Xilu lay on Zhang Ye's head, humming a song and playing with his hair. The greenish-cyan glow radiating from her body made Zhang Ye feel like his head was bathed in a field of green.
Zhang Ye patted his shoulder. “Come sit over here.”
Xilu obediently flew over to Zhang Ye's shoulder and began playing with his earlobe instead.
It tickled.
Zhang Ye indulged her.
At that moment, Hainowei spoke up, “Magic spirits are creations of this world—a kind of extremely pure lifeform.”
“Her liking you means that you, too, are beloved by this world.”
“Beloved by the world?” Zhang Ye paused before letting out a smile. “That’s pretty great then. Being beloved by the world means my luck should be pretty good from now on, right? Maybe I'll even stumble upon treasures just walking down the street.”
Hainowei smiled and nodded. That was indeed true.
Furthermore, as Zhang Ye grew stronger, this good fortune from being accepted and loved by the world would only grow stronger.
Zhang Ye’s interpretation was much simpler—wasn't this just the protagonist halo?!
Rising to his feet, Zhang Ye turned to Hainowei and said, “Stay here. I’m going out to take a walk around.”
Hainowei nodded, whispering gently, “Stay safe.”
“Will do.” Zhang Ye nodded, remaining in his Demonized form as he stepped out the door.
“Danila,” Zhang Ye called out flatly. In the next instant, the space fluctuated, and Danila emerged from a spatial gate, bowing deeply before him.
“Lord True Demon, what are your orders?”
Seeing Danila, whose cultivation and strength far surpassed his own, behaving so subserviently gave Zhang Ye an indescribable sense of amusement.
This identity as a member of the Demon Race was way too convenient!
“Bad guy!” Xilu suddenly piped up, clutching a lock of Zhang Ye’s white hair and glaring hostility at Danila.
It was this guy who had imprisoned her!
Noticing Xilu on Zhang Ye’s shoulder, Danila couldn't help but marvel inwardly once again.
To even tame a magic spirit... as expected of Lord True Demon!
“How are the preparations for the magic circle coming along?” Zhang Ye asked.
“It’s still being set up, but it will be ready for use very soon!” Danila replied immediately.
Zhang Ye nodded. “Take me to see it.”
“Yes, my Lord. Right this way.” With that, Danila opened a pitch-black spatial gate.
Zhang Ye examined it. This was called the 【Dark Spatial Gate】. Compared to a traditional spatial gate, the Dark Spatial Gate had a much longer teleportation range, was far less susceptible to interference from spatial fluctuations, and possessed the ability to perform spatial slicing as well.
Zhang Ye analyzed it first before stepping through the spatial gate.
Passing through the gate, the two arrived deep within the branch, inside a secret chamber with a radius of a hundred meters.
Inside the secret chamber stood numerous stone pillars made of special materials, engraved with profound runes. Each pillar was erected at a key point of the magic circle on the ground; clearly, these pillars were crucial to activating the super-long-distance teleportation circle.
Namely, the array cores.
There were seven array cores in total.
Many Dark Demon Cultists were busily inscribing the magic circle, and drawing certain magic sets even required blood.
Seeing this scene, Zhang Ye shook his head secretly.
At this rate, the super-long-distance teleportation circle would likely be completed in less than five days.
I have to mess things up before it's finished!
Zhang Ye strolled slowly around the magic circle, inspecting it. He recorded its structure while pondering how best to sabotage it.
All the while, Danila followed respectfully behind Zhang Ye.
Since Zhang Ye was currently in his Demonized form, fanaticism flushed across the faces of the Dark Demon Cultists as soon as they laid eyes on him.
Is this the true form of Lord True Demon?
He's so amazingly handsome!
To behold Lord True Demon’s true form—this life has been worth living!
Meanwhile, the Saint-tier dark mage who had been punished earlier by Danila was supervising the magic circle's completion. When he saw Zhang Ye, his shock quickly turned into remorse, and he began slapping himself brutally across the face right then and there, the sheer force generating gusts of howling wind inside the chamber.
To think he had actually doubted Lord True Demon’s identity earlier—he was worse than a beast!
He deserved to be beaten! He deserved it!
If those slaps had landed on anyone else, even a Tier Ten would have been killed on the spot. Zhang Ye was utterly dumbfounded by the sight. He pointed at the dark mage and asked Danila, “What’s wrong with him?”
“He offended Lord True Demon earlier, so he is offering his self-atonement,” Danila explained.
Zhang Ye was blown away. Talk about holding nothing back! The guy slapped himself until he was spitting blood, his face swollen like a pig’s head. To top it off, he crawled over to kneel before Zhang Ye to beg for forgiveness, asking Zhang Ye to punish him.
Zhang Ye’s eye twitched uncontrollably as he watched.
