"Bring him up."
Zhai Shuo ordered. Immediately, two demon subordinates dragged forward a half-dead man and threw him heavily onto the ground with a thud.
His hair was disheveled and his face was filthy. He had a tall build, and the Luoxian Sect disciple uniform he wore was completely tattered, covered in mud and grime.
Yuan Shu couldn't see his face as he lay sprawled on the ground, but this towering figure of over two meters... seemed somewhat familiar?
Yuan Shu raised an eyebrow, her gaze involuntarily falling upon Zhai Shuo beside her, looking him up and down.
!
"My Second Senior Brother?"
Yuan Shu pointed at the unconscious man on the ground, then looked at Zhai Shuo, her face filled with surprise. "Then you... are really a demon?"
Zhai Shuo sneered coldly, "Isn't it a bit too late to realize that now?"
Yuan Shu, "..."
No wonder she had always felt something was off. The book never mentioned that her Second Senior Brother, Zhai Shuo, was a demon.
So, this Zhai Shuo was a fake, and her real Second Senior Brother had been captured by the demons long ago!
This man had quite the nerve. Wearing her Second Senior Brother's face, he swaggered around Qingyun Peak for days and even abducted Su Lingxi to the Death Demon Forest?
And throughout the entire ordeal, not a single person noticed anything wrong!
Yuan Shu accepted this reality very quickly. After all, she wasn't the real Yuan Shu either.
She nudged the fake Zhai Shuo's arm with her elbow and asked curiously, "So, what's your real name?"
Meeting the icy glare the "fake Zhai Shuo" shot at her, Yuan Shu coughed lightly. "I can't keep calling you Second Senior Brother, can I?"
"Or what? Hey? You? That guy? That demon? That two-meter-tall demon? That..."
"Li Xie." Seemingly not expecting Yuan Shu to chatter on endlessly, Li Xie spoke up and revealed his true name.
"Oh~" Yuan Shu nodded, searching her memory, only to find she had never heard of it.
It seemed that Li Xie was just a minor supporting character in the book.
Li Xie turned his head and cast a glance at her, ignoring what her highly expressive "Oh" meant. He stepped forward and directed his subordinates to drag the real Zhai Shuo to the front of the realm stele, slitting his wrist to drain his blood.
?
"Wait, what are you doing?" Yuan Shu stepped forward and glanced at the real Zhai Shuo. "He looks like he's about to die."
"Do you think you are any different from him?" Hearing this, Li Xie looked down at Yuan Shu with a mocking expression.
She was also a disciple of the Luoxian Sect's Qingyun Peak. She knew his true identity and his purpose in seeking this ancient mystic realm this time.
Did she really think he would still let her go?
Yuan Shu ignored Li Xie's mockery, her gaze fixed tightly on the blood flowing from her real Second Senior Brother's wrist.
Within the fresh blood, wisps of Qingyun Aura were absorbed by the realm stele, and a faint light slowly emanated from the ancient stone monument.
"The Qingyun Aura is the key to opening this ancient mystic realm?" Yuan Shu was somewhat surprised.
The book hadn't mentioned this, and the original owner of her body had never participated in the events at the Death Demon Forest, so she had no recollection of it.
"This ancient dark element mystic realm was left behind by an ancestor of the Luoxian Sect."
"It was probably the senior who founded your Qingyun Peak. He cultivated the Qingyun Aura, so naturally, it is the Qingyun Aura that can open the realm stele."
Seeing her looking adorably clueless, Li Xie made a rare exception and properly explained it to her.
"As it happens, this Second Senior Brother of yours received your master's direct teachings, so he has the Qingyun Aura in his body."
"We wasted quite a bit trying to use his Qingyun Aura to find this mystic realm earlier, and he's almost dead now. It's a bit of a pity."
Yuan Shu, "..."
If they continued draining his blood like this, this cheap real senior brother of hers would truly die!
"Isn't it just Qingyun Aura? Let him go, and I'll give you the purest Qingyun Aura!"
