One more catty, one more attribute point

"You sneaked out from the Temple of the Dharma King and came alone to see me. What do you want to do?"

Wu Chenghua's brows deeply furrowed.

He snorted coldly, a staff made of peach wood appearing in his hand.

Bang!

The veins on the back of Wu Chenghua's hand bulged.

With a heavy downward tap of the peach wood staff, the ground swelled upwards as countless black tendrils, like a tide, clawed and swept towards the blood-red demon god in front of him.

Yet, faced with the full force of an Earth Immortal's strike, the smile on the Blood Robed Demon God's face remained unchanged.

Whoosh!

He simply waved his hand gently.

In an instant, copious amounts of blood fire erupted from his body, extending outwards.

When the two forces collided, those vines, firmer than steel, instantly ignited and turned into flying ashes, dissipating on the spot.

But after the clash ended,

The aura of the Blood Robed Demon God also noticeably dissipated, and even his entire being seemed somewhat illusory.

Clearly, what appeared here wasn't his real body.

At best, it was just a projection.

Realizing this,

Wu Chenghua's tightly furrowed brows not only didn't relax, but his expression also became even uglier.

Merely a projection, and its strength unknown—perhaps not even one-tenth of its physical body at its peak—was putting so much pressure on him.

If, after some time, the Mythical Battlefield fully opened and he descended in person, what then?

Baihua County was situated on the frontier of the empire.

Should Skull Plain fall and the demonic tide sweep through, the Wu Family would definitely bear the brunt of the assault.

Watching the changing expressions on Wu Chenghua's face, the smile on the Blood Robed Demon God's face grew even more pronounced. He coughed lightly, drawing Wu Chenghua's attention before speaking calmly, "I am Ralph, the God of Blood Sacrifice, the feared leader of the Seven Armies."

"I come with good intentions, hoping to reach a cooperative agreement with you."

"Good intentions?" Wu Chenghua squinted, eyeing the blazing blood-red flames and the ground lifted by the recent collision, cracked walls included. His face turned increasingly somber, his voice hoarse, "I don't sense such a thing from you."

"Showing strength is a necessity. I believe you understand that," the Blood Sacrifice Demon God Ralph said with a smile, his lips curling to reveal two sharp fangs.

"Then what do you want to do?" Wu Chenghua huffed.

But he did not outright refuse.

Even in his deeply sunken eyes, a glimmer of hard-to-detect anticipation flickered.

This subtle emotional shift was keenly captured by Ralph. His lips stretched the skin of his face as he looked at Wu Chenghua like a hunter eyeing the prey in his trap, "Don't ask what I want to do. You should know what we can bring you."

"Continuity of your family, strength and status, more power... and most importantly, a young body."

In the flickering dark light, Ralph's smile carried a hint of seduction.

Only a few simple words,

But they struck Wu Chenghua's heart like a sharpened blade.

Such terms were almost irresistible to him.

Those who surpassed Heavenly Deceit in strength could theoretically achieve immortality, but they had to stay within the Realm of Eternal Life.

However, Wu Chenghua's strength was mediocre, and he was already at an age close to the end of his life. The crises within the Realm of Eternal Life grew more severe, and for him to force his way in with his current condition was akin to courting death.

It was certain death on the spot, with no chance of survival.

But if he were to receive the protection of a powerful demon god through the Mythical Battlefield,

The situation... might be different.

Even,

He might seize this opportunity to gain resources, breakthrough in his cultivation, and return to youth; it wasn't entirely impossible.

"How can I trust you?" After a pause, Wu Chenghua asked with a hoarse voice.

And before him,

The smile of the Blood Sacrifice Demon God Ralph, under the shadow of the blood fire, seemed nearly uncontrollable.

"A wise choice," Ralph took a step forward, extending his hand towards Wu Chenghua, "As for how we can build trust and cooperate, rest assured, we'll take it step by step. It won't take us too long."

Wu Chenghua took a deep breath, a determined look flashing across his face.

He reached out his hand.

The hand of a demon god and the ancestor of a noble family gently touched each other in the dim red light.

...

...

...

In Jiangzhou, Baihua County,

The world outside the window was grim, with heavy rain pouring down.

The houses were densely packed, glistening with rainwater, with the meandering Guang River beyond, and the wide river shrouded in a faint mist. Canglong Mountain in the distance, under a heavy sky, was too far to discern clearly.

In a room of the Demon Suppression Tower, Qin Shunying wore a simple white, cool dress that only covered her thighs.

She held an ancient book in her hands, reclining comfortably in a wicker chair.

Her leg crossed over the other.

The full, fair thigh exuded a heart-stopping curve.

Withdrawing her gaze from outside the window, she yawned, feeling the cool breeze through the window brushing under her pale, smooth armpits, and put the book she was holding on the round table beside her.

Creak!

She rose from the recliner.

The white hem of her dress clung to her thighs and hung down to just cover her knees slightly.

In the corner of the room, a black tiger with wings on its back was curled up, now lying on the ground asleep, emitting slight snoring sounds. Li Hongxiu used the tiger's soft underbelly, grown with white fur, as a backrest, also holding a book—it was the sheet music that had been popular recently around Jiangzhou.

