Song Zhenshan?

Thinking of the strange aura on that person, Ruyi had guessed a thing or two, but standing before him now, watching divine light emanate from between his brows, Ruyi still found it incredible.

“The human realm is turbid and cannot be cultivated in. The Green God’s guardianship is already punishment—why would other immortals be willing to degrade themselves?”

She leaned back in the vermilion wide chair, her face showing not the slightest trace of fear. Instead, she asked him this question first.

The door panels closed, killing intent immediately arose on all sides. Song Zhenshan showed no mercy—his demon-slaying sword flipped and struck directly at her throat.

The suppression of immortals over demons was innate. Generally, lesser demons would be unable to move upon seeing his sword light, only able to obediently await death. The demon before him truly lived up to being the one Shen Qiyuan had taken a fancy to. In the blink of an eye, she moved with the entire chair to avoid his attack, reached back to grab his wrist, and pressed downward.

As if thousands of pounds of iron and stone pressed entirely on his wrist, Song Zhenshan was forced to lower half of his body.

His pupils contracted slightly, but his killing intent only grew stronger. Breaking free of her hand, seven golden-light formation arrays unfolded around her.

Although he had become a god a thousand years later than Shen Qiyuan, Song Zhenshan was proficient in formation arrays, and his demon-slaying skills were even more formidable. With a pinch of his fingertips, that piercing light penetrated Ruyi’s body.

Between Ruyi’s brows, a trace of bewitching red immediately appeared.

Her eyes flickered several times, becoming turbid, but the curve of her lips grew larger and larger. Facing the golden light, she counterattacked Song Zhenshan at a speed imperceptible to the naked eye. Fist met flesh, move dismantled bone—her strikes were extremely fast and landed solidly.

Song Zhenshan barely managed to receive several moves before retreating two steps and looking at her in shock.

Why could this demon remain completely unharmed within his formation array? Her demonic energy had even grown stronger than before.

Before he could think further, her five fingers formed claws, scraping past his ear by a hair’s breadth, followed immediately by a sharp pain. Inside the room, curtains and drapes flew about, and fine porcelain ornaments shattered into powder in an instant.

Song Zhenshan furrowed his brow, expelled breath with a “hah” sound, and the sword energy in his hand surged violently. The sword tip dragged out a strand of golden light, piercing through the redwood curio shelf behind.

Ruyi stood before the curio shelf, a trace of blood slowly seeping from the side of her neck.

She was becoming somewhat impatient. Thick demonic energy overflowed from between her brows, and her unrestrained power forcibly compressed and crushed the surrounding formation arrays. The golden formation arrays exploded with a “bang,” turning into flickering remnant light in Song Zhenshan’s shocked gaze before dissipating and falling to the ground.

Amidst the complete mess, she reached out and grasped his throat.

“Little Divine Lord.” Ruyi’s eyes were blood red, seeming to smile yet not smile. “You are not my match.”

The overwhelming suppressive force surpassed the natural restraint that should exist between gods and demons, making him aware of the gap between them.

Song Zhenshan was somewhat dazed. He had walked the world for a thousand years and had encountered powerful demons before, but one powerful to this extent—she was the first.

Withdrawing the long sword from his hand, he lowered his eyes, his tone still unfriendly: “Since you are so formidable, why not directly ferry Wei Zijue to become a demon with eternal life? Why bother tormenting Shen Qiyuan in this human realm?”

The red color in her eyes slowly faded. Ruyi carelessly withdrew the hand that had been grasping his neck: “People each have their aspirations.”

Wei Zijue was weary of the long and tedious years of eternal life. He simply wanted to be a person of flesh and blood—how could she force the transformation? Besides that.

“What do you mean by ‘tormenting Shen Qiyuan in the human realm’?” She raised her eyebrows.

Song Zhenshan was so angry he laughed instead: “Gods and demons follow different paths. If they unite, they will inevitably suffer heavenly punishment. Why do you think you can remain completely unharmed while fooling around with him?”

Ruyi was stunned.

