Rumble, rumble—
Roaring flames covered the sky and the moon.
Although the disciples of Heavenly Cloud Peak on the immortal boat panicked at first, they all came to their senses in an instant after Liang Zhu's voice spread. They released their condensed energy and placed themselves in a large formation with Xiao Yunluo as the main knot.
After this, the immortal boat was completely isolated from the aftermath of the demonic energy that shook it fiercely.
Xiao Yunluo hovered above the seven immortal boats, and her lilac eyes looked solemnly at the relentless flames around her. As a Black Dragon, the spiritual energy in her body was almost inexhaustible.
These demonic spells, although fierce, were mostly released by some Core Formation-stage demonic cultivators.
Although she had panicked in the beginning, now that the Spirit Controlling Formation was complete, these minor spells were no longer a problem. Even if she was alone, she was confident that she could block the spell bombardment of the demonic cultivators for several days with her own spiritual energy.
Xiao Yunluo pursed her lips, a little complacent.
In the past few years, she has also worked hard to practice the spirit control technique and become stronger.
"Hehe... Lianxue, wait until the Dharma cultivator finishes casting spells, and then you take the disciples of Heavenly Cloud Peak..."
Xiao Yunluo took the time to make arrangements for Pei Lianxue, but before she finished speaking, she heard Pei Lianxue, who had just landed on the deck, shouting, "Yunluo!! Be careful!!"
"Ah?"
Boom—
The sky-shaking roar was deafening, and Xiao Yunluo felt as if her spirit shield had been hit by a meteorite. She staggered and turned her head to look.
What she saw was that the countless layers of the spiritual shield that she had condensed with the Black Dragon energy and the many disciples of Heavenly Cloud Peak below, were stained with a little blood.
In just a blink of an eye, a feathered arrow loaded with demonic blood energy pierced through dozens of layers of the spiritual shields, heading straight to Xiao Yunluo's face.
Xiao Yunluo's eyes widened in fear. Only then did she realize that this arrow was no different from the original spiritual treasure of the Dark North Sect's Leader, Chen Mingfeng, except that it was covered with a thick layer of demonic energy.
The speed of the feather arrow did not give her any time to react.
As a result, Xiao Yunluo had just opened her mouth, and her throat had not yet made any sound when the arrowhead had already reached a distance of ten inches from her forehead.
The protective spell that Si Xuanji had set for her also caused a golden light to burst out from her chest.
But in the next moment, a thin, white hand directly grabbed the black feather arrow that had almost reached her forehead.
Pei Lianxue grabbed the arrow shaft, gnashing her teeth until they clicked and pulling it hard in the opposite direction. "Yaaaa--!"
The arrow instantly turned into a stream of light due to her full-strength throw and flew in the opposite direction. It crashed into the forest below the immortal boat, stirring up a strong black flame and exploding into a huge hole in the dense black forest with a radius of nearly one hundred feet.
Boom—
Xiao Yunluo was stunned. Lianxue caught the feather arrow shot by a spiritual treasure of a cultivator in the Deification stage with her bare hands and threw it away...
Although Pei Lianxue's right sleeve was shredded, there were some scratches on her thin white arm, and she seemed a little breathless...
But still...
"Lianxue… you..."
Still glowering, Pei Lianxue turned around and asked worriedly, "Yunluo, are you okay?!"
"No… I'm fine..."
Xiao Yunluo was frightened by her eyes. She could see that Lianxue was very angry at the moment, but she quickly came to her senses and prepared to continue to command the disciples of Heavenly Cloud Peak to resist the enemy.
However, almost at the same time, the shouts of the disciples came from below. "The demonic cultivators are attacking!!"
"Don't panic..." On the deck, Liang Zhu let out a long breath as he looked at the densely packed demonic cultivators rushing over from behind the distant mountains, and he immediately expanded his voice again with spiritual energy: "All disciples, listen to my order, go out from the left and right, line up in a row. Wait for them to rush over and surround them."
"Yes, sir!!"
...
Thousands of feet away, on the leading flying boat of the Heavenly Demon Sect, He Qingjiao slowly lowered the bow in her left hand with a hint of surprise in her eyes.
The longbow in her hand was a spiritual treasure taken from the master of the Dark North Sect, named "Black Shaft".
After spending some time refining it with demonic energy, it was hers to use.
Although it was not as powerful as in the hands of the Dark North Sect master, the spiritual feather arrows shot out were definitely not something that a cultivator in the Nascent Soul stage could easily block.
