Chapter Ninety: Counterattack Three

“You...” Yuan Chenglu stared at the heart trembling in Shi Qi’s hand. It was his own heart.

Shi Qi gripped that crimson organ in his right hand. It was still beating, and with each throb blood gushed from his fingers, splashing across his face.

In an instant, Shi Qi’s features were stained red.

He fixed Yuan Chenglu with a relentless gaze.

Yuan Chenglu looked into Shi Qi’s eyes in terror, as though he had glimpsed the demon king of hell.

His body grew colder by the moment, the light of life within him thinning to a thread.

He did not even have the strength to use the Heaven-Mending Art. That technique could mend severed limbs and damaged organs, but it could not restore the heart or the dantian. Those were the source of life itself; once the source was lost, it could never be regenerated.

He could not even master the Wind-Riding Art.

With a heavy crash, he plummeted from the sky and struck the ground hard.

The surrounding disciples hurriedly rushed over.

“Master!”

“Uncle Master!”

Shi Qi descended slowly. The disciples around him drew their swords and faced him, but none dared step forward.

He tossed Yuan Chenglu’s heart behind him. It landed on the ground and rolled several times.

The disciples recoiled in fear.

Shi Qi said calmly, “I came today for Yuan Chenglu. This has nothing to do with anyone else. If you do not wish to die, get lost.”

The disciples looked at one another, their weapons trembling in their hands, uncertain and hesitant.

Clang.

At last, one disciple could not withstand Shi Qi’s overwhelming pressure. He threw down his weapon and fled.

Clang, clang, clang...

Once one had fled, the rest lost all will to fight. They cast away their weapons and ran out of the manor.

In moments, the courtyard was empty. Only the fallen Yuan Chenglu and Yuan He remained, along with Shi Qi standing before Yuan Chenglu.

Shi Qi lowered his head and looked at Yuan Chenglu, who lay on the ground, twitching.

“Save... save me...”

Yuan Chenglu struggled, painfully rolling over and crawling toward his heart.

Shi Qi’s expression did not change as he said coldly, “When you were hunting me, did you ever imagine this day would come?”

With that, Shi Qi stamped down hard on Yuan Chenglu’s back.

Yuan Chenglu reached out, trying to grasp his heart, yet the distance between them seemed like endless mountains and ten thousand miles. He could not touch it.

He struggled a little longer, then his vitality faded away.

“Brother Yuan!!”

At that moment, a woman ran out from the main hall. It was Lady Wang.

She threw herself before Yuan Chenglu’s corpse and burst into tears.

Shi Qi shook his head and lifted his foot from the body.

When Lady Wang saw him, she hurriedly fell to her knees and kept bowing. “Daoist, we were wrong! Brother Yuan is dead now. Please, you are a magnanimous man—spare He’er’s life!”

Seeing her like this, Shi Qi sighed and turned to leave, ignoring Yuan He, whom he had kicked unconscious nearby.

“Thank you, Daoist! Thank you, Daoist!”

Behind him, Lady Wang continued kowtowing with loud, ringing thuds.

Shi Qi left the manor and flew toward the other battlefield, where Sun Fanbai and Hai Ri were fighting.

On that front, Sun Fanbai and Hai Ri were locked in combat, both employing a multitude of methods.

Hai Ri unleashed a spiderweb-like magic treasure to strike at Sun Fanbai, while in his other hand he wielded a great banner. Each wave of the banner summoned a black spirit soldier in dark armor, brandishing a mountain-splitting axe as it charged Sun Fanbai.

Sun Fanbai refused to yield. He commanded the Banner of the Fiery Capital to battle the spiderweb.

At the same time, the eight-trigram formation beneath Sun Fanbai blazed brightly. Any black-armored spirit soldier that entered its range would be annihilated by the five-element spells unleashed from within the formation.

Wind blades, fire winds, water dragons, metal soldiers, earth spikes.

Within the eight-trigram array, Sun Fanbai moved according to the shifting positions, constantly changing the flow of the five elements.

Though the two seemed evenly matched, Sun Fanbai knew he was always on the defensive and could never mount a truly effective counterattack.

Moreover, his Celestial Radiance Heart Method had only just entered its initial stage. Controlling so many spells and magic treasures at once had already exhausted him.

