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

The Iron-Armed Ape was covered in black armor, revealing only a pair of furious eyes that stared intently at Yuan Xiu, as if it wanted to devour him and skin him alive.

Yuan Xiu didn't care at all. He didn't respond to the Iron-Armed Ape, but instead looked at the two people standing in front of the threshold.

Yin Hongyue, the wife of the Demonic Cult Leader, and the Second Elder of the Demonic Cult.

With the arrival of the Iron-Armed Ape, they found themselves in an extremely awkward situation.

Although this was a slave camp, it also housed many warriors from Xia Prefecture. Yin Hongyue's location was Liu Qingqing's temporary residence.

The arrival of the Iron-Armed Ape made it difficult for Yin Hongyue to conceal her identity any longer. This meant that the Demonic Sect was already familiar with the situation in Thousand Caves, and this information would soon reach Xiazhou City, and even the Great Zhou Dynasty.

Although the place was heavily guarded and there were three grandmasters at the bottom of the Thousand Caves, it was still easy for Yin Hongyue and her companion to escape.

However, this would disrupt Yin Hongyue's plan to use the information gap as an advantage to counter the aggressive attack on the Northern Kingdom by the Six Northern States. It would be tantamount to stirring up trouble.

Thinking of this, Yin Hongyue's gaze towards Yuan Xiu grew increasingly hostile. But her anger was quickly replaced by doubt—was Yuan Xiu doing this on purpose, or was it just a coincidence?

Before Yuan Xiu could speak, the Iron-Armed Ape's attack had already arrived.

The relentless pursuit of these past few days has cost Iron-Armed Ape a significant amount of his forces. Now, he's a lone commander. Yet, the killing intent emanating from him only grows stronger.

With a single punch, the ground shattered once more.

However, Yuan Xiu did not dodge as usual, but instead took the punch with her bare hands.

Not only was Iron Arm Ape surprised, but so were Yin Hongyue and the other person behind him.

Yuan Xiu held the Iron-Armed Ape's fist, which was much larger than his own, with ease.

Then, a pale white flame ignited from Yuan Xiu's arm. The [Elixir Fire] spread upwards from the Iron-Armed Ape's arm with extreme speed, quickly engulfing his entire body.

The Iron-Armed Ape struggled and fell to the ground, but it was the black armor that caught fire first. This armor, which seemed to be alive, couldn't withstand the tempering of the [Elixir Fire] for long and soon crumbled inch by inch.

The sounds of pain and wails echoed, but Yuan Xiu seemed oblivious. She took a few steps forward, glanced at Liu Qingqing's lover who was controlled by the Gu worms, and seeing that he was no longer breathing, she raised her head and looked at Yin Hongyue.

"As expected of the Demonic Sect, they really know how to be ruthless!"

Yin Hongyue ignored Yuan Xiu's words and asked:

"What do you want?"

"cooperate!"

After hearing this, Yin Hongyue considered it for a moment and then smiled.

"You want to cooperate with me?"

Yuan Xiu did not answer, but only said:

You have one more moment to consider.

These words were as cold as ice, yet they carried an intense sense of oppression in Yin Hongyue's heart.

A moment is the time it takes for a grandmaster to get here from the underground cave.

It seems that Yuan Xiu had already planned out the current situation, and the other party was well aware of her purpose.

However, Yuan Xiu didn't explain how they would cooperate or what their purpose was, and Yin Hongyue didn't seem to care, readily agreeing:

"good!"

The Second Elder stood to the side, looking quite surprised.

"lady……"

The Second Elder tried to persuade her, but received only Yin Hongyue's cold command.

"Leave no one alive in the area within three miles of this house."

Upon receiving the order, the Second Elder's body began to dissolve, and a large number of Gu worms surged out from her dissolving body, expanding outwards.

These Gu worms bypassed Yuan Xiu and Yin Hongyue, but devoured all living things on the earth, even wood and stone.

Is this the [Black Gold Devourer]?

