I manage female characters in all the heavens.

A sense of foreboding suddenly welled up in Lu Zhongyuan's heart.

He waited no longer and suddenly pushed open the heavy wooden door of the main hall.

Squeak-!

The jarring sound of the door opening echoed through the empty hall.

There was no one inside the hall.

No, it should be said that there wasn't a single living person.

Thirty-six elders lay sprawled on the ground.

Their bodies shrank eerily, their skin clinging tightly to their bones, like dried corpses that had been drained of all moisture.

Its appearance was almost identical to the death of someone who died after the legendary Absorbing Power Technique absorbed the power of others.

In the very center of the hall, at the huge round conference table, sat a person.

The man crossed his legs, leaned back leisurely in his chair, and casually sipped a cup of steaming tea.

He still wore the familiar silver mask on the upper half of his face, and his robes were spotless, as if none of this concerned him, just as he had when he first came to the Demon Extermination Alliance and drank with everyone.

Gongzi Yu.

"Oh, Old Lu is here, have a seat." Gongzi Yu's smiling voice echoed in the hall.

"You..." Lu Zhongyuan's voice was as if he were being choked, and it took him a long time to squeeze out a few words, "You're not dead?!"

"Death?" Gongzi Yu put down his teacup, and a soft laugh came from behind his mask. "Old Lu, are you kidding me? Killing 36 old guys is nothing. How could you expect me to pay with my life? That doesn't make sense."

"You know that's not what I'm asking!" Lu Zhongyuan said angrily.

"What's with the corpse on the stone tablet?!" Du Sha demanded sharply on behalf of Lu Zhongyuan, who was clearly losing his composure.

"Oh, you mean that one?"

Gongzi Yu touched his face and laughed, "This face of mine is based on his disguise. With him playing the role of Gongzi Yu's corpse, it's naturally seamless."

His tone was nonchalant, as if he were talking about a trivial matter. "I'm just too dazzling in the league. Almost every move I make is watched by countless people, making it inconvenient for me to do some things quietly."

"Isn't it better to let you think I'm dead so I can handle things that are inconvenient to do openly?"

As he spoke, his gaze slowly swept over the thirty-six mummified corpses in the hall, a hint of satisfaction in his tone:

"Look, this way, we can get rid of these old guys without anyone noticing. The martial arts accumulation of thirty-six top-notch masters will quietly become my foundation. Isn't that wonderful?"

The little fish was stunned.

Looking at the figure sitting at the round table, leisurely sipping tea, he felt as if his whole world was collapsing.

The person he respected, loved, and wanted to become his disciple—the one who promised to take him as his apprentice after he eliminated Yingri—actually killed thirty-six elders with his own hands, and then sat here, drinking tea as if nothing had happened.

He looked down at the "suicide note" in his hand.

They discovered Mingyue Xin's unusual behavior...

--Fake.

I've decided to confront Mingyue Xin...

—It's fake too.

If he never returns, the one who kills him is Mingyue Xin...

—It's all fake!

This letter was not a final note at all, but a conspiracy that Gongzi Yu had prepared long ago to guide him to discover the "truth"!

His world is crumbling; it's all a lie!

"Why..." Lu Zhongyuan's voice trembled as he looked at the leisurely figure, his eyes red-rimmed.

"Why did you do this? Why did you kill these elders? Why did you deceive us?!"

"And why did you deliberately lead us to discover your conspiracy?!"

If Gongzi Yu is such a schemer, why would he fake his death to do these things? He clearly had plenty of opportunities to kill everyone present, not just the 36 elders.

Lu Zhongyuan wasn't stupid; he understood that without the information Gongzi Yu left for Xiaoyuer, it might have taken them some more time to discover the problem with the Elders' Council.

This is the result of Gongzi Yu's proactive guidance!

Gongzi Yu put down his teacup, turned his head, and calmly looked at Lu Zhongyuan through the gap in his mask.

"Why?" he repeated the question, then chuckled softly.

"The reason I came to the Demon Extermination Alliance was to see just how capable this alliance, which is rumored to be able to defeat the Great Demon Lord Ying Ri, really is. But I was greatly disappointed."

"No one can see through my true nature; no one can detect the corpses I arranged; the thirty-six elders have been dead for two days, yet you only discovered it now... Alas, a bunch of useless trash."

"Since I've disappointed you, I have to make up for it elsewhere."

Lu Zhongyuan's clenched fist bulged with veins: "You're saying—the elders have been dead for two days?"

“Two days ago, while you were still busy making a fuss about my death, I was here seeing them off.”

Gongzi Yu's voice carried a hint of sarcasm, "You're all so busy investigating the cause of my death that not a single one of you has thought to come to the Elders' Council to see if your leaders are still around."

"Perhaps it is precisely because of your leniency that they have become increasingly unscrupulous."

The entire leadership has been cut off for two days, yet the Demon Extermination Alliance remains completely unaware, which is truly shocking. She had prepared her lines long ago, but ended up waiting here for two days in vain.

Damn it, I never expected the Demon Slayer Alliance to be this bad, forcing her to change her lines.

Du Sha's face was cold and hard: "What exactly are you talking about?!"

Gongzi Yu chuckled softly: "I mean, I'm just toying with you all."

