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Last time he was here, the back mountain, which the foxes used to raise their young, had been as beautiful as a painting. Now, it was nothing but rubble.

The demon-yao army had occupied the area, and they now stared down the Upheaval Alliance and Profound Pavilion’s forces. In terms of presence and momentum, Ye Zichen’s group naturally didn’t lose to them, but in terms of numbers? Ye Zichen’s group was outnumbered ten to one, if not more.

Gu Li smiled calmly and sent his subordinates away, but Ye Zichen’s group only scowled.

“What kind of game is this?” pressed Ye Zichen.

“Please, Brother Ye, stay calm. You came all the way here from the River Styx, and I know you must be tired, so I prepared a gift to help you clear your head.” Looking at Gu Li’s smile, Ye Zichen couldn’t help but feel a chill run down his spine. He, Xuan Ji, and the others looked at each other. All of them had a deep sense of foreboding.

This was the Nine-tailed Fox Clan!

The demons and hostile yao had set up this deep into their territory, yet there was no sign of ongoing resistance. There was no trace of the Fox Empress or the elders, nor were there any traces of the other Sacred Beast Clans’ reinforcements.

Gu Li’s group were walking freely throughout fox territory, without the slightest scruples or reservations.

“What exactly happened to Su Qingyan?” Xuan Ji knit her brows.

“Didn’t I tell you not to be in such a hurry? You’ll see them soon.”

When they heard that, Ye Zichen’s group felt their hearts sink even further. Before long, they saw movement in the ruined, devastated forests. Gu Li’s subordinates had returned alongside a group of figures with hoods, bags really, covering their heads. They couldn’t see, so Gu Li’s subordinates were dragging them along.

The new arrivals stood in a row. There were at least twenty of them.

A few of the hostages with bags on their heads struggled, but they couldn’t break free from the demon experts’ grasp.

Gu Li, grinning broadly, walked up to one of them at random and muttered, “Let’s see who this is, shall we?” He tugged the hood off the figure’s head, revealing an elder. His face was a mash of bloodied flesh, and blood dripped from his mouth and nose in a non-stop stream.

“Zhuge Qing!” After the dragon elder, the next to appear before them was an elder of the vermillion birds, Zhuge Qing.

The instant they saw him, no matter how unwilling they were to admit it, Ye Zichen and his companions knew: the foxes had been defeated! And thoroughly at that!

Xuan Ji’s eyes went bloodshot. She was close personal friends with the foxes’ leaders. “What did you do to Su Qingyan and Su Wan?”

“Them….?” Gu Li tilted his head. “Just sit tight, I’ll go find them for you.”

Gu Li plucked one hood off after another. With every revealed captive, their hearts sank even further. The heads of the Xuanwu, White Tiger, Heavenly Dog clans… All the top experts of the Eastern Alliance’s Sacred Beast Clans had been captured. None of them were conscious, and all were practically on the verge of death.

“Demon Emperor!” Ye Zichen’s gaze turned to Demon Emperor Kui Lin. Of those on Gu Li’s side, only Kui Lin was strong enough to do something like that.

Then, Gu Li pulled off yet another hood.

“Nngh….” This time, it was a young woman. In comparison with the Sacred Beast Clan elders’ heavy injuries, she was in relatively good shape, with no sign of wounds of any kind. Even her clothes were orderly and intact. The only thing unusual about her was that there was no trace of divine power about her, and her voice had been sealed; she could only whimper.

After he removed the hood, they saw the young woman below’s eyes widen. She stared at Gu Li, her eyes practically bursting into flame. Her neck went completely straight, and her little face was as fierce as could be.

When he saw her face, Ye Zichen’s hands instantly started trembling. “Ke….Keke….”

She seemed to hear him; at the sound of his voice, she turned to look at him. She instantly grew agitated, and started struggling so hard, the demon expert restraining her struggled to keep a hold of her.

Her voice was sealed, so she couldn’t speak. She could only stare at Ye Zichen, wide-eyed, and repeatedly shake her head.

Ye Zichen tightly clenched his fists, and his aura grew incredibly agitated and explosive.

“Gu Li!”

“You’re upset after just this?” Sensing Ye Zichen’s rising fury, Gu Li turned to him and laughed. “Brother Ye, you’d best calm yourself. If you’re losing your temper already, I’m afraid that after what comes next, your blood pressure’ll go through the roof.”

With that, he plucked off yet another hood.

The girl below was incredibly calm. She didn’t struggle or fuss, and there was no sign of emotion on her face.

“Su Yan!” It was only when she heard Ye Zichen’s furious roar that she turned to look at him, her eyes wide with disbelief.

But quickly, she reacted just like Xia Keke, shaking her head repeatedly.

“This time, I really picked the right one, huh? Next…..”

He pulled off another bag.

“Big Sister Liu’er!”

“Sister-in-law!” Ye Zichen and the Great Sage shouted in unison, especially the Great Sage. There were even real flames visibly blazing in his eyes.

“You’re courting death!” The Great Sage had always had a temper, and when he saw that Su Liu’er had been captured, he swung his staff without a second thought.

The instant he attacked, the Special Emissaries of the Left and Right, as well as the King of the West, simultaneously intervened.

Bang!

They sent the staff-wielding Great Sage flying over a hundred meters back. At the same time, the other demon experts each took a step forward.

“Want to show off?” One of them snorted. “You oughta first take a look around and see whose territory this is.”

As the demons took action, Ye Zichen and the imperial-level experts at his side’s expressions grew solemn. But it didn’t matter whether they considered overall numbers or just the number of experts; they were far inferior to the vast demon-yao horde. The three strongest among them, Xuan Ji, the Great Sage, and Su Yiyun, the new Emperor Hades, each felt at least three imperial-level presences locking onto them. The others all had at least two comparable experts staring directly at them too.

“Great Sage, calm down!”

“Monkey, don’t be reckless!” Ye Zichen and Yang Jian sent him simultaneous translations. All of them were angry, without exception. Especially Ye Zichen...

Gu Li had taken Su Yan and Xia Keke hostage. Ye Zichen was, of course, more frantic than anyone.

But there was no way they could turn this around through their force. They had to keep watching. Gu Li had brought his captives here precisely for the sake of provoking Ye Zichen’s group, but he undoubtedly had other reasons too.

The Great Sage’s eyes flashed. Su Liu’er was the woman his brother loved more than anyone else in the world. Yuan Hong had loved Su Liu’er so much that he’d sacrificed his life for her without so much as batting an eye or furrowing his brow. His brother was already dead, but were he here right now to see Su Liu’er in this state, he would have attacked without regard for his own life.

Fists tightly clenched, the Great Sage gnashed his teeth and forcefully suppressed his building rage.

When he saw that none of Ye Zichen’s companions were going to take action, Gu Li laughed gleefully, then gestured to those beside him.

All of them, both demon and yao, took several steps back. Gu Li then rubbed his hands through his hair, twisted his neck and said, “Take off all their hoods. Show my dear Brother Ye just how grand this gift really is!”