The Master and His Wealthy Fiancée

Chen Dong and his group traveled for a long time, starting and stopping as they wove a winding path to avoid the Sun's Divine Light.

Meng Yingluo, the only one uninjured, narrowed her eyes and licked her lips. She spoke as if she had everyone's best interests at heart, "Looks like we're safe for the moment. Can we find a place to rest and recuperate?"

Chen Dong glanced over. Zisang Jin's fingers, clutching her Peach Blossom Divine Sword, were deathly pale. Clearly, her condition was also terrible.

"Qingzhu, can you find us a safe place!"

"Hmph! A life with you is nothing but toil!"

At that, Chen Dong's eyes lit up again as he put all his effort into the deduction.

A moment later, Chen Dong pointed to a spot on the mountainside. "There! The Divine Light won't touch that place for the next eight hours!"

Everyone's faces lit up at his words. They could finally meditate and recover.

Chen Dong also felt his mind relax. Here in the Xuhua Mountain Range, the constantly scattering Divine Light had the effect of severing Divine Sense. Even if a Demon King who also used deduction was pursuing them, they wouldn't be able to find them this quickly.

Soon, the group reached the spot on the mountainside. It was a peculiar recess—a natural cave formed by an overhanging cliff above a smooth slope.

The cave wasn't deep, maybe six or seven zhang at most. It was because of its unique shape that there was an eight-hour interval where the Divine Light would not reach it.

Inside the cave, everyone sat down, consumed medicinal pills, took out Spirit Stones, and began to meditate. Only Meng Yingluo looked them over, appearing utterly bored.

However, he noticed that aside from Liu Ling, who had the Top-Grade Spirit Stones Chen Dong had given her, everyone else—including Zisang Jin—was using Middle-Grade Spirit Stones to recover, while Murong Qing and the rescued Foundation Establishment Stage cultivator were using Low-Grade Spirit Stones.

'This...' Chen Dong promptly took out Top-Grade Spirit Stones and handed them out. In a life-or-death situation, it couldn't be that they were being stingy; they obviously only had Middle-Grade Spirit Stones.

Zisang Jin quipped with a wry smile, "I knew you were loaded, kid!"

Jiang Hongqin and the others accepted the Spirit Stones with strange looks in their eyes, forcing out a difficult, "Thank you!" They looked as if the words were against their will. They had been communicating frequently via voice transmission on the journey, but Chen Dong had no idea what they were saying.

Chen Dong had nothing to say to them. He was only doing this for his own peace of mind and to sever their karmic ties.

Pressed for time, Chen Dong quickly set up a simple warning formation, and then everyone entered a meditative state. With Zisang Jin protected by her Tier Six Divine Sword, there was little fear of a sudden crisis.

Two hours later, Chen Dong, who wasn't seriously injured and had remained partially conscious, sensed the perpetually carefree Meng Yingluo walk over to Zhang Tashan. A strange, enchanting light gleamed in her eyes. With a wave of her long sleeve, Zhang Tashan's Spiritual Power was siphoned from his body and channeled through her hand into her own.

The others were all seriously injured and deep in meditation, completely oblivious. This included Zhang Tashan himself, who wore a dazed, foolish grin as if lost in a dream. His Realm plummeted from the Eighth-Layer Golden Core to the Fourth-Layer Golden Core.

Meanwhile, Meng Yingluo's cultivation broke through from the Ninth-Layer Foundation Establishment to Foundation Establishment Perfection. But what truly shook Chen Dong was the realization that Meng Yingluo had actually condensed a Demon Pill inside her body!

Chen Dong carefully confirmed it again. 'I'm not mistaken. It's a Demon Pill.' Although its demonic aura was incredibly faint, it was without a doubt a Low Grade Demon Pill.

'How dare she! Never mind me—a Late-stage Nascent Soul expert like Zisang Jin must have sensed it too. Isn't she afraid of being cut down by the Peach Blossom Divine Sword?'

What astonished Chen Dong even more was that Zisang Jin had no reaction at all. She remained deep in meditation, recovering. 'Is she pretending not to notice? Or does she just not care?'

'No, that can't be it. Zisang Jin is from the Human Race of the Floating Shadow Realm. There's no way she'd tolerate a member of the Demon Race right before her eyes, and Meng Yingluo isn't bound by a Beast Taming Contract like Liu Ling.'

Chen Dong couldn't make sense of it, but he had no intention of confronting Meng Yingluo right now. He disliked Zhang Tashan and Jiang Hongqin's group anyway. Besides, Meng Yingluo hadn't killed Zhang Tashan; she had only absorbed his cultivation and Spiritual Qi.

Meng Yingluo didn't stop. She moved on to Xu Fu and repeated the process. Xu Fu's cultivation dropped from the Sixth-Layer Golden Core to the Second-Layer Golden Core, the smile on his face growing even more ecstatic.

Meng Yingluo's Foundation Establishment Perfection cultivation solidified, and the Demon Pill inside her grew into a Mid-grade Demon Pill. Her aura was now equivalent to a cultivator at the Third-Layer Mid-Grade Golden Core of the Human Race.

'This... is simply too bizarre.'

Next, Meng Yingluo walked over to Chen Dong.

'Is she... going to target me?' Chen Dong wondered.

But Meng Yingluo only sat down cross-legged beside him. She concealed the Demon Pill in her body and sent a voice transmission to him, "You saw that, didn't you?"

Chen Dong didn't respond.

"Don't play dumb," she transmitted. "When it comes to spiritual perception, you're the most sensitive one here. I know you saw it!"

Knowing he couldn't keep up the act, Chen Dong asked, "What exactly are you?"

Meng Yingluo's laughing voice entered his mind. "Hee hee, I knew you saw! I never intended to hide it from you, but Liu Ling said it was better if I didn't say anything!"

Chen Dong was annoyed. "That Liu Ling! Is it just because your soul belongs to the Demon Race?"

"Yes! If you decided you wanted to kill me, neither I nor Liu Ling could stop you. That's why she helped me hide it, on the condition that I wouldn't touch you! Besides, I never planned to. I can't see through your Dao Heart, so the chances of failure would be far too high."

Chen Dong asked again, "Let's get to the point. What are you?"

Meng Yingluo's bewitching laughter echoed in his mind once more. "A Nightmare!"