These Dark Demon Cultists were ruthless beyond belief!
The Light Holy See was really down on their luck to be stuck with enemies like these.
Just thinking about the Light Holy See made Zhang Ye angry. In historical texts, the Light Holy See was described as a colossus governing the continent, bringing light and peace. They had driven the development of many nations and improved the lives of the populace, which was why they enjoyed tremendous support on the West Continent.
Because of this, Zhang Ye had previously held a rather favorable opinion of them.
In his view, the Light Holy See wasn't supposed to be an overarching evil villain like in typical web novels.
However, having now witnessed their domineering and ruthless side, his favorable impression of them had plummeted.
They had injured Hainowei and even killed him once. Whoever went through such an experience would have all good sentiment for the Light Holy See completely wiped out.
This grudge, Zhang Ye would hold onto.
Still, now wasn't the time to dwell on that. The top priority was to sabotage the super-long-distance teleportation circle and safely escape with Hainowei and Xilu.
After observing the super-long-distance teleportation circle for a while, Zhang Ye’s extraordinary memory had already committed the overwhelmingly complex magic circle to memory, and a plan was beginning to take shape in his mind.
“Give me a tour of the branch,” Zhang Ye said.
“Of course,” Danila replied immediately with deep respect.
Meanwhile, on the other side...
Leona felt like she was going insane.
Over an hour ago, she had crossed Claude Canyon and arrived at the now-deserted Water Spirit Lake.
With the Water Spirit’s departure, the lake had reverted to an ordinary state, losing its former beauty.
Leona had sensed Zhang Ye’s aura there. Moreover, because of the powerful fire propulsion Zhang Ye had unleashed, a lingering trace of mana remained in the air. Faint as it was, Leona could still sense it.
She immediately tracked the mana trace and gave chase. Along the way, she detected residual traces of even more formidable mana.
“The Holy See?!” Leona was intimately familiar with this kind of aura. The Lionheart Empire and the Salomon family had conducted business with the Light Holy See before; this was the distinct aura of the Light Holy See’s faith imprint.
Could Little Ye'er have gotten into a fight with people from the Light Holy See?!
The more she thought about it, the more likely it seemed. The Light Holy See was hunting Hainowei down. If Hainowei had been discovered by them while Zhang Ye was present, knowing his personality, he would never just stand by and let her be captured!
Given how well Leona knew Zhang Ye, that guy would risk his very life to protect her!
“That idiot!” The thought sent a surge of desperation through her. She pursued the traces at top speed, eventually arriving at the Qiongde Snow Mountains. Seeing the devastated, battered peaks, her heart sank even further.
Fortunately, it appeared Zhang Ye hadn't been harmed there.
However, his aura vanished completely at this location.
Yet Leona was resourceful. Knowing Zhang Ye commanded a vast array of spells and tricks, she reasoned that he must have escaped. Meanwhile, the pursuer from the Light Holy See had continued the chase, leaving behind a trail of mana.
So she pressed on.
She pursued the trail for over ten thousand li.
Then, she saw it—a colossal crater spanning dozens of li across, alongside the lingering aura inside the pit.
Leona stood frozen, utterly stunned.
What kind of terrifying attack had taken place here?
Even the power of laws in the air still swirled, refusing to dissipate for a long time. And the light faith imprint lingering within confirmed that this attack had been unleashed by that member of the Light Holy See—directed right at Zhang Ye!
No wonder the protective power on Zhang Ye had vanished... How could Zhang Ye possibly survive an attack like this?!
Staring into the crater, Leona felt as if countless blades were piercing her heart. Agonizing pain surged through her, and tears spilled uncontrollably from her eyes.
A terrifying wave of power slowly radiated outward with her at the center, and her hair transformed into a roaring pillar of flame reaching a thousand meters high into the sky.
Her eyes were engulfed in blazing light as fire-like mana spilled out, while the flames bleeding from her left eye were a deep reddish-purple, oozing a sinister and horrific aura.
Right at that moment, the Water Spirit's Ring on her hand suddenly flashed, covering her body in a faint blue aura.
Her fury, which had brought her to the brink of losing all reason, actually subsided significantly.
Regaining her composure, Leona descended and inspected the area carefully. Suddenly, she caught a whiff of spatial laws.
Which meant someone had used spatial magic here!
Was it Zhang Ye?!
He isn't dead?!
In an instant, Leona’s heart was filled with both intense joy and overwhelming dread.
She was joyful because Zhang Ye might still be alive, but terrified because it was only a "might."
Hesitating no longer, she began searching frantically.
The aura of spatial laws had grown extraordinarily faint, and the mana traces had been scattered, making this search dauntingly difficult. But Leona would never give up.
She had to find Zhang Ye!
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