Facing Ye Yuâs question, Gan Duoduo was about to speak when an immortal snapped coldly, âHey, maidenâwhat do you think youâre doing? Heâs a demon! Are you really going to cast yourself down into the Demon Realm? Know this: those who willingly fall earn no happy fate!â
Gan Duoduo inhaled deeply, and her white robe instantly darkened to black.
Her entire aura shifted.
Ye Yu knew in that momentâGan ZhiZui had arrived.
She formed a hand seal with one hand.
A black serpent materialized around the immortalâs body and struck in an instant.
The peak Celestial Immortal had no strength to resist. He collapsed, charred black like coal, dead on the spot.
Gan ZhiZui glared at the gathered immortals and barked, âI donât care what my husband is. Even if he is a demon, if I willingly fall, that is my affairâand none of your business!â
Her ferocious aura instantly overwhelmed the field.
Yet these immortals were prodigies among prodigies.
They swiftly recovered and drew their celestial weapons.
âIf she insists on demonic transformation, words are pointless. Let life and death be her burden!â
With that, they surged forward in unison.
Gan ZhiZui intended to join the frayâbut Ye Yu raised a hand to stop her.
âBloodshed is my domain, my lady need not lift a finger.â
Before she could reply, Ye Yu transformed into a streak of light and charged ahead.
He unleashed his full Demonic-Heaven Conquest technique, purple radiance swirling about him; mingled with the flame-red glow of his halberd, these two hues became the battlefieldâs dominant colors.
Within the time it took a single incense stick to burn, nearly every immortal present had been slaughtered.
With no Immortal Emperor among them, no one could stand against Ye Yuâs might.
Only one gravely wounded Celestial Lord managed to surviveâbut barely, his breaths ragged and faint.
This battle had triggered the Daoâs Reward for Diligence within Ye Yu. He felt demonic power surging through him as he advanced another stepânow he stood at the Half-Step Sovereign realm!
Feeling the tumultuous demonic qi envelop his body, Ye Yu savored a wave of exhilaration.
He had once again broken his own recordânow he truly was a Half-Step Demon Sovereign.
He would temper this strength further before attempting the full Sovereign breakthrough.
Ye Yu exhaled and sheathed the World-Scorching Fire Halberd. He turned to the wounded immortal and said, âI will not kill you. Go back and tell the Celestial Realm immortals this: if any dare seek vengeance, they may come down and find meâYe Yu of Lotus Province. Remember the name!â
The immortalâs face twisted in rageâbut under Ye Yuâs icy gaze, he dared not protest. He rose and retreated into the portal.
As the portal closed and the immortals departed, the demon host erupted in thunderous cheers.
No matter what reputation Ye Yu held among demons beforeâwhether Demon Lord Slayer or Reaperâtoday, in the face of the Celestial Realmâs counterattack, he was their undisputed hero.
Single-handedly slaying countless immortals, he had made the Demon Realmâs might resound.
In this realm of strength-worship, Ye Yu deserved their utmost respect.
Yet he paid no heed. With Gan ZhiZui at his side, he vanished in a streak of rainbow-lit energy.
Upon witnessing this, every Demon Lord present let out a collective sigh of relief.
âWhat luckâwe survived this time!â
Xu Nanqiao, however, stared blankly in Ye Yuâs wake, lost in thoughtânone could guess what occupied her mind.
A moment later, inside the Lotus Province Demon Lordâs palace:
Ye Yu and Gan ZhiZui exchanged stories of their experiences.
Gan ZhiZui revealed that she had actually ascended to the Celestial Realm months ago.
Whether lucky or unlucky, upon arrival she had barely found her footing before a secret realm opened nearbyâand she was sucked inside by its powerful pull.
That place was less a secret realm and more an immortal relic.
Its immortal qi was astonishingly abundant, and it teemed with various celestial fruits. Most importantly, time within flowed at least ten times slower than the outside world!
Gan ZhiZui spent what felt like ages within that realm, her cultivation soaring until she reached the Celestial Immortal realm.
Alas, she could find no exit.
Only when the secret realm collapsed today did she regain freedom.
She remembered Ye Yu once telling her to visit the Wuwei Tower in the central Celestial Realm after ascension.
Unsure of its location but â NĐŸvĐ”lđght â (Exclusive on NĐŸvĐ”lđght) confident she could ask for directions, she sought out an immortal maiden.
Before the maiden could reply, hundreds of immortals streaked past like shooting stars.
Curious, that maiden followed themâand Gan ZhiZui, thinking something dire had happened elsewhere, joined the mass exodus.
Thus, without realizing it, she ended up hereâon the path to the Demon Realm.
She had no idea sheâd boarded the wrong âconveyance.â Yet unexpectedly, she had chanced upon her husbandâa joyous surprise!
âBut husband,â she asked, âwhatâs the story behind those horns? They look so dramaticâare they real?â
Gan ZhiZui restrained herself, merely gazing curiously at Ye Yuâs brow.
Her eyes shone with the desire to touch them and test their authenticity.
Ye Yu did not hide the truth. He explained about parallel worldsâsaying that at this very moment, in the parallel realm, he was a demon, and she was here too.
Hearing this, Gan ZhiZui frowned in confusion. âSo husband means... this isnât reality?â
Ye Yu shook his head. âNot reality. When the parallel ends, youâll return to realityâand Iâll become an immortal again.â
âAs for why... Iâll explain in the Celestial Realm later!â
Ye Yu spoke with sincere solemnityâthough he was improvising wildly.
Truth be told, he never imagined running into his wife inside this dream-realm. Explaining it properly would be exhausting!
So he chose to stall with half-truths, hoping to buy time until he could craft a more plausible story.
Gan ZhiZui, for her part, found the explanation shrouded in mystery. It sounded complicated, so she decided not to overthink it. As long as her husband was by her side, all was well.
Reality or parallel worldâwhat did it matter?
Just then, a demon attendant burst in.
âMaster Demon Lord, Dongyao Provinceâs Demon Lord Xu Nanqiao has come to request an audience.â