In her mouth, she hummed the tune in a very soft and gentle voice.

Hearing Qin Shunying stir, Li Hongxiu's head popped up from behind the sheet music, her delicate face showing a hint of apology, "Did I disturb you?"

"No," Qin Shunying shook her head, a jovial smile on her face, "I've been sitting for a while; it's time to get up and walk around."

Whoosh!

She walked to a corner of the room.

There, she opened a wooden cabinet, pulled out a drawer, and took out several strips of dried meat.

The scent of demonic flesh started to waft out in tendrils.

Not far away, on a metal rack,

the little golden crow bobbed its head up and down, dozing off, looking as if it was about to fall off the rack several times.

But upon scenting food, the golden crow's eyes opened wide and it jolted awake, its eyes shining with a faint blood-red light as it flapped its wings toward Qin Shunying.

"It seems to have grown a little." Qin Shunying's face was warmed by a tender smile as she gently measured the little golden crow with her hand. Its mother's wingspan was more than two hundred meters across, whereas the little golden crow was only about as long as an adult's forearm.

This was no small difference in size.

Thinking of how the golden crow had died, Qin Shunying's smile dimmed slightly.

But the little golden crow was carefree, now chirping for food from Qin Shunying's hand.

The black tiger, which had been lying down and sleeping, was also woken up by the noise but dared not express its anger, huffing twice before it changed position and lay down again.

She fed the dried meat to the little golden crow.

However, by the third strip, the little golden crow suddenly stopped.

It tilted its head and looked up above, letting out two caws.

"What's wrong?" Qin Shunying felt curious, but a sense of warning also swiftly flashed through her heart.

Boom!

The Demon Suppression Tower shook violently, with cracks spreading across the surrounding walls.

Black dust billowed out, obscuring the rain curtain so that suddenly, nothing was clear anymore.

"What's happened?" Li Hongxiu's complexion changed, she casually set the sheet music aside and stood up. The black tiger roared low, tensing its muscles and showing its sharp teeth inside its open mouth, pacing gently in the room, seeming somewhat restless.

"Caw, caw!"

The golden crow gently pecked Qin Shunying's finger.

Seeing that it had got her attention, the golden crow flapped its wings, raised its head, and pointed with its beak towards the direction of the western wall.

"That direction is..." Following the golden crow's gaze, Li Hongxiu looked over, "The seclusion chamber of the Great Warden."

"Speaking of which, this seclusion has also been ongoing for almost a month now, right?"

Though their early interactions were not very pleasant, ever since Su Heng came to Baihua County, Li Hongxiu had almost always been by his side. She was quite familiar with Su Heng's routine. Tilting her head, Li Hongxiu said, "He seldom secludes himself for such a long time without any signs of activity."

"Really?" Hearing her say this, Qin Shunying's heart stirred with concern, "Shall we go check it out, to understand what's happening?"

Li Hongxiu was somewhat uncertain and looked towards the golden crow.

The golden crow nodded.

"Okay!" Li Hongxiu agreed.

Aside from Su Heng, the golden crow was undoubtedly the strongest in Baihua County.

Since the little golden crow had given its input, the two of them no longer hesitated. They quickly exited through the door and went up to the fifth floor where Su Heng's seclusion chamber was. The chamber was connected to the everyday office study, separated by a very thick wall.

The wall was constructed of radiant stones, but now cracks had spread across it, and thick black smoke oozed through them.

"Hiss..."

The moment she touched the smoke,

Qin Shunying felt a shiver go through her, an icy chill piercing to the bone.

She halted in her steps, her strength surging throughout her body, igniting into fierce flames that blazed fiercely, exerting the Bright Sun Divine Skill to its full extent, barely managing to keep the black smoke at bay.

"What kind of power is this? It's so cold and evil!" Having the background of the far-off imperial family and being the genuine successor of a celestial sect, Qin Shunying was considered very knowledgeable, and her own strength was not weak either. After assimilating the medicinal power of the Tribulation Crossing Lotus, she had even subtly touched upon the limits of Heavenly Deceit.

But just now...

Having only come into contact with the tip of the iceberg in the black mist,

her complexion changed as she felt like a candle flame in the dark storm, a wooden ship beneath the raging waves, on the verge of being submerged in an instant.

Fortunately, it seemed that the owner of the black fog had sensed something amiss and retracted the power in time.

And as the black fog surged, carrying the air currents with it, passing through the cracks in the wall, a sharp howling sound suddenly erupted.

Crack!

The cracks on the wall twisted and spread.

Then, with a thunderous rumble, the entire wall collapsed.

From within the billowing dust emerged a robust figure, walking out from the collapse with his upper body naked.

The man was grandly built with long hair cascading over his shoulders, his body muscles as intricate as ancient tree roots, fierce and exaggerated, shining with an unbreakable metallic luster.

Yet what drew the most attention was at the center of his chest, beneath layers of flesh, a slowly pulsating mass of cold, dark fire.