When Liu Yuenong slowly came to, she found herself held in the arms of a gigantic black bear.
Seeing this, she instinctively tried to pull free.
But Ye Yuâs trembling voice sounded by her ear.
"Sl... slow down, y-you, you back away slowly. Whatever you do, donât make any big moves!"
Liu Yuenong immediately realized the black bear was no one else but Ye Yu.
So she did as told, carefully pried the bear paw off her, and inched backward.
Only after they were completely apart did she notice the front of the bear was sheathed entirely in frost.
Even the left side of his face hadnât been spared.
At a glance, he looked like a colossal frost bear.
"Is this a new God Realm skin?"
Curious, Liu Yuenong asked, "What happened to you?"
Ye Yu didnât answer right away. He clenched his fists, gave his whole body a hard shake, and sent all the frost flying.
Then his form shrank rapidly and, in moments, he was human again.
His face was still a bit pale, but he straightened his divine robe at once.
A faint blush rose to Liu Yuenongâs pretty face, and her eyes started to dodge.
"You..."
Before she could finish, Ye Yu cut in. "Donât âyouâ me. F-first, get me a fire so I can warm up!"
Liu Yuenong didnât dare delay. With a wave of her hand, a searing flame bloomed before them.
Ye Yu hurried close to warm himself.
Only after dozens of breaths did he finally return to normal.
Then he said, "I go into seclusion for a few days and you turn the whole Divine Alliance into an ice worldâand freeze yourself into an ice statue on top of it."
"Sure, it looked good, but you were playing with your life."
"If anything happens to you, this entire mystic realm collapses. Iâm not looking to die, so I had to revert to my true body and use black bear body heat to thaw you out."
Ye Yu gave a small sideways curl of his lip.
Strictly speaking, this was the first time heâd revealed his demon clan true body.
He hadnât expected it would be for warming someone up.
"Ugh."
Liu Yuenong was surprised too, then lowered her head, a trace of guilt in her voice.
"Actually, Iâm a Thought Demon."
At that, Ye Yu perked up.
Whatever else could be said, heâd dealt with the demon race plenty of times. He knew the basics.
The biggest mainstream types were Strength Demons, Blood Demons, and Fallen Demons; Succubi, Heart Demons, and the like were also fairly common.
Thought Demons, though, were extremely rare.
They were a branch of Heart Demons.
It was said that only one Thought Demon would be born out of ten thousand Heart Demons.
As the name implied, that race possessed overwhelming fixationâand they would also affect people around them, making others fixate on a given thing.
They would not stop until they achieved their goal.
Precisely because Thought Demons were so obsessive, very few among them could actually cultivate.
And since they easily influenced others, they werenât welcome even in the Demon Realm.
Their standing was far beneath Heart Demons.
Unaware of Ye Yuâs reaction, Liu Yuenong continued talking about Thought Demons.
Outside the demon race, the other five realms rarely knew they existed.
Their numbers were vanishingly small, but they did exist.
And they had a very peculiar abilityâone people found extremely off-putting.
Not only could they affect others; they themselves were bound by their own fixation.
Take the attempt to revive her master, Bai Hong.
Everyone told Liu Yuenong it was impossible.
But she searched bitterly for three million years.
And came up empty.
Later, after she slew the avatar of malice, Liu Yuenong seemed calm on the surface, unruffled.
In truth, she was lost inside, her old goal gone.
Her master Bai Hong could not be revived, and even the avatar of malice had been dealt with.
So what was next?
That question hadnât shown itself while Ye Yu was still around.
Watching him bustle about every day, she wasnât all that bored.
But once Ye Yu entered seclusion, that tide of confusion and loneliness came flooding in.
It chilled her to the bone.
Her fixation sank so deep that her mood directly affected the mystic realmâs weather.
And without realizing it, Liu Yuenong froze herself solid.
After hearing all this, Ye Yu couldnât help giving her a thumbs-up.
"So you just burrowed straight into a dead end and nearly thought yourself to death, huh?"
Faced with his rebuke, Liu Yuenong had no way to argue.
She could only murmur, "Most Thought Demons donât live past thirty. They get stuck on something they canât see through, and because their fixation is too deep, they canât get out, so..."
She didnât finish the sentence, but Ye Yu had guessed the rest.
They strangle themselves with their own knots.
He had to admitâThought Demons were something else.
Honestly, this race dying a bit early was a blessing for others. Someone with Liu Yuenongâs strength, once she dug into a dead end, could get a lot of people killed.
Case in pointâsheâd almost killed herself just now.
Noâhe absolutely couldnât let this demon woman generate any more negative emotions. If she latched onto something again, it would be dangerous.
He had to set the right path for her.
With that thought, Ye Yu began to guide her.
"Donât be lost. What you should be thinking now is how to get out of the mystic realm, and then how to carry Tongtian Pavilion forward."
"Out there, Great Sage Luoshu is still waiting for you."
"It wonât be hard for you to make a comeback. If your masterâs spirit in heaven sees Tongtian Pavilion rise again, heâll be happy."
Liu Yuenong nodded and forced a small smile.
She understood every word Ye Yu said.
But she had tried methods to break the mystic realmâand none worked.
Also... that bear hug had been really warm. She kind of wanted to try it again.
Her gaze drifted, unconsciously, toward Ye Yu.
He noticed at once, lifted his hand, and pressed it to her forehead.
"Donât tell me the cold scrambled your brains?"
"We were talking just fineâwhy are your eyes going all hazy?"
Liu Yuenong started to deny it, but when the words reached her lips, they turned into something else entirely.
"Actually, I still feel very cold, like I havenât quite bounced back. How about you turn into your true body again... and warm me up?"