The Holy Maiden Mingyi intended to kill Yue Honghai. Clearly it was merely an illusory jade flower, yet in Yue Honghai’s eyes it resembled a gigantic hammer blotting out the sky, smashing down with the momentum of a mountain.
“Waaah!”
Yue Honghai let out a strange yell. He rallied his spirit with effort. Muscles bulged on his pair of iron arms, and emerald light flickered on the steel whip in his right hand. Astonishingly, he prepared to meet this hammer blow head-on.
“No good!” Several voices cried out in alarm.
Yue Honghai’s strength fell far short of the Holy Maiden Mingyi’s. Though he had achieved success in body refinement, this jade flower hammer of hers was plainly designed to counter opponents who relied on martial arts and physical forging.
A direct clash like this would leave Yue Honghai gravely injured, even if it did not kill him outright.
“Whoosh whoosh whoosh—”
The Holy Maiden Zhilan quietly closed in. The bronze disc in her hand enlarged, countless curse seals flashing as she sought to seize the opportunity to envelop the Holy Maiden Mingyi.
“You have fallen for it!”
A trace of a smile touched the Holy Maiden Mingyi’s lips. She abruptly turned her head towards the Holy Maiden Zhilan. Her palm flipped, and a jade needle suddenly appeared in her hand, then vanished in an instant, shooting straight at Zhilan’s brow.
“It was originally meant for that sword cultivator. Since you court death, I shall grant it to you!”
The jade needle blazed with cyan light. Its tip emitted a sharp, piercing edge that caused a faint ache in Zhilan’s brow.
The Holy Maiden Zhilan’s pupils contracted sharply. She strained to tilt her head aside while surging her true qi throughout her body, protecting herself with full effort.
Yet…
The jade needle pierced through defences with pinpoint precision, and the distance was too close. Though she had exerted her utmost, she had no confidence she could block this suddenly appearing needle.
If it breached her true qi and entered her sea of consciousness, given the Holy Maiden Mingyi’s strength, she would likely not survive three breaths.
“Ding!”
At the critical moment, a light chime suddenly rang out.
“Crack!”
Then came a crisp snapping sound.
“Whoosh!”
Next, a streak of silver-cyan radiance flashed past.
“Pfft!”
Caught off guard, her magical treasure was breached. The Holy Maiden Mingyi’s face abruptly paled, and she could not help spitting out a mouthful of blood.
The jade needle had been severed by the Silver Feather Cyan Radiance Sword that flew from an unknown direction.
“You have fallen for it!”
Lu Zheng’s voice drifted lightly. Then the flying sword folded and turned in the air, slashing towards the Holy Maiden Mingyi once more.
The Holy Maiden Mingyi forcibly suppressed the roiling true essence and vital blood within her body. She retreated swiftly, swinging the jade flower hammer to force back the flying sword while pointing repeatedly to break the curse seals raining from the bronze disc overhead. With difficulty, she escaped the danger zone.
Only then did she have time to lower her head and look at the illusory jade flower in her hand. There she saw a Silver Feather Cyan Radiance Sword resting quietly in the centre of the bloom.
“You have another one!?” the Holy Maiden Mingyi said in shock.
“Precisely. If you have the ability, capture it again!”
Lu Zheng chuckled teasingly. He manipulated the Silver Feather Cyan Radiance Sword, faint radiance emanating around it. Then amid flashing silver light, it seemed to spread wings like a silver-feathered divine eagle, swooping down from the heavens.
The Holy Maiden Mingyi’s face turned livid.
The Silver Feather Cyan Radiance Sword possessed unrivalled might. Earlier, she had only managed to capture it by smashing with the jade flower hammer and seizing the moment. Even then, suppressing the sword’s resistance had required diverting a large portion of her energy to the seals within the flower’s heart.
Another one?
How could it be so easy?
“Whoosh!”
The flying sword streaked through the air. The Holy Maiden Mingyi’s eyes hardened with ruthlessness. She smashed downward with the jade flower hammer, but the sword abruptly veered, slicing away a large swathe of cyan light.
The Holy Maiden Mingyi fell silent.
