Chapter 1: He brought this upon himself

“Young Master! I beg you! Let’s go back quickly! The Saintess of the Evergreen Sect is protected by powerful masters; you can’t defeat them!”

On a large tree outside the Secret Realm, Yun Fei and one of his personal bodyguards were crouching, staring intently at the entrance of the Secret Realm.

“Relax! Your Young Master’s intelligence work isn’t just for show! From what I know, the powerhouses behind her will only step in if her life is in danger. Our goal is just to snatch something from her hand!”

“This… alright then, Young Master. But after we get the item, we have to go back immediately. Otherwise, if the Venerable Lord finds out, I’m afraid my little life will be forfeit!”

“I know! Good grief!”

Yun Fei rolled his eyes at his subordinate and continued staring at the exit of the Secret Realm.

The item Yun Fei wanted to steal was a Mysterious Orb.

According to intelligence obtained by a spy who sacrificed his life to infiltrate the place, the Saintess had already obtained the orb.

The rest would be easy!

“By the way, Young Master, if I may be so bold as to ask, what exactly does that orb do? Is it really worth you coming out personally?”

“What does it do? I don’t know!”

Yun Fei clicked his tongue and looked away.

“Ah?”

The subordinate naturally hadn’t expected Yun Fei to answer like that, but he could only let it go.

“When they come out later, you cover for me first. Those fallen brothers were quite capable; they placed a curse on the orb so it temporarily cannot be stored in spatial tools. You distract her, and I’ll snatch the orb from her hand. Do you hear me?”

Yun Fei whispered this to the subordinate beside him.

“Me… Me? Understood! For the Young Master! I’ll do whatever it takes!”

“Good! Very good! As expected of my man! Go down now, she’s coming out!”

Yun Fei caught sight of the Saintess emerging from the Secret Realm and kicked his subordinate off the tree with one foot.

“Hahaha! Die! You wretched Saintess!”

Ignoring the pain, the subordinate drew a dagger from his waist after hitting the ground and charged at the Saintess.

At that moment, Yun Fei had already activated his Stealth Secret Technique and was quietly creeping toward the Saintess.

“Hmm?”

The Saintess noticed the attack and immediately drew her sword to block the surprise assault.

“Who are you?”

The subordinate wasn’t frustrated when his strike missed.

He wasn’t in a hurry to attack again either, as his only task was to stall for time.

“Me? Hahaha! I’m the one here to kill you, of course!”

The subordinate tossed the dagger in his hand and pointed it at the Saintess.

“Kill me? With just a piece of trash like you, who hasn’t even reached the Star-Plucking Realm?”

The Saintess glanced suspiciously at the man before her, wondering how such a suicidal fool could exist in this world.

“What? Trash? Dammit! I hate arrogant bastards like you the most! Die!”

His rage was fully ignited as he gritted his teeth and charged at the Saintess.

“Tch!”

A look of disdain immediately appeared on the Saintess’s face.

She struck out with her sword again, directly sending the dagger flying from his hand.

“What?!”

He couldn’t believe his weapon had been disarmed so easily and froze on the spot for a moment.

“I’m done playing with you, trash of the Demon Race. This lady has work to do.”

The Saintess curled her lip and thrust her sword forward, piercing right through his chest.

“Wh…?”

He stared in disbelief at the sword embedded in his chest as his eyes gradually glazed over.

Seeing this while hidden nearby, Yun Fei shook his head silently.

“This Young Master will remember your contributions.”

“Who’s talking!”

“Crap! I said it out loud!”

Panicked, Yun Fei’s body reacted instinctively.

He rushed forward and snatched the orb hanging from her waist.

“Got it! I’m out!”

“You wretched little thief! Stop right there!”

The moment he grabbed it, the effect of Yun Fei’s secret technique wore off, exposing him before the Saintess.

Yun Fei quickly dispelled the curse on the orb, stuffed it into his storage space, and then came to a halt.

“Eh? You’re actually not running?”

Seeing Yun Fei’s unusual behavior, the Saintess stopped her pursuit and watched him warily.

“Run? I am the Young Master of the Demon Realm! Where would my pride be if I were chased around by a mere Saintess like you? Now, we are both in the Star-Plucking Realm. Let’s fight. If you win, I’ll return the orb to you.”

Yun Fei gestured provocatively at her, brimming with defiance.

“Heh… as you wish!”

The Saintess’s eyes narrowed, turning an icy blue as a bone-chilling cold spread outward.

Multiple ice swords condensed in the air and shot toward Yun Fei.

