The fireball in Qiao Ruohe's palm had already lost seven or eight tenths of its spiritual power. His arm was trembling non-stop. The Man in Black's fire-wall spell was truly formidable. Having only recently entered the Spirit Controlling Stage, how could he possibly contend with it?
The Man in Black hovering in the air shook his head and sneered, "He's risking his life like this for you, and you're still so cold-hearted?"
"It would be best if you burned him to death, so I wouldn't have to do it myself," Xiao Ling replied.
Just as Qiao Ruohe was about to collapse from the strain, he caught a glimpse out of the corner of his eye of two figures plunging one after another into the thick fog. One of them had a petite stature and auburn hair—who could it be if not Xiao Ling? Having just seen Qiao Ruohe crushed beneath the wall of fire, she had flown over without a moment's hesitation. Dual spiritual powers of water and wood burst forth from her hands as she joined him in withstanding the giant wall of flame.
Jin Dapeng followed closely behind, unleashing two golden fists and palms that struck fiercely against the fire-wall spell.
With the three youths combining their strength and a deafening roar, they actually managed to break through the Man in Black's fiery immortal spell.
Jin Dapeng raised his head and spotted another figure looking just like Xiao Ling standing before the Man in Black. "How can there be two Junior Sister Xiao Lings?"
The Man in Black laughed. "Miss Lin, how much longer are you going to wear that human-skin mask?"
The Xiao Ling in the sky naturally could no longer keep up the act. She ripped away the skin on her face to reveal her true appearance. It turned out to be none other than Lin Qingxuan, the senior grand disciple of Blooming Flowers Valley.
Qiao Ruohe looked at her and couldn't help letting out a wry chuckle. Lin Qingxuan's gaze was fixed on him as well. Originally, his previous actions had caused her hostility to wane by thirty percent. But seeing him with that expression, it seemed as though that bitter smile was saying he had made a mistake and helped the wrong person. Yet what was his status? A coarse, newly admitted brat—did he even deserve to have such thoughts? Wasn't it only right that he stepped in to save her? Other men in the sect would have killed for such an opportunity.
A surge of anger suddenly flared up in Lin Qingxuan. Drawing the longsword at her waist, she flew straight at him to strike.
The Man in Black's eyes widened in surprise. Folding his arms across his chest, he chuckled, "Time for a good show."
Flames abruptly surged in Qiao Ruohe's palms, blocking Lin Qingxuan's wooden-sword sword qi. She unleashed a vine spell with her left hand, attempting to bind his body. He hurled a fireball that burned the vines to ashes.
Refusing to let the matter rest, Lin Qingxuan cast a wooden-stake spell. An immortal art erupted from the ground, propelling Qiao Ruohe's entire body high into mid-air.
"Senior Sister, stop fighting! We're all on the same side," Xiao Ling called out.
"Who is on the same side as him?" With that, Lin Qingxuan soared into the sky, lunging toward the off-balance Qiao Ruohe with her green-gleaming longsword, aiming straight for his face.
Just as Qiao Ruohe's eyes widened in terror, Jin Dapeng stepped in to help. With a sharp clang, his twin golden fist-strikes slammed into the green sword, lifting the siege around Qiao Ruohe.
In the blink of an eye, the situation had somehow transformed into two novice disciples battling a high-cultivation senior grand disciple. The two youths exchanged a glance, nodded in unison, and charged at her. The burly man attacked her front with golden fists and palms, while the young man hurled blazing fireballs at her back.
Just as they seemed to be gaining the upper hand, Lin Qingxuan let out a sharp cry. A spiritual shadow emerged from the top of her head.
"Half-Out-of-Body Realm," the Man in Black said, straightening his posture. "Miss Lin, I never expected you to be only a single step away from breaking through to the Out-of-Body Realm."
Ignoring him, Lin Qingxuan kept her eyes locked on Qiao and Jin. Once her cultivation reached the Half-Out-of-Body Stage, she could summon an accompanying spiritual shadow. This soul shadow served as her external avatar; however, because her cultivation had not yet reached the full Out-of-Body Realm, the soul avatar could only move in tandem with her true body and could not act independently. Even so, it was effectively two Lin Qingxuans, both at the Half-Out-of-Body Stage, fighting two mere youths in the Spirit Controlling Stage. How could they possibly be her match?
Within two exchanges, the outcome was decided. Her right-hand green-gleaming sword plunged into Jin Dapeng's thigh, causing him to pull back his palms with a shriek of pain, while her left-hand vines wrapped tightly around Qiao Ruohe's entire body, intending to squeeze the life out of this lecherous scoundrel just as she had done at Qianjing Lake.
