The abrupt change in Su Wan’s attitude from haughty to respectful left Li Fei even more confused. However, the admiration on Su Wan’s face was undoubtedly genuine. Li Fei smiled, “Senior Sister is too kind… May I ask what rumors you’re referring to?”
Could it be that some unfavorable rumors about her had spread from Yaoguang Peak? Is that why Su Wan initially didn’t want to speak with her? It was strange—at Yaoguang Peak, aside from Lei Xiuyuan and Hu Jiaping, she had barely interacted with anyone else. What kind of rumors could there possibly be?
Su Wan looked at her thoughtfully, then shook her head, “Words can be fearsome things. Junior Sister Jiang’s beauty is unparalleled, which can easily invite trouble. I previously believed those rumors and was quite rude to you. Please don’t take offense.”
…Those rumors probably weren’t anything pleasant. Li Fei frowned in disgust. She had taken a liking to Su Wan’s straightforward and frank manner, so she smiled again and said, “Senior Sister, just call me by my name.”
Su Wan raised an eyebrow and agreed readily, “Alright then, Li Fei. And you don’t need to call me Senior Sister either. We’re about the same age, so let’s just use each other’s names.”
The two girls exchanged smiles, their mutual fondness increasing instantly. However, now wasn’t the time for chatting. As they descended from the clouds, they saw Lei Xiuyuan removing a fang from the charred snake demon’s body. The fang was longer than their arms but fortunately hadn’t been burned by the fire dragon.
Seeing Deng Xiguang’s dazed expression, Su Wan laughed, “Why don’t we give this fang to Senior Brother Deng? He’s had quite a scare.”
Deng Xiguang’s face immediately flushed with shame. He had initially assumed the two female disciples would be weak and delicate, as outstanding women were quite rare among cultivators. Who would have thought that one had such powerful attacks, while the other’s Five Elements Celestial Magic was used at precisely the right moment, even saving his life? His previously arrogant attitude had now completely vanished.
“Junior Sister Jiang…” He cupped his hands and bowed to Li Fei, “There are no words to express my gratitude for saving my life. I owe you a debt of gratitude.”
His words were sincere, making him much more likable than the previously glib Deng Xiguang. Li Fei smiled slightly, “Senior Brother Deng, you’re too kind. I just happened to be there. When it comes to the profound nature of Wood Element Celestial Magic, I’m no match for…”
Before she could finish speaking, Lei Xiuyuan suddenly called out urgently, “Watch out!”
Li Fei instinctively raised her hand, casting a layer of Bronze Wall Technique around the four of them. In the blink of an eye, she saw a large, soft black shadow dart out swiftly. It seemed to be another snake tail, but at its tip was an enormous bone hook, gleaming coldly, sharper than any blade.
The snake tail lashed out, the bone hook striking towards the four with lightning speed. Fortunately, it was blocked by the Bronze Wall Technique. With a thunderous crash, the Bronze Wall Technique shattered into pieces under the force of the hook. The four had already soared into the air on their clouds. They saw the ravine below suddenly churning with black water as if boiling. From within, several huge and ferocious demonic creatures emerged one after another. At a glance, there were at least a dozen of them.
One wave had barely subsided before another arose. Deng Xiguang’s legs went weak, and he swayed unsteadily on his small white cloud. His face turned pale as his spiritual energy suddenly faltered. The white cloud beneath his feet dissipated, and he fell screaming. Lei Xiuyuan instantly transformed into a golden light, catching him mid-fall. He spoke, “Let’s retreat first.”
The four made a split-second decision to flee. At this point, they didn’t dare to conserve their spiritual energy. Their small white clouds flew like arrows released from a bow, covering dozens of miles in the blink of an eye. Looking back, it seemed the demonic creatures had no intention of pursuing them. The four sighed in relief and descended from their clouds.
“Next time, let’s not get too close to that area,” Su Wan said, still shaken. One or two demonic creatures would have been manageable, but even if they had three heads and six arms, they couldn’t possibly handle more than a dozen at once. Seeing Deng Xiguang still pale-faced and trembling, she frowned, “Senior Brother Deng, are you alright?”
Deng Xiguang couldn’t utter a word. He had indeed underestimated this trip to Lilie Valley. He had thought that being ranked among the top three young disciples under White Float True Person, and with a genius like Lei Xiuyuan in the team, hunting demons would surely be a breeze. Who knew that this place truly couldn’t be taken lightly for even a moment? He had repeatedly needed to be rescued by his teammates, becoming a burden to the group.
This journey was neither for flirtation nor for leisure. The Lilie Valley expedition was a very real trial, where even the slightest carelessness could lead to total annihilation.
He had been pulled along by Lei Xiuyuan the whole time, and now finally coming to his senses, he cupped his hands, bowed his head, and said softly, “…I’ve caused trouble for all of you. I’m sorry. It won’t happen again.”
The other three were his junior disciples, and as their senior, if he were to be criticized for incompetence and expelled from the team by his juniors, he would never be able to show his face again.
Su Wan had initially wanted to reproach him further, but seeing him so sincerely apologize and admit his mistake, she found herself unable to say anything more. She smiled slightly and remained silent.
The four took to the air again, with Lei Xiuyuan continuing to use his Water Element Celestial Magic to scout ahead. After flying for about the time it takes an incense stick to burn, he suddenly stopped. He concentrated for a long while before finally landing on the ground. After a good while, he frowned slightly and said, “There seem to be two demonic auras converging ahead. I can’t discern them.”
Li Fei smiled, “Let me take a look. Leave it to me.”
She reached into her robes and took out a crystalline, exquisite glass mirror. The pure spiritual power emanating from it was extremely vast and magnificent. One glance was enough to know it was an extraordinarily powerful magical artifact. Deng Xiguang and Su Wan’s eyes immediately lit up.