He Qingjiao had not taken it seriously when she heard He Buqun talk about the Young Miss Xiao and "Liang Xiaoxue" of the Black Star Sect. She wanted to use them as targets to test her new spiritual bow.
The first arrow was a test, so she only drew the bow halfway.
For the second arrow, she drew the bow fully, but "Liang Xiaoxue" caught it with her bare hands and threw it away.
"...It seems that she is worthy of her reputation, huh."
He Qingjiao looked at the spiritual bow in her hand. Probably because of the incomplete refining, cracks appeared on the bow limb after these two arrows. If she drew the bow again, it would break...
Yue Wuming, who was standing behind her, could not hide the astonishment in his eyes. Not only because of the two arrows shot by He Qingjiao, but also because of Pei Lianxue catching the arrow bare-handed and Xiao Yunluo's Black Dragon spirit.
He was just an ordinary Elder of the Heavenly Demon Sect, how could he have ever seen such a scene...
"Young Master He... May I ask..."
"Attack."
I'm afraid I will become cannon fodder...
Yue Wuming was ashamed, but he felt that if he didn't do it, He Qingjiao might chop him down with the sword on the spot. Helplessly, he could only nod to the few confidants behind him.
"Attack."
"...Understood."
The drum sounded, and all the disciples of the Heavenly Demon Sect on the ten flying boats turned into a black swarm of bees, flying up from the deck on their swords toward the immortal boats at a high speed.
At the same time, the disciples of the Black Star Sect also stepped out from both sides of the immortal ship and lined up. Countless spiritual techniques were condensed above their heads to retaliate against the fiendish spells.
Between the immortals and demonic cultivators, the black clouds in the sky were stirred by the clash of spiritual and demonic energy, forming a huge storm eye.
On one side was the blood-eroded sky, and on the other side was the spiritual light covering the sky.
The two sides collided in the center of the storm's eye, and then the world collapsed.
Rumble---
Golden thunder, ice rain, fierce wind, and wild snow intertwined.
The sound of sword collision, roars, and bursts of spiritual and demonic energies exploded in the sky, resounding through the wilderness.
Pei Lianxue listened to what Liang Zhu said before and did not rush forward alone. Instead, she deliberately slowed down to allow the Black Star Sect disciples to keep up with her.
Every time she swung out the Snow Jade Spirit Sword, it swept across the necks of several disciples of the Heavenly Demon Sect.
Xiao Yunluo, who was guarding the back, also spared no effort to perform thunder spells to help those disciples who found themselves cornered.
Liang Zhu was still standing on the immortal boat, looking at the overall battle situation with cold eyes, and calmly commanding the disciples of Heavenly Cloud Peak to build an encirclement.
In his eyes, this group of demonic cultivators was simply a mob.
They didn't understand the formation or the tactics. It was as if there was no one in command. They all fought like a single cultivator, each fighting against the opponents. It was basically a blind charging forward.
Although the sound of killing was deafening, the situation was one-sided.
Less than a quarter of an hour into the battle, fifty or sixty Black Star Sect disciples were injured and retreated to the rear, while more than half of the demonic cultivators who rushed over were killed or wounded.
"Are they being abandoned?" Liang Zhu muttered, trying to figure out the demonic cultivators' strategy.
And the next moment, a strong blood light streaked across the wind and snow.
Swish—
Seven or eight Black Star Sect disciples turned into bloodied pieces and scattered in the air the moment the blood light swept past them, without even a scream.
Seeing the blood light heading straight toward Pei Lianxue, Liang Zhu immediately shouted. "Miss Pei!! Watch out behind you!!"
"Eh?"
Pei Lianxue was facing another direction where she had just killed a few demonic cultivators. When she heard Brother Liang's voice, her eyes focused, and she turned around with the Snow Jade Spirit Sword in front of her chest.
Clang—
Ding—
The sharp sound of the sword rang and a blood light burst out.
The air wave generated by the collision of the swords alone blew away the Black Star Sect disciples who followed Pei Lianxue.
In just a moment, a sword field that only two people could enter was generated on the battlefield where demonic cultivators and immortals were fighting.
"Liang Xiaoxue?"
Pei Lianxue looked at the unfamiliar face and pushed her sword away. Then, she turned her sword and swung out more than ten spiritual lights. He Qingjiao's eyes turned up and down and left and right several times in a breath. Then, she raised her sword and cut off Pei Lianxue's shadow swords one by one.