Yuan Xiu sighed inwardly, thinking that in terms of skill in using Gu poison, He Xun was not even worthy of carrying the shoes of these two elders.

In this atmosphere, Yin Hongyue's beautiful eyes remained fixed on Yuan Xiu, her smile as full as the moon.

Yuan Xiu, noticing the other's gaze, did not look away but stared back fiercely.

……

Fifteen minutes later.

Hearing the commotion outside, Cao Xiaohu emerged from the underground cave to see what was happening, only to be met with a truly horrifying scene—

The surging insect swarm, stretching for miles, swept across everything in sight like ocean waves.

The entire slave camp, whether it was the barbarians from the North Kingdom or the criminals from the six northern states, was now submerged in the swarm of insects. Their flesh and blood gradually disappeared, and even their bones gradually became nourishment for the Gu worms.

The swarm of insects multiplied at an extremely fast pace, as if sensing the immense energy emanating from Cao Xiaohu, and quickly approached him.

Cao Xiaohu struck down with his palm, and within a radius of several feet centered on him, the Gu worms vanished. However, the black worm swarm did not retreat, but surged forward even more fiercely.

Even a grandmaster would be greatly alarmed by this situation. Cao Xiaohu used his powerful palm strikes to clear away the swarm of insects that surrounded him for several dozen feet before he could finally breathe a sigh of relief.

"As expected of Governor Cao!"

Cao Xiaohu looked in the direction of the sound and saw a woman's figure vaguely outlined in the swarm of insects.

"Playing tricks!"

……

Cave.

The man and woman remained seated, absorbing the energy emanating from the spiritual root.

"Cao Xiaohu hasn't come back for so long, has he run into trouble?"

The man said something, and the beautiful young woman who had been chattering away just a moment ago fell silent.

"lady?"

The beautiful young woman said leisurely:

"It's not just trouble, it's probably big trouble."

The arrival of Yuan Xiu and Yin Hongyue made the beautiful young woman extremely cautious, yet she still scoffed:

"I knew she was a vixen; she brought a man so quickly."

Yin Hongyue did not transform into Liu Qingqing, but came in her true form. However, the beautiful young woman could still recognize her at a glance; she was Liu Qingqing from before.

However, the beautiful young woman was clearly somewhat naive, being new to the world, and was unfamiliar with the two people in front of her.

"Which faction do you belong to: the Northern Kingdom, the East Sea, the Southern Frontier, or the Western Regions?"

Yuan Xiu smiled upon hearing this.

"You could call it a demonic cult!"

Upon hearing the words "demonic sect," the beautiful young woman stood up, her face showing hostility.

"In that case, we really can't let them stay."

As soon as the beautiful young woman finished speaking, countless golden tentacles surged out from her sleeves and quickly enveloped her.

Compared to the Iron-Armed Ape's black armor, the beautiful young woman's golden armor appeared more sophisticated, and it even split into a pair of wings on her back.

"You sly fox, I'll use you to test this newly forged magical artifact!"

After saying that, the beautiful young woman bypassed Yuan Xiu and rushed straight towards Yin Hongyue, who was standing behind her.

The two quickly engaged in a fierce battle.

Yuan Xiu looked at the short man still sitting on the ground and asked:

"Aren't you going to do it?"

The short man chuckled and said:

"No rush!"

The short man reached out and picked up a fallen leaf from the ground, then gently stroked it with his hand, as if caressing a lover.

Before Yuan Xiu could react, the fallen leaf transformed into a sharp weapon and flew straight towards her.

Even with Yuan Xiu's master-level skills, he still couldn't completely dodge this hidden weapon, which left a fine bloody mark on his face.

The fallen leaf twirled in the air and returned to the short man's hand. Strangely, this leaf seemed to be alive, actively absorbing Yuan Xiu's blood.

The short man was overjoyed and said:

"As expected of a grandmaster's blood, it would be even better if it could be refined into a pill."

……