Lou Fengyin sensed Li Li approaching. Fighting against the encroachment of the foul qi, he forced himself to unleash a sword strike at her.
But the sword qi vanished the instant it neared Li Li, as if it were nothing more than a child’s game.
Lou Fengyin’s eyes widened in shock. How could this be?
More and more demonic beasts crowded in, their scarlet eyes fixed on the three people below. Their cunning nature told them that only by separating the three could they devour them more easily.
Chi Wanglan, perched on a tree branch, had just killed a Four-Winged Blood-Thirsty Ant. Distraught, she shouted down to Li Li, "Daoist Li, hurry up and come up! There are too many beasts down there!"
Amidst the beast horde, Li Li grabbed Liu Qing and tossed her identification tag to her. "Crush it and get out of here as fast as you can!"
Chi Wanglan clutched the small tag, tears streaming uncontrollably down her face as she shook her head at Li Li.
Li Li, unable to stand the stench of the nearby beasts, shouted impatiently at her, "Hurry! Don't worry about me. Once I get out, I will find you at the Chi family manor." She had barely finished speaking when she caught another sword strike from Lou Fengyin; just like the last one, it failed to even graze a hair on her head.
Seeing that the sword qi could not harm Li Li, Liu Qing stopped struggling and allowed Li Li to hold onto her, remaining perfectly still.
Lou Fengyin, no longer caring about the beasts attacking him, turned his full attention to Li Li. "Let go of Aqing!"
Li Li caught Lou Fengyin’s sword with her bare hand and, with a sharp tug, ripped it from his grasp.
Jiangjue felt remarkably obedient in her hand. With a single swing, she cleared a small patch of beasts behind her.
As she prepared to use her final teleportation talisman, she raised the sword and smiled brightly at Lou Fengyin. "I can't say thank you, since, after all, this is just returning to its rightful owner."
When Li Lixin arrived in the secret realm, summoned by the identification tag, he arrived just in time to see Li Li vanish. He turned his stiff neck to look at Lou Fengyin, who stood there dazed, his face blank.
Murderous demonic energy coalesced into blades of ice as Li Lixin lunged. In an instant, he was before Lou Fengyin. Forgetting all his skills, he resorted to the most primal form of hand-to-hand combat.
Li Lixin’s long-standing mask of calm shattered. He punched Lou Fengyin to the ground. "It’s you again! Why are you always driving A-Li away from me?"
Lou Fengyin collapsed to the ground, clutching his face and laughing as if waking from a dream. "I knew the Junior Sister was alive. So it was her all along."
Li Lixin watched Lou Fengyin’s madness with cold eyes, unable to fathom why Li Li had once favored him.
Once, in a desperate bid to win a single glance from her, he had deliberately mimicked Lou Fengyin—his expressions, his posture. Now that he thought about it, it was truly disgusting.
Chi Wanglan held onto the tree trunk, helpless. She watched the two men below with shock while dodging the winged beasts in the air.
Ever since his shark pearl was removed, Li Lixin had rarely fought. But now, scarlet flames appeared in his hands. The pure demonic energy was so potent it even eclipsed the surrounding foul qi. Under the pressure of a Void Refinement stage cultivator, all the nearby beasts exploded, raining down a torrential drizzle of blood.
He raised his gaze toward Chi Wanglan and the few other surviving cultivators, his expression returning to normal. "Do you intend to stay here, or will you come out with me?"
The survivors, looking at the remnants of their companions, could only nod.
...
The teleportation talisman had not carried them far, but it seemed Li Li and Liu Qing had been deposited into an underground cavern, completely cut off from the outside world.
Without a word, Li Li lunged at Liu Qing with her sword.
Liu Qing twisted her body, escaping Li Li’s grasp at a precarious angle.
"If only you had been as obediently deathly as you were just now," Li Li sighed with regret. "There’s something so disappointing about missing the mark, Senior Sister."
She rolled the words "Senior Sister" over her tongue. The tone was seductive, yet it sent a chill down the spine.
Liu Qing maintained a safe distance, studying Yu Linlang’s face with keen interest before bursting into sudden, jarring laughter. "I was wondering why there was no news of you anywhere. So, you’ve been hiding inside a dead girl’s skin. Tell me, Junior Sister, how have you been living lately?"
Li Li frowned as she watched Liu Qing laugh until tears streamed down her face.
Back at the Dichen Sect, Liu Qing had always slandered her, whether overtly or in the shadows. Even when they were alone, Liu Qing would put on a hypocritical performance; that mask of false kindness seemed grafted onto her face, impossible to peel off.
This was the first time Li Li faced the real Liu Qing, and she was not at all what she had imagined.
Liu Qing stopped laughing and straightened up, a flicker of pity appearing on her gentle, elegant face. "Look at you, you’ve grown so thin."
Li Li, having no patience left for her nonsense, unleashed Jiangjue. A burst of cold light cut through the air with a clear, resonant chime, shattering the stagnant atmosphere. Since Liu Qing’s life-bound sword had been destroyed, she had no choice but to pull out the Qingshuang sword that Bugui Chen had lent her. As the two blades clashed, the sound of metal hitting metal was enough to scatter the clouds of dust in the air.
Three years ago, Liu Qing had traveled alone to the Southern Islands and gone missing. When she returned, her Spiritual Root was severed and her spiritual veins withered. Even after long periods of recuperation within the sect, she could barely maintain the cultivation level of a Golden Core.
Yet, Li Li’s Nascent Soul stage Divine Sense found itself evenly matched with Liu Qing, and the atmosphere quickly turned scorching.
After another exchange, Li Li ceased her attack. She struggled to suppress her heavy breathing. Her Hehuan Sect robes were in tatters, covered in sword gashes and soaked in blood.
Liu Qing, across from her, was no better. Her body was even weaker than Li Li’s. Her face was flushed, her chest heaving as she gasped for air. She looked up at Li Li, her tone incredibly arrogant. "Come on! If we're really sisters, let's just stab each other to death!"
Li Li sneered and thrust her sword out once more.
Just as the tips of their blades were about to touch, the sword in Li Li’s hand vanished, replaced by a short handgun. The pitch-black muzzle was aimed squarely at Liu Qing’s heart.
Liu Qing looked down in disbelief as hot, red blood spilled from the exit wound in her back. She staggered and fell to the ground, glaring viciously at Li Li.
Li Li blew the wisps of black smoke from the muzzle and sat on the ground, savoring the look on Liu Qing’s face.
"My dear Senior Sister, getting shot doesn't feel very good, does it? Look, you've grown so thin."
Liu Qing clutched her chest, swallowing the mouthfuls of blood rising in her throat, and slowly forced a smile. "Don't be too happy just yet, Li Li. You’re going to die soon, too."
Li Li narrowed her eyes and grabbed Liu Qing by the throat, her gaze icy. "If I do, you'll be the first to die before me."
"That’s not necessarily true. Very soon, Li Li... that person will kill you with everything he has." Liu Qing could no longer speak clearly; she looked up at Li Li, spitting blood as she smiled.
Her magical artifact, sensing its master’s life force fading, suddenly activated.
Li Li watched, eyes downcast, as Liu Qing vanished from the spot.
Spiritual energy mixed with the bullet had pierced her heart. Unless she had a Heaven-rank Commandments Pill, Liu Qing would certainly die.
But there was only one Commandments Pill in the entire Qintian Realm, and that pill was currently inside Lou Fengyin’s body.
Li Li tucked a stray lock of hair behind her ear and let out a soft, inscrutable laugh.
The show was about to get interesting.