Just then—

WHOOOOM—

The air rippled like a disturbed mirror, and the earth shook beneath their feet. The calm lake suddenly churned as if struck by a celestial hammer, its crystal water roiling violently before erupting into white vapor that blasted skyward. Steam blanketed the lakeside like a rising storm.

A chilling voice echoed through the mist.

"Hmm… three humans…"

The enormous figure of the Three-Eyed Demon loomed at the lake's edge, his three blood-red pupils narrowing with sadistic curiosity.

Li Mei felt that cold gaze sweep over her like a scalpel.

She stood tall, posture firm, her expression calm and unswayed despite the life-devouring aura pressing against her.

The demon paused.

A slow grin split his face.

"Kekeke… a mere Qi Refining ant dares look at me like that?" His voice dripped amusement and cruelty. "Since when did humans become so fearless? Good… breaking you will be delightful."

He dragged his tongue slowly across his lips, savoring the terror he expected them to show.

But Li Mei did not flinch.

And that made him all the more eager.

Far above, hidden in the canopy of ancient trees…

Wang Chen watched the unfolding scene with rising panic.

His heart clenched.

His first instinct—the primal scream of a teacher seeing his students in mortal danger—was to rush forward, unleash every secret technique, every forbidden trump card, and tear that demon to shreds even if it cost him his life.

But he didn't move.

He forced himself still.

Not yet.

His eyes flicked upward.

Rong Lua hovered in the thin sky, invisible to mortal sight, concealed from even the demon's perception thanks to Doomclock's lingering aura.

The demon's inability to sense the Nascent Soul cultivator solidified Wang Chen's suspicions.

Hmm… this guy is not as useless as I thought.

Even so, Wang Chen's gaze sharpened.

If Rong Lua so much as twitched wrong,

Wang Chen's fingers tightened, ki stirring around them silently.

He would obliterate him.

His attention shifted.

Down below, the blindfolded girl—Zhao Yunfei—stumbled back in fear. A strange golden shine pulsed faintly around her, invisible to everyone except Wang Chen.

He narrowed his eyes.

He had seen it clearly moments ago:

A strand of golden providence had wrapped itself around Lin Huang, influencing him—forcing him—to protect her.

Even if Lin Huang never realized it.

Wang Chen's scalp tingled.

This wasn't kindness.

This wasn't coincidence.

This wasn't even fate.

This was providence bending Lin Huang's actions.

A blindfolded mortal girl, whose very presence manipulated destiny itself?

He felt his heart skip.

"What exactly is this girl…?"

Had it not been for his own unique sight, he would've believed Lin Huang saved the girl out of compassion. But now…?

It was terrifying.

Wang Chen's attention snapped back to the demon.

Rong Lua was still hiding, silent.

And his disciples—

Lin Huang was already stepping forward, sword qi gathering like a thundercloud.

Li Mei's expression had hardened, her pupils flashing with a faint cross-shaped light.

Zhao Yunfei trembled, clutching her blindfold.

A cold, murderous intent surged through Wang Chen's veins.

His grip tightened.

"If even a single hair on my disciples' heads is harmed…"

A chilling aura seeped out from him, distorting the air around the ancient tree he stood upon.

"I'll slaughter you demons… and then deal with you as well, Rong Lua."

The forest seemed to shiver in response.

At some point, Li Mei's heart settled into utter stillness.

The panic from moments earlier vanished completely.

Her pupils, spinning with the cross-shaped sigils of her All-Seeing Eyes, dimmed into an indifferent glow—cold, ancient, and unreadable.

Gone was the façade of a gentle junior sister.

Standing in her place was a being who had lived an entire lifetime,

a woman for whom life and death were nothing more than drifting dust.

Her All-Seeing Eyes spun rapidly.

Every twitch of the Three-Eyed Demon's muscles, every ripple of its killing intent, every fluctuation in demonic qi—she saw it all.

Dozens—no, hundreds—of possible reactions flashed in her mind.

And in every single possibility…

She died.

Sometimes in one strike.

Sometimes without even realizing she had been attacked.

Sometimes her soul was ripped apart before her body could even fall.

Her breath slowed.

In front of true power… experience means nothing.

The realization settled in her chest like a blade of ice.

"Interesting…"

The demon's gravelly voice slithered through the air.

His previous amusement evaporated, replaced by a cold, offended curiosity.

