Vengeance is easily repaid, but debt of affection is hard to return.

"No, it won't happen. None of us are going to die!" Xuanyuan Ji comforted softly.

"You know as well as I do how many more people will die if we drag this out, and I... do not want to lose my family." Ji Yin had never experienced this feeling before.

Even though it had only been a short time, she had already come to regard the members of the Ji family as her true parents and brothers. She could not stand idly by and watch them get hurt or lose their lives.

"Xuanyuan Ji, you should leave. I am confident I can handle the pack of wolves." Ji Yin had no wish to drag Xuanyuan Ji down with her either.

"Even the master lacks absolute certainty, so what certainty could a disciple possibly possess?" Xuanyuan Ji replied softly with a rhetorical question.

Abruptly, Xuanyuan Ji released Ji Yin and darted swiftly into the midst of the wolves.

Ji Yin watched him with deep anxiety as the wolves lunged at him like mad beasts! Fortunately, his armor protected him; otherwise, he would have been torn to shreds by the pack.

She could sense that the power of this illusion was not overwhelmingly strong.

Here, although Xuanyuan Ji possessed near-defying capabilities, his breakthrough to the Mahayana realm remained unachieved, thus limiting his true strength. The illusion could not hold for long. If these wolves were not dealt with before the illusion faded, the people outside would still be in mortal danger.

"Little Mo, form the array."

"Great Mo! Have you lost your mind? Is it worth it? Tell me, is it truly worth it?!"

"Are you asking me to stand by and watch my own family get injured or killed?"

"They are not your family!"

"Yes, from the moment I became the seventh young master of the Ji family, they became my family!"

The figure among the wolves was like an Asura risen from the depths of hell. His armor was stained red with blood as he fought desperately against the frenzied pack!

"Furthermore, I cannot drag Xuanyuan Ji down with me. Grudges are easily repaid, but debts of affection are hardest to clear. You know I despise owing anything to others, especially emotional debts."

"In doing this, do you care for Xuanyuan公子 even a little—even just the tiniest bit?"

"Perhaps... I do."

A sudden flash of purple-gold light erupted in the sky as the Demonic Cauldron burst forth from Ji Yin's body.

Ji Yin stood atop the Demonic Cauldron, raising her hand to slice her index finger, and cast an array in mid-air.

"Even if my physical body perishes, my demonic soul remains and can continue cultivating its soul; that is not true death. But for them, once they die, they cease to exist entirely."

The Demonic Cauldron understood all too well that this was Ji Yin's intention.

Yet, was soul cultivation truly so easy? It was bound to be infinitely more arduous!

Xuanyuan Ji swung his hand toward a wolf lunging at him, only for the creature to dissolve into a wisp of blue smoke right before his eyes. He spun around in alarm and looked toward Ji Yin.

"This is..." A chilling premonition gripped his heart.

Abruptly abandoning his fight with the wolves, he flew directly toward Ji Yin!

A formidable barrier of energy blocked him outside the array.

"Yin'er! Yin'er!" He could sense Ji Yin gradually fading away.

Ji Yin was sacrificing her own physical body to fuel the array, continuously amplifying the power of the Demonic Cauldron and obliterating the wolf pack with a powerful devouring force!

Xuanyuan Ji had no idea what Ji Yin was attempting to do, but the sense of unease in his heart grew increasingly violent!

He understood that all of this stemmed from that cauldron!

He had to stop her immediately!

"Stop! Stop right now!"

Xuanyuan Ji tried to force his way through, only to find the array bizarrely intricate, leaving him no time to study a method to break it. Suddenly, his body soared into the air as he raised his hands to form hand seals, channeling every ounce of his remaining strength to strike the array!

A cataclysmic wave of power crashed down, and the array was forcibly shattered by sheer force!