
“Senior Sister!” Shock and panic rose in Wen Qiwu’s eyes. She immediately drew her bow—not the Nine Tribulations Bow, but the magic tool she had used as a child to learn archery.
But even that childhood toy was near-immortal grade.
She loosed an arrow. Just as it was about to pierce the black “curtain,” ripples suddenly stirred in the air.
Wen Qiwu’s arrow vanished into thin air.
Refusing to believe it, she shot another, but this one was caught bare-handed right after leaving the string.
Wen Qiwu startled back a step. It was a pitch-black figure, hooded in darkness—she couldn’t make out the face.
“Nice bow.” An elderly voice emerged from the shadows. “It looks like it came from that Immortal Venerable’s hand.”
He slowly raised his head. Immortal vision pierced the dark, and Wen Qiwu clearly saw his face—it matched the Demon Cultivator’s memory that her Little Mom had captured.
“You are… the Wise Master?”
Her voice trembled with feigned calm, her bow shaking slightly in her grip.
The Wise Master stepped forward; she retreated a step. Seeing this, the demon halted.
“Indeed, somewhat similar.” The Wise Master’s voice came again.
“Similar to what?” Wen Qiwu was puzzled.
“To that Immortal Venerable’s only junior sister.”
A chilling gaze swept over Wen Qiwu, making her feel like she was being eyed by the most venomous snake.
“So that’s it. Your appearance gave her something to cling to, letting her hold on this long.” The Wise Master seemed to finally solve a long puzzle, excitement lacing his tone.
Wen Qiwu’s heart sank. Sharp as she was, she gleaned deeper meaning from his words. The Wise Master had mistaken her for a stand-in her senior sister had found—wrong on that point, but right about everything else.
He seemed to know all about her senior sister and her past.
This made Wen Qiwu suspect the Demon Lord’s backstab back then might be linked to him.
But he gave her no time to think. A creepy smile spread across the Wise Master’s face.
“She should have been dead long ago, but now a thread pulled her back. Don’t blame me—blame your resemblance to her current junior sister, blame Yun Heng for clutching you as her last lifeline.” The Wise Master sighed pityingly, a demon cloaked in Buddhist robes—utterly repulsive.
Wen Qiwu turned and fled swiftly. The Wise Master watched her like prey crashing about in a cage.
When she reached Merfolk Moon City’s high sky, a force blocked her path. Glancing back, she saw the demon maintaining the same distance as before.
Wen Qiwu thought she might have nightmares— this face shadowing her every night would chill anyone to the bone.
Suddenly, a chilling force gripped her throat, too powerful to resist. Wen Qiwu widened her eyes slightly. Was this truly Golden Immortal Realm power?
The Wise Master drew a thumb-sized, throbbing lump of meat from his sleeve—sticky, foul, stomach-churning.
“This is a good thing. In our Demon Domain, even the Demon Lord might not get it. Now it’s yours.” The Wise Master approached step by step, his smile chilling. “Don’t fear—it won’t hurt. Soon you’ll have Golden Immortal Realm power, maybe even True Immortal! Obey me, kill Yun Heng, bring me her corpse, and you’ll be the Demon Domain’s third Demon Lord.”
Wen Qiwu’s face darkened with every word. Gritting her teeth, she spat, “In your dreams.”
The Wise Master didn’t anger; his smile widened. Many in his clutches had said the same, but willingness was never theirs to decide.
He shoved the meat lump into the woman’s mouth. It didn’t need swallowing—it would find its place itself.
To test, the Wise Master issued his first command.
“Go kill the people in the other cities. I need new sacrificial offerings.” He watched the woman silently stand, his heart half-settled.
He couldn’t trap Yun Heng long; he’d need this woman to act for him. He couldn’t appear where Yun Heng could find him.
Wen Qiwu nocked and drew, a flame-wreathed arrow forming. The instant it loosed, she whipped it toward the demon’s head.
Its power threatened the Wise Master, who raised a hand to block—only for a sword to pierce his chest as he severed the arrow.
The sword’s chill froze the blood in his veins. He tried to muster power, but rampaging cold qi blocked it, forcing a backlash mouthful of blood. Only one person wielded such power. Instead of the attacker behind, the Wise Master lunged for the one who could threaten Yun Heng.
But when he touched Wen Qiwu, his right hand passed through—like grasping a phantom. No, she was a phantom!
The woman’s figure faded in the moonlight, the throbbing lump dropping and freezing solid.
Simultaneously, the Wise Master’s body shattered into ice. He wouldn’t die easily, so as he fell, he saw the Immortal Venerable’s blood-intent eyes.
Unbeknownst when, the humanoid monsters collapsed into sludge without support, their so-called life force vanishing entirely from Merfolk Moon City. It had become a true city of the dead.