If this dragged on, he would lose.

“Hai Ri!!!”

Just as the thought crossed his mind, a great shout came from beside him. When he saw who it was, Sun Fanbai was instantly overjoyed.

It was Shi Qi.

Covered in blood, Shi Qi came charging in with an ice spear in hand.

“With Shi Qi here to reinforce us, it means Yuan Chenglu has lost!!!”

Hai Ri seemed to realize this as well. Frowning, he thought that with Yuan Chenglu dead, there was no reason for their brothers to fight to the death here. They should withdraw immediately. He turned his head to glance into the distance, wondering how Hai Yue was faring now.

“You still have the leisure to look around!”

As Hai Ri turned his head, Shi Qi had already lunged at him with the ice spear.

Hai Ri snapped back to attention and raised his banner to block.

“Hm?” Hai Ri frowned. “This boy seems much stronger than before.”

Though he thought that, Hai Ri did not panic in the least. The Sun and Moon Brothers had roamed the Twelve Provinces for so long; they were not to be compared with some mere Yuan Chenglu. Though both were at the Nascent Soul stage, the gap in combat strength was vast.

Hai Ri retreated two steps, swung the banner, and summoned three black-armored spirit soldiers to kill Shi Qi.

Shi Qi remained unhurried. With a hand seal, he summoned two water clones, each holding an ice spear, and sent them to meet the black-armored soldiers.

At the first clash, Shi Qi drove his ice spear through the spirit soldiers’ bodies, and the black-armored figures instantly dissolved into black smoke.

With his left hand, Shi Qi flung out the Immortal-Binding Rope at Hai Ri.

At the same time, his right hand released a Water Spirit Pellet.

Facing attacks from two directions, Hai Ri hurriedly beckoned the spiderweb back to block the Immortal-Binding Rope.

Then he pulled out a black shield and held it before his chest.

Boom.

The Water Spirit Pellet smashed into the shield, and the tremendous force of true energy sent Hai Ri flying backward. Yet thanks to the shield’s protection, he suffered no injury.

Shi Qi steadied his breathing, rose into the air, and attacked again.

Just as Hai Ri regained his footing, Shi Qi was already upon him. Hai Ri swung his banner to parry, while inwardly he wondered in confusion, How does this boy seem to have endless true energy?

What he did not know was that Shi Qi bore a demon core, not a human one. Demon-core true energy was inexhaustible, and with the spiritual fruit he had consumed, his cultivation had advanced further. The amount of true energy within him was now no less than that of a cultivator at the perfect Golden Core stage.

After exchanging several more moves, Hai Ri suddenly felt his body shudder. He was actually frozen in place.

In that instant, Shi Qi seized the opportunity and thrust his spear straight into Hai Ri’s abdomen.

“Agh!”

Hai Ri screamed in agony.

Shi Qi turned his head and saw that it was Sun Fanbai.

After Shi Qi entered the battle, Hai Ri’s black-armored spirit soldiers were no longer able to break the formation, and Hai Ri had also recalled the spiderweb. This drastically relieved the pressure on Sun Fanbai.

After recovering somewhat, Sun Fanbai hurried over from behind and used a wind spell to temporarily immobilize Hai Ri, creating an opening for Shi Qi.

With his abdomen pierced by Shi Qi, Hai Ri was in unbearable pain. Seeing Sun Fanbai also charging in, he knew he could not withstand the two of them together. In haste, he drew a sleeve arrow from his robe and shot it into the air.

Then he formed a hand seal.

With a soft pop, the Hai Ri pinned by the wind spell abruptly turned into a straw man. His true body vanished without a trace.

Meanwhile, elsewhere.

On the side where Bai Qiu and Yuan Wu were fighting, Yuan Wu’s inner sight allowed the two of them to pinpoint Hai Yue’s position clearly, but Hai Yue was extremely fast and wielded a precious blade, making it hard for even the two of them together to pin him down.

“Damn it!”

Bai Qiu shouted, “How is this boy so fast?!”

Even when Bai Qiu summoned the swiftest Vermilion Bird spirit armor, and even with Yuan Wu’s inner sight detecting his position, it was still difficult to catch him.

