158 – Heaven Demon
The two came out from behind the large boulder and rushed towards Mirror Moon Lake. In order not to leave Shui Yun’er behind, Qi Qiqi didn’t advance at full speed.
They crossed a considerable distance in one breath and plunged into the battlefield like an arrow.
Shortly after, a black lion pounced on a certain young martial practitioner, about to bite him in the throat.
Upon seeing this, Qi Qiqi kicked off the ground and skimmed forward. She swiftly span her body and, like a giant chakram, swept across the black lion’s back. Blood splattered, and the black lion roared and fell on the ground, and then was killed by the martial practitioner who has already gotten up.
When she landed, a white silver wolf rushed to the girl in a red dress. She leaned sideways, and several water arrows swept past her and hit the silver wolf. Before the silver wolf, who had its attack thwarted, could land, Qi Qiqi performed a spin kick and sent it flying.
The sound of heavy footsteps came from behind.
Qi Qiqi looked back and found a giant bear covered in a carapace, which is shining like rock. Several Human Realm martial practitioners have surrounded it, but their weapons cannot deal with the hard carapace.
“Little Sister Shui, freeze it!”
Qi Qiqi span her body and kicked a spear that fell beside her.
The spear shot out while issuing a unique, low sound. It broke through the thick carapace and embedded itself into the giant bear’s stubby thigh. But it didn’t stab deep enough.
Qi Qiqi shot out, jumped into the air noiselessly, and, like a bright red flame falling from the sky, borrowed the momentum from the fall and stamped on the spear. Accompanied by a beast howl, the tip of the spear pierced out of the other side of the giant bear’s thigh.
The seriously injured giant bear swung its arms violently in an attempt to fight back. However, Qi Qiqi’s response was frighteningly fast. She jumped back immediately after her attack succeeded.
At this time, a water ball flew past underneath her feet and hit the giant bear.
“Freeze!”
Then, the water froze.
Drenched in water, most of the giant bear’s body was immediately frozen, unable to move. It struggled, yet could not shake off the layer of ice that covered its body.
“Don’t fight it anymore!”
The several Human Realm martial practitioners, who have been suppressed previously, wanted to take this opportunity to attack the giant bear to vent their anger, but Qi Qiqi stopped them with a shout.
“You’ll break the ice! Leave it alone!”
No longer concerning herself with these people, Qi Qiqi switched to another battle immediately.
Working closely with Shui Yun’er, she forced open a straight path in the chaotic battlefield and finally reached One Dao Church.
Several Iron Armor Oxen are attacking the left flank of One Dao Church. The disciples of One Dao Church tried to repel them. But probably because they are already quite exhausted, they cannot drive the Iron Armor Oxen away.
Qi Qiqi fired Flying Flames, which attracted the attention of the Iron Armor Oxen. The Iron Armor Oxen changed target and charged at Qi Qiqi.
In front of the huge Iron Armor Oxen, Qi Qiqi appears to be particularly small, looking like she is going to get trampled.
Upon seeing this, a disciple of One Dao Church immediately shouted in warning.
“Young lady, be careful!”
However —
He saw a whirlwind of flames.
The girl in red looks like a torrent of flames. She didn’t retreat, but moved forward instead and rushed towards the Iron Armor Oxen. When they passed by each other, the sword in her hands suddenly released dazzling light.
“Heavenly Rings!”
As she turned, a number of violent flame ripples spread out.
Burned by the flames, the Iron Armor Oxen’s armor got charred black in an instant. As they wailed and emitted smoke and a burned smell, the Iron Armed Oxen retreated, cutting a sorry figure.
Upon seeing this, the disciple of One Dao Church, who has given Qi Qiqi a warning just a moment ago, felt his face get hot, as if someone has slapped him.
His worries were obviously superfluous. He didn’t expect that the beautiful, to the point of being mesmerizing, girl in front of him to possess the strength to settle the problem that was giving him and his comrades a headache.
