She Dominates the Immortal Realm with Her HP Bar-Chapter 126

◎104w, 105w+◎

To counter the endless stream of aberrant creatures pouring through the spatial rift, nearly every cultivator from the human realm had now taken to the battlefield.

From the newly initiated Qi Refining disciples to the revered Mahayana elders, all fought with desperate ferocity.

The blood of the aberrants splattered and mingled with that of humans, their corpses piling atop the lifeless bodies of fallen demonic beasts.

At this moment, nearly everyone had been driven to a frenzied bloodlust.

They all understood—the fate of the entire human realm, the destiny of the cultivation world, hinged entirely on this one battle.

Even the command center had been emptied by two-thirds as its personnel joined the fray.

Though the Guiyuan Sect's leader did not personally enter combat, he remotely controlled two wooden puppets, carving a bloody path through the most critical fronts.

Every patch of yellow earth in sight had been stained a dark, murky hue by spilled blood.

Thus, few noticed what lay beneath the corpses and blood-soaked soil—countless root tendrils from Yan Luoyue's Moonfall Tree silently spreading outward.

Those roots seemed intent on weaving an intricate protective net underground, using this web to fortify the line of life itself.

The subterranean movements went largely unnoticed, but the changes happening within their own bodies were undeniable.

Many cultivators immediately sensed it—their exhausted, leaden limbs suddenly felt lighter. Their parched, sluggish meridians were now brimming with spiritual energy in mere moments.

This energy differed from what they normally drew from heaven and earth. It was purer, more refined—as if the scattered spiritual qi of the world had been meticulously sifted and perfectly proportioned.

After days and nights of relentless battle, most cultivators had been pushed to their limits.

They had clenched their teeth solely to defend their world and ease the burden on their comrades fighting beside them.

But as this revitalizing energy surged into their dantians, their spirits soared—they could fight on!

While the aberrants had numbers, the human realm now had replenishment.

Back and forth, the tide of battle—which had been tilting in favor of the invaders—was forcibly balanced by Yan Luoyue's solitary effort!

Roughly discerning the Moonfall Tree's actions, the consciousness of the Puppet Devourer's Web emitted a hoarse, grating sneer.

"You know what training wheels are, don't you?"

Its voice dripped with icy mockery:

"You're still a toddler relying on training wheels yourself, yet you've already given them a set too?"

Yan Luoyue was mildly surprised.

"Oh, you can use metaphors."

For tens of thousands of years, she had never directly communicated with the Puppet Devourer's Web.

Until today, she had assumed it was barely capable of coherent speech.

Moreover, all existing human records suggested that Puppeteer-class entities rarely spoke at all.

Sensing Yan Luoyue's reaction, the Puppet Devourer's Web's tone shifted to one of lofty condescension.

"Why should I enjoy speaking?"

In the phylogenetic tree rooted by the Aberrant Mother Demon, nearly all related aberrant species showed little desire for external communication.

To these creatures, lower aberrants were food, higher ones were natural enemies, and peers were potential meals—opportunities to take a bite when the chance arose.

Their social structure had no concept of friendship, loyalty, or cooperation.

And Puppeteers were the ultimate practitioners of this system.

Under their silvery threads, all living beings became mere marionettes.

A tug of the strings, and the puppets would gladly perform any task.

In such an existence, what need was there for conversation?

Only under circumstances like these—deadlocked against an equal opponent—would the Puppet Devourer's Web deign to exchange words with the Moonfall Tree.

It said, "Fine. Keep rocking your training wheels then."

In the next instant, the energy concentrated within the Puppet Devourer's Web surged with terrifying density!

In the blink of an eye, it abandoned its previous evasive tactics—the torrent of information it unleashed toward Yan Luoyue multiplied three or fourfold!

Simultaneously, nearly all invading aberrants experienced a drastic decline in power and vitality.

Their abruptly weakened auras... as if they'd been forced through twenty college entrance exams in half a month.

Through her roots deeply embedded in the human realm, Yan Luoyue instantly perceived this shift.