What was more, they also had to guard against Hai Yue’s sudden sneak attacks. Fortunately, Yuan Wu’s monk’s robe was sturdy enough to withstand the strikes of Hai Yue’s treasured blade.

The three were locked in a stalemate.

Suddenly, Hai Yue saw a sleeve arrow shoot out in the sky not far away, bursting open in midair.

“Hm?” Hai Yue frowned. “Are they retreating already?”

That sleeve arrow was the retreat signal Hai Ri had sent him.

Without overthinking it, Hai Yue slashed once more through the Vermilion Bird flames, made a feint, and then turned to flee.

“That bastard is running!” Bai Qiu shouted.

“After him!”

The two pursued Hai Yue.

Hai Yue quickly flew to the location of the sleeve arrow and found Hai Ri, who was already wounded.

“What happened?”

Hai Ri murmured, “These people aren’t ordinary. They’re hard to deal with. Withdraw first. Besides, Yuan Chenglu is already dead. There’s no reason for us to keep wasting time here.”

Hai Yue frowned.

Now that Yuan Chenglu was dead, there was indeed no reason to keep the deadlock going. The employer was gone; who would pay them?

Hai Yue agreed. “Fine. Retreat first.”

He helped Hai Ri up, and the two began withdrawing.

“Stop right there, where do you think you’re going!”

Bai Qiu and Yuan Wu stayed close behind.

At the same time, Shi Qi and Sun Fanbai had also locked onto Hai Ri’s position and followed after them.

Hai Yue glared at the few of them, then hoisted Hai Ri onto his back and shot into the sky.

Seeing them flee, Shi Qi hurriedly mounted the hundred-mile sword and gave chase. The vengeance for Su Xiaomu was not yet complete!

And there was still the grudge over the Spirit-Sealing Nail against Hai Ri!

The Sun and Moon Brothers soared upward. Hai Yue suddenly felt a whistling wind behind him.

He turned back and saw Shi Qi already upon them, his speed astonishing.

Shi Qi summoned an ice sword and struck at Hai Yue!

Hai Yue drew his blade to block.

Swish.

The sharp edge instantly cleaved Shi Qi’s ice sword in two.

Hai Yue’s blade had even cut the Green Cloud Umbrella in half before, let alone some small ice sword.

But Shi Qi’s true target had never been Hai Yue.

The sword breaking was exactly as Shi Qi had expected.

As Hai Yue’s slash ended and before he could recover his hand, Shi Qi fired a Water Spirit Pellet at the two of them.

Hai Yue reacted swiftly, lifting his blade to strike directly at the Water Spirit Pellet.

“Now!”

Shi Qi roared and hurled the Immortal-Binding Rope, his target none other than Hai Ri on Hai Yue’s back.

Boom!!!

Hai Yue’s blade split the Water Spirit Pellet open, and the enormous true-energy force within it exploded at once.

At that very moment, Shi Qi had already bound Hai Ri with the Immortal-Binding Rope.

As the Water Spirit Pellet detonated, the immense force pushed Hai Yue upward.

But Hai Ri, bound by the Immortal-Binding Rope, was not flung away. Instead, Shi Qi pulled him back!

Seeing this, Hai Yue turned around and slashed at Shi Qi!

Shi Qi forcefully hurled Hai Ri downward, then, without looking back, threw up the Thousand-Edge Shield before him.

Clang!!!

Hai Yue’s sword struck the Thousand-Edge Shield, driving it violently askew and smashing Shi Qi, shield and all, downward!

On the other side, Hai Ri, bound by the Immortal-Binding Rope and then hurled down by Shi Qi, was just about to summon a magic treasure to break free when his vision suddenly went black, as though he had been swallowed by something.

It was the three who had come as reinforcements: Yuan Wu and the others.

“Boundless and lawless!”

Yuan Wu immediately activated his monk’s robe and wrapped Hai Ri up tightly.

“By command of the divine weapons, let the spell manifest sacred spirit!”

Bai Qiu also struck, adding another layer of sealing power atop the robe.

“Big brother!!”

Hai Yue shouted from the air.

Shi Qi was sent plummeting by Hai Yue’s slash. He put away the Thousand-Edge Shield and, as he fell, raised his middle finger at Hai Yue.

From the very beginning, he had never intended to leave both of them behind. Shi Qi’s target had only been Hai Ri.