Qi Qiqi and Shui Yun’er came to the front of One Dao Church’s formation.
“Open formation, let us in!”
Qi Qiqi shouted.
Several disciples in the formation exchanged a look, frustrated at sudden request.
“Open formation!”
Qi Qiqi requested again.
Someone responded this time.
It was a fairly older, probably in his twenties, looking much older than Qi Qiqi, male disciple of One Dao Church.
The young man wanted to take a step forward and respond, but perhaps because he remembered that he would break the formation, by doing that, at last moment, he immediately pulled back the lag he had just lifted.
An awkward expression on his face, he coughed once and stated loudly, “I’m sorry, but we have orders to only to allow the injured enter the formation to rest… The space in the formation is limited, I hope you understand, young lady.”
Was it Reverend Carefree who gave the order? Qi Qiqi guessed.
Regardless of who gave the order, his decision was quite correct. In the case of limited resource, priority is given to those most in need, so as to make the best use of the resource.
On the other hand, it can also send a message to those without injury to continue fighting. In this way, it can prevent people who don’t want to fight from going into the formation. Therefore, to a certain extent, the combat power within a limited range can be maintained at a fairly high threshold.
However, rules are nothing more than social constructs. Compared to rigid, unchanging rules, flexible, malleable rules, that account for exemptions and special cases, can lead to better responses in various situations.
“… young lady, please leave.”
The young man adjusted the grip on his sword and cupped his hands apologetically, and then made a gesture asking the other party to leave.
He doesn’t seem to recognize Qi Qiqi.
But this is not surprising. Most disciples of One Dao Church seclude themselves from the world in their sect and practice cultivation. Even though Qi Qiqi is famous for her beauty, there are not many people in One Dao Church who recognize her. If it was another sect instead, someone might have recognized Qi Qiqi.
“– I am Qi Qiqi, Merak Temple’s Temple Master, I have something to talk about with your senior.”
Qi Qiqi purposely identified herself in order to take advantage of her identity.
If she was forceful, she may not necessarily be criticized, but it would leave a bad impression in the end. In the light of this, even though the current circumstances are pressing, Qi Qiqi still intends to seek understanding through dialogue.
The young man looked dazed after hearing Qi Qiqi introduce herself. He looked at other two disciples who are near him, seeking an answer. The two disciples don’t seem to recognize Qi Qiqi, and so they could only shake their head blankly.
How come no one recognizes me? Qi Qiqi inexplicably suffered a blow, upset.
“Um… I have to communicate this to my senior.” The young has an awkward expression on his face.
“My sect’s disciple is injured.”
Since One Dao Church claims that only the injured can enter, she went along with the flow and used it to her advantage.
The gaze of the young man fell on Shui Yun’er’s right arm.
“She’s indeed hurt… Okay –”
The young man took a step back, and a tiny crack appeared in the tightly-shut formation. He looked at Shui Yun’er and bowed slightly.
“Young lady, please come in.”
Seeing Qi Qiqi trying to enter the formation after Shui Yun’er, he raised his hand to block the other party.
“I’m sorry, young lady, but you are not hurt… I can’t let you in.”
“Ah?”
All of a sudden, Qi Qiqi didn’t understand what he meant.
“I can’t let you in.”
The young man repeated himself.
Qi Qiqi was slightly dazed. She didn’t expect to fail at the final push.
“Dammit, why are you such a blockhead!”
After snapping out of it, Qi Qiqi rebuked the other party, dissatisfied. Faced with such a rigid young man, she has become extremely impatient. Doesn’t he know the meaning of the word flexible?
Shui Yun’er couldn’t help but speak out, saying, “Young Daoist, aren’t you being too unreasonable? Our Temple Master has important matters to discuss with your sect’s senior.”
“I’m sorry, but we cannot violate orders.” The young man smiled wryly.
There’s no way around it.
