Dong Yuan also knew his mother was far more shrewd than his father’s god.

This time, his divine essence was damaged in the mortal realm, making it nearly impossible to return to the heavenly realm. If his mother hadn’t detected this in time and disguised the guiding divine light as a ray of sunlight hitting the ship’s bow, he would still be trapped in the mortal realm.

The trouble he had caused this time was considerable. Without his mother’s intervention, it would be difficult to resolve…

Thinking of this, he finally knelt and said to Heavenly Mother Rong Yao in a low voice, “Mother, the demon clan has revived again. A floating island with demon clan survivors has appeared in the mortal realm, deceiving humans of their lifespans to nurture demon embryos. Moreover… the demon clan temple’s sacred light has been rekindled. I fear the restraining troubles for the Heavenly Court will reappear…”

Upon hearing this, Heavenly Mother Saint Rong Yao could no longer concern herself with her son’s romantic entanglements, only saying solemnly, “How could this happen? Didn’t the heavenly generals slaughter the demon city back then, and wasn’t the divine tree in that temple completely burned to ashes?”

Dong Yuan was also recalling that period: At the time, Wei Feng was unwilling to massacre the city and wanted to rush to the Heavenly Emperor to plead for the demon clan. But she was blocked and detained by him. When the city massacre began, Wei Feng knew the situation was hopeless and wisely requested to handle the aftermath.

At that time, he thought Wei Feng had changed her mind and understood his feelings, so he let her go.

That temple… it was Wei Feng who handled the aftermath, and she lit the fire to burn the divine tree.

But was the piece of wood she burned the demon clan’s lifeline?

Only now did Dong Yuan realize that from the beginning, Wei Feng had been deceiving him with false affection, secretly preserving the demon clan’s lifeline!

Wei Feng! How dare you!

The heavenly mother and son felt somewhat overwhelmed, while the floating demon island below was also bustling with activity.

Seeing demon embryos breaking through the earth one after another, everyone present felt their scalps tighten.

The timid little fox kept stretching its neck and squeaking endlessly. Tang Youshu hurriedly translated for the chattering little fox, “Ling’er says there are too many demon clan members emerging here. With Xiaoxiao just hanging in mid-air like that, could she be bewitched by demon illusions? If she turns against us like Master did last time, we’d be in trouble. The few of us wouldn’t be enough to fill the demons’ bellies or pick their teeth!”

His tone of speech was exactly like Yu Ling’er’s. Wei Jie couldn’t help but ask, “She only squeaked twice, yet you can translate such a long passage?”

Tang Youshu honestly replied, “She didn’t say that much, but based on my understanding of her, I roughly guessed it!”

Wei Jie glanced sideways and snorted coldly. In his view, Tang Youshu was the one possessed by demons now. That little fox seemed to have already taken over his body – he had the tone down perfectly!

But he had no mind to worry about his disciple’s theatrics now. The key was how to get Xiaoxiao down!

The demon clan divine tree bloodline within her seemed to be awakening, then uncontrollably fulfilling the duties of a demon clan saintess,催生ing the underground demon embryos to be born.

So he had to awaken her and not let her be controlled by the temple.

Thinking of this, Wei Jie closed his eyes and let the demon pearl within his body control him. In just an instant, his entire body was again covered in black scales, wrapped in demonic energy, and then he leaped up, heading straight for Xiaoxiao.

Having experienced several demonic transformations, Wei Jie wasn’t as completely uncontrollable as in his past life, still retaining clarity of mind.

When he jumped before Xiaoxiao and reached out to embrace her waist, before he could get close, he was violently struck back to the ground by the spiritual power Xiaoxiao dispersed.

That hard Xi Rang was smashed into a deep crater by Wei Jie.

Tang Youshu, having lost his demon pearl, couldn’t help his master. He could only crouch by the crater’s edge and call down, “Master! How are you? Are you alright?”

Wei Jie reached out his large hand from the crater and leaped out in one bound.

Human demons and naturally born demon clan were different – Wei Jie had a deep understanding of this now.

Moreover, Xiaoxiao was a demon clan saintess. Once fully awakened, her strength was not to be underestimated.

