Yun Ya’s expression finally changed. His hand pressing against the wooden door tightened as he channeled his soul energy through it, causing the gate and fence to emanate a faint glow.

He was exerting all his strength to resist the demons’ erosion.

If this final space fell, the demons would march straight in, devour his spirit, and take control of his body.

Unfortunately, it was difficult for him alone to contend with the entire demon clan, especially with the demon leader personally empowering them. Even though he was the original master of this consciousness sea, it seemed impossible for him to reverse the situation.

The consciousness sea world had transformed into a sea of molten lava. Even standing behind the door, Yun Ya could feel the scorching flames that threatened to burn even his hair. The small courtyard was like a lone island in this sea of fire, on the verge of being swallowed at any moment. Wisps of smoke rose from the wooden door, and the fence had been corroded with countless holes.

Against such powerful and pure force, Yun Ya couldn’t hold out much longer.

They were certain to win!

The demon leader finally relaxed and struck the wooden door with a heavy blow. Feng Miaojun and Yun Ya’s lives were connected—even knowing her clan members were sealed in his chest, she couldn’t directly carve out his heart. Since she couldn’t usurp his position by possessing Yun Ya directly, the most feasible method was to release the demon projections from the abyss to help them take over Yun Ya’s consciousness sea.

Once this body became their possession, wouldn’t it be all too easy to safely unlock the seal and release the true forms of the entire demon clan?

Her power was unparalleled. The door was merely a thin layer, nearly corroded through—how could it possibly withstand her?

With a “crack,” the courtyard gate shattered.

Wood splinters flew everywhere, even cutting faint bloody marks on Yun Ya’s face.

Between him and the demons, there was no longer any barrier.

Having her long-awaited wish fulfilled, the demon leader laughed loudly: “Seize him!”

With a casual wave of her hand, the black shadows behind her rushed into the small courtyard with sinister smiles!

They had waited too long for this moment. The result of their competing rush was a black tide as dark as midnight, howling as it pounced toward Yun Ya.

Bring him down, devour him, and this long, smokeless war would end.

Feng Miaojun stood behind the horde of demons, feeling utterly delighted.

The moment the gate was broken, Yun Ya stepped back into the courtyard. Of course, this short distance was merely one step away from the demons.

Just one step indeed.

But at this moment, the corner of Yun Ya’s mouth curved upward, unexpectedly revealing a hint of relief.

The demon leader saw this and felt an inexplicable jump in her heart, yet couldn’t pinpoint what was amiss.

The influx of the black tide stirred up a gust of wind in the courtyard. The demons at the forefront shrieked, their long, sharp claws nearly touching Yun Ya’s eyelids.

A mere half-inch distance remained.

Once successful, they wouldn’t hesitate to tear him apart. When dealing with souls, demons had a thousand ways to make one wish for death.

Yun Ya offered no resistance, his peach blossom eyes unwavering, because in the next instant, the demons suddenly vanished!

Yes, vanished.

These tens of thousands of demons that had been flying everywhere, blotting out the sky, had inexplicably disappeared from both Yun Ya and Feng Miaojun’s vision without any warning.

The five sharp claws that had extended to right before Yun Ya’s eyes transformed back into wisps of black smoke in that instant, floating lightly with no attacking power. Then a gust of wind came, and they scattered like ordinary dust.

The same happened to all the surrounding demons. The black smoke faded instantly, restoring the world to its bright clarity.

They had been just half an inch away from success.

In the vast consciousness sea world, their unwilling shrieks seemed to still echo, yet only two people remained standing face to face.

Feng Miaojun, unable to believe what had happened, suddenly appeared before Yun Ya and forcefully grabbed his collar: “What did you do?!”

How could her clan members vanish into thin air?

She had been two zhang away from him, but in an instant, she had teleported to his front.

Yun Ya also moved, pointing his spirit sword at her neck while saying: “Guess?”

Feng Miaojun firmly grasped his long sword. His manifested spirit blade possessed all the properties it had in reality and had drunk the neck blood of countless powerful beings, yet in her hands it remained motionless. Even the blade she gripped quickly turned black, losing its former cold radiance.

At this rate, it would soon be completely corroded.

The soul power of the demon leader was terrifyingly powerful!

Even though her features were unclear, Yun Ya could easily sense the surging killing intent from her. He stepped back twice, his eyes calm: “Your clan members are gone.”

The demon leader froze: “What?!”

“I said—” he enunciated each word, “they are no longer within me.”

“What does this mean?!” Her eyes widened, while a crazy and absurd speculation arose in her heart.

Just now, she had seen clearly that the entire demon clan hadn’t retreated but had directly vanished. For the past three hundred years, her clan members had been sealed in Yun Ya’s heart. Yun Ya had used all his life force, spiritual power, and later the Kingdom’s elemental power to suppress them—they existed in a mutual relationship.

The demons’ existence was like an unpredictable explosive parasite to Yun Ya. He must have wanted to shed this heavy responsibility but had been unsuccessful for many years, showing how difficult this task was.

Why was it that precisely at this moment he could remove all the demons?

In these few moments, Yun Ya’s form had become faint, and he seemed on the verge of collapse, yet the smile at the corners of his mouth was very relaxed: “Why don’t you see for yourself?”

Could it be… Seeing his soul body becoming transparent, and recalling the condition he had offered her earlier, she was filled with terror. Suddenly transforming into red smoke, she rushed quickly toward the small house in the courtyard.

That was the exit of the consciousness sea world.

She left so hastily that she even neglected Yun Ya.

After she left, the great fire in the consciousness sea world also disappeared, and the temperature dropped rapidly. Yun Ya extinguished the last small spark on the fence and slowly sat down on a blue stone under a tree.

Indescribable fatigue swept over him. He looked around and saw only a charred wasteland.

The lush forest had been burned to ashes, but in the distance, the waterfall continued to flow directly downward, creating thunder-like water sounds at the bottom of the abyss.

He smiled and closed his eyes. At least the consciousness sea world no longer needed to be covered in solid ice.

In the real world.

The mist in the mountain forest grew increasingly thick, making it impossible to see clearly beyond three zhang.

When the demon leader entered Yun Ya’s consciousness sea as red mist, he immediately stepped back and called out to the King of Yan: “Quickly!”

The flow of time differed between the consciousness sea and the real world; he wasn’t sure how long he could delay the demon leader.

The opportunity was fleeting.

The King of Yan put aside his spectator’s expression and strode forward.

Nü Ba immediately stood straight, watching him vigilantly.

But he didn’t make a move. Instead, he carefully took something out from his storage ring and placed it on the ground.

Everyone’s attention was drawn to it, not because it was particularly strange or rare, but because it was remarkably ordinary—