The Master and His Wealthy Fiancée

"Senior Aunt Qiu Cai?" Chen Dong asked tentatively via Divine Sense transmission.

The two people ahead stopped immediately and looked around, their eyes holding a mix of pleasant surprise and panic. They didn't look like controlled Demonic Puppets.

Qiu Cai, at the Fifth-Layer Golden Core Stage with a Fourth-grade Golden Core, had a Divine Sense range even smaller than Tang Xian's—less than two zhang. At this moment, she still couldn't sense Chen Dong's group. After hearing the transmission, she just spun around in place.

Chen Dong sent another transmission: "Senior Aunt, we're in front of you!"

Upon hearing this, Qiu Cai and her companion walked forward cautiously, but they were heading to the right of Chen Dong's group. They were clearly disoriented by the black mist.

With no other choice, Chen Dong had Qiu Cai's pair stop so he and his group could walk over to them.

The moment they entered Qiu Cai's Divine Sense range, she delightedly grabbed the sole remaining member of her team and walked over quickly.

At the same time, her mouth was moving as if to say, "My dear nephew, you really hide your talents well, to have discovered us before we discovered you!"

The distance between them closed. A zhang, nine chi... Qiu Cai's eyes filled with hot tears of reunion with her fellow sect members.

Six chi, five chi. The hot tears abruptly vanished, replaced by a flash of scarlet light in her eyes. Her claws sliced through the air as she lunged directly at Chen Dong.

The distance was extremely short. Even Li Zhixuan, at the Ninth-Layer of the First-Grade Golden Core, couldn't react in time. Unprepared, it would be impossible for Chen Dong to escape. No, even if he had been prepared, Chen Dong wasn't fast enough to dodge. He was bound to take this claw attack.

The Demonic Puppets transformed from Foundation Establishment Stage peers were already as fast as Late-stage Golden Core cultivators. The speed of this Fifth-Layer Golden Core Senior Aunt Qiu Cai was even more incredible, approaching that of the Golden Core Perfection stage.

Li Zhixuan wanted to help, but it was already too late!

In that split second, a flaming feather appeared before Qiu Cai's claws. It instantly erupted in a fire that could burn through anything, engulfing her!

Chen Dong had been suspicious from the moment Qiu Cai appeared. First, there were the Demonic Puppets transformed from her teammates. Then, there was the fact she approached them without any doubt. But most importantly, Chen Dong reasoned that if he were the Demon Race mastermind and already had everyone in his perception, he would never allow them to group up.

That was why as soon as Qiu Cai appeared, Chen Dong had readied the Phoenix True Feather. These Demonic Puppets, equivalent to the Golden Core Stage, were too troublesome. Only at such an extremely close distance could Chen Dong be confident in hitting his target. And activating the Phoenix True Feather to use a Fire Technique was Chen Dong's strongest attack that didn't require charging up.

How could a Golden Core Stage cultivator withstand the flames of a True Phoenix? Qiu Cai was burned to ashes in a few breaths. Back when he fought Feng You, if not for Feng You's superior comprehension of the Dragon and Phoenix Treasure Manual and his Heavenly Fire affinity that granted him immunity to Fire Techniques, this single Fire Feather would have been enough for Chen Dong to make a clean escape.

Li Zhixuan shot Chen Dong an appreciative look. That last scene had really scared him. Setting aside the friendship between them, if Chen Dong had died, the question of how to get back to the Wangyou Realm would have become a huge problem.

But it was all right. A scare, but no real danger. Chen Dong was truly worthy of his, Li Zhixuan's, admiration.

As for the only remaining senior sister, she had fainted. After checking her over several times, Chen Dong confirmed she was a real, living person, though her soul had suffered some trauma. It seemed she had been deliberately left alive to lend credibility to the Qiu Cai Demonic Puppet.

Chen Dong fed this Senior Sister Zhang Miao from Juejian Peak a pill to restore her soul, then woke her up.

Chen Dong had plenty of various pills in his ring—some prepared by Mu Qingzhu, some from Li Zhixuan, and even some from Feng You. His collection was quite comprehensive.

Chen Dong asked via Divine Sense transmission, "Senior Sister Zhang Miao, do you know what happened to your team?"

Zhang Miao first looked at the group dazedly, then shook her head. "I was at the back of the team. I was suddenly knocked unconscious. It was Senior Aunt Qiu Cai who woke me up. By the way, where is Senior Aunt Qiu Cai?"

A Foundation Establishment brother to the side explained via transmission, "Senior Aunt Qiu Cai was actually turned into a Demonic Puppet too! When her eyes suddenly turned scarlet just now, it scared me stiff. I honestly thought we were goners. Thank goodness for Chen Dong…"

Chen Dong immediately cut him off with a transmission, "Don't talk about that now. Staying here isn't our best option. Let's keep moving in the direction the black mist is flowing. If it's not leading to the source of the mist, it must be the way out."

Chen Dong simply didn't want too many people to know his true strength, especially since the Phoenix True Feather he had just used was a genuine treasure. Besides, staying here was too passive. If even a Golden Core Stage cultivator like Qiu Cai could be converted, what if Tang Lian's team was converted too? If all the Demonic Puppets swarmed them at once, they would be in serious trouble.

It wasn't that Chen Dong hadn't considered that the flow of the black mist might be a trap. However, he still had Li Zhixuan's Transmission Talisman. If a crisis arose where they couldn't protect themselves, he would take everyone and leave. Tang Xian being snatched away, however, was something he had completely failed to anticipate—a Demonic Puppet, supposedly with only Foundation Establishment Stage strength, had suddenly displayed speed comparable to a Late-stage Golden Core cultivator.

In the beginning, because he had the Spirit Talisman as a trump card, Chen Dong hadn't bothered to prepare any other contingencies before following the three Golden Core cultivators in. This incident served as a lesson to him. In the future, when facing such unknown situations, he would be sure to have a few more tricks up his sleeve.

Li Zhixuan took the lead, the few Foundation Establishment Stage brothers and sisters stayed in the middle, and Chen Dong brought up the rear. They once again set off in the direction the black mist was flowing.

Suddenly, a flash of lightning appeared in the distance ahead of them, followed by a massive BOOM~!

Lightning? A thunderous boom? Everyone was startled. 'Can we see and hear again?' They tested it, but sound was still being blocked by the black mist. It was as if they were in a silent world.

But before long, another bolt of lightning struck down. This time, everyone saw it clearly.

It was a Thunder Tribulation! A trial from the Celestial Dao, which was why it ignored the black mist!