The Demon King awoke with a start from the shadows, suddenly looking outside.

Shen Qiyuan had reached the Nine Rivers? Without an imperial decree, he dared to leave the capital on his authority?

Withdrawing his hand that had been casting spells to protect souls, he rose and walked outside the cave, summoning Yunque: “Have there been any unusual movements within the forbidden palace in Lin’an recently?”

Yunque replied: “Everything is as usual, except the Middle Palace is gravely ill. That mortal emperor has been unable to sleep day or night recently, constantly chanting sutras in the Buddhist hall.”

Emperor Qian’an had deep affection and righteous devotion to his first wife, so such a reaction was quite normal. The Demon King nodded: “Has Shen Qiyuan entered the palace?”

“He did a few days ago. It seems there was quite a scene in the Imperial Study. After he left, the emperor flew into a great rage. However, it was only after that day that Great Qian began frequently deploying troops to the Nine Rivers border.”

The Demon King frowned upon hearing this.

He had been preoccupied with saving Liu Ruyi and hadn’t paid attention to Emperor Qian’an for some time, never expecting that this would allow Shen Qiyuan to exploit.

Closing his eyes to concentrate, the Demon King wanted to probe Emperor Qian’an’s dreams again.

“My lord, this is terrible!” A demon rushed in frantically, shrieking: “There are two immortals on the opposite shore who have cut down more than half of our demon soldiers!”

The Demon King’s eyes snapped open. With a roll of his eyeballs, he swept up his sleeves and rose, black mist in his hands enveloping Liu Ruyi’s corpse on the nearby stone bed, carrying it along as he swept out.

Above the Nine Rivers, mist hung heavy, and battle cries shook the heavens. Gray-winged demons flashed through the air, and demons still struggled desperately to climb the iron chains across the river. But under the white light’s coverage, most demons screamed as they fell into the rolling river waters. Wolf demons that had been charging forward with bared fangs one moment exploded into clouds of blood mist in the wind the next.

Shen Qiyuan sat within the formation, using his Azure God power to protect Great Qian’s territory. No matter what kind of demon it was, once it crossed the Nine Rivers, it could hardly escape death.

The demons surging forward gradually discovered that as long as they didn’t cross the river, that sharp white light couldn’t harm them. They began gathering and wandering on the opposite shore.

“This isn’t good,” Ruyi pursed her lips.

The demon race was most united when facing a great calamity. They would cluster together for attacks—even if irresistible divine power killed the outermost layer of demons, the demons wrapped inside could use that brief moment to roll past the defensive white light at the border.

Sure enough, more and more demons gathered on the opposite shore of the Nine Rivers. After layering upon layer, they formed a ball thirty zhang high that rolled across the river surface using the iron chains, heading straight for Great Qian’s city walls.

Shen Qiyuan concentrated his response, his powerful divine force turning the outer five layers of demons in that ball into blood mist. This was already quite a remarkable destructive power, but the remaining demons still entered Great Qian territory and began climbing the newly built city walls.

He bit his finger and continued forming hand seals, sweat faintly appearing on his forehead.

Ruyi watched from the side, jumping anxiously a couple of steps.

If she were still a divine cultivator, she could take his place in the formation at this moment, lending him power while also transmitting demon intelligence to the Nine Heavens, drawing more immortals for support. But now she was a demon and could only helplessly watch as he was trapped in the formation by the demon race’s powerful offensive, unable to move at all.

Fortunately, when Shen Qiyuan was about to be unable to hold on, Song Zhenshan arrived just in time, panting as he said: “I’ve already sent word to the heavens, but your dome barrier is still up—they may not be able to come down.”

Shen Qiyuan’s eyeballs moved slightly. The enormous consumption of divine power made it impossible for him to spare attention to speak.

Song Zhenshan also wanted to understand his thoughts, but after circling him three times, he stamped his feet anxiously: “Can’t you tear open a crack in the dome?”