Suddenly, she understood.

The Puppet Devourer's Web's mass dispatch of aberrants had been both an overt strategy and a hidden scheme.

If Yan Luoyue couldn't breach the spatial barrier and remained distracted by the human realm's plight, that was the overt play.

But if she extended her roots to share power with the humans, that became the trap—

Because the Puppet Devourer's Web's second evolved ability was to extract strength from those very aberrants!

"..."

Its evolution wasn't complete, but based on these two manifested abilities, it had already grown alarmingly formidable.

Yan Luoyue took a deep breath, feeling the pressure on her side intensify dramatically.

Meanwhile, the human cultivators—first empowered by Yan Luoyue's energy, then witnessing their enemies' sudden weakness—seized the opportunity to launch an all-out offensive!

The Puppet Devourer's Web remained utterly indifferent to the aberrants' sacrifices.

"It doesn't matter how many of these perish," it said. "There will always be more."

Even at this critical juncture, Yan Luoyue couldn't help a quiet chuckle.

"...What's amusing?" The Puppet Devourer's Web sounded genuinely puzzled.

Assessing her roots' condition in the demonic realm, Yan Luoyue replied with deliberate ambiguity: "There won't be."

First, at this rate, it wouldn't take long before every Aberrant Mother Demon capable of spawning these creatures had been sterilized.

And second...

If they won this battle, if the human cultivators held firm and purged the invaders from the spatial rift—

These would be the last of their kind.

The Puppet Devourer's Web asked coldly, "Even now, you still believe you'll be the one to survive?"

It had observed that this world's native lifeforms were naive, foolish.

They would sacrifice themselves for intangible beliefs, compose poetry over natural phenomena like sunrise or winter snow, finding inexplicable joy in such things.

To the Puppet Devourer's Web, they were utterly bizarre.

Among all the strange things in existence, this towering, sky-piercing giant tree was perhaps the most stubbornly bizarre of them all.

If it were fighting for dominance or sheer survival, the Puppet Love-Eater Web could understand why it had been locked in this stalemate for so many years.

But after all this back-and-forth, even splitting off an incarnation to descend into the mortal realm and refining its own true form—just to distribute its power to those short-lived creatures that multiplied so easily, flooding the world within a mere two or three centuries?

Too naive. Too foolish.

With such divine artifacts in play, no wonder this world was destined to become its pasture.

Even after merging with humanity’s networks, the Puppet Love-Eater Web still struggled to comprehend the necessity of such creatures.

At present, on the chessboard of the mortal realm, cultivators had gained the upper hand against the aberrant species.

Meanwhile, in the demonic realm, as the Puppet Love-Eater Web drained the strength of its subordinate aberrations, the scales of victory had begun tilting subtly in its favor.

Just then, the Crow’s Crying Fire suddenly erupted into a flurry of chirps.

"Peck your ancestors, you pitch-black monstrosity with no [censored]—!"

Flapping its wings, the Crow’s Crying Fire leaped onto Yan Luoyue’s shoulder in one bound.

"You big [censored] idiot! Oppressing those ugly freaks doesn’t count for anything. Today, I’ll show you what ‘concentrated essence’ really means!"

Before the words even faded, even the tiny vermilion flame at its core seemed to widen in determination.

Channeling every ounce of its yang energy into Yan Luoyue’s body, it beat its wings against her hair for emphasis. "Hurry, hurry! Take it all and beat the crap out of it!"

As for Wu Manshuang, though he remained silent, his synergy with the Crow’s Crying Fire was seamless.

The moment the first chirp left the firebird’s beak, yin energy had already surged forth as an icy current—flowing down Wu Manshuang’s arms, along the frost-patterned roots where the Moonfall Tree met the Manshuang Stone, and pouring unreservedly into the colossal tree.

Wu Manshuang scoffed lightly. "How derivative. It’s quick to copy."

Come to think of it, wasn’t the Puppet Love-Eater Web’s newly evolved ability just a mimicry of their own long-practiced tactic—the Crow’s Crying Fire and Manshuang Stone fueling the Moonfall Tree’s power?

