With a "whoosh," the expected scene of a dagger piercing his neck and blood spurting out did not happen.
The vixen stabbed at empty air as her sharp dagger plunged straight into the wooden bedboards!
"So fast!"
Seeing this, the vixen's expression changed drastically.
Li Zhiming had rolled to the other side at some point. Moving with the agility of a monkey, he held a fist in one hand and steadied the bedboard with the other, his sharp gaze locking onto the woman who had tried to assassinate him.
"Vixen, wanting to kill me is definitely the most foolish decision you've ever made in your life!"
Li Zhiming's voice was icy, his eyes surging with a wild intent to kill.
This vixen had actually sneaked into his room to make a move on him. Since she had managed to slip away, why couldn't she just run off honestly instead of coming back here to court death?
"How did you do that?"
The vixen demanded, glancing toward the door, her expression exceptionally grim.
This blunder would cause her fox demon clan's entire plan to completely collapse, making her a sinner within her tribe! Even if she managed to escape alive, she would not escape severe punishment from her clan.
"You originally had a chance to escape from here."
Li Zhiming did not answer the vixen's question, only saying with a cold laugh, "It's just a pity you picked the wrong person!"
As his voice fell, Li Zhiming pulled the dagger out from the bedboard and thrust it directly toward the center of the vixen's brow.
"Such blistering speed!"
The vixen's expression shifted drastically. She never expected this human to possess such strength; his speed and reflexes were completely on par with her own. Yet he was clearly just a jailer—why was he so much stronger than the Patrol Disciples?
"Damn it!"
The vixen gritted her teeth and clenched her fists. She had already sensed movement in the other rooms, figuring that their skirmish had startled the sleeping Patrol Disciples. Exposing herself now meant a total loss!
"Damn man, what is your name?"
The vixen asked through gritted teeth, her face twisting into wrinkles from anger, faintly showing signs of turning back into a fox.
"I am Li Zhiming! Cut the crap and make your move."
"Let me see what you, a Rank Eight fox demon, are really made of, daring to run amok in Xuyuan Prison!"
Strong True Qi fluctuations erupted from around Li Zhiming, and cyan wood-elemental True Qi surged into his palms. He was already prepared for battle.
"Li Zhiming, is it? Very well, I'll remember you!"
Instead of attacking, the vixen turned and bolted, transforming into a billow of pink demonic aura as she fled the room.
"Trying to run!"
Li Zhiming flicked his arm, and a bolt of True Qi shot out, striking the crystal stone on the wall. This crystal stone contained a certain sealing restriction; once activated, it would trigger an alarm.
A piercing buzzer sounded, alerting the entire Second Level of Xuyuan. All the resting disciples opened their eyes, each looking as if facing a formidable enemy as they sprinted toward Li Zhiming's location.
Seeing this, the vixen grabbed Wang Junfei by the head.
"Disperse!" she muttered to herself.
Wang Junfei's eyes regained their luster. He shook his dizzy head, feeling completely weak and drained, as if hollowed out and feeling exceptionally wretched.
The next second, she grabbed Wang Junfei by the neck. Suspended in mid-air and utterly powerless, Wang Junfei could only struggle frantically, kicking his legs.
"A fox demon! It's a fox demon!"
The lamps hanging on the stone walls of the corridor suddenly flared to life. The disciples who emerged first spotted the situation not far away and shouted warnings.
"Catch her! Don't let her get away!"
Being closest to the fox demon, Li Zhiming strode out and charged toward her.
"Whoever comes within three paces of me, I'll kill this fellow!"
Claws manifested on the fox demon's hands. Razor-sharp, the moment they touched Wang Junfei's neck, a distinct bloody scratch appeared.
Li Zhiming said nothing, his speed not dropping in the slightest, as if he hadn't heard the fox demon's threat.
"Do you care nothing for the life of your fellow disciple?"
Seeing Li Zhiming charge forward without the slightest hesitation, the vixen's expression grew even uglier.
"Heh."
Li Zhiming merely let out a cold laugh. What did Wang Junfei's life or death have to do with him?
"Did you not hear what I said?!" the vixen roared furiously.
This time, it wasn't just Li Zhiming. Several Patrol Disciples and dozens of jailers all charged toward her, having clearly seen that the hostage was merely a jailer—if he died, he died.
Xuyuan Prison was that cruel! To the disciples, capturing the fox demon would be a massive merit!
"Damn it, do these people care nothing for their own comrades' lives?!" The scene left the vixen completely bewildered.
"You truly are useless!"
The fox demon directly used Wang Junfei in her hand as a projectile, hurling him at the approaching crowd.
Chen Chong caught Wang Junfei and laid him on the ground.
"Cough, cough, cough..."
"How are you holding up?"
"I feel awful... so cold." Wang Junfei's lips were purple, his face completely devoid of color.
"This won't do. You can't stay on the Second Level; I'm taking you back."
Without another word, Chen Chong hoisted Wang Junfei onto his back and ran toward the first level.
Meanwhile, the fox demon stuck out her tongue and lightly licked her red lips. " brat, though my cover is blown today, I'm dragging you down to hell with me!"
Before her voice had even faded, the vixen flicked her fingers, sending a strand of demonic aura slashing through the air.
Li Zhiming leaped into the air, dodging the demonic aura while flinging the dagger in his hand.
Swish!
