Chapter 253

On the Western Demon Sea, in an uninhabited place, Shen Qingmo, in a state of invisibility, gazed at the starry sky, with only one thought: "Little sister, why haven't you returned yet?"

Ten days have passed.

From the agreed-upon time.

Ten days have already passed.

Beyond the barrier, the Regent Prince has already returned.

"Little sister."

Shen Qingmo's pair of eyes, as black as a starless sky, were filled with worry.

And at this moment——

His blood surged faintly!

At his forehead, the Dark Phoenix Hidden Seal appeared and faded.

And at the same moment——

"Die!"

The Regent Prince struck Shen Qingli!

Shen Qingli split open……

Yet they were all swallowed by the Regent Prince's palm wind into his hand.

Her face, which bore Zhao Yue's compassionate expression, twisted for a moment and turned into Su Zhengzong's face.

Di Er and Jialuo Na arrived, and they also saw the scene of Shen Qingli being slapped down by a palm.

However, they also sensed something amiss—it was merely an afterimage.

The Regent Prince's old face almost split as he shouted, "Damn it! Shen! Qing! Li——"

The roar rose straight from the Regent's Court to the heavens, echoing through the Hall of Divine Judgment; even the faithful at the junction of the two realms and the gods of the Jin Wu heard it.

Tai Jin's golden eyebrows twitched once. "Are you alright?"

"It sounds like the little divine maiden is fine, but that whatever king is in trouble."

The Jin Wu could hear the Regent Prince's roar, fraught with panic and defeat; surely the little divine maiden had "ambushed" him.

At that very instant, the Jin Wu already sensed Shen Qingli's aura—she had returned!

"Hum!"

Before the invisible Shen Qingmo, Shen Qingli appeared.

On her forehead, the Vermilion Bird seal was vividly lifelike.

Seeing her intact, Shen Qingmo finally felt at ease.

"Little sister."

His hoarse voice showed how turbulent his emotions were.

"Third brother."

Shen Qingli stepped forward and embraced him to put him at ease.

Shen Qingmo, however, immediately held her tightly: "Just coming back is enough."

"Has Ninth Brother not returned yet?"

"He's here!"

Shen Qingtong came in response.

Upon hearing the Regent Prince's pig‑like wail, he knew they could withdraw.

And on his forehead, the Azure Phoenix mark was equally vivid.

The bloodline secret art of the Changshui Shen clan was put to use once again.

As long as the distance does not exceed the resonance range, the Changshui Shen clan can instantly gather together.

Even if they have ascended to godhood, their blood‑line relationship has never changed, and their hearts have always been together.

"Come."

Shen Qingmo extended his hand.

Shen Qingtong immediately slapped her hand onto it!

Shen Qingli also joined in.

The three siblings joined forces and dealt the Regent Prince a major blow.

They had already tried it; the distance from the Regent's Court to the edge of the Western Demon Sea is not even as far as the four extremes of Shen Ting, lying within their blood‑line resonance range.

"Rash!"

"Not mindless rashness!"

"They had a plan all along."

"And there's the little senior brother."

Shen Qingli looked toward the east of the Western Demon Sea.

At that moment, the nine main stars of the Celestial Star Hall also shone.

Of course, this moment is also extremely perilous!

After all, the Regent Prince is no fool; he turned and rushed to kill them at their lodging.

Unfortunately, he was still a step late; by the time he arrived, Zhan Yuefeng, who was shaking his fan, had already been enveloped in starlight.

"Farewell, Regent Prince."

Zhan Yuefeng bowed, and the person had already vanished.

To the east of the Western Demon Sea, the stars surged.

Tianpeng, Tianren, Tianchong, Tianfu, Tianying, Tianrui, Tianzhu, Tianxin, Tianqin—the nine stars linked in a string.

Amid the radiant light, the Heavenly Blessing Star they guarded flickered briefly, then returned.

"Little junior brother!"

Li Yidao stepped forward and patted Zhan Yuefeng on the shoulder—he had been waiting in the Heavenly Star Hall.

"Take it easy!"