Even the five phoenix guardian spirits left by Wei Feng were keeping their distance. They could devour demons, but facing truly pure-blooded demons, they were so intimidated they dared not even approach.

Because true demons, like primordial great gods, were all from the same lineage, how could they be devoured by divine beasts?

Wei Jie similarly couldn’t get close. But if he let Xiaoxiao sink further, completely controlled by the demon clan bloodline, how would she differ from a queen ant or bee queen that only knew reproduction?

But how should he awaken Xiaoxiao?

Wei Jie gazed intently at the golden light emanating from the golden-winged girl in mid-air, suddenly raising his thick brows as he remembered something…

He turned to Tang Youshu and asked, “Do you have Buddhist scriptures?”

The walking treasure chest scholar, Tang, pointed to a bamboo basket not far away that had been submerged by seawater, “I had some… but now I don’t know where they’ve been washed away by the seawater.”

However, Tang Youshu immediately added, “Master, if you need them, I can recite them from memory right now!”

Wei Jie said in a deep voice, “Your recitation won’t work. Quick! Write them on the ground!”

As he spoke, he handed his Heaven’s Punishment Sword to Tang Youshu.

The soil on this island was hard – ordinary swords probably couldn’t carve out traces.

Who says scholars are useless? One only realizes how little Buddhist scripture they’ve memorized when they need it!

Tang Youshu gripped the precious sword and quickly wrote from memory the Diamond Sutra he knew by heart on the flat ground.

Wei Jie took a deep breath, imitating Emperor Gu Yan from the phantom he had seen, channeling his energy to sit cross-legged, also floating above ground, taking in all the scriptures Tang Youshu had written across a large area.

He silently channeled spiritual energy to his dantian, then opened his mouth and began reciting Buddhist scriptures.

The sound wrapped in spiritual energy, like ancient temple bells, slowly and rhythmically emanated melodies that reached directly to the heart.

These Buddhist scripture melodies soon floated upward, surrounding the golden-winged girl.

Wei Jie didn’t know if this method would work. But when the saintess’s demon meridian was still nurturing in that black lotus on the Wangchuan River surface, it was daily influenced by Emperor Gu Yan’s Buddhist scripture recitations.

Goddess Wei Feng had once said that reciting Buddhist scriptures would suppress the demon clan’s innate murderous nature, making them understand kindness and goodness.

Wei Feng had originally sacrificed herself to feed the tiger for this very reason.

Wei Jie knew that reciting Buddhist scriptures required focused concentration, so he dared not be distracted or make mistakes. Accompanied by Tang Youshu’s rapid, flowing writing, Wei Jie’s scripture recitation grew louder and louder, even causing the seawater below the island to resonate.

Since growing wings, Xiaoxiao had been controlled by her newly awakened demon clan bloodline, her consciousness also sinking into chaos.

But at some unknown time, a faint voice seemed to penetrate through layers of golden light wrapping, gradually seeping through bit by bit.

That deep voice carried endless familiarity. Her surging bloodline seemed to gradually merge and synchronize with that voice, as if from ancient times, she had been surrounded by such a voice…

Gradually, Xiaoxiao couldn’t help but flutter her wings, floating uncertainly as she tried to find the direction of the voice. When that voice drew nearer, she couldn’t help but want to get closer to it, even closer.

When she nestled into a familiar, warm embrace, her entire heart settled down.

Something soft like feathers seemed to be wandering over her eyelids, cheeks, and lips.

Ticklish, making one want to giggle… Xiaoxiao struggled to open her eyes, only to discover she was being embraced by a man whose cheeks were covered in black scales.

No… to be precise, she was using her golden wings to tightly embrace them both, forming a large golden cocoon.

At this moment, they were both floating in mid-air, tightly embracing each other. The thick golden wings isolated them from the wind, rain, and terrifying waves outside, leaving only the two of them.

Xiaoxiao let Wei Jie kiss her, still somewhat dizzy, “Wei Jie, I just heard a beautiful Buddhist scripture, like wine, intoxicating…”

Wei Jie fiercely kissed the intoxicated girl. She would never know that when she ascended to the sky, his heart had followed her high into the air.

