Boom!
Purple lightning erupted. Helian Changguang never expected his wife to stay close to the chaos instead of backing away. That she even dared to step forward and interfere shocked him greatly. Heart pounding, he forced himself to cast a spell while braving the two bolts of lightning.
"Translucent Bloodsilver Technique!"
The blood-colored aura clinging to Li Qinghong’s protective lightning exploded with a thunderous blast, shattering the lightning into scattered fragments. Li Qinghong let out a muffled grunt, but she showed no hesitation. Her spear did not pause for a moment as it continued thrusting forward.
Pfft!
The dharma light protecting Liu Qiao shattered like an eggshell. Only the black glow rising from the talisman was of slightly higher quality. It dented inward under the strain, barely managing to hold together and shield her.
But how could this long-prepared strike from Li Qinghong be so easily blocked? Five bolts of lightning burst from her spear, flashing brilliantly in midair and casting a pale glow over the three faces. Then came the crack of thunder.
Bang!
A bright white spark flashed past, and five bolts of lightning struck Liu Qiao straight in the face. Devil cultivators already feared thunder by nature, so how could she possibly withstand such a blow? Her head burst like a watermelon and was refined by the lightning into black smoke that vanished into the air.
“Qiao’er!”
Helian Changguang’s eyes went bloodshot with grief as the black smoke rose but he did not rush to save his wife. Instead, red light flared on his dual blades as he viciously stabbed toward the snow-white robe on Li Qinghong’s back.
Meanwhile, Liu Qiao, reduced to just a lone torso and legs, raised her hand and pulled out a fleshy orb from her storage pouch. She gripped it in her two pale hands and moved it toward the stump of her neck.
Devil cultivators differed from immortal cultivators in that they were far more resilient. Though her head had reduced to ash, Liu Qiao was merely severely injured. But the two hands on her torso trembled faintly. She was absolutely terrified.
Though she could neither see nor hear, her spiritual sense still worked. It told her that Li Qinghong had remained calm. She showed no intention of retreating. Instead, she gently parted her red lips and released another beam of white light.
“What...”
Liu Qiao's hands froze mid-motion as the explosive white light burst forth. The earth trembled, boulders rolled, and purple thunder-rain returned once again. She was completely defenseless now and was only three feet from the beam. An instant later, it swallowed her whole.
Rumble...
A concentrated sweep of lightning flashed by, blinding the cultivators below. The air above the formation fell into eerie silence after the excessive thunderous blasts. Helian Changguang stared in disbelief, momentarily frozen.
“What?”
Li Qinghong pulled back her spear and turned coldly toward him. Her spear was pointed diagonally, and her white robes, now tinged with purple, fluttered gently in the wind.
Blood trickled slowly from the corner of her mouth. Her back was drenched red. Her black hair drifted in the wind, and strands near her forehead were still stained with blood.
Li Qinghong’s dark-gray eyes quietly bore into Helian Changguang. Behind her, the black smoke dispersed, and a brocade robe fluttered faintly, like a bird with broken wings, as it plunged headfirst into the forest.
Liu Qiao had been reduced to ashes.
Helian Changguang’s eyes filled with disbelief, rage, deep regret, and horror. His once cold and sharp voice turned shrill as he cried out in grief, “You wretched woman...”
Though overwhelmed by sorrow, he did not lose his clarity. The strike he had unleashed earlier had not been something one could take lightly. Yet Li Qinghong had taken it head-on just to kill Liu Qiao. She had almost thrown her own life away in the process.
Helian Changguang said nothing, but his trembling lips betrayed the seething hatred in his heart. He instantly refined the pills buried in his flesh. He bellowed like a tiger as his twin blades swept through the air, casting phantom shadows. Black smoke billowed across the ground and surged forward.
Li Qinghong lifted her spear and released two bolts of lightning shaped like birds. They shot forward, and at nearly the same instant, five more lightning bolts leapt from her spear, bursting into brilliant white sparks.
Pfft.
