Monster!
Qin Yangling’s heart was filled with terror as he withdrew his short dagger. This time, he aimed for the golden left eye of Lei Xiuyuan. Suddenly, Lei Xiuyuan’s head drooped, and the dagger struck his forehead with a “clang,” as if hitting an iron block, jarring Qin Yangling’s hand.
In his shock, Qin Yangling dropped the dagger and hastily retreated. Yuan Power surged, and a Catastrophe Mirror slowly materialized in his right eye. In an instant, Lei Xiuyuan’s figure was engulfed by several zhang thick ice. Lei Xiuyuan’s body once again emitted a dazzling golden light, even brighter than during the previous Dueling Convention. The ice in the cave was tinted golden by that layer of light.
Remembering his painful experience from the last time, Qin Yangling immediately conjured his jade flute beneath his feet. This place was not suitable to linger! Where was Zhen Yunzi? If he had stayed a moment longer, he would have seen this boy’s true form! If this wasn’t a demon, then what was it? He flew rapidly towards the cave exit. Just a few zhang out of the cave mouth, he heard the terrifying sound of ice shattering inside. His heart nearly leaped out of his throat, and he didn’t dare look back, flying forward desperately.
Birds in the mountains took flight in panic, and countless demonic auras surged. Surprisingly, all the demons within a hundred li were frantically fleeing to distant places. As Qin Yangling was stunned by this, he suddenly felt a great force grab his belt. He had no strength to resist and was dragged back into the mountain cave like an eagle catching a chick. He was thrown violently onto the shattered ice, nearly losing consciousness, his vision blurring.
A foot appeared in his hazy field of view, covered in rampant golden light as if wrapped in a thick layer of golden flames. Qin Yangling slowly raised his head, his expression dazed and met Lei Xiuyuan’s golden pupils. Lei Xiuyuan’s entire body was covered in that dazzling, cold golden light, giving people an eerie feeling. An overwhelming fear rose in Qin Yangling’s heart—he wasn’t human! What was he?
Lei Xiuyuan looked at him for a while, then turned his head to look around, suddenly asking, “Where’s Li Fei?”
After gasping for a long time, Qin Yangling trembled and said, “I’ll tell you, just don’t hurt me!”
Lei Xiuyuan gazed at him impassively. The rampant golden light on his body gradually faded, but seemed to be absorbed into his body. He looked no different from usual, yet somehow changed. The bloody gash on his neck had disappeared, and his face, which had been half-covered in blood earlier, was now clean.
Qin Yangling watched in horror as Lei Xiuyuan’s neatly tied long hair suddenly came loose, and two slender black horns slowly grew from the sides of his head. They grew to about three or four cun in length, lying flat against his ears.
Black horns? He seemed to have seen this appearance somewhere before…
He stared blankly as Lei Xiuyuan crouched beside him. A strand of long hair fell across his face, and the two slender black horns at his temples gave him a demonic air. His expressionless face looked so terrifying that it instilled an inescapable fear deep in one’s soul.
Qin Yangling’s peripheral vision caught sight of his bronze Yaksha mask lying in a corner. His mouth suddenly gaped open as he stared at Lei Xiuyuan, unable to utter a single word. Truly, not a single word.
“Speak, and I won’t harm you,” Lei Xiuyuan’s voice was calm, showing no emotion.
Qin Yangling covered his face in fear, his voice trembling as if he were crying, “She… she was taken away by Zhen Yunzi! And, and! Zhen Yunzi also took someone else! Someone wearing the disciple robes of Xingzheng Hall! I’ve told you everything! I don’t know what he wants to do! From the moment I met him, he never told me anything! He just agreed to help me! I don’t know where he went! I don’t know anything!”
He waited for a long time but heard no response. Trembling, he peeked through his fingers, only to see Lei Xiuyuan casting three golden nets over Ye Ye and the other two. Then, he grabbed Elder Zheng Xu’s corpse and lightly tossed it up. His body suddenly transformed into a golden light, shooting upwards and falling back to the ground in an instant. Qin Yangling watched in horror as Elder Zheng Xu’s body turned into a shower of blood, splattering all over the ground, leaving not even a fragment of bone.
Lei Xiuyuan opened his palm and gently grasped something, crushing it lightly. Then his cold eyes once again turned to Qin Yangling.
