Tang Dynasty Demon Suppression Division

"Yeah?"

Li Yuan smiled confidently, "Who wins and who loses is still unknown."

Just as the purple flames were about to engulf him, Li Yuan did not retreat even half a step. With a flick of his sleeve, five-colored spiritual energy surged out, forming a colorful vortex.

The flame plunged in, then with a muffled thud, vanished without a trace.

What happened?

The purple unicorn was dumbfounded, staring blankly at Li Yuan with its clear eyes, looking rather adorable.

She couldn't believe that her natal demonic fire, even if it was no match for the enemy, could not have disappeared so easily; it was as if it were child's play.

She immediately activated her demonic power, attempting to connect with her natal demonic fire, but the demonic fire vanished completely, as if it had never existed in this world.

"you……"

"Give me back my demonic fire!"

Langhuan panicked, opened her claws, and lunged fiercely at Li Yuan.

Li Yuan calmly took a step back and said, "You lost."

The purple unicorn froze on the spot, staring at Li Yuan with its glass-like eyes for a long time before suddenly sitting down on the platform and transforming back into human form.

She looked at Li Yuan with some dejection and sighed, "Okay, I admit it, I can't beat you."

The crowd watching the spectacle was immediately disappointed. They hadn't expected Langhuan to admit defeat so quickly, leaving the demon race feeling utterly ashamed.

"Um... could you please return my natal demonic flame?"

The Demon Queen Langhuan spoke somewhat embarrassedly, explaining that she had been too eager to succeed and had used her own essence; if she lost it, it would affect her cultivation level.

"Can."

Li Yuan stretched out his hand, and a purple flame suddenly appeared on his fingertip.

"But you have to answer one question for me first."

"Ask away, I'll answer whatever I can."

The Demon Queen Langhuan looked at him with some wariness. It seemed that this silly girl wasn't completely naive; she still had some cunning.

"Why do you insist on having another match with me? Is it just to save face?"

"this……"

She hesitated for a moment before speaking, "There were rumors that you only defeated those demon emperors through trickery and schemes, and that you didn't have any real skills. I'm not convinced, so I want to challenge you again."

Langhuan raised her head: "Now I know, you are indeed better than me. I was foolish to believe the rumors."

Seeing that she readily admitted it, Li Yuan felt that the Demon Empress of Langhuan was not a bad person at heart; she was just spoiled by her family and somewhat arrogant.

"May I ask who said that? Of course, you can choose not to answer."

"It's Uncle Mo Lin. He probably saw I was unhappy and was trying to comfort me like this."

Seeing Li Yuan frown, she quickly explained, "Don't misunderstand, Uncle Mo Lin didn't mean to provoke me. He was just trying to comfort me because he saw I was unhappy. He has always treated me like a child."

As expected, it's far too easy for a cunning old fox like Mo Lin Demon Emperor to seduce a spoiled and naive little girl.

From this perspective, Langhuan's parents' frantic efforts to contact others were likely the result of Mo Lin, the Demon Emperor, instigating the situation.

Li Yuan flicked his finger, and purple flames flew toward Lang Huan: "Don't be discouraged. You've actually done very well. You just lack real combat experience."

Langhuan took the natal demonic fire and blushed: "I understand now. All those uncles who sparred with me before were probably just coaxing me. Over time, I even started to think it was my real skill."

Her parents were powerful and extremely protective of their own, so no other demon emperor would dare to offend them!

"Li Yuan, although you are a human, you are not as cunning as they say."

She turned to leave, but suddenly stopped and hesitated for a moment before saying, "A few days ago, I overheard my parents saying that this peace talk is just a pretext, and there are other things behind it."

"What's wrong?"

Li Yuan's heart skipped a beat.

"I don't know." Langhuan shook her head. "I overheard a little bit at the time, and I don't know exactly what it was about, but it should be related to you."

"You need to be careful."

After saying that, she didn't linger, opened the formation, and walked out of the "Battle Arena".

When the Demon Queen Langhuan's parents saw their daughter come out, they hurriedly went to greet her. After looking her up and down, they breathed a sigh of relief when they found that she was not injured.

