Her footsteps were light, not to avoid alerting the intruders, but to avoid disturbing Tang Muxi.
It was clearly a time for rest, yet she suddenly encountered such a trivial matter, putting Jiang Yin in a foul mood.
Slowly walking out of the cave, she was greeted by a dense forest.
The night wind was chilly, mixed with cold, greasy rain, seeping through her skin.
The area was quiet and empty, with no one in sight, as if the earlier disturbance was just an illusion.
However, such tricks might fool others, but not the Demon Lord who had long held a high position.
Jiang Yin used her finger as a blade, slicing through the air, and a thick tree not far away fell with a crash.
Four or five shadows flashed by, scattering quickly before the tree hit the ground.
Jiang Yin sneered, “Manager Wang, since you’ve come to visit in the dead of night, you must have important matters to discuss. Why hide?”
She was well aware of these people’s origins.
Ever since she escaped from Tianji Gate that night and hid under the river to heal, someon had been constantly searching for her.
And that person was Wang Qu.
She didn’t know what method he used, but even when Jiang Yin concealed her aura, he could roughly determine her location, almost finding the cave several times.
It was only when Tang Muxi came to this place that he was forced to leave.
Now that she had come out, he must have been unable to hold back and came searching in the middle of the night.
Jiang Yin naturally wasn’t afraid of Wang Qu, but she was busy nourishing her soul and didn’t want to bother with him.
But today, since he was so eager to die, she wouldn’t hesitate to be ruthless.
Wang Qu was startled, not expecting his identity to be exposed, and his face immediately darkened.
It seemed the rumors about Jiang Yin obtaining the artifact, the Imprisoning Demon Sword, were true.
Since his identity was revealed, Wang Qu didn’t bother hiding anymore.
He stepped out of the darkness, followed by four helpers.
Jiang Yin glanced up, seeing that including Wang Qu, there were five Golden Core stage demon cultivators, all in the mid-stage.
Such a grand lineup just to capture her, a Foundation Establishment cultivator.
“Manager Wang, you really went all out, bringing so many helpers. What is it you want?”
Jiang Yin spoke slowly, not taking them seriously at all.
“Hand over the Imprisoning Demon Sword, and I’ll leave you with an intact corpse,” Wang Qu said coldly.
He was acting on orders; today, he had to kill Jiang Yin and retrieve the artifact.
“And if I don’t?”
Jiang Yin was somewhat displeased, unable to tolerate being threatened.
“If you don’t, don’t blame me for being rude.”
They had five Golden Core cultivators on their side.
Even if Jiang Yin had the artifact, how could she possibly fend off all five of them?
In Wang Qu’s mind, Jiang Yin was just a waste with five spiritual roots, usually bullied by others.
The last time he failed to kill her was just a fluke.
This time, he didn’t believe her luck would be that good again.
Without strength, holding a treasure would only invite others to take it.
Thinking of this, the unease in Wang Qu’s heart finally faded.
He stroked his small beard, squinting at the graceful figure of Jiang Yin, his thoughts wandering.
“What a pity for that face. I wonder if I can ask the Emperor to make you into a puppet after killing you, so I can enjoy you.”
“But I saw another woman entering the cave with you today. Is she your junior sister, Tang Muxi?”
Wang Qu curled his lips, looking confident.
“She’s not bad either. Though not a top beauty, she’s a Heavenly Spiritual Root. If I could make her my furnace… my cultivation might advance further.”
Jiang Yin laughed in exasperation.
Initially, he wanted to extract some information about the state of the Demon Realm, but when the man started to covet Tang Muxi recklessly, his curiosity seemed insignificant.
A furnace?
How dare he!
Without hesitation, Jiang Yin summoned the Imprisoning Demon Sword.
The pitch-black blade exuded a chilling aura, like a ghost emerging from the darkness, making every inch of it bone-chilling.
“Didn’t you want to take it? Come at me together then.”
Jiang Yin sneered, looking at them nonchalantly, as if she were looking at dead men.
With the Imprisoning Demon Sword out, the few men no longer dared to underestimate her.