Wu Manshuang embraced Yan Luoyue from behind, their closeness suggesting they might merge into one.

The Crow’s Crying Fire, momentarily distracted from their affectionate display by Wu Manshuang’s remark, bounced excitedly on Yan Luoyue’s shoulder.

"Yes, yes! Little sapling, show this inky abyss what ‘one bite of a celestial peach beats a basket of rotten apricots’ really means!"

Hearing this, Wu Manshuang chuckled wryly.

After a brief pause, he echoed the firebird’s teasing tone. "Indeed. Rather than those rotten apricots… why not take a bite of me instead?"

Yan Luoyue: "…"

The jest was but a brief respite in the tense atmosphere, yet no one let it distract them from the task at hand.

Yan Luoyue divided her focus—one part devoted to wielding the yin and yang energies gifted by the Crow’s Crying Fire and Wu Manshuang:

With yang-forged flames, she refined Wu Manshuang’s yin energy into blades, shields, talismans, and portable arrays within the flow of spiritual energy.

As for the harmonized yin-yang energy, she shaped it into pills and protective robes.

Under the Crow’s Crying Fire’s tempering, these purest essences gradually took forms familiar to cultivators—weapons and supplies.

Her other focus was on issuing a world announcement through All Realms as One—

The Puppet Love-Eater Web treated its aberrations as livestock.

Now, it recklessly expended the power wrung from them.

But the Moonfall Tree regarded every player’s soul dwelling within it as a friend.

And so, in this moment, she openly asked for their aid.

The next instant, inside the "game," nearly every player looked up at once.

The world announcement’s voice descended from the heavens, resonating in all directions, imprinting itself upon every soul’s consciousness.

At that moment, every spirit housed within the Moonfall Tree heard four clear words: The Final Battle!

[Mission Announcement: The Final Battle.

Mission Description: For all that came before. For all that will come after. For our world. Dear players, lend me your strength—stand with me as we have through all these years.

Mission Bonus: All accepting players will receive a support package.]

Many didn’t even read the details. The moment they saw "The Final Battle," they hammered the "Accept" button.

Others checked their inventories for their finest gear after reading.

They gathered their most trusted teammates, standing shoulder-to-shoulder before clicking "Confirm."

No further mobilization was needed. No propaganda or urging required.

Every reason was contained in that single line—

For all that came before. For all that will come after. For this world we love, whether in life or death. fгeewebnovёl.com

This battle would decide everything. This battle was everything!

Upon confirming their participation, a weighty parcel materialized via "system data" in each player’s hands.

Yun Sulü tested the package’s shape between her fingers.

Feeling the extraordinary aura beneath her palm, a peculiar smile crossed her lips.

Beside her, a player with the ID MissesBraisedPorkTwiceCookedPorkAllKindsOfPork craned their neck.

"Huh, it’s not in a storage pouch this time."

After all, the game’s admin—no, the Moonfall Tree—had always been generous with rewards.

Previously, it loved stuffing prizes into storage pouches for distribution.

Later, beyond standard pouches, it offered limited-edition "portable/stick-on tattoo-style decorative ring-mark" pouches for holidays.

These pouches came in endless variations, some even becoming coveted collector’s items traded for astronomical sums.

Truly, Yan Luoyue’s choice to craft storage pouches for her first venture had been fate.

Perhaps the words "storage pouch" had been etched into her DNA since All Realms as One’s inception.

Hearing the player’s remark, Yun Sulü smiled faintly.

"Try opening it first," she suggested.

The player obeyed, unpacking a magical weapon, robe, medicinal pills, portable arrays, and a stack of talismans.

Hovering a hand over the weapon, they instantly sensed a familiar power within—

The nurturing essence that had sustained them through the Moonfall Tree for years.

Now, a strand was plucked from this origin, no longer fused with the supreme yang, but purely transformed into a weapon hurled at the opponent.

His eyes widened slightly before quickly returning to normal. The player sighed with emotion, then laughed with a surge of heroic spirit. "This really is... the final battle!"