“I said I wouldn’t harm you,” his voice was low. “I’m a man of my word, so I’ll just kill you.”
Qin Yangling’s heart stopped, and his body went limp as Lei Xiuyuan tossed him up like Elder Zheng Xu. The last words he heard in this world were: “Don’t worry, it won’t hurt at all.”
Li Fei felt as if every bone in her body had shattered. This terrifying, excruciating pain tormented her, causing her to faint and immediately wake up from the pain. Her vision was chaotic and blurry. In a daze, she felt Zhen Yunzi carrying her to what seemed like an open area. The sea breeze blew, surrounding her with the scent of the ocean, gradually clearing her mind.
She gazed confusedly at the blue sky above. This seemed to be an open cliff, with a huge boulder standing on the edge. It was naturally formed, with many characters carved on its surface, though she couldn’t make them out clearly.
The next moment, her body was suddenly tossed carelessly. The Dragon Binding Chains bound her, suspending her in the air on a cross-shaped earthen frame. Blood dripped down, staining the ground beneath her feet. Li Fei struggled to raise her eyes and saw Ji Tongzhou being gently placed on the ground by Zhen Yunzi. He was also covered in blood, his face pale and eyes tightly shut, as if severely injured.
Zhen Yunzi set up a healing net over him, seemingly with no intention of killing him. Li Fei secretly breathed a sigh of relief. She watched as Zhen Yunzi stood up and walked towards the huge boulder, caressing the characters on it, muttering, “In the past, a Qingcheng Immortal took a Nine-Tailed Fox overseas. Today, I, Zhen Yunzi, will refine the Nine-Tailed Fox into a magical treasure. From now on, whether in cultivation or knowledge, no one will be able to match me, Zhen Yunzi!”
A Qingcheng Immortal took a Nine-Tailed Fox overseas?! Li Fei was suddenly more alert. Was the Nine-Tailed Fox referring to Riyan? Had he gone overseas with a Qingcheng Immortal?!
After muttering to himself for a moment, Zhen Yunzi’s fingertips glowed with golden light, and he began to carve characters on the huge boulder: “Zhen Yunzi of Xingzheng Hall’s Mysterious Sect refines the Nine-Tailed Fox Riyan here!”
Li Fei watched in horror as he walked towards her, holding a snow-white sword. When unsheathed, the blade was extremely thin, like autumn water, clear and divine. Zhen Yunzi lightly tapped the blade, and it emitted a cold, resonant hum. Then, his Yuan Power attached to it, and with a flash of cold light, this sword mercilessly pierced Li Fei’s abdomen.
Surprisingly, she felt no pain. The thin sword, imbued with Yuan Power, silently pulsed with energy waves inside her body. Was Zhen Yunzi planning to forcibly refine a living person?!
The Yuan Power of an Immortal was tyrannical and unrestrained, especially when refining her alive. Li Fei felt pain in every part of her body, in all her meridians. This kind of pain was unheard of as if her entire body was being continuously crushed and ground. Compared to this, the earlier pain of her bones seemingly shattering felt like mere tickling.
She couldn’t help but scream in agony, her body violently convulsing. Her hands gripped the Dragon Binding Chains so tightly that her wrist bones dislocated in an instant from her violent struggle. But she could no longer feel anything except that crushing, excruciating pain that continued to torture and ravage her.
Zhen Yunzi watched her with feverish eyes. Finally, it was in his grasp! The Nine-Tailed Fox! He had waited for nearly a hundred years! He had been patient and dormant for too long, so long that he had almost forgotten the supreme pleasure of standing at the pinnacle! Everything he had lost would now return to his hands! Both losing and regaining, and gaining and losing again, were the ultimate experiences in this world – one of joy, one of pain. He had experienced both extremes, and after refining this magical treasure, his cultivation mind would become even more stable, and his cultivation would undoubtedly advance immensely.
“Senior Zhen Yunzi.” The seemingly unconscious prince behind him had awakened. Seeing someone being refined, he showed no shock or exclamation, remaining quite composed.
Zhen Yunzi didn’t turn around. A mere junior disciple, no matter how talented, couldn’t pose any threat to him. He said coldly, “You’re awake? The cold poison is rampant in your body, but since you have a fire attribute spirit root, you should be able to find a way to expel it yourself.”