They exchanged glances and unleashed their killing moves, intending to slay him on the spot.
Blazing Netherfire burned fiercely, as if it wanted to incinerate the entire land.
This was a technique the orthodox demons prided themselves on.
In her previous life, Jiang Yin had often been troubled by the fierce fire poison.
But now…
She swung her blade, slicing through the air, dispersing the rapidly spreading dark blue flames.
Then she summoned the Soul Jade Marrow, absorbing the scattered Nether energy one by one.
Coincidentally, the Soul Jade Marrow was about to advance, so she decided to use these people as sacrifices.
Jiang Yin swiftly launched the Soul Jade Marrow, engulfed in flames.
The Golden Core demon cultivator who had set the fire didn’t even have time to react before he screamed and was devoured, his soul obliterated.
The Golden Core expert, filled with dense demonic energy, turned to dust in an instant.
“Watch out! Don’t let that strange thing touch you!”
In just one encounter, a dignified Golden Core cultivator had fallen without resistance.
The remaining four were shocked and dared not be careless.
They drew their swords, intending to catch Jiang Yin off guard with their sharp sword intent.
Jiang Yin didn’t dodge.
She raised her blade and met them head-on.
Her cultivation was not as high as theirs, but the power of a divine weapon was overwhelming.
Even in a direct clash, she could repel them.
In her previous life, her swordsmanship had reached perfection.
In this life, she applied that knowledge to her blade, and in an instant, her technique changed, thrusting urgently at the person in front of her.
The man couldn’t dodge in time.
His arm was slashed open, flesh and blood flying, cold sweat pouring down.
He shouted and reached out to strike Jiang Yin’s crown, aiming for a fatal blow.
Unexpectedly, as soon as he raised his hand, a powerful suction force shattered it.
His blood and flesh turned into thick demonic energy, which was absorbed by the Imprisoning Demon Sword.
Another one down.
The three remaining demon cultivators were horrified and no longer dared to let that sword touch them.
However, Jiang Yin’s movements were ghostly.
Even when surrounded and attacked by several people, she moved with ease.
After a dozen moves, only two of the five Golden Core cultivators were left.
Wang Qu saw the sword coming straight at him.
Without thinking, he pulled the demon cultivator beside him.
The sword shattered the Golden Core.
The demon cultivator’s eyes widened in disbelief, spitting out a mouthful of blood as his body quickly withered.
With all his companions dead, Wang Qu knew he was no match.
He immediately turned to flee, even burning his essence blood to use a forbidden technique.
Seeing Jiang Yin standing still and not pursuing, Wang Qu was overjoyed.
But he didn’t expect to crash into an indestructible barrier after running only a short distance.
The barrier was like half a sphere, firmly covering the ground.
Wang Qu immediately tried to escape underground, but as soon as he entered the soil, he realized that even the ground beneath was covered by the barrier.
There was no escape.
Wang Qu was horrified, frantically watching Jiang Yin approach step by step, disbelief in his eyes.
“Just a waste with five spiritual roots! How can your power far exceed ours?!”
Impossible!
Could she have been hiding her strength all along?
But the entire sect knew she had five spiritual roots!
Even with a divine artifact, she shouldn’t be this powerful!
Jiang Yin sneered, not bothering to explain.
She raised her hand and severed his right arm as if torturing him.
Flesh wrapped around white bone, and crimson blood spurted out like a fountain, contrasting sharply with the rain.
Wang Qu screamed in pain, cold sweat mixing with the rain, soaking his entire body.
The unknown fear drove him mad.
He raised his left hand, clawing at Jiang Yin’s eyes, but it was cut off at the root before he could even lift it, rendering another arm useless.
“You! How dare you!”
Wang Qu’s eyes turned red, intending to self-destruct, but Jiang Yin wouldn’t let him have his way.
She swiftly extracted his inner core.
For years, Wang Qu had used unscrupulous methods to forcibly break through by absorbing others’ cultivation.
His inner core was particularly shriveled.
Jiang Yin found it filthy and didn’t even want to let the Imprisoning Demon Sword and Soul Jade Marrow devour it, tossing it on the ground like trash.