The moment these words left his lips, a second world announcement echoed from the depths of All Realms Unite's core.

[World Announcement]: All hidden combat instances have now been fully unlocked.

...

The Puppet Devourer of Emotions soon noticed that the power emanating from the Moonfall Tree had begun to fluctuate.

It was all too familiar with this precursor—a sign that All Realms Unite was launching another assault against it, just as it had countless times over the years.

In the past, the Puppet Devourer could understand why the Moonfall Tree employed such tactics.

Because the Moonfall Tree was still young. Because its reactions were slower. Because its primary consciousness had retreated into an avatar, leaving behind this barrier to guard its home.

But now, at this critical juncture...

If emotions could have been any richer, the Puppet Devourer would have thrown its head back in laughter.

—Hadn’t it developed fluid thoughts and broader divine sense? Yet it still clung to such clumsy, primitive tactics?

—Did it not realize that the weapons handed to these "players" could have been wielded in its own grasp?

—Even in a battle of their caliber, it still entrusted its power to these insignificant creatures?

Shaking its head inwardly, the Puppet Devourer swelled with self-satisfaction.

Through the threads of consciousness it extended toward Yan Luoyue, waves of disdain poured forth, thick enough to solidify.

Yet, though it had uncovered the Moonfall Tree’s fatal weakness, the Puppet Devourer had no intention of kindly pointing it out.

In its eyes, if this colossal tree had made the wrong choice, it deserved to die—its corpse a foundation for the Devourer’s ascension, its remains nourishment for its survival.

In the span of a few thoughts, the two forces clashed.

As the Puppet Devourer hastened its own evolution, it instinctively summoned the same energy it always had to block these self-proclaimed "players"—these wandering souls.

In their past skirmishes, the Moonfall Tree had typically allowed them passage through sixteen of its broadest branches.

The Puppet Devourer knew these branches had even been given flashy names by the Moonfall Tree—dubbed "combat instances."

But this time, the moment their powers collided, the Puppet Devourer’s leisurely confidence shattered.

Wait—those frail souls, nurtured solely by the Moonfall Tree’s energy, weren’t just traversing the sixteen main branches!

Heeding the world announcement’s declaration that "all combat instances have been unlocked," some players avoided the widest paths.

Instead, they divided into groups, infiltrating the Moonfall Tree’s lesser branches—entering uncharted territory amidst the intertwining currents of information and spiritual energy.

If the Puppet Devourer’s data streams were mountains, the players moved them like the Foolish Old Man.

If its information flows were seas, they filled them like Jingwei.

In ​​‌‌​‌‌​​​‌‌‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌‌​‌‌​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌‌​​‌‌​​​‌‌​​‌‌​​‌‌​​‌‌​​‌​​‌‌​​​​‌​​‌‌​​‌‌​‌‌​​‌​‌​​‌‌‌​​​​‌‌​​‌​‌​​‌‌​​​​​​‌‌​​​‌​​‌‌​‌​​​​‌‌​‌‌​​​‌‌​​‌‌​‌‌​​​‌‌​​‌‌​​‌‌​​‌‌​​‌‌​‌‌​​​‌​​‌‌​​​‌​​‌‌​​​​‌‍an instant, attacks rained upon the Puppet Devourer from every thread of its being.

Their numbers were vast, their methods unpredictable—utterly unlike the battle rhythm it had grown accustomed to over millennia.

This loss of control infuriated the Puppet Devourer.

It roared a thought toward Yan Luoyue: "Is this your tactic?!"

Yan Luoyue blinked, then burst into laughter.

"You might not believe it, but this is just how players choose to play the game."

"...What?" The Puppet Devourer repeated, disbelieving.

As a variant evolved from a puppet master, its nature demanded absolute control over all things.

This deviation from the script, even if it didn’t affect the outcome, filled it with seething irritation.

Yan Luoyue shrugged, explaining kindly, "Because some players thrive on the unknown!"