Zhan Yuefeng grimaced in pain—he hadn't been caught by the Regent, but had nearly had his bones smashed by his senior brother.

"You little chick, train more!"

Li Yidao also learned some bad habits from the Nine Li.

Ji Wanxing and the other gods had already retracted their divine power and appeared before the two.

"How's little A Li?" Master Hua Yuan asked anxiously.

"'He should be fine.' Zhan Yuefeng, after all, still hadn't seen."

"I'm fine."

As they spoke, Shen Qingli and her two siblings arrived at the Heavenly Star Hall.

As for how the boundary wall's side is being overturned, it's already irrelevant to them.

With the Chi Demon army, the Jin Wu, and Tai Jin there, they won't suffer a loss.

But things still turned out beyond their expectations—suddenly a golden light appeared above the Western Demon Sea.

The boundary battle begins.

Buddhist chants and divine language rang out as the Western Sect's Holy Buddha and the Daoist Sect's Shen Kuo spoke simultaneously.

An island sprang into existence out of thin air and appeared above the Western Demon Sea.

Right after, Tian Yi appeared, his expression somewhat complex.

Just moments ago, he had only just received the Holy Buddha's command.

At the same time, Cang Pei also appeared.

He stepped through the night and appeared before the floating island.

His vast divine sense spread out with him, then, upon sensing Shen Qingli, it was all drawn back.

"'Cang Pei! What are you doing!' the Chi Demon snapped angrily."

Cang Pei didn't look at him, only gazing at Shen Qingli, who had already risen into the air beneath the gathering of stars.

On the other side of the boundary wall, seeing her, the Regent's eyes turned blood‑red: "Shen Qingli! You dare intrude on my seclusion forbidden ground!"

He had already readied that forbidden ground, unafraid of exposure, but he would certainly not let Shen Qingli off—even the teaching battle couldn't stop him.

"'Nonsense! I've always been with my elders—when did I ever intrude on your forbidden ground?' Shen Qingli outright denied it."

The Regent sneered, 'You think you can deny it? The Holy Buddha himself said you were in my court; as soon as I return I'll see you! The Earth Guardian Dharma and the Jialuo'na Buddha Mother are all witnesses!'

"'Then why wasn't I caught?' Shen Qingli countered, 'You're not going to say I escaped from the three of you, are you? Ha! As if that were possible!'"

"'Hahaha!' the Chi Demon mocked, 'You're the three great ancient gods—what's up? Don't tell me, old demon, that you were really run off by the little dark lord.'"

The three gods' faces were as black as night.

Because this is true!

But they could see from the crowd that it couldn't be explained—it simply couldn't be made clear.

"'Could our Holy Buddha possibly be mistaken?' the Regent refused to accept."

"'You're all in cahoots! Who knows?' the Chi Demon clapped his wolf‑tooth club against his palm, 'Stop spouting ridiculous slander that would make you lose your teeth—let's get on with the teaching battle.'"

"'If you can produce evidence, our Daoist Sect isn't unreasonable—we'll certainly give you an explanation,' Tai Jin said righteously."

The Regent felt as awful as if he'd swallowed feces.

"'What evidence?'"

"'How could there be any evidence?'"

"'Even if there were, he's guilty inside and couldn't bring it out.'"

"'It's obvious—this secret loss, he's stuck with it!'"

"'However…'"

"'Shen Shengji? How—when did you escape? I've been looking for you for days, and you actually went back? Who cured the poison from the forbidden fruit you ate?' The furious prince's face turned green."

For however many days Shen Qingli has been missing, he's spent that many days searching!

He's practically dug up the entire court three feet deep, yet he still hasn't found anyone!

"'Now you tell him the person has long since left their realm?'"

"'Poison?'"

The gods of the Daoist Sect all changed color!

The anxious Sect Marquis, practically smoking, finally realized the danger and instinctively ducked behind the Regent.

"'It wasn't me who did it! It—'"

Before the Sect Marquis could finish his sentence, he died.

In his fury, the Regent directly beat to death this fool who walked into the gun's mouth.

Shen Qingli's face changed, though—Poison? Little Fusang ate it! This,