With the jade flower protecting her, uncharged thunder arts amounted to mutual consumption, and hers was lower than hers. Thus Lu Zheng temporarily abandoned thunder arts, focusing solely on engaging with the flying sword.
“Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!”
The Silver Feather Cyan Radiance Sword flew back and forth, weaving vertically and horizontally around her. Large expanses of cyan light were shaved away by the sword.
Manipulating the Silver Feather Cyan Radiance Sword and relying on its advantages to confront the enemy was the proper approach.
Of course, Lu Zheng controlled the flying sword with one hand while keeping the other behind his back, fingers forming a seal. Another Grand Unity Five Thunders Curse brewed once more in the sky.
“Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!”
Boundless cloud qi and peach blossom killing mist began pressing and infiltrating, growing ever denser as they merged into the Holy Maiden Mingyi’s protective cyan light.
This restrictive formation, led by Lu Zheng and Shen Ying, trapped the Holy Maiden Mingyi on one hand while slowly eroding her protective true qi on the other.
“Swish! Swish! Swish!”
Nearly assassinated by the Holy Maiden Mingyi, Zhilan no longer dared to risk closing in. She simply hovered the bronze disc above her head, sending curse seals flying forth.
In truth, this exerted the greatest pressure on the Holy Maiden Mingyi. After all, Zhilan possessed profound cultivation. With allies present, trading consumption was the wise choice.
Fan Boyu provided cover for Zhilan, using Divine Erosion curses to wear down the cyan light of the jade flower while keeping an eye on Yue Honghai.
“Phew—”
Yue Honghai let out a long breath. His eyes gleamed brightly as he stood once more.
“Going again?” Fan Boyu asked.
“Going again!” Yue Honghai shook both hands. The steel whip and serrated blade clanged lightly against each other with a “ding dang” sound.
“Each time I go, I trade for one injury on that demoness. The deal is not a loss,” Yue Honghai said.
“Ahem!”
Fan Boyu could not help dry coughing twice, then reminded in a low voice, “That is, the Holy Maiden Mingyi is human, not a demoness.”
Yue Honghai blinked. “I was just saying! Do not humans curse like that? I even learned it at the Jade Spirit Garden.”
“Miss Liu is a white fox…”
Yue Honghai swallowed, then strode forward. He raised his steel whip and struck towards the Holy Maiden Mingyi’s head.
“Human female, take my whip!”
“Boom!”
A tremendous crash. Yue Honghai was sent flying back once more, staggering with blood trickling from his mouth.
“Damn it! Is she not injured? How is this blow even fiercer than before?”
Fan Boyu fell silent.
If not for my family’s Holy Maiden Zhilan and your family’s Young Master Lu, you would probably have been slain in a fit of rage by the Holy Maiden Mingyi!
Yet Yue Honghai was, after all, a demon with several centuries of cultivation. His steel whip was no easy thing to meet, especially in a direct clash that sent him back along his original path.
Thus Lu Zheng and Zhilan seized the opportunities to launch sneak attacks, adding injury upon injury to the Holy Maiden Mingyi.
The Holy Maiden Mingyi’s expression turned iron-blue.
First thunder from the heavens, then a flying sword cleaving the needle. These unexpected injuries left her increasingly unable to keep up in the fight.
If this continued, she truly feared she would remain here forever.
Yet without breaking out towards Lu Zheng or Shen Ying, under the formation’s shroud she could not control her direction at all. She would genuinely be led to White Cloud Mountain!
What to do?
She could only take a desperate gamble. Either suffer severe vitality loss to escape, or sustain further injury and be completely detained here.
This was not the Southern Borderlands. Delaying for reinforcements would yield none.
“Grow! Grow! Grow! Grow!”
The Holy Maiden Mingyi was no hesitant soul. She waved her hand and tossed the jade flower aloft, sacrificing it three chi above her head. Her figure sheltered beneath it.
The jade flower enlarged in mid-air, emitting cyan light that enveloped her. Then an illusory jade flower emerged from within, expanding and swelling. It propped against the cloud qi and peach blossom killing mist, curse seals and flying sword, expanding limitlessly outward.
“She intends to burst the restrictive formation and flee!”
