A Beauty Hated by Gods and Men

To her shock, the catfish demon was no weakling—it cast a barrier, blocked Lily Bai’s sonic attack, and gobbled down yet another piece of her supreme-grade spirit jade.

That was supposed to be her cultivation resource for the next several years!

Lily Bai, furious, smashed the barrier with her Rune Staff, lunged forward, and grabbed the demon’s massive mouth. "Spit it out!" she demanded.

The catfish demon suddenly spat a blast of green fire at Lily Bai, the stench so foul it was unbearable.

Lily Bai nearly gagged from the stink and was about to cast a defense, when a force yanked her backward—straight into someone’s arms.

She looked up and saw Damian Black had arrived, frowning down at her.

"Damian!" Lily Bai clung to him, pleading. "That catfish demon stole my spirit jade! Make it give it back!"

Damian Black turned to the catfish demon. "Hand it over."

"Why?" The catfish demon hugged the storage pouch tightly. "I didn’t break any Wildlands City laws! She lost the fight—so the spoils should be mine!"

"Hand. It. Over." Damian Black stretched out his hand.

The oppressive force was overwhelming.

The Black-Kiss Beast pouted, reluctantly handing Lily Bai's storage pouch to him.

"However much you ate, pay her back double," Shenxiao said again.

"Ah! No, please!" The Black-Kiss Beast looked utterly heartbroken.

"Do I need to do it myself?"

Ultimately, the Black-Kiss Beast was still afraid of him. She fished out her own storage pouch from her chest and poured out four even larger pieces of supreme-grade spirit jade, handing them to Shenxiao.

Shenxiao put all the spirit jade into Lily Bai's storage pouch and handed it back to her.

"Your Majesty, is she your woman?" the Black-Kiss Beast asked.

Shenxiao said nothing.

"Your woman is so ugly!" The Black-Kiss Beast pouted. "I'm so pretty—why don't you like me? Why not let me marry you instead?"

Shenxiao glanced at Lily Bai, then at the Black-Kiss Beast, and said, "You are indeed prettier than her, but I can't marry you."

The Black-Kiss Beast looked utterly heartbroken.

Shenxiao immediately took the two back to the Demon Emperor's Palace.

"Shenxiao! I really appreciate you helping me get my storage pouch back," Lily Bai said. "But did you really have to say she's prettier than me? Isn't that a bit much?"

Shenxiao glanced at her. "I was just telling the truth."

"Ha!" Lily Bai let out a laugh, half angry, half amused. "Does putting me down give you some weird thrill? Or has my beauty reached a level so outrageous that even gods and men are offended by it?"

"Senior Sister..." Nine Li wanted to say something, but hesitated.

"You think he's being too much, right?" Lily Bai asked.

"Uh... your face..." Nine Li was a bit afraid to say it, worried Lily Bai would hit him.

"What's wrong with my face?"

"See for yourself." Nine Li pulled out a mirror and handed it to her.

Lily Bai picked it up and took a look—then instantly shrieked and tossed the mirror aside. "Ah! What is that green monster?!"

The face in the mirror was mossy green, like a patch of algae, with a huge nose, big mouth, drooping eyes—honestly, even uglier than the Black-Kiss Beast.

A wicked smile tugged at Shenxiao's lips. "Lily Bai, just how greedy are you? You actually dared to grab the Black-Kiss Beast's mouth?"

Lily Bai's voice trembled. "Black-Kiss Beast? What's that? Wasn't it just a catfish demon?"

"Not a catfish demon. That's one of the Primeval Demon Wilds' top venomous beasts—the Black-Kiss Beast. The fire she spits is highly toxic. You're poisoned."

"So... is there an antidote?" Lily Bai stared at him, dazed.

Shenxiao: "There's no cure, unless—"

Before he could finish, Lily Bai collapsed straight to the ground.

"Senior Sister!" Nine Li lunged to catch her.

But he caught nothing but air.

Shenxiao scooped her up in a princess carry and vanished without a trace.

Nine Li's hands stayed frozen in midair.