“So, the Ancient Demon Artifact is... Hey, where are you running off to? No honor in this, is there?”
Ye Yu watched Xu Nanqiao blankly.
Still weak from the dream intrusion, she could only stagger backward. At that speed, even five minutes wouldn’t carry her two hundred meters.
Xu Nanqiao muttered, “You’re insane! You tried to kill me just to test me! You’re a hundred times, a thousand times, ten thousand times more terrifying than the Immortals!”
Ye Yu’s expression darkened.
In a flicker, he appeared before her. “What nonsense are you spouting? Dong Yao Zhou and Lianhua Zhou are allies—how dare you slander me as more terrifying than the Immortals?”
Xu Nanqiao’s mental defenses had completely collapsed. In her view, any demon who would kill to test loyalty clearly meant everyone was doomed.
“Allies? Don’t make me laugh! You killed Bai Qingsong. You killed Qu Zhengding. I saw it with my own eyes. By that logic, no other Demon Lord will escape your blade. Demon Lord Ye, I truly don’t understand you—why are you doing this?”
“Is it for their territories? That can’t be it—at your strength you could have slain them anytime. Why target them now, at the very moment of our Ascension Plan? Don’t you know that the deaths of our Demon Lords will cripple the Demon Realm’s strength? It could doom our Ascension!”
“Or have you already pledged to the Immortals, sent here to eradicate us demons?”
Ye Yu raised a brow.
“Frankly,” he said, “the idea that I’ve sided with the Immortals is rather implausible. But the Ascension Plan failing? That was entirely predictable.”
Xu Nanqiao’s eyes widened.
He continued, “I’ve considered this long ago—and yet I showed no mercy to the Demon Lords. The reason is simple: I wanted the plan to fail.”
Though this was but within a dream, Ye Yu refused to let the Ladies of the Wu Wei Tower face any danger, not even the slightest risk. Ideally, the war would never spill into the central Heaven Realm.
Exhaling slowly, he said, “I had my reasons for killing the Demon Lords. What they are, I cannot divulge. But you speaking to me like this—aren’t you afraid I’ll kill you too?”
Xu Nanqiao forced a bitter laugh. “Even if I hadn’t said any of this, would you have spared me?”
Ye Yu fell silent. In truth, once he confirmed Xu Nanqiao could control Bai Qingsong, he never intended to let her live. A Dream Demon capable of dominating a provincial Demon Lord was a grave threat—and Ye Yu brooked no loose ends.
Xu Nanqiao shook her head. “Your expression says it all. If you wish to kill me, then do so. But I swear—you will never obtain that Ancient Demon Artifact!”
Ye Yu considered her words a moment. In a low voice he said, “Enough. Stop testing me. You help me locate the Ancient Demon Artifact, and I’ll spare your life. During that time, we’re allies. If you doubt me, I can swear on the Dao.”
At that, Xu Nanqiao’s spirit rekindled. “Truly?”
Ye Yu nodded. Swearing on the Dao was considered the most solemn and ruthless oath—no one dared break it. Yet to Ye Yu it was as trivial as drinking water; he possessed no true connection to the Dao, so the vow bound only Xu Nanqiao’s mind.
When Ye Yu solemnly invoked the Dao, Xu Nanqiao’s eyes shone once more. She too swore on the Dao that she would never betray her /N_o_v_e_l_i_g_h_t/ ally. She even explained that she did so only to reassure him, so he need not fear her deceit—a professional touch, indeed.
Moments later, they vanished from sight and appeared at the outer grounds of Xuanbing Ge, in the far North of the Heaven Realm. Word of the Demon invasion had reached this sect, and countless Immortals stood guard at its gates. The sect’s grand formation blazed to life, a ring of azure light flickering around them.
Ye Yu frowned as he regarded Xuanbing Ge. He had traveled the North many times, yet this sect was unknown to him. Could the Ancient Demon Artifact really lie here?
Noticing his doubt, Xu Nanqiao began to recount the first Demon invasion of ancient times. In that era, the Demon Realm was far stronger. Three Demon Emperors had led their armies into Heaven. The mightiest, Du Hengyan, wielded the Yehuo Fenshi Ji (World-Scorching Halberd), and smashed from north to south. The other two Emperors divided east and west.
Everyone expected Du Hengyan to blaze through the North all the way to the South—but he was ensnared in the Ten-Thousand Immortals’ Demon-Suppressing Formation. Drained of most of his power, he was slain by a trio of Immortal Emperors. The World-Scorching Halberd, having slain countless Immortals, erupted in vengeful flame but was ultimately defeated and sealed within Xuanbing Ge, in the icy wastes of the North.
Xu Nanqiao revealed confidently that only the frigid aura of this place could suppress the Halberd’s demonic energy.
Ye Yu’s interest was piqued. The World-Scorching Halberd, huh? That sounds promising.
Drawing a rough diagram of the sect layout on her auspicious cloud, Xu Nanqiao proposed they stealthily subdue two Immortals at the gate and slip inside to scout the true strength of the sect and learn how to disable its formation.
Before she could finish, Ye Yu had already shot forward toward Xuanbing Ge.