Among the variants it saw as mere prey and dregs, the Puppet Devourer had never encountered such vibrant humanity.

It didn’t know that some were born to scale peaks, while others preferred steady footing. Some sought camaraderie, while others aimed to stand alone at the summit.

These differences shaped each unique soul.

And it was precisely this diversity that now united them in a relentless, multifaceted assault.

Yan Luoyue spoke solemnly. "Your tactic is 'to take.' My belief is 'to give.'"

"I’ve seen the power you’ve seized."

"Now, let me show you what my 'giving'—and those I’ve given to—can achieve together."

Her words rang with finality.

At this moment, the players surged forward with unwavering resolve, cutting through torrents of information, tearing through defenses woven of demonic energy—fearless, unstoppable.

Their counterattack against the silver threads embodied the very essence of reciprocity, the fullest expression of "giving."

"..."

Even through the veil of consciousness, where expressions couldn’t be seen, Yan Luoyue sensed the Puppet Devourer’s turmoil.

Then, it uttered something utterly unexpected:

"I see through you. This is just a ploy to exhaust me."

In the Puppet Devourer’s world, "giving" didn’t exist.

Temporary generosity was always a prelude to greater taking. Distributing power to these souls was merely a tactic to disrupt its plans.

How could the Moonfall Tree truly stake its victory on these fragile individuals?

The Puppet Devourer couldn’t comprehend it.

It refused to believe.

Resolved, it focused on suppressing the Moonfall Tree’s disruptions and completing its ascension.

As for these meddlesome players...

These soft, naive, foolish humans—they all shared one natural weakness: emotion.

So, in the next instant, the Puppet Devourer unleashed every Emotion-Devouring Demon in existence.

These unique variants, evolved from timid demons, were formless, genderless, and fed almost exclusively on negative emotions.

At will, they could "reflect" these emotions back onto humans, burying them beneath the weight of despair.

"..."

Feeling the murky, grayish mist seeping through the silver threads, Yan Luoyue’s brow furrowed.

Among all the exotic creatures she had encountered thus far, the Love-Devouring Demons ranked within the top three on Yan Luoyue’s list of unforgettable impressions.

The reason was simple: these creatures were exceptionally troublesome.

In the human realm, Yan Luoyue had only come across a handful of Love-Devouring Demons, and even those had been swiftly dealt with by Ji Qinghong and Chu Tiankuo separately.

At the time, she had assumed their scarcity was due to their extreme rarity.

But now, Yan Luoyue knew better. While Love-Devouring Demons were indeed few in number, over the past tens of thousands of years, they had still managed to evolve into a group of forty or fifty.

Apart from a few individuals stubbornly fixated on wreaking havoc in the human realm, the rest had all been gathered under the dark robes of the Puppet Love-Devouring Net, lurking as a hidden trump card, prepared for any unforeseen circumstances.

If they were to attack using Wu Manshuang’s extreme Yin energy…

The thought had barely flickered through Yan Luoyue’s mind when the Puppet Love-Devouring Net, as if anticipating her strategy, pressed its assault relentlessly.

It sneered, "Dividing your strength between the human realm, the players, those sneaky little intruders in the demon realm, and now me… Do you even have any energy left to deal with these Love-Devouring Demons?"

"…"

The words struck Yan Luoyue’s weak spot with precision.

The current situation was already the result of the combined efforts of her, Wu Manshuang, and Wu Ti, pushing their limits to create this opening.

Even if she squeezed out the last drop of strength from her bones and blood, it likely wouldn’t make a difference…

—No, wait! It would make a difference!

Among the sprawling roots that permeated the demon realm, a small white aerial root quivered joyfully as someone stepped onto demonic soil.

—Perfect! You’re exactly who we’ve been waiting for!

The next moment, within the Puppet Love-Devouring Net’s detection range, it sensed the Moonfall Tree mustering its final shred of strength to channel that cosmic energy toward…

Hmm? She was directing the power to a distant root?

Why? The Puppet Love-Devouring Net grew wary, its confusion laced with suspicion.

What new trick was she playing now?