Su Wan exclaimed in surprise, “Li Fei, is this your magical artifact?”
A young disciple who could already forge magical artifacts? Weren’t these things only successfully crafted by those who had become personal disciples?
Li Fei nodded silently, “It’s for protection, given to me by my master.”
For Chongyi True Person to give her such a powerful magical artifact, he must truly cherish this disciple greatly. Su Wan said enviously, “Elder Chongyi is so good to you. No wonder the miasma and demonic auras avoided us as soon as we entered Lilie Valley. So it was the effect of this magical artifact.”
Li Fei smiled, feeling a warmth growing in her heart. She was just a small orphan girl, yet she always seemed to encounter people with warm hearts. Her master had asked her what her perseverance in cultivation was for, and perhaps even now she was still a bit unclear. But for the sake of these people who had shown her warmth, she had to work hard to achieve results in her cultivation. Perhaps this was her current perseverance?
She closed her eyes to concentrate, infusing spiritual energy into the glass mirror. Then, holding it up, she turned in a full circle. Suddenly, she stopped facing one direction, the mirror in her hand trembling incessantly. She said softly, “It’s over there, three miles away. Wait, let me show you—”
A moment later, the palm-sized glass mirror suddenly revealed the outline of a demonic creature. It was a huge tiger demon, its feet treading on fire, with fur several feet long on its back. It even had two fleshy wings growing from its sides, and its body was shrouded in black mist, looking extremely ferocious and evil.
Perched atop its head, among the treetops, was a strange creature that looked like a carved statue with horns. Its eyes were blood-red, with a piercing gaze.
Su Wan’s expression changed slightly, “That’s a vicious beast, a Gu Hawk. It’s together with the tiger demon?”
Deng Xiguang looked for a while, then said in a low voice, “Junior Brother Lei, can I take on the task of restraining these two?”
He was supposed to be responsible for restraint within the team, a very important role. However, his performance earlier had been abysmal, and even he felt ashamed thinking about it. If he didn’t make some contribution now, he would die of shame.
Lei Xiuyuan pondered for a moment, then said, “The Wood Element Celestial Magic, Iron Wood Forest—Senior Brother Deng, are you proficient in this technique?”
Deng Xiguang immediately understood his meaning and nodded vigorously.
The four stood together, with Li Fei protected in the center. Lei Xiuyuan lowered his head and said, “Li Fei, when the time comes, try to freeze the tiger demon first. Can you do that?”
She raised an eyebrow, “Of course I can. You’ve seen my cultivation, haven’t you? How is it?”
Lei Xiuyuan looked down to see her face full of anticipation for praise, and couldn’t help but laugh.
“Not bad.”
“Hey, what do you mean ‘not bad’?” Li Fei was a bit dissatisfied. “If it’s great, say it’s great. If it’s not, say it’s not. ‘Not bad’ sounds like you’re just being perfunctory.”
Lei Xiuyuan patted her head, “I’ll give you a long discourse when we have time.”
Li Fei laughed dryly, then raised her hand to add three layers of Bronze Wall Technique around everyone. At the same time, she removed the concealment technique. The concealment technique had been used to hide their forms and spiritual energy, preventing the demonic creatures from detecting their presence. As soon as it was removed, the demonic creatures ahead immediately sensed the fluctuation of spiritual energy here. In an instant, the demonic aura surged, and a fierce wind swept towards them.
The four immediately soared into the air on their clouds. Deng Xiguang had already focused his mind and formed hand seals. Suddenly, he shouted, “Grow!”
Countless dead trees suddenly sprang up from the ground within a radius of several dozen zhang, completely enclosing the four of them. The branches of the dead trees were as sharp as blades and as hard as steel, densely packed. The tiger demon and Gu Hawk, caught off guard by the sudden gust of wind, plunged headlong into the Iron Wood Forest, their movements greatly hindered. As they struggled, the dead trees broke one after another, but new branches immediately grew from the broken stumps, forking and extending. The more they broke, the denser the branches became, forming a cage-like structure that trapped the two creatures inside, unable to advance or retreat.
By this time, Li Fei had also completed her spell. A fine, icy rain fell steadily, freezing the tiger demon’s four paws to the dead branches, rendering it immobile. Vines sprouted from the branches, swiftly binding the Gu Hawk tightly.
Lei Xiuyuan transformed into a streak of golden light, nimbly and coldly circling the tiger demon’s enormous body in one swift motion before landing back on the white cloud. Su Wan laughed heartily, praising him. In front of her, a blazing fire lotus slowly revolved. This celestial magic seemed to be quite taxing for her, as her face was covered in sweat.
With a flick of her finger, the fire lotus gently floated towards the Gu Hawk. Countless tongues of flame licked out, and a huge, blazing fire lotus bloomed on its massive body. Before it could even let out a cry, it was reduced to ashes, leaving only half a head falling to the ground.
Deng Xiguang saw that the tiger demon was still frozen to the branches, and was stunned. However, in the next moment, a spray of blood suddenly burst forth. The tiger demon’s body had been cut into countless pieces at some unknown point, leaving only its head falling to the ground, its blood-filled mouth still wide open, and fangs bared.
No one descended to inspect closely. The Tai’a Technique fell, severing the single horn and fangs. Su Wan incinerated the rest with a burst of fire. The four flew off with their spoils, not landing until they were far from any demonic auras. Only then did they touch down in the forest.
“Senior Brother Deng, we owe you our thanks this time,” the straightforward Su Wan praised without hesitation, not feeling awkward about her previous criticism. Deng Xiguang’s actions just now were indeed praiseworthy.
Deng Xiguang smiled bashfully. He had finally adjusted his attitude and regained his normal level of competence, reclaiming the face he had lost earlier.