Southern Demon Realm, Orchid Valley.

An orchid blooms alone in the empty valley, its fragrance unshared, unaffected by the jealousy of butterflies or the wildness of bees.

Xie Jingshan, dressed in a tight black outfit, appeared with spirited eyes and eyebrows, his sword like a white serpent, hissing through the wind, with the swift sweep of the gale causing a rain of petals.

Squeak squeak!

Nearby came the call of Jixiang, as Xie Jingshan withdrew his sword, spun his body, and gracefully touched down with the tips of his toes.

"Just fed you, why are you hungry again?"

In the orchid cluster, a much plumper Jixiang squeaked fiercely at Xie Jingshan.

Xie Jingshan crouched down, tugged at its dog ears, and pulled out a few pieces of ores used for forging swords from his storage ring.

"These are the last three pieces. Once you finish them, there will be nothing left for you, you little one, you’re too hard to please."

Jixiang sniffed around the three top-grade ores, once so hungry it would eat even rubbish.

Things are different now; Jixiang’s fur glistened brightly, with three golden lines shining on its back. It dared to be picky even with the three top-grade ores.

Eventually, ’reluctantly’ carrying off the largest piece, it sat like a meatball to gnaw on it, planning to eat half and bury the rest for later.

As Jixiang started eating, words appeared on the green lantern hanging under the eaves of the thatched cottage in the distance.

[Spineless]

A bird’s cry broke the serene silence of the valley, prompting Little Green to quickly go invisible.

A plump, golden-feathered, three-legged bird flew in from outside the valley, circling joyfully around Xie Jingshan.

Xie Jingshan raised his hand, allowing the Three-Legged Golden Bird to perch on his arm, "Isn’t today the day of the Divine Sacrifice ritual? Why aren’t you there?"

The Three-Legged Golden Bird chirped incessantly, looking full of complaints.

Xie Jingshan laughed, "So you lost to the Red Flame Eagle and weren’t chosen, huh? It must be because you’re too fat to show your full potential, oops!"

The Three-Legged Golden Bird pecked angrily at Xie Jingshan’s hand, igniting with golden flames, as Little Hou Dou suddenly emerged, eagerly devouring the flames from its body.

After overeating, Little Hou Dou lifted its tail and expelled several clusters of golden flame, then continued feasting after letting off some fire.

Xie Jingshan looked toward the Divine Tree, "I hope she returns safely and soon, otherwise I really can’t afford to feed her Jixiang."

Suddenly, wind arose in the valley, pollen soared, and several dark shadows flashed swiftly by.

Startled, Jixiang fled, while Xie Jingshan drew his sword in vigilance.

Dark clouds rolled, a mountain storm was imminent.

*

Under the Divine Tree.

Jiang Yuebai used pollen to parasitize the Green Armor Bee Swarm, allowing her temporary control over them.

For larger creatures, parasitism doesn’t grant control; it merely siphons their blood and Essence Qi, eventually causing them to explode.

The Green Armor Bees surrounded Jiang Yuebai, supporting her onto the Divine Tree.

The Red Flame Eagle fell into the forest, unlikely to rise anytime soon.

"Why bother? Clearly, it could have been a win-win situation, but whether I should say you’re silly or just plain foolish is hard to judge?"

Jiang Yuebai shook her head, looked up at the tree body, noting numerous demons nearing the location of the invisible barrier, beyond which lay the Floating Island Layer. 𝘧𝘳𝘦ℯ𝓌𝘦𝒷𝘯𝑜𝑣𝘦𝓁.𝒸𝘰𝓂

A firelight attacked from behind, Jiang Yuebai’s eyes turned fierce as the Green Armor Bee Swarm instantly gathered, hexagonal green glows flashing across each bee, forming a honeycomb-like green metal barrier.

Bang!

Jiang Yuebai shook all over as the firelight was deflected by the Green Armor Barrier, and a Blood Qilin dashed through the mountain’s fire path, with the Three-Tailed Little White Fox standing on its head, with seductive eyes fixed on her.

The foxes of the Qingqiu Tushan Clan usually have pure cyan eyes, while those of the Yousu Clan have mixed, uncertain pupils because they were brought in by the Nine-Tailed Heavenly Fox from elsewhere; thus the Tushan Clan always look down on the Yousu Clan, considering them to be mere mongrel foxes rather than pure-blood line descendants of the Nine-Tailed Heavenly Fox.

