I tried to kill the heroines of destiny, but they ended up chasing after me.

"Oh? Tell me about it. Perhaps I'll be interested and agree to your deal." Gu Qici smiled slightly and spoke casually in a villainous tone.

"It's very simple. Our Demon Emperor Ancestor was certainly not a fool like my brother. He couldn't have been unaware that one day in the future, a series of problems would arise on Demon Emperor Island. In order to ensure the continuation of the lineage and the demonic energy, he would never have only told the successor of the sect leader the method of controlling orthodox demonic energy. There must be a copy..."

"So in my opinion, your calm demeanor means you must know where that instance is. And if I'm not mistaken, the reason you're here is because of this; you're waiting... waiting for the right opportunity to enter the secret realm..."

"Entering that secret place requires orthodox demonic energy, and although my brother is dead, the demonic energy within him has not completely dissipated. This is an opportunity. The one day you mentioned must be for secretly refining my brother's demonic energy, right?"

"If I had to guess, the reason you're here is to provoke us into war. That's why you didn't threaten me with Bai Wu from the start, but waited until my brother died. You were worried that we'd see through your true intentions and it would affect your later plans. Am I right?" As he spoke, a sharp glint flashed in Shen Yuan's eyes, seemingly extremely confident.

"Tsk tsk. I have to admire your wild imagination. You even put it into words. But I'm not that smart. I can't think of the things you schemers are thinking. But you're right about one thing: I do have other methods, but they're not as amazing as you make them out to be," Gu Qici said softly.

"Not as amazing as I said?" Hearing Gu Qici's words, Shen Yuan seemed a little surprised that his guess was wrong.

"I'm sorry, I don't want to tell you too much, because the time hasn't come yet. You just need to stay here and do nothing," Gu Qici said softly.

"Is there... just one more day?" Shen Yuan murmured.

“That’s right. Anyway, you’ll understand everything after a day. Then you can continue doing whatever you want.” At this moment, Gu Qici suddenly became serious and said, “Also… I don’t want to fight you. After all, we’ve already fought once, do you understand?”

How could Shen Yuan not understand? Judging from the current situation, Shen Lian's death signifies the end of the war. Therefore, it would be foolish for the two of them to fight to the death. Gu Qici only wanted to stall for the next dozen or so hours, while Shen Yuan only wanted to retrieve the Imperial Demon Jade to complete his ambition. So, from this point of view, there was no conflict between them.

Unless Shen Yuan knew Gu Qici's purpose, the existence of the green rat, and all the possible scenarios that might occur a day later, he would fight Gu Qici without hesitation. Unfortunately, Gu Qici couldn't tell him too much, and he couldn't think of that much either. So, after careful consideration, he didn't mind wasting a day to see what Gu Qici's purpose was. Whether he would still think that way a day later was up to him.

"There shouldn't be any surprises, right? Shen Yuan is so worried about Hui Yue, he would never abandon her. So wasting time is the best strategy. As long as the second Emperor Demon Ancestor appears in the form of a Heavenly Monarch, he can suppress Shen Yuan smoothly, and I will be safe and sound." At this moment, Gu Qici seemed to have thought everything through and couldn't help but think to herself.

“What Shen Yuan said is actually true. With the wisdom of the first Emperor Demon Ancestor, since he was able to create orthodox demonic energy and leave behind a legacy, he would not easily let this legacy be cut off. Therefore, in addition to the sect leader personally teaching him, there must be other ways. And as long as this way exists... I will definitely find it.”

Meanwhile, after careful consideration, Shen Yuan glanced at Gu Qici and then asked directly, "I only have two questions for you: Will you return the Imperial Demon Jade to me after one day? And what exactly did you do at the bottom of the Central Abyss two days ago?"

These two questions were not difficult to answer, but they encapsulated all of Gu Qici's purposes and affairs. It must be said that Shen Yuan's intelligence was indeed second to none. However, Gu Qici was too good at acting. After hearing the questions, he twitched his lips and said without blushing or panting, "I have no use for the Imperial Demon Jade. I don't know any demonic energy, so I will definitely hand it over to its true owner. As for whether its true owner is you, I don't know."

