Clearly, Kunpeng was too flustered to think straight. He shouted, “Sect Leader Gu, what’s going on over there? It was supposed to be simple! How did it turn into such a mess? Hey, don’t tell me Gu Zhixuan’s actually in trouble!”

Tianzhi stepped forward. Qing Luan’s eyes flashed, and her aura immediately locked onto Tianzhi. But the latter acted as if she hadn’t noticed; she just gazed steadily at Gu Yin, and then, quite suddenly, smiled.

“If you won’t call him out, then I’ll go find him myself,” she said coldly. “Though I do wonder… does he even have a grave to be found?”

And she suddenly lunged forward without warning. Straight toward Qing Luan, who stood blocking her path.

A flash of icy light flickered in Qing Luan’s eyes, and she was about to strike when Kunpeng’s furious roar split the air.

“Impudent!”

With a single thunderous step, his massive form surged ahead, crossing dozens of feet in an instant. His palm lashed out, crashing toward Tianzhi.

Qing Luan frowned; she had no intention of teaming up. With a graceful sidestep, she moved aside, letting Tianzhi take the blow head-on.

Tianzhi looked completely insane. She didn’t even flinch at Kunpeng’s thunderous strike. And she shot forward even faster, every ounce of her focus locked onto one person: Gu Yin.

But Kunpeng wasn’t just any demon. He was one of the greatest in all the world. His speed dwarfed Tianzhi’s by far. She had barely closed the distance to within thirty feet of Gu Yin when Kunpeng’s massive palm slammed into her back.

A sharp crack rang out. Bone shattering in rapid bursts like firecrackers. No one who heard that sound could doubt it: Tianzhi was done for.

Li Xun’s eyes went wide, the scene burning itself into his mind. He should’ve felt sad, maybe even sorry. But instead, a cold shiver rose from somewhere deep inside him.

“Something’s wrong,” whispered Shui Die Lan.

And the scene suddenly changed.

Kunpeng’s strike landed clean, and he rose back into the air. Tianzhi staggered forward a few steps and looked about to collapse. Then she, all at once, blurred and faded.

It was the mark of speed pushed to the absolute limit. She was moving at least twice as fast as before. And now, nothing stood between her and Gu Yin.

A sharp clang rang out. The ancient zither Gu Yin held across her chest shattered as Tianzhi’s palm punched clean through it. All five strings snapped at once before the instrument burst apart completely. Gu Yin was thrown backward, retreating almost as fast as Tianzhi advanced.

Up above, Kunpeng let out a piercing roar that split the sky. His wings spread wide, stirring clouds and shaking heaven itself as he soared higher, bursting through layer upon layer of air. The surrounding frost mist roared in response, churning violently until the fragile balance of the passage shattered once again. Vast streams of primordial qi surged inward, dragging with them waves of icy poison.

As the mist closed in, Kunpeng dove forward. Behind him, the Three-Headed Flood Serpent roared, leading the horde of demons in a furious charge.

In that blinding flash of white, Li Xun’s vision was swallowed whole. But strangely, his mind had never been clearer.

If he still couldn’t figure out what was going on by now, he might as well stick out his neck and wait for death.

Kunpeng and Tianzhi are working together! Li Xun didn’t know what had driven such a strange alliance, but he could see the heart of the matter clearer than anyone.

That single palm print Kunpeng had left on Tianzhi’s back. It wasn’t an attack at all; it was a special technique to give Tianzhi an extra surge of power, even awakening her body's potential. And their target, without a doubt, was Gu Yin.

But was Gu Yin really unprepared? Hardly…

The next moment, a storm of primordial qi erupted like a volcanic explosion, proving it.

Amid the swirling frost and mist, the azure glow of the Qing Luan didn’t show the slightest hint of panic. It soared with sharp grace, clashing head-on with Kunpeng’s dark, towering form. Each collision between them sent shockwaves rippling through heaven and earth.

Within just a few breaths, the very air around their battleground was squeezed dry. Not a trace of mist left for miles in every direction.

The clash of two supreme demons unleashed waves of power that tore through every inch of space around them. Anyone below their level who dared to get close would be caught in the storm of twisting energy. And ripped to shreds.

In that instant, the passage through the fog shifted faster than thought itself. There might as well have been none at all.

“Hold on tight!”

Li Xun could see what was happening, and Shui Die Lan wasn’t far behind. With a quick warning, she veered sharply, skimming past the very edge of the two demons' battlefield.

Even that brief brush with the crushing force radiating from within was enough to remind Li Xun of that suffocating feeling he’d nearly forgotten.

But soon, he found himself drawn once again to Tianzhi and Gu Yin.

Through the swirling mist, they had come face to face.

It wasn’t as loud and chaotic as the fight between the demons not far away, but the danger and ruthlessness here was deadlier.

Gu Yin might be famed for her deadly sound techniques, but her physical combat skills were far from weak. Even under Tianzhi’s furious, reckless assault, she still couldn’t be taken down.

Just then, the pack of demons led by the Three-Headed Flood Serpent broke through the fog, closing in from all sides.

Gu Yin glanced over them once, calm enough to still speak. And with courtesy at that: “Lord Sanyuan, this move of yours isn’t very wise. Kunpeng’s faction barely holds a third of the alliance’s power. Among your so-called elites, only you and Kunpeng are worth mentioning. Tell me... what chance do you really think you have?”

