Over the years of pursuing Jiang Li Fei, Zhen Yunzi had imagined countless ways to extract the Nine-Tailed Fox from her body.
On that day, the Nine-Tailed Fox had been severely injured and was about to be captured, but it suddenly disappeared before the Immortals. Meanwhile, Jiang Li Fei transformed from an ordinary child to an exceptional cultivation disciple who could break through the third bottleneck in just a few short years. Zhen Yunzi couldn’t believe this change wasn’t due to the Nine-Tailed Fox’s assistance.
It wasn’t uncommon for demon beasts to inhabit human bodies, but no matter how carefully they hid, their demonic aura couldn’t be concealed. Even Zhen Yunzi couldn’t figure out how Jiang Li Fei had hidden the Nine-Tailed Fox so well that not even a trace of demonic aura could be detected until today.
At this point, these details didn’t matter anymore. He had grown impatient and didn’t have the time for the delicate process of separating the Nine-Tailed Fox from her body. By refining her directly like this, he didn’t believe the Nine-Tailed Fox could continue hiding safely in her body. As soon as it made any move, he would immediately discover it!
His Yuan Power flowed through the treasure sword into Jiang Li Fei’s abdomen. Gradually, the Yuan Power began to flow out of his body faster and faster. Zhen Yunzi frowned slightly and immediately tried to control it, but he was horrified to find that he couldn’t control the outflow of Yuan Power from his body at all.
What was happening? Was this the demon fox’s ability? Absorbing Yuan Power? What a terrifying skill!
Zhen Yunzi looked up at Li Fei. She was half-kneeling on the ground, her head lowered and motionless, possibly unconscious from the excruciating pain of being refined. His Yuan Power continued to drain away, and it was getting faster. If this continued, it would be disastrous! Zhen Yunzi immediately tried to withdraw his sword, but she was gripping it tightly, and he couldn’t pull it back.
Every pore on his body was expelling Yuan Power. No matter how he tried to circulate his Yuan Power or lock it in his dantian, it was useless. Even if he drew in Yuan Power from the top of his head, it was quickly absorbed away, until he found he could no longer draw in even a thread of Yuan Power.
Zhen Yunzi stumbled back in shock, but the terrifying absorption continued. Seeing that most of his Yuan Power had been drained, he suddenly realized something and looked at Jiang Li Fei with a grim expression. Her hand had been loosely gripping something, concealing it.
Zhen Yunzi let out an angry roar, and countless ice blades shot out from his sleeve. The ice blades, as thin as cicada wings, dissipated into nothingness three chi in front of her—all Immortal techniques were formed by condensing and blending Yuan Power, and with the Yuan Power being frantically absorbed by the Horn of Si, the techniques naturally couldn’t be maintained.
He suddenly felt a wave of fear, but it was followed by an indescribable frenzy. Was it the Nine-Tailed Fox’s doing? What kind of legendary great demon had he set his sights on? It was right before his eyes, everything he had lost and was about to gain was right there. He wanted to pluck it, to possess it, but his Yuan Power was draining away madly.
Zhen Yunzi suddenly retreated, as if trying to escape something. It was as if a huge vortex had appeared near this cliff, mercilessly sucking in all Yuan Power. He was like a traveler about to die of thirst, stumbling through the desert, unable to find a single drop of drinkable water.
He suddenly cried out and turned to flee, but the Nine-Tailed Fox was still there! The insatiable desire he had harbored for so many years! The pinnacle of his dreams! It was like a mirage in the desert, right before his eyes, yet he couldn’t get close to it. He was unwilling! How could he be willing? He had caught it in his hands, and now was he to watch helplessly as all his lost despair and ultimate hope slipped away like sand?
Zhen Yunzi turned back, staring at Li Fei in a daze. His Yuan Power was nearly depleted, and he could only slowly, like the weakest mortal, walk towards her step by step.
Li Fei suddenly threw out the Horn of Si. Having absorbed an Immortal’s Yuan Power, she could no longer maintain its miniature form. The Horn of Si flew into the sky, suddenly expanding countless times, its deep, black-hole-like opening covering the entire cliff, greedily absorbing all the remaining Yuan Power in the area.
She slowly pulled the treasure sword from her abdomen, the excruciating pain making her face deathly pale.
Li Fei slowly stood up amidst this unbearable pain. The treasured sword was covered in fresh blood. She shook it off forcefully and looked at Zhen Yunzi with a grim expression. She would end this with her own hands.
With a flash of cold light, she was in front of Zhen Yunzi. She kicked him to the ground. An Immortal without Yuan Power was weaker than a mortal; he wouldn’t have any ability to resist. Li Fei pressed forward, the sword tip aimed at his heart, about to thrust it down fiercely when she heard him say softly, “Where is it? Let me see it!”
Li Fei said coldly, “You mean Riyan? You’ll never see him.”
Zhen Yunzi looked at her feverishly, “It’s really… really in you… It can absorb Yuan Power…”
“He’s always been here,” Li Fei gripped the sword hilt tightly, looking at him mockingly. “The one absorbing Yuan Power is me.”
