The moment Patriarch Hong Yue’s voice fell, a chilling sword light suddenly appeared beside Chu Xianning. In an instant, the sword light seemed to pierce through Chu Xianning’s body, but as the light dispersed, Cang Xie, who was hidden in the dark, did not see even a trace of blood gushing out.
It seemed he had only struck a phantom.
In an instant, Cang Xie knew he had been tricked, likely falling for some illusion. Chu Xianning’s true location had already been gently embraced and moved away by Jiang Huai, who had drawn closer.
His attack unsuccessful, Cang Xie first retreated to Hong Yue’s side.
He also wore an ink-black Daoist robe, his face aged, and his aura even slightly stronger than Hong Yue’s. Jiang Huai suddenly realized the imprint on his robe looked familiar. After searching his memories, he recalled that Mu Yao had shown him this imprint before, referring to it as belonging to a Southern Region evil cultivator sect, the Rebirth Church.
Jiang Huai had sensed something was amiss when they arrived. He and Chu Xianning both knew they should have fled far away if Hong Yue knew Chu Xianning so well, rather than staying in this dense forest where Daoist magic could reach them. Since they dared to lure him into a trap, they naturally had a contingency. Clearly, the Snow-Soaked Spiritual Pearl was not the contingency; the evil cultivator named Cang Xie before them was.
“As expected of the Eastern Region’s number one fairy, truly possessing a beauty and temperament that could topple nations,” a hint of playfulness and infatuation appeared on Cang Xie’s pale face. He looked back at Hong Yue beside him, “We agreed not to take her life. Such a cold and peerless fairy, I want to keep her for my amusement.”
Hong Yue snorted, “Let’s subdue her first. Her Mahayana first stage is not as simple as you think. Do you think her title as Flower-Plucking Fairy only came from her beauty?”
“Then you underestimate me too much,” Cang Xie said with an unhurried smile. “In these years, I’ve killed no less than seven or eight Mahayana first stage cultivators. Especially when facing such a beautiful and cold fairy, I won’t hold back in the slightest.”
“Fairy, your name is Chu Xianning?” Cang Xie’s gaze shifted to Chu Xianning, unable to hide the ecstatic expression on his face. He murmured in a low voice, “I like your name.”
However, moments later, Jiang Huai had already stood in front of Chu Xianning, blocking his sight, and said coldly, “Those who are about to die should say less.”
Cang Xie was slightly stunned, instantly sensing his Body Integration third stage cultivation level. He was momentarily dazed, and after coming to his senses, he couldn’t help but chuckle, “Are you her direct disciple?”
“Or the one who will kill you,” Jiang Huai replied slowly. Cang Xie, however, laughed even more wildly. “Very good… My senior sister likes young fellows like you with outstanding appearances. I can spare your life too, and then let you see clearly how your fairy master, in front of me…”
Before his words could even fall, Jiang Huai had already unleashed his first sword.
Master and disciple, inheriting the same tradition, spoke little.
When challenging a higher realm, Jiang Huai would not hold anything back. In an instant, he simultaneously activated his Fox Clan and Dragon Clan bloodlines, his aura changing in a flash. Hong Yue beside Cang Xie was struck as if by lightning, and a mouthful of scarlet blood gushed from her lips.
She cultivated the Hong Yue Snake Gu, which was naturally suppressed by Jiang Huai’s Dragon Clan bloodline at the bloodline level. Jiang Huai hesitated not at all. His eyes fixed on Hong Yue, he instantly used the extremely disgusting Soul Secret Technique that Mu Yao had taught him earlier on Hong Yue. Many evil cultivators have weak souls, making this technique particularly effective. Hong Yue’s eyes were instantly filled with confusion, while Jiang Huai’s figure vanished from the spot. In an instant, wind and thunder surged, and fallen leaves covering the sky suddenly turned to ash. His sword, carrying lightning, leaped and slashed.
Cang Xie raised his hands, holding his saber with both, attempting to block Jiang Huai’s incoming sword. But in an instant, his figure was pressed down onto the ice surface by the immense force of this sword. The entire ice surface formed a large, cracked pit.
Jiang Huai retracted his sword. Before Cang Xie could shift his defense, he used Mirror Flower to obscure his vision. His sword blade unhesitatingly severed his neck. The spiritual qi shield around his neck was shattered by this sword. His head rolled several times across the ice surface.
Mahayana cultivators were not so easily killed. Jiang Huai naturally knew this very well. He flipped his sword again, transforming it into a dual-wielding stance, and with immense force, he slashed at the severed neck, instantly cutting his body into two halves. At his heart, a black centipede coiled around it, its numerous legs surging and emitting a black light. The oppressive evil aura forced Jiang Huai to retreat temporarily. The black light also pulled Cang Xie’s head back to his neck, stitching his body together. However, his body began to twist and change again. In just a few breaths, he had transformed into a hundred-legged demonic worm crawling on the ground.
This was Cang Xie’s innate evil Gu, the hundred-legged venomous worm.
The venomous worm immediately opened its mouth and sprayed dark green venom towards Jiang Huai, but as Jiang Huai raised his hand, the venom condensed into frost, unable to advance any further. His figure twisted again. The Heaven Profound Thirteen Swords, learned when he first started practicing swordsmanship, now flashed and spun in his hands, severing the hundred-legged demonic worm’s limbs piece by piece. The newly tempered Yening Sword was much sharper than Jiang Huai had imagined. Even though the hundred-legged demonic worm’s body seemed incredibly agile, his sword was cunning, severing a limb with each strike and freezing it with frost, preventing it from recovering in a short time.