Tianzhi’s palm sliced across toward her throat. Gu Yin slipped back in time to dodge, but a flash of blood burst from her collarbone. Still, her expression didn’t so much as flicker.

The Three-Headed Flood Serpent let out a booming laugh. “Oh, but that’s where our chance lies! The Demon Phoenix flew off to the No-Return Land yesterday with that little brat. Even Net Throat Demon went with them! They won’t be back anytime soon. And right now, it’s just you and the Qing Luan here!”

He sneered, scales gleaming slick across his skin. “We’re not greedy. As long as we take you down, what can that phoenix or the Qing Luan do? Without you, who’s left to command the tens of thousands of cultivators? The alliance will shatter; everyone for themselves! As long as we don’t have to keep bowing to you, that’s victory enough for us!”

Laughing, he lunged forward, throwing a massive punch.

But the instant his weight shifted, a chill stabbed through his heart. Too late. From the empty air ahead, a slender white hand appeared, pressing lightly through the void.

The surrounding mist flared, then vanished in a hiss, vaporized in a surge of blistering heat.

The Three-Headed Flood Dragon’s eyes nearly popped out of his sockets. From his throat came a hoarse, off-key roar: “Demon Phoenix!”

A streak of crimson light cut through the icy mist, and a figure stepped into view. Her graceful body and stunning face... who else could it be but the Demon Phoenix herself?

Maybe it was the passing of time, but the fierce, burning hatred that once blazed in her eyes was gone. Now they shone with a calm, soft glow, no longer filled with the wild fury that once seemed capable of scorching all three realms. It looked as though the past sixty years had treated her well.

Time really does have the power to erase almost everything.

Almost.

For Li Xun, the scars inside him were as sharp as ever. Worse, in fact, festering and rotting deeper with every year that passed. Without realizing it, he clenched his jaw.

“How can this be? Yesterday, you clearly...” The Three-Headed Flood Dragon stammered. Maybe… she had never really left at all.

This sudden twist threw him completely off balance. Luckily, he wasn’t weak. He managed to twist around in time to block her attack. And it had been an attack so fierce it could melt metal and burn flesh to the bone.

His companions weren’t so fortunate.

With just a sweep of her fiery red sleeve, one of the weaker ones was hit head-on. The Great Bright Fire hidden in her strike surged straight into his body. His scream echoed as he fell into the churning mist below. Whether he lived or died, you wouldn't tell.

The Demon Phoenix shimmered into full view, a small smile on her lips.

“Yin was right,” she sighed. “Kunpeng was never one to accomplish great things. First, that pathetic attempt to lure the enemy away. It was clumsy at best. Then, when the moment came to strike Yin down, he couldn’t even finish the job. And instead of retreating with some sense, he stayed to make an even bigger mess. Now look at him, still wasting breath on useless words. Mistress's willpower is admirable, I’ll admit that, but his choice in followers? That’s another story.”

The Three-Headed Flood dragon’s already ugly, ashen face darkened even further.

He wanted to call his comrades to attack together, but stopped short when he saw the Demon Phoenix standing motionless in midair. Though she didn’t lift a finger, the weight of her aura alone held the entire battlefield under her control. The immense, ancient power she radiated made every demon and rogue tremble. They simply couldn’t bring themselves to advance.

On the other side, Gu Yin let out a soft laugh. She swayed gracefully from side to side, slipping past Tianzhi’s fierce attacks as if dancing through the air. In a heartbeat, she floated lightly to the Demon Phoenix’s side.

Tianzhi turned to give chase, but her steps faltered. A strange flush spread across her pale face, even seeping into her pupils, turning them an eerie, unnatural red.

Gu Yun sighed softly. “Mistress, steady your mind. Right now, you...”

“Seven Passions Flame…?” Tianzhi raised her head slightly, looking at the two women standing side by side in the air. Then, unexpectedly, she laughed. “After all these years, you’re still as sweet-tongued and scheming as ever. I was wondering why you’d abandoned your Seven Killing Zither for such a plain old instrument… So this was your plan all along!”

She paused for a moment, then slowly took a step forward. “Steady my mind? With the Seven Passions Flame burning inside me, the moment I try to calm myself, my strength will vanish and my meridians will lock up completely. How could I still fight then? Gu Yin, the mask is off... why keep pretending?”

Gu Yin’s scheme exposed, and she didn’t look the least bit embarrassed.

She gave a slight smile. “Does it really matter whether you can fight or not now? When you saw Kunpeng held back by Qing Luan, you could’ve retreated safely. But you chose to close that path yourself, didn’t you, Mistress?”

Tianzhi let out a raspy laugh. “Since I came here today, I never planned on leaving alive. All I want is to return the humiliation you gave me back then. Every last bit of it! Gu Yin… I’ve waited a very, very long time for this.”

She stepped forward again and again. With each step, the flush on her face deepened, spreading in waves. The fire raging within her body burned so fiercely that blood began to seep from her nose and lips.

Seeing the fierce, all-or-nothing resolve in her eyes, even the Demon Phoenix couldn’t help but be moved. She turned his head slightly toward Gu Yin. “What on earth did you do to her to make her go this far?”