Because time was tight, Evan Yang didn't pay much attention and instead started working on the Eight-Facet Mirror. But the area around the mirror was locked down—no matter how Clara Snow tried, she couldn't open it.
"What do we do?" Clara Snow said anxiously. Time was running out and she was getting desperate.
"There should be a formation around here. Let me see if I can break it." Evan Yang said, then flashed over and started working. Clara Snow watched nervously as Evan moved quickly, circling the area. After a few moments, he said, "Get ready, I'm about to do it."
"Okay." Clara Snow nodded.
Evan tapped the formation, forcing it open. He pulled out the Eight-Facet Mirror, and without its support, it started to fall. Clara Snow quickly stored it in her Space Ring and smiled, "Awesome!"
"Come on, we're out of time," Evan Yang said.
"Yeah, let's go." Clara Snow nodded, then quickly led Evan away.
Not far away, Xiao Xiang muttered, "Interesting, interesting. Looks like Demoncloud is really about to cry. Haha."
Soon, Evan Yang and Clara Snow came out, and the others followed. Seeing Clara and Evan, the young man asked, "How did it go? Did you get it?" "Let's leave first, we'll talk later," Clara said.
Seeing Clara's excited expression, the young man knew they'd succeeded and said, "Awesome, let's go!"
With that, everyone flew off. After a while, the Demoncloud Zone started shaking, trembling for a long time before finally settling down. Then, someone appeared at the edge of the Demoncloud Zone and roared furiously, "Who? Who!" The voice was like a tidal wave, spreading across half the Devil Realm.
Evan Yang and the others were shocked when they heard it.
"Who was that?" Evan Yang asked curiously.
"That was the Demoncloud Demon Lord," Clara Snow said.
"Good thing we ran fast," Evan Yang muttered.
Everyone felt lucky—if they'd been any slower, they might have died right there. Now they could only hide in a deserted spot, not daring to go out.
"Quick, let us see it!" the young man said excitedly. Clara Snow smiled and replied, "No way, that's way too risky. If the Demoncloud Demon Lord senses it, we're in big trouble."
"She's right, we should be careful," said one of them, still scared by the Demoncloud Demon Lord's roar.
The others thought it made sense, but the young man considered it and smiled, "That's true, but since it's in a Space Ring, can't we just take a look with divine sense? We've never seen this thing, we're all curious."
"Yeah, let us check inside the ring," someone echoed.
Clara Snow knew everyone had paid a heavy price, so she let them inspect the ring one by one. When they saw the massive Eight-Facet Mirror inside, they couldn't help but be shocked.
Then the young man took the ring and smiled, "Awesome, awesome. Thank you all."
Everyone was confused, but suddenly the young man changed his appearance. "Thanks for delivering this to me, but you all have to die now."
Clara Snow was horrified when she saw the young man's new face. "Nine-Aspect Beast!" "Didn't expect you to recognize our noble and precious demon beast kind." Now he had transformed into a beast's head and body, holding the ring and smiling at Clara.
"Everyone, stop him! We can't let him take the treasure!" Clara Snow shouted.
The Nine-Aspect Beast laughed, "I want to kill you all so no one knows the secret. Then the artifact will be mine, and I can control as many people as I want. Heh heh."
"Dream on," Clara Snow snorted, never expecting to be deceived by the Nine-Aspect Beast.
"Dream on? I think that's you," the Nine-Aspect Beast sneered.
He shifted, transforming into nine pairs of hands and nine heads. Everyone was stunned. Evan Yang was especially curious—what kind of demon beast was this, how could it be so strange? Evan estimated its power was at least Demon Emperor level, while he himself was suppressed and couldn't fight at full strength.
Apart from Clara Snow, the others began to look at the Nine-Aspect Beast in terror.
"What is going on?" Evan Yang asked, curiosity in his eyes.
"I don't know either, but I do know we must take back the ring. We can't let him escape with it," Clara Snow said.
"But his power..." Evan Yang said, worried.
"We'll just have to sacrifice ourselves. I'll hold him off, and you must use your daggers to kill him," Clara Snow said.
Seeing Clara ready to fight the Nine-Aspect Beast to the death, Evan Yang frowned, "No, just keep him from getting close to you. Circle around him. I have a plan."
"You have a plan?" Clara Snow asked, curious.
"That's right. Just be careful," Evan Yang said.
Clara Snow nodded. Evan Yang watched her lead the others into battle against the Nine-Aspect Beast. But the beast was too strong—within moments, several were gravely injured or dead. Even Clara, though a Demon Emperor herself, struggled to hold out. The gap between her and the beast was just too great.
Evan Yang quickly set up formations around them. When Clara was about to be wounded by the Nine-Aspect Beast, Evan Yang shouted, "Fall back!"