Shen Yuan was puzzled. He didn't quite understand what Gu Qici meant. Although he knew Gu Qici was speaking in riddles, he couldn't find the key to the riddle. So after a moment, he could only follow Gu Qici's words and laughed loudly, "Hahahaha. Of course it's me. Who else could it be but me? In the entire Imperial Demon Domain, I am the only one who understands the Imperial Demon Jade the most, so who else could it be but me?"

"Hehehe." Seeing this, Gu Qici chuckled and continued, "That's quite a bit of confidence."

“Confidence? No. This isn’t confidence, it’s the truth.” Shen Yuan said firmly, then continued, “Alright. I know your answer now. Now tell me the answer to the second question.”

"The second question..." Suddenly, as Gu Qici finished speaking, a flash of hatred rose in his eyes. This was genuine hatred, a hatred that Gu Qici had hidden for a long time; it wasn't something he was pretending.

"Hmm?" Shen Yuan was puzzled again, and his heart skipped a beat.

Gu Qici narrowed her eyes and stared intently at Shen Yuan before saying, "Actually, you should know the answer better than I do. Because... you killed my friend in the Central Abyss."

Upon hearing this, Shen Yuan instantly guessed one of the reasons Gu Qi resigned from the Central Abyss. Immediately, he felt that his question was somewhat redundant, and he subconsciously fell silent.

"Remembering his friends? Well, that's quite normal..." Shen Yuan's thoughts stirred slightly as he muttered to himself, "It seems I killed those two too easily, so I didn't pay much attention to them. Or rather, I paid too much attention to this kid; otherwise, I wouldn't have missed this..."

“But this is troublesome. This kind of hatred for killing a friend is not so easy to erase. This kid shouldn’t be the kind of person who is heartless and ungrateful, so he will definitely avenge them. It’s just that this revenge…” Thinking of this, Shen Yuan slowly frowned, and his gaze towards Gu Qici seemed to have become more wary.

But the next moment, as if knowing what Shen Yuan was thinking, Gu Qici said suddenly without changing his expression, "Don't worry. I won't do anything today... I hate you... After everything is over, I will settle things with you properly... And when that time comes, you must not run away."

"Huh?" Shen Yuan was taken aback at first, but quickly recovered and laughed loudly, "Hahahaha. Although I don't know what the meaning of your words is, I won't run away from you. You have your hatred for me, and I have my hatred for you..."

At this point, Shen Yuan glanced at Gray Moon beside Gu Qici and said fiercely, "I am just like you. I will not let this hatred continue like this. So once an opportunity to resolve this hatred arises, I will absolutely not let it go... You can rest assured."

"Hmph. Very well." Gu Qici curled her lips, her body trembling slightly, and sneered.

Chapter 177 The Sun That Covers the Sky

High in the abyss at the center, Gu Qici, who was confronting Shen Yuan, suddenly shuddered, her mind ached, and her mind went blank. This caused her left hand, which was holding Gray Moon, to tremble slightly, as if it were about to loosen its grip.

This was an opportunity, Shen Yuan's only chance, and he wouldn't let it slip by. His eyes flashed, and his half-step Heavenly Monarch cultivation suddenly erupted. He didn't think much, nor did he have time to think much. In the blink of an eye, he was beside Gu Qici.

At this point, he had two choices. His first choice was to attack Gu Qici, but he was a little unsure whether he could take down Gu Qici in such a short time. If the operation failed, everything would be back to square one. But if he succeeded, he could not only save Huiyue, but also truly end all the troubles that had been going on.

The second option was to save Huiyue directly. He was almost entirely confident in this choice, since saving Huiyue was much easier than killing Gu Qici at this moment. So, in a flash, he chose the latter without hesitation.

Shen Yuan stretched out his left hand and, in flight at an incredible speed invisible to the naked eye, immediately embraced Hui Yue's slender waist, as if trying to snatch her directly from Gu Qi Ci's grasp. Although Gu Qi Ci suppressed the pain in his heart, he was still somewhat powerless to stop Shen Yuan, because at this moment, a sense of sorrow had also arisen in his heart.