She thrust the sword fiercely into his heart. Blood splattered everywhere. She stared at Zhen Yunzi’s pale and shocked face. He seemed frozen. This persistent curse had finally been removed by her own hands. His wild ambitions and cruelty, his frenzied cultivation mind, would all end here.
Zhen Yunzi sighed and gripped his treasure sword tightly. In the end, it was his sword that killed him. None of his desires had been truly fulfilled, and Jiang Li Fei’s words just now left him both concerned and confused. All along, his heart had been set only on the Nine-Tailed Fox; Jiang Li Fei had been merely a container for the Nine-Tailed Fox to him.
But it turned out that her differences weren’t because of the Nine-Tailed Fox. The perfect concealment of the fox demon was because of her? The one absorbing Yuan Power was her? What was she? What was she? He had never paid attention, never even thought about this aspect.
He stared at her in a daze. When he opened his mouth, blood slowly seeped out. His voice was trembling slightly, “…What are you?”
Li Fei didn’t answer this question. She pulled out the sword with all her might. The cold light flashed again, and his head was instantly severed, rolling far away.
She slowly released the heavy treasure sword, which fell to the ground with a loud clang. Li Fei felt her heart pounding extremely fast. This was the first time she had killed someone. This fake, entangled by desire and unscrupulous, had finally died by her hand. She quietly looked at his incomplete corpse for a long time before slowly turning around. The Horn of Si had long stopped absorbing Yuan Power and had returned to the size of an index finger, quietly nestling beside her.
Ji Tongzhou had sat up at some point, his two deep, dark eyes fixed on her, unblinking.
Li Fei smiled and walked a few steps towards him. Suddenly, her legs gave way, and she fell to the ground. The pain made her want to scream. For some reason, the Yuan Power in her body couldn’t circulate. It was still there, but she just couldn’t control it as before.
A sudden feeling of trepidation gripped her. She felt as if another body inside her was struggling to come out. There was an overwhelming urge to shed this cumbersome body. She could even feel white light beginning to seep through her skin—the white light of origin Yuan Power.
No, it can’t be. Li Fei curled up. She didn’t want to shed her shell. She had already made her choice to be an ordinary person from now on. She had always been true to her word; once she made a decision, she would follow through without hesitation.
Zhen Yunzi was dead, the hidden worry was gone. From now on, they could live openly and righteously. South to north, east sea to west desert, countless joys and laughter could be shared. Here were family, friends, lovers, and countless emotions she cherished. Don’t shed the shell, don’t let her leave. She wanted to stay, to remain here.
It felt like someone was holding her tightly. Li Fei raised her head, gasping. The sensation in her body was slowly returning. Her face was pressed against a blood-soaked chest, the scent of blood and expensive perfume filling her entire world.
Li Fei closed her eyes and said softly, “Let me go.”
Ji Tongzhou didn’t release her. His body was trembling slightly, blood still seeping from his lips, falling drop by drop onto her face. His voice was very soft, “I thought you would die.”
The one who died wasn’t her, but Zhen Yunzi. Li Fei smiled again, “I… I’m different from you all. I’m not so easy to kill. Ji Tongzhou, I killed an Immortal from Xingzheng Hall, why…”
Why didn’t he ask anything from beginning to end? Why did he unhesitatingly save her? Was it just because he still saw her as the fake Jiang Li Fei from the illusion? He should know by now that she was different from all of them. She was an anomaly, hiding the Nine-Tailed Fox, absorbing people’s Yuan Power, and even killing his senior uncle before his eyes.
Why didn’t he ask?
Ji Tongzhou was silent for a long time. Just when she thought he wouldn’t answer, he suddenly spoke, “You know why.”
Li Fei fell silent. She struggled a bit but couldn’t break free from his hold. She could only look up at him and say solemnly, “Ji Tongzhou, look at me carefully. I’m not the person you imagine. I’m not gentle, nor considerate. I don’t know any etiquette. We grew up together, think carefully, I’m not the person you’re infatuated with.”
“Yes, I know,” Ji Tongzhou smiled slightly, somewhat gloomy and mocking. “The one who doesn’t know is you. Thinking that the person I like is fake makes you feel better? You can keep thinking that way.”
Li Fei stared at the blood on his chest in a daze. Blood was still falling from his lips, drop by drop, onto her face. She remembered Ji Tongzhou from childhood, arrogant and domineering, who had fought with her, who would write cultivation essentials for her all night, who would generously give her the purple jade cricket.
She sighed deeply, her voice hoarse, “I’m sorry… I’m sorry, I already have someone I like. I can’t give you anything… I’m sorry.”
Ji Tongzhou was still smiling. He didn’t know what he wanted. A chance? Or was it enough just to have her? Every path had been blocked. She was already Lei Xiuyuan’s Dao companion, but he still instinctively risked his life for her, only to hear her apologize guiltily.
All he got was an apology.
Everything for him had ended before it even began. If so, why let it begin? He finally understood what he truly desired in his heart, only to realize that the thing he wanted most, he could never have.
So this was it. As long as she was alive, it was enough. No matter what she was, as long as she was always there, it was enough.
Let the fire in his heartburn until the day it ends. At least, he still had the vast world.