Er’er felt like a little radish head, pressed against the great master’s chest and unable to move. But his embrace was truly reassuring—the surrounding death resentment and the formation’s killing energy were all kept at bay, giving her a moment to catch her breath.

Licking the taste of rust at the corner of her mouth, Er’er clutched his clothes tightly.

Great master, protect me!

The fabric at his chest was crumpled in her hand, creating a strange feeling of weight. Li Ye’s eyelids lowered slightly, just in time to see the lightly trembling strands of hair on the back of her head.

Fine and soft, with a faint brownish tint where the light shone through.

He unconsciously reached out to touch it.

However, before his hand reached its target, a crisp “crack” sounded from in front of them.

Dozens of phantom Snake Tail blades dispersed, and the last true blade, carrying the power of thunder, fiercely pierced through his protective shield.

Kan Yuan’s face had already turned ashen, and the spiritual energy around his body was being frantically devoured by the surrounding death resentment. But his eyes remained fixed on Li Ye, with crimson blood vessels gradually spreading to his pupils.

…

…

“You’ve finally come out. Good, good,” he said hoarsely. “Then give me back my master’s life!”

The last word carried a sharp screech that grated on the ears, stirring the surrounding death resentment into a frenzy. Kan Yuan shouted and raised his hand, his immortal power bursting forth. The surrounding resentful energy instantly soared up in the form of a hornless dragon, carrying snow and wind as it let out a long howl and charged straight at Li Ye’s face with the Snake Tail blade.

Around them, darkness fell like a solar eclipse, the killing energy churning, blocking all spiritual energy replenishment. Er’er, buried in the great master’s embrace, couldn’t help but shudder.

To use death resentment to slay a god—even if successful, it would end in complete annihilation. Who would have thought that someone as calculating as Kan Ze would have such a devoted disciple?

This meant the great master was in danger.

Even the strongest supreme god needed spiritual energy replenishment—proper circulation was the key to limitless power. Without replenishment, the great master was like a fish out of water; no matter how formidable, he was bound to fail.

Her eyes darting, Er’er immediately pulled back her sleeve and presented her wrist to Li Ye.

“Quickly, take a bite, I still have some immortal power left,” she looked up, glancing between him and the approaching Snake Tail blade behind them. “Hurry, there’s no time left!”

Li Ye looked at her with a complex expression.

Did this low-level immortal have some misunderstanding about immortal power replenishment? Using one’s teeth was called bloodsucking—he wasn’t a leech.

Moreover, her meager amount of immortal power was truly beneath his notice.

With a flip of his hand, he formed a seal without even raising his head, and a fire dragon surged forth.

Then he withdrew his hand and covered the little thing’s ears in his embrace.

Er’er’s world suddenly fell silent. She blinked in confusion, looking at him, only sensing that something seemed to have collided behind her with tremendous force, the vibrations so violent that even the stone beneath her feet shook intensely.

Then, she saw the resentful energy that she had previously feared to approach suddenly rushing toward the great master with delight, vying with each other, faster and in greater numbers than they had rushed toward Kan Ze earlier.

“Master?” Her heart sank, and she instinctively shook her head.

Supreme gods could not make deals with specters. Kan Ze could resort to such a desperate measure because he only had his core left and wouldn’t suffer backlash. But Li Ye couldn’t—he absolutely couldn’t.

The hand clutching his collar suddenly tightened, and Er’er tried to pull him down a bit to advise him. But as she exerted force, the man before her seemed to lose his balance and fall toward her. His cold lips brushed past her cheek, and then he uncomfortably rested his head in the hollow of her shoulder.

“…”

What was he doing?

As powerful as he was, he was now leaning on the shoulder of a little shorty like her to catch his breath. His breathing even sounded somewhat fragile, as if he was already exhausted.

Was the resentful energy here that powerful?

Using all her strength to support him, Er’er was filled with confusion. She quickly looked behind her again.

That terrifying, resentful energy dragon had disappeared. A massive cloud of smoke from the collision still hadn’t completely dissipated in the sky. Kan Yuan lay on the shore, his eyes filled with unwilling resentment as he looked in their direction, his body already crawling with death resentment.

Had they… won?

Even with Kan Yuan sacrificing himself, he still couldn’t defeat Li Ye, who had almost no divine power left.

This great master was truly terrifying.

Shrinking her neck, Er’er instinctively tried to back away, but as soon as she lifted her foot, Li Ye pressed down on her.

“Don’t move.”

Kan Yuan had already been consumed by the death resentment’s backlash, but behind him, death resentment continued to surge forth. Guessing the scene wouldn’t be pleasant to watch, he didn’t want her to see it.

But Er’er wasn’t a fool. Seeing how the surrounding resentful energy was being attracted and swirling as if drawn by something, she frowned and struggled: “Master, stop this at once!”

“Mm.” Responding with a low sound, Li Ye raised his hand and covered her eyes.

Wasn’t this just hiding the truth in plain sight? Er’er was so anxious she could tear her hair out: “Death resentment makes people lose their minds and go berserk. Since Kan Yuan can no longer threaten our lives, you can just stop. Let me think of a solution.”

The person holding her laughed softly.

Was that a sign of looking down on her? Er’er was so angry that she wanted to stamp her feet. She had been willing to risk exposing Kan Ze’s immortal power to save him, yet he looked down on her!

What’s so great about being a supreme god anyway?

Just as she was about to speak again, Er’er suddenly sensed a powerful divine energy flowing into her body. That full, moistening feeling washed through all her injured meridians, like a sweet rain instantly smoothing over cracked earth.

The external wounds on her body healed one by one, and the depleted immortal power in her dantian was replenished. Er’er opened her mouth in astonishment, and after a moment of stiffness, she obediently closed it again.

Sorry, being a supreme god was impressive.

In such a critical situation, he was willing to spend so much divine power to heal her wounds.

So much for cold and heartless—blessed by his grace, Er’er now wanted to declare that Great Master Li Ye was the kindest god in the highest heavens!

The surrounding resentful energy gradually thinned. The intimidating Killing God Formation, due to the lack of death resentment, suddenly revealed its weak point. Li Ye raised his head, coolly surveying the formation, and made a disdainful snort.

Then he reached up and forcibly tore the formation apart at its most solid point.

Sunlight suddenly broke through, penetrating the clouds. The Kan clan immortals who had been lying in ambush outside no longer had any desire to charge forward. They exchanged glances and scattered in retreat.

Kan Ze had once told them that if one day he disappeared, they should use the collective power of all the immortals to set up this formation, and he would have a way to lure Li Ye into it. They had followed his instructions and knew the young master’s decision was sound—after all, no supreme god could escape the Killing God Death Formation. Even Kan Yuan had entered with the resolve to die.

But no one had anticipated that Li Ye, cut off from immortal power replenishment, would choose to use resentful energy instead.

Yes, Kan Yuan had made a sacrificial deal with death resentment, using his divine soul as an offering to borrow the power of death resentment for revenge, but Li Ye hadn’t.

He had absorbed the resentful energy as if it were immortal power.

No immortal could do this. They couldn’t understand how Li Ye had accomplished it, but everyone knew that once the formation was broken, no one in the Kan clan could match him.

The sooner they ran, the better.

A pillar of fire emerged from the Upper Ren Palace, piercing through the sky. The Kan clan immortals, who had been enjoying a divine shower, suddenly tensed and turned toward the palace in confusion.