It was this sense of sorrow that prevented his spiritual power from circulating successfully, thus allowing Shen Yuan to succeed. After taking Gray Moon, Shen Yuan, after being depressed for almost a day, finally revealed a smile, because he knew very well that as long as Gray Moon was in his hands, there would be room for a reversal in the situation.

Two breaths later, Gu Qici looked at the abyss about fifty meters away in the air ahead, puzzled and somewhat annoyed. He then gradually frowned and even prepared for battle.

In addition, Shen Yuan also knocked Gray Moon unconscious without hesitation in order to prevent Gu Qici from controlling Gray Moon again. Then, with a flick of his left hand, he decisively took out a bag, put Gray Moon in the bag, and put the bag back into his space bottle. The whole process was smooth and effortless.

Gu Qici recognized the bag; it was a high-grade spiritual artifact called the Living Bag. It could hold a living person inside, and even if the bag was placed inside a spatial bottle that couldn't hold a living person, the person inside wouldn't die. It was a rather convenient spiritual artifact.

But now that they have lost Gray Moon as the key to this stalemate, their emotions have changed immediately. Especially Shen Yuan, whose eyes have shown a hint of anger, as if he might attack Gu Qi Ci at any time.

Gu Qici's eyes flickered slightly as she muttered to herself, "According to the time, there should still be an hour left. My cultivation and strength have recovered to about 70-80%, so stopping this guy shouldn't be a problem. Alright. Since Heaven has decreed that I should fight him, then why not? I refuse to believe that this guy can defeat me without the Imperial Demon Jade."

Gu Qici narrowed her eyes slightly, her fighting spirit rising. Then, she raised her left hand and summoned the Emperor Halberd that she had previously acquired in order to capture Gray Moon. It was clear that Gu Qici's mind was made up.

But at this moment, Shen Yuan suddenly said, "Gu Qici, I'll give you a chance to live. Tell me what your purpose is in stalling for time. If you tell me, you can leave."

"Hmm?" Upon hearing this, Gu Qici did not immediately respond to Shen Yuan, but a question popped into her mind, and she felt a little strange.

Given the current situation, Shen Yuan shouldn't need to let him leave. After all, he still controls Gray Moon. If he really leaves, how will Gray Moon break free of his control in the future? You see, his consciousness has penetrated into Gray Moon's memories, changed Gray Moon's life trajectory, and injected Gu Qici's aura into Gray Moon's body, which is why Gray Moon is so devoted to Gu Qici.

Unless Shen Yuan himself has a way to resolve the relationship, the best solution would be to kill Gu Qici. Given how much Shen Yuan cares about Huiyue, he should choose the latter. Therefore, considering all of the above, Shen Yuan's behavior at this moment is definitely problematic.

Seeing that Gu Qici remained silent, Shen Yuan seemed to grow impatient. He continued, "What's wrong? Aren't you going to give me an answer? Or are you trying to stall for time like this? That's a pity. I'll only give you ten breaths. Either tell me your purpose, or fight me..."

"Ten." As soon as he finished speaking, Shen Yuan began the countdown.

Gu Qici was still completely bewildered. He couldn't understand the significance of Shen Yuan's actions, or rather, he couldn't think of any benefit for Shen Yuan in doing so.

"Wait. Benefits?" Gu Qici's eyes lit up, as if she had grasped a key point.

"Nine, eight, seven..."

As Shen Yuan's voice rang out, Gu Qici's thoughts raced faster and faster.

"I see. If there has to be a meaning, then this must be it. Hmph. What a schemer." Gu Qici's eyes flickered slightly as she thought to herself.

"Six, five, four..."

However, before Shen Yuan could finish counting the remaining numbers, Gu Qici's eyes narrowed, her expression turned serious, and she raised the Emperor Halberd, launching an attack quite abruptly.

The so-called meaning is actually meaningless. How could Shen Yuan not guess that Gu Qici wouldn't tell him her purpose? So he said these things just to confuse Gu Qici's thinking.

The countdown wasn't a real countdown, but rather an obvious manipulation tactic. Unfortunately, Gu Qici wasn't that stupid; Shen Yuan's methods had absolutely no effect on him.