Yun Fei nimbly dodged the flying swords as a spear wreathed in purple flames appeared in his hand.

Everywhere the spear passed, the temperature skyrocketed, melting the ice into slush.

“How about that?”

Yun Fei was feeling very smug.

He pointed the tip of his spear at the Saintess, unable to suppress his grinning lips.

“Whew—are you all like this in the Demon Race? Always so full of yourselves.”

The Saintess slowly lowered her sword and muttered.

Seeing the Saintess’s reaction, Yun Fei was puzzled.

He couldn’t figure out what she was up to.

As he wondered, the girl suddenly vanished from his sight.

A sharp sense of crisis surged, but his body couldn’t react in time.

Intense pain radiated from his lower abdomen throughout his body, and he was sent flying, crashing through several trees before finally stopping.

“Pfft—”

Yun Fei clutched his stomach as he rolled on the ground, blood leaking from the corner of his mouth.

He looked up and saw the Saintess rubbing her right fist with a curious expression.

“Eh? You didn’t die? Those guys in the Secret Realm before bit the dust after taking just one of my punches~ I thought members of the Demon Race were all fragile~”

“You—cough—why are you so strong? The intel clearly said…”

Yun Fei coughed up more blood and saw the Saintess’s playful smile.

“Fine! You deliberately leaked false information to bait us, didn’t you? I’ll remember this! A wise man knows when to retreat; I’m out of here!”

With that, Yun Fei pulled out a talisman and slapped it onto the ground.

The talisman activated instantly, creating a thick smoke that blocked the Saintess’s vision.

“Tch! Always the same old tricks! Clear Wind Incantation!”

A breeze swept through, dispersing the smoke.

The Saintess scanned the area and quickly located the direction Yun Fei had fled.

While escaping, Yun Fei glanced back.

His eyes nearly bulged out of his head.

“Is the heavens playing a joke on me? How can anyone in the Star-Plucking Realm be this fast? Is this woman cheating?”

Without time to think, Yun Fei pulled out two more talismans and slapped them onto his feet.

These were God-Speed Talismans, life-saving items used to boost escape speed.

His speed increased significantly, yet the distance between them kept closing.

“Dammit! This isn’t going to work!”

Yun Fei considered himself strong; he had never lost a fight among his peers.

That’s why he dared to come here to make the Demon Race’s presence known to the Saintess.

But now, he wondered if she was the darling of the Heavens.

How could she be so terrifying?

The Saintess was getting closer!

Yun Fei gritted his teeth and made an unexpected move.

“If I just swallow the orb, the Saintess will definitely hesitate. Maybe she won’t dare to strike me so recklessly. That way, I’ll have time to set up a long-distance teleportation array and escape!”

Calculating this, Yun Fei stopped and turned to face the approaching Saintess.

He confidently pulled the orb out of his storage and shoved it into his mouth.

The orb melted instantly upon contact, and for a moment, he felt nothing unusual.

“Wait! That’s—!”

The Saintess’s cry of alarm came just as expected, and Yun Fei savored the sight of Mu Lingxi looking frustrated.

“Hahaha! Mu Lingxi! I’ve already swallowed it! You can forget about getting it back!”

Yun Fei stood with his hands on his hips, laughing out loud.

Mu Lingxi landed from the air with a complex expression.

As Yun Fei had predicted, she stopped her attack.

Seeing this, he should have hurriedly set up the array to leave.

The Profane Realm was no place to linger!

However, when she had constructed half the array, she suddenly felt an unusual signal from her body.

An indescribable sensation instantly swept through her.

As a result, the array construction was interrupted.

The backlash caused her to cough up another mouthful of blood.

“Cough, cough—”

It was a very clear and beautiful female voice, which left Yun Fei momentarily stunned.

After realizing where the sound came from, her eyes widened.

Regardless of the propriety of the situation, she hurriedly reached her hand down between her legs.

“No… this is impossible!”

It was still a sweet girl’s voice, seemingly mocking her absurdity.

“Wait! Mu Lingxi! Were you trying to say something to me just now?”

Mu Lingxi saw that Yun Fei had finally realized and sighed.

“…Yun Fei, I wanted to say that the orb formed from the Yin Essence of Heaven and Earth that you swallowed is a great tonic for women with cold-attribute cultivation. If a man takes it… especially a man like you with such high fire-attribute affinity… Well, as you can see… congratulations, you’ve become a beautiful girl~ Since you’ve lost something very important, I won’t pursue this further. Anyway, that thing wasn’t an absolute necessity for me.”