"You... didn't enter the Purple Mansion?" The one-eyed King of Fury narrowed his eyes and asked through gritted teeth.
Cheng Cheng had stopped her self-deprecating thoughts and smiled sweetly. "Are you two fools really unable to sense the earth vein energy on me? Is it because I smell too good?"
"Vile woman!" The King of Guo's eyes were bloodshot. "Die!"
A furious tiger roar erupted, instantly darkening the sky. Even from two to three miles away, Qin Yi could feel the sharp pain of sand and stones hitting him, as if someone had stabbed him with a knife from just a short distance away!
If it weren't for his body training and the protection of his magical robe, the shockwaves from this distance could have pierced right through him! And this was after Cheng Cheng had blocked the attack.
What kind of power was Cheng Cheng facing directly from this tiger roar?
Just now, the abilities of the two demon kings had been restricted by the formation, and their attacks had all been blocked. Qin Yi hadn't felt how fierce it was. Now that they were outside the formation, he realized that reaching the perfect stage of Core Formation was indeed the legendary peak of Golden Core strength, a true boss-level power. He was nowhere near that level...
Ye Ling cautiously moved back with Qin Yi another two miles, watching the distant battle from five miles away.
Qin Yi could only see three shadows flickering, moving so fast that he couldn't catch them. Even from this distance, the energy waves made his skin ache.
"Let's go, we can't just watch," Qin Yi suddenly said. "She might not be able to hold off both of them alone. If either of them fires a shot this way, we will both die."
It seemed he had hit on Ye Ling's thoughts. She instinctively wanted to cover her head and flee, but as she turned, she looked back at Qin Yi in surprise. "Is this something my brother would say? She... she's my master, I can't leave her behind!"
"You clearly want to run, so why pretend?"
Ye Ling was conflicted. "It's not that! Whether I run or not is another matter, but this really doesn't sound like you."
"You see her as your master, but she might not see you as her disciple," Qin Yi finally said. "She came back from outside, and you still can't figure out the situation? She didn't even enter the Purple Mansion. We are just bait to attract the enemy, pawns that could die at any moment."
Ye Ling's face turned pale.
She wasn't stupid. Now that Qin Yi had made it so clear, she understood.
Whether it was Qin Yi's rumored identity as a 'male favorite' or her status as his top disciple, even living in the East Palace like a prince, it was all to make others believe they were absolute confidants of the Yellow Wind. Before the King of Guo and the King of Fury broke through the formation, they had said, "Because of this, she must be inside without a doubt."
But in reality, she wasn't inside at all. They were guarding an empty door, facing an enemy they couldn't possibly match, and could die at any moment.
This was blatant exploitation.
"But she..." Ye Ling said softly, "still came back to save us. She really could have chosen not to come... She might not even be able to defeat both of them alone; it was risky for her to come back..."
Qin Yi's cold gaze shifted slightly, and after a long pause, he said, "Whether she has a change of heart or has her own plans, I can no longer trust her. I've done what I promised her, and I have no regrets. What are we doing here? We can't participate in this battle."
Ye Ling hesitated, and then saw Cheng Cheng let out a muffled groan as she was knocked back far away, her blood drifting in the wind.
But just as she was sent flying, Cheng Cheng quickly blocked their path, and Qin Yi and Ye Ling almost simultaneously heard her voice: "What are you still doing here? Leave!"
"Leave," Qin Yi said quietly. "No matter how you feel about abandoning her, being here now is a burden."
Ye Ling pleaded, "Brother, I'm afraid she will die. I don't want her to die. I... I might still be able to help a little. If not, you go first, and I'll take a look."
"Idiot, how could she die? She runs much faster than you!"
"Not necessarily!" Ye Ling insisted. "What if she really dies? You still haven't gotten the longevity pills you wanted!"
This made Qin Yi's expression freeze for a moment, unsure of what to say.
At that moment, Liu Su spoke up, "Let her go to the Sacred Mourning Desert with us. It's time to put an end to this."
Qin Yi thought, "We can control the energy in the Sacred Mourning Desert. If she knows about this kind of thing, it could cause complications."
