Bang!

The original body, the avatar, and Er Hu were all sent flying. The original body was the worst off. Although it was the strongest, it had taken the fiercest attack, a strike of rainbow light that the Aurora Fiend Emperor had been saving for some time. Not only had his body been punched through, fiend energy was spreading from the wound into every part of his body, stripping him of his disguise and causing him to crash to the ground, sending up a plume of dust.

Plush! Tang Jie vomited blood mixed with chunks of his organs. He looked at Aurora and said, “So you knew all along we were fake?”

The Iron Blood Fiend Emperor was already sheathing his saber, seemingly not intending to fight Aurora at all.

It seemed like this was all an act between the two.

The Aurora Fiend Emperor slowly drew back his hand and casually replied, “I can’t say I knew all along. I was just suspicious. When Thunder Blade appeared, I was wondering why his aura was so weak. And don’t tell me it’s because of his injuries. Others might not be able to tell, but you think this emperor can’t? It’s clearly because your cultivation is insufficient to reach Thunder Blade’s level. Tang Jie, you’re very bold, to dare to even pretend to be a Fiend Emperor!”

“Oh my, you even know my name.” Tang Jie coughed up blood and smiled. “So how did you guess it, then?”

“I have your old servant to thank for that,” Aurora chuckled.

Tang Jie looked at Elder Wind in shock.

Elder Wind venomously glared back. “Surprised, aren’t you, Tang Jie? When you were killing Blackwater, I was watching the entire time. Both of us are at Soul Transformation, so when I’m following you, you would find it difficult to detect me.”

Tang Jie was stunned.

Elder Wind was right. As they were both at the equivalent of Soul Transformation, so long as Elder Wind was cautious enough, Tang Jie would find it hard to detect him in the middle of battle. This was a consequence of cultivation levels, and there was essentially no solution for it.

Tang Jie bitterly smiled. “It seems like not taking action all this time drew your suspicion.”

Elder Wind coolly replied, “Thunder Blade was never one for using his head when he could use his fists.”

Tang Jie sighed.

As expected, the problem was the difference in personality.

In the past, his avatar was able to reduce social interaction with the excuse of remaining in seclusion to treat his injuries, giving even Elder Wind few chances to interact with him, so he didn’t have much of an opportunity to notice a problem.

With this somewhat longer period of interaction, he had noticed a problem and followed him.

Elder Wind continued, “Two Tang Jies, one the original and one the avatar, letting you ambush and attack from both the front and back. A fine move, as expected of a despicable human! His Majesty Thunder Blade was also probably done for by this trick of yours, yes?”

“And also my husband, Silver Eyes!” Lan Ling stepped forward. “I was wondering why that heartless scoundrel treated me like that. It turns out he was being played by someone else! No wonder you didn’t dare to get close to me.”

Tang Jie sneered. “‘Didn’t dare’? It’s more like you weren’t worth my time! It certainly wasn’t me doing the endless pestering! If I knew that you were this thirsty, I might have paid a visit to your bed and left you unsatisfied so that you could find a man back home to make you happy. I have to wonder just how many affairs you had while Silver Eyes wasn’t watching.”

These vicious words had Lan Ling trembling in anger.

The thought of how she had tried to get Tang Jie into her bed so many times utterly humiliated her, and Tang Jie had brought it up in front of everyone. Scowling in fury, she roared, “Tang Jie, you’re seeking death!”

She raised her hand and sent a rainbow beam of light at him.

The light struck Tang Jie and sent a torrent of energy into his body, which bashed around his insides and caused his entire body to contort as he repeatedly threw up blood.

But Aurora stopped his daughter from going further. “Tang Jie, you’re quite talented, to kill three Fiend Emperors. Out of respect for your ability, this emperor will give you an opportunity.”

Tang Jie snorted. “Are you going to ask me to surrender and serve you? Right, and to be safe, you’ll put a few seals on my body.”

Aurora happily smiled. “They say you’re smart, and sure enough, you immediately understand. This is why this emperor even set up this trap… Killing you is simple, but taking you alive is hard!” ʀᴀᴅ ʟᴀᴛsᴛ ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛʀs ᴀᴛ Nov(l)ꜰre .t

Tang Jie sighed. “The old saying was right. You can’t spend too long next to the river without eventually getting your shoes wet, and if you spend the entire year fighting geese, you’ll eventually get your eye pecked. I’ve schemed against many people, so to be schemed against once in a while is normal. So was being tricked by the demons also on purpose?”

Since Iron Blood and Aurora were putting on a show, it went without saying that they had broken free of that Demonic Will’s influence. Otherwise, with the Chaos Tower in front of them, there was no way they would be working together.

Aurora smiled. “Some treacherous fellow trying to fool this emperor with their little tricks? This emperor simply played along.”

Tang Jie immediately said, “But the goal in playing around wasn’t me, right?”

Hearing this, the Iron Blood Fiend Emperor grimaced and glared at Aurora.