Chu Tiankuo could have answered that question.

The moment he and his junior siblings set foot on demonic soil, a root surged from the earth beneath them.

Song Qingchi startled, instinctively reaching for a magical artifact to attack.

But the root merely transmitted a gentle energy, nourishing their meridians while inexplicably evoking a faint sense of familiarity.

At this point, none of the three dared to connect it to the Moonfall Tree.

Chu Tiankuo simply sensed no hostility from the root.

Seeing it twist slightly, pointing in a certain direction, he murmured, "You want us to follow where you’re pointing?"

The root bobbed up and down twice in confirmation.

Tao Tao chuckled. "Senior Brother, why don’t we just follow this little root?"

After a brief consideration, Chu Tiankuo nodded.

The next instant, gnarled, thick roots burst from the ground, their tips coiling around the trio and lifting them into the air.

Then, amid their startled cries, the roots surged forward like a raging serpent, barreling toward their destination at breakneck speed.

As they neared the site, the root, fearing it might miss the deadline, gave them an extra boost—flinging them through the air in a grand, spiraling arc straight toward the Moonfall Tree!

—No doubt about it, Moonfall Express: delivering on time, every time! That’s just how efficient they are!

Chu Tiankuo: "…"

Song Qingchi: "…"

Tao Tao: "…"

Tao Tao landed on her feet, pressing a hand to her forehead and rubbing her temples as she muttered,

"Senior Brother, I never realized until today… that I get motion sickness from trees."

As for Chu Tiankuo, he was no stranger to extreme speed, given his penchant for high-speed sword flying.

Though the root’s breakneck pace far exceeded his usual flight speed, he at least had some resistance to it.

The moment he looked up, his attention wasn’t immediately drawn to the Moonfall Tree or the countless silver threads coiled around its trunk.

Instead, his gaze landed on Yan Luoyue and Wu Manshuang beneath the tree’s shade—standing close, embracing from behind, their hands pressed together against the tree’s bark.

And so, in the midst of this urgent crisis, Chu Tiankuo burst into laughter.

"I told you, Jiang Tingbai—your day would come too!"

—Junior Brother and Junior Sister, a match made in heaven.

He had never been wrong. Yan Luoyue and Wu Manshuang, childhood sweethearts, were always destined to find their way to each other’s hearts.

As for the two senior brothers…

Well, in the eyes of their juniors, they were just a pair of hammers, weren’t they?

Yan Luoyue called out, "Senior Brother Chu, we need your help!"

Even without her prompting, Chu Tiankuo had already sensed the overwhelming presence of Love-Devouring Demons the moment he saw them.

His sharp gaze swept the area, piercing like a blade, instantly locking onto the tail of a Love-Devouring Demon that hadn’t fully submerged into the silver threads.

"Just this one?" he murmured. "This scent… doesn’t feel like a single demon’s."

Before the words had fully left his mouth, Chu Tiankuo struck like lightning, seizing the demon’s tail.

In the next second, the Love-Devouring Demon spun wildly, as if tossed into a washing machine, before being sucked into the depths of his magical artifact.

Unlike before, Chu Tiankuo didn’t leave this one to wander a maze inside the artifact.

The previous maze had been partly due to his playful nature—turning hardship into amusement—and partly for revenge.

This time, however, the captured demon was executed on the spot.

After dealing with the first one, Chu Tiankuo thoughtfully pressed his fingers against the silver threads.

Having spent so much time with his junior siblings, he even managed to mimic Tao Tao’s thread-diagnosis technique flawlessly.

When he theatrically curled his fingers into an orchid gesture, Tao Tao couldn’t help but kick a clump of dirt onto his shoes in mock exasperation. "Senior Brother!"

Chu Tiankuo laughed but didn’t hesitate—yanking a second Love-Devouring Demon straight from the threads.

Originally, Song Qingchi had crafted Chu Tiankuo precisely to contain and eliminate creatures like Love-Devouring Demons. With his arrival, the player forces—once on the verge of collapse—found new hope.

