As Xiao Yu was about to complete her transformation under the influence of the dark energy, and while the distance to Chenlong and Daddy's arrival was still considerable, an anomaly occurred. A dazzling beam of light erupted from Xiao Yu's body, dispelling the surrounding dark energy.
The brilliant light was so intense that it forced Bai Qi to shut his eyes and involuntarily take a few steps back.
"Damn righteous energy, playing dirty with me."
Although unwilling, there was nothing he could do. He had only been trying his luck, and since it failed, Bai Qi didn't want to waste any more time. Under the white light, he quickly stuffed a mobile phone into Xiao Yu's pocket. After finishing, Bai Qi rapidly retreated, creating distance, and vanished into the darkness.
The blinding light did not last long. By the time Chenlong and Daddy arrived, it had just dissipated.
Chenlong embraced the unconscious Xiao Yu, shot a furious glance at Bai Qi in the darkness, and without a word, he jumped back into the SUV with Xiao Yu. He floored the accelerator, sharply turned the steering wheel, and sped away without looking back.
Seeing this, Bai Qi did not stop him. Daddy, in the car, looked at the Hell Portal not far away and sighed helplessly, but said nothing.
As a great sorcerer, Daddy knew very well that each Hell Portal corresponded to a demon, and when a Hell Portal opened, a demon was bound to return to the surface, causing immense destruction to humanity if left unchecked.
However, as Xiao Yu's grandfather, Daddy was also selfish. Xiao Yu's condition was dire. Prolonged exposure to high concentrations of dark energy had already affected her body, and she needed immediate treatment. Delaying could lead to irreversible and severe consequences.
Weighing his options, Daddy chose the latter: save Xiao Yu first, and deal with the demon later.
Although he was a little disappointed that he hadn't turned Xiao Yu into the Dark Queen, he had successfully prevented Chenlong and Daddy from interfering. In retrospect, he felt he had come out ahead.
Watching the SUV disappear into the distance, Bai Qi did not pursue. Instead, he turned his gaze back to the Hell Portal.
It had been nearly half an hour since the Hell Portal opened. At a demon's normal pace, it should have crawled out by now. Yet, other than a large amount of dark energy surging out, not even a shadow of Di Kui could be seen.
Fortunately, he had dealt with the protagonists earlier. Otherwise, he didn't know how much trouble they would have caused him.
What Bai Qi did not know was that inside the Hell Portal, a tug-of-war was also taking place.
Di Kui, that simpleton, perhaps because he had been in hell for too long, had his brain rusted. When Zhou Lan told him to wait at the entrance of the Hell Portal to come out, he actually refused.
The reason was that he disliked Zhou Lan's commanding tone.
This made Zhou Lan's veins bulge with anger, yet he was helpless.
The other demons were well aware of Di Kui's temperament. He was a simpleton, and if they could, they would gladly leave him in hell forever, and then divide Di Kui's original territory after they escaped.
Unfortunately, ignoring him was not an option.
If Di Kui could not exit through this portal, the Pan Ku Box would not continue to function, and the remaining Hell Portals could not be opened. Moreover, the Hell Portal corresponding to a specific trigram could only be passed by a specific demon. And Xi Mu, the only one capable of breaking this restriction, had already left long ago.
Therefore, for their own sake, the demons had to work together to force Di Kui out.
After the efforts of several demons, Di Kui was finally pushed to the entrance of the Hell Portal, but he refused to exit and his resistance grew more intense.
"Enough!"
This time, Zhou Lan was truly angry. He maximized his magical output, controlling several massive floating stones to smash towards Di Kui simultaneously. At the same time, Xiao Feng was fiercely exhaling from behind, accelerating the stones.
Boom!
Finally, after a violent collision, Di Kui was forcefully smashed out of the Hell Portal.
Bai Qi, standing outside the Hell Portal, was bewildered. You come out, you come out, but why are you flying out, and in reverse?
However, it didn't matter to Bai Qi. What truly mattered to Bai Qi was Di Kui's hand, his fire essence.
Bai Qi revealed his true form and quickly approached Di Kui. Looking at Di Kui, who was rubbing his head and getting up from the ground, Bai Qi directly extended his hand and said, "You're out now. Give me back my fire essence."
Di Kui glanced at Bai Qi without speaking, stood up, and prepared to leave.
Seeing Di Kui trying to get away with it, how could Bai Qi agree? He grabbed Di Kui and roughly pulled him back.
Only then did Di Kui speak faintly, "Di Kui is not happy. Di Kui wants to leave."
"I don't care if you leave, but before that, you must return my fire essence. That's what we agreed upon. Are you going to break the contract?"
Di Kui tilted his head and asked, "What is breaking a contract?"
"Sigh," Bai Qi thought, this guy had been in hell for too long and his brain had gone numb.
Perhaps sensing the anger on Bai Qi's face, and knowing he was in the wrong, Di Kui paused for a few seconds before adding, "I will return the fire essence to you. After I finish building my underground palace, I will return the fire essence to you."
With that, he turned to leave, but stopped after only a couple of steps, a look of disgust appearing in his eyes.
With Di Kui's return, the Hell Portal corresponding to him had closed. Without its source, the tide of dark energy gradually dissipated and merged into the world.
As the dark energy faded, the original scenery reappeared.
What Di Kui found disgusting was not anything else, but the boundless sea of flowers before him.
Although the righteous energy attached to the flowers in the sea of flowers had been washed away by the surge of dark energy, Di Kui instinctively detested flowers.
Di Kui slammed his fists onto the ground before him. The earth surged and cracked, and in an instant, dust flew everywhere. The ground for half a kilometer ahead was as if it had experienced a minor earthquake.
Bai Qi observed all of this, thinking to himself, "As expected, Di Kui's destruction has the most severe impact on humans."
At this moment, Bai Qi had made up his mind. Di Kui absolutely could not be allowed to stay. He would send this guy back to hell at the first opportunity. However, before that, with this guy's intelligence, he could be of some use.
With this thought, Bai Qi immediately changed his expression, and with a smile, walked up to Di Kui and said, "See? This was your territory, but now it's a sea of flowers stretching as far as the eye can see. Your underground palaces have long since vanished into the river of history. We've been gone for too long, so long that this world is almost forgetting us."
"No," Di Kui exhaled a foul breath and said, "I will reclaim my territory, and I will uproot all these annoying flowers."
"Is that so?" Bai Qi raised an eyebrow and deliberately said, "But during our absence, humans have developed their so-called technology. With you..."