The way this little human girl stood so calmly—even after witnessing his aura—didn't just irritate him.

It insulted him.

Slowly, his three pupils tightened, a mocking smile spreading across his cruel, twisted face.

"Human girl… it seems your parents failed to teach you the most basic rule of existence."

His aura surged, swallowing the dying village in suffocating pressure.

"Hmph. Then I, a noble demon, will educate you. When facing a superior being such as myself—"

His voice deepened, turning as heavy as a divine law.

"You do not resist.

You do not stand tall.

You kneel…

bare your neck…

and wait for my blade to sever your pathetic human head."

The final words struck the air like a heavenly decree.

Reality itself seemed to bow under the weight of the demon's contempt.

"Now—

begone, human filth."

Although those words were aimed at Li Mei…

Lin Huang felt them like a hammer to the skull.

BOOM—

His knees nearly buckled as if a mountain had dropped on his shoulders.

His hands shook violently, his sword qi spasming like a trapped beast.

His chest tightened.

His heart roared—

Move! Protect her! Attack! Run! Do something!

—but his body refused to obey.

The demon's intent alone was suffocating him.

Yet…

Beside him, the blindfolded mortal girl trembled.

Zhao Yunfei pressed her shaking hands to her chest.

But Li Mei?

She didn't flinch.

Her hair fluttered in the demonic wind.

Her expression remained perfectly still—elegant, cold, and untouchable.

As if the demon's killing intent meant no more to her than a breeze passing over still water.

Lin Huang's throat tightened.

She's… not normal.

She's way beyond normal.

And that only made the situation more terrifying.

This scene didn't go unnoticed by Wang Chen.

Others might have been overwhelmed by the chaos—the boiling lake water, the collapsing spirit plants, the killing intent saturating the air—but not him.

His sharp, predatory gaze had remained locked on the three figures from the moment the demon appeared.

A faint pressure radiated from his hidden form.

One move.

Just one more step from that demon—and Wang Chen would intervene.

His fingertips twitched subtly, itching to summon Chronoblade again.

Meanwhile, Li Mei remained completely unfazed.

Her expression didn't shift.

Her breath didn't waver.

But inside her meridians, mana surged like a storm trying to break free of its cage.

The air around her stilled—

Not naturally, but forcefully, as if time itself hesitated.

BOOM—

The void trembled.

An enormous phantom surged into existence above her—

a colossal tree shadow, ancient and dignified, spanning tens of meters.

Its branches stretched toward the heavens, its roots diving through the earth,

radiating an aura of eternity and divine equilibrium.

The World Tree.

A manifestation so rare that even the heavens held their breath.

Its phantom trunk descended like a gentle pillar behind her, shielding her small figure from the crushing weight of the demon's aura.

The Three-Eyed Demon's face twisted.

"Very interesting…" he hissed, his three pupils shrinking into needle-thin slits.

"The phantom of the World Tree. Girl… your background runs deep, doesn't it?"

A moment of wary silence fell.

The air thickened.

The demon's instincts screamed at him—

If he delayed, if he allowed this girl to fully unfold her heritage—

another variable, another threat, another disaster could appear.

And demons hated uncertainty.

His smile disappeared.

All that remained was cold, predatory intent.

His killing intent spiked like a bladed storm.

"Die!"

BOOOOM—

His voice wasn't just a command.

It was an edict that twisted the air, a rippling force of pure annihilation.

The oppressive aura around Li Mei condensed instantly—

solidifying like an invisible mountain of ancient bronze

descending to erase everything under it.

It wasn't pressure anymore.

It was execution.

The ground around her cracked.

The air warped.

The colors faded.

Even the World Tree phantom shook violently under the sudden weight.

"JUNIOR SISTER!"

Lin Huang's roar tore through the suffocating silence.

His body moved before thought could even form—

a sword's instinct rather than a human's.

He cut through the crushing pressure with sheer will,

his qi flaring wildly enough to rip grooves into the earth beneath his feet.

In a blink, he positioned himself in front of Li Mei,

teeth clenched, veins bulging.

He would not let her fall.

Not here.

Not while he was still breathing.

His legs trembled—

the demon's aura alone was enough to crush him flat—

but he stood his ground.

Even if his bones shattered.

Even if his soul quaked.

Even if he died the next second.

His sword-like eyebrows lowered, and his hand moved toward his blade.

"I won't let anything happen to you."

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