Gu Qici admired Shen Yuan for coming up with such a way to influence thinking in an instant. It was like when a group of people were being serious, and suddenly someone became unserious. In this situation, the unserious person would naturally attract the attention of the other serious people, and the others would also experience a period of blankness and confusion in their minds because their attention was diverted. This was the unserious person's goal.

It is obvious that this "unorthodox person" is Shen Yuan. He took advantage of Gu Qici's mental state after losing Huiyue and said those completely meaningless things to Gu Qici. He knew that Gu Qici would definitely think about his words and consider them. As long as there was enough time, he would have the opportunity to defeat Gu Qici directly while she was considering.

In a battle between masters, a single error can decide everything, and Shen Yuan was the conspirator who perfectly created such errors; otherwise, he would not have been able to successfully establish the Demon Extermination Sect.

The subsequent countdown was merely a psychological pressure, but unfortunately, he underestimated Gu Qici.

She saw through things on the surface most clearly, which is why she was able to see through the real conspiracy in Shen Yuan's words in just a few breaths.

Suddenly, Gu Qici swung down the raised imperial halberd without hesitation. As always, a gray light appeared and headed straight for Shen Yuan, which greatly surprised Shen Yuan. He seemed to have not expected Gu Qici to launch such a decisive attack.

However, Shen Yuan was still a half-step Heavenly Monarch, and Gu Qici's move was not invincible; it was merely to interrupt the guy's thought process. Therefore, she naturally had a chance to defend against it.

In an instant, Shen Yuan calmed down. Then, black energy surged, and a huge black wall formed in front of him, blocking the gray light. Then, a loud roar was heard, and the gray light and the black wall disappeared into the sky together, as if neither of them had caused any ripples.

At this moment, Shen Yuan suddenly burst into laughter: "To be able to perceive my purpose in that instant, that makes sense. If this final battle were to end so simply, it would probably be meaningless."

"Hmph? Although I'm being frank about you, what you said isn't wrong. Alright, since you're unwilling to wait with me for a little while, let's start the real battle right away. I don't think there's any problem with that." Gu Qici said seriously, while gripping the Emperor Halberd in her hand even tighter.

"Alright. I'll grant your wish." As he said this, a wicked smile crept onto Shen Yuan's lips, the same wicked smile he had when he killed his brother Shen Lian, only this time the curve seemed even wider. Perhaps it was because at this moment, he shared the same thought as Gu Qici: war.

……

At that moment, a withered leaf was blown by the wind and flew high into the sky. In Shen Yuan and Gu Qici's eyes, it slowly fell to the ground.

In an instant, Shen Yuan opened his eyes slightly, and a terrifying power that Gu Qici had never experienced before was unleashed from Shen Yuan's body. At the same time, the night sky seemed to be stirred, and endless dark clouds appeared, covering the heavens and the earth, making the earth pitch black. It was as if the sky had to stop under Shen Yuan's power, otherwise it would surely be destroyed.

"Is this... Shen Yuan's true power?" Gu Qici exclaimed in amazement, once again refreshing his understanding of Shen Yuan's actual strength. Moreover, in his opinion, Shen Yuan seemed to have become even stronger. "It seems that my ability to exchange a few blows with him last time was really just luck."

"Hmph. I am not the same person I was a month ago." At this moment, seeing Shen Yuan's aura, Gu Qici, who was standing on the other side, gradually moved her eyes. She seemed to be unwilling to admit defeat, and she instantly unleashed the Taiyin power in her body, as if directly coloring the dark clouds above, turning them blue.

Looking at it this way, the sky is half black and half blue, as if the sky of this continent has been changed, which is breathtaking.

Gu Qici would not hold back, because this was her last battle in the Imperial Demon Domain, and the same was true for Shen Yuan. Therefore, they had to go all out from the very beginning.

Two masters clash, their duels often ending in life or death.

"Ha." Suddenly, Shen Yuan's expression changed, and he let out a soft shout. In an instant, under Shen Yuan's aura, a huge black sphere, like the sun, suddenly descended from the sky. Unlike the secret technique he used a month ago, this black sun could no longer be called an illusion, because it was very large and very real, so real that people could not imagine that it was fake.

