"Good... very good..." Guo Hongyao hissed as her lips trembled with rage.
Li Qinghong, holding her spear steadily, glanced around with flowing purple light and replied casually, "Yes, I agree."
"Bitch..."
Guo Hongyao could do nothing but repeat the insult. Unperturbed, Li Qinghong thrust her spear forward, transforming it into a barrage of pale purple shadows that surged forward with an overwhelming force.
Guo Hongyao shielded herself with a jade token, snarling, "How dare you ruin my plans. You will pay for this! I swear I will kill you, bitch!"
Li Qinghong found herself missing Kong Tingyun's golden mountain, wondering when her own family might craft a similar artifact, and cast Guo Hongyao a sidelong look.
By now, Li Xijun and the others had scattered, leaving only the Hooked Serpent, which glared with an ominous intensity. It had been thwarted time and time again, even failing to take down a single Qi Cultivator. With its dignity wounded, the Hooked Serpent's hatred for Guo Hongyao only grew as her disdain mounted.
Caught off guard by one of Li Qinghong's thunderous strikes, Guo Hongyao felt the blow reach her core, but her advanced techniques allowed her to circulate her qi and hold off the worst of it. Glancing warily at the menacing Hooked Serpent, a sense of fear began to creep over her.
With her hands free, Guo Hongyao performed a hand seal, only to hear Li Qinghong's voice ring out as a surge of purple light erupted before her, causing her jade token to tremble and her arm to go numb. The spell broke in her hands.
Guo Hongyao faltered as she thought in shock, How could such a minor clan produce someone this powerful?
Struggling to regain control, she shouted, "This... this was your family's fault, ruining my plans! How can you now turn around and blame me for it?!"
Growing bolder with every strike, Li Qinghong's jade armor gleamed with purple light as she spoke softly, "An Eastern Sea cultivator speaking of right and wrong...? How amusing..."
Guo Hongyao, fuming, pulled out a talisman to block Li Qinghong's onslaught, buying herself a moment to act. She quickly chanted an incantation and performed a hand seal.
The Six Ding Merging Fire Token , which had slipped from Xu Xiao's corpse and fallen into the lake, finally rose, floating toward her hand.
As the Six Ding Merging Fire Token settled into her grip, Guo Hongyao's expression turned strained, as though she were holding a scorching piece of coal. She dared to only pinch it between her two fingers as she invoked its flame.
Fssh!
The grayish-red fire flared out, barely the size of her palm—nothing like the sweeping blaze Xu Xiao had unleashed with a flick of his sleeve. However, it was enough to make Li Qinghong raise an eyebrow, as the flame, like ash blowing from a forge, quickly consumed the purple lightning without leaving a trace of it behind.
Li Wushao's expression darkened instantly; his demonic energy poured forth continuously, yet against this flame, it burned only like kindling, causing the flames to grow stronger and leaving his entire body aching faintly.
What kind of spirit fire is this? It is specifically meant to counter demonic creatures...
Meanwhile, Guo Hongyao managed to stabilize herself using the flame technique, but the air around her distorted as the fire intensified, and her own expression grew more grim. The gray flame withdrew, reconsolidating into a token, while her internal injuries from the lightning strike earlier flared up, sending pain through her organs.
She had no choice but to reveal her Dao Foundation. Flames enveloped her entirely, hanging like ribbons from her clothing, as she brought her hands together in a seal, conjuring a red light that radiated from behind her head.
Once the red light appeared, it shone intensely, blinding the two Li Family members and dulling their spiritual senses as if they were moving through thick mercury.
With the flame warding them off, Guo Hongyao took the opportunity to soar into the air, her hands covered in blisters, thinking to herself, The Six Ding Merging Fire Token is a Purple Mansion Realm artifact—it drains life and damages vitality; I cannot use it lightly. I'd better retreat for now...
Though she had grown up training on the island and had little real combat experience, she could assess the situation well enough. The two had already formed an encirclement; if she ended up in their grasp, they might not kill her, but she would certainly suffer greatly.
She spat a harsh parting threat, "You... you better hope I do not catch you next time!"
With that, she hastily ascended into the sky, flying at full speed. Once she had gained some distance and, seeing no one pursuing her, she tucked away the spirit artifact and, seething with resentment, muttered angrily, "If... if the Six Ding Merging Fire Token had not been mysteriously delayed from descending into the great void for a hundred years, there'd be no such thing as the Li Family... curse them!"
Although she had initially come to the mainland pleased to have discovered such a talent, this lightning cultivator had ruined her plans. Although she had still acquired the spirit artifact and would be rewarded on her island, her mood was significantly dampened.
When I get back, I will find out who that bitch is.
With that thought, she flew off quietly, crossing Lake Xian, and landed on a smaller, subsidiary island of Crimson Reef Island to tend to her wounds, capturing several people to restore her vitality.
Just then, one of her subordinates approached to report, "Fairy... just a few days ago, a masked male cultivator raided several of our cargo ships..."
Guo Hongyao, already furious, snapped impatiently, "Explain it clearly!"
The subordinate trembled as he replied, "This cultivator is at the peak of Qi Cultivation Realm, wielding a golden hammer and following the immortal Dao, yet he employs numerous devil Dao artifacts... He acted alone, destroyed an entire immortal ship, murdered, looted... then vanished on the wind."
"Useless fools!"
Guo Hongyao usually cared little for such matters, but her anger against the Li Family left her eager to unleash her rage somewhere, and she shouted, "Notify me tomorrow before setting out to sea!"
Her subordinate hastily complied and withdrew. Guo Hongyao consumed blood qi, feeling her internal injuries gradually healing, then shut herself inside her cave dwelling and sat cross-legged to cultivate.
Taking out the Six Ding Merging Fire Token and examining it closely, she noticed the elegant, intricate black patterns on its surface. The more she looked, the more captivated she felt, and could not help but exclaim to herself, "What an extraordinary artifact... it is truly worthy of being a Purple Mansion Realm spiritual weapon! Just from its appearance alone, one can tell it is something remarkable."
She carefully stored the treasure, then sat down to regulate her breathing. As she gradually entered a meditative state, the Six Ding Merging Fire Token at her waist began to emit a faint red glow, pulsating gently as if it were breathing.
————
At Mount Qingdu.
After driving Guo Hongyao away, Li Qinghong descended back onto the mountain. Li Xijun approached her with a storage pouch and a small, golden-red ring in hand, with the Hanlin Sword already slung across his back.
As Li Qinghong struck with a thunderbolt at the critical moment, Guo Hongyao, caught off guard, had not retrieved the sword but had left it floating in mid-air. The Hanlin Sword, being spiritually attuned, drifted back to Li Xijun on its own.
Li Chengliao respectfully withdrew, and Li Qinghong listened as Li Xijun recounted the events in detail, breaking into a cold sweat. She nodded in approval, saying, "Well done... As for your speculation that this person may carry a thread of fate, how confident are you? To me, it seems he merely obtained the Purple Mansion Realm artifact without any evident effect on his mind."
Li Xijun considered her words briefly before replying with certainty, "I am quite sure. Though I did not notice it at first, looking back now, his mere appearance stirred in me an overwhelming hostility... I never once considered an open, civil discussion with him."
He paused, feeling that the events of the night were shrouded in a strange fog, and murmured, "But Chengliao... he started by trying to reason with him kindly. Had he not summoned Old Man Liu, our family's lead would have ended up there. If fate did interfere, it seems Chengliao was affected far less."
"Or perhaps... something else altogether influenced Chengliao..."