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The black dog had arrived out of nowhere. By the time the crowd noticed it, it had already taken a bite out of the demon the Holy Maiden called their youngest Divine Demon General in history.

The general felt its teeth sink into his arms, but he couldn't react in time. The dog tugged, pulling the demon's arm right off.

Soon, the sound of the Divine Demon General's agonized shrieks filled the air.

Purplish-red blood gushed from the stump. The dog spit his arm onto the ground, its black eyes glinting with terrifying, vicious light.

It was half as tall as a man at the shouter. It bent its back, its tail trailing against the ground as it ran in circles around Ye Zichen. As it ran, it stared intently at the Divine Demon General. From time to time, low, threatening growls escaped its throat.

At the same time, everyone on good terms with Ye Zichen, from his classmates at Skyspan Academy to the Fox, Dragon, Vermillion Bird, and Heavenly Dog Clans, gathered around him protectively. They watched their surroundings on high alert for anything and anyone that might threaten Ye Zichen.

"She…." Ye Zichen's chest heaved. The Holy Maiden's simple sentence had instantly pushed him into the throws of peril.

She must have already known he owned the Xuan-Yuan Sword and Yao-Sealing Pagoda.

Back when Jackdaw and the other demons were in the Lower Realms' wastelands, they were there specifically to retrieve the Xuan-Yuan Sword. Furthermore, in the face of a crisis, Ye Zichen had had no choice but to reveal the existence of the Yao-Sealing Pagoda and use the yao inside to threaten his attackers.

The Holy Maiden had appeared to ask Ye Zichen to release his demon captives, so it was inevitable that she'd heard about his treasures.

But he never would have guessed that she'd announce it to the public in such a manner, and in such a place. He'd assumed that if one day he was exposed, it would be the two diviners the yao and god race had invited to force him out of the Yao-Sealing Pagoda back then.

Also, what had just happened with that Divine Demon General...?

Mere moments earlier, Ye Zichen was acutely aware that his strength wasn't enough to handle a Divine Demon General's ambush.

If he had time to use both the Xuan-Yuan Sword and the Yao-Sealing Pagoda, he could contend with Diviners for a while.

But all of that was built on the assumption that he was warned in advance and had time to prepare the best possible response. Just now, the Divine Demon General had attacked out of nowhere. Ye Zichen, with his mere sky supreme cultivation, would have struggled to defend himself.

At the end of the day, strength mattered most.

Although the Xuan-Yuan Sword and Yao-Sealing Pagoda were powerful divine artifacts, they were still external support.

That Divine Demon General dared attack him so openly, so he must have planned to kill Ye Zichen in a single blow. Fortunately, that black dog had appeared just in time to save Ye Zichen's life. Otherwise, he might really have reported to the River Styx by now.

But there was something about that black dog that felt awfully familiar.

Ye Zichen tried to look outside his friends' protective circle. Although they blocked him from view, they also blocked his view of the dog.

This made it hard to say for sure whether the dog really was the one he thought it was.

"Hee…." Despite the strict defensive formation around Ye Zichen, Chi Mei appeared beside him out of nowhere and patted him on the shoulder.

Ye Zichen whipped around and saw her veiled smile.

"You've been exposed," she said. "How does it feel? Look around you; you're now the center of attention. Countless people want to rob you of your peerless treasures, but this is just an appetizer. Look about you…. Those rulers are practically mad with greed too. That said, I expect your fellow god race members will stop foreign rulers from touching you."

Ye Zichen was in no mood to pay attention to her and her veiled smiles. Now that he was exposed, he was like an infant with a precious diamond necklace and a "I have lots of money" sign stamped on his forehead. All he could do was wait for someone harboring ill intentions to come along and rob him.

There were no words too exaggerated to describe his current emotions.

"Fine, I won't tease you, then." When she saw how unsightly Ye Zichen's expression was, Chi Mei's grin faded and she tried to comfort him. "The Holy Maiden revealed your identity, but that might actually be a good thing for you."

Ye Zichen just rolled his eyes at her, as if saying: "Do you really think I'm that stupid?"

"I'm serious! Don't doubt me! Although your possession of the Xuan-Yuan Sword and Yao-Sealing Pagoda has leaked to the public and countless ill-intentioned people now have their eye on you, at the same time, you've obtained quite a bit of protection. Fortune and disaster go hand in hand. Who knows? You might very well be able to strut freely through the God Realm from now on!"

She tried to comfort him, but all she got was another eyeroll. Ye Zichen's gaze seemed to say, "You really do think I'm stupid, don't you?"

Chi Mei noted his attitude but didn't argue with him. In a bit, he'd realize for himself whether she was telling the truth or not.

Chi Mei smiled faintly, tilted her head, and said, "Allow me to take this opportunity to re-introduce myself. I'm Su Mei'er of the Nine-tailed Fox Clan. If you feel like, after going through all this, you can't stay in god race territory, feel free to seek refuge with me. I can guarantee that no one will dare touch you, not even the God, Yao, and Demon Emperors!"

…..

"You beast! You actually dared injure me!" Having lost an arm, the Divine Demon General's gaze was hideous to behold. Purple miasma billowed out of him.

His body suddenly expanded, and his tender, youthful face distorted. Vast waves of demonic power surged out of him.

When those present saw this, their pupils constricted. The surrounding sand and stones floated into the air as if gravity had lost its effect. Just as the general was building up momentum….

"Awooo!" The black dog circling Ye Zichen pushed off with its hind legs, blurring into a streak of black. Almost immediately afterward, it bit right through the Divine Demon General's throat. The demon, who'd been readying his attack, fell straight to the ground, unmoving, his eyes wide.

This sudden turn of events left everyone utterly bewildered. No one quite knew what was going on.

Had that Divine Demon General attacked, he would definitely have done enough damage to shatter both heaven and earth.

"This…."

The watching human and yao experts didn't know quite what to say. A Divine Demon General of all people was killed before he even got the chance to ready his attack.

And by a dog that looked like some expert's war pet…..

Most likely, no other Divine Demon General had ever died such a pitiful death!

When experts sparred, it was common for them to wait for their opponents to ready their attacks before responding. It was just like how, when Su Liu'er readied the Breath of Ice, the Holy Maiden waited to counterattack. This was an unspoken rule of experts' battles.

There was an eighty percent chance that this dog was some expert's pet. In that case, though, it should have picked up on the unspoken rules of combat between top experts. And yet, the dog didn't even give the demon a chance. It just went straight for the kill.

Furthermore, when they looked at the dog, it was wagging its tail, as if it were proud of itself.

It didn't seem at all ashamed that it won through an ambush. It shook its head back and forth victoriously, placed one leg upon the defeated general's head, lifted the other and….

Peed!