So it turns out I'm the demon!

Duanmu Li turned her head to look.

At the broken beam above, a pure white raccoon dog appeared out of nowhere.

The cat was only the size of an ordinary house cat, but its eyes were quite large, with deep green pupils like two emeralds, staring intently at the group. At the same instant the cat appeared, Shang Quan's hand had already reached into his robes.

"Whoosh!"

A golden talisman was thrown into the air.

The talisman disintegrated on its own in mid-air, breaking into countless tiny, snowflake-like pieces of paper.

Each scrap of paper trailed a pale golden tail, like a dandelion seed scattered by the wind, swiftly weaving through the walls of the hall.

In the blink of an eye, it formed a ring-shaped barrier resembling a banner.

It enclosed the entire hall and even the cat demon within it.

"Cat demon, you've finally shown up."

Shang Quan stood with his hands behind his back, a confident smile playing on his lips.

At the same time, the other four Qishan Sect disciples also drew their swords and stood at the four corners, forming a sword formation.

Despite being outmaneuvered, the cat demon showed no sign of panic.

It sat on the crossbeam, licked one of its front paws, and then spoke in a charming, womanly voice:

"Shang Quan, what exactly does your Qishan Sect want from me?"

I told you long ago, your Indian uncle's death has absolutely nothing to do with me. It was his shamelessness that led him to try something with his pet golden-armored lizard in the middle of the night.

As a result, he suffered from qi and blood deficiency, and died from exhaustion.

"Instead of going after that lizard, you're chasing after me. What kind of logic is that? Besides, that lizard is just an ordinary beast, not even a demon."

Upon hearing these explosive words, Meng Zhen and the others' expressions became quite interesting, and their gazes towards Shang Quan and the others changed drastically.

Good heavens, is your style really this wild?

Meng Zhen subconsciously turned to look at Duanmu Li, afraid that such words would pollute the girl's ears.

But Duanmu Li stood there expressionless, completely unmoved.

Meng Zhen clicked his tongue in amazement.

Indeed, this young lady has always been by the side of Deputy Director Jiang, that notorious womanizer.

Having been exposed to it from a young age, what storms haven't they weathered?

In fact, Duanmu Li was already on the verge of collapse at this moment.

No matter how beastly Jiang Mu was, he would at least wait until those female demons transformed into human form before engaging in any romantic activities.

These elders of the Qishan Sect are truly depraved and insane.

Disgusting!

Hearing the cat demon's mockery, Shang Quan's expression turned somewhat unpleasant.

He said coldly, "Stop spouting nonsense and tarnishing the reputation of my Uncle-Master. My Uncle-Master has always been upright and honest. If it weren't for your bewitching magic, you vixen, how could he have..."

Shangquan couldn't wash anymore either.

He forcefully steered the conversation back on track, his eyes turning icy as he said:

"We have traveled thousands of miles from Qishan to chase you here, not to engage in a war of words with you. You killed my martial uncle, which is a crime, and you also stole the most precious treasure of Qishan."

"Cat demon, I advise you to surrender obediently to avoid suffering physical pain!"

Several Qishan Sect disciples behind him also shouted in unison.

The cat demon let out a cold laugh, its brow furrowed as it glanced down at Shang Quan and the others, its green eyes filled with disdain:

"You bunch of greenhorns think you can capture me? What a joke! Your Indian uncle died such a pathetic death, what future do you think you'll have!"

As soon as she finished speaking, the cat demon let out a sharp cry.

In an instant, the white cat's body split in two, then in four... In the blink of an eye, hundreds and thousands of white cat phantoms appeared out of thin air. These phantoms bared their fangs and claws, pouncing towards Shang Quan and the others.

Shang Quan snorted coldly and stepped forward, forming a sword formation with the other four.

All five men swung their swords at the same time.

The golden light expanded outward from the tip of the sword, spreading outward to form a huge circular pattern at their feet.

The pattern suddenly rose up, like a blazing sun breaking through the earth.

A brilliant golden light shone out.

The white cat phantoms that pounced on the enemy were instantly evaporated and dissipated, just as they reached mid-air, like ice and snow exposed to the scorching sun.

Even the cat demon's true form on the crossbeam was scorched by the golden light, causing it to emit wisps of black smoke.

"The Golden Crow Mirror?"

The cat demon's green pupils contracted.

It quickly pushed off the crossbeam, avoiding the direct scorching of the golden light, its gaze growing even more ferocious.

"Trying to catch me with this broken mirror? Dream on!"

Having said that, it opened its mouth and spat out a cloud of black mist.

The black mist spread extremely quickly, enveloping the main hall in the blink of an eye.

The surroundings became pitch black, and even the light of the Golden Crow Mirror was forcibly suppressed and dimmed by the black mist.

A Qishan Sect disciple brandished his sword wildly in the black mist, trying to dispel the tangled fog around him.

But the next moment, a white cat silently appeared on his shoulder, opened its mouth to reveal sharp teeth, and bit down on his throat.