Faced with such a blockhead, what can she do? Does she really have to become forceful? Qi Qiqi sighed and said to Shui Yun’er, “Little Sister Shui, go talk to Reverend Carefree. Ask him to receive me.”
Qi Qiqi found that the young man wanted to say something, but stopped. There must be something wants to say.
“I can stay here and wait, right?”
“It’s okay. Tem… young lady, do you want to see Uncle Teacher Carefree?”
The young man seems to be Reverend Carefree’s martial nephew.
“Young lady, I’m afraid you have come in vain. Uncle Teacher Carefree…”
Speaking till here, the young man’s face fell, and unease welled up inside his eyes.
“Is there something wrong with Reverend Carefree?” Qi Qiqi frowned.
“No, Uncle Teacher has joined forces with two Elders from Beggar’s Union to block a Heaven Demon.”
Heaven Demon? Is it the one Qilin spoke of? Qi Qiqi’s complexion flickered. She didn’t expect a Heaven Demon to actually appear here. But why hasn’t she detected the corresponding fluctuations?
“Is Beggar’s Union’s Jiang Shan here? Where is Shadow Gate?”
“Protector Jiang has joined the battle as well. As for Shadow Gate…” The young man carried on with disgust, “They already left.”
Qi Qiqi is not surprised that Shadow Sect is so unprincipled as to abandon the other sects.
Shadow Gate is an awful organization without morality, where only “interest” matters. However, they aren’t ignorant, nor adventurous, and instead are skillful at assessing the situation. If they see that things aren’t going their way, they’ll retreat at once.
“Where are they?” Qi Qiqi asked.
The young man hesitated, and then pointed with a hand in a certain direction.
Qi Qiqi looked in that direction.
Her gaze crossed the chaotic battlefield and fell on —
For a split second, Qi Qiqi thought that the silver figure under the attack of several Earth Realm experts is Beiming Youyu.
But she quickly realized that she made a mistake.
Beiming Youyu has only one tail, but the girl at the end of her line of sight has nine tails, nine silver tails.
Um, she is not “pure white”, so she is not Beiming Youyu.
However —
Under the last, blood-red rays of twilight, the girl’s silver-white hair, that absorbed the afterglow of the setting sun, is shining with bewitching red light.
She is wearing a white dress. Her bare feet, which are stepping directly on the ground, are strangely sparkling and spotless.
The purple eyes fixed on the enemy, revealing bright and stern light. Despite being outnumbered three to one, the girl, who is besieged by three Earth Realm experts, seems to be at relative ease. Defying imagination, her graceful and slender body contains Heaven Realm strength.
“Heaven Demon…”
Entranced, Qi Qiqi stared at the Heaven Demon girl, nearly forgetting to breathe.
At this moment, the Heaven Demon’s image was imprinted in Qi Qiqi’s mind.
— Weird, why are there no fluctuations?
After coming back to her senses, a doubt sprouted in Qi Qiqi’s mind. The battle is obviously rather intense — at least it seems to be the case. But there isn’t even a trace of true qi.
They seem to be isolated in another world.
“No, it’s not the time to think about this…”
Qi Qiqi shook her head to get rid of the distracting thoughts. She looked at the young disciple of One Dao Church again.
“Who has the highest seniority here? Ask someone to notify him to prepare to retreat at any time.”
“This isn’t –”
Qi Qiqi raised her hand to signal him to be quiet.
“You should be aware of this — if the fighting continues, our side will be the one to suffer. There are too many martial demons. What’s more, I only told you to prepare to retreat! I didn’t tell you to retreat right away! This doesn’t count as defying the orders, so hurry up!”
The young man hesitated very much, a fairly awkward expression on his face. Why is he so stubborn? Qi Qiqi humphed. There is no time to persuade the other party.
“I said everything I had to say, now it’s up to you!”
Then, Qi Qiqi turned and left.
She rushed across the battlefield like a red meteor, quickly approaching the place where the Heaven Demon is located.
