216: A battle of wits erupts between a saint and a demoness! Su Chen is forced to become famous throughout the world!

Eastern Wasteland, Yaochi Holy Land.

Within the elegant palace atop the mist-shrouded Saintess Peak, the Profound Ice Qi flowed like a thin veil.

Ling Qingzhu sat cross-legged in meditation.

But her Dao Heart was not at peace.

Whenever she closed her eyes, Su Chen's face—filled with annoyance and helplessness, yet ultimately letting her have her way—would be clearly imprinted in her Sea of Consciousness.

That face caused scalding ripples to surge across the heart-lake that had been frozen for nineteen years.

Just then, a Yaochi Elder holding a Jade Slip entered the palace with quick, uncertain steps.

"Your Highness Saintess, an urgent report from the Central Plains!"

"The Great Xia Empress... seems to have gone mad!"

Ling Qingzhu opened her eyes, her gaze having returned to its usual cold clarity.

"What is it?"

The Elder handed over the Jade Slip, her voice still carrying a trace of dreamlike daze.

Ling Qingzhu's Divine Thought swept over it.

In the next instant, a crack finally appeared on her jade-like face, which had been frozen for ten thousand years.

"Abandoning thirteen dynasties to lure the enemy in deep?"

"Proclaiming to the world that the Old Ancestor of Jiuli has been possessed by a Heavenly Demon?"

"Publicizing... that Su Chen once entrapped and killed a Heavenly Demon's Clone?"

Each piece of intelligence exploded in her heart like a series of thunderclaps.

She was exceptionally intelligent, and in an instant, she sensed a terrifying confidence that grasped the entire situation from these three seemingly insane orders.

This Empress has such great boldness.

And even more so... such deep calculation!

Especially the second one; the claim of Heavenly Demon Possession was simply earth-shattering.

If it were false, Ji Hongxue's move would be no different from self-immolation.

But if it were true... a more bone-chilling coldness crawled up from the depths of her Dao Heart, causing Ling Qingzhu's delicate body to tremble slightly.

The center of all these variables pointed to one person.

Su Chen.

Just how many secrets were still hidden within that man?

When did he ever entrap and kill a Heavenly Demon's Clone?

Why did even the Empress, far away in the Central Plains, know of his 'extraordinariness'?

The sense of crisis in Ling Qingzhu's heart, which she had managed to suppress with great difficulty, now erupted like a volcano!

She had originally thought that her proactive offering of herself that night had already given her an absolute advantage in this struggle.

Now it seemed that it was far from enough.

That demoness Liu Ruyan was only an opponent on the surface.

In the shadows, there was also an iron-blooded Empress with calculations as deep as the sea, holding the world in her hands!

And this Empress had clearly caught a glimpse of a corner of Su Chen's terrifying layout through some unknown channel!

An unprecedented panic seized Ling Qingzhu's heart.

[No, I must become stronger!]

[Only by possessing the strength to stand by his side can I understand his layout, stay by him, and shield him from all the wind and rain, so that he can peacefully... continue to be a salted fish.]

Ling Qingzhu's gaze became incredibly resolute at that moment... Meanwhile, in the Nine Nether Demon Domain.

Inside the Saintess Palace of Ten Thousand Demon City, which was filled with piles of bones.

Liu Ruyan reclined on her throne, lazily picking at her nails coated in bright red polish with the leg bone of some Saint-level powerhouse.

A demonic cult Protector knelt on the ground, reporting the shocking changes in the outside world with a trembling voice.

"...That is how things are, Your Highness Saintess. Now the entire continent believes the Great Xia Empress has lost her mind."

After listening, Liu Ruyan's movements paused.

In her seductive eyes, a playful light flickered, as if she had seen through the game.

"Lost her mind?"

"Giggle, giggle, giggle..."

She broke into a charming laugh, the sound penetrating to the bone, causing the Protector's demonic soul in the hall to tremble.

"What do you bunch of fools know?"

"This Empress sister of mine is actually quite clever."

Liu Ruyan stuck out her crimson tongue and licked the corner of her mouth, her eyes filled with the excitement of meeting a worthy opponent.

Abandoning territory is to shut the door and beat the dog.

Proclaiming to the world is to pull the rug out from under them.

Good methods, great boldness!

But what interested her most was the third point.

"Publicizing our Little Chen Chen's glorious deeds?"

Liu Ruyan's smile deepened, a smile mixed with pride and a pathological sense of possessiveness.

A thought sprouted in her heart like a venomous snake, instantly turning into a prairie fire.

[Interesting, truly interesting.]

[It seems I'm not the only one who knows how extraordinary that Little Man is.]

[Is this Ji Hongxue trying to use Su Chen's name to gild her own reputation and increase her bargaining chips?]

[In her dreams!]

You want to borrow his momentum?

Then I'll make this momentum so great that you won't be able to control it at all!

"Someone, come."

Liu Ruyan's voice rang out lazily.

"Your subordinate is here!"

"Pass down my order as Saintess."

The corners of her mouth curled into a wicked, charming arc that wished for nothing but chaos, making the Protector below feel as if he had fallen into an ice cellar.

"In the name of my Nine Nether Demonic Cult, announce to the whole world—"

"Su Chen, the Divine Son of the Su Family, is the designated next 'Demon Lord' of my Nine Nether Demonic Cult!"

"He and I, the cult's Saintess Liu Ruyan, have long been in love and have privately pledged our lives to each other!"

"As for that Ice Block Face from Yaochi, she is merely a plaything for when he is bored!"

At this point, she paused, the curve of her red lips becoming increasingly cruel.

"Also, find the best storytellers on the entire continent and have them compile one hundred and eight versions of the love story between this Saintess and Su Chen! I want every tavern and teahouse on the continent to be singing of our beautiful tale!"

"I, this Saintess, want everyone in the world to know—"

"Su Chen is my, Liu Ruyan's, man! No one can take him away!"

The demonic cult Protector had long since had his Soul Flying Away and Spirit Scattering from fear, cold sweat soaking through his demonic robe.

Her Highness Saintess's move is too ruthless!

This is directly roasting the Divine Son of the Su Family on the sun, while simultaneously rubbing the faces of the Yaochi Holy Land and the Great Xia Empress into the dirt!

The storm of war ignited by Ji Hongxue had not yet swept across the continent.

But a far more dangerous and crazed war of public opinion centered around Su Chen had already begun.