The Steward Demonic Emperor

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Whoosh!

A huge figure shot through the air, straight for Demon Scheming Sect's disciples.

The disciples saw Zhuo Fan was riding his dragon soul at them with the even more dreaded Ye Lin on his tail. They instantly panicked as they fled and cursed.

[There are so many other, better directions when choosing to escape. Why did you have to come to us? Why are you leading death straight at us? We didn't do anything to you to die at another's hand!]

They were all trying to escape the area as quickly as possible.

Danqing Shen was also cursing.

[What's the punk up to this time? Why is he moving the battle here? Does he know I'm hiding here and wants me to lend a hand? Damn kid, that will expose me!]

With no choice and raving in his mind about Zhuo Fan's rash behavior, he hid in a corner somewhere where the monitoring arrays couldn't find him.

Only his mind was still cursing.

[Damn brat, I'll get you for this…]

Exalted Double Dragons looked lost. Exalted Hei Ran said, "Hey, old timer, what's he up to this time? In this particular situation, even we can see that Ye Lin has covered all bases. No matter what tricks he is pulling, only meeting his opponent head-on wouldn't produce any results."

"Ha-ha-ha, true."

Exalted Bai Mei smiled, "But did this kid ever follow common sense? Just like moments ago, how many here actually thought that the soul battle would go through another shift?"

Exalted Hei Ran smiled as well, "You're right. All this kid does come as a shock. But now, Ye Lin has combined his soul and body. This fight has now changed from a soul battle to a melee one. You might as well say he's without flaw. What plan could the kid possibly have? Wait!"

Exalted Bai Mei gave him a look and then nodded.

Everyone else thought the same thing, looking at Zhuo Fan in worry. Ye Lin, now having united his soul and body, his speed was off the charts, catching up to Zhuo Fan in seconds.

Looking back with a frown, Zhuo Fan made a sign and had his huge right speed up.

"Ha-ha-ha, don't waste your breath. You're too slow!" Ye Lin cackled, his eyes red. "No matter what dirty little scheme you have cooked up, it's nothing my perfect form can't handle. The only way is to break my body to reach my soul. But you lost in melee to me already!"

"Well, I wouldn't be so quick to judge."

Zhuo Fan squinted, glancing back to see the Thunder Ring that got 'shaken off' earlier was close. He smiled and shouted, "Qiao'er!"

Shriek~

The piercing cry rang throughout the sky. Just as Zhuo Fan's mount passed the ring, with Ye Lin close behind him, purple thunder crackled out of it.

A thunderbird a hundred meters big and streaked by lightning appeared and slammed into Ye Lin when he had his guard down.

[What?!]

Ye Lin's eyes widened in shock. He was more than familiar with the purple lightning. And this purple lightning's level was way above what Zhuo Fan used.

This was a true Thunder Phoenix!

"Shattering Thunder Claw!"

With a sharp shout, Qiao'er flapped her wings, unleashing a deep rumble as she shot for Ye Lin.

Then came the two sharp claws, flickering with deadly purple lightning, raking that chest covered in golden flames.

Pff!

It was a clash between the lightning above and the fire below. The two incredibly destructive forces clashed and unleashed a monumental explosion. Qiao'er's claw came down on Ye Lin's hard scales just like how a spear screeched in contact with a tough shield.

However, since Qiao'er's attack came out of the blue, he could not mount a defense, so two scales were pulled off.

A patch of dark red was exposed on his chest. Ye Lin was taken over by severe pain and coughed blood as he was flung into the air.

Everyone was dumbstruck, watching the thunderbird gobsmacked. It displayed its grandeur as it flapped its wings with pride.

[Where did this spiritual beast come from?]

The exalted were back on their feet again as they cried, "I knew it!"

"Old timer, see that?" Exalted Hei Ran said excitedly, "The kid's plans go back from the start. He even had such a move taken into account!"

Exalted Bai Mei nodded, "I doubted from the start. How did the kid lose his ring in the melee so easily? Now I see it was all planned out. He sent it flying to catch Ye Lin right when he least expected it!"

"Which means one shouldn't get too confident, even if you're stronger. Today, Zhuo Fan had given Ye Lin a few harsh but good lessons. Wonder how many he'll remember, ha-ha-ha…"

Exalted Hei Ran turned to the thunderbird with a frown. "But with Ye Lin's strength, no average spiritual beast could scratch him. Just what beast is this?"

Exalted Bai Mei pondered before he said, "It's just a 6th-level spiritual beast but far stronger than one. Not even a spiritual beast in the 8th level might be its match. It truly is strange. And from the looks of it, it resembles a Thunder Skylark yet far stronger."

"Ha-ha-ha, like master, like spirit animal. Zhuo Fan is a monster in himself, so of course, he raises a monstrous spirit animal! He's truly something!" Exalted Hei Ran smiled.

Exalted Bai Mei chuckled, casting his admiring gaze on Zhuo Fan.

If Ye Lin were an unseen cultivating talent, then Zhuo Fan would be an all-rounded talent, just as astounding.

Unlike Ye Lin's amazing cultivation, Zhuo Fan's incredible and broadened use of skill left them more impressed.

After all, strength can only get you so far…

"Senior brother, look! I just knew the punk had a trick in mind!" A disciple of the Ultimate Clarity Sect pointed at Ye Lin's patch of red on his chest.

Wu Qingqiu's face twitched as he hit the other guy's head, "And you're happy junior brother got duped?"

"That's not what I meant! I just wanted to say that I saw through his trick…"

"You call that seeing? It was just a wild guess. The punk set up so many tricks, even an idiot can see that junior brother, in his perfect state, will get taken in."

Glaring at him, Wu Qingqiu sighed, "However, why did you brainless fools have to be right? The punk had another trick, and it worked. And where the hell did he find such a weird spiritual beast? There's no way the average spiritual beast can harm junior brother!"

The others frowned at Qiao'er, also shocked by her display.

As Ye Lin's senior brothers, they knew how truly monstrous he was. They had seen many amazing spiritual beasts that couldn't even scratch him.

So Ye Lin chose to overlook getting a pet himself, fighting all others with one without fear. But who'd have thought the day would come he'd suffer for it? It wasn't just about falling for another trick but being hurt so much as well.

He was hurt by a spiritual beast!

Danqing Shen sighed at the flickering purple lights.

[This bird is out of this world, and so is its cunning handler.]

He finally understood that Zhuo Fan didn't just look for a good chance to get rid of his ring. He had planned on coming up with a good excuse for the Exalted Double Dragons as well, that of sneak attacking Ye Lin.

[See what I did there? I used my ring to set up a trap. Danqing Shen running to the sacred mine and stealing Atlas Sword has nothing to do with me. I'm innocent!]

"Ha-ha-ha, this kid's mind is truly frightening!"

Shaking his head, Danqing Shen sighed. He was even sure Zhuo Fan came up with this tactic the minute he mentioned using the storage ring to slip in here.

He had to take his hat off at this one.

In the audience, Xie Tianshang and Chu Qingcheng saw Qingcheng and felt relieved. They had seen Qiao'er back in the Esoteric Debate. They felt closer to her because Zhuo Fan had brought her out again.

"She has grown so much over the years…" Chu Qingcheng looked with a soft gaze.