Li Fei stared blankly at the shattered guest room, at a loss for words. Not only was the outer wall breached, but the walls of three adjacent rooms were also cracked. Would the inn be alright? Could it withstand this? Would it suddenly collapse?
Should she disregard True Person Dongyang’s warning and go out?
Li Fei peeked through the broken wall. She saw fires raging throughout the city, demons dancing wildly in the sky, and the ground covered in blood, with human and demon corpses mixed.
She had never seen such a horrific scene. It was truly heart-wrenching.
Suddenly, a sharp wind sounded above her head. Li Fei ducked back, just as a huge black claw swiped past her nose, sharper than a knife. The wind even cut off a strand of her long hair.
She retreated several steps, hearing a piercing cry outside like a wailing infant. A grotesque head, larger than the wall itself, pushed through the wall’s gap. Its eyes were blood-red, and a foul stench emanated from its sharp beak. It was a huge fierce beast – a Gu Diao.
This was bad. If it broke through, the inn would surely collapse! Li Fei summoned her flying sword and pierced its eye. The Gu Diao immediately shrieked and withdrew its head. She no longer dared to stay in this guest room, but she couldn’t leave either. With the wall broken, if demons rushed in, everyone in the inn would die!
She transformed into a wisp of blue smoke and flew out, summoning the Golden Water Dragon Roar. Instantly, a mist of golden light enveloped the broken wall. This immortal technique was taught to her by Ri Yan. Every time she saw Lei Xiuyuan use it, she thought it was so impressive. Unfortunately, since she didn’t have a metal spirit root, her Golden Water Dragon Roar wasn’t as sharp and powerful as his. The golden light was much dimmer.
The one-eyed Gu Diao, enraged, flapped its wings and charged again. Li Fei focused her mind and formed a seal. An orange, dim light enveloped her body – this was the Earth Lord’s Protection she had practiced hard for many days. Following that, several huge rocks as tall as a person were summoned and detonated. The Gu Diao didn’t even make a sound before it was blasted into pieces, falling heavily.
Li Fei had just breathed a sigh of relief when she heard movement behind her. Unable to dodge in time, half of her body was caught in a huge, bloody maw. The stench hit her face – it was another Gu Diao.
Li Fei’s Earth Lord’s Protection couldn’t be maintained for long. After the previous battle and being bitten by the Gu Diao, the orange light had become very dim and was about to dissipate. She erected several earthen walls and was about to summon huge rocks when she felt movement above her head. The earthen walls were instantly shattered. She hurriedly transformed into blue smoke to avoid the attack, only to see four or five Gu Diao lunging towards her.
Why were they all coming here?! Li Fei rode the clouds to dodge the Gu Diao’s attacks. Suddenly, another Gu Diao appeared behind her. A sharp pain shot through her arm as an irresistible force yanked her away. She was grabbed by the arm and carried swiftly through the air.
Her offensive immortal techniques weren’t as sharp and powerful as Lei Xiuyuan’s, and using them now wouldn’t help much. She forcibly summoned the Earth Lord’s Protection again. Suddenly, she felt intense heat behind her. Countless fire snakes howled as they approached, instantly entangling and strangling the screeching, spinning Gu Diao. Li Fei managed to escape her bonds and immediately flew away on a cloud. She saw flames spreading like a mountain, with countless tongues of fire. In the blink of an eye, the group of fierce beasts was burned to ashes.
Such a domineering fire-based immortal technique – among the people she knew, only one person could use it like this.
Li Fei turned around. Through the bright flames, she saw Ji Tongzhou frowning at her on the other side. She couldn’t describe that look – no one had ever looked at her like that before. He quickly flew through the sea of fire towards her but suddenly stopped, frozen in mid-air.
What should she do? Should she greet him? Li Fei hesitated for a moment. The next instant, a torn talisman fell from her sleeve. She quickly grabbed it – this was the one True Person Chongyi had given them earlier. When the Gu Diao had injured her arm, the talisman had been torn.
The illusion disappeared.
She looked down at herself. The village girl’s outfit had changed back to the disciple’s robe of Wu Yue Ting. She looked back at Ji Tongzhou, who was still frowning, his deep eyes unwavering as he stared at her.
Li Fei suddenly felt extremely awkward. She couldn’t greet and talk to Ji Tongzhou as freely as before, nor could she treat him like a stranger. What should she do? Just stare at each other?
Ji Tongzhou looked at her for a long time, then suddenly turned and flew away without saying a word.
Li Fei floated in the air, stunned, not knowing whether to feel disappointed or relieved. Was their friendship completely over? Would they be even more like strangers than before? Being strangers would be better than this awkward relationship between them…
A spring rain began to fall, about ten feet above the rooftops. The raging fires in the city finally began to dim. A huge spiritual net was set up above the town. The demons and fierce beasts outside the net began to retreat and avoid it, while those inside were gradually killed off by the immortals.
Li Fei was hovering outside the torn wall of the inn, watching, when she suddenly saw Lei Xiuyuan approaching on a cloud. His illusion had also been dispelled, and his Tu Bai disciple’s robe was covered in demon blood. Seeing the inn in such a state, he frowned and flew to her side, asking softly, “Are you alright?”
Li Fei shook her head. After a moment’s thought, she told him, “I just met Ji Tongzhou.”
Lei Xiuyuan made no comment. He pulled her into the inn, sat her down on the ground, and said, “Stay here and don’t move.”