Ji Tongzhou slowly walked to his side, with Li Fei’s agonized wails in his ears. Without raising his head to look, he asked in a low voice, “May I ask what you are doing, sir?”
Zhen Yunzi smiled coldly, “Considering you’re a clansman of Senior Brother Xuan Shan and the beloved disciple of Senior Brother Wu Zheng, I’ve spared your life. You’re a disciple of our Xingzheng Hall, you should know what’s more important. If you’re sensible, pretend you know nothing about today’s events, leave on your own, and I’ll let you go.”
Ji Tongzhou bowed to him and immediately mounted his sword to leave. Zhen Yunzi smiled, thinking the boy was sensible! But in the next moment, a blade of black flames suddenly cleaved through the Dragon Binding Chains. Countless black flame tongues licked the air before him. This child possessed the Xuanhua Fire?!
Even he dared not directly confront the Xuanhua Fire. He immediately withdrew his sword to avoid it. Ji Tongzhou grabbed Li Fei and was about to escape. How could Zhen Yunzi let a junior disciple escape before his eyes? The snow-white sword in his hand suddenly extended. Ji Tongzhou felt a bone-chilling coldness in his back. He avoided the vital points but still took a sword strike.
Li Fei felt the excruciating pain in her body suddenly lessen. She opened her eyes, her breath feeble and her mind unclear. In her swaying vision, she saw Ji Tongzhou’s face very close to hers. Blood was dripping from his lips onto her face. He suddenly exerted force and threw her out. Then he turned back on his sword, erecting a massive black firewall on the cliff. Loud explosive sounds erupted, and the tremors of the mountain fire enveloped the entire cliff. Black flames obscured her vision, and she could no longer see him.
Where was her Yuan Power? Where was her Yuan Power?! She had to circulate it quickly! Li Fei no longer cared about anything else and directly used Spirit Absorption. In an instant, Yuan Power filled her body. With a thought, the Horn of Si immediately appeared on her body, supporting her weakened, falling form. Her body still retained that crushing pain, as if her internal organs were being twisted to pieces. She pressed hard on her abdomen, screaming in pain.
Gritting her teeth, she reset her dislocated wrist. The Horn of Si carried her, flying swiftly back to the cliff. She shouted, “Zhen Yunzi! I’m here!”
As the black flames and thick smoke slowly dispersed, Ji Tongzhou’s enraged face appeared in her vision. He roared, “Why did you come back?”
Before his words faded, Zhen Yunzi’s thin sword pierced through his right chest. Blood spurted from his mouth, and he could no longer support himself, collapsing. Li Fei caught him and cast a healing net over him. She pressed his head down and said sternly, “Lie still and don’t move!”
Zhen Yunzi flicked the blood off his sword and looked at her with burning eyes, not speaking, seemingly preparing to form a seal for the Dragon Binding Chains.
Li Fei stared back at him fiercely. This person had been chasing her since she was young, like a persistent curse. Lei Xiuyuan wasn’t wrong; even if he did nothing, she would live her entire life in fear and suspicion. He would always remember that she had a Nine-Tailed Fox, lurking in the shadows, waiting for an opportunity to act. With him around, the six of them could never live peacefully.
She didn’t want to continue like this anymore, hiding like a turtle in its shell, praying for her good luck to continue, pretending nothing was happening.
Of course, things would happen! They would strike suddenly, at unexpected moments, shattering all illusions of peace.
“No need for the Dragon Binding Chains!” Li Fei spread her arms. “I won’t hide or run. Continue refining me!”
Zhen Yunzi looked at her thoughtfully, seemingly trying to fathom her true intentions. Honestly, with the Dragon Binding Chains sealing all her Yuan Power, it wasn’t very convenient for him to refine her. But surely this little girl wasn’t trying to trick him?
Li Fei said coldly, “Aren’t you coming?”
Zhen Yunzi suddenly found it amusing. She was just a disciple at the third bottleneck stage. Even if she tried to trick him, what could she do? The thin sword in his hand suddenly expanded and pierced her abdomen again.
Li Fei felt that crushing pain ravage her once more. Gritting her teeth, she grabbed the sword blade. The Horn of Si appeared in her palm, and she lightly touched its tip. In an instant, it absorbed all of his vast Yuan Power like a whale swallowing water.