After speaking, the locust demon stepped forward, and auspicious light illuminated his face.

His voice was aged, but his appearance was unexpectedly young. However, he was extremely ugly—with a wide mouth and pig nose, small eyes and yellow teeth. When he put on a ferocious expression, it caused the several young celestial deities, who were accustomed to seeing beauties, to feel a wave of revulsion.

Xuan Yi covered her mouth with her sleeve and shrank back a bit, then suddenly said firmly in a small voice: “Mm, we can’t leave Senior Martial Sister Yan Xia for him.”

…Could it be that she had actually been considering leaving Yan Xia behind just now?

Fucang suddenly stamped his foot lightly, and the cave immediately began to tremble violently. Following this came overwhelming azure sword light. That locust demon indeed had no real martial skills, and with the ground shaking, he dodged quite awkwardly. Caught off guard, two sword lights pierced through his arms, forcibly pushing him backward. Immediately after, countless sword lights struck him full force, pinning him firmly against the cave wall. The Phoenix Nirvana Fire once again ignited all his hair and clothing.

Who knew that he would immediately transform into a mass of black ash again, reconsolidating into human form nearby, completely unharmed. Looking at the locust demon’s smug expression, Fucang’s brows slowly furrowed. For some reason, he was reminded of those continuously healing hands of the Fangfeng Clan.

The locust demon laughed coldly several times: “My injuries can heal endlessly, but your divine power has limits. To fight the infinite with the finite is not the act of a wise person. This young one from the Zhuyin Clan is still young with shallow divine power—at most she can only protect you all for several days from my illusion techniques. If I were intent on killing, spending several years here wearing you down would not be difficult. Right now I’m sincerely letting you few go. Just leave the Chi Di Princess behind, and it’s already a great mercy.”

Although they were unwilling to admit it, what he said was absolutely correct. None of them had reached the realm of one dream lasting a thousand years with formlessness and boundlessness. This locust demon somehow couldn’t be killed. Even if they forcibly stayed, once Xuan Yi’s divine power was exhausted, they’d be like turtles in a jar. But to leave Yan Xia for this ugly monster seemed even more unacceptable to them.

Xuan Yi sighed softly, sat up straight, and said: “Mister Locust Demon, the so-called laws of heaven and earth all have their measure. I’ve never believed there’s any infinite power in this world. Even with the might of the great lord Chiyou back then, he still met with destruction. …Could it be that you’ve been deceived?”

That locust demon had thought she would say some harsh words, but who knew she would suddenly come out with a line about him being deceived. For a moment, he had a feeling of not knowing how to respond. This young goddess from the Zhuyin Clan had clear and beautiful features with a slender and delicate figure. The goddess behind her was also dignified, beautiful, and full of spirit. This was his first time seeing true celestial goddesses from the upper realm. He hadn’t looked carefully just now, but now facing such beauty, he was somewhat unable to control himself.

He had always loved beautiful women, but unfortunately, being born ugly, not a single female demon was willing to approach him. When desire burned in his heart, he would go capture mortal women, and after finishing with them, he would angrily eat them. Fortunately, there was Yan Xia who descended to the mortal realm—of noble status and delicate beauty. He fancied that only a goddess was worthy of matching himself, and no matter what, he had to get his hands on her. He hadn’t expected to trick two true celestial goddesses from the upper realm to come here. He wanted to monopolize them all, but unfortunately one of them was from the Zhuyin Clan, and he wasn’t so audacious as to provoke the Zhuyin Clan.

The locust demon was troubled for a while, yet also unable to suppress his lustful desire. After a long time, he suddenly said: “No, you must also leave behind that goddess in the yellow dress! Everyone else can go!”

Zhi Xi immediately bristled with anger and shouted furiously: “Dream on!”

Xuan Yi smiled and said: “Mister Locust Demon, I’m talking to you. Why aren’t you responding to me?”

The locust demon, hearing her speak in such a soft and gentle voice, felt half his body go soft. He responded: “How could I not respond to you… But regarding your words, how should I answer? In short, you cannot harm me, and I don’t wish to commit the act of killing superior gods either. But a strong dragon cannot suppress a local snake. If you want to leave, you must give me some benefits. Leave behind the Chi Di’s young princess and this goddess in the yellow dress, and I guarantee I won’t let them suffer the slightest harm.”

Xuan Yi frowned and said: “Why don’t you ask me to stay? Am I not good-looking?”

