She learned from the Heavenly Demons that this was the guardian deity of the Haoli royal family, originally bestowed by the gods, which had protected Yingshui City for several hundred years.

Although it was merely a divine image without physical form, it was exceptionally effective at devouring Heavenly Demons. It was specifically created to deal with Heavenly Demons.

The black and white light intertwined with the red smoke, displaying a ruthless determination to fight to the death. She heard the Heavenly Demons saying:

“Strange, strange! The Haoli Kingdom has declined in power, and I’ve heard that spiritual energy in the mortal realm has weakened, so how can it establish such a solid barrier!”

“It’s not just the Haoli Kingdom that has weakened. The cursed divine imprint has been draining our power for seven hundred years.”

“My strength is less than one-tenth of my prime, and I used most of what remained to escape the seal!”

“We don’t have much time left. What should we do?”

Such messages filled her mind.

Indeed, the Heavenly Demons had first been sealed for seven hundred years, then exhausted most of their power in the process of breaking the seal and escaping. By the time they arrived here, they were already at the end of their rope.

Of course, Feng Miaojun, coming from the future, knew that the final victor of this defensive battle would be the Haoli Empire, while the Heavenly Demons would retreat in defeat.

After a while, she noticed that among the countless voices, one mental voice stood out particularly.

It was the most authoritative and only issued commands. Whenever it spoke, all surrounding voices would temporarily subside, as if everyone was listening carefully.

Of course, consciousness transfers much faster than language, so this silence was also fleeting. But Feng Miaojun noticed it.

She thought this voice must be the leader of the Heavenly Demons.

Creatures that live in groups, as long as they have independent consciousness, will usually develop leaders, and Heavenly Demons were no exception.

Such an important battle, of course, needed a leader.

After observing the scene for a moment, Feng Miaojun walked toward the area where the Heavenly Demons were most concentrated.

Consistent with the pattern she had observed in Yun Ya’s consciousness, the higher a Heavenly Demon’s cultivation, the more substantial its soul form, and the closer its facial features and body shape resembled humans.

Therefore, the place where more powerful Heavenly Demons gathered would have a higher possibility of finding their leader.

The barrier covered a vast area, equal to Yingshui City on the ground. Walking here, Feng Miaojun felt like a tiny ant crawling on a table, with a sense of vastness.

Fortunately, some intuition guided her southward.

The further south she walked, the stronger the palpitation in her heart, and she didn’t even know why she felt so impatient.

The Heavenly Demons she saw along the way were attacking the barrier with increasing violence. More and more of them roared as they mustered all their strength, willing to smash themselves to pieces against the barrier. The two Jiao spirits fighting outside the barrier, though battling valiantly, were entangled by more and more Heavenly Demons until Feng Miaojun could barely see their colors.

Just then, a red cloud suddenly rose in the distance. Compared to other Heavenly Demons, its color was as vivid as a sunset-tinted evening glow—actually a fiery red with hints of crimson gold, not eerie but rather incomparably magnificent.

Subsequently, it transformed into a woman within Feng Miaojun’s view.

Her height was similar to a human’s, with willow eyebrows and cherry lips, wearing a white battle robe, and flame-like red hair.

What a beautiful woman.

As soon as she appeared, she charged straight at the Jiao spirit. The latter opened its huge mouth to bite her, but she dodged it nimbly. Her teleportation technique made Feng Miaojun narrow her eyes:

This was also her specialty technique.

However, after avoiding the Jiao’s mouth, a cold light flashed in the woman’s hand—she had drawn a horse-chopping blade!

Only when Feng Miaojun saw this long blade with her own eyes did she realize that the so-called “ten-meter-long blade” wasn’t just a joke. Its length was at least five times the woman’s height. It was fortunate this was in a virtual world, as in reality, no one could wield such a long blade with such ease.

The blade’s light filled the sky, momentarily suppressing even the red smoke’s glow. If mortals in Yingshui City looked up, they would probably see silver snakes dancing wildly, like thunderbolts and lightning.

One blade’s cold light illuminated fourteen provinces—she possessed just such a heaven-shaking aura.

The Jiao spirit had its head cleaved off and instantly vanished into nothingness.

This woman moved like a phantom, ten times more terrifying than ordinary Heavenly Demons. She confronted the other Jiao spirit head-on and quickly subdued it as well.

Feng Miaojun stared at her without blinking, at her beautiful yet sinister appearance, at her cold eyes, feeling increasingly familiar.

Afterward, the Jiao-slaying woman slowly floated down toward the south.

Without this hindrance, the Heavenly Demons’ attack on the city would progress at least twice as fast.

Feng Miaojun suppressed her shock and quickly followed in the direction the woman had descended.

With just one strike displaying mountain-shattering power, this woman’s status must be very high.

As for the other Heavenly Demons:

They burned all their soul power, truly becoming dust and smoke, yet not a single Heavenly Demon retreated. They often gathered into huge red storms, each attack stronger than the last.

That colorless, transparent barrier trembled more violently under their life-sacrificing assaults.

Even as a mere spectator, even knowing that these events had already passed hundreds of years ago, Feng Miaojun still clenched her fists, her blood surging with excitement.

The barrier was already teetering on the brink of collapse—it seemed the Heavenly Demons were about to succeed! This was indeed a terrifying race. Setting aside having their soul power drained for seven hundred years, after exhausting themselves to escape and arrive here, even though they were nearly depleted, they could still suppress the Haoli Empire, leaving it no room to struggle. Emperor Li of Haoli had mobilized the entire nation’s elemental power to support the barrier—from this perspective, this truly qualified as a life-or-death struggle between the Haoli Empire and the Heavenly Demons.

She felt this way, and the Heavenly Demons actually involved naturally felt even more excited. Feng Miaojun’s ears were filled with loud shouts—all Heavenly Demons celebrating their imminent victory.

But she knew who the final victor of this resistance would be, so what was going on?

As the barrier grew thinner and thinner, just when it was about to be crushed like an eggshell, a layer of green light suddenly appeared on its surface.

This light was extremely faint and flashed only once, too inconspicuous under the overwhelming red light in the sky. If Feng Miaojun hadn’t been standing on the barrier, she might have missed it.

But in the next moment, the barrier stabilized.

Originally, it was like a soap bubble in the wind, blown around then flat, about to burst at any moment. But from this moment on, it suddenly hardened and reinforced. Though still transparent, it became like an acid-resistant, corrosion-resistant glass dome, standing firm against the Heavenly Demons’ desperate attacks.

The situation suddenly reversed.

Not only was Feng Miaojun stunned, but the Heavenly Demons were also furious, breaking into curses. Anyone who was starving and saw a cooked duck suddenly turn into an unboilable stone would probably react the same way.

Then a mental voice rang out. Feng Miaojun could tell it was the Heavenly Demon leader speaking:

“Divine power!”