"Father, Mother, let's go."

This time, there was no frustration in Langhuan's eyes; even her gaze was much calmer than before.

The two exchanged a glance, looked at Li Yuan with mixed feelings, and then left with Langhuan.

The following day was the day for formal peace talks, which were held at the Heavenly Words Hall of the Demon Court.

The palace is named Tianyan, meaning "the place where all races discuss matters," and it is the place where successive demon emperors of the Demon Court discussed important national affairs.

The hall was furnished in a simple and ancient style. In the center was a huge round blue stone platform, with dozens of seats arranged around it.

Li Yuan led the delegation into the hall, where the three representatives of the Demon Court were already seated.

Mo Lin, the Demon Emperor, sat on the left, dressed in a deep purple brocade robe, and was gentle and refined. Zhu Yan, the Demon Emperor, sat on the right, with a burly figure and a fierce face. The violent aura emanating from him made the surrounding demon officials constantly wipe away cold sweat.

The Azure Lotus Demon Saint sat upright in the center, eyes closed in meditation, detached from worldly affairs.

On the Tang Dynasty delegation's side, Li Yuan sat in the main seat, with Wang Shu and Liu Hongyan on his left and right respectively. Behind them stood Chu Yunhe, Shen Lian, and Wu Yu. Although the delegation was small in number, its presence was not inferior.

"Lord Li, we have gathered here today to end the war and seek peace," Mo Lin spoke first, his voice gentle. "Please speak freely, for peace is of utmost importance."

As soon as he finished speaking, a demon king clad in black armor stepped forward from beside Zhu Yan, his voice booming like a bell.

"Since we're going to talk, let's start with the rules. The Tang Dynasty killed my Demon Emperor; this is a blood feud. If we want to negotiate, my Demon Court must first meet three conditions!"

As he spoke, he slammed a scroll of silk onto the stone platform.

"First, the Tang army will withdraw and abandon the eight prefectures of the Western Regions!"

This was utterly unreasonable. Li Yuan and the others sat still, watching his performance with cold indifference.

"The second point is to redefine the borders, stipulating that the Tang Dynasty must not cross the Pamir Mountains even a step."

"Finally, the Great Tang must compensate my Demon Court for its losses, establish ten new border markets, and refrain from collecting taxes from the Demon Court!"

Before he could finish speaking, a cold laugh rang out. Chu Yunhe suddenly stood up, crossed his arms, and looked at the demon king with a mocking tone.

"You're like a toad yawning, what a big mouth you have! Before you make any demands, did you even look in the mirror? You're the ones who've suffered a defeat and want to negotiate, not us."

The demon king's face darkened: "Half of Mengchi is still in the hands of my demon race. Tell me, who really lost?"

Chu Yunhe chuckled.

"Don't you know who lost? Your demon race is shameless enough. You were clearly beaten, but you still act like you're the boss."

"presumptuous!"

The demon king roared and slammed his palm on the stone platform, causing the entire circular platform to tremble. He glared at Chu Yunhe and shouted, "You brat from the Great Tang Dynasty, how dare you run wild in the Heavenly Words Hall!"

Chu Yunhe stood his ground, his aura equally imposing, and coldly said, "Who's causing trouble? You've lost the battle, yet you demand that we cede territory and pay reparations."

"I'll put my words here today: if you want us to back down, you'll have to ask the soldiers of the Great Tang if they agree!"

The two men clashed, and the atmosphere suddenly became tense.

Li Yuan sat motionless, coldly watching this scene. Zhu Yan allowed his subordinates to act recklessly, his aim being to muddy the waters, incite the anger of the human race, and make Li Yuan lose his mind.

Unfortunately, Zhu Yan's plan backfired. Although Li Yuan was young, he was by no means an impulsive person. Moreover, before he traveled to the Tang Dynasty, he was already a middle-aged man who had been through many battles.

Wu Yu stood up slowly and tugged at Chu Yunhe's sleeve.

"Brother Chu, don't get angry. He's already furious after losing a battle. Are you going to forbid him from having a good dream?"