Fu Luo sobbed softly, “For the sake of our many years of acquaintance, Little Brother Fucang, I’ve never done anything to wrong you. On the contrary, I’ve been extremely good to you, but you weren’t willing, and I never pestered you either. I know I’ve wronged Gu Ting, but I haven’t wronged you all. He and I were both willing. Can’t you let me off this once?”
These words… Xuan Yi couldn’t help but look at her again. So she really had tried to seduce Fucang. She suddenly felt Gu Ting was ten thousand times more pitiful.
Fucang turned his back. “Unauthorized departure from one’s division is punishable by the Solar Radiance Crown Punishment. Privately consorting with the demon race is three hundred lashes.”
This was an extraordinary period. In the past, when the various deities descended to the lower realm to play and frolic with the demons, it was all considered normal, but now it was forbidden. Fu Luo’s behavior could be called audaciously bold to the extreme. With these two punishments, she probably wouldn’t be able to get out of bed for a thousand years.
Fu Luo pleaded for a long time, but seeing he remained completely unmoved, she only wept bitterly. Xuan Yi was most impatient with listening to goddesses cry. With a flick of her fingertip, she flicked her back into the forest. Seeing the spectacular silver dragon waterfall on the cliff opposite, she spread her handkerchief on the ground and sat down to leisurely enjoy the scenery.
“When will the Dingmao Division battle commanders arrive?” she asked absentmindedly.
Fucang crouched beside her. She probably still wasn’t quite accustomed to wearing battle armor—two sashes at the collar were tied incorrectly, so he retied them for her while saying, “It’ll be a while yet.”
Seeing her black and white eyes fixed on his face, he couldn’t help but ask, “What is it?”
Xuan Yi thought for a moment. “How did Senior Sister Fu Luo try to seduce you?”
Fucang’s brows furrowed. “…What?”
“Nothing.” Xuan Yi used her sleeve to suppress a yawn. “I’m hungry.”
Fucang didn’t know whether to be angry or amused. He pressed his hand on the top of her head and gently shook it. “I don’t remember. I never paid attention.”
Xuan Yi lowered her head to pick at the bright pearl on his Chun Jun sword scabbard. The wind gradually picked up, blowing her long hair across her face.
Today, the battle armor on her body was blazing red like fire. It was extremely rare to see her wear such an intense color. Because her complexion was so pale, set against such vivid colors, she appeared somewhat more lively than usual. Fucang couldn’t help but use his fingertip to caress her cheek carefully, pinching up the strands of hair there.
“Get up. Be alert—there are many demon clans in the lower realm.” His voice was gentle.
Xuan Yi stood up and dusted off the floating ash. She only felt the wind at the cliff’s edge growing stronger and stronger. She squinted toward the horizon—clear skies and bright sun, no demon fog. She turned to look at the Third Prince. He lay motionless like a puddle of dead meat, yet she had an uneasy premonition in her heart.
Fucang was clearly even more vigilant than her. The golden dragon that had bound the Third Prince instantly leapt back to his side, circling and protecting the two of them. He erected a barrier and narrowed his eyes to look around when he suddenly heard a humming roar from underground. “Two little celestial deities! Hmph!”
Fucang grabbed the dazed Xuan Yi and suddenly rose on the wind. The next moment, the mountain cliff was shattered by countless massive pitch-black spears. With a crook of Xuan Yi’s finger, Fu Luo and the Third Prince, frozen by Zhuyin’s white snow, immediately flew to her side. She opened her mouth and exhaled a breath. In an instant, the sky darkened and the earth turned dim. A violent blizzard howled forth, and within a hundred li radius, everything was rapidly frozen and buried in snow.
That voice sounded somewhat surprised. “There’s a little member of the Zhuyin Clan!”
Almost in a flash, that voice had already hidden beyond the wind and snow, echoing from afar. “I’ll see how long this blizzard can last!”
So fast! Xuan Yi’s expression changed slightly.
The golden dragon was even faster. In the blink of an eye, it had darted to where the voice originated. With a thunderous boom, that stretch of forest instantly turned to dust. A figure nimbly dodged the golden dragon’s pursuit in midair while laughing loudly. “The Huaxu Clan’s sword dao! Judging by age, you’re not that old either—you haven’t reached the realm of ten thousand years in a single dream, can’t transform sword energy into heaven and earth, so you can’t hurt me! Don’t think I’m some useless thing like that defeated dog!”
He heard only a sharp whistling wind attack. Fucang barely managed to dodge to the side, finally seeing clearly that it was a pitch-black spear hurled with brute force. Having passed through a hundred li distance of violent blizzard, it still possessed such威力.
To be formidable to this degree—they had probably run into Suihu Dajun. Fucang gripped Xuan Yi tightly. “Don’t waste divine power.”