Without his inner core, all his power dissipated instantly.
Wang Qu was now like a cripple, leaning against a tree, bleeding profusely.
Yet, his Golden Core body and Sea of Consciousness kept him painfully aware and resilient, preventing him from dying immediately, leaving him to endure endless torment.
“What’s wrong with Manager Wang?”
Jiang Yin smiled, but the smile didn’t reach her eyes.
“Weren’t you looking for a furnace? Why can’t you even stand now?”
Fear and pain burned Wang Qu’s will.
He retreated in terror on his remaining two legs like a fish out of water.
Seeing him trying to escape, Jiang Yin’s delicate fingers suddenly loosened, and the Imprisoning Demon Sword in her hand fell.
Without the protective demonic aura, it pierced his thigh in an instant.
“Ah!”
Jiang Yin covered her mouth and laughed lightly, but her words were apologetic.
“Ah, my hand slipped. Manager Wang wouldn’t hold a grudge against a ‘waste,’ would he?”
Watching Jiang Yin approach, Wang Qu was still hysterical.
“You, you stay away! Stay away!”
Having tortured him enough, she suddenly felt disgusted.
Jiang Yin grabbed Wang Qu’s head and began soul-searching.
She wanted to know who had given Wang Qu the orders and how he had found her.
The Demon Emperor had left a trace of the Soul Execution Disk’s aura on her, but logically, only the Soul Execution Disk should be able to sense it.
It was impossible for the Demon Emperor to have lent the Soul Execution Disk to Wang Qu.
Closing her eyes, various memories that didn’t belong to her flooded her mind.
Ignoring the filthy and sordid scenes, Jiang Yin quickly found what she was looking for.
She let go of Wang Qu and took a demonic disk from his waist.
The demonic disk stored a trace of the Soul Execution Disk’s power.
It couldn’t fully utilize the divine artifact’s potential but could temporarily activate its tracking function.
Jiang Yin carefully examined the runes on it, deep in thought.
The tracking relied on these runes, but since it wasn’t the Soul Execution Disk itself, there could be errors in the search.
If she could thoroughly understand the principles behind it, countering it would be easy.
Jiang Yin pocketed the demonic disk, only to find that Wang Qu’s soul had already shattered.
The soul-searching technique caused significant damage.
Originally, as someone who had just reached the Foundation Establishment stage, she shouldn’t have been able to use it on Wang Qu.
But her soul came from her previous life as a Demon Lord, it was far stronger than theirs, making it naturally unimpeded.
Jiang Yin was in an excellent mood.
In her previous life, she had faced many hardships in her youth, but in this life, everything was going smoothly.
Not only had she repaired the severe damage to her foundation and spiritual roots, but she had also accidentally obtained the divine artifact, the Imprisoning Demon Sword.
Defying fate was indeed like this.
She wondered if the Heavenly Dao regretted it, having inadvertently nurtured a more ruthless and troublesome “Demon Lord.”
The surrounding area was filled with a heavy scent of blood, with severed limbs and flesh everywhere.
Jiang Yin didn’t want Tang Muxi to see this scene, so she busied herself in the rain for a while, tidying up the surroundings.
The trees in front of the cave were either burned or fallen during the fight, making it hard to cover up.
Jiang Yin pondered for a moment and decided to leave it be.
She would just say it was struck by heavenly lightning; no one would know anyway.
As she was thinking this, she walked to the cave entrance and saw a fox staring blankly in her direction.
When it noticed her return, its body trembled like a leaf.
Jiang Yin raised an eyebrow, surprised she hadn’t noticed when it woke up.
Just as she was about to speak, a few large words quickly floated in front of her.
“I didn’t see anything!”
It could be said that its survival instinct was very strong.
Jiang Yin nodded in satisfaction and walked into the cave.
Tang Muxi was still sleeping soundly, with a bit of drool at the corner of her mouth, looking as silly as could be.
“Quite the sleeper.”
Jiang Yin didn’t go back to bed for the rest of the night.
She just sat by the bedside, keeping watch.
The long night was quiet and leisurely, with only the wind and rain, and no one else to disturb them.

