Chapter 315

Chapter 315: Top Enforcer

The two women exchanged glances—an expert of the supreme realm was someone they could only aspire to become.

Li Ruoshui felt nothing but sympathy.

Ye Xu’s words made it clear he had no intention of sparing the Formless Demon Lord.

Swish! Swish! Swish!

The Formless Demon Lord tore through dimensions, escaping for several days straight until barely a third of his mana remained. Even he had lost track of distance.

On that day, the Formless Demon Lord appeared in a desolate world. Its barrier had ruptured, flooding it with chaotic energy until it verged on total collapse.

"Dammit, if no one’s chased me this far and long, I should be safe, right?" Wheezing heavily, he pulled out a vial of immortal elixir and swallowed it whole.

True skill reveals itself in an instant.

After one clash, the Formless Demon Lord knew: Ye Xu was terrifying.

Only a powerhouse who’d ascended to Three Yuan Proof could shatter his Extreme Dao True Demonic Domain with a gesture. Against such an opponent, survival meant flight.

Yet, unease gnawed at him.

Experts of that caliber were too horrifying; he dared not let down his guard for even a moment.

Click!

Just then, a crisp sound pierced the air—like the snap of fingers.

In seconds, the world around the Formless Demon Lord fractured, vanishing into blankness until the Heaven’s Secret Pavilion rematerialized.

He’d never left.

Han Ziyu, Yu Ziyi, and Li Ruoshui stared back at him with mixed expressions.

"Daoist friend," Ye Xu said lightly, "tired from running? Sit and have some tea with me."

The moment the Formless Demon Lord stepped into the pavilion days before, Ye Xu sealed it with the pavilion’s power—his frantic escape had all been an illusion.

"Spare my life, Elder!"

The Formless Demon Lord prostrated with a thud, inwardly cursing as tears threatened. If he rewound time, he’d never enter this cursed place again.

"Why speak so gravely?" Ye Xu chuckled softly.

"Esteemed Elder, this lowly one was blind! I offended you!" Fear shook his voice. "I’ll offer everything to repay you—name anything, and I swear obedience!"

"Do I still face imminent disaster?" Ye Xu questioned.

"……”

Chills raced down the demon lord’s spine. "This fool misjudged! I… I was foreshadowing my own demise."

"Serves him right!" Yu Ziyi scorned.

Hateful wenches! the Formless Demon Lord inwardly raged, glaring at Han Ziyu and Yu Ziyi. To him, the pavilion was their trap—their fault he faced annihilation.

"If you can produce something that satisfies me, I can spare your life." Ye Xu’s eyes flashed with a sharp glint, and he said indifferently.

An expert at the Immortal Venerable realm would surely have plenty of treasures on him.

Moreover, millions of years ago, Formless Demon Lord had plundered the Taihao Heavenly Sect’s treasury and traveled everywhere, so his fortunes were certainly abundant.

"Easy enough, easy enough." Formless Demon Lord felt a weight lift from his heart. He summoned a grotto with his magic power and said, "Esteemed senior, this grotto is that of a great Immortal King, containing two top-grade Dao fruits, five top-grade Immortal King treasures, one Immortal Venerable treasure, and dozens of bottles of immortal pills. Now, I offer them all to you, senior."

Ye Xu was overjoyed in his heart.

He stretched out his hand, and the Immortal King grotto flew over. Two Dao fruits hovered in the air, with a rich aura of the Great Dao, surrounded by immortal light, occasionally emitting wondrous sounds of the Dao.

"Exchange." With a thought, Ye Xu caused the Immortal King grotto to vanish instantly.

[Congratulations, host. You have acquired forty-eight billion heavenly secrets points.]

"Got a huge bargain!" Ye Xu was ecstatic in his heart.

That Formless Demon Lord actually had so many treasures on him; it was truly unexpected.

"Damn that Heavenly Emperor, to drive me off with just twenty billion heavenly secrets points!" Thinking of Li Ruoyu, Ye Xu became sullen and unhappy.

Back then, he was truly naive, believing that the Heavenly Emperor was a pauper.

"Daoist friend, as a great Immortal Venerable, why is what you brought out all at the Immortal King level?" Ye Xu frowned and said discontentedly.

Formless Demon Lord gave an embarrassed laugh.

"Esteemed senior, this treasure is guaranteed to catch your eye." He slowly took out an object—it was a large drum covered with animal hide, with an eerie aura.

On this drum were imprinted innate divine patterns. As soon as it was taken out, the aura of the Path of Oblivion seemed ready to extinguish heaven and earth, annihilating the universe.

"An Innate Spiritual Treasure?" Ye Xu’s gaze shifted.

An Innate Spiritual Treasure would be worth hundreds of billions.

