Ying Yuankai trembled as he spoke, “He mentioned Elder Qingle! Could it be Junior Sister Le in the forest?!”
The male disciples behind him angrily shouted, “Forget about Junior Sister Le! Run quickly! Why are you hesitating?!”
As Ying Yuankai hesitated, several male disciples grabbed him and flew. Suddenly, they heard the great demon laughing wildly again, its voice deep as it said, “So many little mice hiding outside? Why don’t you all come over and entertain me?”
Everyone felt as if their bodies were gripped by an invisible giant hand. Thick, domineering demonic energy tightly bound them, leaving no way to resist. After a bout of dizziness, they were all dragged into the forest by the demonic energy and thrown to the ground.
Li Fei felt excruciating pain throughout his body. It took him a long while to struggle to his feet. He saw a monster several zhang tall standing opposite them. It looked like an ape, with brilliant golden eyes full of intelligence. From its head to its calves, it was covered in a layer of gleaming white fur, but its feet were long and large, the color of raging flames.
What was this? An ape demon?
The disciples lay scattered on the clearing, each groaning in pain. Opposite this monster sat a beautiful woman, as ethereal as a clear orchid – it was Le Cailing. She didn’t even glance at the group, only staring at the ape monster before her. On her lap rested a strangely shaped zither, seemingly carved from some creature’s bones. Its five strings were as red as blood, emitting a chilling sound.
The zither’s sound rang out again for several measures, neither melodic nor rhythmic, only desolate and piercing. The ape seemed to grow impatient, slamming its great palm on the ground. The earth immediately shook violently, dust flying everywhere. Le Cailing remained motionless, her slender fingers lightly plucking the strings. Wave-like zither notes flowed forth, parting the dust three zhang before her, not a speck touching her body.
By now, the other disciples had finally struggled to their feet. Upon seeing the monster clearly, they instinctively huddled together. Li Fei silently cast several Copper Wall techniques and concealment spells to shield everyone.
Seeing Le Cailing, Ying Yuankai immediately called out, “It is Junior Sister Le!”
The male disciples behind him angrily said, “It’s all because you were so slow! Look at the mess we’re in now!”
Ying Yuankai retorted, “How could we abandon a fellow disciple to die?!”
The others shook their heads and sighed, “Even if she’s a fellow disciple, so what? How can we save her? We can’t handle this creature even if we all attack together! If this girl wants to throw her life away in a duel, should we join her in death? Let’s look for a chance to retreat!”
As the male disciples argued behind them, Su Wan quietly tugged on Li Fei’s sleeve and whispered, “This is the fierce beast, Zhu Yan. We absolutely cannot handle it with just us few.”
Even this usually brave girl had lost her courage, a first.
Even Li Fei had heard of Zhu Yan. It was a legendary fierce beast that brought calamity. Though not as world-shaking as the Taowu, it was still a formidable creature. If they encountered it, perhaps twenty disciples attacking together might be able to subdue it, but with just their small group, they would only be throwing their lives away.
Ying Yuankai clearly understood this disparity as well. Though reluctant, when comparing beauty to his life, the latter was more important. Although he didn’t know why Le Cailing was confronting Zhu Yan alone, none of them wanted to be dragged into this battle.
As the group quietly retreated, about to fly away on clouds, Zhu Yan suddenly laughed, “You want to leave after coming here?”
Everyone felt bound by something again, their bodies involuntarily pulled back. Zhu Yan suddenly made a surprised sound, its great palm reaching out to grab Li Fei, who couldn’t dodge in time. It squeezed her tightly, making her feel as if her chest was churning with blood and qi, unbearably painful. She couldn’t help but cry out in agony.
Her vision blurred, and Zhu Yan’s enormous face appeared before her. Its golden eyes stared at her for a moment before it said in a low voice, “You’re very strange. What are you?”
Li Fei closed her eyes without answering. Enduring the intense pain, she forcefully circulated her spiritual energy. Suddenly, countless golden spikes shot out from all over her body, each one piercing into Zhu Yan’s palm. Zhu Yan yelped in pain, hurriedly letting go. Li Fei immediately summoned a white cloud. Just then, the piercing sound of a bamboo whistle rang out again, and a dazzling flying sword came whistling through the air. It feinted before Zhu Yan’s face, slicing off a patch of its gleaming white fur. Taking advantage of this moment, Li Fei immediately slid away several dozen zhang, her entire body instantly drenched in cold sweat.