Knowing her magic power was insufficient to contend with Lin Qingxuan and not daring to make a move, Xiao Ling still flew close to her side and pleaded, "Senior Sister, they are both fellow sect members. I beg you to show mercy."
At that very moment, dozens of disciples from the Withered Wood Forest disregarded the sect's taboos, plunging into the forbidden fog and arriving before the group. Elders of the Withered Wood Forest had issued orders to capture Qiao Ruohe alive. Seeing that this man was about to die at Senior Sister Lin's hands, the disciples pulled out their magical artifacts and slashed toward the vines.
Rescued in the nick of time, Qiao Ruohe immediately unleashed a fireball spell. Taking advantage of the disciples' standoff with Lin Qingxuan, he launched a surprise attack against her green-gleaming longsword to rescue Jin Dapeng. Hearing Jin Dapeng's unceasing wails, he told Xiao Ling, "Junior Sister, help Brother Jin aside to tend to his injuries."
Xiao Ling nodded, half-carrying Jin Dapeng by the arm as she flew out of the crowd.
In an instant, the tables had turned. The disciples who had originally been ordered by their master to capture Qiao Ruohe now found themselves standing on his side.
"Senior Sister Lin, Junior Brother Qiao is the captive my master specifically named to be taken alive," the long-faced leading disciple of Withered Wood Forest said, cupping his fists toward her. "We broke sect rules and entered the forbidden ground because we hope you will spare our Junior Brother Jin and also let us smoothly take Junior Brother Qiao back to report on our mission."
Lin Qingxuan snorted. "Today, I am going to kill him no matter what. Even if all fifty-some of you join forces, you may not be a match for me."
The long-faced disciple hesitated slightly, realizing that Senior Sister Lin's cultivation had indeed increased dramatically. Yet orders from his master were not to be disobeyed; even if more than half of them died or were injured, they had to get Qiao Ruohe out of the forbidden ground immediately. First, to fulfill their master's command, and second, because if the matter of trespassing into the forbidden ground reached the Sect Leader's ears, it would undoubtedly spell disaster.
And so, the fifty-plus disciples formed a battle array, preparing to fight Lin Qingxuan to the finish.
Before hostilities could fully erupt, a man's laughter rang out. "Beauty, don't be afraid. I have come to help you."
The long-faced cultivator turned his head and saw that the Man in Black was also at the Half-Out-of-Body Stage. He immediately glanced at his close martial brothers beside him. Together, the group might be able to fight one half-out-of-body cultivator, but if two of them joined forces, defeat seemed certain.
"Who asked a villain like you to help?" Lin Qingxuan snapped.
Her words actually brought a sense of relief to the Withered Wood Forest disciples. But the Man in Black let out a harsh laugh. Following his voice, two giant fireballs came hurtling from behind, instantly burning four Withered Wood Forest disciples to death.
Panic-stricken, the disciples spun around and began fighting the Man in Black.
"Courting death," the Man in Black spat out, forming a hand seal. He cast a fire-wall spell, and in less than three or five rounds, slaughtered over forty men.
Seeing the cruelty of the man's methods—that he treated the lives of these cultivators as utterly worthless—Qiao Ruohe wondered how on earth he had ever gotten entangled with such a figure.
Lin Qingxuan, meanwhile, did not take advantage of their plight. She neither attacked her fellow disciples from Withered Wood Forest nor did she secretly plot against Qiao Ruohe.
Then, an event occurred that even Qiao Ruohe failed to anticipate. It turned out that hidden within the mist of the forbidden ground were other lurking figures. Taking advantage of the fierce battle between the Man in Black and the Withered Wood Forest disciples, just as Qiao Ruohe's attention was drawn elsewhere, a purple figure emerged from nowhere, launching a sneak attack with a golden blade aimed straight at Qiao Ruohe's back.
He only just reacted, but by the time he turned his head, it was already too late. The golden blade was about to pierce into his brain and kill him on the spot.
In that moment of mortal danger, a green-gleaming longsword came flying through the air like an arrow. With a sharp clang, the golden blade was knocked off course, grazing past his shoulder as Qiao Ruohe narrowly escaped with his life.
When he looked back, it was none other than the Senior Grand Sister who hated him to the marrow of her bones—she had actually stepped in to save him, something completely beyond all expectation.
"If he's going to die, I'll do it with my own hands," Lin Qingxuan said, glaring at the purple-robed woman who had launched the sneak attack from the shadows.