So far, the battle between Yan Luoyue and the Puppet Love-Devouring Net had been ever-shifting.

Now, the tables had turned completely: the board was flipped, the king and rook swapped places, with Yan Luoyue clinging stubbornly to the silver threads, refusing to give the Puppet Love-Devouring Net any chance to deal with Chu Tiankuo.

"…"

Faced with this situation, the Puppet Love-Devouring Net let out a furious, explosive sound.

It hissed, "I am far stronger than you—"

Yan Luoyue smirked. "But we are far more numerous than you."

This "numerous" wasn’t about sheer quantity.

It was about the unity of all living beings—diverse in methods, tactics, strengths, and weaknesses, working together in harmony.

If the cultivation world were to fall into the Puppet Love-Devouring Net’s grasp, how dull and lifeless it would become.

Yan Luoyue clenched her teeth, forcing herself to maintain the current stalemate with the Puppet Love-Snaring Net.

At this moment, both sides were hanging on by their last threads of endurance.

The Puppet Love-Snaring Net had bet everything on its own evolution.

It believed that if it could endure this transformation, it would become invincible.

But Yan Luoyue had faith in every single person in the cultivation world.

She would hold back the Puppet Love-Snaring Net.

Chu Tiankuo would capture the Love-Snaring Demons.

The players would launch attacks on the Puppet Love-Snaring Net’s data.

And the cultivators of the mortal realm would advance triumphantly on the battlefield…

Each had their own role, each fulfilled their duty.

Because they had more choices, their margin for error was greater.

As for the Puppet Love-Snaring Net, one wrong move in this process would lead to its utter defeat.

After all, no matter how many aberrations it spawned, the Puppet Love-Snaring Net had only itself.

The deadlock continued: the Love-Snaring Demons against the players, Chu Tiankuo against the Love-Snaring Demons—forming a strange food chain among the three.

Several times, the Puppet Love-Snaring Net tried to break this chain, but Yan Luoyue and the others suppressed it each time.

"Bastard!" the Crow-Crying Flame snarled viciously. "Your opponent is right here!"

But Chu Tiankuo’s capacity was, after all, limited.

At one point, Yan Luoyue caught a glimpse of Chu Tiankuo’s face, which had turned pale without her noticing.

"...Senior Brother Chu?"

Even with his face slightly ashen, Chu Tiankuo’s smile remained as carefree and witty as ever.

He shook his head, making a joke at his own expense: "If I’d known, I would’ve abandoned my image and eaten myself into a big, fat lump."

That way, maybe his capacity could’ve been greater.

So far, Chu Tiankuo had captured over a dozen Love-Snaring Demons.

But the speed at which he destroyed them couldn’t keep up with his capture rate, and his capture rate couldn’t match the speed at which these demons wreaked havoc.

Summoning his strength, Chu Tiankuo maintained a composed expression as his spiritual energy continued flowing along the silver threads.

The threads appeared delicate, but a mere probe with divine sense revealed their boundless vastness.

The overwhelming streams of information were riddled with obstacles, enough to make one lose their way.

And the Love-Snaring Demons… they had scattered from their initial clustered state, becoming far harder to track.

Suddenly, Chu Tiankuo’s divine sense flickered—he had detected the mist-like tail of a Love-Snaring Demon.

But just as he extended his divine sense to draw it in, the demon, like a slick droplet of oil, shimmered with a bright golden light.

Love-Snaring Demons were usually a dull gray, like storm clouds or gloom—so why was there a golden one here?

Chu Tiankuo froze for a split second, and the demon slipped effortlessly through his grasp.

His brow twitched as he realized—this demon was different.

At the same time, Yan Luoyue felt the white jade brush in her arms grow faintly warm.

"...Second Master’s Brush?" she murmured softly.

The moment the words left her lips, within the divine sense of the Falling Moon Tree, a Love-Snaring Demon suddenly dispersed like smoke, as if lunging toward the players.

—Yet the shape it took as it unfurled was warm and gentle, like the smile of a long-awaited reunion.