Generally speaking, the majority of the devils in the second layer were Devil Kings. But that did not mean Devil Emperors did not exist here. In fact, there were some Devil Emperors in the second layer as well, but these were the Devil Emperors with low cultivation stages. Even so, they were more than enough to give this group of humans trouble. Every single devil was an extremely powerful combatant.

That was why everyone in Yu Caidie’s group had sustained injuries during their journey. They had even suffered four casualties. Now that Xiang Shaoyun was claiming that he had sensed not one Devil Emperor, but more, the others started getting nervous.

"Stop trying to scare everyone with your bluffs. According to the map, there are obviously no Devil Emperors if we take this route. There is no mistaking that," said Di Tong.

Su Jun chimed in, "That's right. Holy Maiden, let's continue our journey. It will take us two more weeks to reach our destination if we take a detour."

A few others also voiced their opinions, and none of them believed Xiang Shaoyun.

Xiang Shaoyun couldn't be bothered to argue with them. He went beside Yu Caidie and said, "Come with me!"

After saying that, he reached out to grab her hand, but she avoided his grasp.

"What is the meaning of that? Are you forgetting that all of us are here as well?" Long Yunfei was infuriated.

After spending some time with Yu Caidie, Long Yunfei had become even more smitten with her. His desire to become the Yu Clan's son-in-law was even stronger than before. Thus, seeing Xiang Shaoyun trying to grab Yu Caidie's hand right in front of him naturally filled him with anger.

"We will continue on the same route," said Yu Caidie. Not wanting to see a conflict breaking out within the group, she resumed the journey before Xiang Shaoyun had the chance to say anything else.

Xiang Shaoyun was left with no choice but to go along with them. If this was any other person, he would have left without hesitation. But since Yu Caidie was in the group, he really couldn't bring himself to leave. He would take the risk, and if needed, he wouldn't mind releasing the ghostrune emperors.

Two additional ghostrune emperors had appeared in his Nether Soul Domain. The ghostrunes had also told him how much they longed for the devilish energy outside, but he had yet to allow them to leave his Nether Soul Domain thus far. By now, it was clear the ghostrunes were also devils.

Xiang Shaoyun continued traveling with the group, but both he and Money were actually maintaining a certain distance behind the others. Huo Xudong had gotten rather close with Xiang Shaoyun recently. He knew Xiang Shaoyun was not one to joke around so he stayed by Xiang Shaoyun’s side. After some hesitation, Can Wunian also distanced himself from the main group.

Since Xiang Shaoyun could battle ninth-stage opponents as a fourth-stage King, it could only prove that there was something extraordinary about him. And there had to be a reason for him to issue them such a solemn warning earlier.

Sure enough, the group hadn't even traveled far before five figures appeared before them. The five figures had been hiding in a bush and basically looked like they were a part of the bush. Not even Xiang Shaoyun would have noticed them if he did not have his Nether Soul Domain.

The five devils weren't large in build. They each had a square head with eight feelers, the body of an ant, and the tail of a scorpion. These were the devil ant scorpions, and from the number of feelers they had, all of them were Devil Emperors.

"Shit! There are really Devil Emperors here!" The faces of Yu Caidie and the others sank. They had never expected that Xiang Shaoyun would actually be right. Devil Emperors had appeared, and there were more than one. Everyone in the group felt a chill creep up their spines upon noticing the Devil Emperors.

The five devil ant scorpions surrounded the group from five different directions. One of them who was a second-stage Devil Emperor said with a high-pitched voice, "I can smell a thick stench of my race's blood on you people. You must have killed a lot of devils. We will eat all of you to take revenge for the fallen ones."

Immediately after, the other four devil ant scorpions attacked.

"Try to charge through. Don't get into a prolonged battle with them," Yu Caidie commanded.

Although these geniuses were strong enough to face Emperors, there were five Devil Emperors here with the leader being a second-stage Devil Emperor. They might be able to put up a fight against these devils but at the cost of heavy injury or even death. That was not something Yu Caidie wished to see. If they really had to get into a bitter fight, she would rather that happen only after they arrived at the devil wind beast territory.

However, not everyone shared her sentiment. Along the way, the group had fought several hard battles, but they had all been group battles. And when they saw these Devil Emperors, some of them became excited. Long Yunfei, Di Tong, and a few others had been longing to show off their strength before Yu Caidie so that she would have a better impression of them.

"Don't worry, Holy Maiden. I, Long Yunfei, am not afraid of a mere first-stage Devil Emperor. I shall slay one of them for you!" said Long Yunfei before he charged one of the devil ant scorpions.

Di Tong also shouted, "I will also slay one and present it as a gift to you, Holy Maiden!"

With the two engaging the devil ant scorpions in battle, the others stopped trying to charge through. Rather, they dashed toward the other devil ant scorpions to meet them in battle as well. These geniuses were generally capable of becoming stronger when facing stronger opponents. After all, they had numerous trump cards that they wouldn't easily show unless required.

Now that they were facing actual powerful opponents, they could finally use their trump cards. But the devil ant scorpions weren't easy opponents. They weren't the most powerful in terms of offense, but their poison was insanely toxic. A single bite would be enough to kill any one of them.

Yu Caidie had not expected that these geniuses would disobey her during such a crucial moment like that. Helpless, she was forced to join the battle as well. She directly engaged the second-stage devil ant scorpion emperor in battle. One could see that not only was she strong, she was brave as well.

Xiang Shaoyun ignored all the battles, but he couldn't do the same for Yu Caidie's battle. For some reason, the longer he stayed with Yu Caidie, the more he felt that she should be his. It was an intense sensation he had never had toward any other women.

Random scenes kept emerging in his brain, as if they had known each other long ago. But he was very sure he had never met her. Ultimately, he concluded that this was most likely the workings of fate and that they were destined to be together.

Currently, Yu Caidie and her mount were unleashing fierce attacks toward the devil ant scorpion emperor. Her weapon was not the Brightfeather Umbrella. Rather, it was a halberd. Her offensive power with it was exceptional, and she created a large and destructive storm around her as she attacked.

However, the devil ant scorpion emperor was no pushover. It screeched repeatedly as it waved its legs and tail around, collapsing Yu Caidie's attacks as it sprayed out poisonous clouds. Even so, Yu Caidie revealed a strength worthy of her status as a candidate to be the Yu Clan's Holy Maiden. She had actually managed to keep the devil ant scorpion emperor suppressed.

Her exquisite attacks even caused Xiang Shaoyun to praise her endlessly, "She's actually this strong."

Just as Yu Caidie was about to obtain victory over her opponent, a figure suddenly appeared behind her.

"Caidie! Watch out!" shouted Xiang Shaoyun as he quickly charged over, his hairs standing erect in alarm.