The locust demon’s eyes gleamed intensely: “You’re willing to stay?! No… you can’t stay. The Zhuyin Clan is immune to all methods. My illusion techniques have no effect on you. …You would surely find me ugly.”

Xuan Yi looked him up and down with distaste and laughed: “You are a bit ugly… Mm, come here, let me get a good look at you.”

She beckoned to him.

Relying on his own abilities, the locust demon was actually unafraid. He immediately walked slowly to her. This young goddess sat properly and elegantly on the ground, her deep purple long robes spreading out like a flower. On her jade-porcelain face there wasn’t a trace of disgust. Instead, she looked up at him very seriously and carefully, her smiling gaze making his aged demon heart beat fiercely.

Suddenly he heard her ask gently: “Mister Locust Demon, this ability to repeatedly heal—is it because you’ve fallen into the demonic path? Did you ingest fragments that fell from the divine realm and become like this?”

The locust demon knew she was trying to extract information from him. He was fearless and simply said: “Over these many years, countless fragments have fallen from the divine realm. Although ingesting them can all increase cultivation, only the fragments that fell in these past three hundred years can grant demon clans the ability to repeatedly heal. Three hundred years ago, I was just an ordinary locust demon living on a mountaintop, absorbing the essence of the sun and moon daily to cultivate. Heaven had eyes—that day a fragment the size of a water vat fell from the divine realm. Although it smashed away more than half my branches and leaves, I was blessed by this misfortune and gained my current cultivation level.”

Xuan Yi chuckled softly: “But forcibly detaining goddesses—the upper realm will eventually find out. Aren’t you afraid of having your form and soul completely destroyed?”

The locust demon said proudly: “With the Sea of Parting Regret falling, the divine realm has no time to manage these matters for now. By the time they come down, I’ll have long since succeeded in dual cultivation of yin and yang, my cultivation raised countless levels. What would I have to fear?”

Xuan Yi nodded: “Indeed. It really would be better to kill you today.”

The locust demon was slightly startled and suddenly felt bone-chilling cold throughout his body. His two legs somehow had been frozen to the ground without his knowledge, and his body couldn’t transform into black ash to escape. The next moment, Chun Jun transformed into countless cold lights that came twisting toward him. Even Zhi Xi somehow produced a transparent soft sword from somewhere, and with a flick of her wrist, entangled him with it.

Shao Yi said with a smiling expression: “Little Loach still has more tricks. Locust demon, let’s see if this fire can make you suffer injury.”

At his fingertip suddenly appeared a tiny cluster of flames. The color was completely different from the previous bright Phoenix Nirvana Fire—it was actually a ghostly blue. With a flick of his finger, this small cluster of flames shot toward the locust demon as swift as a meteor, soundlessly. He screamed miserably, and in an instant half his body was engulfed by the blue fire.

Earlier, when ground up by Chun Jun, crushed by the soft sword, and burned by Phoenix Nirvana Fire, the locust demon had remained completely silent. Who knew this blue fire would actually burn him into continuous screaming? Yet his feet were frozen by Zhuyin White Snow, so if he wanted to transform into black ash to escape, he could only abandon these feet.

Shao Yi nodded with satisfaction: “Looks like it’s effective.”

Xuan Yi asked curiously: “Senior Martial Brother Shao Yi, what fire is that?”

Shao Yi explained very patiently: “Phoenix Nirvana Fire has two kinds of divine power—destruction and regeneration. That blue fire is what I got after extracting the regeneration divine power, leaving only the power of destruction. Unfortunately my divine power is insufficient, so I can only burn half his body… Oh my, he seems about to escape.”

As he spoke, the locust demon’s eyes suddenly turned vicious. He forcibly severed the legs frozen by Zhuyin White Snow, his body transforming into a mass of black ash as he said harshly: “If you insist on seeking your own deaths, I’ll accompany you in this standoff!”

Just as he was about to plunge into the cave wall—once inside, they had no ability to dig him out again—in that instant, Fucang, Zhi Xi, and Shao Yi all moved. No matter what, they had to intercept him here!

Xuan Yi also very much wanted to move, but unfortunately her right leg couldn’t muster strength. She could only adjust the loose golden ring.

Suddenly, as if a giant hand had struck hard from outside the sealed cave wall, immediately followed by a low yet cold voice that abruptly rang out: “A Yi, are you inside?”