No one expected him to act so swiftly. The formidable power of Xingzheng Hall’s domineering Celestial Technique finally revealed its ferocity. Countless fire dragons coiled and roared, engulfing the entire beach in flames. Even defensive barriers were shattered in an instant.
Ji Tongzhou’s sword pierced the opponent’s defense, creating a jarring collision. The dozen or so disciples who had come to snatch the Demon Cinnabar Fruit were shocked. They saw a fire lotus condensing in his palm, which he slammed against the defense. The Earth Element barrier could no longer withstand it and dissipated into nothingness. Several fire dragons swooped in, seizing the lackey who had lost his Dragon Seat status, tossing him high into the air as flames consumed his body. His agonizing screams sent chills down everyone’s spine.
This was bad—he truly intended to kill! Disciples on both sides panicked. Some erected ice walls, and others cast spring rain techniques. The male lackey had already been rescued, the spring rain extinguishing the flames on his body. Half of his body was burned black, and he was barely conscious.
In the blink of an eye, one person was severely injured. The dozen or so disciples on the opposing side were terrified. They saw Ji Tongzhou, engulfed in raging flames, charging towards them like a demon from hell. Everyone was both shocked and enraged. Since he had shown no mercy, they couldn’t hold back either. Immediately, several invisible Earth Element walls rose haphazardly to block his path. Others unleashed numerous water dragons, which after several spirals, significantly suppressed the raging flames on the beach.
“We can’t let him kill anyone here!” Ye Ye waved his hand, releasing water dragons that entangled with the opponent’s. “Li Fei, protect Tongzhou. If necessary, restrain him to prevent him from going berserk!”
Although everyone disliked the Dragon Seat members, and Ye Ye’s group held a grudge against them for destroying their country, killing was different. At the very least, it couldn’t happen here. How could they explain to the elders if lives were lost in what was meant to be a non-lethal duel between disciples?
Two fire lotuses circled in front of Ji Tongzhou, ignoring the Earth Element walls. He suddenly spun, and a rain of fire poured down. The fire drops landing on the Bronze Wall Technique immediately transformed into countless fire snakes, forcing the opposing group to scatter once again in the face of the intensely hot flames. In the next moment, Ji Tongzhou had already lifted another Dragon Seat disciple with his sword. Just as he was about to strike with his fire lotus, he sensed a chaotic golden light above his head. A rain of golden arrows shot down, which he continued to ignore. The fire lotus struck the person, burning through their last layer of defense. The person screamed in agony.
Amidst the clanging sounds, the golden arrow rain failed to penetrate Ji Tongzhou’s Bronze Wall Technique. The golden light scattered at his feet, but he was too caught up in the frenzy of battle to notice. Seeing the spring rain technique falling on the disciple engulfed by his fire lotus, extinguishing the flames instantly, he noticed the person was barely alive, falling limply. Without a second glance, he charged towards the others.
Someone had already realized that Li Fei was the most crucial support among them, secretly providing defenses for Ji Tongzhou and the others from behind. Relying on their superior numbers, while most disciples engaged Ji Tongzhou and his group, others moved to harass her. Li Fei immediately transformed into a puff of blue smoke to evade. From the corner of her eye, she noticed countless small leaves attacking from both sides, golden arrow rain falling from above, and raging flames beneath her feet. She had no choice but to erect Bronze Wall Techniques on all sides, barely withstanding this barrage of attacks.
However, some golden light still slipped through. Li Fei felt a sharp pain on her left cheek, blood trickling down her neck and soaking her clothes. She couldn’t even heal herself. The opposing side outnumbered them by more than double, with four or five people focusing solely on attacking her. She was truly overwhelmed.
Ye Ye and the others were entangled with over a dozen opponents, unable to assist. Li Fei wiped the blood from her face and once again transformed into blue smoke to avoid the Tai’a Technique aimed at her. Suddenly, she saw Ji Tongzhou still recklessly unleashing flames, his back covered in blood. The Bronze Wall Technique she had cast earlier must have been broken.
Li Fei immediately formed hand seals to cast another defense for him, when unexpectedly, someone grabbed her hand. Lei Xiuyuan’s anger-tinged voice sounded in her ear: “Take care of yourself!”
Startled, she suddenly felt her body lighten as he grabbed her waist, instantly flying dozens of meters away.
Lei Xiuyuan’s expression was very gloomy. He pushed her away and opened his palm, immediately condensing a dazzling, howling flying sword. A shrill whistle-like sound suddenly rang out. He quickly glanced around, seeing Ye Ye and the others entangled with opponents. The few people who had been attacking Li Fei, upon seeing his arrival, immediately turned back to attack Ji Tongzhou. Behind them, a tall Dragon Seat disciple had been hiding in an illusion mist, likely their support.
He lightly raised his hand, and the flying sword shot out, turning into a golden light that instantly vanished from everyone’s sight. The next moment, it penetrated the illusion mist. The support disciple was momentarily stunned, watching helplessly as his right arm was severed by the sword. He felt no pain at first, only an unbearable heat at the wound.
The next moment, blood suddenly spurted out. In his terror, he finally felt the unbearable pain and screamed. The illusion mist could no longer be maintained, and he couldn’t even fly. As the mist at his feet dispersed, he fell straight towards the beach.
The scream startled the dozen or so opponents. They saw golden light flashing chaotically, the sharp whistling sound coming from near and far, unpredictable. It suddenly disappeared from everyone’s view again, followed by another Dragon Seat disciple screaming. His left leg below the knee was instantly pierced by the flying sword, and he too fell hard from the clouds.
