If others were unaware, it was perhaps understandable, but Liang Xiaoke, who had just managed to pull himself up from the ground and barely withstand the dark power with the help of the Haotian Orb, nearly rolled his eyes and fainted. This fellow… this fellow was also one of the Twelve Heavenly Shamans?

One Zhu Rong, one Hanba, one Tian Wu, and now Hou Yi appearing—this Twelve Heavenly Shaman Extinction Grand Array was simply too monstrous!

Hearing this, Liang Xiaoke shot a deeply aggrieved look at Ye Jingyu. Why was his luck so utterly superb?

Ye Jingyu, naturally, was oblivious to Liang Xiaoke's musings; even if he knew, he wouldn't have cared. While others might not grasp the implication behind that statement from Hu Yanqi, or rather, Hou Yi, Ye Jingyu understood perfectly.

Zhu Rong had managed to consolidate his true form through the fortuitous encounter with that Fire Spirit Pearl. Tian Wu had absorbed immense Wind Origin Power. As for Hanba, all he needed was sufficient blood-food to manifest his true body. And Hou Yi’s opportunity lay with Hu Yanqi.

The Sun-Shooting Art cultivated by Hu Yanqi was merely a fragmented portion of the very technique created by Hou Yi. Ye Jingyu had no idea where Bing Ming’s masters had dug it up from. Although it was a fragment, the Sunset Bow was undeniably the divine artifact Hou Yi had used to shoot the suns.

However, during the subsequent great war against the demons, Hou Yi perished, and the divine bow was almost completely destroyed, its spiritual energy nearly dissipated. The remaining power amounted to less than one ten-millionth of its original strength, leaving it a seemingly ordinary yet profoundly strange bow and arrow.

But once Hu Yanqi acquired this weapon and began practicing the Sun-Shooting Art, the divine bow slowly started absorbing the spiritual energy of the heavens and earth, gradually repairing itself. As his mastery of the Sun-Shooting Art advanced, the bow’s restoration accelerated, which was the very reason he possessed the ability to slay opponents beyond his rank. Furthermore, as the divine bow slowly healed, its ancient aura intensified. Long ago, Hou Yi, residing within the Twelve Heavenly Shaman Extinction Grand Array, had sensed the presence of this long bow, yet at that time, the vital essence he had absorbed was too faint, his consciousness too weak, to recall anything significant.

Now, nearly able to take human form, he could recall much. After Hu Yanqi loosed that arrow using the power of his own life, Hou Yi, determined to save him, decisively proposed to Ye Jingyu the contribution of the life force he had painstakingly accumulated.

As a result, Hou Yi’s consciousness and Hu Yanqi’s consciousness merged flawlessly; he was Hu Yanqi, and Hu Yanqi was him.

For Hou Yi, after epochs, he lived again. For Hu Yanqi, who was doomed to die, he survived. This was why he uttered that single phrase: I am alive again.

As the injuries on Hou Yi's body recovered, his strength soared with astonishing speed, now directly breaking through the Desolate Rank. After all, during these days within the array, he had absorbed far too much power—unlike Zhu Rong and the others who manifested with scarce energy…

The Sunset Divine Bow reappeared in his hands, instantly shooting forth blinding arcs of black light, an aura of ultimate slaughter rushing forward…

Hou Yi glanced toward the sky and saw that the remaining demon generals, without Tan, could no longer withstand the assault of Dugu Ba Chen, who had fully seized the initiative. Below, however, Zhu Rong, Hanba, Lin Xiaoyi, and the others could no longer hold back the rampaging demon army…

With no time for hesitation, slaying demons was Hou Yi’s sacred duty; protecting Ye Jingyu was Hu Yanqi’s mission. Regardless of everything, the immediate priority was intercepting the surging tide of demons.

Holding the bow in his left hand and drawing an arrow with his right, he aimed at the fastest charging Desolate Rank demon. With a slight release of his left hand, a streak of light, purer, more precise, and faster than a meteor, sliced across the sky, instantly striking the demon’s chest. The massive force exploded, and the energy that annihilated the void instantly obliterated that Desolate Rank demon.

Witnessing Hou Yi instantly execute a demon of the same rank, both Ye Jingyu and Liang Xiaoke displayed looks of astonishment. Was this the true, unadulterated might of the Sunset Divine Bow?

Meanwhile, Zhu Rong within the Grand Array snorted coldly, as if challenging Hou Yi. Suddenly, he swept his hand, and a gigantic palm covered in crimson flames materialized in the sky, lunging toward a demon of the Flood Rank.

Trapped within the Twelve Heavenly Shaman Extinction Grand Array, the demon named "Xue," whose strength had been suppressed to barely reach the Flood Rank, met the massively amplified strike with a furious punch. Based on his own power, he should have shattered this palm easily, but Zhu Rong’s mastery over flame far exceeded the demon’s expectations.

With a flick of Zhu Rong’s wrist, the fist in the sky vanished, and another fist, forged of pure flame, materialized directly behind Xue. Before Xue could react, it slammed into his back.

The flame, carrying a trace of Li Fire—one of the mightiest flames in the Three Realms—instantly ignited Xue’s body. Xue let out a piercing shriek. Li Fire would not only incinerate his demonic shell but would utterly burn his soul and consciousness to ash.

It was fortunate that Zhu Rong’s current cultivation was still lower than his, otherwise, such a small amount of Li Fire would have sufficed to turn him to dust.

The dark power within his body surged out, attempting to repel this fiery energy, but the vanished hand in the sky reappeared and ruthlessly slapped down upon Xue, much to the demon’s surprise…

Splat… A gout of dark-gold blood sprayed violently from Xue’s mouth. He truly never imagined he would be wounded by someone whose cultivation was only at the Yellow Rank.

At that moment, Zhu Rong was already before him, his entire body engulfed in raging flames, even his eyes burning with two orbs of fire…

“Yan Shi Tian Huo!” a soft cry escaped Zhu Rong’s lips. Following this, Zhu Rong threw a straight punch at the demon Xue. The surrounding energy was greedily absorbed by him like water being swallowed by a whale. His current body could not sustain such power; it began to fissure and crack, and even the flames upon him seemed to dim slightly. Yet, he threw the punch regardless, heedless of the cost…

Crack… Zhu Rong’s fist violently collided with Xue. Ye Jingyu instantly saw a mass of black flame surge from Zhu Rong’s body into Xue’s. Xue’s body was instantly set alight. Even as he poured all his dark power into resisting this flame, his body rapidly dissolved…

His face was ashen…