"It's rare to see an immortal cultivator with such a shrewd sword technique..."
"Humph!"
Pei Lianxue pursed her lips, thinking that it would take some effort to cut down this person. She immediately recalled the people her brother had told her about, but she still couldn't identify this person...
Her brother listed all the powerful demonic cultivators that she and Xiao Yunluo might meet in a treasure bag, but she didn't know who this person was, so she couldn't take advantage of the situation and exploit his weakness.
However, it didn't matter if she didn't know his weakness!
Judging from the strength shown by this person, she didn't think she would lose!
At this moment, the two ignored everything around them, and they fought in mid-air with the sword techniques they had practiced.
Seeing this, several Black Star Sect disciples were ready to come to help, but they were stopped by Pei Lianxue when they approached within a hundred feet of them.
Ding Ding Ding—
"Don't come over!!"
However, only the Black Star Sect disciples were reminded. Several Heavenly Demon Sect disciples in the Core Formation stage also came to help, but they were turned into powder by an invisible sword force the moment they approached a hundred feet from them.
Yue Wuming, who followed He Qingjiao, seized the opportunity at this moment and, unseen, slipped behind Pei Lianxue. He put his hands together in front of him, preparing to attack with a demonic spell.
But Xiao Yunluo in the sky saw it and immediately stopped him with a thunder spell.
"Don't even think about it!!"
"Tsk..."
Swoosh—
The ice-blue sword energy and the blood energy collided in the air countless times.
However, the two people in the middle were not injured at all. Pei Lianxue's expression was as calm as water, and so was He Qingjiao's.
There was no offensive rhetoric as the two let their swords talk instead, and in this chaotic battle, they had a debate that would result in the death of one person.
—Very strong!
This was the evaluation that the two gave each other at this moment, from the bottom of their hearts.
At least, among the people He Qingjiao had met in hundreds of years, this was the first time she had met a cultivator who was her match in sword techniques, more so than even Sister Gu.
She had been waiting before, waiting for Sister Gu to reach her level, and then she would find her and fight with her, thinking that only the grown-up Gu Mingxin could satisfy her.
But now...
Ding Ding—
"Liang Xiaoxue!!!"
"Don't scream! Humph!"
Ding Ding Ding—
As the sword lights flashed, Pei Lianxue also paid attention to her fellow disciples who were fighting with the demonic cultivators around her and felt that the man in front of her was simply a mad dog, who didn't care about the life and death of his fellow disciples at all.
She could let go completely, but that would inevitably hurt the disciples of Heavenly Cloud Peak around her.
However, Liang Zhu, who was watching and commanding from behind, saw that Pei Lianxue was restraining herself, and he immediately shouted. "Everyone around Miss Pei, get out of the way!!!"
Boom--!!
Just as Liang Zhu finished speaking, a blood thunder spell came crashing down on top of his head, causing him to lose his hearing for a moment. He squatted, turning his head to look, and saw Yue Wuming, who seemed to have discovered that he was commanding, and was trying to kill him first.
Xiao Yunluo also felt that Yue Wuming was as annoying as a fly.
The battle between the Dharma cultivators relied on the size of their respective energy reserves. Whoever exhausted the spiritual power first would lose. She naturally could not lose to Yue Wuming, but it was impossible to exhaust Yue Wuming's energy in an instant. After all, he was a cultivator in the middle stage of the Nascent Soul.
Finally, Xiao Yunluo could no longer bear it and directly took out a sword from the storage bag, stopped the spells, and crashed into Yue Wuming from above.
"Die!!!"
"What?! Hiss—!"
Swish—
Yue Wuming, who didn't expect Xiao Yunluo to draw her sword and chop him, had his right arm cut off by the sword. However, a Nascent Soul cultivator would not surrender just because of a mere arm. He quickly dodged and retreated, using his techniques to taunt Xiao Yunluo.
The situation was supposed to be one-sided, but after He Qingjiao and Yue Wuming brought several Nascent Soul cultivators into the arena, it gradually became a stalemate.
In the back, Liang Zhu frowned slightly, feeling that this would not work, but he could not think of any tricks that could instantly break the situation. Although he asked the disciples around Pei Lianxue to retreat, the disciples were counterattacked by the demonic cultivators and had no chance to escape...
The main thing was that he had never expected the Heavenly Demon Sect to produce a Nascent Soul cultivator who was on par with his Sixth Brother's younger sister...
