But the Phantom Beast was in no hurry to begin its feast. This illusory realm would last for three days, giving the Sea Demons and humans more time to collect the heavenly treasures it had scattered here. Otherwise, how could it set up the same trap to deceive more victims in the next century?

While the Phantom Beast waited, Xu Lai waved his hand.

Beibei, who was three hundred li away and speeding toward him on a conch shell, suddenly appeared in his palm.

"Who!?"

The spatial shift made Beibei's expression change drastically. When she saw Xu Lai's face, she froze. "Xu Lai, you… how did you get here?"

Then, she waved her little fists anxiously. "Get out of here, quickly! This place is dangerous! Mount Zijin is a man-eating monster!"

"Hmm?" Xu Lai raised an eyebrow in surprise. "You know this is an illusory realm?"

Beibei's small face was full of confusion. "What illusory realm…?"

The little conch girl hesitated for a long moment before whispering, "My ancestors, down to my generation, have always guarded the Dragon Palace Barrier. But a hundred years ago, the last princess of the Dragon Race secretly left and entered Mount Zijin. She never came out…"

Xu Lai understood everything. No wonder Beibei had packed her things and come with such grim determination; she clearly knew something was wrong with Mount Zijin. But for the sake of the Dragon Princess, she had no choice but to come.

"There's no need to go in. She's dead," Xu Lai said with a soft sigh. Not only was she dead, but her very soul had been consumed by the Phantom Beast, leaving no chance for reincarnation.

Beibei stomped hard on Xu Lai's palm, protesting angrily, "Nonsense! The princess is still alive!"

"This place is a Phantom Beast," Xu Lai said, briefly explaining the creature's horrors.

Beibei was instantly devastated, and tears like pearls began to stream down her face. "I don't believe it… The princess is a Demon King. How could she possibly die here…?"

Xu Lai beckoned with his hand. A pile of withered bones appeared at his feet within the illusion. They were dragon bones.

Seeing these bones and sensing that familiar aura, Beibei broke into heart-wrenching sobs. "Ah Zi… Ah Zi, we promised we'd travel to the stars together, that we'd roam the Milky Way! How could you leave me behind…?"

Xu Lai offered no comfort. Over the past hundred thousand years, he had witnessed too much life and death, and he had grown completely numb. Still, to die at the hands of a Phantom Beast was a great pity. Not only was the path of reincarnation severed, but once those who remembered this Dragon Princess eventually died with the passage of time, no trace of Ah Zi would remain in the world.

Time, as always, was ruthless.

Beibei's face was streaked with tears, but she soon bit down hard on her lip, wiped them away, and gripped the hilt of her sword with a trembling hand. She stared at Mount Zijin with pure hostility.

"That Demonic Beast is a Half-step Venerable. You… are no match for it," Xu Lai said softly.

"I know, but I'm not afraid." Beibei's hand stopped trembling, her tone firm and resigned to death. "I must avenge Ah Zi!"

Some friends were worth dying for to defend their honor.

SWOOSH!

Beibei suddenly drew her sword. A streak of light flashed across the sky, as brilliant and dazzling as a crescent moon. But when the sword, no longer than an adult's index finger, was thrust into the towering, ten-thousand-meter-tall Mount Zijin, it seemed utterly insignificant and trivial.

PFFT—

After all, Beibei was only a Half-Step Great Demon. How could she possibly shatter the Phantom Beast's illusion? The terrifying backlash sent her flying into the sea. With a splash, she spat out a large mouthful of blood.

"Hm?"

The sudden fluctuation of spiritual power alerted the two Demon Kings, Yuan Man and Orochi, who looked over with caution. When he learned that a Sea Demon was trying to attack Mount Zijin, Orochi scoffed. This forbidden ground was something that even two Demon Kings couldn't budge. A mere Half-Step Great Demon was simply overestimating her own strength.

Yuan Man recognized Beibei and couldn't help but chide her in a low voice, "Beibei, what are you doing!"

"Getting revenge!" Beibei gritted her teeth.

Again, she unleashed that same crescent-moon sword strike. It was the only sword art she knew, and the only one she used.

Unsurprisingly, Beibei was thrown back once more. This time, she wasn't so lucky. The backlash sent her crashing onto the surface of the sea, and her feeble body no longer had the strength to get up.

"Take Beibei back to Sea City," Yuan Man commanded with a wave of her hand. After all, she had once been one of her Demon Generals; it would be a waste to let her die.

The giant electric eel beneath the Demon King's feet flicked its tail, about to snatch Beibei up, only to find that she had suddenly vanished.

There's a hidden expert nearby!

The expressions of both Orochi and Yuan Man changed at once. They hadn't sensed the slightest presence.

This person hidden in the shadows… what Boundary could they be? Another Demon King? Or perhaps… a human at the peak of the Divine Gate Realm!

"Given up hope yet?" Xu Lai asked helplessly, looking at the dying Beibei in his palm.

"I… I can still… cough, cough!" Beibei's face was pale, and she spoke in fits and starts. The conch shell on her back had shattered, leaving only a small fragment behind. This was an injury that had damaged her very core.

"Sigh." Xu Lai sighed softly. As his Divine Sense swept over her, the injuries on Beibei's body healed instantly, and even the broken conch shell was restored to perfection.

"Who are you?" Following the voice, Yuan Man finally saw Xu Lai standing in the void, and her scalp tingled. When had this man hidden himself there? If he hadn't revealed himself, she might have never seen him at all.

"Xu Lai!!!"

It was Orochi who recognized him at a glance. All eight of his heads and sixteen of his eyes glared furiously, his enraged voice thundering through the sky.

Xu Lai. The name seemed to hold a magical power. When Yuan Man heard it, her beautiful eyes lit up. So this is the human that Orochi, the Demon King, has been so obsessed with killing? He's so handsome. Especially those eyes… they look like they hold the sun, the moon, and all the stars.

The Phantom Beast, which had been drooling over the feast within its illusion, shuddered violently when it heard that nightmarish name. It cast a dubious glance outside its illusory world. When it saw the face it could never forget in this lifetime, its heart instantly turned to ash.

Its limbs trembled in abject terror. How could The Supreme Emperor be in this remote star system… Impossible! This has to be a fake Supreme Emperor!!!

The Phantom Beast no longer cared about the food in its illusory Mount Zijin. It tore open a spatial rift, trying to flee.

However, it quickly fell into despair. The space around it had been sealed.

Which meant—

It… could not escape.

"Trying to run?" Xu Lai glanced at the Phantom Beast with a half-smile. The leopard-like creature trembled so violently that it fainted from sheer terror.

"Such a coward," Xu Lai scoffed, tossing Beibei over to it. "Here's your chance for revenge. Go on, little conch."

"Xu Lai!!!" Orochi roared again, now seething with rage. He had called out the name twice, and Xu Lai hadn't even bothered to look at him. This was blatant disrespect and provocation!

"I was going to kill you in Hua Country in three days, but I never expected you to walk right into my trap! Today, I will offer your blood to the spirits of my two disciples!"

Orochi transformed into his true form, his body a hundred zhang long, his eight massive heads each bearing a different face. There was a white-haired old man, a beautiful maiden with her long hair pinned up by a hairpin, and a middle-aged man with an imposing, natural authority…

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