"The Demon Extermination Alliance is too weak. They can't give me any fun in battle. I can only find ways to toy with you to get pleasure, and then personally reveal my true colors to shock you. This is the composure of a strong person."

Upon hearing this, Lu Zhongyuan and Du Sha could no longer restrain themselves and launched an attack on her.

The fierce palm strike made the air groan, and a powerful wind swept through the entire hall, creating a tremendous impact.

In his rage, Lu Zhongyuan unleashed his full power without any restraint. The main hall seemed to be instantly filled with high-pressure gas, threatening to explode!

However, anger will not change the gap in strength.

Gongzi Yu didn't even get up; he simply splashed the tea in his hand.

The tea, infused with vast true energy, seemed to transform into a celestial river, descending from the sky and instantly engulfing Lu Zhongyuan and his companion's power, engulfing them in its flow.

What was clearly just a tiny drop of tea unleashed unparalleled power, instantly sending the two flying backward as if struck by a giant wave, spitting blood.

Gongzi Yu gently pressed his palm down, and the raging energy that had been sweeping through the entire hall immediately subsided. The clouds dispersed and the rain stopped, and everything that had just happened seemed to be an illusion.

But Lu Zhongyuan and Du Sha, who were lying on the ground unable to get up, proved that all of this was not an illusion, but reality.

With just a casual move, he defeated Lu Zhongyuan, who was once considered the third best expert in the world, along with Du Sha. The difference in strength was despair-inducing!

Gongzi Yu looked at the two men lying on the ground, but did not intend to finish them off with a single move or devour them with his Absorbing Power Technique.

He also needs them to continue leading the Demon Slayer Alliance to grow stronger and become even better pawns for him, now that the Elders' Council has been destroyed.

Now that the corrupt elders council has been destroyed, the power of the Demon Extermination Alliance will likely be transferred to experts like Yan Nantian and Lu Zhongyuan.

With their martial arts skills and character, they would certainly be able to promote the growth of the "leeks" (a term for inexperienced individuals) even more effectively than the Elders' Council.

Moreover, as a villain, he must be arrogant and careless, giving the heroes opportunities.

“Boring. I have no interest in even killing you.”

Gongzi Yu stood up, stepped down from the table, walked past the dumbfounded Xiaoyuer, past Lu Zhongyuan and Du Sha who were lying on the ground but glaring angrily, and walked out of the main hall.

Just as he was about to walk out of the Elders' Council, Little Fish finally reacted, kneeling down and weeping bitterly.

"Why, why, Master!!" Little Fish shouted.

"I respect and love you so much, and the entire Demon Extermination Alliance respects and loves you in the same way, so why do you have to do this and stand against everyone?"

Little Fish couldn't understand what grudge they had that they couldn't let go of, that they had to start this internal strife while trying to save the world!

"You asked why too?" Gongzi Yu looked back at Xiaoyuer and smiled gently, "Because I am Yingri."

After absorbing the power of thirty-six top-tier experts, the elders, who had already broken through to the ninth level, unleashed the Mingyu Gong technique. Its icy and earth-shattering power soared upwards, instantly blasting away the dome of the Elders' Council's main hall.

Golden sunlight streamed down from above, shining on Lu Zhongyuan and the other two, but it couldn't bring them any warmth.

boom--!!!

The moment the words "Yingri" left his mouth, Lu Zhongyuan's brain seemed to be struck by lightning. He froze on the spot, his pupils suddenly contracted, and he stared intently at the leisurely figure.

"What...what did you just say?!"

Gongzi Yu tilted his head, seemingly amused by Lu Zhongyuan's reaction: "I said—"

He slowly raised his hand and removed the silver mask from his face.

Beneath the mask lies a breathtakingly beautiful face.

Her eyebrows were like wisps of smoke, her eyes like stars, her skin as white as snow, and her lips like rouge... It was a face that could topple kingdoms, with a bewitching beauty that transcended gender, as well as a composure and majesty that made people want to worship her.

She looked at the three people in front of her, who were now completely stunned, with a smile. Her voice was clear and melodious, yet it seemed to come from the coldest depths of hell:

"I am the Sun-Reflecting Demon you are here to defeat."

The main hall was deathly silent.

Xiaoyuer was in despair and lost in thought, Lu Zhongyuan closed his eyes in pain, and Du Sha gave a self-deprecating smile.

Tie Xinlan's lips curled into a cryptic smile: "Watching you self-proclaimed righteous people wander through the maze I've woven, treating my enemies as saviors, is truly delightful~"

Lu Zhongyuan's face turned pale and then red, but he couldn't utter a single word.

He was the one who personally confirmed that Gongzi Yu and Ying Ri had no connection that day, but it turned out that they not only had a connection, but a very close one—they were actually the same person.

Lu Zhongyuan felt as if Ying Ri had trampled his dignity into the ground, and his heart was breaking.

She was just toying with them.

Like a cat, after catching a mouse, it doesn't eat it immediately, but lets it go, catches it again, lets it go again, catches it again—until the mouse is exhausted, and then bites its neck off.

And they are that mouse.

A peculiar spiraling aura emanated from "Tie Xinlan," capturing large swaths of air for leverage, gradually lifting her body into the air.

This power can only be generated at the ninth level of Mingyu Gong. Its main function is to help recover the true energy that has been released from the body, achieving the characteristic of unlimited power where the true energy is almost not consumed in battle. It is a passive power.