This ghostly flying sword had severed the limbs of two disciples in an instant, impossible to defend against. Even their support disciple was injured. Without Earth Element support to set up defenses, it wouldn’t take long to take them down one by one. The few entangling Ji Tongzhou saw the flying sword coming their way and hurriedly dodged. The disciples trapping Ye Ye and the others, seeing the situation turn unfavorable, also hastily retreated. Everyone gathered together, looking down at the four Dragon Seat disciples sprawled on the beach, each severely injured, their screams unceasing. They were all terrified.
The flying sword returned to Lei Xiuyuan’s side, circling him several times before finally dissipating into a golden light. Seeing Ji Tongzhou covered in blood yet still seeming possessed by an evil spirit, about to continue fighting, Lei Xiuyuan quickly flew over, kicking him and making him stagger. He then rushed forward and punched him in the face, momentarily stunning Ji Tongzhou.
“If you had a nightmare, just hide and cry.” Lei Xiuyuan looked coldly at his bleeding face and eyes that seemed to hide ghostly fires. “It’s your stupidity if you can’t distinguish reality from fantasy.”
Ji Tongzhou’s face darkened, unflinchingly meeting his gaze. He suddenly stood up, about to punch back, when Ye Ye, who had come up behind him, held him back: “Tongzhou! Calm down!”
Before he could finish speaking, Lei Xiuyuan chopped at Ji Tongzhou’s neck. Having consumed much spiritual energy and sustained many injuries, this blow finally made him collapse, fainting in Ye Ye’s arms.
The intense battle came to an abrupt halt. Disciples on both sides silently faced each other, unsure how to end this. Lei Xiuyuan stepped forward and said coldly: “This was our private feud with the Dragon Seat. Now that it’s settled, if you still want to fight, we’re happy to oblige.”
The dozen or so disciples saw that the four Dragon Seat members were severely injured, barely recognizable. More crucially, two of them were support disciples. Without Earth Element defensive support, and facing the opponent’s flying sword, they were at a significant disadvantage. They had originally intended to use their superior numbers to snatch the Demon Cinnabar Fruit, but not only had they failed to get the fruit, they had bitten off more than they could chew and lost a few teeth in the process. They now wanted to retreat, and since the other side had given them a way out by claiming it was a private feud with the Dragon Seat, it was best to take it gracefully.
Someone had already gone down to cast healing nets on the four Dragon Seat disciples and brought them back. One person said: “Let’s pretend today’s events never happened. Your Celestial Techniques are exquisite. We wish you all the best in completing the trial soon.”
With that, the dozen or so people immediately flew away, not forgetting to take the stunned Sea Faction disciple with them. Still not giving up, they probably intended to snatch someone else’s Demon Cinnabar Fruit.
The raging fire on the beach gradually burned out. Li Fei and the others exchanged glances, then looked at the unconscious and bloodied Ji Tongzhou, momentarily speechless.
Ye Ye carried Ji Tongzhou on his back and sighed: “We shouldn’t linger here. Let’s find another place first.”
Although no lives were lost this time, they had severely injured four Dragon Seat members, and Lei Xiuyuan had even severed their limbs. With the severed limbs, they wouldn’t be permanently disabled, but it would take several days to heal. The grudge formed was even greater than imagined.
The group found another secluded island, sensing demonic energy rampant and dark clouds gathering. The only consolation was that the terrain was rugged, making it easy to hide.
Ye Ye found a shaded depression and laid Ji Tongzhou down, carefully examining his injuries: “He’s exhausted his spiritual energy, but otherwise he’s not in danger. Let him sleep. This place is filled with demonic energy, there might be demon beasts. Li Fei, stay and take care of Tongzhou. The rest of us will patrol the area first.”
Ji Tongzhou hadn’t slept for a day and a night, his emotions had been extremely volatile, and he had just consumed too much spiritual energy. Most of the wounds on his body were deep and long. This would likely be a significant setback for him. Li Fei set up a healing net, slowly infusing spiritual energy into it. Her left cheek was in excruciating pain. Only then did she remember that she was also injured, and on her face no less. If not for the healing net, this could have been a disfiguring disaster.
Li Fei grimaced as she touched the wound, about to cast the healing net, when she suddenly saw Ji Tongzhou, who had been sleeping on the ground, wake up. As soon as he woke, he jumped up violently, like a caged beast suddenly released, and started to walk away.
Li Fei hurriedly grabbed him: “Ji Tongzhou! Enough, all right? They’re long gone! Lie down and wait for your wounds to heal first!”
Ji Tongzhou didn’t even look at her, forcefully shaking off her hand. Li Fei didn’t expect his strength to be so great, immediately staggering back several steps. Seeing him continue to walk forward, she instantly became furious. With a wave of her hand, she cast the Vine Entanglement technique. Caught off guard, Ji Tongzhou’s legs were entangled by vines, causing him to fall face-first. In the blink of an eye, he was tightly bound by vines and dragged back to her feet.
But then flames suddenly erupted from his body, instantly withering the vines. He still had the strength to use Celestial Techniques!
She panicked, pressing him down and straddling him, raising her hand to strike, angrily saying: “You fool! Stop!”
Ji Tongzhou instinctively grabbed both her wrists, suddenly pulling down. Li Fei’s chin slammed into his chest, the pain making her see stars. Suddenly, she felt one of his hands gripping the back of her neck, while the other held her chin, lifting it.
He lowered his head, coldly looking at her, his face covered in blood, his eyes bloodshot. This gaze, like ghostly fire, once again made her feel chills all over. She instinctively tried to pull back.