Chapter 328: Tianmei‘s Scheme

Ming Tianmei transformed.Not all at once.

First, her hair.

Each strand shifted from obsidian black to radiant gold, as though forged from condensed sunlight.

Then her eyes followed – deep, endless gold that reflected neither emotion nor mercy.

In that instant, everything about her changed.

She did not become a god.

Nor did she ascend to Immortality.

Yet the aura she exuded was unmistakable, the pressure of something supreme.

Something that stood above Heaven and Earth.

For that fleeting moment, she did not merely wield the Heavens.

She embodied them.

The Heavens’ Daughter.

The Chosen One.

A child of Dao itself.

The world responded instinctively.

The air fell silent.

Space trembled.

And as if compelled by something, every demon present collapsed to their knees.

Their bodies shook violently, horror etched into their faces as they found themselves utterly incapable of raising their heads.

To look at her was forbidden.

To resist her was unthinkable.

"You may die," Ming Tianmei said.

No anger.

No judgment.

Just a statement of fact.

The demons’ expressions went blank.

And then.

They died.

No screams.

No struggle.

They simply... died.

Bodies unraveled.

Souls disintegrated.

What remained scattered into nothing more than subatomic dust, erased so thoroughly that even reincarnation was denied.

Moments later, the golden radiance receded

Heaven’s Sanctuary vanished.

Her hair returned to obsidian black.

Her eyes darkened once more.

Ming Tianmei stood alone amidst the empty land and sighed softly.

"No matter what," she muttered, "when someone speaks behind your back or rather far away from you and you hear it yourself... it still feels unpleasant."

She glanced at the void where the demons had once been.

"...I really shouldn’t kill all of them," she added thoughtfully. "I’m supposed to act like a damsel."

She shook her head faintly.

After all, with Yu Xuan’s current, slightly passive nature, their relationship would otherwise take a very, very long time to progress.

Though she had a lot of time, she did not want to wait that long.

But once it did...

"Hehe."

A strange smile crossed her lips.

Given her actions, Yu Xuan would have no choice but to be suspicious of her.

But change was the only constant in existence.

Turning away, Ming Tianmei stepped forward, heading toward another location.

A place revealed by her divination.

The place where the true antagonist of this gate would soon appear or rather the Clone.

’I am really sorry Lingluo, but I don’t think I can wait more.’ she silently apologised to Lingluo, but her smirk betrayed her inner thoughts.

***

Yu Xueqing, Lin Fan, and Yu Bo were locked in combat against thirteen demons.

Under normal circumstances, such a battle would have been suicide.

But the reason they were still standing was simple.

Yu Bo.

Standing at the center of their formation, his expression was taut with concentration as lightning sigils revolved around him.

He acted as the core of a hastily constructed, the Defensive Thunder Descent Formation.

It was a formation designed with a single, brutal philosophy.

Defense through annihilation.

Using thunder-attributed materials and formation flags as anchors, Yu Bo had created a roaming thunder zone, an area where lightning constantly surged, striking down anything that crossed its boundary.

Enemies entered.

Enemies died.

Simple.

Yet despite its lethality, the formation had one fatal flaw.

Time.

They had not been given enough of it.

And the formation would be available for limited time.

Originally, the three had regrouped by chance, converging near the same region before fully understanding the danger of the gate.

Shortly after, Tier Three demons discovered them with two Tier Four leading — and the fight erupted before a proper array foundation could be laid.

The demons were numerous.

Their abilities were unfamiliar.

While the trio had read about demonic combat methods, facing them in reality was entirely different.

Lin Fan had initially suggested a strategy of hit-and-run, exploiting mobility.

Yu Xueqing and Yu Bo, however, chose otherwise.

Defense first.

Survival first.

Thus, the formation was forced into motion before reaching completion.

Now.

A bizarre and almost comical sight unfolded across the crimson land.

Lin Fan sprinted forward, carrying Yu Bo on his back like a sacred artifact, while thunder formation nodes floated and rotated around them, crackling with unstable lightning.

Yu Xueqing followed close behind.

She deliberately kept a measured distance.

Far enough to engage the pursuers, yet always within the effective range of the thunder field.

Every time a demon crossed into the formation’s boundary.

BOOM!

Lightning descended, tearing through flesh and soul alike.

Her twin sword flashed repeatedly, forcing the chasing enemy into chaos.

Behind them, the situation worsened.

Someone performed a summoning and had unleashed a swarm of demonic beasts.

They were nearly hundreds.

They howled as they gave chase, trampling the scorched ground beneath their feet.

So now.

A living, moving defensive formation sprinted across the red world.

Inside it were three cultivators running for their lives.

Behind it were demons and demonic beasts, dying in droves but still closing in.

Thunder roared.

Blood splattered.

And the chase showed no sign of ending anytime soon.

It was like a mobile fortress, fleeing toward a future that might or might not exist.

"Dammit, how long are we supposed to keep running?!" Lin Fan shouted.

Every instinct in his body screamed to turn around and fight.

"Can you shut up for once?" Yu Xueqing snapped without even looking back.

"Your voice is more annoying than the demons."

Her twin swords flashed again, carving through a pursuing demonic beast, a bear-like creature with grotesque agility, splitting it cleanly as thunder arrived just in time.

"Thunder... thunder... give me more thunder!" Yu Bo muttered frantically, eyes bloodshot, sweat pouring down his face.

His focus wavered, but his hands never stopped moving.

Arcs of lightning spilled from his body as he hastily planted mini thunder traps along their path, carefully angling them so Yu Xueqing could pass unharmed while the pursuers ran straight into death.

They gained more distance.

Then.

ZAPPP!!

A demonic beast stepped onto a trap and was struck mid-leap.

The lightning didn’t stop.

It chained outward, jumping from one creature to another, triggering a violent cascade of explosions and screams.

For a brief moment, the pursuing beasts flattered.

Among the demons at the rear, one slowed, an uneasy expression flickering across his face.

"...I don’t know why," he muttered, voice low and unsettled, "but I’ve got a bad feeling. Chasing them feels like inviting disaster."

Several of his companions shot him sharp glares.