"Your insight is profound, senior," Formless Demon Lord said. "But this Mu drum is not a complete Innate Spiritual Treasure; it is defective, and it was taken from the abode of an Innate Divine Being by a daoist friend."

"Daoist friend is truly audacious," Ye Xu said indifferently.

Han Ziyu, Yu Ziyi, and Li Ruoshui all looked astonished; Formless Demon Lord actually had an Innate Spiritual Treasure on him; it was a top-grade supreme treasure.

Generally speaking, such treasures are only in the hands of Innate Divine Beings and powerful beings.

"That damn bastard, this time he bled heavily for it," Yu Ziyi felt extremely delighted.

Han Ziyu, however, felt little. After parting in the Shadow Realm, her feelings for Formless Demon Lord had long since died.

Her heart was like a lamp extinguished; naturally, Formless Demon Lord’s plight could not stir her emotions.

"System, exchange the Mu drum."

Ding!

[Congratulations, host. You have successfully exchanged a half-complete defective Innate Spiritual Treasure, acquiring sixty billion heavenly secrets points.]

"What a Formless Demon Lord, who was actually a nouveau riche!"

"Because of this, I held hope of ascending to Immortal Venerable."

From this single Formless Demon Lord, I actually squeezed out over a hundred billion heavenly secrets points; it was a complete surprise.

"Senior, over ninety percent of this humble one’s treasures have been handed over to you." The Formless Demon Lord’s heart was bleeding; that was his accumulation over millions of years, lost in an instant.

As for Ye Xu, he reaped immense rewards.

"Can this humble one leave now?" the Formless Demon Lord asked anxiously.

Ye Xu shook his head.

The Formless Demon Lord’s face darkened. "Didn’t Senior just say that as I could produce something satisfying to you, you would spare my life?"

"Indeed," Ye Xu nodded.

"In that case, why won’t Senior let me leave?" The Formless Demon Lord frowned deeply; Ye Xu’s attitude was beyond his grasp.

"I did say I would spare your life, but I never stated that I would set you free." Ye Xu said lightly.

"What exactly are you trying to do, Senior?"

The Formless Demon Lord’s anger surged, but he dared not show it; he suppressed his fury and inquired. "Senior, please be direct."

"Among those who want to kill me, Daoist friend, you are not the first, nor will you be the last. None of those from before survived." Ye Xu declared. "Considering your sincerity as a Daoist friend, I can choose not to kill you."

"However, while the death penalty might be pardoned, the living penalty was hard to escape."

"I require you to remain in Heaven’s Secret Pavilion, obeying my commands. After a thousand years, I will free you and restore your liberty."

Earlier, when he executed the Bi Fang ancestor, Ye Xu had felt faint regret afterward.

An Immortal King, if subjugated, could significantly bolster Heaven’s Secret Pavilion’s strength.

Regardless, despite Ye Xu staying at the late stage of Immortal King, he dared not depart lightly.

In case of foreign invasions, it would inevitably cause great inconvenience.

He absolutely must not let go of the Formless Demon Lord.

Remember that Heaven’s Secret Pavilion had developed profound enmity with the Taihao Heavenly Sect. The Formless Demon Lord defected from the Taihao Heavenly Sect; recruiting him would allow Ye Xu to deploy him against them in the future.

Crucially, the Formless Demon Lord stood as a grand expert at the late stage of Immortal Venerable.

In the current all realms, before the Immortal Realm collapsed, the Formless Demon Lord occupied the top tier under the human ancestor, the Heavenly Emperor, and the Mad Daoist.

Such talent could be cultivated into Heaven’s Secret Pavilion’s top enforcer.

Ye Xu’s eyes glinted; this idea had brewed in his mind from the moment he viewed the Formless Demon Lord’s details to his first step into Heaven’s Secret Pavilion.

He had schemed this well in advance.

Ye Xu aimed not only for treasures but also for the individual.

Han Ziyu and Yu Ziyi’s expressions shifted faintly.

Neither had imagined Ye Xu’s ultimate goal was to recruit the Formless Demon Lord.

The Formless Demon Lord’s face turned sullen.

He relished an idle lifestyle, long accustomed to unbridled freedom; abruptly joining an organization and enduring constraints felt like losing half his life.

"Senior, may I refuse?" The Formless Demon Lord smiled bitterly.

"You certainly may." Ye Xu grinned brightly. "However, before that, I can divine for you."

"Daoist friend, I perceive you—"

"Senior, stop," the Formless Demon Lord wearily responded; at this point, did he truly have an alternative?

Preserving his life counted as fortune among misfortunes; he refused to endure another blood-soaked disaster.

"I consent to join Heaven’s Secret Pavilion; thereafter, I submit to your orders." "I will face any hardship without hesitation."