At this time...
Boom boom—
The sound of the earthquake overwhelmed the sound of swords and spells exploding in various places in the sky.
In the southeast, thousands of feet from the battlefield, the high mountains collapsed into flying rocks and exploded without warning.
And along with the earthquake, came an extremely strong bloody aura.
Liang Zhu subconsciously thought that a demonic cultivator in the Deification stage had come, and his eyes widened. However, the next moment, Pei Lianxue's movements stopped abruptly.
He Qingjiao forced Pei Lianxue away with a sword blow, and she looked toward the collapsed mountain with wide eyes. "Sister Gu?"
She felt the familiar bloody aura. Only her junior sister Gu had such a strong bloody aura in the world...
He Qingjiao no longer paid attention to Pei Lianxue as she turned into a bloody light and flew toward the collapsed mountain. Seeing that she was about to leave, Pei Lianxue immediately prepared to chase after her, brandishing her sword. "Want to escape?!"
But the next moment, she was stopped by Liang Zhu. "Miss Pei! Don't chase after him! It's a good thing that he left. You should deal with the demonic cultivators here first..."
"..."
Pei Lianxue took a deep breath, looked at the fellow disciples who were fighting with the disciples of the Heavenly Demon Sect, and suppressed her anger. She turned around, going toward Yue Wuming who was fighting with Xiao Yunluo.
Yue Wuming saw He Qingjiao turn around and fly away and was stunned...
"Young Master He?!!"
—He Qingjiao left?!
—He left?!!
—Why?!!
—Didn't he fight well?
—Why did he leave suddenly?!!
—He left him, an old man in the middle stage of Nascent Soul, alone to deal with the Black Dragon and that Sword cultivator girl who looked like a fucking demon?!
"Young Master He!!! Where are you going!!! Wait for me..."
Yue Wuming wanted to chase him immediately, but Xiao Yunluo and Pei Lianxue did not agree. The moment he lost his concentration and revealed a crack, the Snow Jade Spirit Sword and a green light sword in Xiao Yunluo's hand passed through him one after another. In a few breaths, his Nascent Soul inner core turned into pieces of meat and scattered.
Pei Lianxue relaxed a little, then looked at the other demonic cultivators behind him and shouted. "Yunluo! I will take care of those who want to escape, and the rest are yours!"
"Okay!"
The two nodded at each other. Then, one of them returned to the sky and clasped her hands together to summon the Heavenly Dome Thunder. The other held the spirit sword tightly and transformed into an ice-blue stream of light. Together with the disciples of the Black Star Sect led by Liang Zhu to counterattack, they pounced toward the remaining demonic cultivators of the Heavenly Demon Sect...
...
Rumble!
Dozens of lightning bolts rolled down, accompanied by an ice-blue figure and hundreds of Black Star Sect disciples. They turned into a giant tiger with an ice-blue cold light in its eyes. Its body was filled with golden lightning, and it swallowed all the Heavenly Demon Sect disciples in front of it.
A thousand feet away, a young man wearing a bamboo hat had already set up a banquet table under the collapsed mountain.
On the simple wooden table, there was a pot of wine and two jade cups.
Ye Anping stood alone at the side of the table, looking at the scene in the distance, and was a little shocked.
He seemed to have inadvertently raised his little sister into a monster...
"Ah—"
After a sigh, Ye Anping raised his hand to pull down his bamboo hat.
Later, he was going to cause trouble in the Heavenly Demon Sect, so the more helpers the better. He had an idea to try to recruit He Qingjiao.
So, he just asked Xue'e to call out Ah Mang and knock down the mountain next to him, wanting to make a big commotion and lure He Qingjiao to come and talk to him.
After all, the person He Qingjiao cared about most was Sister Gu...
Boom—!!
A bloody light fell from the sky, raising a large amount of dust.
He Qingjiao took two steps toward him with a sword in her hand and looked around.
She saw a man with a bamboo hat who had prepared a wine table and seemed to have been waiting for a long time. She frowned slightly, and a hint of vigilance appeared in her eyes.
Smiling, Ye Anping raised his head and propped up his hat, then greeted. "Miss He, nice to meet you..."
"Miss..."
Ye Anping's eyes revealed a cold look, but the corners of his mouth were still raised. He looked up and continued, "I won't keep you in suspense. In a nutshell, if you are willing to pledge your loyalty to me, I will spare you the death penalty for injuring my little sister. What do you think, Miss He?"