This fierce beast was incredibly powerful!
Zhu Yan chuckled, staring at the flying sword dancing around it. “This is interesting!”
It suddenly reached out, easily pinching the sword between its fingers. Lei Xiuyuan immediately withdrew his technique, the sword’s body disappearing in a flash of golden light between Zhu Yan’s fingers. Seeming somewhat dissatisfied, it fixed its golden eyes on Lei Xiuyuan, looking at him, then at Li Fei behind him. Suddenly, it pounded the ground, laughing loudly several times, then leaped towards Lei Xiuyuan, its enormous body pouncing on him.
Lei Xiuyuan immediately transformed into a streak of golden light. Hearing the sharp wind above his head, he suddenly rolled on the ground. Zhu Yan’s great palm slammed down, with a loud “bang” shattering several Copper Wall techniques. Lei Xiuyuan was pushed by its brute force, sliding more than ten zhang away. He flipped and landed on the ground, his back covered in blood – he had still been injured by Zhu Yan.
Li Fei cast out a healing net, while Deng Xiguang and Su Wan beside her immediately lent their aid. Vines entangled and danced, and fire dragons and lotus flames were thrown together, forcing Zhu Yan back several steps.
Seeing Ying Yuankai and the others watching in stunned amazement, Su Wan couldn’t help but rage, “Are you all just going to watch?! Cowards!”
Ying Yuankai’s face flushed with shame at the rebuke. Seeing Zhu Yan relentlessly pursuing Lei Xiuyuan, he suddenly let out a great roar, concentrating all his spiritual energy to summon a transparent light wall. It was only half a person tall, but Zhu Yan was caught off guard and tripped over it. With a series of thunderous crashes, the light wall shattered into powder, and its enormous body tumbled far away.
Everyone immediately released wood-element immortal techniques to entangle it with vines. Golden arrow rain and fire lotuses were thrown out again as if spiritual energy cost nothing. Large patches of Zhu Yan’s snow-white fur were scorched, and the excruciating pain drove it to a state of frenzy. It let out a furious roar, turning to charge again. Li Fei immediately summoned a light wall, this time in mid-air. Zhu Yan, once again caught unawares, slammed headlong into it and was bounced back, staggering.
Lei Xiuyuan had long since summoned his treasured sword, which whistled as it pierced one of Zhu Yan’s eyes and flew out through the other. Blood streamed down Zhu Yan’s face as it howled in agony. At this moment, Le Cailing also began to play her zither. Her zither notes were desolate and bitterly cold, imbued with immortal techniques that made everyone who heard them feel irritable and unsettled.
Ying Yuankai urgently called out, “Junior Sister Le! Stop playing the zither! Zhu Yan is already blinded, quickly come over, and let’s deal with it together!”
She seemed not to hear, her fingertips trembling slightly as a shrill high note suddenly burst forth. Deng Xiguang, still weak from his recent injuries, was immediately affected by this high note, blood flowing from his ears and nose. The other disciples also felt extremely uncomfortable. However, no matter what they said to her, she seemed not to hear, the zither notes flowing out wave after wave, like knives and spears. Zhu Yan, confused by this barrage of zither notes, spun around in place, its snow-white fur being stripped away strand by strand by the music, falling like snow.
Suddenly, Zhu Yan regained its senses. Its eyes had been blinded, and its brain was in excruciating pain, its fury beyond words. This time, instead of pouncing, it slammed its palm on the ground with all its might. The ground immediately cracked inch by inch, and over a dozen trees as thick as three people’s embraces were tossed about like toothpicks by its brute force, hurtling toward the group.
As everyone frantically dodged, the irritating zither music continued to interfere, making it impossible to circulate spiritual energy smoothly. Li Fei suddenly flew on a cloud, landing beside Le Cailing. Without a word, she kicked the zither, sending it flying.