The disciple let out a scream, staggered backward, and frantically scratched at his neck, but couldn't grab anything.

"Junior brother!"

Shang Quan's expression changed drastically. He rushed to the disciple's side, took out a crimson talisman, and slapped it on the disciple's forehead.

The runes on the talisman suddenly lit up.

The cat demon on the disciple's body was distorted and dissipated by the power of the talisman.

It turned out to be a cat demon phantom.

But the disciple's throat had been bitten through, his face was ashen, and he lay lifeless in a pool of blood with his eyes wide open.

"This prodigy's cultivation seems to have improved again!"

Seeing his junior brother's tragic death, Shang Quan's face darkened, and he said sternly, "Calm your mind, don't be deceived by illusions. Continue forming the array!"

The remaining three disciples quickly huddled together, and the sword formation was activated again.

As Shang Quan rapidly formed hand seals and chanted incantations, numerous magical bronze mirrors, resembling small golden suns, appeared around the four, forcibly dispersing the approaching black mist several meters away.

Immediately afterwards, three-legged golden crows burning with golden flames flew out of the mirror.

These golden crows plunged into the black mist, beginning their search for the cat demon's true form.

A moment later, a scream came from the southwest.

At the same time, the black mist collapsed like a curtain being pulled away, and visibility returned.

Everyone took a closer look.

The white cat was surrounded by five or six golden crows.

The true fire on the Golden Crow's body burned it so badly that it rolled around on the ground, convulsing miserably.

"Hmph, a beast is a beast. It only knows a little bit of illusion magic, yet it thinks it can contend with the Golden Crow True Fire?"

Shang Quan sneered, withdrew the sword formation, and walked up to the cat demon.

He took a gold chain from his waist.

With a flick of his wrist, a chain engraved with runes emerged, binding the dying cat demon into a tight knot.

"With such meager skills, you think you can escape the grasp of my Qishan Sect?"

Shang Quan was preparing to cast a spell to seal its demon core.

But the next second, a familiar, panicked voice came from in front of them:

"Senior brother!"

The voice was exactly the same as his junior sister's.

Shang Quan stood frozen in place.

He suddenly realized something and quickly bit his tongue. The sharp pain brought a sliver of clarity back to his mind.

Then they saw that what was being restrained was not a cat demon at all.

It was his junior sister!

The other person was being strangled by chains, their face turning purple, staring at him in agony.

"Damn it, I've fallen into an illusion."

Shang Quan was shocked and quickly withdrew the chains.

But the very next second the chains loosened, the "junior sister" on the ground suddenly twisted her body and then turned into a cat.

"Hehehe... Can't even tell if it's your junior sister or me who's locked up? What an idiot."

The white cat let out a mocking giggle.

It reached out with its paw.

Shang Quan felt a sharp pain in his wrist as the golden demon-slaying chain was snatched away by his opponent.

"You wicked beast, how cunning you are!"

Shang Quan was so angry that he lost his temper.

He held his longsword horizontally in front of him, and with his left hand, he made a sword gesture and brushed it across the blade.

A layer of flame immediately ignited on the sword's surface.

Shang Quan leaped up, his sword flashing through the air, drawing a scorching arc as it slashed towards the cat demon.

"laugh"

With a scream of pain as a sharp blade pierced flesh, warm blood splattered all over Shang Quan's face.

Shang Quan thought the cat demon was seriously injured, but upon closer inspection, he was shocked to see his junior sister lying in a pool of blood, with a bloody gash running from her left cheek to her waist, and blood gushing out.

The junior sister's body twitched twice, then she fell silent.

"No! This is fake, it must be another hallucination! It's all a hallucination!"

Shang Quan's eyes were bloodshot, and his hand holding the sword began to tremble.

From the black mist above, the cat demon's mocking laughter echoed once more:

"Tsk tsk tsk, the disciples of Qishan this generation are really getting worse with each generation. They think that just because they killed a few low-level demons in the back mountain of the sect and learned a little bit of skill, they are fearless."

Only Wenren Guhong, who dared to betray your sect back then, had any real skill.

As for you good-for-nothings... you're not even worthy to carry his shoes.

Shang Quan's eyes were bloodshot.

He vaguely saw a pair of golden eyes floating behind the raccoon.

"Nine Heavens Illusionary Eye Technique!"

Shang Quan's expression changed, and his heart was filled with shock and disbelief.

"This prodigy has actually integrated the Nine Heavens Eye Technique of the Tushan Fox Clan into the bloodline of the cat demon, cultivating such an illusion technique!"

In this life-or-death situation, Shang Quan no longer cared about holding back his trump cards.

Without hesitation, he gripped a dagger engraved with runes in his left hand and plunged it into his heart!

Blood welled up in my heart.

He endured the excruciating pain, put two fingers of his right hand together, and drew a line across his forehead.

"The Nine Palaces pave the way, dispelling illusions and revealing the truth!"

