Ye Qin's rage cooled swiftly as he sprinted through the city.

He hadn't anticipated just how ruthless the Demon Lord would be in pursuing him and seizing the Ice Lotus Seed, forcing its way into Black Sand City with brutal determination.

"The Demon Lord dares to massacre within the Black Sand City under the jurisdiction of the Southeast Branch of Heaven's Path Sect? This is outright suicide - a declaration of war against the entire sect. Even if it were some other powerful immortal here, not just this demon cultivator, no one would dare challenge Heaven's Path."

Ye Qin moved with blinding speed through the city streets, his mind racing to calculate his next move as icy coldness sharpened in his gaze.

Though the Demon Lord appeared incredibly formidable, he wasn't truly an unassailable force in the Eastern Sea cultivation world. On the contrary, while its infernal flame attacks were devastatingly powerful, its own defenses were surprisingly vulnerable.

When Ye Qin had observed from the sidelines how the Saint Emperor, Old Monster of Hate Mountain, and the Demon Lord combined forces to attack the Ancient Rock Turtle, he had clearly seen this weakness. Only the Saint Emperor dared to directly confront the turtle in brute strength clashes, while even Old Monster of Hate Mountain occasionally approached - but the Demon Lord always remained far back, never daring to come within a thousand paces of the creature.

That battle exposed its fatal flaw: it was easily killed. Of course, this was only relative to high-level cultivators. Against lower-tiered ones, the Demon Lord remained terrifyingly powerful.

Ye Qin's strength was still too weak to threaten the Demon Lord's life, so naturally he hadn't considered killing his pursuer yet.

"The Demon Lord will inevitably provoke retaliation from the city's core-stage immortal cultivators by butchering these people. Heaven's Path Sect isn't so vulnerable that they'd let this stand! Even if it's the Demon Lord who provokes them to fury - death is inevitable."

The anger Ye Qin had felt at the massacre of innocent cultivators was already gone, replaced now with a growing determination for vengeance.

Actually, when he first entered the city he had considered fleeing via teleportation array to avoid the Demon Lord entirely. But after much deliberation, he chose to remain within Black Sand City itself.

He and the Demon Lord needed an end to this stalemate rather than endless cat-and-mouse games. If the Demon Lord abandoned its pursuit, Ye Qin would certainly have no interest in opposing one of the Eastern Sea's top demon cultivators over a mere unclaimed object like the Ice Lotus Seed. He wouldn't hold grudges against someone who might reincarnate or survive the great calamity - this feud could end with mutual disinterest. But if the Demon Lord insisted on chasing him for that seed...

He was a core-stage immortal himself! Was he truly expected to run?

Fleeing wasn't his only option.

Though Ye Qin knew he couldn't kill the Demon Lord, he could use himself as bait to lure it into this deep pit of Black Sand City and leverage the strength of Heaven's Path's Southeast Branch to exterminate the threat once and for all.

This city wasn't just a pretty decoration - it was one of the most fortified immortal cities in the region. While entry might be easy, escape would depend on how many lives the Demon Lord had left!

"Let us see whether you Demon Lord are truly formidable... or if Heaven's Path's core-stage immortals will prove superior! This is your self-inflicted death - don't blame me!"

Shadows of killing intent darkened Ye Qin's eyes. If it were the Saint Emperor pursuing him, he'd never dare play bait like this - the Emperor could easily move through the city several times over in battle before vanishing completely. He would flee at once to the farthest reaches possible. But the Demon Lord's weaker defenses made it a more viable target trapped within these streets.

Black Sand City was vast, with dozens of major districts.

Numerous powerful core-stage immortals resided here - if the Demon Lord continued its rampage, it would force Heaven's Path's elite to act at last.

As Ye Qin raced through the eastern gate area amidst the chaos,

bright streaks were already flashing from within the city toward that location. Evidently some impatient immortal cultivators had begun moving to intercept the Demon Lord.

Feeling several powerful late-stage core immortals' auras heading east, Ye Qin was momentarily startled.

Whoever they were, this would definitely tie up the Demon Lord - for Ye Qin's benefit, entirely unproblematic.

He stopped in place, waiting patiently as he observed whether these arrivals might change the situation. If successful, he could easily move to another location after that.

Just then, when Ye Qin had paused briefly,

a group of eleven early-stage core immortals approached from across the street, chatting casually among themselves.

"That demon's aura should reach late-stage core peak strength! And yet it's managed to breach our city? But Heaven's Path Southeast Branch - are you saying there are no capable cultivators left who can handle a single late-stage demon?"

The woman asked in disdain.

