"Bang!"
Energy exploded, and a figure tumbled from midair, crashing heavily onto the ruined courtyard below.
"Cough, cough!"
The middle-aged beauty had lost all her former dignity and grace. Now her hair was disheveled, her clothes torn, and streaked with patches of tragic blood.
"Senior Sister, why do you bother? Are you really going to keep resisting?" The blood-robed woman hovered in the air, looking down at the battered matron with contempt.
"No need for words. If you want to kill me, just do it!"
The middle-aged matron’s face was set in grim determination.
At that, a chill and resentment flashed in the blood-robed woman’s eyes. "Senior Sister, cultivation isn’t easy. You spent a thousand years just to take human form, then another two thousand to reach the demon infant stage. If you die now, all those millennia of effort will be wasted. Are you really willing to throw it all away?"
"Spare me the talk. Just do it!"
The middle-aged matron was set on dying, and simply closed her eyes.
"Heh heh!"
The blood-robed woman sneered. "Senior Sister, you’re so eager to die—aren’t you just trying to cover for the three Foxhaven princesses?"
At that, the matron’s face changed, but she quickly regained her composure. "Junior Sister, what are you saying? I don’t understand. In that battle years ago, the Foxhaven Royal Clan was wiped out—where would there be any princesses left?"
"Heh heh, Senior Sister, even now you’re still hoping for luck. I found this place, didn’t I? Don’t you realize you have three daughters? And you’re still a virgin—how could you have given birth to daughters?" The blood-robed woman smirked. "Oh, and I forgot to mention, I’ve already stationed people three thousand li away. Your Teleportation Array can only reach about three thousand li, right? My people might have already caught them!"
"Junior Sister, don’t hurt them! Foxhaven showed our fox race great kindness—you can’t harm their descendants!" The matron pleaded.
Foxhaven Kingdom, also called the Ancient Foxhaven Kingdom, was founded by a peerless fox demon. Its royal family are Nine-Tailed Foxes, and her three daughters were the princesses she secretly took from the palace during its destruction.
"Relax, I’m fox clan too. As long as Senior Sister hands over that item, I promise not to hurt them!" The blood-robed woman said smugly.
The matron sighed. "Junior Sister, the thing you want really isn’t with me. Think about it—back then I was just an ordinary female official in the Foxhaven Royal Clan. How could such a precious item end up with me?"
"Senior Sister, you’re too modest. Everyone knows you were one of the empress’s most trusted officials—otherwise she wouldn’t have entrusted you with the three princesses!" The blood-robed woman’s face turned cold. "Don’t test my patience. If you do, don’t blame me for being ruthless. I’ll slaughter the last three princesses of the royal clan—how will you face the empress after you die?"
The matron’s face changed again, but then she stubbornly shook her head. "Junior Sister, it’s not that I don’t want to give it to you—the item really isn’t with me."
"Hell’s King is useless!"
The blood-robed woman’s eyes grew cold. A streak of blood light shot out, slicing off the matron’s arm with a sharp sound. The severed limb fell to the ground and turned back into a white-furred fox leg.
"Senior Sister, don’t force me—just hand over that item!" the blood-robed woman said venomously.
"Just kill me!"
The middle-aged matron spoke with finality.
"Fine! Since you want to die, how could your Junior Sister refuse to grant your wish?"
The blood-colored flying sword spun and sliced off the matron’s head. Then she reached out and forcefully snatched a miniature version of the matron from her body.
"Senior Sister, did you really think I couldn’t deal with you? Did you forget your Junior Sister is a master of soul-searching arts?"
Just then, the miniature matron suddenly erupted with a surge of power, her body swelling rapidly.
"Damn it!"
The blood-robed woman’s face changed dramatically. She quickly hurled the miniature matron away, then shot backward at high speed.
"Boom!"
A thunderous explosion shook the sky, and a massive black hole appeared overhead.
The blood-robed woman was swept away by the shockwave, while five of her dozen subordinates were caught in the blast of Nascent Soul self-destruction. They screamed as they were hurled through the air, gravely wounded.
Song Yan, traveling ahead, suddenly turned and looked in that direction, frowning. He thought to himself, Was that a Nascent Soul self-destruction just now?
"Could it be...?"
A new suspicion formed in his mind.
But in the end, he suppressed his curiosity and continued on his way. After all, his goal was to cross this forest and reach another world—the rest was none of his concern, and there was no need to get involved.
So he sped up, racing forward.
But after traveling several hundred li, he saw three streaks of light shooting toward him, with six more blood-red streaks trailing behind.
The three streaks of light contained three young girls. One of them, Ian had met once before; she looked badly hurt now.
