Wan Lei flew extremely fast, instantly appearing before Fang Xiaoyu. He grabbed her slender waist with both hands and lifted her up, spinning her around.
"It's good that Xiaoyu sister is alright. I haven't seen you in two to three days, and I've missed you terribly. I've been worried sick, so I'm overjoyed to see you now."
Fang Xiaoyu, lifted high, looked at him with suspicion. This guy was perhaps a little *too* happy, her mind couldn't shake the feeling that he was trying to cover something up with a false display of emotion.
She turned her head to look at the other arrivals. Xiaoyu immediately understood.
Oh, so *she* was here.
"Alright, alright, put me down. Stop the act."
Fang Xiaoyu patted Wan Lei's arms.
From a distance, Qi Manyao saw Wan Lei lifting Fang Xiaoyu and spinning her. She let out a cold snort and disdainfully turned her head away. However, she suddenly saw Fang Xiaoyu flying excitedly towards her.
Qi Manyao had initially intended to ignore her. But seeing Fang Xiaoyu open her arms, she didn't evade. Instead, she embraced Fang Xiaoyu.
"Man Yao, I can't believe you've been resurrected! That's wonderful, we don't have to worry anymore. I've missed you so much."
Hearing Fang Xiaoyu's words, Qi Manyao felt a warmth in her heart. Despite her dislike for Fang Xiaoyu, their relationship had always been good, and they were friends.
Back in the Kui Lian Sect, Qi Manyao had once argued with someone for Fang Xiaoyu's sake, and Fang Xiaoyu had also beaten up those who bullied Qi Manyao.
Although they would bicker and fight every time they met on the surface, they still cared about each other in their hearts.
"That's enough, that's enough. I'm fine now, don't worry."
Qi Manyao gently patted Fang Xiaoyu's back.
However, Fang Xiaoyu's mischievous little hand had already moved from Qi Manyao's waist to her back.
*Slap!*
A familiar slap.
"Hmm, still the same feel. You haven't gotten any thinner recently. It's good that you're a little plump, feels better."
Fang Xiaoyu said with a wicked grin, then reached out to pinch Qi Manyao's cheek. Qi Manyao dodged desperately.
"Get away from me, you pervert! And here I thought you'd changed for the better, but you're still incorrigible!"
Bullying Qi Manyao was the most enjoyable thing for Fang Xiaoyu. She burst into laughter, completely abandoning any pretense of ladylike behavior.
The surrounding Four Little Ones and others were stunned by this scene.
They knew very well that Qi Manyao and Fang Xiaoyu were rivals in love. Moreover, Qi Manyao had spoken ill of Fang Xiaoyu quite a bit in the past couple of days. They had expected a dramatic confrontation when the two women met, and were even prepared to witness Wan Lei's awkwardness.
But they never expected that Fang Xiaoyu would look so happy, and the two of them would appear to be the closest of best friends.
"Let me introduce you all. This is our family's concubine, the bed-warming maid."
Fang Xiaoyu casually slung an arm around Qi Manyao's shoulder. Her mischievous, rogue-like demeanor, to the Four Little Ones, was exactly like Wan Lei.
Could this be marital resemblance?
"Who's your family's concubine? You wish! Let go of me, you pervert!"
Qi Manyao gritted her teeth, struggling against Fang Xiaoyu's demonic claws, but she couldn't break free. Her derrière was slapped again.
"Oh, Chidori?! You're here too. How have you been lately?"
Fang Xiaoyu's gaze swept over everyone, spotting the only member of the Three Zhang Demon Clan present.
"Heh, greetings, Your Majesty the Empress. I've been doing quite well recently."
Chidori smiled faintly. He had witnessed Wan Lei's ascension to emperor with Fang Xiaoyu by his side.
"Mhm, mhm, that's good."
"She's not an Empress at all, she doesn't have the slightest air of imperial dignity. She's like a child all day... *mmph!*"
Before Qi Manyao could finish speaking, Fang Xiaoyu covered her mouth. Then, she moved to kiss Qi Manyao's cheek, scaring her into retreating repeatedly.
"Not behaving at all! If you're not good, I'll punish you by making you cook and wash dishes, and you won't be allowed to eat for three days."
Hearing the mention of food, the less verbose Kaka's eyes lit up.
"Hungry..."
While Fang Xiaoyu was teasing Qi Manyao, Wan Lei had also been catching up with his other comrades. Ling Xin was surprised to see Chidori and only learned that this demon was Wan Lei's friend after asking.
The two groups had successfully reunited. The Thunder Rain Squad, with the exception of Tian Suanzi, was all present. Ling Xin's squad also had about twenty members.
Wan Lei proposed that they rest and consolidate their intelligence before deciding how to deal with the nearly ten thousand demons in the palace ruins.
The more than thirty people gathered in a circle on the ground. Wan Lei produced a lot of food and handed it to Kaka, while Xia Yubing also contributed plenty of snacks.
For a moment, it felt as if they weren't in a perilous environment, but rather out on a picnic.
At this juncture, someone naturally needed to step forward to make decisions, but for a moment, no one knew whom to listen to.
After all, among those present, there were two captains: Wan Lei, the captain of the Thunder Rain Squad, and Ling Xin, the king of soldiers. Furthermore, Ling Xin's subordinates, without considering high-tech weaponry, were not significantly inferior to Wan Lei's squad in combat power.
After all, every survivor out of over a hundred people was an elite, and there were not a few Tai Heng Realm powerhouses among them.
However, the strongest cultivator among those present was not from either squad, but rather the white dragon, Ao Lie.
He was in the Wu Liang Realm.
Ao Lie had transformed into human form, dressed in white, appearing refined and elegant, possessing an aura of unparalleled youthful grace. Among everyone present, only Wan Liuchuan could rival him in terms of appearance.
Wan Lei, however, did not shamelessly include himself.
Scanning the crowd, Wan Lei suddenly smiled.
"Perhaps many people would never have imagined in their lives that there would be a squad capable of gathering humans, dragons, demons, gods, Weiyang people, and demons all together."
Everyone present was stunned. After looking around, they all burst into laughter.
Indeed, Ao Lie of the Dragon race, Huo Feng of the Demon race, Dada of the God race, Kaka of the Weiyang race, Chidori of the Demon race, and the rest were all humans.
These races, not to mention the demons, five thousand years ago, were all races that would have fought to the death!
Now, they could all sit together and coexist harmoniously, even the demons and the Weiyang people could join in.
The scene before them was simply a depiction of all races under heaven as one family.
"I think we should take a photo to commemorate this moment. Otherwise, it will be difficult to gather so many races again in the future."
With that said, Xia Yubing excitedly took out her spirit jade and placed it at a distance, taking a group photo of everyone.
In the photo, Wan Lei was smiling proudly, Fang Xiaoyu was whispering with Qi Manyao, Wan Liuchuan had a calm expression, Liu Yuxin’s face was frosty, Bao Bao’s eyes were filled with curiosity, Chidori was smiling faintly, and Ao Lie’s gaze was cast in a certain direction.
"Man Yao, I think that white dragon is quite handsome. Is he your comrade? Are you interested in developing something?"
Fang Xiaoyu was very enthusiastic about finding a partner for Qi Manyao.