He even had the illusion that this golden-winged girl would leave him unexpectedly, just like the little black phoenix in his past life.

Thinking of this, he couldn’t help but embrace the girl in his arms tightly again, “If you love listening, I’ll recite them to you every night…”

Looking at Wei Jie’s face, Xiaoxiao suddenly felt that even with half his face covered in black scales, he looked even more wickedly handsome.

If such a handsome, imposing, well-developed man were in bed at midnight, using him only to recite scriptures – wouldn’t that be brain-damaged?

Wei Jie’s scripture recitation had dissolved her demon clan bloodline triggered by the temple, but the romantic atmosphere generated when they were alone together was completely scared away by the mass of dark demon clan people on the ground after the golden wings folded.

“How can there be so many demon clan people?” Xiaoxiao couldn’t help but ask in amazement.

Wei Jie said expressionlessly, “Not many, not few – they were all triggered by you. Now they’re kneeling below, waiting to pay respects to you, their demon clan saintess.”

Looking at the devout demon clan people on the ground led by Lady Fu, Xiaoxiao felt her scalp explode.

Even if her demon clan bloodline had awakened, she had no desire to be this so-called demon clan saintess. Moreover, she had seen Lady Fu’s vicious disregard for human life. To make her the leader of these evil people – forgive her, she couldn’t do it!

Now that the divine statue was in their hands, Dong Yuan couldn’t possibly use it for evil.

Xiaoxiao wanted to quickly leave this demon island with Wei Jie and the others.

So when Lady Fu, with her festering face, tearfully confessed her previous offenses to her, Xiaoxiao only took a deep breath and said, “You should confess to those innocent people who were deceived onto the demon island. Although they were driven by greed, their crimes didn’t deserve death. For your selfish interests, you deceived so many people’s lifespans. Now, being backlash by poisonous blood is your own doing. I’m not your saintess or anything. I am who I am – Cui Xiaoxiao, disciple of the Talismonger Sect.”

Hearing her words, Tang Youshu looked up with delight.

Since the master and disciple had their falling out, Cui Xiaoxiao had refused to acknowledge her Talismonger Sect identity, only wanting to establish her sect.

Unexpectedly, she now personally acknowledged herself as a Talismonger Sect disciple again. The excitement in Tang Youshu’s heart was no less than when Wei Jie first accepted him as a disciple.

This kind of master who needed disciple recognition was probably a first in history.

However, hearing Xiaoxiao’s words, Lady Fu crawled forward excitedly, “You are our demon clan’s saintess, shouldering the重任 of reviving the demon clan and seeking血债 from the heavenly realm. This is your destiny, something you cannot shirk!”

Wei Jie was too lazy to listen to this festering woman try to persuade Xiaoxiao. He raised his hand and swept, immediately shocking Lady Fu away.

When Lady Fu fell to the ground, those kneeling demon clan people immediately bared their sharp fangs and pointed ears, wanting to tear Wei Jie apart.

But when Xiaoxiao stood protectively in front of Wei Jie, they retreated repeatedly, only able to bare their teeth and threaten Wei Jie.

Just then, several fox clan people shouted, “Look! This island is slowly descending! The surrounding barrier has also opened!”

As they shouted, the island was already slowly descending.

It seemed that after Wei Jie awakened Xiaoxiao, the island lost its floating power.

Otherwise, according to the previous situation, this island would have floated to the nine clouds, directly charging the Heavenly Court, then, as Lady Fu said, Xiaoxiao would lead this batch of newly born demon army in a life-and-death battle with the unprepared heavenly gods…

Now that Xiaoxiao had been awakened by Wei Jie and the demon island’s barrier was open, if they didn’t leave now, when would they?

So Wei Jie swung his Heaven’s Punishment Sword, carved out a path, then pulled Xiaoxiao and led Tang Youshu and the others quickly to the dock where they had previously landed.

There, one or two ships that hadn’t been swept away by the giant waves were still moored.

Once they all jumped aboard, Xiaoxiao could use wind-summoning talismans to drive the sails and smoothly leave the island.

But just then, Lady Fu also led numerous demon clan people to gather at the dock. For some reason, they seemed unable to leave the island, only able to cling to the dock, stretching out long arms, seemingly wanting to召唤 back their saintess.

