The instant the headless Ancient Demon fell, the four demonic artifacts in its grip clattered to the ground. Its body swayed several times before toppling face-first.
Only then did a faint gray light flash overhead, and a ghostly figure twisted into view — a slender woman in black robes.
She wore a wolf-head mask and a pair of dark, impenetrable gloves, not a single inch of skin exposed.
"Liao Ying, I owe you for this one."
The moment Yin Yue saw the masked woman, her expression relaxed, a flicker of gratitude passing through her eyes. "Think nothing of it. As your shadow guard, protecting the master's safety is my duty as well. But to be safe, why don't I join you in finishing off these remaining demons?"
"Good. With you joining in, not a single one of these stragglers will escape." Yin Yue beamed and agreed without a moment's hesitation.
Liao Ying nodded and twisted her body, transforming into a streak of gray shadow that plunged into the cluster of demon warriors nearby.
Gray light flickered again and again, and several demons were severed at the waist without the slightest warning.
On the other side, Yin Yue also formed a set of hand seals. Silver light shimmered behind her as the massive phantom of a silver wolf materialized once more.
Though this dharma manifestation was slightly less distinct than the one before, it was more than enough to deal with the demons before them.
Under the drive of an indistinct command, the silver wolf avatar let out a long howl and pounced forward, slaughtering its way through the demon ranks.
Within the span of a single cup of tea, every last one of these dozens of powerfully cultivated demons had been massacred by Yin Yue and her shadow guard.
On a nearby hilltop, Xu Qianyu stood frozen with several Xu family disciples, watching open-mouthed as a group of demons — no weaker than themselves — were obliterated in the blink of an eye. A chill ran through her body.
The power of the Body Integration stage was simply beyond anything they could imagine.
……
In the Heart Demon Space, inside a grand hall built atop a towering mountain, nearly a thousand men in various colored combat garb crowded around dozens of enormous long tables, laughing and feasting in boisterous revelry.
The tables were piled with all manner of delicacies and jug after jug of fine wine, and the merrymakers ate and drank with abandon, flushed and on the verge of drunkenness.
At one end of the great hall, seated on either side of an ornate Eight Immortals table, two men each occupied a grand armchair.
One was a dashing young man with an air of spirited elegance, dressed in a black brocade robe with a gold-leathered single saber hanging at his waist. As he gazed out at his subordinates filling the hall, a faint smile played at the corners of his lips.
Opposite him sat a young man of roughly the same age, wearing a cyan long robe, his skin slightly dark, his features unremarkable — none other than Han Li.
But at this moment, Han Li merely drank from his wine cup in silence, one cup after another, his expression heavy with thought. Perched on one of his shoulders was a small yellow bird, and behind him stood a towering figure in a green cloak, his true face concealed beneath a hood.
"Junior Brother Han, under your and my leadership, the Seven Mysteries Sect has come to dominate all of Jing Prefecture in just a few short years. Truly a cause for celebration. It seems the next step will be to expand our sect's influence into the neighboring prefectures. I'm sure that before long, the Seven Mysteries Sect will become one of the few superpowers in the Yue Kingdom capable of controlling multiple prefectures simultaneously. The sect owes its current standing mostly to your efforts. Come — let your senior brother offer you a toast first." The dashing youth suddenly turned to Han Li with a smile, picked up a wine jug from the table, filled an empty cup to the brim, and flicked it over with a casual toss.
Han Li's arm moved, catching the cup in one hand. But he did not drink immediately. Instead, he looked down at the jade-green spirit wine sloshing in the cup for a long moment, then sighed.
"Senior Brother Li, do you truly want me to drink this wine?"
"Junior Brother, whatever do you mean? Is there something wrong with your senior brother offering you a drink?" The dashing youth's expression shifted subtly, though he still forced a smile.
Han Li narrowed his eyes. With a sudden flick of his wrist, he splashed the entire contents of the cup onto the floor.
With a sharp hiss, the spilled wine erupted into a roaring mass of green flame.
The dashing youth's face darkened, and one hand drifted down, silently settling on the hilt of the gold-leathered saber at his waist.
But at that moment, Han Li spoke again, his voice calm.
"Though you've done this, I hold not the slightest grudge against you!"
"What exactly do you mean by that! Hmph — now that things have come to this, there's no point hiding anything. Two tigers cannot share the same mountain. With the Seven Mysteries Sect having grown to this point, there can be only one true Sect Master. Between you and me, only one can walk out of here alive." The dashing youth stared at Han Li, his tone turning dark and sinister.
"So you really aren't the real 'him' — just an illusory phantom wearing his name. The real Li Feiyu would never fail to understand what Han Li's true ambition is, and would never stoop to such a laughable scheme of grasping for power." Han Li smiled faintly, but the words that left his lips left the dashing youth across from him completely dumbfounded.