In the brief span of two or three breaths, countless attacks rained down upon True Person Xuanyuan. Even a Nascent Soul-level expert could not withstand such relentless bombardment, leaving him battered, covered in wounds, his vital energy churning ceaselessly. Yet, a Nascent Soul expert remained a Nascent Soul expert.

Facing this seemingly inescapable death, he unleashed a terrifying surge of life force. After enduring the initial barrage, he regained his senses, enduring the gravitational pulls of over a hundred Earth Giants, soaring ten zhang into the air. A mighty blast of energy erupted from him, shaking loose a dozen reckless Swift Bugs.

But that was the extent of what he could manage. The Earth Giants’ innate gravity technique was a veritable trump card; its continuous effect made him feel as though he carried a small mountain on his back. Even the spatial teleportation favored by Nascent Soul experts became infinitely more difficult under this pressure, let alone escaping as a streak of light.

Unless he could fell every single Earth Giant, escape was virtually impossible. “Brat, you and I die today.” A revered figure from the Grand Supreme Sect, especially a supreme Nascent Soul expert standing at the pinnacle of the world, being so utterly toyed with—even cornered—by a mere Core Formation brat. What an utter humiliation!

True Person Xuanyuan, having never suffered such a profound loss, reacted instantly. He locked his divine sense firmly onto Lei Dong, ignoring all other incoming attacks. Spitting a mouthful of blood, a golden light flared around him, his form dissolving into faint nothingness as he executed an extremely forceful instantaneous teleportation, appearing directly before Lei Dong and slamming a palm toward his chest without flourish.

Strike the rider to unhorse the steed; capture the leader to defeat the band. While True Person Xuanyuan harbored a deep, burning hatred to kill Lei Dong and vent his rage, in this situation, instantly slaying the enemy leader could fundamentally alter the future course of the battle. True Person Xuanyuan was, after all, a Nascent Soul expert; his thoughts were sharpened to a fine point, especially at this critical juncture.

It was as if he instinctively grasped a crucial key: Look at what surrounds me—Earth Giants, bugs, Yakshas, ghosts. For such disparate races to unite against a common enemy, there must be a linchpin. Breaking that linchpin was his only path to survival.

Lei Dong’s expression shifted drastically. He had underestimated the Nascent Soul expert slightly. Though he had previously defeated the Black Wing Demon King, he was perfectly aware of that demon king’s compromised state.

How could any expert who managed to cultivate to the Nascent Soul level lack some potent tricks? Feeling the mountain-like pressure of True Person Xuanyuan’s aura, and the punch that seemed weightless, embodying return to simplicity, yet was in reality heavy as a true mountain, Lei Dong sensed an unprecedented danger. His intuition screamed that if that blow merely grazed him, his life would be forfeit.

In truth, this was so. True Person Xuanyuan was employing a secret art to unleash a terrifying surge of life potential in mere moments. He was confident that even a fellow-level cultivator enduring this punch would suffer a grievous wound.

“Careless,” Lei Dong thought with a wry smile. Had his own increasing strength led him to lose the caution and vigilance deep within his heart? Or perhaps the victory over the Joyous Union Sect had clouded his judgment?

In reality, if he had immediately concealed himself using the Zhou Tian Zang Ri Jue upon Xuanyuan’s appearance and commanded his forces from the shadows to destroy this Nascent Soul expert, none of this would have happened. He had insisted on making a flamboyant entrance with a shout. If he were at his peak, Lei Dong might not dare endure the blow head-on, but dodging it with only minor injury would not have been difficult.

But in this instant, Lei Dong felt he was facing a nine-in-ten chance of death. Death seemed so close, yet arrived so suddenly and swiftly. In that flash of lightning and thunder, a long-forgotten shiver crawled up Lei Dong’s back.

The pressure of impending death nearly suffocated him. Is this it? Has my life reached its end here?

A torrent of strange thoughts flashed through his mind like lightning. He bitterly regretted that with every ascent in power, he had become increasingly less careful and cautious. He was no protagonist from a novel, blessed with a cockroach’s resilience, nor was he playing a game where he could reload after death.

In this world, he was still fragile, surrounded by countless powerful beings who could extinguish his life with ease. What right did he have to be careless? Facing the punch that appeared placid but harbored an incomparably explosive force, it wasn't that Lei Dong didn't want to dodge; he was firmly pinned by the terrifying divine sense.

Even at this critical moment, the Asura Wings on his back faintly manifested, yet they could not tear open the void to teleport away. True Person Xuanyuan had staked everything on this single punch, even resorting to secret arts that risked injury just to escape the gravitational range of the Earth Giants. This revealed the intensity of his desire to see Lei Dong dead.