The dagger tore through the air, carrying scorching fiery True Qi as it lunged at the fox demon.
Fox demons feared fire, and it could provide a certain restraining effect, which was why Li Zhiming chose to catalyze fiery True Qi.
"This bastard man, why does he still have fiery True Qi?!"
The fox demon hurriedly jerked her head aside. The dagger grazed her cheek, leaving a slow-blossoming sting in its wake. She touched her cheek; her palm came away stained with blood.
"Damn it!"
"How dare you disfigure my face!"
Furious and exasperated, the vixen condensed a surging wave of purple demonic power in her palm. The demonic power churned, transforming into a massive claw that swiped toward Li Zhiming.
"Burst Fist!"
Channeling his power, Li Zhiming caused fiery True Qi to blaze fiercely around his fist.
"Break!"
With a single punch from Li Zhiming, the claw formed by the purple demonic power instantly shattered, burned to nothingness by the flames. At the same time, the shockwave generated by the collision of demonic power and True Qi rippled outward.
The surrounding jailers retreated one after another, their faces plastered with utter shock.
Li Zhiming was also just a jailer, yet he possessed such formidable strength, trading blows evenly with the fox demon—this was simply too powerful!
"Fox demon, I've got you!"
Suddenly, a jailer charged from behind the fox demon. He was solidly built with knotted muscles, clearly possessing immense strength. Launching a sneak attack, the jailer locked his arms tightly around the fox demon in a bear hug!
"Courting death!"
The fox demon glanced back at the man holding her. "A mere trash at Early Rank Nine, daring to touch my body? Die!" she roared angrily.
Seeing this, Li Zhiming's expression shifted drastically as he bellowed, "Let go, quick!"
But it was too late!
The fox demon's tails suddenly materialized, three tails acting like sharp blades that pierced straight through the jailer. Blood splattered everywhere as the jailer's eyes widened, his pupils gradually dilating.
"Hmph!"
Retracting her tails, the fox demon let the jailer slump limply to the ground, dead on the spot!
Witnessing this, Li Zhiming's expression turned grave.
Blindly driven by the prospect of merit and rewards, these jailers had lost their minds and entirely abandoned their capacity for thought. How could demonic cultivators locked up on the Second Level be something mere jailers could resist?
"If you don't want to die, back off immediately!" Li Zhiming thundered.
The startling splash of blood jolted the handymen back to their senses. Looking at the fallen jailer, terror washed over their faces.
This was a remarkably strong existence among their fellow jailers—a Martial Artist at Early Rank Nine who, judging by the upcoming assessments in a few months, would likely have been promoted to a First Level Patrol Disciple. Yet such an expert had been instantly killed by the fox demon.
What did that make them, mere Unranked Martial Disciples?
Dozens of jailers retreated far back, not daring to continue the charge.
The fox demon's three tails swayed slowly. Locking her gaze onto Li Zhiming, the tails behind her suddenly lengthened, transforming into sharp blades that stabbed toward him.
Swish, swish, swish!
The three tails thrust out continuously with blinding speed, making it impossible to tell afterimages from reality.
Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!
Li Zhiming shifted and maneuvered, easily dodging dozens of thrusts.
Falling Flower Palm!
Li Zhiming struck out with a palm.
He hadn't needed any enhancement points for the Yellow-tier martial art he obtained from the corpse-collection house; he had mastered it in just a single night!
Cyan True Qi materialized into a blooming lotus flower right before Li Zhiming's eyes. The powerful palm force forced the fox demon's tails back.
"So persistent!"
The fox demon withdrew her tails and glanced around. The handyman disciples had retreated far away, while dozens of Patrol Disciples were rushing in from all directions, every single one of them a Rank Eight Martial Artist.
"Whose subordinate is this jailer?!"
"He's actually this ferocious!"
"This combat prowess... he's probably a Rank Eight Martial Artist!"
The group of Patrol Disciples looked at Li Zhiming with expressions of astonishment.
"Li Zhiming! It's Li Zhiming from the Inner Sect! The one stripped of his cultivation for colluding with the demon race and demoted to a jailer!" exclaimed the Patrol Disciple who had brought Li Zhiming into the Second Level.
He clenched his fists slightly. He hadn't expected this Li Zhiming to possess strength not inferior to his own, even though his cultivation was supposed to have been crippled.
Unbelievable!
"It's that guy. Wasn't his cultivation crippled? How is he still so strong?"
"Idiot, having your cultivation crippled doesn't mean your meridians and dantian are destroyed—can't you just cultivate it back up?"
"That still takes a certain amount of time! How long has Li Zhiming even been in Xuyuan Prison? Seven days at most, and Xuyuan Prison is full of Yin Demonic Dead Qi, which heavily hinders cultivation."
"There's something fishy about this. There must be something weird about Li Zhiming!"
The group of Patrol Disciples began to buzz with discussion. None of them rushed to attack just yet; the fox demon was at most at Rank Eight Perfection. They wanted to see just how far this Li Zhiming could fight against her.
"We're in trouble now!"
Crouching atop the railing, the fox demon found herself sandwiched between the Patrol Disciples of Xuyuan Prison's Second Level on one side and the bottomless abyss of Xuyuan on the other.
No matter which way she went, she was walking into a dead end.
"This is all your fault, Li Zhiming!" The fox demon gritted her teeth, glaring angrily at Li Zhiming.