Yuan Shu patted her chest and promised Li Xie.
"What did you say?" Zhai Shuo thought he had heard wrong again and looked her up and down. "You'll give me Qingyun Aura?"
"What, I can't?"
Yuan Shu raised an eyebrow. As soon as she finished speaking, she was interrupted by Zhai Shuo's sneer. "Indeed, you can't!"
"I have already investigated. The Qingyun Aura on you, your Third Senior Brother, and Su Lingxi is pitifully thin. It's completely impossible for it to sustain the opening of the realm stele."
"Then why did you capture us and bring us here?" Yuan Shu didn't understand.
He captured Second Senior Brother for the Qingyun Aura, but capturing them...
"Naturally, it's so that if your Second Senior Brother can't hold on and dies, I can throw you up there and drain your blood to see if it's of any use!"
Yuan Shu's eyes widened slightly.
Very well, that was very demonic of him!
"Let him go and find a physician for him. I'll make up for the missing Qingyun Aura."
Yuan Shu frowned as she looked at her Second Senior Brother, whose face was growing increasingly pale.
Second Senior Brother had gone down the mountain to gain experience many years ago.
Since Li Xie wasn't the real Second Senior Brother, then Second Senior Brother and Su Lingxi had never truly met.
His Supreme Fire Spirit Root was also worth putting some thought into.
"Are you serious?" Li Xie frowned, seeing her earnest expression.
"Why would I lie to you? I was the one who found the entrance to this ancient mystic realm, wasn't I?" Yuan Shu raised an eyebrow and glanced at him.
Li Xie hesitated slightly, then waved his hand, ordering his men to pull the dying Zhai Shuo aside to feed him medicine and treat his wounds.
Yuan Shu followed to check on the situation. After confirming that Zhai Shuo's condition had improved somewhat, she finally breathed a slight sigh of relief, turned her head, and spoke to Li Xie.
"Have someone bring Su Lingxi up!"
Meeting Li Xie's bewildered gaze, Yuan Shu waved him over, gesturing for him to lean his ear closer.
Li Xie narrowed his eyes, but ultimately did not resist, bending down slightly to lean close to Yuan Shu.
A warm breath brushed gently against his ear, stirring an inexplicable ripple in his heart.
Li Xie glanced at her, then turned and ordered his subordinates to bring Su Lingxi up.
By that time, Su Lingxi had already woken up, but her body was affected by the array's energy; she had neither spiritual power nor strength.
Her hands were tied. Her clothes were stained with a lot of dust from being locked in a dirty place for a while, making her look rather disheveled.
Yuan Shu had already hidden among the crowd of demons. She pulled a young demon in front of her, blocking Su Lingxi's sweeping gaze from looking this way.
The young demon was dazzled by the smile on Yuan Shu's face, and the tips of his ears visibly reddened.
At the same time, Su Lingxi's large eyes were wide open, and a terrified expression appeared on her delicate, pitiful face.
She looked around, her gaze landing on Li Xie not far away.
"S-Second Senior Brother?"
Li Xie glanced at her but didn't speak, waving his hand to let his subordinates begin.
A demon subordinate quickly stepped forward and struck Su Lingxi's hands with a streak of dark red demonic spiritual energy.
"Ah!"
Su Lingxi cried out in pain, her fair hands instantly becoming red and swollen.
Immediately after, the magical artifact ring that had been in an invisible state slowly revealed its form.
The demon subordinate's eyes lit up. He hurriedly reached out and yanked the ring off Su Lingxi's hand.
"Hey, stop! Give me back my spirit ring right now, stop!"
Su Lingxi panicked.
She had obtained this spirit ring by chance in a secret location within the Luoxian Sect.
It contained a highly miraculous aura energy that had constantly been nourishing her soul and body.
It was an absolutely unique treasure!
She was afraid of being discovered, so she had specifically asked her master to set up a concealment array on it to carry it with her.
How could it be discovered by these people?
