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After a short while, Xue Lian's roaring suddenly fell silent, as though someone had seized him by the throat, cutting off abruptly.
At the same moment his voice died, the dense demonic aura covering the entire Demonic Mountain began to churn violently, as if answering some sort of summons. It rolled and surged toward the cave entrance all at once.
The cave gaped like the maw of some great beast, swallowing the terrifying volume of demonic energy whole. In less than ten breaths, the thick demonic aura that had lingered on the mountain for tens of thousands of years was completely devoured — not a wisp remained.
Yang Kai's brow furrowed deeply.
Mitian and Liefeng exchanged bewildered glances, apparently at a loss as well.
Inside the cave, a savage aura was slowly awakening. The power of it was so overwhelming that even Yang Kai felt uncomfortable.
Shhh, shhh, shhh…
Footsteps echoed from within the cave. Moments later, Xue Lian's figure emerged from the entrance. The frantic anger he'd worn before was gone, replaced by a pensive, contemplative expression. He held both hands out before him, studying them with careful attention.
A flicker of hidden elation gleamed deep in his eyes.
"Xue Lian, what the hell are you doing?" Mitian shouted, his face twisted with fury. They had only just engaged Yang Kai, and Xue Lian's bizarre behavior naturally infuriated him.
Yang Kai was far too powerful — even with the three of them joining forces, they had no certainty of killing him here. Not one of them could afford to let their guard down.
"Something's different about him," Liefeng said, narrowing his eyes toward the cave.
"Kill Yang Kai first — we can deal with everything else after!" Mitian snorted coldly. Once again he summoned the bizarre blossom and launched it at Yang Kai.
Though Liefeng sensed something was off about Xue Lian, he knew this wasn't the time to dwell on it. His figure flickered, vanishing from where he stood, and he slipped silently toward Yang Kai.
Yang Kai had shifted most of his attention onto Xue Lian.
The Xue Lian before him now was nothing like the one from moments ago — he could feel tremendous pressure radiating from the other man.
Xue Lian, too, seemed to have come back to himself. His blood-red eyes swept toward a particular point in the void, shimmering with an odd light. An enigmatic expression crossed his face as he spoke. "A Shadow Condor descendant? How interesting — I never expected to run into the bloodline of an old acquaintance the very moment I see the light of day again."
After uttering those cryptic words, he took a single step forward.
He crossed more than a dozen zhang in an instant, completely ignoring the intervening space. No one had been able to track his movement — only Yang Kai, who had been focusing on him the entire time, caught a faint clue.
It wasn't that he had disregarded the barrier of space. His speed had simply been so extreme that even Yang Kai's divine sense could barely keep up.
Xue Lian reached out with one hand, making a casual grab at the void.
The instant his fingers closed, that patch of space froze solid.
A panicked figure materialized within — it was Liefeng, who had vanished moments before.
Liefeng's expression was a mixture of shock and rage. He had never anticipated that Xue Lian would interfere with his attack. In his haste, he tried to pull back and demand an explanation.
But Xue Lian gave him no such chance. Out of nowhere, that blood-red, scale-covered hand had already closed around Liefeng's throat.
Yang Kai's face drained of color, and Mitian was equally stunned.
Forgetting all about attacking Yang Kai, Mitian glared at Xue Lian and bellowed, "What do you think you're doing?"
The three of them had come together to ambush Yang Kai. Their enemy was completely unscathed, and now Xue Lian was turning on his own allies — this was more than Mitian could stomach.
Xue Lian paid him no mind. Instead, he lifted Liefeng high into the air as casually as one might hoist a small child, his crimson eyes regarding the man with cold detachment.
"That old bastard Tian Jiu — what is he to you?"
Liefeng finally grasped that something was terribly wrong. His expression shifted as the truth dawned on him. He frantically tried to circulate his demonic yuan, desperate to break free of Xue Lian's grip, but no matter how he struggled, his demonic yuan seemed to be sealed within his body, utterly immobilized.
"You're not Xue Lian!" Liefeng cried out in horror.
Xue Lian could never have subdued him in a single move. Combined with the strange phenomenon involving the demonic aura on the mountain moments ago, Liefeng understood instantly what had happened.
"Body seizure!" Yang Kai and Mitian reached the same conclusion simultaneously, crying out in surprise.
"My, what sharp eyes you little ones have!" Xue Lian let out a chilling cackle, making no effort to deny it. He directed a meaningful glance at Yang Kai, and deep within his gaze flickered a trace of naked greed.
A chill ran down Yang Kai's spine, though he had no idea what the look was meant to signify.
Xue Lian turned his attention away from him and resumed his questioning. "What exactly is Tian Jiu to you?"
"He was my ancestor!" Liefeng answered through gritted teeth, his face flushing red with strain.
"Is he still alive?" Xue Lian tilted his head.
"My ancestor fell long ago. Who are you, Senior?" Liefeng asked in a low voice.
When Tian Jiu had been alive, he had been one of the supreme powerhouses of the Demonic Star Dichen — a formidable Demon King with the cultivation of the Void King Realm's third stage. Alas, he had perished ten thousand years ago. Of the bloodline he left behind, Liefeng was the strongest that remained.
"So he's dead — what a pity. This king still had some old scores to settle with him." Xue Lian seemed genuinely disappointed. A sinister grin spread across his face. "But no matter — it's all ancient history. Running into one of his descendants today will serve to close an old grudge all the same."