The villainous bosses from their past lives have all been reborn.

The mountain is a tiger's den.

When Yuan Xiu returned to this place, she met the Demonic Sect's Grand Elder who had been injured by the Black Guards.

"Alliance Leader!"

The Demonic Sect's Grand Elder's deeply lined face was filled with weakness as he struggled to rise from the stone bed, only to be stopped by Yuan Xiu's raised hand. His breathing was disordered and weak, clearly indicating that he had suffered a fundamental injury—those Black Guards were extremely ruthless, and if it weren't for his survival skills, he would probably already be a skeleton outside the Thousand Caves.

Yuan Xiu sat down on the only stone bench in the cave, looking at him calmly:

"Tell me, what exactly happened?"

The Grand Elder took a breath, a flash of resentment in his eyes: "By order of the Alliance Leader, I gathered the Demonic Sect's forces in Xia Prefecture to search for that spiritual root in the Thousand Caves Cave. But I never expected that the Thousand Caves Cave was not guarded by Iron-Armed Ape's subordinates, but by the Black Guards of the Imperial Court. Among them were even Grandmaster-level individuals of the Chosen One."

Upon hearing this, Yuan Xiu subconsciously asked:

"Who?"

"There are two people my subordinates don't recognize, but the remaining one is a very famous person, Cao Xiaohu, the former director of the Eastern Depot."

"It's him?"

A pale face flashed through Yuan Xiu's mind—it was someone he had seen in the capital in his previous life, Cao Xiaohu, the head of the Eastern Depot, a sickly man with a pale face like a tuberculosis patient, but whose eyes were sharper than knives. In his previous life, this man had not relied on his sickly appearance to climb to the position of head of the Eastern Depot, but on his real skills.

It seems that Zhongzhou is beginning to unite amidst this conflict. And the value of that spirit plant is extraordinary.

Soon, a picture formed in Yuan Xiu's mind—

Among the six northern states, the chosen ones born from the Liu family of Xia State, the Xia family of Jin State, and other families united due to some opportunity and colluded with the chosen ones in the imperial court, forming a powerful force.

The catalyst for this is likely the [Fire Pill]. Also, the black armor worn by the Iron-Armed Ape is worth noting.

In order to obtain a large amount of materials for manufacturing [Fire Elixir], this force wants to launch a war against the Northern Kingdom in order to harvest its population.

At this moment, we should be in the integration phase. The next step is to concentrate our military forces and launch an attack.

Perhaps, the way we fight on the battlefield will be different from what we used to be.

Thinking about this, Yuan Xiu was puzzled as to why this force didn't try to win over the Yuan family.

Could it be that Yuan Cai's collusion with the evil cult has been exposed?

Yuan Xiu thought about it and realized it wasn't impossible. After all, the entire Demonic Sect forces in Jinzhou had been wiped out, and Mad Tiger, one of the Twelve Protectors, had been brought under control. It wouldn't be surprising to learn that Yuan Cai had defected to the Demonic Sect.

Soon, the words of the Demonic Sect's Grand Elder confirmed Yuan Xiu's judgment.

"My subordinates originally gathered a large number of the Demonic Sect's elite troops, but now we can say that we have been completely defeated."

"What other plans does the Demonic Sect have?"

"The Alliance Leader knows that there was a disagreement between me and the other two elders within the Demonic Sect regarding how to help the Demonic Sect Leader advance to the eleventh realm. I advocated collecting materials for the Seven-Leaf Jade and using Yuan Cai's profound techniques to repeatedly create it. If we could condense the Nine-Leaf Jade, then he would definitely break through to the eleventh realm. Now that I have lost, it's time for the other two elders to take power. Especially the Second Elder, who is backed by the Sect Leader's wife, Yin Hongyue. I haven't received any news from her lately; she must be carrying out their plan!"

The three elders of the Demonic Sect each took precautions, and their respective plans were kept secret and carried out independently.