Helian Changguang took the spear strike head-on and nearly spat blood. Lightning surged through his internal organs, boiling them.
His grip on his blades faltered as he cried out in shock, “You!”
Li Qinghong’s white robes were now covered in radiant purple lightning, streaks of energy spreading from the hem. Her garments had transformed into violet robes, tinged with hues of blood red.
Purple lightning crawled up her neck, tracing patterns across her cheeks. The blood in her hair condensed into tiny beads, suspended in the air under the thunder’s magnetic force. She thrust her spear again. This time, it was with a vastly different level of power.
Huh?
Helian Changguang couldn’t comprehend it. The purple clothed thunder cultivator before him was clearly injured, yet it was as if she had unlocked some hidden power. Her strength had increased by at least fifty percent. The force of her strike left him breathless and his legs numb. He was trembling in fear.
The terrifying lightning before him crushed all will to resist. He had no choice but to swallow his rage and take another hit. His abdomen tore open like tofu, leaving a small hole. Lightning started to spread from the wound.
Helian Changguang exclaimed in horror, “I can’t stall any longer!”
His left eye burst with a pop, and his body transformed into a streak of blood light. It seemed he had activated some pre-prepared spell art, as he rapidly soared upward at breakneck speed.
Li Qinghong reacted just as quickly. Fierce lightning erupted beneath her feet as she flew upward on a thunder surge. One red and one purple trail streaked through the air. Her spear controlled the Five Thunders, launching strike after strike at the blood light, each hit raising puffs of black mist.
The pursuit spanned five kilometers. Helian Changguang’s blood light shrank with each blow, though the demonic aura around him grew thicker. At last, the thunder cultivator halted. She gave him a cold final glance and vanished into the south as a streak of violet light.
Helian Changguang flew several more kilometers before reverting to his original form. He was now just a bare skull connected to a long spine that was dripping blood. His hair, eyebrows, nose, and mouth were gone, leaving only seven dark holes on his face.
He dared not return immediately. He pulled out a corpse he had prepared in advance from his storage. Twisting off the corpse’s head, he pulled out the spine and inserted his own. Then he carved out facial features to save time.
Once he had finished patching together his new body, he finally let out a sigh of relief. Yet flickers of lightning still danced across his flesh.
Both horrified and enraged, Helian Changguang fled in panic, thinking to himself, What... what a terrifying thunder cultivator...
————
Mount Yan Pass.
The devil cultivators were very sharp. They noticed instantly when the two Foundation Establishment Realm devil cultivators in the sky died and fled. The once-loyal horde attacking below instantly dispersed. The cultivators present all sighed in relief, exchanged glances, and were left deeply shaken.
That lightning in the sky just now... was it Fairy Li?
Though the Qi Cultivation Realm cultivators present didn’t have a lot of experience, they had still witnessed Foundation Establishment Realm battles along the way. All were stunned and dazed.
Fei Tongyu murmured, “It was a blur of white, lightning and rain falling, blinding us all... Qinghong... has already reached such a level!”
Fei Tongyu’s shock was understandable. Back then, Li Qinghong had been just a little girl with lower cultivation than his. He could only remain silent.
The others were elated and full of praise, but only Li Minggong harbored faint worry, My lady chased into the demonic cloud all the way... I fear she may have walked into an ambush...
She craned her neck to look, and after only a few dozen breaths, a streak of purple light flew toward the front of the formation. When it halted, it took the form of a violet-robed female cultivator.
A silver spear held up a brocade robe. Her delicate brows framed apricot eyes tinted violet, and faint traces of thunder still glimmered on her cheeks.
Li Qinghong stood there quietly, black hair cascading down. The assembled cultivators hurriedly knelt in respect, utterly convinced of her strength, and shouted in unison, “Greetings, Fairy! Congratulations on your great victory over the devil foe!”
The lightning on Li Qinghong’s body slowly faded, her violet robes returning to white. Spots of blood began to appear, and her eyes returned to their clear black-and-white brilliance.
She spoke with a light, bright voice, “Minggong, come with me inside.”