Suihu Dajun could be called cunning in the extreme. He always only liked sneak attacks and would only launch frontal assaults after confirming absolute advantage. Back then, when they had discussed in the upper realm the process of exterminating him, everyone had racked their brains. This time, when he had come alone to capture the Third Prince, he had already prepared for the possibility of encountering Suihu Dajun. This great lord doted on the Third Prince to the extreme and would probably come personally to rescue him—who would have thought they’d actually run into him.
If it were only him alone, he could still fight. But the dragon princess was also here—he absolutely couldn’t let her fall into danger.
Sharp whistling winds rushed urgently from behind. Fucang flipped to evade the pursuing pitch-black spears when he suddenly felt the surroundings grow countless times darker. A faint flickering candlelight condensed in Xuan Yi’s palm. Though this candleflame was extremely minute and small, it also seemed to flicker brilliantly between heaven and earth. In the boundless darkness, only the faint light brought by that single candleflame swayed slowly.
The countless pursuing spears dropped powerlessly. Suihu Dajun hurled several more spears into that thick darkness, but to no effect. He hadn’t expected such a small member of the Zhuyin Clan to possess so much Zhuyin Darkness. He snorted coldly and hurriedly dodged the surging Zhuyin Darkness.
He suddenly heard the Third Prince’s voice transmitting from that patch of darkness. “Father! Don’t kill that member of the Zhuyin Clan! I want to thoroughly defile her and then tear her apart inch by inch!”
Suihu Dajun flew into a towering rage. “These are all troubles you’ve brought upon yourself! Still lusting after beauty! Is the Zhuyin Clan easy to deal with?! Shut up!”
In the pitch-black darkness where one couldn’t see one’s hand before one’s face, Fucang grabbed the Third Prince. The cinnabar incantation on his mouth had already been bitten through. To prevent him from uttering any more filthy words, he cast a silencing curse. Then, with a sweep of his long sleeve, the brilliant golden small dragon quietly drilled out from the thick Zhuyin Darkness.
Xuan Yi sat down cross-legged, cradling the candleflame. A fine layer of sweat appeared on her face as she said in a low voice, “If the candleflame is extinguished, it means my divine power is exhausted.”
Fully releasing Zhuyin Darkness consumed the most divine power, but it was also the most common cultivation method of the Zhuyin Clan. At first, her Zhuyin Darkness could only last a short while; now it could last about a day. But the turbid energy in the lower realm was dense, and after only half a moment’s work, she already felt fatigued.
After another half moment, the golden dragon finally slowly drilled out of the Zhuyin Darkness. Fucang came over and swept her up in his arms, saying in a low voice, “Withdraw the Zhuyin Darkness.”
The viscous darkness receded like a tide in an instant. Xuan Yi only felt a brilliant golden light before her eyes that nearly blinded her. She hurriedly covered them. She really needed to learn from Wangshu Shennu and get something to shield her eyes, or else these poor eyes of hers would go blind sooner or later.
The sharp whistling of thrown spears sounded again at her ears, but Fucang no longer dodged. She couldn’t help but grip his arm tightly. “If you don’t dodge, you’ll die.”
Mortals spoke of death; the divine race only faced perishing. Fucang didn’t have the energy to remind her again of this common knowledge he’d reminded her of countless times twenty-three thousand years ago. Dense spears struck the golden light and were rapidly deflected. Suihu Dajun, who had rushed over hastily after the Zhuyin Darkness receded, saw this golden light covering heaven and earth and couldn’t help but draw in a breath.
This was the Huaxu Clan’s Sword Energy Transformed into Divine Form. In the past, Gonggong Dajun could smash celestial pillars with a single headbutt, yet he hadn’t been able to break through the previous Qing Di’s Sword Energy Transformed into Divine Form. As a result, he had been pierced through the skull by several great emperors, causing his skull to shatter and leading to his death.
He had originally wanted to quickly finish off two little celestial deities and take the Third Prince away, but unexpectedly one was from the Zhuyin Clan and one from the Huaxu Clan. They were stalling for time like this—they must be waiting for reinforcements. He probably couldn’t afford to drag this out. He immediately shouted loudly, “My son, hold on! Your father will come to rescue you another day!”
Suihu Dajun turned to transform into a dark wind and flee. Suddenly, several resonant heaven-splitting sounds rang out from the distance. Clear energy descended like a net overhead. Suihu Dajun inwardly cried out in alarm—Crown Prince Chang Qin had arrived! He hurriedly fled in the opposite direction, only to discover that battle commanders from the Dingmao Division were already surging from all directions. A violent blizzard howled forth—there was actually another member of the Zhuyin Clan!
Unable to escape in any direction, Suihu Dajun had no choice but to flee underground. How could Crown Prince Chang Qin let him escape? With a pluck of the zither strings, the already shattered earth instantly transformed into a sea of flames. Suihu Dajun, shocked and enraged, rolled over and revealed his enormous demon form, roaring at length—probably summoning his own battle commanders.