“Demonic creature!”
Lu Zheng was startled. That demonic qi was extremely familiar.
“Heartless True Desire demonic qi!”
“Screee!”
Another eagle cry pierced the clouds, wrapped in swirling strands of demonic qi.
Lu Zheng’s eyes flashed. Shen Ying reacted instantly and cried, “Yi Qingtian is entangled with a devil!”
Lu Zheng drew his lightning-struck peach-wood sword with a reverse grip and turned to Shen Ying. “Stay behind me. Do not move more than three chi away!”
Only if she stayed close could he take her with him at any moment.
Shen Ying nodded, smiled sweetly, and enveloped herself in pink mist. Her form flickered between real and illusory, her aura lingering endlessly.
“Up! I’ll engage. You save the eagle!”
Lu Zheng shot skyward like lightning, heading straight for the summit of Mount Qingqi.
Shen Ying followed a step behind, a streak of pink light trailing him.
Soon they pierced through the sea of clouds that blanketed the mountainside and rose into the clear sky near the peak.
At the summit, a silver-feathered divine eagle with a wingspan of dozens of zhang was frantically beating its wings, trying to take flight.
Yet more than a hundred pitch-black chains extended from the void, their ends buried deep in the eagle’s body. Endless demonic qi poured through the chains, attempting to assimilate it.
The divine eagle was shackled in place, forced to remain on the ground. It summoned all its demonic power to resist the corruption, yet it was still losing ground.
The moment the couple neared the peak, they saw the scene before them.
“Where is the devil?” Shen Ying asked.
Lu Zheng’s gaze locked onto the struggling eagle. “On Eagle King Yi’s body!”
In the next instant, countless black rays gathered behind the silver eagle and condensed into a pitch-black humanoid shadow. It rose halfway and waved casually at Lu Zheng and Shen Ying.
Suddenly, eight chains materialised beside them. Four aimed at Lu Zheng, four at Shen Ying, targeting their limbs as they shot forward at terrifying speed.
“Pure Subtle Jade Morning-Sky, Nine Yang Jade Origin Divine Thunder! Strike, strike, strike, strike, strike!”
Lu Zheng swung his peach-wood sword with full force, unleashing the Nine Yang Jade Origin Divine Thunder, which was especially effective against evil and demons. Eight thunderbolts struck the eight chains with perfect accuracy.
The black chains shattered instantly, dissolving into wisps of black qi that scattered in all directions.
“Arghhh!!!”
As the chains broke, the devil let out an inhuman howl. Its pure-black, featureless face visibly twisted for a moment. Then a cloud of black fog appeared out of nowhere, enveloping the space around the couple.
“Western Ultimate Wind God, Metal of the West Divine Wind! Blow, blow, blow, blow, blow!”
A furious gale erupted, laced with strands of Geng Metal power, razor-sharp and carrying traces of Nine Yang Jade Origin thunder. It tore through emptiness and demons alike, dispersing the black fog in the space of a breath and revealing clear sky once more.
Seizing the moment of clarity, Shen Ying drew a porcelain bottle from her robes, uncorked it, and unleashed an endless torrent of peach-blossom baleful qi. It surged toward the silver eagle like a tidal wave, seeking to erode the demonic chains binding it.
The black shadow behind the eagle twisted its features and roared. A phantom shot from its body into the peach-blossom qi, scattering the mist and clearing a patch.
The phantom was half-real, half-illusory, resembling the shadow behind the eagle but clearly only an avatar.
Yet…
As the Peach Blossom Immortal, Shen Ying received incense offerings from peach-blossom shrines across the land. Though her personal cultivation was not the highest, the depth of her foundation could frighten countless people.
Thus…
Her peach-blossom baleful qi seemed inexhaustible. The cleared patch was instantly refilled, and the concentration grew even denser than before.
The demonic avatar blocked twice more, realised it could not hold, and waved a hand in frustration.
In the next moment, the hundred-plus chains binding the silver eagle paused. Thick demonic qi billowed from them, forming a wall of devilish energy that collided with the boundless peach-blossom qi, mutually annihilating each other.
The silver eagle’s eyes blazed with hope. It let out another sky-piercing cry, and cyan demonic power surged upward, counter-attacking the chains.
“Begone at once! This demon is magnanimous and will overlook your offence. Otherwise, under my demonic might, I shall tear out your souls, refine your spirits, and imprison you in the demonic abyss to be tormented for a thousand years!”
The black shadow had intended to swat the couple aside casually, but Lu Zheng and Shen Ying’s strength far exceeded expectations. One wielded thunder arts and area wind spells that perfectly countered evil; the other possessed bottomless reserves of peach-blossom qi.
This forced the devil to divert nearly half its power, turning what should have been complete suppression of Yi Qingtian into a stalemate.
Though furious and itching to crush them, it had to choose the lesser evil. Yi Qingtian was the priority. It could only resort to empty threats, hoping to scare them away.
But Lu Zheng and Shen Ying were not fools.
“I’m rather curious,” Lu Zheng said with a cheeky grin, “how exactly did you cultivate to this level? Don’t you know that the louder the threats, the more it proves you’re all bark and no bite, utterly spent and impotent?”
Shen Ying’s peach-blossom eyes curved, radiating enchanting charm as she smiled sweetly. “He’s already reduced to this ghostly state. Are you sure he still has kidneys? Or that he can do anything at all?”
“You court death!”
The demonic avatar flew into a rage. It pointed, and an intangible demonic thought crossed space, aiming to shatter Lu Zheng’s sea of consciousness.
“Golden Tower Heart Sword, slash!”
A Golden Tower Heart Sword shot forth and annihilated the demonic thought in mutual destruction.
Shen Ying remained behind Lu Zheng, her hand seals never stopping. Endless peach-blossom baleful qi poured from the bottle, sweeping forward to erode the demonic wall isolating the silver eagle. Together with the eagle’s efforts from within, they attacked from both sides.
“Bang bang bang!”
In the next heartbeat, Shen Ying felt her heart pound wildly. Her eyes sharpened. Peach-blossom mist instantly enveloped her, forcing out a wisp of demonic shadow.
“You alright?” Lu Zheng glanced back and saw the shadow. So the earlier mental attack on him had been a feint; the real target was Shen Ying.
“Demons are indeed troublesome, but this palace is not to be trifled with!”
Shen Ying pouted, pointed a finger, and a pink gleam flashed at the shadow’s core. In a breath it blossomed into a crystalline peach flower that wrapped the shadow completely.
The next instant the flower shattered, and the shadow was extinguished.
That shadow had been capable of piercing the void, yet Shen Ying had trapped and destroyed it. The demonic avatar visibly flickered.
Then it felt a sudden chill. Looking up, it saw a blinding golden light.
“Pure Subtle Jade Morning-Sky, Nine Yang Jade Origin, break!”
The Pure Subtle Nine Yang Jade Origin Divine Thunder, specially designed to destroy evil and demons, carried Lu Zheng’s blazing fury as it thundered down toward the avatar.
“Arghhh!!!”
The demonic avatar roared at the sky. A massive chain burst from its body, transforming into a black whip that lashed at the thunder.
“BOOM!”