He floated outside on a cloud and added a layer of Golden Water Dragon Roar to the broken wall. The golden misty light immediately became brilliant and dazzling. Occasionally, demons that had escaped the net would rush over in panic, only to be easily killed by him with a single move. Although many demons were flying around, they didn’t seem very powerful. Perhaps, as True Person Qingle had said, this was just the beginning, and the truly powerful demons and fierce beasts wouldn’t move in such large groups.
By dawn, the demons in the city had finally been eliminated. Demon blood and corpses were piled up like mountains. The agonized wails of the townspeople gradually turned into quiet sobs. Although the cultivators had tried their best to kill the demons, some mortal casualties were inevitable. So many demons suddenly attacked the city at night to eat people which had never happened before.
More than a dozen elders returned to the inn. Seeing the inn in such a dilapidated state and the city in ruins, True Person Dongyang frowned and sighed, “How could demons attack a city at night during their migration? It’s unheard of. At this rate, the major sects will have to station people in every town along the demons’ migration route. Otherwise, after one migration, all the people will be dead.”
An elder pondered, “This is a serious matter. I’ll return to the sect first to report this to the four sect leaders before making any decisions.”
The other elders agreed, and that elder immediately left on a cloud. Another elder said softly, “Last night’s situation was special. We removed our concealment techniques, and the immortals in the city have likely already noticed us. Putting the concealment back on now would only draw more attention. We need a suitable excuse. Fortunately, the two senior immortals never appeared. Now that we possess important items, we must be cautious in everything we do.”
The elders began to discuss suitable excuses. Lei Xiuyuan noticed the bloodstains on Li Fei’s arm and grasped her hand, rolling up her sleeve to examine the wound closely.
“It’s just a minor injury. It’s already been treated,” Li Fei said, smiling at him.
Lei Xiuyuan embraced her. After a moment, he said softly, “Next time you’re in danger, remember to call for me.”
Li Fei felt a bit indignant. “We’ve both broken through the third bottleneck. Why were you allowed to go out and kill demons while I had to stay in the room and not move?”
Lei Xiuyuan chuckled lightly. “You’re comparing yourself to me?”
Was he looking down on her? Li Fei stepped on his foot. “Be careful, or I might become stronger than you and beat you up in the future.”
Lei Xiuyuan patted her head. Suddenly, they heard the wind howling outside the wall. Several people instantly appeared before the group. It was two elders from the Fire Lotus Sect, followed by an old man and a young man – True Person Wu Zheng from the Star Zheng Pavilion and Ji Tongzhou.
Li Fei felt awkward again upon seeing Ji Tongzhou, but he never once looked in her direction. He just stood there with an indifferent expression, as if he didn’t know them at all.
“We didn’t expect Wu Yue Ting to have so many elders in Duan Ming City. We hadn’t noticed earlier, which was discourteous of us. We hope you won’t take offense,” said a female elder from the Fire Lotus Sect, stepping forward to bow. Although her tone was polite, her words were somewhat sharp, bringing up the fact that they had used concealment techniques and illusions to hide their identities earlier. Wu Yue Ting had dispatched more than a dozen elders at once, which was quite a show of force. At a time when anomalies were just beginning to appear in the world, even the slightest movement from major sects like theirs would cause a great stir. Moreover, this place was close to the Fire Lotus Sect, so they were more vigilant than others.
True Person Wu Zheng also stepped forward and bowed but didn’t speak. With the Fire Lotus Sect taking the lead, he naturally didn’t need to question them, avoiding any potential tension between the Star Zheng Pavilion and Wu Yue Ting.
True Person Guang Wei smiled and said, “We were indeed abrupt. With today’s unusual phenomena, the barrier at White Edge Cliff, our sect’s high-level training ground in the center of the Middle Kingdom, seemed unstable. Additionally, with the demons from the Four Seas beginning to migrate, our four sect leaders dispatched us to investigate. We originally didn’t want to disturb the immortals here, but given last night’s special circumstances, we must apologize to everyone today.”
Seeing his reasonable explanation, the Fire Lotus Sect members relaxed. White Edge Cliff was a very high-level training ground, and if its barrier had problems, it would naturally require many elders to repair. Moreover, the dozen or so elders had brought two disciples with them, likely intending to take advantage of the demon migration to let the disciples hunt demons and refine magical treasures. If there were truly any unusual movements, they probably wouldn’t involve young disciples. Realizing this, the two elders’ expressions softened, and they smiled, “We’re grateful for your help last night. If it were just us, we might still be fighting now, and Duan Ming City’s casualties would have been even worse.”
The elders immediately exchanged a few polite words, and in an instant, the atmosphere became harmonious once again.
True Person Guang Wei noticed that the young disciple behind True Person Wu Zheng was about the same age as Lei Xiuyuan and had also broken through the third bottleneck. He praised, “True Person Wu Zheng, we didn’t expect to meet you here. Your disciple is truly promising. Last night, I saw him single-handedly slaying countless demons, his immortal techniques truly exquisite.”
True Person Wu Zheng smiled and said, “True Person Guang Wei, you flatter us. Your esteemed disciple is the one with extraordinary talent. With the recent demon migration, I had some free time and brought my young disciple out to hunt demons and refine magical treasures, also to let him clear his mind. It’s a fortunate encounter, and we should have traveled together. However, you have important matters to attend to, and I shouldn’t impose. When there’s an opportunity in the future, we’ll have a good chat.”
He immediately bid farewell. Ji Tongzhou bowed respectfully and followed without saying a word.