“Delusional,” the Ruby Queen said coldly.
Inside the Peerless Pearl’s space, the two exchanged a glance and said almost in unison, “The Tiger Demon King?”
He had mentioned his daughters. That alone made his identity unmistakable. Whether the Ruby Queen had come to hunt them down or had been driven here while fleeing the Tiger Demon King, she had ended up in the same place.
“It looks like our luck really isn’t bad. The Ruby Queen doesn’t seem to be a match for the Tiger Demon King,” Lan Ge said excitedly.
“Wait and see,” Fa Hua replied. “Mutual destruction would be the best outcome. The Ruby Queen is the leader of the Devouring Ant Race. She made the Sea Tree Tribe wary for a thousand years. She won’t be simple.”
“Refuse to submit, and you die,” the Tiger Demon King said coldly. His hands were clasped behind his back, as though he did not even regard the Ruby Queen as worthy of attention.
The Ruby Queen’s voice was equally cold. “If my injuries from that battle with the giant in the Endless Blue Sea had healed, do you really think you could defeat me? If those two shameless scoundrels had not stolen my heart, how would you dare act so arrogantly before me? If you want to kill me, then try.”
As she spoke, she raised her arms and extended them straight out to either side, her body forming a perfect cross.
A hazy red radiance surged from her. Her shattered armor and the broken back-stingers regenerated in an instant. Even her face took on a faint crimson glow, her beauty now beyond words.
The Tiger Demon King watched the transformation without moving to attack, a contemplative look crossing his face.
“By rights, with your cultivation, you should not be an unknown figure within your clan. Yet your Heavenly Demon Bloodline is something I have never seen before. It must be inherited from an ancient race long since extinct. I could capture you and hand you over to the Ancestral Court. The Ancestral Elders would certainly find you very interesting.”
“Die!”
The Ruby Queen reached behind her and tore out two back-stingers. They transformed into a pair of crimson red longblades, and in a flash she was already in front of the Tiger Demon King.
Crimson Cross Slash!
Two earth-shattering red beams swept through the air, stretching for hundreds of meters. The crimson light cut downward like a blazing sunset.
The Tiger Demon King snorted coldly and threw a punch. A golden shadow emerged behind him, condensing into six wings formed entirely of golden energy.
“Winged Tiger? Six wings. Moon God Level!” Lan Ge blurted out.
The cultivation boundaries of the demon and nymph races were difficult to judge, since each followed different standards. This was unlike the Sea Tree Tribe, whose system was uniform.
However, the number of wings was a reliable indicator among demon and nymph powerhouses.
For races that did not naturally possess wings, cultivating wing-like abilities followed a clear pattern. One pair of wings marked Star God Level. Three pairs—six wings—represented Moon God Level. It was said that upon reaching the Great Heavenly God Level, one could cultivate twelve wings.
From this perspective, the Ruby Queen’s six back-stingers were a similar manifestation.
Boom!
The Tiger Demon King’s punch struck the exact center of the Crimson Cross Slash.
Energy detonated. Borrowing the recoil, the Ruby Queen rose higher. Her twin longblades slashed again, streaks of terrifying crimson light blooming in midair and sweeping toward the Tiger Demon King.
The Tiger Demon King remained unmoved. Golden light burst from his eyes. With his body as the center, the surrounding space transformed into a world of gold and red.
Within a radius of a kilometer, the air twisted like rippling water. Brilliant golden radiance spread outward. When the red blade light entered that golden-red domain, it visibly shrank, as though dissolving.
The Tiger Demon King reached into the void. A gigantic hand manifested once more, grasping toward the Ruby Queen.
She showed no fear. Bringing her twin longblades together, she gripped the hilts with both hands and let out a piercing scream. In that instant, her entire body shone like pure ruby.
A blazing arc of red light poured downward. The golden hand split cleanly in two, yet the crimson strike did not slow, continuing straight toward the Tiger Demon King.
Life-Burning Technique. A madwoman,” the Tiger Demon King said grimly. His six wings beat as he retreated sharply.
Instead of weakening, the Ruby Queen’s attack only grew more ferocious as she pressed forward.
“What’s a Life-Burning Technique?” Lan Ge asked, confused.
“It should be an attack launched without regard for cost,” Fa Hua said. “Its power must be immense. Otherwise the Tiger Demon King wouldn’t be this wary. But the backlash is likely severe.”
Lan Ge smiled bitterly. “She really is fierce. Moon God Level and still fighting like this. Honestly, if she truly wanted to flee, the Tiger Demon King might not be able to stop her. She’s a bit like you.”
