The crimson barrier cage was still intact.
Under the live feed from the near-Earth orbit satellite...
...the viewers still had no idea who was fighting inside. Everyone held their breath, silently clenching their fists.
【Keep it up, big sister in the Crane Whisper Battle Armor!】
【It looks tough this time, slim chances. This cage was clearly set up specifically for her.】
【What a pity.】
【Can only say she's unlucky.】
The bullet chat was filled with voices of regret.
On the other hand, the expressions of the demon beasts who had set up the barrier cage suddenly shifted drastically.
Because they felt the life force of the big hedgehog vanish.
A figure walked toward the crimson barrier and began swinging her sword, her speed so fast that afterimages appeared.
One slash, two slashes, three slashes... Crack, crack. Cracks began to appear on the barrier.
Immediately after.
With a loud shatter, the crimson barrier broke completely.
A Fox Immortal with a fox head and human body shrieked, roaring, "Not good, she's coming out! Everyone, charge together and kill her!"
A snake demon and a big rat charged forward.
In contrast, the Fox Immortal and the Yellow Immortal—the two who had shouted first—actually began retreating rapidly at the exact same time.
Clang.
Clang.
Two crisp sounds echoed.
The two demon beasts, each with at least five hundred years of cultivation, lacked the hedgehog's defense and health bar. Taking just a single hit caused cracks to burst open across their bodies.
Pfft.
The big rat collapsed shakily.
The snake demon was sliced straight through by a sword slash.
Glaring venomously at the two fleeing demon beasts, it hissed in resentment, "You... backstabbing traitors."
"Hey, spicy strip over there."
"Are you really going to just wait around to die?"
Hiss.
As if reaching an unspoken agreement, the two dying demon beasts simultaneously spat out a chain of blood, binding the Yellow Immortal.
It wasn't that they didn't want to make a desperate final strike; rather, Xie Litang's sheer strength had completely crushed any thoughts of revenge, leaving them incapable of even maintaining hatred toward her.
They couldn't bring themselves to hate Xie Litang.
However, they could certainly hate those two fleeing demon beasts.
Bound by the blood chains, the Yellow Immortal fell to the ground and yelled furiously, "You two fools! You're actually helping a human against me? Have you forgotten that our Five Clans are one family?!"
With bloodshot red eyes, the dying big rat spat out, "Who the fuck is family with you?!"
This bought Xie Litang time.
After swinging her blade and severing the Yellow Immortal's legs...
...the two betrayed demon beasts finally closed their eyes in peace, feeling that they hadn't lost out.
Xie Litang glanced at the distant Fox Immortal and said softly into her earpiece, "Linling, you can deploy the Flood Dragon essence blood now. Otherwise, I'm going to kill them all too quickly."
Chen Linling immediately replied, "Got it."
A 3D model of the city flashed through Chen Linling's eyes, and within seconds, she had calculated the deployment trajectory.
An ultra-high-speed drone wove through the streets and alleys of the Old Era, arriving at the path the Fox Immortal was bound to pass.
"Deploying."
A jade box popped open.
In the next instant, a golden beam of light surged into the sky, filling the entire street with a faint crimson mist as an overwhelming pressure swept outward.
Even in death, a Flood Dragon still bore the name of a dragon, making it one of the absolute top-tier demon beasts of this world.
The fleeing fox demon faltered, its mind momentarily spellbound by that single golden drop of Flood Dragon essence blood.
The fox demon gasped in disbelief.
"Fl-Flood Dragon essence blood?!"
"Hahaha! It really is Flood Dragon essence blood! As long as I devour it, I can break through to the rank of a Thousand-Year Great Demon, sprout a second tail, or even three!"
"But..."
"No."
"That monster is hunting me from behind."
"No, no, no! That's Flood Dragon essence blood, my grand opportunity! I can't miss this!"
Greed was always the most fatal weakness.
Torn between escaping for its life and claiming a massive opportunity, it chose to take the gamble to turn a bicycle into a motorcycle.
The fox demon swore in its heart that the moment it grabbed the Flood Dragon essence blood, it would burn its lifespan to flee at top speed instantly.
Three meters.
Two meters.
Just as the fox demon was about to touch the essence blood...
"Target locked: Sweeping Blade."
Wreathed in crimson blood flames, Xie Litang locked onto the fox demon's location, sliding beside it like a phantom in an instant and severing both of its outstretched arms with a single slash.
"Awoo—"
The fox demon shrieked in agony, falling to the ground and pleading, "Spare me! Mercy, my Lord, mercy!"
Xie Litang didn't say a word.
She blasted it into a pile of ruined building debris with a single punch, leaving its fate unknown.
She pulled out a jade box and stored the Flood Dragon essence blood inside once more.
To put on a complete act, she ran all the way to the lake and dove straight down into the riverbed.
Only then did the satellite stream lose all trace of her.
Far away in the city, Yang Yiyi had long since dumped all the stocks in her hands, turning a massive profit.
"Quick."
"Mobilize our online army immediately."
"Steer the narrative toward 'an emerging rare treasure attracted the demon beasts' instead of a full-scale beast tide."
Sure enough, the stock market responded extremely fast.
Once the incident was framed as demon beasts fighting over a treasure, the stock prices of companies in Jianghai City immediately halted their downward fall and reversed into a surge.
From crash to rally...
...Yang Yiyi's net worth multiplied several times over, turning her into a wealthy woman with substantial assets.
Her personal communication terminal was swamped with a barrage of messages.
Yang Yiyi replied to them one by one.
"Young Master Ming, I told you long ago it was a guaranteed win."
"Young Master Li, congratulations on your fortune!"
"Second Miss Zhao, looks like that manor you've had your eye on is within reach now."
"..."
Obviously, relying on Yang Yiyi's strength alone couldn't have driven down the entire market cap of those Jianghai City enterprises in such a short time.
She had drawn upon her network of connections this time...
...taking everyone along to profit together.
In essence, it was a group of young masters and young ladies pooling their pocket money to make a tidy sum on the side.
Her assistant stepped forward and whispered, "Boss, the tracks left behind this time won't be easy to cover up. If anyone with real authority decides to investigate, they're bound to uncover a lot of information."
Yang Yiyi remained silent for a long moment before waving her hand. "It doesn't matter. Let them investigate."
That drop of Flood Dragon essence blood, the Crane Whisper Battle Armor, the Aerospace-Grade Hazmat Suit, and even the cultivation technique Xie Litang practiced...
If a truly influential figure traced these back to their source, everything would point directly to her.
However...
Yang Yiyi bit her red lower lip, her tone resolute. "I'm betting that her growth rate will turn her into my backer before those big figures can destroy me."
From a commercial interest perspective, Yang Yiyi didn't want Xie Litang to stay hidden in the shadows forever either; she wanted her to step into the spotlight and become her protector.
Because of this, she hadn't meticulously sanitized the origin of the goods sold to Xie Litang.
This was also somewhat driven by her own selfish motives—she wanted others to realize that she and Xie Litang were inextricably bound together.
"In just a few months, she's grown to a level even I can't comprehend."
"With this kind of potential and return on investment..."
"...she..."
"...is worth my bet."
In short:
If she wins the bet, she'll be protected by a towering tree.
If she loses, she accepts her fate.
Rate on N.U.
