Qi Feng was very clear about the answer. As a cultivator today, aiming at the celestial beings—especially at the son of the renowned Xian Hu Fu’s lord—would surely bring about serious consequences. That’s why he wanted to bring Qingya on board, since two combined forces would always be far stronger than one. Unfortunately, the beautiful Inspector wasn’t naive. She quickly sensed the undercurrents of strategy. Right now, her top priority was to distance herself from Chen Jie and the Chen family, to remain completely neutral—how could she possibly willingly seek out discomfort with Tao Cha’s company, let alone compete for the divine artifacts? In the distance, Tao Cha was showing his prowess, each time he firmly pressed down his golden bowl, hundreds of demonic beings suffered. Whichever creature—whether a giant cockroach, a dragon shark, or a mighty demon warrior—was sucked into the bowl, no one escaped unscathed. Chen Jie finally felt a real sense of accomplishment. Qin expressed the scheme of sparing lives and seizing goods with a slightly sour tone, saying, "Indeed, I never expected our Taoist brother to have such capabilities." Qingya added, "He does have some skill, but it's not genuine strength—rather, he relies on the power of his magical artifacts. If faced with a direct, hands-on confrontation, even ten of him wouldn't stand a chance against the female demon queen." As for the one who felt most deeply distressed, it was Meili. She hadn't anticipated how formidable the lady's grace truly was. If only she had known back then, she wouldn't have spared him—she should have eliminated him outright, and then the current situation wouldn't have arisen. Zijin Ling emitted deafening sound waves while simultaneously spewing out scorching triple-flame, pushing most of the demonic forces outside. Her golden rice bowl consistently targeted crowded areas, striking with precision. Yet her heart bled—should this trend continue, the demonic forces would be eradicated within no time at all. All along, she had never taken Chen Jie seriously. In her proud, elite demon general's mindset, a man lacking any masculine presence was simply not worth a second glance—she firmly believed such men had no future at all. So, even when he had escaped last time, Meili didn't care. She didn't believe a woman like him could ever rise to prominence. "Soft-spoken, huh? Then prove it—come fight me!" she shouted fiercely, swinging her silver spear and sending out dozens of shimmering white beams. The golden bowl spun several times, and all the beams that had been aimed at him vanished. "Hah! Hah! Stupid woman—do you really think you're so impressive?" he laughed proudly. "You're just trying to save your troops by fighting single-handedly, aren't you? I won't fall for that. Today, I'll wipe out your entire force first, then eliminate you, and finally crush Qin Feng beneath my feet." The female demon raised an eyebrow—what on earth was she talking about? Since the beginning, she has always believed Chen Jie was a rescue force sent by Qin Feng, while Chen Jie has always thought she was one of Qin Feng's friends. After hearing his angry remark, Mei Li gave her eyes a quick glance and试探ly said, "You really intend to step on Qin Feng's toes, aren't you?" The Peach Blossom Brother raised his fingers with grace, "Of course—this is my sole objective." Seeing that he didn't seem to be joking, the female demon added, "Then according to you, Qin Feng should be the one who holds a grudge against you—so why would you help him?" "I myself have always been his enemy—how could I possibly help him?" The Peach Blossom Brother narrowed his eyes, and instantly wiped out hundreds of demonic beings with his golden bowl. He scoffed, "Since we are sworn enemies, I've come first to deal with you, then to deal with him." "Wait a minute," Mei Li insisted, "I'm also his enemy." She wasn't lying—yet in the Peach Blossom Brother's eyes, that was exactly what she was doing. He simply couldn't believe it. "Cut the crap—aren't you just trying to delay things? Wake up." He had no intention of further纠缠 with the other person, simply increasing the frequency at which he harvested lives using his golden rice bowl. Pushing too far, Mei Li was genuinely furious. Even if you were Qin Feng's enemy, what could you do? You were also our magical race's enemy—your enemy, to the very end. From the inner side of her belt, she withdrew several irregularly shaped stones and, without a word, threw them toward Tao Cha. The stones sliced through the air with a sharp sound, hurtling toward Tao Cha. Chen Jie chuckled, "I've always said, you stubborn woman—do you really have nothing left? You're throwing stones at me now, thinking they can kill me? If I just stand still and let you keep throwing all day, you'll never manage to harm me a single hair." Huff— The stones now flew faster, their color shifting from the original gray-black to vibrant, rich hues, glowing brilliantly. A strong energy surge accompanied their flight—one that Chen Jie had never witnessed before in any form of spiritual power. Mei Li stood with her brows furrowed, slowly and steadily drawing out, "Phantom Technique." Swoosh, swoosh, swoosh... One Mei Li became two, then four, then eight... The phantoms were so seamless that it was difficult to distinguish the real from the fake with the naked eye. Tao Xiang was instantly stunned—how could he tell which one was the genuine one? Dozens of duplicates attacked him from various angles, and he was immediately thrown into a state of chaos. Qing Ya was also amazed, "The magical general has such a skill—truly impressive. Your suggestion was excellent. Had we not stopped by to observe, we certainly wouldn't have known about Mei Li's technique. Perhaps next time, we'd be the ones to suffer." Qin Shao shrugged, saying, "Actually, this kind of attack isn't particularly special. If it were me, I'd simply hold my ground, let her keep going, and once she tires herself out, the attack would fall apart on its own." "But the key question is—will Chen Jie do that?" Qing Ya expressed her doubt. "Well, Tao Xiang isn't someone who defies convention—he's just a bit unusual, so he's more likely to do something unusual himself..." Indeed, when Chen Jie saw dozens of Mei Li figures flying toward him at once, his first instinct was to lift his flying sword and chop them down, with the determined air of cutting one by one, two by two. Even a fool knows that two hands can't hold off four, and though only one of these figures was the genuine Mei Li, the situation was still extremely dangerous—because the real ones were often the strongest. Huff, huff... His sword strikes kept missing, as the figures dissolved the moment the sword touched them—mere distractions, nothing more. Tao Xiang's heart settled considerably. This was just a cheap trick—he was completely capable of handling it. Thud... Before he could even feel satisfied, he was knocked off his feet by a figure that looked suspiciously like a fake, and then the silver spear arrived, piercing straight through his right leg. "Oh dear." "Qin lightly covered his face and said, "Our Peach Brother has been beaten again—this time even more severely. Do you think he might this time choose to flee for the third time?" "The need for guessing is obvious—he's already shown it through his actions," the beautiful Inspector lamented, disappointed.