The other two girls weren't in much better shape, both badly injured as well.
Their pursuers were four male demons. Compared to the girls’ pure demon aura, these men’s aura was full of murderous energy—they had clearly killed and harmed many people.
"Run, quick! The guys behind us are bad news—they'll kill you!"
Seeing Ian, the embroidered-clothes girl spoke up to warn him.
Hearing that, Ian’s expression changed slightly. He hadn’t planned to intervene, but since she warned him, he stepped forward and blocked the girls’ path.
"Hey, what are you doing?"
The embroidered-clothes girl demanded angrily.
"You don’t have to run anymore. I’ll take care of your pursuers!"
Ian chuckled.
"Such arrogance for a puny human. Die!"
Four streaks of blood light manifested as four big men in black.
One of them spat out a mouthful of black qi, which condensed into a black sword and shot toward Ian.
"Hmph!"
Ian let out a cold snort, pointed a finger, and the black sword shattered. At the same time, he slapped with his other hand, and a giant palm imprint appeared in the sky.
The palm imprint slammed down, crushing the four big men into meat paste before they could even scream.
Seeing this scene—
The three girls were all stunned.
Especially the embroidered-clothes girl, who secretly swallowed, thinking: This human is way too strong! He killed four demons the three of us together couldn’t beat, and did it so easily.
“Benefactor, thank you for saving us!”
The red-clothed girl said gratefully.
The blue-clothed girl also thanked him, but the embroidered-clothes girl was still in shock and hadn’t recovered yet.
“No need—I just happened to be passing by.”
Ian waved it off, not caring about the matter at all. After reaching the Nascent Soul stage, he had created many powerful divine abilities. Even though he was only at early Nascent Soul, his powers were unrivaled at that level, and he could even fight stronger opponents.
“Benefactor, can you save our mother?”
Suddenly, the embroidered-clothes girl looked at Ian with longing and pleading eyes.
“I can’t.”
Ian shook his head.
“Benefactor, we’ll repay your kindness someday, but we have to go back and save our mother!” The three girls’ eyes flashed with disappointment.
“You don’t need to go back—your mother is already dead.”
Even though the explosion was some distance away, Ian could sense it—it was the Nascent Soul demon from the manor earlier.
“Impossible—Mother can’t be dead!”
The embroidered-clothes girl cried out.
Ian considered for a moment. “I heard a loud explosion while traveling—that was a Nascent Soul self-destruction. If nothing unexpected happened, it was probably your mother. Since she sent you away, she must have wanted you to be safe. If you go back, you’ll likely fall into the enemy’s hands.”
“Wuwuwu!”
Hearing Ian’s words, the three girls began to cry softly.
“Benefactor, sorry—we still have to go back and check!”
The red-clothed girl said determinedly.
“Then be careful!”
Ian sighed softly, then turned and left.
He had no relationship with them; saving their lives was already the limit. As for anything more, he really didn’t want to get involved.
In the blink of an eye, another day passed.
But the forest still seemed endless to Ian. He regretted killing the four demons outright—he should have left one alive to ask how much farther it was to get out!
“Eh?”
Suddenly, Ian frowned, sensing an aura rapidly approaching from behind.
He looked up and saw a blood boat ten zhang long, with a blood-robed woman standing on the deck.
At her feet lay three little foxes, each wearing a black collar. The collars not only sealed their demon power, but also prevented them from taking human form.
Judging by their aura, they were the three girls he had met before.
So, this blood-robed woman must be the one who killed their mother.
The blood boat descended from the sky, landing not far away.
The blood-robed woman looked coldly at Ian and asked icily, “Human cultivator, did you kill my subordinates?”
“If I said it wasn’t me, would you believe it?”
Ian gave a bitter smile. He didn’t want trouble, but trouble had come anyway.
“No.”
The blood-robed woman shook her head.
“If you don’t believe me, then why bother talking? Let’s just fight.” Ian said coolly.
“You brat, how dare you talk to me like that! Take him down!”
At once, more than ten Golden Core demons charged at Ian.
With a sigh, Ian formed a hand seal, and all the charging demons froze in midair.
Then, with a casual gesture, their bodies exploded one by one. Ian’s figure flashed, and he appeared before the blood-robed woman like a ghost, raising his hand to strike.
Bang! The blood-robed woman flew through the air, spitting blood repeatedly, her face filled with terror and disbelief.
The next moment, she turned into a streak of blood light and fled into the distance.
Ian shook his head, reached out, and grabbed her with an energy hand. With a squeeze, he pulled her back and touched her, making her collapse onto the deck.
Seeing this, the three little foxes on the deck stared wide-eyed, thinking: Amazing, amazing!