Le Cailing’s face was covered in frost as she stared at Li Fei for a long while, her gaze extremely sharp.
Li Fei angrily said, “You don’t have to help, but don’t interfere!”
Le Cailing coldly replied, “Zhu Yan was meant for me to hunt alone. Who told you to come and meddle?”
“Since we’ve already been dragged into this, what’s the use of saying such nonsense?” Li Fei stared back at her unflinchingly. “This is no longer just your affair!”
Le Cailing stared at her for a long time before turning to pick up her zither, apparently intending to leave. The disciples immediately became very displeased. They were struggling hard to deal with Zhu Yan, and the one who caused all this was planning to run away alone.
Lei Xiuyuan transformed into a streak of golden light, landing behind her and unceremoniously grabbing her collar. He said calmly, “You summoned this fierce beast, and now you want to leave just like that?”
Le Cailing had never been treated so rudely before, especially by a man. She flew into a rage and suddenly spoke, “Let go!”
As soon as these two words left her mouth, her face turned ashen, and she froze in place.
Lei Xiuyuan was about to leave when he sensed movement behind him. He leaped aside, only to see Le Cailing striking out with a palm. With Zhu Yan still rampaging nearby, this girl had turned on her people.
Li Fei blocked her palm with her own. “Have you no sense of reason?! How dare you attack a fellow disciple!”
Le Cailing said grimly, “This scoundrel has disrespected me and broken my cultivation technique! This grudge cannot be settled! Get out of my way!”
Su Wan was also becoming annoyed. “What kind of talk is this?! Would you dare say such things in front of Elder Qingle?”
Le Cailing was extremely agitated, seeming to laugh and cry at the same time. She cried out miserably, “In front of Master? In front of Master, I would kill him even more readily! The third level of my cultivation technique requires three years of not speaking to men to complete! Now that he has ruined it in one go, could you, could any of you bear it?!”
Li Fei let out an “Ah” sound. Ruined her cultivation technique? So the reason she didn’t speak to male disciples was because she was cultivating a musical immortal technique?!
She murmured, “What happens when a cultivation technique is broken? Is all cultivation lost?”
After all, it was Le Cailing herself who couldn’t resist speaking. Her actions just now were indeed infuriating, and Lei Xiuyuan had only done what everyone wanted to do. But having one’s cultivation technique broken sounded very serious. If all her cultivation were to disappear, wouldn’t that be terrible? It probably wouldn’t be easy to explain to Elder Qingle either.
Lei Xiuyuan glanced at Le Cailing. “At most, you’ll have to cultivate for another three years. It’s not as serious as having your entire cultivation technique destroyed.”
Le Cailing was so angry her face turned ashen. “Three years is not time? Will you compensate me for three years?”
As they argued incessantly, the blinded Zhu Yan suddenly stopped moving, becoming completely silent. The disciples, who had been battered half to death, immediately became alert, gathering together once more. Even Le Cailing had to swallow her hatred and stand with them.
Ying Yuankai and Li Fei erected Copper Wall techniques, and everyone held the hand seal to summon small white clouds, ready to flee at a moment’s notice if things went wrong.
Zhu Yan slowly raised its head, fresh blood flowing from its eyes. It suddenly opened its mouth, emitting a long, piercing howl. The disciples’ eardrums were nearly shattered by this heart-rending cry. Covering their ears was useless, and they couldn’t circulate their spiritual energy, leaving them in immense pain. This howl lasted for half the time it takes to brew a cup of tea. Deng Xiguang couldn’t withstand it and was the first to faint.
The disciples had already turned pale from this howl. When they tried to escape on clouds, they found they couldn’t. Their internal spiritual energy suddenly couldn’t circulate at all. The surrounding miasma and demonic energy surged in like a tidal wave, dissipating their spiritual energy in the blink of an eye.
This feeling wasn’t unfamiliar to Li Fei. The forbidden area of the academy was unable to use any immortal techniques due to the extremely dense miasma. But at this moment, the miasma here was countless times stronger than in the forbidden area. The sudden, overwhelming miasma was like an invisible giant hand, instantly pressing most of the disciples to the ground. They fainted before they could even groan.