Rain had poured down for many days straight, and the sky was finally clearing up.
She Mei led the group into the Mountain Valley.
“When the time comes, I’ll undergo my tribulation here,” she said. “Different demons face tribulations of varying intensity. But this is my affair—you don’t need to worry about it.”
The Great Demon pointed to several spots in the valley.
“I’ll set up formation nodes at these positions to disperse the power of the Thunder Tribulation. Your first task is to ensure the nodes remain intact.”
“Like those Iron Pillars from that day?” Yin Luan asked.
“Similar,” She Mei nodded, “but made of better materials, and they’ll draw even fiercer lightning. If a node gets damaged, replace it quickly, or the entire formation might collapse in an instant.”
This was why the Great Demon had to test their resistance to Heavenly Might. When the Thunder Tribulation arrived, thunder would rumble all around, and Yin Luan and the others needed to hold their posts in that environment to complete their tasks.
“The second thing,” She Mei paused, her tone growing slightly grave, “if any Unclean Things show up, I hope you can hold them off as best you can.”
“Unclean Things?”
“This location should be hidden enough that humans or Demons won’t find it easily,” she explained. “But Evil Spirits are extremely sensitive to tribulations, so it’s hard to say…”
“Didn’t you say lightning naturally counters Evil Spirits, Senior?” Ren Tan asked, puzzled. “They’re afraid of Thunder Tribulations, so why would they come knocking?”
“Because they want to devour me,” She Mei said. “Evil Spirits have an instinct to grow stronger. Devouring a failed tribulation-crosser is like us eating a ten-thousand-year-old immortal herb. Even at the risk of their souls scattering, they’ll try.”
In the Great Zhou Kingdom, Unclean Things usually referred to Ghosts, among which the Malicious Ghosts born from absorbing various negative emotions were the most terrifying.
There were others like Living Corpses, Zombies, Devil Corpses, and such—Evil Spirits with physical forms—but in terms of threat level, the formless ones were far more frightening.
“Evil Spirits…”
Ren Tan and the others hesitated.
They could handle the first task, but the second… They weren’t from the Demon Subduing Division; they lacked experience and methods against Evil Spirits.
Formless entities could resist many conventional attacks—a fact everyone knew.
“Worried you can’t hurt Malicious Ghosts?” She Mei smiled, as if she’d anticipated this. “Ghosts aren’t hard to kill if you use the right methods.”
Having no form was a double-edged sword: immune to fists and feet, but vulnerable to certain specific attacks.
The Dao Arts of the Demon Subduing Division were the culmination of such experiences.
Ren Tan, Xiao Luo, and the others didn’t need to learn their complex techniques—just one or two attack methods.
“Your weapons have innate anti-evil effects,” She Mei said to the two Sprites. “Just alter how you use them, and you can harm formless bodies.”
She beckoned, and Snake and the Red Ring slithered over, nodding their heads at Xiao Luo and Lily.
Ren Tan’s mouth twitched; her reaction was still unnatural, but much better than before when she’d flee at the sight of Snake.
Yin Luan’s Snake contact training seemed to be working so far…
“She’ll explain how to properly use your weapons to shatter Malicious Ghosts,” She Mei said. “Study hard.”
“Hiss hiss, you have to study seriously, hiss hiss, or else, hehe…”
With the two Sprites sorted, the Eldest Young Lady’s training would be trickier.
“Without reaching the Innate Realm, your Niwan Palace is unstable, limiting you greatly in battle,” She Mei thought for a moment and said to her. “I’ll impart some knowledge and experience of the Innate Realm, plus Evil Spirits’ weaknesses and attack methods. Figure out how to apply them yourself—use your Innate Treasure more.”
Hearing she’d learn it herself rather than from Snake directly, Ren Tan relaxed and agreed.
That left Yin Luan.
“I’m not clear on your fighting style or power level,” She Mei mused. “Attack me and let’s see.”
“How strong?” Yin Luan asked.
“As strong as you can,” the beautiful woman joked. “I’m a Great Demon about to face the Spirit Opening Tribulation—think you can kill me with one punch?”
“Alright, here goes! Watch out!”
Little Snake was eager to test just how much damage her power could do to a Great Demon.
She stepped back half a pace, took a deep breath, her belly slightly bulging as specks of white light gathered on her fist.
She Mei sensed the energy gathering in Yin Luan’s palm and arched an eyebrow, a hint of surprise flickering across her face.
“Snake…”
Crack.
The ground beneath Yin Luan’s feet fractured inch by inch, and the cliff they stood upon swayed violently from side to side.
“Snake…”
The power built to its absolute peak, the very air hissing with friction.
“Fist—!”
Boom!
The fist hadn’t even arrived, but the air before her palm detonated first. The shockwave blasted outward to both sides, carving two deep furrows into the earth.
She Mei’s expression shifted, her gaze turning deadly serious in an instant. She threw up both arms, and a layer of iridescent scales, shimmering like glazed glass, surfaced across her skin.
Bang!
Fist collided with arms in a thunderous explosion. The beautiful woman’s body rocketed backward off the cliff like a shooting star, vanishing so swiftly that the naked eye couldn’t track her.
A few breaths later.
Boom—
A short distance away, a small hill rumbled with the collapse of earth and stone. Its sharp peak had been brutally sheared away by more than half.
One punch had hurled her back a hundred zhang.
“So tough…”
Yin Luan rubbed her hand and peered into the distance.
Those snake scales that had emerged on She Mei at the last moment were absurdly hard—far tougher than any shield condensed from Innate Qi.
It was only thanks to her own exceptional physique that she was fine. Anyone else might not have injured She Mei at all, but their own palm would likely have shattered from the rebound force.
Hm, she was a Snake too. When could she learn that trick? Soft when she wanted, hard on command—it sounded pretty cool.
A moment later, She Mei returned to the cliff without a scratch, her eyes gleaming as she appraised Yin Luan like some peerless treasure.
“Strange, strange… though it does make a certain sense.”
“You’re so strong,” Yin Luan said, scratching her head. “My full-force punch couldn’t even hurt you.”
“I’m a Great Demon. Even if you split me in two, I might not die,” She Mei replied, shaking her head. “That punch of yours? If your opponent didn’t manage to defend in time, it would one-shot almost anyone below Treading the Void.”
She pursed her lips, hesitated for a beat, then ventured cautiously, “From what I know, the Eastern Wastelands don’t have any of those bizarre body-refining inheritances. Your physical prowess far surpasses the innate limits of any human…”
Seeing the probing question, Yin Luan hesitated.
They had spent these past days together, and she didn’t think She Mei was a bad person. Her methods at the start had been a bit extreme, but they were understandable enough.
Chances to encounter kin like this didn’t come often. Passing up the opportunity to learn more would leave regrets.
“I can tell you,” Yin Luan said after a moment’s thought, her brow furrowing. “But can you keep it secret?”
“I can,” She Mei affirmed gravely. “I swear it on my Heart Devil. The oath isn’t absolutely unbreakable, but it greatly heightens the risks during future tribulations. No ordinary demon would swear it lightly.”
“Um… That thing I told you before—about dreaming I was a snake? That was actually a lie…”
She blinked, revealing her eerie Snake Pupils.
“That wasn’t a dream. I am a snake.”
