If I stay in the Hehuan Sect, I'll live off the pampered daughters of the Heavenly Pride Sect.

Mo Chengyue walked deeper into the pile of stones, Yu Jianhuan followed half a step closely, and Su Qingying lagged three steps behind, holding the Biling Sword to guard the surroundings.

A faint breathing sound came from the pile of stones, and a section of long, blood-stained, dark hair peeked out from between the rubble, the iridescent light at the ends of the hair almost extinguished.

Mo Chengyue squatted down and reached out to push aside the two pieces of broken stone that were pressing on Jin Qiaoqiao's body.

Jin Qiaoqiao lay half-reclined on the rubble, the wound on her left arm, torn by the claw marks of the roc, still bleeding.

The two peacock feathers had completely disappeared, leaving only the faintly visible rainbow patterns on the torn fabric of the back of the garment.

Those are the traces left after the peacock bloodline receded into the body.

Her phoenix eyes were closed, and a trace of dried blood clung to the corner of her mouth.

His face, now unconscious, had lost its fierceness from battle, instead revealing a fragile softness that seemed completely out of place for a demon in the Transformation Stage.

Yu Jianhuan stood behind Mo Chengyue, her phoenix eyes sweeping over Jin Qiaoqiao, a slight smirk playing on her lips.

"Junior brother, who is she?"

The wariness in his tone was sharper than the Azure Spirit Sword.

Mo Chengyue didn't turn around, his tone indifferent.

"Jin Qiaoqiao, princess of the Peacock Clan, a powerful demon in the Transformation Stage."

"We had a working relationship before."

Yu Jianhuan narrowed her phoenix eyes.

"A cooperative relationship?"

"Yes. Purely an exchange of benefits."

Yu Jianhuan's gaze fell on Jin Qiaoqiao's face, which was still excessively beautiful even though it was covered in blood, and she snorted.

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She didn't ask any further questions, but the curve of her lips said it all—she didn't believe it.

Mo Chengyue extended two fingers and placed them on Jin Qiaoqiao's pulse point, transferring a wisp of true energy into her.

Although Jin Qiaoqiao's demon core was cracked, its core remained intact. She suffered severe internal injuries, but they were not fatal.

With the recovery power of a demon in the Transformation Stage, a few pills and a few days of rest are enough to restore 70-80% of its original strength.

He took out a recovery pill from his storage bag and hesitated for a moment.

These were the best items he had selected from his spoils; giving them to others meant he would lose one more means of survival.

But he still managed to pry open Jin Qiaoqiao's mouth and put the pill in.

Yu Jianhuan watched from the side, her lips twitching.

"Junior brother, your technique for feeding pills is quite skillful."

Mo Chengyue: "It's just saving people."

"You weren't this gentle when you saved me."

"It wasn't this quiet when you were rescued."

Yu Jianhuan gritted her teeth.

Su Qingying stood on the outer perimeter, her Azure Spirit Sword held horizontally in front of her.

His gaze swept over the surrounding ruined stone statues, seemingly ignoring the conversation between the two.

But the Azure Spirit Sword spun half a circle in its scabbard—the hilt was moved from the right hand to the left.

Her free right hand unconsciously clenched the hem of her clothes for a moment, then released it.

The spiritual power of the elixir dissolved within Jin Qiaoqiao's body, and her aura began to slowly recover.

Her phoenix-shaped eyelashes trembled slightly.

Jin Qiaoqiao woke up.

The moment her phoenix eyes opened, a strange golden vertical pupil flashed deep within them.

This is the instinctive reaction of a great demon in the transformation stage when in a state of extreme alertness.

Her right hand suddenly gripped the wrist that was still resting on her pulse point, her fingertips gathering demonic power, the force so great that her knuckles turned white.

Then she saw the face clearly.

His face was covered in dust, his jawline was sharp, and the corners of his mouth were slightly pursed—it was the kind of expression she had seen countless times, a calmness that was terrifying.

Her golden vertical pupils slowly faded, returning to a normal dark brown.

The grip on his wrist loosened little by little.

The process of relaxing her taut fingers was more difficult than any of her sorcery.

"...It's you?"

Her voice was hoarse, like shattered glass.

Mo Chengyue looked down at her.

"it's me."

"Your Highness, you pinched my wrist so hard it's turned blue."

Jin Qiaoqiao did not let go.

Her phoenix eyes were fixed on Mo Chengyue's face, her gaze moving from his brow bone to the bridge of his nose, and from the bridge of his nose to the corner of his mouth.

It was as if they were confirming that this was not a hallucination, nor a fleeting image before death.

Her lips opened twice, but no sound came out the first time.

Second time: "How did you get here?"

Mo Chengyue: "I just wandered around and ended up here."

A layer of tears welled up in Jin Qiaoqiao's phoenix eyes—so quickly that she didn't even realize it herself.

