With her abundant battlefield experience, she immediately assessed the situation. No matter how unwilling, she could only retreat step by step.

In contrast, the Yan King expanded his movement technique, tenaciously entangling her.

Yu Haizhen’s delicate brows furrowed. She suddenly drew her sword across her palm, cutting deeply.

As fresh blood flowed, she pulled out a handful of seeds from her bosom and scattered them around with a flick of her hand.

These seeds were both green and brown, each slightly larger than a mung bean. Originally, they appeared ordinary, but when stimulated by her blood essence, they began to writhe in mid-air.

Upon landing, each seed grew frantically, producing ten or so vines as thick as bowls in just a few breaths of time. Looking closely, one could see that each tendril had suction cups and sharp serrated edges. Once wrapped tightly around a person, they would tear off flesh and gulp down blood simultaneously.

Those standing nearby could even hear their “glug-glug” swallowing sounds, remarkably similar to humans drinking water.

The Yan army was completely unprepared. Suddenly entangled by these strange vines, they were momentarily at a loss. Though the vines appeared soft, they were as tough as fine steel—ordinary swords and blades could hardly cut through them. These things were also greedy, capable of capturing several soldiers at once for a feast.

Yu Haizhen had placed the seeds in an excellent position, right at the bridgehead. Due to terrain limitations, the number of Yan soldiers who could charge in was restricted, and the wildly dancing strange vines could block their advance.

The Yan King’s face turned ashen as he exerted his power and shouted: “These are Devouring Demon Vines—use fire!”

This was the ancient demonic plant, the Devouring Demon Vine, which still grew in the wilderness of the western Wei Kingdom, a forbidden zone for humans. A monster that could feed on demonic beasts would find humans crispy and delicious, one bite at a time.

The Devouring Demon Vines were difficult to deal with partly because they feared neither the true fire nor the burning of most cultivators. However, with his rich experience, the Yan King knew that genuine Devouring Demon Vines grew very slowly—even after twenty years, they wouldn’t develop to this size. Yu Haizhen’s ability to throw seeds that could grow immediately, regardless of how she cultivated them, made them at most a quick-grown version, with power significantly less than the true Devouring Demon Vines.

Sure enough, as Yan Kingdom cultivators applied true fire to burn them, the creatures’ tendrils were severed. They retreated with shrill cries, clearly terrified of a true fire.

But Yu Haizhen only needed to buy a little time. Under her control, the Devouring Demon Vines launched a group attack on the Yan King. The scene resembled more than ten people pouncing simultaneously—some grabbing his legs, others pulling his arms, trying to restrict his movement completely.

The Yan King exhaled forcefully, the muscles on his arms bulging high. These vines, capable of binding an elephant, were snapped by his brute strength!

However, during this brief delay, Yu Haizhen closed in, the sharp gleam of her divine sword causing the hair on his neck to stand on end.

If she could behead him with one strike, the Xi Kingdom’s peril would be eliminated.

Seeing success nearly at hand, Yu Haizhen’s eyes finally revealed her urgency.

She desperately needed victory, and the Xi Kingdom desperately needed to extend its life.

But at that moment, a shadow suddenly emerged from her diagonal rear, with fingers like knives, piercing into her back in one strike!

Compared to the Yan King, this shadow was small and slender, inconspicuous in the crowd. Yet it wounded without weapons, relying solely on its claws—its nails were black and sharp, over two inches long, gleaming with a faint dark luster even under the moonlight.

Most terrifying was that its speed exceeded even that of the Zhi earlier!

The Zhi pounced on prey like the wind, yet cultivators could at least extend their spiritual sense to capture its afterimages. But this strange assailant came and went so swiftly that even Yu Haizhen failed to detect its presence.

Light flashed twice on her body—her automatic defensive magic treasures had been shattered!

Fortunately, Yu Haizhen was battle-hardened. With a sudden premonition in her heart, she forcibly twisted her body in the critical moment. Thus, the opponent’s heart-snatching claw missed its target, piercing through her lung instead.

Yu Haizhen ignored the surging pain, reversing her sword tip to stab at the abdomen of the person behind her, forcing them to defend themselves.

With a “clang” like metal striking metal, that person indeed parried this sword thrust. However, the force Yu Haizhen felt was extraordinarily powerful, numbing her tiger’s mouth—this person’s strength was no less than the Yan King’s.

What master in the world possessed such cultivation that she wouldn’t know?

Before this thought could be complete, the Yan King at the front let out a great shout, having broken free of restraints, and thrust his spear toward her heart!

His patience was limited. After entangling on the frontlines for so long, he now only wanted a swift conclusion. This woman was the backbone of the Xi army—capture her, and the war would end.

Just dealing with the Yan King alone was taxing enough for Yu Haizhen, let alone with an unknown enemy pouncing from behind. Severely wounded and attacked from both front and back, it was too late to summon the Devouring Demon Vines to entangle the Yan King again. The two powerful figures acted simultaneously, sealing off all her escape routes. Neither the Yan King nor she could think of a way to escape.

In battles between powerful beings, the end sometimes comes unexpectedly. Yu Haizhen anticipated the worst outcome as death, which paradoxically gave her a sense of relief.

At least she had fulfilled her promise to the Xi Kingdom.

But just as the Yan King thrust his spear, he sensed something amiss.

All around were people-eating Devouring Demon Vines swinging in the wind, producing whooshing sounds. Moreover, this bridgehead was a windy spot, with strong gusts year-round. The Yan King’s expanded spiritual sense detected no approaching enemies.

Yet his well-tempered spiritual awareness frantically warned him, as if an enemy had approached and was about to launch a fatal strike. He could certainly kill Yu Haizhen, but he would inevitably suffer serious injury himself!

Trade injury for life, or preserve himself? In that flash of lightning, the Yan King didn’t hesitate, holding back two-tenths of his power.

Sure enough, at that very instant, a figure gradually materialized in the air behind him—slender and graceful, with an awl-like magical tool aimed precisely at his yuzhenjue acupoint at the back of his skull.

The movement was precise, the angle cunning, and most remarkably, it produced neither sound nor revealed any killing intent. Had his sixth sense not been so strong, he would most likely have been struck by now.

The mantis stalks the cicada but behind follows the oriole.

The opponent moved with lightning speed, and the Yan King dared not be complacent. His form “popped” and shrank to that of a normal human.

His manifested form had originally stood three zhang tall. After shrinking, the assailant saw only air before them… and Yu Haizhen, as well as the person behind her.

Returning to his original size, the Yan King still felt a lingering pain at the back of his skull. Although the awl-tip had not yet struck its target, the cold energy it emanated was more terrifying than the surrounding low temperature.

Most strange of all, this type of energy seemed somewhat familiar to him. This person deserved his full attention.

Has it finally appeared? The Yan King was pleased rather than angry, and let out a low growl: “Yun…!”

But when he looked up again and saw the assailant’s appearance, he was stunned.

Meanwhile, Yu Haizhen thought she couldn’t escape this calamity, but unexpectedly, the Yan King suddenly withdrew. Without his mountain-like form blocking the way, her gaze lifted, and she happened to lock eyes with the newcomer.