After several sword strikes, Jiang Huai found the weak point that the opponent was constantly evading. The prepared Water Moon had long been ready. Before Cang Xie’s massive body could even take a step to attack, Jiang Huai’s sword blade had already pierced the weak point at his forehead, splattering dark green blood. Jiang Huai performed a sword flourish, dispersing all the blood. The talismans on the Yening Sword blade flickered, and the blade detached from his hand, piercing towards Patriarch Hong Yue’s heart meridian, who had just emerged from her confusion. As the blade passed through her chest, it flew back to Jiang Huai’s hand.
Cang Xie’s body recovered its human form, but his aura was now faint and dying. Hong Yue opened her eyes, looked down at the bloody hole in her chest, and let out a shrill cry. In an instant, her body twisted again and transformed into a scarlet flood dragon. A blur passed, and she instantly swallowed the dying Cang Xie on the ground, turning him into nourishment to maintain her current form.
Cang Xie died in Patriarch Hong Yue’s belly before he could even beg for mercy. Patriarch Hong Yue’s eyes glowed red, her body coiled on the great lake, occupying nearly half of the lake’s surface. She sprayed fire towards Jiang Huai again, but Jiang Huai did not evade. Instead, he sheathed his Yening Sword and took out a snow-white demon core, swallowing it.
“Master, no need to act. Within five breaths, I will take her life.”
The moment the flames reached Jiang Huai’s figure, his body twisted again. Near Hong Yue and Chu Xianning’s ears, a dragon’s roar sounded almost simultaneously. The birds and beasts in the forest were terrified. Patriarch Hong Yue, who had been suspended in the air, fell to the ground. The flames she spewed did not harm Jiang Huai in the slightest. Jiang Huai’s true form, the Silver Dragon, which seemed to cover the sky, struck towards Patriarch Hong Yue like lightning. His ferocious dragon claws directly grabbed the flood dragon’s abdomen, lightning surging and wreaking havoc between his claws, tearing her apart. Even her still-beating heart turned to charcoal in an instant.
The entire process did not exceed five breaths. Jiang Huai’s spiritual energy was also depleted. He transformed back into his human form and, using the clothing Daoist magic he had recently learned from Su Qingyi, instantly dressed himself after shapeshifting and returned to Chu Xianning’s side.
“Fortunately, Master left with me. These evil cultivators are truly insidious and despicable beings,” Jiang Huai said softly.
Chu Xianning instantly turned his face towards him, her cold eyes still filled with astonishment. “You…”
“I’m not injured, just almost out of spiritual energy, and my soul is a bit tired. I can barely stand. I’ll have to hug Master on the way back to the sect.” Jiang Huai winked at Chu Xianning. Chu Xianning, however, was beyond shy and annoyed. She reached out and tapped his head. “Still being glib at a time like this.”
“Don’t worry, I’m fine. How about you, Master?”
“Of course, I’m fine,” Chu Xianning shook her head.
Her old injuries had been aggravated by the Snow-Soaked Spiritual Pearl, and she had also consumed spiritual energy earlier. Therefore, her complexion was slightly pale, but she was not in any serious danger. As for Hong Yue and Cang Xie before them, Hong Yue’s remains were still fresh, while Cang Xie’s corpse had already begun to blur and melt in the belly of the flood dragon that Hong Yue had transformed into.
Chu Xianning walked forward, raised her hand, and instantly extracted Hong Yue’s residual soul. The residual souls of Mahayana cultivators did not dissipate for a long time after death. Some Mahayana cultivators even possessed secret techniques to have their residual souls escape after death and find opportunities for possession. Fortunately, Chu Xianning had dealt with evil cultivators for many years and had some understanding of Daoist magic to completely annihilate residual souls.
However, before that, she first erased the consciousness of Hong Yue’s residual soul and coldly inquired, “Who is Cang Xie?”
Hong Yue’s residual soul had already lost its consciousness and instinctively searched its memories to answer Chu Xianning’s question, “One of the four great protectors of the Southern Region’s Rebirth Church.”
“What is his relationship with you?”
“After I came out of seclusion, he found me and invited me to cultivate in the Southern Region. Before I left, I still resented Chu Xianning, so I set up this trap with him. Cang Xie is lustful, and upon hearing of Chu Xianning’s beauty, he agreed to it, planning to subdue Chu Xianning together before leaving.”
“Where are the evil cultivators in the Eastern Region currently hidden?”
“I have been in seclusion for a long time, I only remember…”
Patriarch Hong Yue began to list the hiding places of evil cultivators she still remembered, most of whom were Sixth Realm evil cultivators. After all, among evil cultivators, deception and devouring each other were common occurrences. There were never many Seventh Realm evil cultivators, and reaching the Sixth Realm was already rare. Jiang Huai took notes one by one. When Patriarch Hong Yue’s residual soul had nothing more to offer, she was annihilated by Chu Xianning with a spiritual technique. Chu Xianning then moved to Cang Xie’s residual soul to inquire about the Rebirth Church.
But as Cang Xie slowly spoke, Chu Xianning’s expression gradually became solemn.