Then she abruptly turned her head away, loosened her wrists, and sat up, supporting herself on the rubble.

The movement was too hasty and aggravated the wound on her left arm. The pain made her mouth twitch, but she didn't utter a sound.

She stared at a broken stone statue head in the distance, her voice regaining its deliberately cold and hard tone.

"I thought..."

She didn't finish speaking.

Mo Chengyue waited for a couple of breaths before realizing that she had no intention of finishing her sentence.

He stood up and dusted off his knees.

"Young Master Dapeng is dead."

Jin Qiaoqiao turned her head back abruptly.

Her phoenix eyes narrowed sharply.

Jin Qiaoqiao's gaze swept around—she remembered that the last thing she saw before she was knocked away by a knife was the mocking smile of the young master of the Great Roc.

But the battlefield was empty at this moment, with no sign of the young master Dapeng.

There were no corpses, and even the residual fluctuations of the golden-black spiritual energy had been completely cleared away.

Only fragments of stone statues and ashes that had not yet completely dissipated lingered in the wind.

"Who killed him?" she asked.

Mo Chengyue gestured with his chin towards Yu Jianhuan and Su Qingying behind him.

The three of us.

Jin Qiaoqiao's phoenix eyes lingered on Yu Jianhuan and Su Qingying for three breaths.

With the perception of a great demon in the Transformation Stage, she accurately judged the cultivation levels of the two.

One is at the peak of the early stage of Core Formation, and the other is at the peak of the middle stage of Core Formation.

In addition, Mo Chengyue was at the mid-stage of the Golden Core realm.

Three Core Formation stage cultivators—killed a Transformation stage demon.

Jin Qiaoqiao's expression underwent an extremely complex change.

At first, it was unbelievable.

Then came some deeper tremor.

She understands Young Master Dapeng.

Even if he is injured or his very essence is damaged, he is still the most talented bloodline inheritor of the Great Peng Clan in thousands of years, and an outstanding member among the great demons in the Transformation stage.

She fought the young master of the Great Peng for most of the day, but even with all her might, the battle was only at a stalemate.

And these three people...

Jin Qiaoqiao slowly stood up, her left arm hanging at her side, blood dripping from her fingertips onto the gravel.

Her phoenix eyes fell back on Mo Chengyue's face, and there was something in her gaze that she herself was unwilling to admit.

It wasn't just surprise, but also a lingering unease, like the aftermath of a violent impact.

She once thought this human man was just a lucky Core Formation stage ant, a tool with a fortunate fate.

Yu Jianhuan spoke coldly from the side.

"Have you seen enough?"

Jin Qiaoqiao's gaze was cut off.

She turned her head to look at Yu Jianhuan.

She wore a long, rose-purple dress stained with blood, her phoenix eyes were upturned, and a beauty mark at the corner of her eye resembled a deep red mole, shrouded in undisguised hostility and warning.

Jin Qiaoqiao raised an eyebrow.

Yu Jianhuan did not back down.

She stepped forward and stood between Mo Chengyue and Jin Qiaoqiao.

Her phoenix eyes were slightly upturned, and the corners of her mouth curved into a seemingly sweet but actually barbed arc.

"My name is Yu Jianhuan, a disciple of the Hehuan Sect, and his senior sister."

The last two words were pronounced with extreme emphasis.

Jin Qiaoqiao narrowed her phoenix eyes slightly.

The oppressive aura of a great demon in the Transformation Stage silently emanated from her body—not a deliberate release, but an instinctive reaction that was provoked.

It was a sense of oppression brought about by the crushing of life levels, like a sleeping phoenix suddenly opening half of its eye.

Yu Jianhuan's smile froze for a moment.

Her spiritual energy circulation was slowed down by that oppressive force, and the hairs on the back of her body stood on end.

But she did not back down.

Danfeng's hostility only intensified—she had seen far too many people who flaunted their high cultivation levels.

Mo Chengyue raised his hand and placed it on Yu Jianhuan's shoulder, pulling her back half a step.

He then looked at Jin Qiaoqiao and said, "Put it away."

Her tone wasn't harsh, but Jin Qiaoqiao's imposing aura vanished after that one word.

She wasn't ordered to accept it; she chose to accept it herself.

But the reason she chose to accept it made her irritated—she subconsciously listened to what he said.

Jin Qiaoqiao's lips curled into a cold smile: "Your senior sister? A senior sister from the Hehuan Sect?"

The implication is that everyone knows what kind of sect the Hehuan Sect is.

Yu Jianhuan's phoenix eyes narrowed dangerously.

Mo Chengyue tightened his grip on Yu Jianhuan's shoulder, his voice calm.

"It's not safe here. The powerful beings in the core area could finish their battles at any time and wipe out the entire field."