270: The Demon Realm under a mushroom cloud! High-level matches often only require the simplest methods!

In mid-air.

That terrifying energy storm was still raging, like a death lotus blooming in the Nine Nether Demon Domain.

At the very edge of that lotus, a pathetic figure was drifting down like a withered leaf in a gale.

It was Su Chen.

At this moment, where was the suave man who had just said "Please watch the fireworks"?

His priceless limited-edition Cloud-Brocade Robe had been blown into a beggar's outfit. He was charred black from head to toe, and his hair had become an afro with wisps of green smoke rising from it.

He survived only because, at the moment of detonation, he exhausted that wisp of Ye Linghan's Origin Devilish Qi to activate the Great Void Technique again, forcibly teleporting himself hundreds of miles away.

Even so, the shockwave that merely grazed him almost shattered his internal organs.

"Whoosh!"

A dark shadow flashed by.

Ye Linghan looked at the freshly baked "human-shaped charcoal" in her arms. In her eerie Phoenix eyes, the dark red demonic flames danced exceptionally joyfully.

"This is your solution?"

Her voice carried a hint of teasing, as if she had found some peerless toy.

"Using an Imperial Weapon as the price just to blow up a hand?"

"Little Husband, you've made a loss that would make your ancestors weep."

Su Chen slumped in her soft embrace. His bones felt like they had fallen apart, and he didn't even have the strength to roll his eyes.

[Loss? Are you kidding? It's a massive profit!]

[A broken bell in exchange for a half-crippled Fallen Immortal, and incidentally beating that traitorous Heavenly Demon into a dead dog. Most importantly, I've returned to the Rich Woman's embrace unscathed!]

[Using the Liu family's Imperial Weapon to show off for myself, Su Chen. I've saved the world and solidified my position in the hearts of the Crazy Woman and Liu Ruyan. This is called 'getting three results from one move'—maximum profit with zero capital!]

[Besides, if I hadn't blown that thing up, everyone would probably be having a feast inside that Green-haired Monster's stomach right now, with the bet being whose soul burns longer!]

Su Chen's internal abacus was clicking away, but a weak groan escaped his mouth as he struggled to squeeze out a sentence:

"Cough... isn't this... just to win a smile from my Wife..."

After saying that, his eyelids flipped, his neck tilted, and his head leaned into Ye Linghan's breathtakingly soft spot. Half his tongue hung out weakly, perfectly illustrating "giving one's all until death."

Ye Linghan felt the restless movements of the little thing in her arms. Instead of getting angry, she reached out and gently brushed away a bit of black ash from his face with her fingertip.

That movement held a trace of tenderness that she hadn't even noticed herself.

"Well done."

Her voice was very soft.

"This 'firework,' I like it very much."

...Below.

As the giant death lotus in the sky slowly dissipated, the bare Nine Nether Demon Mountain, with half of it sheared off, was exposed to the air like a pitifully gnawed apple core.

The previously endless Dried Corpse Army had long since vanished under the absolute purification of the Imperial Weapon's explosion, without even a trace of ash left behind.

The crisis was averted.

But the price made the hearts of the survivors bleed.

"My bell—!!!"

Liu Canghai was supported by several Elders. The Sect Leader of the Demonic Cult was now like a child who had lost his favorite toy, wailing as he pointed at the empty sky.

"Ancestors! Your unworthy descendant Liu Canghai is guilty! The Imperial Weapon... is... gone!"

For a Dao Lineage that had been passed down for hundreds of thousands of years, an Imperial Weapon was their sky and their backbone!

The sky had fallen.

"Father!"

Liu Ruyan stumbled over and hugged her father, whose face was covered in old tears.

She also felt a pain in her heart that made it hard to breathe, but her gaze uncontrollably drifted toward the charred figure in Ye Linghan's arms in the distance.

Gratitude, lingering fear, shock, and a strange emotion she couldn't even distinguish were frantically intertwining in her heart.

Without that man, what would have been lost today wouldn't have been just a bell.

It would have been the entire Nine Nether Demonic Cult and all living beings in this ten-thousand-mile Demon Domain!

Just then.

The sound of rubble being pushed aside rang out, accompanied by weak coughing.

"Cough, cough... It's... it's not over yet..."

Everyone turned their heads in astonishment.

The previously arrogant Heavenly Demon was crawling out of the ruins in a pathetic state.

He wasn't dead yet.

But he wasn't much better than dead.

His demonic body was as tattered as a leaky sack, the aura of his Great Emperor Origin was so faint it was almost extinguished, and his body was translucent as if it would dissipate with the wind at any moment.

"That... lunatic..."

The Heavenly Demon looked up and happened to see Ye Linghan landing slowly while holding Su Chen. His Divine Soul was nearly shattered on the spot from fright.

He couldn't figure it out.

He couldn't figure it out even if he died!

How could a mere Saint King detonate an Imperial Weapon?!

It wasn't logical!

It wasn't scientific!

This isn't cultivation!

"Oh, your bones are quite tough."

Holding Su Chen, Ye Linghan's jade-like feet tapped lightly, and she landed in front of the Heavenly Demon.

She looked down at this dying demonic dog from above.

Her exquisite Silk Shoe, embroidered with black demonic patterns, was lightly lifted and then accurately and elegantly stepped onto the Heavenly Demon's massive head, grinding it down.

"Since my Little Husband's fireworks are over."

A cruel smile that could eclipse heaven and earth bloomed on the corner of Ye Linghan's mouth.

"Now, it's time for my program."

"How do you want to die?"

"Having your Divine Soul lit as a Sky Lantern, or being sliced thirty-six thousand times in a Lingchi?"

"Don't! Don't kill me!"

The shadow of death completely loomed over him, and the Heavenly Demon's will instantly collapsed. He no longer had any of a Great Emperor's dignity.

"I have secrets! I have a great secret about why the Netherworld is invading!!"

"As long as you don't kill me, I'm willing to submit! I'm willing to be your dog! I know the coordinates and timing of the next wave of attacks! I know the real name and weaknesses of that Fallen Immortal!"

To save his life, he sold out the entire Netherworld completely.

"Oh?"

Ye Linghan's foot stepping on his head paused slightly, as if she were somewhat interested.

Su Chen, who had been playing dead, heard this and instantly opened a slit in his tightly closed eyes.

[Holy crap! There's a sequel?]

At this thought, Su Chen immediately stopped being "dead."

He struggled to poke his charred head out from Ye Linghan's arms, speaking in a voice that was weak as a thread yet filled with shrewd calculation, like he was acting spoiled:

"Cough cough... Um, Wife."

"It would be such a waste to kill him."

"Why not... keep him alive for now?"

"This is top-quality... well, intelligence material, isn't it?"