22: Chapter 22: Taking the Demon Queen Back to Her Mother's Home, the Righteous Sects Were Terrified

Falling Soul Abyss, at the border of the Western Desert and the Central State.

Bitter astral winds blow here year-round; it is the mandatory path from the Western Desert to the heart of the Central State.

At this moment, a Cloud-Piercing Shuttle, forged entirely from Void Divine Gold, was breaking through the clouds like a bolt of golden lightning, traveling at extreme speed across the firmament.

On the deck of the flying boat, Xu Chen lay comfortably on a soft couch, toying with a lotus flower burning with crimson flames.

That was precisely the loot the couple had just obtained through "friendly negotiations" with the Burning Heaven Valley—the Ten-Thousand-Year Earth Core Fire Lotus.

"Husband, I have already refined the fire poison from this fire lotus using Heavenly Demon Qi. When we get back, we can stew it into a soup for Sister; it's perfect for nurturing that little Chaos Body."

Luo Hongyi had already changed out of her red dress and put on a slightly more dignified black and gold robe. However, her devilish figure and the charm in her every movement still filled the clothes to the brim.

She curled up beside Xu Chen like an obedient kitten, peeled a spiritual fruit, and held it to his lips. Where was there even a hint of the Demon Empress who once struck terror into everyone's hearts?

"Mm, good girl."

Xu Chen opened his mouth to swallow the fruit and casually pinched her cheek. "You contributed quite a bit during this trip to Burning Heaven Valley. Once we return, your husband will reward you handsomely."

Hearing the words "reward you handsomely," Luo Hongyi's pretty face instantly flushed. She subconsciously pressed her legs together and gave him a reproachful glare.

"Husband... save that kind of 'reward' for tonight."

"During the day... show some restraint."

Xu Chen laughed heartily, just about to tease her further.

Suddenly.

"Boom!"

A brilliant sword light abruptly shot up from the canyon below, transforming into a massive screen of light that forcefully blocked the Cloud-Piercing Shuttle's path.

Immediately after, dozens of powerful auras soared into the sky, surrounding the flying boat on all sides.

"Demoness Luo Hongyi! Today is the day you die!"

A shout filled with righteous indignation echoed through the heavens and earth.

In front of the flying boat, dozens of cultivators wearing various Daoist robes and holding magical treasures stood suspended in the air.

The leader was an old man with white hair and beard, exuding a noble aura of righteousness. He held a horsetail whisk, and his cultivation had remarkably reached the Half-Step Great Power realm.

Behind him followed the banners of the Demon Slaying Alliance, the Righteous Qi Sect, the Haoran Sword Sect, and over a dozen other sects. Looking at this formation, it was clear they had been lying in ambush for a long time.

Luo Hongyi's originally soft and charming gaze instantly turned cold.

She slowly stood up, her black and gold robe fluttering without any wind. A terrifying demonic pressure belonging to the Great Power level instantly swept out.

"Heh, I was wondering who it was."

"So it's Old Monster Wang of the Righteous Qi Sect, along with you hypocrites who spend all day preaching about 'slaying demons and defending the Dao'."

A cruel sneer curled on Luo Hongyi's lips. With a flash of red light, a long whip burning with demonic fire appeared in her palm.

"What? In the past, I hunted you down until you scurried around like dogs. Who gave you the courage to block my path today?"

The leader, Old Monster Wang, felt the aura on Luo Hongyi, which was even more powerful than before, and his expression changed slightly.

The intelligence was wrong!

Didn't they say this female demon had suffered a cultivation deviation and her power had plummeted?

Why was this aura... already back at the Great Power realm?!

But at this point, he was riding a tiger and couldn't get off. With so many fellow cultivators watching, he absolutely could not back down.

"Hmph! Demoness, do not be arrogant!"

Old Monster Wang forced himself to shout, "Regardless of your cultivation, today our Eighteen Righteous Sects have joined forces to lay down the 'Heavenly Dipper Demon-Subduing Grand Array' here. We are doing this to act on behalf of Heaven and eliminate you, this scourge!"

As he spoke, his gaze suddenly fell upon Xu Chen, who was still lying on the soft couch with an expression like he was watching a play.

Seeing Xu Chen's young and handsome face, along with his extraordinarily noble attire, Old Monster Wang's mind conjured up a dramatic scene.

"Fellow Daoists, look!"

Old Monster Wang pointed at Xu Chen and shouted with grief and indignation, "This female demon is simply devoid of conscience! She has actually kidnapped another innocent young master from a noble family to use as a dual cultivation furnace!"

"Look at how flushed that young master's face is; he must have been placed under some charm technique by this demoness and is currently suffering inhumane torture!"

"Young man! Do not be afraid!"