Fa Hua paused. “Like me?”
“Of course,” Lan Ge said matter-of-factly. “You challenge anyone you meet. You fought the Sea Giant Emperor a few days ago, and now she’s using a Life-Burning Technique against the Tiger Demon King. Picking fights with heaven and earth alike. Isn’t that just like you?”
“Childish. Boring,” Fa Hua shot back, though his eyes never left the battle.
This was a clash between Eleventh-Rank Moon God Level powerhouses. Being able to observe from a special vantage point, without fear of being affected, was an invaluable experience.
The Tiger Demon King continued to retreat. The Ruby Queen pursued him like a bolt of lightning.
“You think I’m truly afraid of you?” the Tiger Demon King roared. His body suddenly turned translucent. His white robe warped, and his human form expanded in an instant.
A massive figure nearly three meters tall emerged, covered in golden fur streaked with dark-gold patterns. His once-handsome features became wild and ferocious. Tiger claws more than three feet long extended as his chest thrust forward. His claws converged into two beams of gold that slammed into the oncoming red light.
Behind him, a colossal golden tiger phantom more than five hundred meters long appeared, rearing back and roaring toward the heavens. Its overwhelming presence seemed to set the world ablaze.
Clang!
Heaven and earth changed color.
Centered on their collision point, everything within a kilometer on the ground was reduced to dust. A massive crater gouged downward more than a hundred meters. In the sky, golden and crimson energies erupted into a towering cloud, blooming upward like a mushroom cloud.
No fireworks could compare to this brilliance. What Fa Hua and Lan Ge saw was a magnificent spectacle of gold and red.
The sight was overwhelming. Watching a clash between the Ruby Queen and the Tiger Demon King made them truly understand how terrifying God Level powerhouses were.
This was a complete sublimation of energy itself. Their collision could only be described as world-destroying.
The light in the sky lasted for more than ten seconds before gradually fading, revealing the two figures once more.
The Tiger Demon King had returned to his youthful appearance. His face was pale, and three or four intersecting wounds cut across his right shoulder, dark red blood seeping out.
The Ruby Queen was in far worse condition. The twin longblades formed from her back-stingers had shattered and vanished. Her ruby armor was broken in many places, blood trickling from the corner of her mouth. Her aura had weakened significantly.
Most striking of all was her gaze. The cold dominance that once filled her eyes had dimmed.
For reasons they could not explain, the sight made Fa Hua and Lan Ge feel a sudden ache in their hearts. Deep within, a trace of sympathy surfaced.
Their minds were linked. They sensed it at once.
This was the great demon overlord who had been hunting them. Why would they feel sympathy for her?
“Could it be that the Peerless Pearl swallowing her heart is affecting our emotions?” Lan Ge blurted out.
“Possibly,” Fa Hua said, frowning. “We don’t know why the Peerless Pearl swallowed the Ruby Queen’s heart, but the energy within it must be enormous. Otherwise it couldn’t have helped her reach Twelfth-Rank. If our ability to observe the outside world is related to that heart, then while we gain benefits, we may also be affected in return.”
Lan Ge’s mouth twitched. “Looks like this world really is fair.”
“How dare you wound me. Today I will tear you to pieces,” the Tiger Demon King said coldly. His fury was unmistakable.
He lifted both hands. The sky was instantly flooded with gold. The air twisted violently, distorting even Fa Hua and Lan Ge’s view.
At that moment, an arrogant red light burst forth, forcibly claiming half the sky—sharp, domineering, and unyielding.
The heavens became a battlefield of gold and red. Outside the Peerless Pearl’s space, the world was nothing but clashing colors, and they could no longer see how the two Moon God Level powerhouses were fighting.
“It’s terrifying,” Lan Ge said, still shaken. “It looks like the Tiger Demon King has the advantage.”
They themselves had been hunted by beings of this level. If the Ruby Queen had truly wanted to kill them to reclaim her heart, a hundred of them would have died beneath her back-stingers long ago.
The clash of gold and crimson lasted for half an hour. At last, the red light began to weaken. Then, suddenly, all the crimson condensed into a single beam and flashed straight toward the gold.
A furious scream rang out. “You madwoman!”
Boom—
Gold and red exploded across the sky. When Fa Hua and Lan Ge were finally able to see the outside world again, both the Tiger Demon King and the Ruby Queen had vanished without a trace.
What remained was devastation.
A vast valley had been carved into the land. Rocks within it were still melting, and at the bottom flowed a liquid resembling magma.