Lady Fu was also in tears, shouting hoarsely, “Saintess! How can you abandon us? Without you, how can our demon clan’s血仇 be avenged?”

That scene of thousands of ghosts wailing made one’s scalp tingle. Seeing Xiaoxiao still looking, Wei Jie simply turned her head and held her in his embrace.

On the island, when Xiaoxiao’s demon clan bloodline awakened, Wei Jie had sensed that such an Xiaoxiao seemed very far from him.

This gambler’s island seemed to bring various misfortunes to those who landed on it. Wei Jie didn’t want Xiaoxiao to have even the slightest connection with the demon clan on this island.

Although he also knew that his past life was Emperor Gu Yan, the immortal who managed the Underworld and subdued demons, while Xiaoxiao was the greatest demon among the demon clan.

They both seemed to carry destinies on their shoulders, and their destinies seemed to conflict with each other.

If that was the case, then let the past life remain in the past.

What did Emperor Gu Yan and the demon clan saintess have to do with him, Wei Jie, and Cui Xiaoxiao?

He had always been free-spirited and unrestrained, and now this inherent nature remained unchanged. Even the heaviest burden could be cast aside at will!

As for the immortal-demon war, let it be fought in chaos. If the immortals in heaven were all like Dong Yuan, there should indeed be someone to rebel against them, lest their peaceful days be too leisurely, leading them to descend to the mortal realm to cheat and deceive!

The wind Xiaoxiao summoned was very fierce, quickly taking this ship away from that demon island.

When they could no longer see the demon island shrouded in dark clouds, Wei Jie looked down at Xiaoxiao, only to see her eyes filled with tears.

He immediately cupped her face. Before he could ask, Xiaoxiao spoke first, “I… don’t know why I’m crying. I just feel full of attachments to that island… Damn it, is this saintess bloodline so strong? I feel like I’ve become the mother of several thousand water yakshas?”

Upon hearing this, Tang Youshu, who was drinking water nearby, couldn’t help but spray out the water he had just swallowed.

The result was not wasted at all – it all sprayed onto the face of the little fox who was looking up at him with its neck stretched, causing the little fox to squeak in alarm again.

Xiaoxiao wiped away her tears, trying hard to ignore the throbbing brought by her awakened bloodline.

She now had more important people to care about. Yu Ling’er had sacrificed her inner core to save Tang Youshu and could now never transform back into human form. Even if she wanted to cultivate again, it wouldn’t be like before.

And foxes had limited lifespans. Tang Youshu might very well see his black-haired self sending off a white-furred fox, which would be another unbearable tragedy.

Thinking of this, Xiaoxiao touched her lower abdomen and said to Wei Jie, “I still have one of your demon pearls inside me. What would happen if I gave it to Yu Ling’er?”

Wei Jie didn’t even need to think before giving his answer, “This demon pearl is extremely powerful and not everyone can control it. You saw what happened to Qin He – although he gained the demon pearl to extend his life, in the end, he was controlled by it and became a puppet who died for it. Yu Ling’er has a shallow foundation and isn’t very bright. If you give her the demon pearl, she’ll probably become a人-eating demon fox, and the first one she’ll eat will be your Master Tang!”

Xiaoxiao knew Wei Jie made sense. There was no better solution at the moment, but she had to find a suitable place for the fox clan people to rest and recuperate, then have Tang Youshu remove the fox clan spirit stone from his body so the fox clan could concentrate on cultivation. Perhaps by then, with a place whose feng shui was compatible with the fox clan, the little fox could cultivate well and repair her damaged spiritual platform.

When they disembarked, it was exactly noon.

The demon island’s storms across thousands of miles appeared to the mortals on shore as merely a rainstorm. Although some fishermen who went to sea swore they had seen a golden light shooting straight to the sky, no one believed them. Some even joked that this was the Dragon King manifesting his spirit, going to the Heavenly Court to report, suggesting he should burn some incense at the Dragon King Temple when he had time.

Normally, after a group finished their adventure, they would find a restaurant wafting with delicious aromas and order a table full of dishes to feast heartily.

But now, without Yu Ling’er’s chattering voice, even with a full table of dishes, the food didn’t taste sweet.