Old Monster Wang shouted at Xu Chen, acting like a savior. "I am the Supreme Elder of the Righteous Qi Sect! Today, our Righteous Alliance is here; we will surely slay this demoness and rescue you from this sea of fire!"

"As long as you run over now, I guarantee your life will be safe!"

The other righteous cultivators around also chimed in:

"Young master, run quickly! We will cover you!"

"Poor child, falling into demonic hands at such a young age. You must have had a lot of your yang energy sucked away, right?"

"How tragic, this female demon deserves ten thousand deaths!"

Hearing these shouts filled with a "sense of justice," Xu Chen, on the flying boat, almost spat out the spiritual fruit he had just eaten.

"Rescue me?"

"And cover me?"

"Isn't the imagination of these people a bit too rich?"

Luo Hongyi was also stunned for a moment, then turned her head to look at her husband, a strange smile flashing in her eyes.

"Husband, they say they want to rescue you."

"They also say I've tortured you quite badly."

Luo Hongyi deliberately leaned close to Xu Chen. In front of everyone, she reached out her jade-like arm to wrap around his neck, pressing her whole body against him. Her tone was so charming it could practically drip water.

"Then why don't you tell them, who exactly was torturing whom last night?"

This scene instantly left the righteous people below dumbfounded.

"This... this script isn't right!"

"How could that cold-blooded female demon show such a submissive, bird-like posture toward a furnace?"

"And looking at her, she didn't seem to be treating him like a furnace at all; she clearly looked like... she was acting spoiled?"

"Ahem."

Xu Chen cleared his throat and slowly stood up from the soft couch.

He didn't run over with tears of gratitude as Old Monster Wang expected. Instead, he very naturally reached out and put his arm around Luo Hongyi's slender waist, and even gave her shapely butt a gentle pat in public.

"Slap!"

A crisp sound rang out, sounding particularly piercing in the silence above Falling Soul Abyss.

"Stop it, so many people are watching. Give them some face."

Xu Chen scolded with a smile, then turned around to look at the group of righteous cultivators who had completely petrified.

He fanned his folding fan and said with a helpless expression:

"Fellow Daoists, I appreciate your kind intentions."

"However, have you misunderstood something?"

"This person..." Xu Chen pointed to Luo Hongyi in his arms, "is not some female demon, but my wife."

"We've just finished visiting her family and are preparing to return to my family."

Silence.

A deathly silence.

Old Monster Wang almost pulled his beard off, his eyes bulging like copper bells.

"Wife?"

"Returning to his family?"

"Absurd! This is simply the most ridiculous joke in the world!"

"Nonsense!"

Old Monster Wang trembled with rage. "Young man, your mind must have been clouded by this demoness's sorcery! She is the Empress of the Heavenly Demon Sect! Her hands are stained with blood! How could she possibly be married?!"

"Furthermore, seeing your righteous aura, you are clearly from a prestigious righteous background. How could you associate with a demonic demoness?!"

"Wake up quickly! Otherwise, we will kill you as well!"

Old Monster Wang was clearly unwilling to believe this fact and dropped all pretenses. The horsetail whisk in his hand glowed with spiritual light as he prepared to attack.

"Stubborn and foolish."

Xu Chen sighed and folded his fan.

Since reasoning didn't work, he could only resort to physics.

"Hongyi, it seems your reputation is indeed not very good. Someone blocks the road even when you're just going home."

Xu Chen teased.

"Just a bunch of ants looking for death."

Killing intent flared in Luo Hongyi's eyes. "Husband, should I kill them all?"

"No, today is a happy day; seeing blood is unlucky."

Xu Chen waved his hand and then took a step forward.

"Boom!"

A terrifying aura belonging to the peak of the Dragon Transformation Realm, yet mixed with the majesty of a True Dragon, erupted from his body.

At the same time, he pulled out a purple-gold token from his robes.

On the front of the token was carved an ancient character for "Xu," and on the back was the Eternal Life Emperor Pattern guarded by nine dragons.

As spiritual power was injected, the token instantly erupted with a soaring golden light, transforming into a massive character for "Emperor" in the sky. Its majestic heavenly might suppressed the eight directions!

"That is... the Eternal Life Emperor Command?!"

"The Ancient Xu Family?!"

Old Monster Wang, who had been aggressively preparing to attack, froze in place the moment he saw that "Emperor" character, as if he had been struck by lightning.

The horsetail whisk in his hand fell from the clouds with a thud.

The group of righteous cultivators behind him were even more terrified, their faces turning pale and their legs trembling.

In the Ancient Immortal Realm, even a three-year-old child knew what this token represented.

It was the absolute overlord, a taboo that must not be provoked!

