Tome of Troubled Times-Chapter 685: Who is the Demon God

The fiery woman fought with unmatched grace, her beauty burning even brighter amidst the chaos. Yet her opponent had no interest in admiration.

In the clash between the dark claws of the shadowed figure and Vermillion Bird’s blazing talons, both forces recoiled, each retreating several steps. The tiles beneath them shattered violently, and the scene stood at a tense stalemate.

This apparent balance was deceptive. He, like Desolate Calamity and Hidden Wind, was far from his peak. His desiccated appearance alone betrayed the fact that he had not fully recovered. Worse, the wound to his soul caused by Zhao Changhe’s arrow still lingered.

Yet the fact that Vermillion Bird could stand toe-to-toe with him was not a sign of his weakness. Rather, it was proof of her strength.

“You... you’re on the verge of the Profound Control Realm?” he said, stepping out of the shadows, his tone laced with disbelief. “No, you’ve already got one foot across the threshold! How can this be? During your battle with Xia Longyuan, you were barely at the early stages of the third layer of the Profound Mysteries.”

“Ah, the mysteries of the world,” Vermillion Bird replied, her delicate wrist turning as flames coiled upward from her hand. The light illuminated her mask, revealing eyes that gleamed with the same ruthless dominance as ever. She radiated a divine and majestic presence.

Were an outsider to witness this battle, they might genuinely question who was the god and who was the demon. At this moment, Vermillion Bird embodied divinity, while her opponent, with his withered form and shadowy malice, seemed the embodiment of demons.

“Suddenly, I find myself wondering...” Vermillion Bird’s lips curved into a cold, mocking smile. “Perhaps the Rankings of Troubled Times bears none of your names not because of the gap between eras, but rather because... you’re simply unworthy.”

Whoosh!

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As the words left her mouth, Vermillion Bird’s figure blurred and streaked past him. Flames trailed her path like the tail of a colossal firebird soaring through the palace skies, casting brilliant light across the night.

The citizens of the capital, roused from their sleep by the sounds of battle, watched the sky in awe. The piercing cry of a phoenix seemed to echo across the heavens, clear and resounding.

Clang!

Xia Chichi’s sword parried Yeletu’s strike with precision. Though she was fully engaged in the melee, she could not help but mutter under her breath, “How is this fiery, arrogant woman so utterly subdued by him? I can’t make sense of it.”

Yeletu: “...”

Even as his forces struggled in the narrow palace corridor, completely boxed in, Xia Chichi’s dismissive tone stung.

But his thoughts, too, were divided. At least a third of his focus was drawn to the battle above—the clash between the one he called Lord God and Vermillion Bird.

This was a miserable situation. Every advantage had slipped away. His forces were demoralized, trapped, and hopelessly outmatched by the sheer number of Four Idols Cult elites. Under these circumstances, a collapse seemed inevitable. Ordinary soldiers would have already broken and fled; only the unwavering discipline of these warriors kept them standing, delaying the inevitable.

The only hope lay in stalling long enough. If the god could defeat Vermillion Bird, his overwhelming strength might still turn the tide of battle. Without that, everyone here was as good as dead.

Surely the god can defeat Vermillion Bird... surely...

Boom!

The firebird streaked across the sky, and from the shadows, a figure darted away in a desperate, erratic flight. Flames clung to him, refusing to extinguish until he exerted immense effort to smother them.

He was clearly at an extreme disadvantage.

Beyond Vermillion Bird’s elemental advantage over him, her flames had reached a level of primordial power that left no doubt as to the end of this fight. While there was still room for growth in the intensity of her fire, the intrinsic characteristic of her Southern Li Fire—its inextinguishable nature—was the true source of his frustration.

Fire is fire, and even the hottest fire can be put out with the right methods. It is when the fire can’t be extinguished that it becomes truly troublesome, and now, this demon god was finding that out first-hand. Even the tiniest ember clinging to his body required extraordinary effort to eliminate. This elevated the challenge of fighting her to an entirely new level.

On top of that, Vermillion Bird’s heart flame attacked indiscriminately, scorching both body and soul. It was particularly effective against his current “dry corpse” state, as if it had been specifically tailored to exploit his every vulnerability. A single flame from her arsenal was like a banquet of destructive attributes, leaving him utterly helpless.

If this woman pushes the intensity of her flame any further, who could possibly stand against her?

The firebird stopped mid-flight, transforming gracefully back into Vermillion Bird’s elegant form. “I’ll give you one last chance to introduce yourself. Otherwise, you might go down in history as this era’s first nameless ancient demon god killed in battle.”

The figure gave no response. Instead, he seemed to take a deep breath and vanished once again.

Vermillion Bird looked upward as the faint moonlight disappeared, leaving the world shrouded in total darkness. Even the falling snow seemed black, as if it were not frozen water but the falling bits of a frozen void.

Chaotic energy rose from the earth’s veins, and the sky above became something alien and unrecognizable.

This was a sealed space—a space where perception and vision were distorted. Vermillion Bird’s surroundings were not as they seemed; her senses had been manipulated, likely to mask a surprise attack.

She quickly pieced it together, and her lips curled into an even more mocking smile. With an elegant flick of her finger, a faint ember ignited in the darkness.

Behind Xia Chichi, hidden in the shadows, flames suddenly burst to life. The figure who had cloaked himself in the darkness now stood exposed, leaping from the firelight as if dragged into the palace court for a public execution. Surrounding members of the Four Idols Cult stared in shock at the unfolding spectacle.

“Profound Control!” the man cried in horror. “Control over my own flames! You’ve already reached the Profound Control Realm!”

Leaving these words behind, he fled without a moment’s hesitation, vanishing into the snowy night. He did not even dare attempt another strike.

