Translator: CinderTL
Faced with King Jianglin's invitation, Song Wen hesitated.
He glanced at King Jianglin, whose expression remained calm, a faint smile playing on her lips. Then he looked at Qing Lian, whose bright eyes were fixed on him, brimming with anticipation.
After a moment of silence, he finally nodded.
"Since King Jianglin has so graciously extended this invitation, I would be foolish to refuse. It would be ungrateful of me."
As an eighth-tier Great Demon and the master of the Willow Serpent Clan's sole ninth-realm supreme, King Jianglin held an unparalleled position within the clan. Her personal invitation meant Song Wen was now considered one of her "honored guests." With this status, as long as he didn't provoke trouble, he could likely move freely and safely within the Willow Serpent Clan.
"Ji Yin, you're finally willing to go to the Willow Serpent Clan! This is wonderful!" Qing Lian exclaimed excitedly, her eyes sparkling with joy, curving into crescent moons.
Song Wen smiled and gave Qing Lian a slight nod.
"Then let's set off immediately!" Qing Lian urged, her eagerness barely contained.
"Qing Lian, there's no need to rush," King Jianglin interjected. "Though you escaped unharmed, the bodies of Kuxue and the others haven't been recovered yet. We must bring their remains back to the clan for proper burial."
Qing Lian froze, her expression shifting abruptly.
Having been captured by the demon beast and nearly killed, then rescued by the human named "Ji Yin," the emotional rollercoaster had temporarily made her forget the deaths of Kuxue and the others.
The joy vanished from her face, replaced by grief and fury.
"Big brother, you must find that demon beast and kill it! We must avenge Elder Kuxue and the others!"
"Rest assured, it won't escape," King Jianglin replied, her voice icy, her gaze as sharp as a blade.
Qing Lian and King Jianglin arrived at the site where Elder Kuxue and the others had perished.
Qing Lian's expression grew increasingly sorrowful.
She knelt, gathering fragments of limbs and flesh from the ground, tears streaming down her face as she gritted her teeth.
"This... this is Elder Kuxue's scale armor," she murmured, picking up a bloodstained, grayish-green scale. Her hands trembled uncontrollably.
"Big brother, we must make that demon beast pay in blood! We must tear out its heart, strip its bones, and cast its soul into the Ten Thousand Serpents Pit to be devoured for a thousand years!"
King Jianglin's face remained cold and stern as she meticulously surveyed the surroundings.
Useful clues were scarce.
However, one thing was certain: the creature that had slaughtered Elder Kuxue and the others was indeed a seventh-tier demonic beast.
Lingering traces of demonic energy in the air carried a distinct aura, different from that of the Willow Serpent Clan.
Song Wen slowly descended beside Qing Lian, holding a plain white silk handkerchief. He gently wiped the blood from the scale in her hand.
"The departed are gone, and the living remain. Miss Qinglian, please take heart. If Elder Kuxue's spirit still watches over us, she surely wouldn't want to see you so distraught."
"Your brother, King Jianglin, possesses heaven-piercing cultivation. She will undoubtedly track down that vile creature and avenge Elder Kuxue and the others."
Qing Lian looked up at Song Wen, tears still streaming down her cheeks, but her expression brightened slightly.
"Ji Yin, thank you... You're right. Big brother will definitely slay that beast with her own hands."
Moments later, all the mangled remains had been gathered. King Jianglin spoke, "Let's go. Qing Lian, let's check the mountain valley where the demon beast imprisoned you."
"Mm!" Qing Lian wiped away her tears and nodded firmly.
The mountain valley bore few traces of the battle. After a brief inspection, King Jianglin turned to Song Wen.
"Ji Yin, would you please lead this king to the place where you trapped the demon beast?"
"King Jianglin, please follow me."
Song Wen soared into the sky, flying tens of thousands of miles southeast until they reached a lake.
"Is this where you trapped the demon beast?" King Jianglin asked.
"Exactly," Song Wen replied. "I was no match for that beast in direct combat. Not only would I have failed to rescue Miss Qinglian, but I likely would have lost my own life. While being hunted by the demon beast, I carefully observed the surrounding environment and devised a plan. When I saw this lake, an idea struck me."
"I dove into the lake, using its complex underwater terrain to evade the beast while secretly deploying the Star Constellation Demon-Trapping Formation. During this time, I narrowly escaped death several times at the beast's claws. But fortune favors the bold—I finally completed the formation and trapped the demon beast within it."
"I originally intended to use the formation's power to slay that vile beast here. But its physical body proved extraordinarily resilient, its carapace comparable to a high-grade defensive spirit treasure, allowing it to withstand the formation's crushing force. Left with no other choice, I resorted to a secondary measure, channeling vast quantities of spirit stones into the formation's core to maintain its operation, hoping to trap the beast for even a moment longer. Meanwhile, I returned to the mountain valley to rescue Miss Qinglian."
"Ah..."
Song Wen sighed deeply, his brow furrowed with shame, his voice low and heavy with regret.
"In the end, my strength proved insufficient. Had I been even slightly stronger, that beast would surely have met its end here."
Qing Lian's tear-streaked face gradually dried, her eyes like still water as she gazed tenderly at Song Wen.
"Ji Yin, it's not your fault. If not for your intervention, I would have perished beneath that beast's claws."
King Jianglin nodded silently, a hint of gratitude flickering in her eyes as she regarded Song Wen.
"Ji Yin, Qing Lian speaks truly. Rescuing her was no small feat. Do not belittle yourself!"
Her divine sense had already thoroughly scanned the entire lake multiple times.
The lakebed was scarred with the ravages of fierce battle, and lingering traces of the demon beast's and Ji Yin's auras clung to hidden corners. These remnants served as irrefutable proof of Ji Yin's account.
Song Wen didn't reply, but with a flick of his sleeve, eight tattered cyan flags rose from the lake's surface and landed in his palm.
"These are the formation flags I used to set up the array," he said. "But they're severely damaged. It seems they're unusable now."
The traces at the bottom of the lake and these broken flags had been prearranged by Song Wen. Otherwise, he wouldn't have dared bring King Jianglin here.
Suddenly, King Jianglin noticed something and let out a soft gasp.
"Follow me!"
She soared into the air, arriving moments later at a mountain peak thousands of miles away.
Imprinted in the mud and rock on the summit were two massive demon beast footprints.
"After escaping, that fiend must have come here..." King Jianglin scanned the horizon, her brow furrowed. "But its aura vanishes completely at this point, leaving no trace."
Song Wen stared intently at the footprints, pondering for a moment before speaking slowly.
"Judging by the depth and force of these claw marks, the fiend's aura was unstable and its steps faltering after escaping. It must have suffered significant injuries. Either it dared not continue its rampage, or it used some secret art to conceal its aura and flee far away."
(End of the Chapter)
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