"The... Xu Family?"

Old Monster Wang's voice trembled as his gaze darted back and forth between Xu Chen and Luo Hongyi. A rumor that had recently caused a sensation in the Eastern Wasteland finally surfaced in his mind.

That Young Master Xu who couldn't cultivate not only could cultivate now but had also sworn to marry all the beauties in the world.

Could it be...

"Indeed, it is exactly as you think."

Xu Chen put away the token and looked down at everyone from above, a characteristic smile on his face that made people grit their teeth in hatred yet feel helpless.

"This Young Master does not change his name when traveling, nor his surname when sitting."

"Ancient Xu Family, Xu Chen."

"As for this one..."

Xu Chen tightened his grip on Luo Hongyi's waist, his tone domineering and arrogant:

"She is my second wife, Luo Hongyi."

"I heard your Righteous Alliance wants to act on behalf of Heaven and kill my wife?"

"Come, come, I'm standing right here."

"Do you want to fight one-on-one, or as a group?"

"Or perhaps..."

Xu Chen pointed to the void above. "Do you want to discuss life with my Xu Family's Quasi-Emperor Dao-Protector?"

As Xu Chen's voice fell.

The clouds high in the sky suddenly split open.

A massive black hand that obscured the sky slowly reached out. Although it didn't descend, that terrifying pressure at the Quasi-Emperor level already made all the righteous cultivators present feel difficulty breathing, and their souls felt as if they were about to freeze.

"Quasi... Quasi-Emperor Dao-Protector?!"

Old Monster Wang completely broke down.

He fell to his knees in the void with a thud and began kowtowing frantically toward Xu Chen.

"A misunderstanding! It's all a misunderstanding!"

"Young Master Xu! This old man had eyes but failed to recognize Mount Tai! I didn't know that was your wife!"

"If we had known that Empress Luo had already married into the Xu Family, even if we were given a hundred times the courage, we wouldn't have dared to block the way!"

"We'll leave right now! Immediately!"

Is this a joke?

Killing the Young Mistress of the Xu Family? That's not acting on behalf of Heaven; that's carrying a lantern into a latrine—looking for death (shit)!

If the Xu Family were to get angry, forget these eighteen small sects, even if the entire Righteous Alliance were tied together, it wouldn't be enough for Xu Changsheng to cut down with a single sword strike!

Looking at the crowd that had been so righteous just a moment ago but was now as humble as dogs, Xu Chen curled his lips in boredom.

"How dull."

"Is this the so-called righteous backbone?"

Xu Chen waved his hand as if shooing away flies.

"Scram."

"Go back and tell your fellow Daoists to be more polite when they see my wife in the future."

"If anyone dares to cause trouble again under the banner of slaying demons and defending the Dao..."

A cold light flashed in Xu Chen's eyes.

"Then don't blame my Xu Family for going to your sects to 'slay demons and defend the Dao'!"

"Yes, yes, yes! We shall obey the Young Master's decree!"

Old Monster Wang felt like he had been granted a great amnesty. He led his disciples and fled the scene, scrambling away at a speed more than ten times faster than when they arrived.

In the blink of an eye, the previously crowded void became empty.

"That's it?"

Luo Hongyi retracted her whip with some lingering desire for more. "Husband, you are too merciful."

"This is called winning people over with virtue."

Xu Chen turned and lay back on the soft couch, pulling Luo Hongyi into his arms. "Besides, fighting with this bunch of trash would lower our status."

"Going home is more important."

"Qingge is still waiting for us at home."

At the mention of Qingge, a trace of complexity flashed in Luo Hongyi's eyes, but it was quickly replaced by determination.

Since she had decided to follow this man, she would have to face this hurdle sooner or later.

"Husband, that... is Sister easy to get along with?"

This Empress, who was decisive and ruthless in front of outsiders, was actually a bit nervous now, clutching the corner of Xu Chen's robe.

"Don't worry."

Xu Chen pinched her nose and smiled. "Although Qingge looks cold, she actually has a very soft heart."

"And..."

Xu Chen gave a mysterious smile.

"She's pregnant right now and is feeling bored. Since you're bringing back so many gifts, she'll be more than happy."

"Besides, in the future, the two of you will have to join forces to deal with..."

"Deal with whom?" Luo Hongyi was startled.

"Deal with me, of course."

Xu Chen pointed at himself with a wicked grin. "If you two don't unite, your nights will be very exhausting."

Luo Hongyi understood instantly. Her face turned as red as a ripe apple, and she gave Xu Chen a hard pinch.

"Pah! You're never serious!"

Amidst their flirting, the Cloud-Piercing Shuttle turned into a stream of light once again, racing toward Changshang Island in the Eastern Wasteland.