The sealed domain around Vermillion Bird shattered like glass, revealing the pristine white snow once again.

Her eyes followed the retreating figure disappearing into the moonlit distance. She did not give chase—she knew she could not catch him.

The truth was, she was not in the Profound Control Realm. The fire she had seemingly extinguished earlier had left tiny remnants—ashes embedded in his clothing, faint traces of elemental fire. She had merely exploited these embers, bringing them back to life. It was simply rekindling a dying flame, a technique that could easily be mistaken for being half a step into the Profound Control Realm.

But being half a step into the realm meant that she was still not truly in the Profound Control Realm. Her raw speed and strength were still far below that of a demon god like him. Her victory had relied heavily on her elemental advantage, which not only countered his attributes but also mitigated his superior speed through the area-of-effect nature of her flames.

In truth, the demon god had not lost because of his own weaknesses—it was sheer misfortune. His strengths had been completely neutralized, leaving him no room to leverage them.

Now, however, both Zhao Changhe and Vermillion Bird faced the same glaring problem: they could win battles but lacked the means to kill their retreating foes.

This will need to be addressed once Changhe returns. We have to find a way to resolve this critical weakness.

Vermillion Bird did not dwell on the thought for long. Her gaze, sharp and cold, shifted back to the battlefield below.

Yeletu felt his heart sink into an icy abyss.

He had held out hope that he could delay long enough for the “god” to defeat Vermillion Bird and return to turn the tide. But what was this?

Of all the battles raging, the first to conclude was the clash between man and god. And after just three or four exchanges, it was the so-called god that fled!

Just who really is the demon god here?

A faint light appeared on the horizon—dawn was breaking.

At that moment, a golden flash streaked across the sky: the latest biased announcement of the Tome of Troubled Times, detailing Zhao Changhe’s victory over the Desolate Calamity and Hidden Wind.

Vermillion Bird and Xia Chichi exchanged glances, and simultaneous smiles broke through their previously fearsome exteriors, nearly shattering the deadly atmosphere they’d built up.

Yeletu, too overwhelmed to care about their sudden mood shift, was left in utter shock.

What is going on here? Are the ancient demon gods really so weak? One defeated so easily here, and two more beaten back over there? Is it that the demon gods are feeble, or are these people just too powerful?

From above, Vermillion Bird’s voice drifted down, tinged with a trace of pity, as if in reply to his thoughts. “They’ve slept too long, hidden too long, and lost all their courage. In some ways, they’re even less impressive than you mortals.”

Yeletu instinctively looked up, only to see a slender hand descending toward him. It struck his forehead with an almost dismissive finality.

Vermillion Bird did not bother to look at him again. She swept into the palace gates, leaving a trail of fiery carnage in her wake.

Xia Chichi, watching this unfold, could only sigh in exasperation. “Empress Dowager...”

Vermillion Bird paused mid-step, unsure if Xia Chichi was calling her or someone else.

Xia Chichi corrected herself. “...Venerable.”

Vermillion Bird turned back with narrowed eyes. “What?”

“Leave some alive. We need to interrogate them about the situation in the Grasslands, and if we’re attacking the temple, we’ll need guides,” Xia Chichi said, shaking her head. “You’ve been out of the jianghu for so long you’re itching to go wild, aren’t you? Too bad there won’t be many opportunities for that anymore. Maybe someone could help scratch that itch for you?”

“...” Vermillion Bird, unwilling to ruin her carefully constructed image, said nothing. She turned sharply and made her way toward Tang Wanzhuang’s battlefield, muttering internally about how she would deal with that insolent girl later.

When she arrived, the scene was already one of complete devastation. The alley was a sea of corpses and blood.

Tang Wanzhuang stood calmly atop a mound of bodies, issuing orders. “Bind the survivors and throw them in prison. I’ll interrogate them myself. The city will be sealed, effective immediately. Search the entire city. Leave no one associated with these families unaccounted for.”

Vermillion Bird: “...”

This carnage should have been mine. That commanding final line should have been mine too...

Tang Wanzhuang glanced over her shoulder at Vermillion Bird, her expression unreadable. “Does the Empress Dowager have nothing better to do?”

Vermillion Bird sniffed disdainfully. “I didn’t expect the so-called demon gods to be such pathetic creatures.”

Tang Wanzhuang replied with a faint smile, “Let’s drop the act. If you didn’t get enough of a fight, head to Taihang or Jinzhong. Plenty of battles await you there.”

Vermillion Bird’s eyes narrowed. “And you? Too lazy to go yourself?”

Tang Wanzhuang chuckled. “A subject doesn’t compete for glory with the Empress Dowager.”

“When have you ever treated me like the Empress Dowager?” Vermillion Bird snapped. “You’re just shirking your responsibilities!”

“I’m quite busy, thank you.” Tang Wanzhuang looked Vermillion Bird up and down, then added, “Huangfu Qing...”

Vermillion Bird raised an eyebrow. “What now?”

Tang Wanzhuang’s gaze lingered for a moment before she said lightly, “That blood-soaked, devilish look of yours, with the mask and robes—it’s quite striking. You look... absolutely stunning when you’re killing people.”

Vermillion Bird froze, her jaw hitting the floor in utter stupefaction. Isn't that something Zhao Changhe would say? Shouldn’t you despise me for looking like this? Have you been infected by that idiot’s taste, or did you always think I looked good, and that’s why you fought me back then? Out of jealousy?

Before Vermillion Bird could retort, Tang Wanzhuang was already leading her troops away. “This was just an appetizer. More battles are ahead, and who knows what’s happening over at Batu’s side. Let’s hope he hasn’t gotten himself killed already....”