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In just a few seconds, out of the dozen or so demons, only the tall man leading them remained.

The pleading look on the man's face instantly froze, and the simulated terror finally mixed with a trace of genuine fear from the depths of his soul.

He realized that the man before him would never be deceived by any disguise; he could see right through their flesh to the emotionless souls beneath.

Kalisia was completely dumbfounded.

She hadn't expected Ye Chuan to be so decisive against the demons. Even though she knew the demons' tricks, seeing those creatures beg for mercy had undeniably left Kalisia feeling conflicted.

Wearing the faces of her own kind made it impossible for Kalisia to remain indifferent.

The little girl looked at Ye Chuan's profile, the admiration in her eyes practically overflowing.

Previously, she had thought his flying down was too reckless, but now she understood that in the face of absolute power, a so-called encirclement was nothing more than child's play.

Ignoring the shocked gaze of the little girl in his arms, Ye Chuan looked down at the demon man frozen in place. With a gentle flick of his finger, the man flew over and Ye Chuan grabbed him by the throat.

Soul search.

The man's body instantly began to convulse violently, yet his face still showed no trace of pain, only the body's instinctive spasms.

Ye Chuan's spiritual power swept through his soul like a tidal wave, only to find a cold, blank void inside. There was no joy, anger, sorrow, or happiness—only cold directives from higher-tier demons:

Hunt humans, collect souls, disguise and infiltrate, and ambush isolated caravans and nobles.

What surprised Ye Chuan even more was that this demon had only existed for three years since its creation.

They were not naturally reproducing lifeforms at all, but pure hunting tools.

The only useful information was their familiar memory of this wasteland.

At the very least, he now knew the direction to the Storm Territory.

The moment the soul search ended, Ye Chuan squeezed his fingers slightly. The man's body instantly turned into a wisp of black smoke, dissipating in the wasteland wind without leaving a single trace.

"Alright, I've asked for directions." Ye Chuan looked at the still-dazed Kalisia and smiled, pinching her cheek.

"Pinkie, we'll be at your house soon. Shall we set off now?"

It felt nice; he gave her cheek another pinch.

Hearing this, Kalisia suddenly snapped back to reality. Paying no mind to Ye Chuan pinching her face, she quickly nodded hard.

"Really?! We can really go home?!"

"What else? We can't just stay in the middle of nowhere and feed the monsters." Ye Chuan tapped his toes and took to the sky again, speeding off in a certain direction.

This time, Kalisia didn't feel the slightest bit of panic. Instead, she excitedly clung to Ye Chuan's arm, full of thrill as she watched the wasteland scenery rapidly retreating below.

This man was too strong!

Kalisia was also curious about Ye Chuan's background and kept asking questions without any restraint.

Ye Chuan casually brushed her off, but in his mind, he was pondering over something else.

These demons had no memories, no emotions, only hunting commands.

What was the true origin of the Demon King behind them?

Being able to mass-produce such high-tier demons, it was no wonder they had managed to steamroll across more than half of the Aether Continent.

Also, the fake name he had casually made up had turned into an ancient legendary mage. Just how many years had this timeline skipped?

However, all of this would have to wait until they reached a human town to investigate.

In a matter of seconds, Ye Chuan carried Kalisia across over a thousand kilometers of the wasteland.

On the distant horizon, the silhouette of a city finally appeared.

Kalisia instantly sat up straight in Ye Chuan's arms with excitement, pointing at the city.

"It's the Storm Territory! It really is the Storm Territory! I'm home!"

Ye Chuan also looked up, a flash of surprise crossing his eyes.

Above this devastated wasteland, the Storm Territory stood like an unyielding isolated island.

The entire city was a perfect circle. The walls were pitch-black, over a hundred meters tall, and densely carved with runes.

The runes flowed with a faint golden light, forming a massive hemispherical barrier that firmly enveloped the entire city.

On the city walls, there was a watchtower every few dozen paces. Sentinels clad in armor and holding longbows stood on the towers, their vigilant eyes scanning the wasteland outside the city.

Inside the city, the buildings were arranged in a well-proportioned manner.

Even though it was completely surrounded by demon-occupied territories, this city still exuded an orderly, unyielding resilience. In this dark purple world, it was like an inextinguishable lamp.

Carrying Kalisia, Ye Chuan flew toward the city.

But just as he was a few hundred meters away from the city gates, the city's barrier instantly flared with blinding golden light!

"Hum—!!!"

A piercing alarm instantly echoed throughout the Storm Territory. The magic towers at the four corners of the city walls charged up in a flash, and several locking auras landed firmly on Ye Chuan.

In just a dozen seconds, over a dozen giant griffins soared into the sky from within the city, rushing rapidly toward Ye Chuan.

On the backs of the griffins sat knights clad in heavy armor and wielding lances. The leading knight captain held a magic staff and shouted sternly:

"Stop immediately! Otherwise, we will treat you as demon invaders and attack at once!"

More than a dozen lances were uniformly aimed at Ye Chuan, and magic gathered at the tip of the staff. The atmosphere instantly became tense.

"Don't attack! It's me!" Kalisia quickly poked her head out from Ye Chuan's arms and waved vigorously at the griffin knights, her pink twin tails swaying in the air.

"I'm Kalisia! I'm Kalisia!"

"I am Kalisia!!!"

The knight captain paused for a moment and carefully looked at Kalisia's face. A flash of excitement instantly crossed his eyes, but he quickly became vigilant again.

Demons were best at disguising themselves as nobles and acquaintances to infiltrate the city; they had seen this happen far too many times.

Even if the girl before them looked exactly like the Duke's daughter, they dared not relax in the slightest.

"My Lady?" the knight captain spoke in a deep voice.

"Please show the exclusive token of the Duke's estate, or we will never let you approach the city!"

"Okay, okay, I'll show you!" Kalisia hurriedly took off a family crest inlaid with a ruby from her neck.

"Look! This is the family crest my father gave me, and this is my magic mark. It absolutely cannot be faked!"

Saying so, Kalisia displayed her magic circuit mark, something demons could not counterfeit.

The knight captain recognized the Storm Duke's family crest and Kalisia's magic mark; they were undeniably genuine.

"It really is the young lady! The young lady has returned!"

"The eldest miss is back?!"

The griffin knights instantly let out a burst of excited cheers and immediately put away their weapons. They all bowed respectfully to Kalisia. The leading knight captain's face was filled with guilt and lingering fear:

"My Lady, I apologize for the offense just now. It is truly because there are too many demon disguises, and we must be on guard."