Two hours had passed. Xu Yi's brow furrowed slightly, and she said coldly, "Yu Xiaoyu and Bei Xinghan have probably run into trouble."
Besides those two, the other five had returned to the city gates at the appointed time.
"Did you encounter them earlier?" Xiong Zhuangzhuang asked anxiously. Yu Xiaoyu was timid, and with such danger from the demons, she prayed nothing had happened.
"We didn't. But I remember they walked in that direction. Let's go find them now," Xu Yi pointed to the street on the west.
"Let's go."
Xiong Zhuangzhuang strode forward, his face grim. He regretted not acting with Yu Xiaoyu earlier.
Xu Yi and Ji Buwang and the others quickly followed, their eyes also filled with anxiety.
Meanwhile.
Bei Xinghan kicked away a female demon who tried to take advantage of him, his other hand gripping Yu Xiaoyu's arm tightly. He looked at the surrounding demons, but felt little fear.
This was partly because, despite their numbers, the demons were not as strong as he was.
Secondly, he knew that Xu Yi and the others were nearby. If they found that he and Yu Xiaoyu had not arrived at the agreed location, they would surely come looking for them.
The only unexpected turn was that Ji Buwang, worried about him causing trouble, had found a gentler Yu Xiaoyu to dissuade him.
As it turned out, it was Yu Xiaoyu who made the first move this time, and he was the one forced to fight back.
He held Yu Xiaoyu's hand, not out of fear for her safety, but to stop her from swinging her hammer. After all, the scene of her smashing a demon's head open with a single hammer blow earlier had made him click his tongue. Was this still the shy Yu Xiaoyu he remembered?
Yu Xiaoyu tightly gripped the meteor hammer in her hand, her bright eyes filled with rage. Just now, a male demon had actually grabbed her arm. It had disgusted her immensely. She firmly remembered Xu Yi and Teacher Li's teachings: for actions that displeased her, she should bravely refuse. So, she swung her hammer violently. However, due to her extreme anger, she had not controlled her strength well. Not only did she crack a demon's skull, but she also accidentally hit a nearby stall. Now they were surrounded by the demons from that stall. Those demons likely wanted her to explain, but she couldn't understand what they were saying, so the situation became a stalemate.
Suddenly, the surrounding demons parted, creating a path. A tall and mighty male demon, walking with composed steps, approached them. Yu Xiaoyu and Bei Xinghan's expressions changed slightly. This demon's cultivation had reached the mid-stage of Soul Division, and his attire was more ornate, clearly indicating a high status. As they had just arrived, attracting such a demon made them worried about raising suspicion among the demon race. For a moment, neither spoke.
"Mūlā hēxī duō suǒ…" A string of demon language flowed from the demon's mouth.
Bei Xinghan pondered for a moment and then said, "Kālò."
The demon's expression changed, and he spoke another long string of demon language. Bei Xinghan's expression remained unchanged. "Kālò."
A hint of anger flashed on the demon's face, but he suppressed it forcefully. He pointed at Bei Xinghan and gestured.
"Kālò."
"Kālò" meant "no" in demon language. Bei Xinghan didn't know what the demon was saying, so he simply refused everything. This time, his refusal completely enraged the demon. The demon waved his hand forward, and the other demons, who had been holding back, all rushed forward. Bei Xinghan's eyes flashed with coldness, and he channeled spiritual energy into a punch. Yu Xiaoyu's meteor hammer turned into a shooting star and flew out fiercely. The two instantly engaged dozens of demons in battle.
By the time Xu Yi and the others found them, guided by the sounds of fighting, only a few remained standing on the field, including Bei Xinghan and Yu Xiaoyu. Seeing Xu Yi and the others coming to help, the demon intended to flee, but was blocked by Yu Xiaoyu and Bei Xinghan from front and back. He wore a wry smile, raised his arms, "Jī guā! Jī guā!"
Yu Xiaoyu and Bei Xinghan's eyes lit up with amusement. They understood this phrase. It meant "Your Majesty, spare me."
…
A month later.
"Xu Yi, I've almost finished my preparations."
"I'm ready on my end too."
"Mission complete."
The seven of them sat in a lavishly decorated hall, reporting their respective situations. As the last person finished speaking, Xu Yi smiled, "Since everyone is almost ready, our plan can begin."
The demon Bei Xinghan and Yu Xiaoyu had encountered that day was actually the son of the city lord of this demon city. He had thought Bei Xinghan and Yu Xiaoyu were from another city sent to cause trouble, so he intended to negotiate first. Unexpectedly, the two couldn't understand his words and directly attacked, ultimately leading to his capture. After Hong Jing extracted his identity from him, they decided to go all out and seize this opportunity to deal with the demon city's lord directly. The seven of them worked together, setting traps for two days, using the demon lord's son as bait to lure out the demon lord, and finally, with Xu Yi's Earth Core Azure Flame, they successfully killed the demon lord. Xu Yi then directly took over, becoming the new demon lord of the demon city.
Since she was now the demon lord, Xu Yi naturally didn't want to miss such a good opportunity. They devised a method to deplete the demons' martial strength without expending their own effort: holding a martial arts competition, specifically a highly difficult and dangerous defending-the-stage match. Whichever demon could hold the stage until the end would receive generous rewards from the demon lord. Those rewards naturally came from the previous demon lord's treasury. To incite the fighting spirit of all demons, Xu Yi offered almost the entire treasury as prizes. The little that remained was given to a few demons to spread the news far and wide. Now, everything was ready, and they just needed the opportune moment.
"The arena competition can begin tomorrow. We just need to wait for the results." Xu Yi's lips curved into a slight smile, showing anticipation. The others smiled wordlessly, identical joy on their faces.
…
The news of the Black City holding an arena competition not only spread throughout Black City but also attracted demons from several nearby cities. By the time the competition began, over a thousand demons were already waiting. Hong Jing was in charge of hosting the competition. He skillfully introduced the rules in demon language, then vacated the stage and announced the start of the defending-the-stage match. Defending the stage, as the name implied, meant holding one's position on the stage and preventing others from taking it. Unless one's martial power could overwhelmingly crush others, the earlier one appeared, the greater the disadvantage. Therefore, after Hong Jing left, no one dared to step onto the stage for a long time. Hong Jing, as well as Xu Yi and the others watching from the pavilions of the City Lord's mansion, were not in a hurry. They knew someone would eventually be unable to resist falling into this tempting trap first. As expected, after an hour, a ruggedly handsome demon was the first to leap onto the stage. He stood on the stage, displaying his thick arms to the other demons, intending to intimidate them. However, the demons present were all those with great confidence in themselves. Soon, someone jumped onto the stage to challenge him. The defending-the-stage match officially commenced.