Elder Yuan Chi blinked, then replied casually, "But of course. Between heaven and earth, there exists Noble Spirit Qi that suppresses all manner of evil. What difficulty could there possibly be?"
Jiang Chen nodded slightly. "That does make sense. But if that's the case, why do the demons never stop? Why do they keep throwing themselves into the fire like moths, coming at us wave after wave?"
Elder Yuan Chi froze, his words catching in his throat as if someone had seized him by the larynx. He stammered, "Young Lord… are you speaking of those malevolent spirits?"
Jiang Chen sighed. "Malevolent spirits are nothing more than puppets manipulated by the demon race — not true demons and evil. As for who the real demons are, Elder Yuan Chi, shouldn't you know better than I?"
Elder Yuan Chi's entire body trembled, as though someone had cast a immobilization spell on him. In his eyes, a flash of abject terror suddenly appeared.
In that lightning-fast moment, a single thought blazed through Elder Yuan Chi's mind — he was exposed!
This was bad!
His next instinct was to launch an attack at Jiang Chen. But his reaction, evidently, was just a beat too slow.
By the time he registered what was happening, a golden bell had materialized behind him at some unknowable point. With a thunderous boom, it crashed down onto the crown of his head, enveloping him entirely within its confines.
Elder Yuan Chi immediately felt as though several mountain ranges had come crashing down upon him, rendering his entire body completely immobile. No matter how desperately he struggled, it was like an ant trying to shake a great tree — utterly, hopelessly futile.
"Young Lord Jiang Chen, what crime have I committed? Why do you treat me this way?" Elder Yuan Chi cried out repeatedly.
"What crime have you committed? Do you really need me to spell it out? You yourself spoke of Noble Spirit suppressing all demons and evil — so why didn't that give you even the slightest sense of vigilance?" Jiang Chen's tone was languid, unhurried.
"Never mind. Regardless of who you really are, I should thank you. Thank you for leading your companions right to me. Now, this young lord is going to go have some fun with them."
Elder Yuan Chi — or more accurately, the Jade-Faced Demon God — felt his heart sink into his depths. A silent cry of alarm echoed through his mind. Several accomplices from the Shadow Demon clan had already infiltrated the core zone.
Judging from Jiang Chen's demeanor, the young lord had seen through them long ago. In fact, it was almost certain that this had been a deliberate trap — laid out and waiting for them to walk right in!
How laughable that they had all along believed victory was within their grasp, that the human leader was nothing special.
Now it was clear — the fools were not Jiang Chen. It was them!
At this realization, the Jade-Faced Demon God felt his liver and gallbladder about to rupture with dread. He strained with every fiber of his being to warn his accomplices, but the golden bell pressed down upon him so heavily that he could barely move, let alone send any kind of signal.
Just then, Jiang Chen shot into the sky. With a flick of his hand, a brilliant radiance blazed across the void, emanating wave after wave of Noble Spirit light.
A searing core of luminance blazed at the center, radiating outward in every direction. It was the Great Glazed Light radiating from the Great Glazed Lantern.
The Great Glazed Light — it illuminated all demons and evil, leaving them nowhere to hide.
The moment the Great Glazed Light manifested, Ci Feng and the others were suddenly exposed like clowns stripped of their disguises, their true forms revealed for all to see.
Meanwhile, several True Spirits materialized seemingly out of thin air, sealing off the void on all sides. Even
Ci Feng, struck by the Great Glazed Light, instantly sensed the dire turn of events. He let out a shrill cry: "This is bad! We've been played!"
They were all clever men, after all. Ci Feng immediately recalled You Lan's warning — his caution not to underestimate Jiang Chen.
Who could have guessed that You Lan of all people would prove right? Ci Feng had always looked down on the fellow, yet now it was the very same You Lan he'd scorned who had spoken the truth.
The Shadow Demon clan's greatest strengths had always been infiltration and ambush — the ability to move like shadows, to lurk like thorns pressed against the spine.