Ye Zichen learned her name, then after a brief chat, he learned a little about her and what she’d been through.
Her name was An Lu, and she was seventeen years old.
She belonged to the Demon Realm’s Earth Demon Race, but she possessed the Heavenly Demon Bloodline, which appeared less than once every ten thousand years.
In order to obtain her bloodline and Heavenly Demon Soul, the Demon Emperor falsely accused her tribe of colluding with outsiders and selling out the Demon Realm, then had every last one of them executed.
She’d taken advantage of the Demon Emperor’s absence to flee.
But in her panic, she chose the wrong path and bumped into Ye Zichen.
The rulers of the first era couldn’t help but sigh upon hearing her tragic tale. An Lu had suffered so much misfortune at such a young age. Pu Jingwan’s eyes reddened, and she pulled An Lu into an embrace, then proclaimed An Lu her new younger sister.
Even Ye Zichen reacted in much the same way. She was only a teenager, yet she’d lost her entire clan.
Furthermore, someone locked her up to steal her blood and soul. This was pitiful indeed.
However, the Heavenly Demon Bloodline really was scary. She was only seventeen, but from the look of things, she was a half-step diviner. Throughout the entire God Realm, only top disciples of each mountain’s Holy Lands could compete.
As she recalled her painful history, An Lu couldn’t help but burst into tears.
Pu Jingwan hugged her close, warming her heart.
“That means the people coming to take An Lu back are the Demon Emperor’s subordinates,” said Yang Jian with a furious snort. “He acted awfully meek back in the arena, but it seems in the Demon Realm, he’s ruthless indeed.”
“How many people in his position are soft-hearted and compassionate?” Ye Zichen’s gaze was decidedly unfriendly. He turned to Yang Jian and said, “If the Demon Emperor’s subordinates show up, I’ll leave them up to you.”
“That’s no trouble.” Yang Jian nodded. “Consider it my loss if he dares so much as say no to me.”
“Woof woof…!” The Howling Celestial Dog barked in agreement.
Ye Zichen’s companions comforted An Lu as they continued rushing back to the Third Era’s territory.
En route, Yang Jian, who was leading the pack, came to a sudden stop. The entire team’s gazes grew serious. They’d presumably run into An Lu’s pursuers, the Demon Emperor’s subordinates.
Before long, a team of around a dozen people came into view.
Their leader was a swarthy, horned, bewitching woman, beautiful yet demonic. The group behind her was more varied, but all of them had a dark purple skin.
Based on their auras, none of them were ordinary. Especially the woman in front.
She was a ruler!
When she realized this, An Lu was stunned, like a startled rabbit. She burrowed deeper into Pu Jingwan’s arms, but didn’t dare so much as look at her pursuers.
“It’s them, right?” asked Pu Jingwan softly.
An Lu nodded, her gaze filled with terror. Her fear was bone-deep; it was obvious how the Demon Emperor’s Palace had treated error.
“Don’t be afraid. With big sister here, no one will hurt you.”
Ye Zichen glanced at Yang Jian, who said, “Howling Celestial Dog.”
“Woof! Woof!”
Yang Jian’s trademark divine artifact, the Erlang Lance, appeared in his hands. The blade scraped against the ground, while the Howling Celestial Dog followed hot on his heels. He stood in place, dignified and imposing, and waited for the demons to arrive.
“That blasted girl can really run,” said the horned woman with a sinister snort.
“Look over there, is that…” They looked over at Ye Zichen’s group. The horned woman’s gaze intensified.
“They’re here,” said one of the rulers accompanying Ye Ziche. The others unleashed their auras as well, one after another.
“Wretched little girl, you sure can run!” The demons reached them. If looks could kill, they would have ripped An Lu apart already.
Boom!
They completely ignored Ye Zichen and his group and headed right for An Lu.
Boom!
A streak of blade light slammed into the dirt. The demon woman, startled, took an involuntary step backward.
“Are you blind? Can’t you see me standing here? “Don’t interfere!” The woman didn’t seem to take Yang Jian seriously in the slightest. “The girl is our Demon Palace’s target. If you don’t want to bring calamity upon yourself, hurry up and hand her over.
The other demons walked over as well, but in an instant…
All twenty rulers accompanying Ye Zichen took action. Their domains overlapped, forming a single, overwhelmingly large domain.
The approaching demons were visibly stunned, and the woman’s pupils constricted.
Surprisingly, however, she didn’t seem afraid. Instead, she calmly appraised Ye Zichen and his companions.
Before, she’d only paid attention to the fleeing An Lu. As a member of the Demon Palace, she didn’t take Ye Zichen’s group into consideration at all. She barely even paid attention to her surroundings.
Now that she evaluated them more carefully, she found that they were…
Rulers.
All of them were rulers!
And based on their auras, they were from the God Realm.
Just which faction did they belong to, to send so many rulers on a single expedition? Were they from a Holy Land?
It seemed that the demons were at a clear disadvantage.
The woman leading them was the only ruler in their ranks, while the others were peak diviners.
“Friends of the God Race, we apologize if we offended you, and plea for your forgiveness,” she said with a faint smile.
“Drop the polite nonsense. We don’t know you,” said Yang Jian.
“That doesn’t matter,” said the woman, still maintaining that calm smile. “You might not know me, but i’m sure you know of the Demon Emperor’s Palace. We’re all the Demon Emperor’s subordinates, and he has a keen interest in that girl. Would you mind doing us a favor and returning to us? We need to take her back with us.”
“The Demon Emperor’s Palace? Never heard of it,” said Yang Jian.
The demon woman’s smile instantly froze.
He said he didn’t know the Demon Emperor’s Palace, but he was obviously just looking for trouble.
The Demon Emperor’s Palace, the God Emperor’s Estate, the Yao Emperor’s Altar, and Emperor Hades’ River Styx.
Anyone who lived in the Three Realms knew about these factions; there was no way not to. Furthermore, Yang Jian’s group were all rulers; saying they didn’t know was nothing but a blatant lie, and proof of their enmity!
“You won’t do us this favor?” asked the woman.
“Scram! That’s doing you enough of a favor already.” As he spoke, Yang Jian whirled his Erlang Lance, the sharp lance light lighting up the demons’ faces. “Say so much as a single word more, and you’ll leave your dog heads behind.”
“Woof, woof….” the Howling Celestial Dog cried out.
“I wasn’t talking about you. Lie down,” said Yang Jian.
Just as the woman’s expression changed, a blue command medallion appeared in Ye Zichen’s hand. “Scram!”
When she saw it, the woman’s expression changed dramatically. She took several steps backward, then looked at Ye Zichen. “Might I ask your name so that I can report to my superiors upon my return?”
“Ye Zichen!” Ye Zichen faced the demon woman expressionlessly. “Go back and tell your Demon Emperor that I, Ye Zichen, am taking An Lu with me. If he wants to take her back, he can come looking for her himself.”