Aurora was startled at first, and then he erupted in laughter. “Kid, you really are something else. Yes, while the Chaos Tower is fake, the corpse of the Azure Dragon is real, as is the Five Elements forbidden zone. Moreover, if this Primordial Fog passage is used properly, it can be quite valuable. Since I was going to fight over all this anyway, I might as well pretend to be controlled so I can kill a few of my opponents. But I didn’t think that you would deal with Blackwater before I needed to kill anyone, and Silver Eyes and Thunder Blade are already dead.”

Tang Jie nodded. “You were planning to use this opportunity to kill one or two Fiend Emperors and solidify your rule, after which you could push the blame onto the Demonic Will. But then you found that there were actually only two Fiend Emperors still alive, so you extinguished any thought of killing Iron Blood. Haha, Your Majesty Iron Blood, you should be thanking me for saving your life.”

The Iron Blood Fiend Emperor’s face was growing uglier and uglier.

Unlike Aurora, he truly had been affected by the Demonic Will. He thought that Aurora had been the same, but it now seemed that this wasn’t the case, which left him enraged.

Aurora indifferently said, “There are only two Fiend Emperors left, which means the humans now outmatch us. The only solution is to come together, not break apart. Iron Blood, remember the big picture!”

Iron Blood glared at Aurora. “‘The big picture’? You still have the nerve to say that? What if the talisman came off in our fight and opened up the passage, allowing the demons to invade?”

Aurora smiled. “It’s nothing to be afraid of at all. It’s just a talisman. If it can be torn off, it can naturally be put back.”

He lightly thrust his palm at the talisman.

The talisman was pushed back to its original position by the distant palm, and the violet clouds in the passage instantly disappeared.

Aurora smugly stroked his beard.

But a moment later, a gust of wind lifted up a corner of the talisman, and violet fog surged out once more, leaving Aurora stunned.

He thrust out his palm again, flattening the talisman.

But the talisman was like a naughty child, flying up again right after it had been put back.

Aurora tried several more times, but he found it impossible to make the talisman stick, and his face started to turn red.

Tang Jie laughed. “Aurora, you really think a talisman left behind by a Titan of High Antiquity can be put back just because you want it? Hmph, the calamity of Verdant Cloud is bound to be your responsibility!”

Flattening the talisman couldn’t restore it to its place, so the passage to Primordial Fog would always be partially open. Demons would always be flowing in, and while the stronger demons wouldn’t be able to come through, the demons that did would still bring countless disasters to the Verdant Cloud Domain. And all of this would be because of Aurora’s selfishness.

Aurora’s face shifted several times before he finally grunted and said, “So what? Primordial Fog Calamities come once every three thousand years. There have already been so many invasions, and nothing too bad has happened, so why should we worry about a single passage?”

But he privately thought to himself, Once I get my hands on this treasure, I’ll break into the next realm, after which I can wander the myriad domains, so why would I care about the Verdant Cloud Domain then? If this place can’t hold me, there will be some other place out there that can.

Of course, he would never say this out loud.

Tang Jie grunted, “If that were really the case, you really think such a huge formation would be laid down, even requiring the Azure Dragon to seal the passage?”

“This…” Aurora was rendered speechless. To be honest, he had no explanation for this problem.

Tang Jie continued, “You’re no fool, but your greed makes you unwilling to see the cruel reality before you!”

Aurora roared back, “Then do you know the reason?”

“I don’t,” Tang Jie frankly replied. “But I do know that if this was something a Titan of my world wanted to stop, then it would be best to not let it happen. Or else, I’m afraid you won’t be able to bear the consequences!”

Aurora, Iron Blood, and Lan Ling all gasped and looked at the passage.

What exactly was behind that passage? Why did it sound even scarier than the Primordial Fog invasions that took place once every three thousand years?

“No, that’s impossible!” Aurora shook his head. “It can’t be! It can’t!”

As he shouted, his face began to turn murderous, and he glared with hatred at Tang Jie, as if this was all his fault.

Tang Jie sneered, “It’s not that you don’t believe me. You’re just unwilling to face the truth. But I seem to have touched a sore point, and I don’t think you’re in the mood to listen to me.”

Aurora coldly stared at Tang Jie. “You’re talking so much with me on purpose, trying to buy time. Are you trying to heal your injuries? But you’ve taken my rainbow divine light. Unless you’ve entered the Dao of Life and can recover from all damage, nothing you do will help. I can kill you as easily as crushing an ant!”

Tang Jie sighed. “Your Majesty is right. I really am buying time. But there are two things I need to correct. First of all, while I haven’t entered the Dao of Life, I have comprehended it. While this alone isn’t enough to resist your rainbow divine light, I’m also a body refiner, so my recovery ability is a hundred times stronger than the average cultivator. Combining the two is barely enough to get by.”

Tang Jie spread apart his arms, revealing that the wounds inflicted by Aurora were basically healed.

Aurora narrowed his eyes and was about to attack again when Tang Jie continued, “Secondly, my real goal in buying time isn’t to heal my injuries. After all, I have yet to enter Violet Palace, but I’m facing two Divine Division great fiends and more than a thousand Transformation fiends. Even I’m not so reckless as to think I could face so many opponents. Fortunately, before coming here, I called for some allies, and while I was speaking with Your Majesty, they should have arrived.”

Tang Jie turned and shouted, “Hurry and show yourselves already, or do you guys really want me to die?”