Tang Youshu specifically ordered chicken breast and chicken legs that the little fox loved.

But the symptoms of losing her inner core were now becoming apparent. Yu Ling’er only sniffed the chicken’s aroma before breaking free from Tang Youshu’s embrace and running to a corner of the restaurant to vomit.

Some passing merchants entering the restaurant were startled by the little fox that suddenly rushed out and raised their feet to kick it.

Tang Youshu rushed out in one stride, pushing away the merchant, “What are you doing?”

Those people were very displeased, glaring at the fox that kept vomiting, “What? Is this beast yours? It scared me! Shouldn’t you pay some medicine money?” They even reached out to push Tang Youshu.

Wei Jie stood in front of the thin Tang Youshu, raising his thick brows and squinting as he asked, “How much do you want? I’ll pay!”

Wei Jie’s current stature was much taller than before, with an intimidating cold aura between his brows and eyes.

Those merchants couldn’t withstand it and retreated repeatedly, only able to mutter quietly before hurrying away.

Tang Youshu picked up the little white fox. The little white fox seemed hurt in her self-esteem by being called a “beast,” curling into a ball and burying her face in her tail, her body continuously sobbing.

At this moment, the usually slow Yu Ling’er finally understood her situation.

She could only be a fox for this lifetime, a “beast” in others’ eyes. She could never again become a beautiful young woman. Between her and Tang Youshu, it was ultimately impossible…

Xiaoxiao walked over and took the little fox from Tang Youshu’s arms, stroking her dull fur with alarm in her heart.

Because the little fox’s dull fur looked very much like the old Fox King before his death. If things continued this way, Yu Ling’er’s lifespan might be even shorter than they thought.

But there was no way to treat her now. Should they reverse time and return to when Tang Youshu was injured?

However, such precise time manipulation was something even Tang Youshu wasn’t confident about.

After all, the previous time reversal was only approximate. Once time was reversed, if any other anomalies occurred, no one could guarantee anything.

Finally, it was Wei Jie who first thought of a temporary solution: return to Ghost Stone Cliff and find the Eternal Realm.

Time there was constant. After the little white fox entered, time could be frozen to prevent early death. When they found a complete solution, they could bring her out.

After everyone agreed, they prepared to depart.

But before leaving the marketplace, an aged voice called from a corner of the market, “Heroes, I observe your faces are inauspicious, as if great disaster looms. How about it? Would you like to come to this old man’s stall for a divination?”

Xiaoxiao and Wei Jie looked toward the voice and saw a bald monk with a mangy head, wearing a tattered kasaya, sitting in front of a fortune-telling stall with only a Bagua diagram spread out.

Looking at his setup, Xiaoxiao found it rather amusing, “You’re a monk, yet you display a Taoist yin-yang diagram. What’s the reasoning behind this?”

Times were hard, but even when setting up stalls to cheat people with神鬼 nonsense, one should be proper and decent. His mixing of Buddhism and Taoism was really hard to bear.

The old monk tugged at his few sparse hairs and laughed, “Young lady, you have good taste, immediately recognizing this monk’s profundity. People believe in too many things, so this old man, to avoid losing customers, has prepared everything. Not only Buddhism and Taoism, but also various upper gods and minor immortals… Ah, you’re even holding a fox – this monk also has a fox immortal shrine. If you don’t get a divination, it would be a great loss.”

After speaking, he pointed to the shelf behind him, which was indeed filled with various divine statues.

If Xiaoxiao weren’t worried about Yu Ling’er and feeling too heavy-hearted, she might have been amused by the mangy old monk.

But she had no mood for fortune-telling now. Her fate… probably even the greatest immortals couldn’t untangle it.

Unfortunately, among the Talismonger Sect group was someone gullible and gossipy. The listless little fox suddenly poked out her head, struggling to jump down from Tang Youshu’s arms, then swayed unsteadily to sit half-upright in front of the stall.

The old monk, seeing a fox come for fortune-telling, didn’t find it strange at all, smiling as he extended his hand, “Come, let me read your palm.”

So the little white fox very cooperatively extended a fluffy pink paw for the old monk to examine.