"Miss Qing probably doesn't know," the handsome young man with hawk-like nose and cold demeanor explained calmly. "Just days ago, we had this massive immortal-auspicious being battle nearby. The city's top-tier core immortals are all recovering now. Only some of our lower-ranked defense forces remain on duty within the city - they're probably no match for that demon. This creature must have taken advantage of the opportunity to sneak in and terrorize these weaklings."

The beautiful woman in pink attire who stood at the center of this group looked down her nose slightly, a smile playing on her lips as if she found all this amusing.

She appeared like an ethereal deity descended from heavens - even if every flower blooming across earth tried to outshine her beauty, none could succeed.

Her presence drew every gaze along the street. Whether core-stage or even just gold-core stage cultivators nearby instantly forgot about the demon's massacre in favor of admiring her.

The weaker gold-core cultivators lost all composure at the sight of her - their eyes gleaming with admiration and desire until they caught sight of the surrounding group of core immortals. With sudden realization, beads of cold sweat formed as they hastily backed away, no longer daring to even glance sideways.

It wasn't just their cultivation level that commanded such attention.

Rather it was the arrogant air these young men exuded from within - only true heirs of Eastern Sea's top immortal sects or prodigious talents could possess this kind of high-and-mighty attitude. These were always the naturally revered celebrities among cultivators.

A quick glance at their robes' embroidered insignias revealed their elite backgrounds and powerful connections, all hailing exclusively from the most prestigious immortal sects in the Eastern Sea.

Even late-stage core immortals passing by would instinctively frown at encountering this group, quickly making way to avoid any trouble.

But today's spotlight wasn't on these young aristocrats...

Rather it was solely focused on that one woman.

Her presence eclipsed even her own entourage of immortal nobles and prodigies.

Unconsciously pleased with the attention, the beauties among them surrounded by these admirers eagerly accepted their flattery. Those receiving approval responded with renewed vigor as if injected with adrenaline.

Ye Qin's entire body went rigid at first sight - every muscle tautening painfully so he could barely move forward.

"She shouldn't be here! She was in the Auspicious Realm, how did she end up in Black Sand City?!"

A flash of terror crossed his eyes beneath his shock before he forced himself to steady his breathing and compose.

He had encountered an Auspicious Saint once within the Auspicious Realm - though frightened, at least he'd been mentally prepared. But facing one here in the Eastern Sea cultivation world unawares...

This woman was none other than the Nine-Tailed Fox Auspicious Saint he'd met briefly during his time in the Auspicious Realm.

Though her specific rank among the thirteen or fourteen Auspicious Saint tiers remained unknown to Ye Qin, it made no difference - she was still an existence that should have been impossible for him.

"The Nine-Tailed Fox had stolen something from the Dusklight Temple... likely fleeing the Auspicious Realm after being pursued by the Three-Legged Crow Auspicious Saint. But where is the Three-Legged Crow now? Could it also have come to the Eastern Sea?"

A cold chill ran down Ye Qin's spine as he instinctively backed away.

Though vast, the Auspicious Realm had no place for her anymore - escaping wasn't surprising given even figures like the Saint Emperor could leave safely. But how on earth did she end up here in Black Sand City?

With two of these terrifying Auspicious Saints appearing simultaneously? What chaos would unfold within this city?

All Ye Qin wanted was to escape via teleportation array, return directly to Eastern Sea as fast as possible - even if the Demon Lord pursued him through blood tides, it couldn't compare to his current desperation.

Just then, that fox-like woman was idly admiring street sights when her eyes suddenly caught sight of Ye Qin trying to blend into the crowd.

"Ah!"

Her expression shifted with surprise at encountering the low-level cultivator who had once amused her in Auspicious Realm. With a musical laugh she called out, "Sir, please wait! Since we last parted ways across realms, I've yet to learn your name."

"Respectfully greeting Lady Demon," Ye Qin's face stiffened as he struggled to stop himself from fleeing.

He barely managed to bow politely before hastily changing 'Elder' to 'Lady' - she must be pretending to be an Eastern Sea cultivator among these young core immortals in order to infiltrate the city.

Better not say anything more that might cause trouble, Ye

"Interesting," the Nine-Tailed Fox mused as her gaze lingered on this unremarkable man who suddenly seemed worth remembering.

The entire street's spectators were instantly entranced by her beauty. Even nearby core-stage cultivators couldn't help but lose focus.

Her eleven male companions all froze in stunned admiration before their expressions shifted to burning fury and jealousy - who was this plain-looking stranger that earned the Fox Lady's attention? This was absolutely unacceptable!