But paradoxically, the Yousu Clan have a greater number of foxes who inherited the bloodline of the Nine-Tailed Heavenly Fox, leaving the Tushan Clan resenting yet helpless, as the entire clan’s strength gradually weakens compared to that of the Yousu Clan.

"So you all consider me, a Little Grass Demon, easy to bully, don’t you? Let me show you the deception of the grass heart!"

Jiang Yuebai waved both hands, launching Blade Flow Wind Kill and Yellow Sand Sinking Land simultaneously!

Instantly, under the Qilin’s feet turned into yellow sand, two massive sandy hands dragging it down from mid-air, pressing its head hard, as the gales like blades intercrossed, pushing towards the Blood Qilin and Three-Tailed Little White Fox.

The Three-Tailed Little White Fox emitted a terrified cry, swiftly leaping to distant tree roots, watching the Blood Qilin struggle helplessly in the sandy sea.

The Blade Hurricane collided against the Blood Qilin, causing its scales to crack inch by inch, blood spurting forth.

The Three-Tailed Little Fox angrily bared its teeth, swiping its claws at Jiang Yuebai out of thin air.

Gigantic silver claw shadows appeared before Jiang Yuebai, ripping through the Green Armor Bees’ defenses in one blow, prompting Jiang Yuebai to leap back, having a segment of White Vine on her body torn off.

The light burst open with a sudden sweet smell spreading.

Jiang Yuebai covered her mouth and nose, noticing a few stray Green Armor Bees unable to gather around her, affected by the aroma, turning dizzy and attacking one another.

Her Divine Thought was thrown into disarray, making Blade Flow Wind Kill and Yellow Sand Sinking Land unsustainable, letting the Blood Qilin break free.

The Three-Tailed Little Fox leapt onto the Blood Qilin’s head, fleeing in the opposite direction.

Jiang Yuebai didn’t linger, already having delayed too much. She needed to hurry upwards, unsure what awaited beyond.

She transformed back into White Vine roots, with the Green Armor Bees following along the Divine Tree trunk all the way up.

Numerous Little Demons had gathered under the invisible barrier, both crashing against the barrier and fighting amongst themselves.

Jiang Yuebai disguised herself as a Divine Tree Branch to let the bee swarm temporarily disperse and hide, observing in secret.

A beast with a dragon head and bull body charged ferociously through the barrier, unleashing all its demonic power, with its dragon horns pushing desperately forward; as its Divine Thought and demonic power focused on the impact point, a quick flash of crescent moonlight swept across its forehead, after which it suddenly passed the barrier.

Shortly after, the winged Black Mountain Tiger roared fiercely, repelling surrounding Little Demons, replicating the method, also squeezing through the invisible barrier disappearing without a trace.

The Four-Eared Monkey swinging on tree vines in midair, eyes alight, focused its demonic power and Divine Thought upon its forehead from afar, visualizing its heart’s moon, once again breaking through the barrier.

The smarter demons already understood that the barrier tested the strength of the Divine Soul, but most demons visualized their heart’s moon and still were blocked outside the invisible barrier, only a minority could pass through.

Jiang Yuebai observed for a while, realizing at least forty percent of the moon’s strength was required to squeeze through the barrier.

The Blood Qilin, carrying the Three-Tailed Little White Fox, looped up from the other side, paving a fiery road to repel the Little Demons, reaching the invisible barrier below alongside the Three-Tailed Little Fox.

Semi-lunar light flashed from the foreheads of the Blood Qilin and Little Bai Fox, startling the surrounding demons.

"The Green-Horned Ox with Qiuniu Bloodline and the Black Mountain Tiger with Qiongqi Bloodline just barely passed forty percent moon, but they’re already at fifty percent moon!"

"Impressive, befitting a descendant of the Qilin Divine Beast and the Yousu Clan’s Fox Demon."

The Little Bai Fox arrogantly lifted its chin, swishing its tail, and ascended with the Blood Qilin into the air.

As they were about to pass through the barrier, a white shadow struck from behind, scattering petals across the sky, stepping with muddy bare feet upon the Little Bai Fox’s face, sending it tumbling.

Squeal!

The white shadow vanished beyond the invisible barrier in an instant, leaving behind a gradually dissipating seven percent moonlight.

"Seven percent moon?! Which clan’s Great Demon is this?"

Within the Demon Clan, those surpassing five percent moon are Great Demons, the clan’s elite.

Stunned, the Little Bai Fox, its face smeared with mud, scrambled upright, seeing the descending white petals, angered to the point of jumping and gnashing!