Ten years ago, the Central Plains Messenger collected thirty Reward Good and Punish Evil Orders and opened the Divine Marquis Mansion Secret Realm.

Even knowing that only a few would return alive, all the Peak Third Transition holders participated in the event, leading the Three Central Plains Kingdoms to a period of rest and recuperation... Half of the decades of accumulated Peak Third Transition fell inside.

Among these thirty people, Li Long’s strength couldn’t rank in the first tier, but he acted along with Duke Chu Zhao Yuanbao, Grand General Pharmacist’s Formula, ’War King’ Helan Ying... They traveled together, slaying demons in the Divine Marquis Mansion, repelling foreign enemies, facing death several times, and finally finding the location of the Foundation Establishment Pill.

The problem was, there was only one Foundation Establishment Pill.

No matter how deep the bond they cultivated in battle, it was impossible to surrender such a valuable opportunity for seeking the Dao. As they were deadlocked, a woman appeared.

A woman of breathtaking beauty, enchanting all living beings.

But for such a stunning stranger to appear in the Divine Marquis Mansion, she must either be a demon or an enemy’s Third Transition. Li Long’s group hesitated not at all; they moved to jointly attack, intent on crushing the flower mercilessly, for though she was alone and they were four, how could they miss the chance to eliminate competitors?

What happened afterward, not even Li Long fully understood years later.

He only remembered Zhao Yuanbao suddenly seriously wounded Pharmacist’s Formula, then he and Helan Ying drove Zhao Yuanbao back, and Helan Ying turned on him viciously, leaving him no choice but to fight back... When he regained his senses, he was being trampled under the woman’s foot, who held the Foundation Establishment Pill, surrounded by the corpses of Helan Ying and Pharmacist’s Formula, blood flowing like a river.

"In light of your efforts in killing your comrades, I’ll allow you to live," the woman said nonchalantly, "You’re truly no match for me. I don’t even feel like exterminating you completely."

"You’ll remember my Ying Le’s great kindness and virtue for the rest of your life," she said while driving her heel onto Li Long’s face. Her shoes had sharp, high heels, which in Li Long’s memory only dancers wore to accentuate their figures... But this shoe became a nightmare he could never forget!

Ying Le slowly cut Li Long’s face with her high heel, a scene he would never forget for life, a mix of humiliating trampling and an inexpressible fear—as Ying Le looked at him, Li Long transformed into a small creature observed by its predator, losing all courage to resist completely.

What kind of eyes were those? Blood-red pupils with eerie vertical slits, bestial savagery overwhelming him, malice almost palpable yet so beautiful and sacred, more dazzling than the most vivid ruby, drawing the beholder in irresistibly.

These were not eyes a mortal could own, but a mistake between Immortal Gods and demons.

Li Long managed to escape the Divine Marquis Mansion alive, with Zhao Yuanbao also surviving, but he never met Zhao Yuanbao again.

He spent a long time researching, finally reconstructing the events on that day in the Divine Marquis Mansion. Their downfall was due to Ying Le’s usage of powers far above the mortal realm: Divine Techniques, or rather Half-Divine Techniques.

It was said that before the passing of Qi Shenwu, he made a desperate attempt for gold, ultimately failing, but earning profound insight into his divine techniques. He successfully integrated the Divine Techniques into his bloodline, granting his direct descendants the potential to awaken bloodline divine techniques, enabling them to wield power over Foundation Establishment Messengers even in mortal form!

Qi Shenwu succeeded: seven out of his ten children awakened bloodline divine techniques, known as ’Divine Martial True Blood’, each unrivaled below Foundation Establishment, even rivaling Fourth-Turn Foundation Establishment! It was Qi Kingdom’s most glorious period; had Liang Taizu and Zhou Taizu not been present, Qi Kingdom might have unified the Central Plains.

Everyone thought after the passing of Liang Taizu and Zhou Taizu, Qi Kingdom’s Divine Martial Bloodline would sequentially advance, crushing and unifying the Central Plains. Unexpectedly, Qi Kingdom met with internal strife first.

The Divine Martial Bloodline began to kill each other.

No one knew the truth, only that within a decade, Qi Shenwu’s direct bloodline dwindled to only one. By the grandson’s generation, fewer than three awakened ’Divine Martial True Blood’, and they quickly killed each other upon awakening until extinction.

Li Long did not know of Divine Martial True Blood because it had been reduced to a historical relic before his birth, even if someone found it in old papers, they would deem it Qi Kingdom’s self-aggrandizement. Among the living, only Foundation Establishment True Man witnessed such a period when mortals wielded divine techniques; everyone thought Divine Martial True Blood couldn’t reappear... until Ying Le ascended the throne.

