On the other side, after watching Xing Yue enter with lingering reluctance, Xing Yuan’s expression shifted instantly, her face becoming incredibly cold.
"Hmm, Sister is gone, it's time to deal with some matters!"
Xing Yuan flickered and appeared before a courtyard, her icy eyes holding the arrogance unique to a deity.
Deities brook no defiance!
Before Ying Qing could even react to what was happening, an ice ball suddenly shot towards him, making his eyes water. Soon after, he was forced to revert to his original form and, after a thorough beating, was left bruised and swollen.
Ying Qing curled up on the ground, mumbling indistinctly, "Why are you hitting me?"
Not crying was the greatest forbearance for him as a demon.
"Come here, let's settle some accounts!" Xing Yuan's mood improved, and her expression was no longer as cold. She lazily conjured a throne and sat on it, her scrutinizing gaze lingering on Ying Qing.
After a long pause, she asked, "What is your relationship with Qian Qi?"
"Qian Qi? I don't know him." Ying Qing saw that the person had stopped attacking and quickly took out a handful of healing pills and swallowed them.
"You don't know him?" Xing Yuan showed a faint smile, but the ground beneath her feet suddenly cracked, opening a pit just large enough to bury Ying Qing.
"Do you know him now?" Cold light reappeared in Xing Yuan's eyes.
"I know, I know." Ying Qing nodded frantically. If she didn't know him now, would she bury him next?
"This, that, my master's original name seems to be this." Ying Qing silently repented to his master.
Master, your disciple is sorry! But he had no choice. This person was clearly here for revenge. Among the powerful demons, his master was definitely among the top. For now, he could only push him forward.
Ying Qing didn't recognize the person radiating a bone-chilling coldness as the brat he had met before. After all, how could a person's temperament change so drastically?
"Is that so!" Xing Yuan nodded. Since this person was Qian Qi's disciple, he must have been the one who told this person about her existence.
What a busybody! Xing Yuan's mood soured.
After all, he was the disciple of the previous Ying Tian Beast, so she had some connection with him, both in reason and sentiment. Punishment was acceptable, but killing was not.
"Does Your Excellency have a grudge against Master?" Ying Qing cautiously probed, crushing a communication talisman while Xing Yuan was lost in thought.
"No, I have a grudge against you." Xing Yuan ended her reminiscence and took a few steps forward, standing before the disheveled Ying Qing.
"Against me?" Ying Qing looked utterly bewildered. He couldn't recall when he had offended such a powerful being.
"You don't remember?" Xing Yuan sighed softly and continued, "But I remember, I've always been a rather ungenerous person. I wanted to beat you up back then, and now I've finally satisfied that wish."
Ying Qing: (o'w'o)?
He couldn't remember when he had offended such a powerful being. What kind of grudge was it that made her so eager to beat him up for so long?
He was truly "honored."
"Can you tell me why? I want to die with understanding." Ying Qing gave up, his eyes full of inquiry.
Xing Yuan generously granted Ying Qing's small request. "Well... before, in a small mortal town, you said you wanted to take me back to the demon realm, and you kept following me like a little tail, which I found very annoying!"
Ying Qing: (ー_ー)!!
Karma comes around. How could she have grown so fast? It was a complete crush.
"Do you have anything to say to me?" Xing Yuan's expression remained cold, but she looked at Ying Qing's complicated expression with excitement in her eyes. Since her sister was not here, she had plenty of patience to play with him slowly.
Before Ying Qing could answer, a giant hammer suddenly swung from behind towards Xing Yuan.
Xing Yuan glanced back lightly and unleashed her bloodline's might. Meng Li was directly slammed to the ground.
The hammer also flew back and hit Meng Li's shoulder. Meng Li, who hadn't held back, was hit by his own full-power attack, causing blood to seep from his shoulder.
"Are there any reinforcements?" Xing Yuan asked with a gentle smile.
"No, no more." Ying Qing replied stiffly. All the powerful demons in the demon realm had already entered the trial grounds. They had been eliminated for failing to pass the thousand steps.
"That's truly a pity." Xing Yuan smiled faintly, her expression seeming tinged with disappointment.
"Who are you?" Meng Li gritted out, enduring immense pressure.
The bloodline of the Ying Tian Beast was the most powerful in the entire cultivation world, suppressing all demons and spirit beasts.
"Why don't you guess? If you guess correctly, I'll let you go." Xing Yuan smiled with amusement, like a child who had found an interesting toy.
Meng Li instinctively looked at his junior disciple, receiving his strange expression. After some thought, he ventured, "Could you be the beast Master told us to find?"
"You guessed correctly!" Xing Yuan's expression was somewhat regretful, but she still released Meng Li from her restraint as promised.
Meng Li gently moved his body. He glanced at his junior disciple lying miserably in the pit and, without further hesitation, knelt on one knee. He said with sincerity, "Your Excellency, we are here on Master's orders to find you. If my junior disciple has done anything inappropriate during this process, as his senior brother, I apologize on his behalf. I hope you will spare him, considering he has already learned his lesson."
Xing Yuan nodded indifferently. She had never intended to take Ying Qing's life, only to punish him. Since this person spoke so well, letting him go was not a problem.
Xing Yuan waved her hand gently, also lifting the suppression on Ying Qing.
"Thank you, Your Excellency!" Meng Li said, thanking her, and quickly helped his junior disciple, who had reverted to human form, out of the pit.
The pills were very effective, and Ying Qing had already recovered enough to look human.
"Um, I have one more humble request." Meng Li, feeling that Xing Yuan was not as unreasonable as he had feared, boldly said.
"Oh? Tell me!" Xing Yuan's expression was unreadable. Since her sister was not around, Xing Yuan didn't mind finding something to do for herself.
"As Your Excellency knows, Master has already dispatched us disciples to find you for a long time. Would you be willing to visit the demon realm?"
The demon realm? Xing Yuan's gaze became wistful. Come to think of it, she still had some things stored there. It was time to go and retrieve them.
However, Xing Yuan countered, "Why doesn't he come to see me?"