Just at this moment of near-fatal crisis, a faint wisp of black mist seemed to brush past Lei Dong, coalescing into a shadowy figure wreathed in spectral energy. As demonic aura surged violently, the black figure countered with a punch of her own: quicker than thought. The entire sequence felt as if time had halted, yet it occurred in the blink of an eye.

Lei Dong first witnessed the two colossal forces collide, generating a shockwave that exploded outward like a tsunami. Then came a deafening explosion, followed by a ringing in his ears. Under that brute force, Lei Dong was thrown backward.

“Hmph,” a faint, almost inaudible moan reached his ear. The timbre was so familiar. He saw the shadowy figure tossed away like a broken doll in the surging wave.

This sight instantly jolted Lei Dong out of his shock, and a sudden, profound ache welled up in his chest. That figure was clearly the Heavenly Demon. Why was she beside him?

Hadn't he arranged for her to fight the Demon Prison Sect? But this was no time to dwell on arrangements. Lei Dong suppressed the churning in his viscera, and the Emperor Demon Seed on his forehead flared to life.

True Person Xuanyuan, who had traded blows with the Heavenly Demon, was not faring well either. The divine sense that had seemingly solidified around Lei Dong instantly shattered, allowing him to break free. With a beat of his wings, he landed behind the Heavenly Demon, catching her soft, delicate body in his arms.

He knew best the terror of True Person Xuanyuan’s life-risking strike; even experts of the same tier would avoid such a direct confrontation, preferring to yield temporarily. The Heavenly Demon’s strength, though considerable, was only at the mid-stage of the Nascent Soul realm. In a normal skirmish, she might have been able to hold off True Person Xuanyuan alone for a few rounds.

To meet that blow head-on would undoubtedly push her toward death’s door. As expected, when Lei Dong’s divine sense pierced into her body, he instantly turned deathly pale. The chaotic, rampant force had completely ravaged her meridians and internal organs.

Worse still, her Nascent Soul in the Sea of Consciousness had no time to escape; it was now shattered beyond recognition by that immense power. Life was draining away at a perceptible rate. That supremely powerful punch had nearly annihilated both her form and spirit.

Lei Dong had not felt this frantic in ages. He shoved his most precious elixirs into her mouth while injecting his true essence into her body; yet, it seemed useless. It could not stop the speed at which her life vanished, and the fragments of her Nascent Soul were dissipating rapidly.

This foolish woman, why is she here? Has she been secretly guarding me all along? Lei Dong was unaware that a woman’s intuition is often terrifyingly accurate.

Moreover, the Heavenly Demon, being a formidable mid-stage Nascent Soul cultivator, possessed no shallow comprehension of the universe's fundamental laws. Because Lei Dong had disregarded his severe injuries to lead the attack on the Joyous Union Sect, she had silently disobeyed his deployment and followed him, remaining subtly near him using the formless technique of the Heavenly Demon. When Lei Dong encountered this unprecedented crisis, she acted without hesitation, intercepting that overwhelming, tyrannical blow for him.

The violent aura of their clash had not yet fully dissipated. In merely two or three breaths, the Heavenly Demon’s ruined Nascent Soul dissolved into wisps of the purest energy, scattering outward from her Sea of Consciousness to merge back into the cycle of heaven and earth: “Aoooh.” Lei Dong roared in savage fury, clutching the Heavenly Demon’s delicate body tightly. He could not believe, could not fathom, that she was gone so silently.

This was not a conventional passing; it was the literal disintegration of her body and soul. In his understanding, this was an irreversible death. His gaze, raging yet vacant, cried out, This is impossible.

She is the Heavenly Demon, how could she die so easily? She was so powerful, so magnificent. How could she be dead?

She didn't even have time to say a final word to me? No, this is impossible. It’s a delusion.

At this moment, Lei Dong was like an ordinary man utterly distraught and heartbroken, having never before lost his composure so completely. His sanity plunged into chaotic frenzy: “Ahhh! This is impossible!” A mournful, beast-like shriek tore from his lungs.

“Brother,” a sweet yet terrified voice echoed from the air above. “Speak, time is reversing.” A solemn voice boomed from the heavens. An utterly miraculous event unfolded in that instant.

The outward-spreading shockwaves abruptly solidified, then, in an impossibly bizarre manner, contracted back toward the point of explosion. Lei Dong’s movements also reversed in an utterly uncanny fashion, like a tape being rewound. With one beat of his wings, he returned to his original position.