Ying Le was the last awakener of the Divine Martial True Blood!

Historic records indicated that, aside from enhancing Qi Blood Divine Soul, awakening Divine Martial True Blood had a clear anomaly: blood-red eyes resembling fox pupils, hence both Zhou Kingdom and Liang Kingdom called awakeners ’Demon Fox’.

As for what Half-Divine Technique the Demon Fox mastered, opinions were varied; one book said Demon Fox could incite mutual slaughter, another claimed Demon Fox made people obediently meet their death, fundamentally because Demon Fox attacked without a trace and left no survivors, leaving mortals to guess the abilities through bodies.

Among the few surviving Demon Fox victims, Li Long’s understanding of Ying Le’s Half-Divine Techniques remained hazy, feeling all accounts were correct yet missed the essence... Until the second misstep, Li Long finally grasped the truth.

"Illusion."

Li Long looked at Ying Rushi, blood spilling from his mouth, but his eyes brightened.

"You can make me see illusions... Back then, we didn’t actually split into factions; it was Ying Le showing us falsehood! Your eyes, it’s your eyes!"

"Very perceptive." Ying Rushi twisted the sword hilt, completely shredding his heart, "You are a worthy opponent, defeated only by being my enemy... an enemy of Divine Martial True Blood!"

Not just someone like Li Long, even if Foundation Establishment personally investigates, it’s impossible to touch the core inheritance of the Divine Martial Ying Family. A hundred years ago, the Three Grand Six Transition, Liang Taizu was unparalleled in combat, Qi Shenwu in divine techniques, and Qi Shenwu’s bloodline-sealed divine technique was his little-known Dao Foundation Divine Technique—[Red Dust Reflection].

Pillow on the dream of colored beams, reflecting the Red Dust Eye.

Emperor Divine Martial’s [Red Dust Reflection], Ying Family’s [Red Dust Eye]!

This is a false-to-true divine technique, Ying Rushi naturally can’t achieve Emperor Divine Martial’s degree of heart’s desire, but with [Red Dust Eye], creating illusions to bewilder enemies is as simple as breathing, like an inherent skill.

In the moment Li Long and Ying Rushi’s gazes met, he was already captured by [Red Dust Eye]! Only when Li Long’s Qi Blood declined, Spiritual Power depleted, emotions fluctuated, did [Red Dust Eye] entirely confuse his senses, plunging him completely into the illusion.

This is the power of Divine Martial True Blood, this is the authority of [Red Dust Eye]!

However, Li Long laughed heartily.

"Good, good!" Like witnessing a flashback, his voice rang out, face full of mocking laughter: "Two Demon Foxes, two Demon Foxes, haha! I’ll wait in the Underworld for you or Ying Le to come down! This is your Ying Family’s fate, the fate of mutual slaughter—"

Woosh!

Ying Rushi severed his throat with a strike, feeling unsatisfied, beheaded him completely to terminate any survival chance.

Watching Li Long’s heavy body collapse, Ying Rushi stood on the spot, taking small breaths, slowly calming her heartbeat, eyes reverting to their original brown, no longer the fierce and sinister, even slightly dazed.

Activating [Red Dust Eye] doesn’t require Qi Essence or Spiritual Power but drains mental strength; Ying Rushi felt as though she read obscure texts for three continuous hours, her body untired, yet her mind unwilling to turn.

After a while, Ying Rushi’s mind gradually came online. She crouched down, searched for Li Long’s tokens, recalling his final curse.

After Third Transition awakening Divine Martial True Blood, Ying Rushi naturally investigated her ancestors’ situation. Li Long’s words weren’t baseless; history shows whenever two or more awaken Divine Martial True Blood, they almost inevitably kill each other until only one remains, without exception.

Thus Li Long laughed so brightly; in his view, Ying Le and Ying Rushi, these two Demon Foxes, were destined to repeat the cycle... Not just because Ying Le was also an awakened Divine Martial True Blood, even if she weren’t, the likelihood of her persecuting Ying Rushi was high.

The most absurd part was Ying Rushi knew in her heart Li Long was right.

But it didn’t matter, Ying Rushi thought, as long as she didn’t expose [Red Dust Eye], the Majesty wouldn’t discover it.

"If she doesn’t find out, does that mean she won’t kill you?" someone mocked from behind her, "If she doesn’t kill you, does it mean you don’t want to kill her?" 𝕗𝚛𝚎𝚎𝐰𝗲𝗯𝗻𝚘𝚟𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝕞

"Who!?"

Ying Rushi turned pale with fright, instinctively swinging her sword back, but only slashing through air. She looked around the nearly ruinous empty room, her face under the mask gradually turning white.