Clara leaped back. Then the formation activated, trapping the Nine-Aspect Beast inside. Evan Yang added a Painting Array, and while the Nine-Aspect Beast was lost in the illusion, he stumbled into Evan's painting world.
A painting appeared on the wall. Clara Snow, dragging her wounds, asked, "How did it go?"
"Luckily, he's not that strong. My formation can trap him for now," Evan Yang replied.
"What now? We have to get that thing out," Clara Snow said.
"I have to use the Painting Array to do it," Evan Yang said.
"I'm counting on you. No matter what, get it out—if he uses it, we'll be in trouble," Clara Snow said anxiously.
"He can use it?" Evan Yang asked curiously.
"It's just a guess. After all, he was the one who told me about it. Damn, I never thought he was using us all along," Clara Snow said bitterly.
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"I see. Let me try." Evan Yang thought for a moment, then waved his hand inside the painting. Several daggers appeared, and he sent them to attack the Nine-Aspect Beast as he wished.
It was as if he was controlling objects within the painting to attack the Nine-Aspect Beast. The beast grew furious, desperately defending itself. After several exchanges, it realized it had entered some unknown space, and all the attacks were truly dangerous. Thinking of this, the Nine-Aspect Beast took out the Eight-Facet Mirror from its ring. The mirror was enormous; he used it to block the daggers while searching for a way out.
"Not good, he's planning to use the Eight-Facet Mirror," Clara Snow exclaimed in shock.
"Looks like I need to ramp it up," Evan Yang said, furrowing his brow. He began controlling the daggers to attack even more fiercely.
The Nine-Aspect Beast was careless and lost several heads and arms to the daggers. Fortunately, he still had many left, but he was furious—cultivating nine heads was extremely difficult, and now he had lost three in no time. In his rage, he smeared blood onto the Eight-Facet Mirror.
At the spots stained with blood, several Demoncloud Legion soldiers stepped out of the Eight-Facet Mirror. They glanced at the Nine-Aspect Beast and stood there coldly. The beast was overjoyed, shouting, "Quick, find the exit, and help me block those attacks!"
These Demoncloud Legion soldiers were all Demon Emperor-level. Evan Yang was shocked; he hadn't expected the Eight-Facet Mirror could control its soldiers this way.
Facing so many Demoncloud Legion attacks, Evan Yang struggled, endlessly unleashing different assaults. Clara Snow watched anxiously, but Evan soon noticed the number of legion soldiers under the Nine-Aspect Beast's control was decreasing.
"Looks like he's running out of steam," Evan Yang muttered to himself.
The Nine-Aspect Beast realized he couldn't hold out much longer and had to find an exit fast. After thinking it over, he took out a pill from his body, put away the Eight-Facet Mirror, and saw that the legion soldiers had been destroyed. He gripped the pill tightly and closed his eyes.
"Not good," Clara Snow exclaimed in alarm.
"What's wrong?" Evan Yang asked in surprise.
"He's channeling the pill's power to break free—he wants to escape this place!" Clara Snow cried.
Evan Yang hadn't expected the Nine-Aspect Beast to have this ability, but it was already too late. With a thunderous boom, the painting burned, and the beast vanished like a gust of wind, leaving behind a hateful voice: "One day, I'll wipe you two out—just wait."
"He's gone," Evan Yang exclaimed in shock.
"As expected of a Nine-Aspect Beast. Looks like we're in real trouble. If he uses the Eight-Facet Mirror, it'll be a disaster. The Demoncloud Legion soldiers are all Immortal Realm cultivators—if we rescue them, they can recover, but now they're his enforcers," Clara Snow said.
"What exactly is a Nine-Aspect Beast?" Evan Yang asked curiously.
"A Nine-Aspect Beast is a rare, mysterious demon beast. At its highest level, it can fuse nine heads into one ultimate form. He's not at that stage yet, but his strength is already terrifying. Now he has the Eight-Facet Mirror, and worst of all, he can shapeshift—he could impersonate anyone and sneak into our group. Now that he's escaped, tracking him is nearly hopeless," Clara Snow sighed.
Evan Yang knew this was a big problem, but he wasn't afraid of the Nine-Aspect Beast targeting him. He remembered the beast's soul aura, and he had special soul arts—if the beast came near, he could recognize him by soul.
"So what do we do now?" Evan Yang asked.
"Spread the word: the Nine-Aspect Beast stole the Demoncloud Demon Lord's treasure, the Eight-Facet Mirror. I doubt the Demoncloud Demon Lord will let him off easily—he'll definitely try to hunt him down. When that happens, we'll look for a chance to get close to the beast," Clara Snow said.
Evan Yang nodded. "Alright."
"Thanks for your help. If you need to leave urgently, I'll tell you how to get to the Demoncloud Zone. But I don't recommend going there—it's far too dangerous. The spatial rifts alone have killed countless people, and now with the treasure stolen, the Demoncloud Demon Lord is likely waiting there," Clara Snow warned.