Liu Su laughed. Once Qin Yi became wary of someone, he was indeed very alert and considered everything. After thinking for a moment, Liu Su said, "It doesn't matter. I'll write a spell, and you just say it's an old method to control the dead energy, and give it to her. There won't be any complications."
Qin Yi sighed and sent a message: "At the center of the Sacred Mourning Desert, waiting for you."
Cheng Cheng's figure swayed slightly, but she didn't reply.
Ye Ling happily carried Qin Yi, quickly flying toward the Sacred Mourning Desert.
...
The Sacred Mourning Desert was generally recognized by the demon race as the fatal wound of the Kunpeng. The exact location of this wound was no longer known, but the bones of the Kunpeng seemed to have gathered all the injuries together, forming a landscape centered around this desert, with surrounding caves representing various smaller wounds.
People explored the caves, and there were also those who ventured along the desert's edge, but no demon dared to step into the center of the desert, not even the demon kings.
Inside, there was an extremely terrifying aura of death that spanned over ten miles. Just getting close could turn everything to lifeless dust. There was no life there at all; even the sand was the finest powder, with no stones in sight.
However, today, the center of the desert was bustling with activity.
Ye Ling flew quickly toward the aura of death, believing her brother's reassurance that there was nothing to fear, and she charged straight in. Indeed, she felt nothing, as if the energy was deliberately avoiding her.
Qin Yi stood at the center of the desert, looking up at the sky. Ye Ling curled up on his shoulder and asked, "What's going on here, brother?"
"This is the residual energy of the Curse of Annihilation. It's an ancient forbidden technique that directly destroys 'existence.' If it were a weaker Kunpeng, this wouldn't be a desert; the entire corpse would have disappeared."
Ye Ling shivered. "Is there really such a terrifying forbidden technique? That can't be true."
"I don't know; maybe someone is just boasting."
Just as he finished speaking, Ye Ling saw Qin Yi seemingly weakened, unable to hold the wolf fang club in his hand. The club fell, piercing into his foot, with the sharp tip wedged between his big toe and the next toe.
Ye Ling felt sympathy. "Brother, you need to rest well when you go back..."
Qin Yi: "..."
A sudden gust of demon wind rose, and the siblings looked up to see Cheng Cheng arriving in an instant. When she saw the two of them standing unharmed in the center of the death energy, her beautiful eyes showed surprise, and she hesitated, unsure about entering.
Qin Yi looked at her coldly.
Cheng Cheng met his gaze, her expression quite complex.
The two demon kings were quickly approaching from behind.
Cheng Cheng sighed, bit her silver teeth, and closed her eyes as she charged into the death energy.
When she opened her eyes, she found herself standing next to Qin Yi. The entire area was still thick with death energy, but they were completely unharmed. Cheng Cheng looked around in confusion and said, "This...?"
The two demon kings who followed were equally astonished.
This Sacred Mourning Desert was not in their territory; they had only heard rumors and had never seen it for themselves. Now that they sensed it, they indeed felt the terrifying aura, but why was that human from the Phoenix Third Layer standing inside without any issues?
Could it be that the aura was just for show, and after thousands of years, it had lost its power?
The King of Fury pulled out a bell, intending to test it from the outside.
Before he even started shaking the bell, the previously silent death energy suddenly began to whirl violently, rushing toward the two demons.
Both demons instinctively gathered their demon power to defend, but the death energy swept over them, and their demon power vanished without a trace, turning the bell and their outstretched arms to ashes.
Not even blood remained... they simply disappeared.
The two demon kings reacted quickly, swiftly retreating, barely avoiding being completely consumed. It was only at this point that blood began to flow from their severed arms.
What on earth was this thing?
Turning to look, the death energy relentlessly pursued them, causing their hearts to tremble as they used all their strength to vanish into the sky.
From start to finish, not a single scream was heard. The two terrifying demon kings were repelled, as if they were in a dream.
Cheng Cheng watched the direction in which the enemy fled, her eyes flickering uncertainly.
Qin Yi said lightly, "Miss Cheng Cheng is probably wondering how to extract the secret of controlling the death energy from this human, right?"
Cheng Cheng turned to look at him.
His eyes no longer held the compassion he once showed her, nor the awkwardness when teased by the Yellow Wind. All that remained was coldness and distance.
(End of Chapter)