At this moment, Gu Qici looked up at the sun and was shocked to find that this sun could be seen from top to bottom, and its diameter was incalculable. It seemed to cover the entire sky above Huangmo Island. It was so big that if it were not black, and if it had been placed above Huangmo Island like this forever, Huangmo Island would probably never see the sun again.

"We've been entangled for so long, it's better to be direct. This is my strongest technique. If you win, I'll concede." With that, Shen Yuan extended his left hand and gently pointed. Instantly, the sun seemed to be stopped by something, ceasing its downward movement…

At the same time, Gu Qici seemed to feel a strong sense of oppression from this endless sun, which made him narrow his eyes and be cautious.

"What a monstrous thing, it turns out like this."

Suddenly, without speaking or thinking, just as Gu Qici's last syllable fell, he moved in an instant, appearing at the very center of the sun's base. Then, he smiled again, decisively raised the Emperor's Halberd, and used the tip of the halberd to forcefully hold the sun in place.

Gu Qici knew very well that even if she didn't take any action, the black sun would still press down on her under Shen Yuan's control, so she might as well take the initiative, since there was no difference anyway.

"Interesting. I thought you would wield that top-tier weapon and use your strength to cleave this black sun in two. I didn't expect you to actually use brute force." Looking at Gu Qici's actions, Shen Yuan also had a hint of doubt in his eyes. But doubt aside, at this moment there was no turning back.

So in that instant, a fierce glint appeared in Shen Yuan's eyes. His outstretched left hand suddenly retracted, and instantly, the sky roared, as if it could not withstand the presence of this sun, and everything exploded, revealing black spatial rifts.

The infinitely large sun was now truly pressing down on Gu Qici. At this moment, Gu Qici felt an immense pressure emanating from the sun, directly striking her body. Her mind and soul were injured in the blink of an eye.

"Impressive, but this is not enough." As she spoke, Gu Qici's eyes flickered, and with a gritted teeth, a fierce intent erupted. In an instant, she completely enveloped the bottom area of ​​the sun, as if it were on her body, fighting against the sun together with her: "You came from the sky, and I will push you back."

After speaking, to Shen Yuan's astonishment, the sun actually moved backward slightly. This made Shen Yuan feel that something was wrong. He frowned, his mind focused, and he raised his hands and pressed down suddenly. Instantly, the pressure of the sun increased dramatically, giving him the feeling that it was going to crush Gu Qici to death.

Chapter 178 The Curtain Falls

A powerful obsession suddenly arose within Gu Qici, and this obsession seemed to materialize, instantly becoming Gu Qici's third hand.

However, this hand did not lift up the sun as before. Instead, it clenched into a fist in an instant, and Gu Qici concentrated all her strength into this punch. Whether it was the power of the five elements or the power of the moon, it all circulated in her hand, as if she wanted to shatter the sun with one punch.

"It's not that easy." Shen Yuan roared softly. Although he seemed disdainful, there was still a sense of seriousness in his eyes. Without any suspense, the veins on his body bulged, and he chose to stabilize the sun without hesitation. This caused the sun to tremble suddenly, and the pressure on Gu Qici seemed to increase even more.

"Hmph. That's how it should be. Let's settle this with this one move." With a loud shout, Gu Qici's power also exploded to its limit.

At that moment, the phantom's fist, under Gu Qici's control, suddenly struck the sun with unparalleled and terrifying power.

With a deafening roar, the sound echoed between heaven and earth, seemingly shaking the entire Emperor Demon Island. Some small hills and buildings even collapsed, leaving the people on Emperor Demon Island utterly shocked.

Suddenly, upon sensing this power, Shen Yuan coughed up a mouthful of blood, his body looking somewhat disheveled. The enormous black sun also weakened, seemingly becoming an illusion.

"What?! How is this possible?! How could you possibly have such power?! You..." Shen Yuan looked completely incredulous, as if he never expected that Gu Qici's power would be so great.

"There's only one month left. There's only one month left..." Shen Yuan thought to himself, and at the same time, he finally understood why his brother Shen Lian had lost to the guy in front of him.