“He can, but you need to hold the formation for him.” Ruyi flew up and pointed to a corner one zhang behind Shen Qiyuan. “Sit here.”

Song Zhenshan immediately complied.

Originally, nothing could be seen in the room, but as soon as he sat down, a white light one zhang high suddenly erupted around them, rising and falling like waterfalls.

Then Shen Qiyuan extracted a portion of his power and tore open a crack in the dome.

The location he chose was by the Nine Rivers. Heavenly thunder descended through the fissure, instantly striking the demons still crossing the river until they were charred black. Demonic qi rose into the Nine Heavens, and seven or eight True Lords, along with Divine Lords, gracefully descended, casting spells in mid-air to capture demons.

Immortals were natural enemies of demons and should have been easy to deal with, but for some unknown reason, these demons emerging from Great Xia were exceptionally fierce. Even with all these immortals casting spells together, they could only temporarily hold them back beyond the Nine Rivers.

“Great Xia’s sacrificial offerings to demons have always been abundant, plus the Demon King recently supported a prince—the tributes they receive are much more than what Great Qian’s immortals get,” Ruyi said in a low voice. “It’s impossible for just these few immortals to catch them all in one net.”

Song Zhenshan could no longer speak either, but his brow was full of anxiety, and his divine consciousness wavered somewhat.

“Don’t panic.” Seeing he was about to implicate Shen Qiyuan in front, Ruyi quickly said: “If we can’t catch them all in one net, an even match is also good. Leave the rest to Great Qian’s soldiers.”

Neither immortals nor demons could forcibly alter mortal destiny. With both sides canceling each other out, let Wei Zijue and the others decide the outcome on the battlefield.

War drums rose, battle cries shook mountains and rivers. Soldiers from both the Great Qian and the Great Xia fought in the wilderness north of the Nine Rivers. Iron cavalry trampled bones, golden boxes concealed blood. In the fierce morning sun’s silhouettes, some raised their arms in triumph while others collapsed in defeat.

Ruyi saw Wei Zijue. He emerged from beside the commanding general with sword in hand. With one sweep of his blade, his white battle robes were instantly stained red. His pupils brightened as his entire being became excited.

This was the opportunity to recover the territory north of the Nine Rivers that his father had waited his entire lifetime for but never received.

Gripping the sword hilt tightly in his palm, he spurred his horse into a wild charge, cutting down every enemy he encountered. When his sword blade became dulled, he seized enemy blades; when knives were chipped, he picked up another suitable weapon.

Wei Zijue wore a deputy general’s battle robes but charged ahead of even the common soldiers. With such a person leading the formation, Great Qian’s morale soared, and even after half an hour of battle, they had not fallen to a disadvantage.

But Ruyi knew that Great Qian had been long out of practice with warfare, and their reinforcements weren’t as fast as Great Xia’s. In a few more hours, they would have to retreat and defend the city walls. If Wei Zijue charged so far ahead and got surrounded, it would be a dead end.

Shen Qiyuan’s eyes moved slightly within the formation.

Ruyi saw this and said irritably, “Don’t worry, I won’t go over there.”

He raised his brows.

“I only promised to help him fulfill his wish, not to protect his lifelong safety.” She snorted. “His wish is to fight across the Nine Rivers and recover lost territory. I’ve already sent him to the battlefield—whether he lives or dies is his fate.”

“Why feel sorry for others? I barely have time to feel sorry for you.”

“I know, now focus properly on maintaining your formation.”

Song Zhenshan watched from behind in stunned amazement. Lord Shen’s mouth hadn’t opened even once—how did Miss Liu know what he was thinking? Could demons so easily probe immortals’ thoughts?

Even more remarkable was that after she said this, he could feel Lord Shen’s mood brighten considerably. Even the divine power within the formation became purer, and the surrounding pure white light scattered outward with what seemed like joy, striking down the demons that had already climbed the city walls one by one.