Compared to the Grand Elder's plan, which requires a large number of people, the other two plans are being implemented in a secretive and low-key manner.

"As far as I know, the Demonic Sect currently has twenty-three individuals who are destined for greatness. Apart from the Sect Leader's Heavenly Hatred-level profound skill [Fish and Dragon Dance], only Yin Hongyue's profound skill [Thousand Illusions], the Second Elder's profound skill [Black Gold Devour], and the Third Elder's profound skill [Falling Moon Mirror] are at the Heart-Only level."

The Grand Elder's profound skill, [Bai Ze's Horn], is only at the Breaking Fate level and does not have strong offensive power. It is only auxiliary and has the power to see through all things.

But clearly, he hadn't finished developing it yet; otherwise, he wouldn't have been ambushed by the Black Guards.

"Alliance Leader, the profound techniques of the Heart and Heavenly Hatred levels are exceptionally wondrous, beyond the reach of ordinary people. I only know a little about them. But there is one thing: Yin Hongyue's profound technique allows her to transform into anyone in this world she knows."

The words of the Grand Elder of the Demonic Sect puzzled Yuan Xiu.

"Isn't it just disguise? How can that be considered a 'psychic' level technique?"

"It's not a disguise, but a complete transformation into that person, even down to the blood flowing through her veins. Moreover, this is only a portion of her mystical abilities that I've learned about."

After listening, Yuan Xiu seemed to be deep in thought.

Completely transform into that person?

This involves quite a few things, at least down to the level of genetic material.

"I see!"

"Leader, what should we do now?"

There are three Grandmasters and a large number of Black Guards at Thousand Ravines Cave. It would be very risky for Yuan Xiu to venture there rashly with his current cultivation level.

"First go to Tianquan Villa to find Yuan Cai, then return to Yanzhou."

Just as Yuan Xiu finished speaking, there was a disturbance in the woods outside the tiger's den.

"who!"

The Grand Elder of the Demonic Sect shouted, and a man wielding a knife slowly appeared in front of the two.

"Yuan Liulang of the Yuan family in Yanzhou actually colluded with the Grand Elder of the Demonic Sect!"

Shu Fang said these words, but there was no emotion in them.

The Grand Elder of the Demonic Sect was about to step forward to silence them, but Yuan Xiu stopped him.

"What do you want?"

Shu Fang looked up at the sky, drew his long sword from his waist, and saw that after the long sword left its sheath, it split into two, becoming a pair of swords.

Black blade light surrounded the blade, and Shu Fang seemed to have become a different person.

"I'll kill you!"

"Speak," Shu Fang said, no longer holding back. He quickly ran forward, and soon his figure turned into a dotted line and disappeared in front of Yuan Xiu.

When he reappeared, Shu Fang was already leaping into the air, the black blade light expanding to several tens of feet. In this world, it seemed as if two enormous blade shadows appeared, tearing through the void and instantly slicing through the accumulated rain clouds.

The rain burst through the air, as if adding to the momentum of the ten-foot-long blade of light.

boom--

The hard rocks of the tiger's den crumbled like tofu under the blade's edge. The entire den, along with the surrounding rocks and trees for dozens of feet, was reduced to dust by this single strike.

"Whatever your past life may be, or this life may be, Alliance Leader, do you still possess that domineering quality that makes us submit to you wholeheartedly and willingly swear to serve you to the death?"

As the dust settled, Yuan Xiu remained standing in the same spot, looking at Shu Fang, who had not yet sheathed his sword, and murmured something.

"Xiao Shu!"

Shu Fang's hand holding the knife trembled slightly.

He remained kneeling on one knee, his two swords planted in the ground beside him, black light still swirling on their blades, yet he hesitated to sheath them. He knelt there among the rubble, the rain soaking his clothes and hair, but unable to dampen the tears in his eyes as he gazed at Yuan Xiu.

for a long time.

Shu Fang lowered her head, her voice hoarse:

"Alliance Leader!"

……