Chapter Ninety-Two: Sister-in-law and the Team Leader

In the Realm of Illusions and Demons, disciples from the Ten Houses were transported to different regions, with the Ning family’s descendants cast into the southern rainforest.

Rain clouds hung low, churning above the jungle, making it difficult to distinguish where the clouds ended and the forest began. A dazzling bolt of lightning ripped through the sky, and thunder exploded overhead in rapid succession.

“Should we find shelter from the rain first?” Ning Jinchun, who had lost his role as captain, purposely approached Yu Youwei, his voice nearly drowned out by the thunder.

Yu Youwei instantly saw through his perfunctory attitude, and his younger brother, Ning Jinwen, sneered sarcastically, “Brother, what does she know? Do you really think she’s the leader?” She replied bluntly, “I’ll wander around alone and meet you at the teleportation array when the time comes.”

Feigning concern, Ning Jinchun said, “It’s not safe for you to go alone—come with us.” His lewd gaze swept over her, making her feel utterly disgusted, as if she were being stripped bare. He was the eldest grandson of the Ning family’s second branch, managing affairs in the capital alongside his grandfather. He looked down on the main branch’s brothers and, had it not been for Ning Baixia from the seventh branch supporting the main branch, he would have incited his grandfather to vie for the family headship.

“Yes, sister-in-law, come with us,” Ning Jinwen chimed in, his demeanor shifting as he reached out eagerly to grab Yu Youwei's hand.

Her face darkened, and a surge of murderous intent rose within her. With a flick of her slender wrist, the tip of the Qingshuang Sword, curled like a bracelet, burst forth with a razor-thin beam of sword light—refined as silk, yet sharp beyond compare.

Sensing danger, Ning Jinchun recoiled, raising a leopard-patterned shield before him. The sword’s filament struck the shield, unleashing a sharp shockwave that pierced through it. He stared, stunned, as the remaining force of the sword light threatened to bore into his chest, but Ning Jinwen’s sleeve flicked out a soft cord that snatched the sword light away and pulled him behind.

“What are you doing!” Ning Jinchun barked, his face dark.

“Apologies, brother. Sister-in-law isn’t used to anyone getting too close. You’re not hurt, are you?” Yu Youwei smiled sweetly at the terrified Ning Jinwen.

Still unsettled, Ning Jinwen was bewitched by her radiant smile, nodding foolishly.

Recognizing Yu Youwei as a flower with thorns, Ning Jinchun suppressed his unspeakable intentions and called everyone to head north.

The teleportation array leading out was located in the central region of the Realm of Illusions and Demons. Entry was random, and the terrain changed with each opening, leaving no experience to draw upon. The only constant was a single type of demon beast—the Illusion Demon Bug. Entering the realm meant collecting its demon cores.

The highest-grade Illusion Demon Bug yielded demon cores equivalent to high-quality mid-tier spirit stones; common bugs only produced low-tier stones. Yet these bugs reproduced by fission, multiplying rapidly. In the eastern continent, spirit stone veins were rare and mostly controlled by the major cultivation sects. Though the Qian Dynasty was the greatest secular power, its spirit stone reserves were severely lacking. The demon cores harvested from the realm eased this shortage considerably. The ranking in the Ten Houses battle was determined by the number of demon cores collected, which were returned proportionally, along with other benefits for each house.

Illusion Demon Bugs were born with shapeshifting abilities. The more powerful the bug, the more formidable the beast it could imitate. Killing them was harder than killing beasts of equal strength, for their true body could appear anywhere within the transformed creature, and it had to be extracted without damaging it—or else all effort would be wasted. Only by retrieving its demon crystal could one truly kill it.

Yu Youwei waited in place, intending to leave after the Ning family’s disciples had passed. But a handsome young man approached and said, “Sister-in-law, it’s best to walk together. The Realm of Illusions and Demons is vast; it’s easy to get lost.”

Sensing his genuine kindness and hearing him introduce himself as Ning Yixuan—one of the trustworthy people Ning Zhongwu had mentioned—Yu Youwei accepted his invitation and followed at the end of the group.

Rainwater flowed everywhere in the jungle. Many Illusion Demon Beasts had transformed into otters, water snakes, and other low-level creatures, which the Ning disciples dispatched with ease. Trailing the group, Yu Youwei also collected nearly a hundred demon cores. All her possessions had been destroyed at the bottom of the Dragon Blood Pool, and now she used a storage ring borrowed from Ning Zhongwu, who had told her not to bother returning it.

At the front, the brothers Ning Jinchun and Ning Jinwen led the charge. Ning Jinchun maintained vigilance, but Ning Jinwen treated the realm as his backyard, recklessly dashing ahead and becoming the first to emerge from the rainforest.

Outside the jungle stood a sheer thousand-foot cliff, sliced like a melon, with a waterfall cascading from its summit like a silver dragon plunging into the exposed dark river below, its roar thunderous. A stone bridge, covered in moss, spanned this section of the river. Several scarlet scorpions crawled across the bridge, disappearing into crevices beside it.

Ning Jinwen leaped over, shattering the stones with a palm strike. The scorpions flew up with the debris, and a flurry of finger winds blasted them apart, leaving their demon cores intact as they floated out. He caught the cores and turned back with a triumphant grin, “Brother, how’s my ‘Star-Shattering Cloud’ technique?” Only to find his brother staring wide-eyed as if seeing a ghost.

“Get back!” Ning Jinchun screamed, lunging like a leopard. As he moved, he saw his brother’s lower body vanish, the upper half soaring ten meters before being swallowed by a bloody maw rising from below.

The abrupt catastrophe stunned everyone.

One end of the stone bridge lifted, revealing a colossal rock lizard. Its eyes were as gray as stone, and its belly, free of moss, resembled pale shale. Having just devoured a person, its abdomen bulged ominously.

“Monster, repay my brother’s life!” Ning Jinchun’s eyes blazed green with fury. He rapidly formed a string of hand seals, conjuring a lotus of fire radiating destruction. “Go!” At his command, the lotus hurtled into the rock lizard’s head and exploded with a thunderous blast.

With a strange howl, the rock lizard shook its head. Its long tail whipped out, and Ning Jinchun barely dodged the blow, but another Ning disciple was smashed into a pulp.

Most Ning disciples had participated in one or two of these battles, but with Ning Baixia present for three consecutive years, he had single-handedly slain the Illusion Demon Bugs, leaving the others to pick up the spoils and with little sense of real danger. The Ning family specialized in alchemy, so few had combat experience.

Earlier, dispatching low-level Illusion Demon Bugs in the rainforest had been easy, but faced with sudden mortal peril, most snapped out of their daze not to fight, but to flee. In their panic, some chose the wrong path—one even jumped directly into the dark river.

A scream echoed—and abruptly ceased. That Ning disciple never surfaced again.