617: Chapter 28 Zi Xuan

After parting with Meng Li, Xu Changqing used his Compass Magical Artifact to track the residual Aura of a demon, eventually catching up to his target in a dense forest—a Lynx Demon capable of taking human form.

For a demon to be able to take human form, its cultivation was already quite impressive.

Even though Xu Changqing had received the power transmission from the Shushan Five Elders and his strength had greatly improved, it still took some effort to suppress the Lynx Demon.

Just as he was about to use the Demon-Suppressing Gourd to pull the Lynx Demon inside, a bolt of dark red lightning suddenly arrived.

Sensing danger, Xu Changqing instinctively dodged, narrowly avoiding it.

The Lynx Demon was not as lucky, its body and soul being obliterated on the spot by the dark red lightning.

Immediately after, the one who attacked appeared; it was Chonglou.

After parting with Meng Li last time, Chonglou did not return to the Demon Realm immediately. Instead, he found a place to review the process of his match with Meng Li, studying it while seeking out decent opponents to test his Moves.

Originally, he wanted to find Meng Li, but thinking of their agreement, he held back.

Then, he discovered that the living beings in the Human Realm were too weak. Even for just testing Moves, the only ones worth acting against were demons, specifically those that had escaped from the Lock Demon Tower earlier.

Consequently, Chonglou began to take action against these demons.

He didn't go looking for them deliberately; he just wandered around and used them to test his Moves whenever he encountered them.

By sheer coincidence, he ran into Xu Changqing.

Chonglou had some impression of Xu Changqing, knowing he was from Shushan and seemed to have some connection with Meng Li and Jing Tian. But that wasn't important; what mattered was that he felt Xu Changqing's strength had improved significantly compared to their brief encounter at the Lock Demon Tower.

During the Lock Demon Tower incident, he could repel Xu Changqing with just his Aura.

But just now, Xu Changqing had actually managed to dodge his attack.

That should make him capable of handling a few Moves.

Thus, as soon as he appeared, Chonglou said to Xu Changqing, "Little Daoist, you've made some progress. Try taking a few more of this Venerable One's Moves."

Hearing this, Xu Changqing's eyelids twitched.

After the Lock Demon Tower was damaged, he had specifically looked into Chonglou and knew the other party was the Demon Lord, the strongest being in the Demon Realm.

Let alone him, even if the Shushan Five Elders joined forces, they would be no match.

In a sense, he was somewhat naive and pure, but he wasn't truly brainless; he naturally wouldn't actively seek out a beating or throw his life away.

But Chonglou was not one to be trifled with either.

Thus, Xu Changqing could only politely decline: "Changqing came here to capture a demon and has no intention of offending you."

Chonglou only wanted to test his Moves; seeing him refuse, he attacked directly.

With just a casual strike, the Compass Magical Artifact in Xu Changqing's hand was ruined.

Seeing Chonglou being so overbearing, Xu Changqing frowned, drew the sword on his back, and resolutely met the challenge.

However, the gap in their strength was too great. In just four or five Moves, the sword in Xu Changqing's hand was knocked away, and he was severely injured.

Just as Chonglou intended to finish him off, a large python, purple overall with black and white patterns, suddenly charged out, saved Xu Changqing, and forcibly forced Chonglou away from the scene, taking him to a cave.

This large python was none other than Zi Xuan, a Descendant of Nüwa who already had two lifetimes of emotional entanglement with Xu Changqing.

After a brief exchange, Chonglou recognized Zi Xuan as a Descendant of Nüwa.

Tracing the roots of the Demon Race in the Demon Realm, they were created by Shennong. Shennong and Nüwa were both among the Three Sovereigns and shared a deep history.

Out of respect for this, Chonglou did not kill Zi Xuan, merely giving a few warnings before leaving.

Only then did Zi Xuan return to the scene with her injuries.

But when she arrived, she was surprised to find three more people there, one man and two women: the man was peerlessly handsome, while the women were a pair of twins with an ethereal and aloof air, wearing fiery red and deep blue Flowing Immortal Skirts respectively, yet with vastly different temperaments—the one in the blue dress was gentle and virtuous, while the one in the red dress was bold and fiery.

They were Meng Li, Hong Kui, and Lan Kui.

This place was not far from Yu Zhou City, and Chonglou was accustomed to acting as he pleased, showing no concealment of his Aura or tracks.

Although the duration of his fight here wasn't long, it was still perceived by Meng Li.

Meng Li had originally thought Chonglou had returned to the Demon Realm.

After all, based on the timeframe agreed upon last time, if Chonglou waited in the Demon Realm, only one day would pass, whereas over three hundred years would pass in the Human Realm.

Therefore, sensing Chonglou fighting someone, Meng Li was very surprised and came over to take a look.

Hong Kui and Lan Kui heard the commotion of him leaving and came out to check.

So, they all came over together.

Arriving at the scene, Meng Li saw Xu Changqing unconscious from heavy injuries and no sign of Chonglou. Recalling for a moment, he remembered this was a part of the original plot: Xu Changqing encountered Chonglou while capturing a demon, was beaten severely, nearly losing his life, and only survived because Zi Xuan intervened to save him.

Just as Meng Li connected the dots, Zi Xuan returned.

After meeting face to face, Zi Xuan asked warily, "Who are you?"

Due to the bonds of her previous two lives, she had always kept an eye on Xu Changqing, but she couldn't watch him every moment, especially within the vicinity of Shushan. This was because she had an agreement with Pure Subtlety: Xu Changqing had the potential of an Immortal, and Shushan would cultivate him well to ensure his smooth Immortal Ascension; Zi Xuan could not disturb him again in this lifetime.

Since Meng Li had only been in contact with Xu Changqing for a short time, Zi Xuan did not recognize him.

Not to mention Hong Kui and Lan Kui.

Hearing this, before Meng Li could respond, the assertive Hong Kui spoke first: "And who are you?"

Zi Xuan was momentarily speechless.

Since it involved Xu Changqing, it was inconvenient for her to reveal her identity.

For a moment, this question was truly difficult to answer, so she simply pointed at Xu Changqing and changed the subject: "He is severely injured; I need to take him for treatment."

Hong Kui and Lan Kui were somewhat surprised, then looked toward Meng Li.

They had only recently come out of the Demon Sword and did not yet know Xu Changqing, but they recognized him as someone from Shushan by the sword, Compass, and Demon-Suppressing Gourd scattered on the ground.

Long Kui had been sealed in the Lock Demon Tower for centuries and had no good feelings toward people from Shushan.

Naturally, Hong Kui and Lan Kui wouldn't care whether Xu Changqing lived or died.

However, they saw that Xu Changqing seemed to have some connection with Meng Li, so they looked at him.

Meng Li thought for a moment, stepped aside, and said, "As you wish."

This action made Zi Xuan freeze for a moment.

However, she didn't think much of it; the most important thing right now was to treat Xu Changqing's injuries.

Once Zi Xuan had taken Xu Changqing away, Hong Kui couldn't help but ask Meng Li, "Aren't you afraid that woman will harm that Daoist?"

...