She looked toward the gloomy sky outside, suddenly remembering his divine consciousness that spread throughout all of Great Qian.

Even if the Green God had the duty to protect a dynasty, doing this was too much of a waste of energy and not a good choice—unless his divine consciousness was not meant to monitor the demonic power in this world, but to conceal.

Had Shen Qiyuan used his divine consciousness to shield them from the eyes and ears of all the gods and Buddhas in the sky?

Her heart jumped lightly, and she unconsciously asked: “Why?”

Was that bit of joy worth such a great price?

Song Zhenshan opened his mouth to speak, then bit down on his teeth: “It’s not important anymore. Heavenly punishment is about to arrive. If you still have half a thread of conscience, then join me in constructing the celestial dome to protect the people of Great Qian, which would at least spare him from worries.”

Heavenly punishment would punish the Green God and also punish the living beings of the world. All consequences caused would need to be remedied by the Green God. Shen Qiyuan had first reversed the black and white of the Yuncheng case, then entangled unclearly with her, this demon. With multiple crimes punished together, the tribulation would not be small.

Thunder could already be faintly heard at the edge of the dusky sky. Ruyi’s face was somewhat pale, but she still nodded: “Alright.”

Song Zhenshan immediately established an array with the Immortal Meeting Wine House as the starting point.

Hail mixed with torrential rain fell harder and harder, smashing through houses and killing livestock. Lightning split open in the firmament, the earth trembled slightly with it, and from the distance came the heart-rending wails of children. The entire heaven and earth seemed chaotic as if about to be destroyed.

The pale yellow light in Song Zhenshan’s hands spread quickly, but in the vast heaven and earth, it still seemed meager. Hail and heavy rain penetrated that layer of light, only weakening slightly in force.

He furrowed his brow, just thinking to urge his meridians once more, when he felt a thick black energy climb up his spine.

That aura was filled with slaughter, debauchery, and blood, filthy and turbid. Just touching it made Song Zhenshan retch continuously. But it was truly powerful. Passing over his fingertips, it lifted xhis swaying, precarious halo of light, like a huge black umbrella slowly opening beneath the firmament.

The hail gradually became smaller, but the rain was difficult to reduce. Even Lin’an, which had enough drainage channels, could be seen rising with water.

Song Zhenshan looked back anxiously, only to see Liu Ruyi’s face completely calm, even lazily drooping her eyes.

With living beings suffering and the world about to be overturned, what kind of attitude was this? No wonder she chose to cultivate as a demon—with such a bad heart, no matter how high her talent, she could never become a god.

He frowned and moved his halo of light farther from hers.

Crack—

A thunderclap exploded from the horizon, and even the houses beneath their feet shook with it.

Ruyi’s eyelids trembled.

The thunder grew louder and louder, and the dome overhead became increasingly fragile. Song Zhenshan watched, somewhat angry: “If you didn’t want to help, you could have refused. There’s no need to be so perfunctory.”

The person behind him made no sound, though the black canopy above did thicken slightly, only to become thin and fragile again after a moment.

He was annoyed and turned around intending to argue with her, but saw in the pouring rain four oil-paper umbrellas hurriedly approaching their direction.

In such weather, oil-paper umbrellas couldn’t shelter much at all—they tore open after just a few steps. Those four people were soaked through, but still braved the rain to climb up to the third-floor terrace where they were, all surrounding the half-crouching Liu Ruyi.

“What are you doing?” Ruyi’s face looked terrible. “Didn’t I tell you not to leave the cellar?”

Fuman pointed at the sky, then took out the cloak she had been holding in her arms to wrap around her.

In such heavy rain, even wrapping a cloak would be soaked through in an instant—what use was it? She shook her head, just about to speak again, when the next thunderclap roared down.

He Tinglan, Hua Fuman, and Little Lotus Leaf didn’t hesitate—they all reached out together to embrace her. Zhao Yanning stepped forward to block the lightning from the sky, folding the broken umbrella in her hands and holding it over the four people’s heads.