"open!"

With a loud shout, a crack immediately appeared between his eyebrows, revealing a vertical eye.

At the same time, the blood gushing from the wound on his left chest did not flow down, but instead turned into a thin wisp of blood vapor that entered the vertical eye.

The vertical eye, having absorbed a full dose of blood energy, suddenly opened and shot out a beam of red light.

In an instant, the black mist in front of me turned into a transparent veil.

Without the illusion's interference, Shang Quan clearly saw that the white cat's true form was crouching to his right, its sharp claws less than half a meter away from his throat.

"die!"

Shang Quan slashed his long sword toward the cat demon's true form on his right.

The sword light, like a golden ribbon, tore through the darkness.

The cat demon was clearly not expected that he could find her so quickly. Startled, she immediately abandoned her sneak attack and jumped back like lightning, avoiding the fatal sword strike.

The sword energy grazed the tip of its tail, severing a small tuft of white fur.

"A deceptive lens?"

The cat demon landed on the stone platform on the other side of the main hall, and sneered mockingly.

"I underestimated you, you piece of trash. But... judging from your half-dead state, the fact that you need to use your heart's blood to nourish yourself in order to forcibly open the Eye of Deception shows that your mastery of this secret technique is still lacking."

I'll see if your meager efforts can last until you escape this illusionary trap I'm creating!

Having said that, the cat demon's figure once again merged into the black mist and disappeared.

Shang Quan gripped his longsword, his chest heaving violently.

He desperately wanted to give chase, but the fog was fraught with danger, and he feared that if he pursued them, he would fall into their traps.

After weighing the pros and cons, he could only grit his teeth and decide to first go and find the other two surviving junior brothers and sisters.

However, as he groped his way forward, Shang Quan gradually sensed that something was wrong.

A strong feeling of dizziness washed over me, and the scenery in front of me began to appear double.

He looked down and saw three claw marks on his right wrist.

It was from when the cat demon took away his chains.

At this moment, the blood at the wound had turned black, and several thin black lines were slowly spreading along the veins towards the upper forearm, clearly indicating that demonic poison had invaded the meridians.

Shang Quan hurriedly took out a pill and swallowed it whole, filled with remorse:

"Damn it! I didn't expect this cat demon's cultivation to improve so quickly, and its methods to be so bizarre and vicious. If I had known this would happen, I should have asked Uncle-Master Zhou Yao to come along. I was far too careless this time."

As time went on, the dizziness in his head became increasingly severe.

Every step I took felt like I was walking on cotton.

Maintaining the ability to break through the barrier requires a constant drain on his vital essence, while the demonic poison left on his wrist by the cat demon is eroding his meridians. With both factors combined, his vital energy is being lost at a rate far exceeding expectations.

Unless there is enough blood and energy replenished.

"No, if this continues, I'll be worn down to death."

Shang Quan was anxious.

He urgently needs a large amount of blood and energy to replenish the energy consumed by breaking through the barrier and to suppress the demonic poison.

Just then, a figure vaguely appeared in the black fog ahead.

Take a closer look.

He was a lone member of the Demon Slayer Division, huddled in a corner.

Shang Quan stopped and stared at the figure for a moment before walking over.

"Who?!"

Upon hearing footsteps, the demon slayer jumped up like a startled bird, holding his sword horizontally in front of his chest.

"it's me."

Shang Quan emerged from the black mist.

The demon slayer recognized Shang Quan, and only then did he breathe a sigh of relief, his shoulders slumping as he eagerly asked:

"Young Master Shang, have you ever seen my master?"

Shang Quan shook his head and said:

"I didn't see it. But don't worry, I severely injured that cat demon earlier, and it's probably escaped somewhere now. This fog will dissipate soon... Huh?"

Shang Quan suddenly pointed behind the Demon Slayer and exclaimed in surprise:

"Is that your parent?"

The demon slayer was overjoyed and instinctively turned around.

The moment he turned his head, a long, slender, cool hand gently touched the back of his head.

Before the demon slayer could react, his body began to wither away at a visible rate.

The body's essence, blood, and even bone marrow are forcibly extracted.

It's like connecting a water pump.

In just a few breaths, a living person shrank into a dry, spherical mass.

Shang Quan closed his eyes and let out a soft moan of comfort.

Feeling the abundant and mellow blood energy replenishing his body, the man's pale face regained its rosy hue, the red light that had broken through the illusion between his brows shone again, and the previous dizziness was completely swept away.

He looked down at the mangled remains, barely recognizable as human, sighed, and said softly with genuine remorse on his face:

"Don't blame me. You're trapped in this illusionary formation; you're going to die sooner or later. What difference does it make whether you die sooner or later?"

At least your flesh and blood weren't wasted; they allowed me to hold on a little longer, and slaying that monster would be avenging you.

After saying that, he gently rubbed his palms together.

The corpse instantly turned into a cloud of ashes, which scattered in the wind.