Black Flame Burns the Heavens, Phoenix Sword Locks the Throat
Just as Mu Xueyi followed the soul blood's pull and raced toward that direction, a thousand miles away in the desolate mountain range, a burst of blood-red light suddenly flared!
The Blood Fiend Sect's grand elder was the first to lose his patience and strike. He brought along several sect elders, surrounding Su Rui completely.
"Hand over the Nine Nether Mysterious Iron, and I'll spare your life!"
Su Rui snorted as if he'd heard the funniest joke. "This laozi and your Blood Fiend Sect really do have deep ties. I killed your young master and that old ghost Blood Nether, and now you're sending a grand elder and a few more elders for me to slaughter. How thoughtful."
"What? The young master and our ancestor... were killed by you?!"
The Blood Fiend Sect grand elder's pupils shrank, shock and fury surging through him. Any lingering caution vanished, drowned in towering hatred. "Today, this old man will tear you to pieces and sacrifice your corpse to our ancestor and young master's spirits in the heavens!"
"Kekeke... Your Nascent Soul mid-stage ancestor got wiped out by this laozi, and you—a mere Nascent Soul early-stage with a bunch of Core Formation trash—think you can tear me apart? I've really been underestimated!"
Su Rui's eyes turned icy. His figure flickered like a ghost, slipping through the elders' encirclement to appear right before the grand elder.
A wisp of black flame, refined to the utmost at his fingertip, shot out at point-blank range. It pierced the man's blood fiend body shield effortlessly and landed on his chest.
"Pfft!"
The black flame sank in instantly. The grand elder's body stiffened, the life fading from his eyes in a flash!
The next moment, he was devoured from the inside out by pitch-black demonic flames. Even his Nascent Soul couldn't escape before turning to ash.
The remaining Core Formation elders saw this and fled in terror, souls nearly scattering.
Su Rui didn't even bother glancing at them. His storage pouch unleashed a mid-grade spirit sword—specialized for harvesting weaklings—wrapped in black flames as it rocketed out.
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
The sound of blades slicing flesh rang out one after another. The Core Formation elders didn't even scream before the flying sword impaled them, following the grand elder to their doom.
Having effortlessly dealt with the Blood Fiend Sect group, Su Rui stood with hands behind his back, his gaze sweeping the void as he called out loudly, "You've been watching long enough. Time to show yourselves? Or do I need to invite you for tea?"
With his words, powerful Nascent Soul auras finally stopped hiding. They emerged from the clouds, behind the mountains, and from the void itself.
Thirteen Nascent Soul cultivators in total, their cultivations ranging from early to late-stage, subtly forming an encirclement that isolated Su Rui at the center.
Amid this ring of demons, Yan Qingci's figure stood out strikingly.
Clad in form-fitting goose-yellow attire that accentuated her graceful curves, her stunning face was veiled in icy detachment and arrogance.
Half a step behind her, the Gray Fiend Granny stood like a loyal shadow, her hunched form radiating the only late-stage Nascent Soul pressure in the field—a terrifying might.
Under the Gray Fiend Granny's invisible aura of protection, Yan Qingci stepped forward through the air, her cold gaze fixed on Su Rui as she declared arrogantly, "Fellow Daoist, the wise choose the path of survival. Hand over the Nine Nether Mysterious Iron, and I can guarantee your safe departure."
Su Rui's brazen gaze roamed her exquisite figure without restraint. He chuckled. "The saintess is quite the beauty—nice rack, fine ass, a real prize. How about slipping into those silk stockings I just bought at the auction? Let this laozi fuck you good, and if I'm in a good mood, maybe I'll gift you the iron."
His crude words made Yan Qingci's cheeks flush crimson, fury blazing in her phoenix eyes. "Courting death! Granny Gray, take him down!"
The Gray Fiend Granny nodded, a chill flashing in her aged eyes. Her hunched body stepped forward, transforming into a streak of gray lightning that shot straight at Su Rui.
The other Nascent Soul demonic cultivators each harbored their own schemes. They wanted the Nine Nether Mysterious Iron but also had to gauge Su Rui's strength. The Blood Fiend Sect grand elder had served as cannon fodder, but he wasn't enough to test the waters.
Now that Eternal Night Palace had struck first, they were happy to sit back and watch the tigers fight.
"Yin Devil Palm!"
The Gray Fiend Granny closed in instantly, her withered palm cloaked in eerie death qi as it aimed for Su Rui's heavenly spirit.
The palm seemed plain, but it contained a late-stage Nascent Soul cultivator's exquisite control over heaven and earth spiritual energy. Ripples distorted the space in its wake.
Su Rui's eyes sharpened. He didn't dodge—instead, his Heavenly Extreme Demonic Flame Art surged, pure demonic qi erupting to condense on his fist as he met it head-on!
Boom!
Fist met palm in a muffled explosion.
The expected scene of Su Rui crumbling didn't happen. The raging black flames held firm against the Gray Fiend Granny's yin fiend palm force, the violent energy clash ripping through the surrounding air.
A flicker of surprise crossed the Granny's turbid old eyes. She hadn't used full power, but no ordinary early-stage Nascent Soul should have withstood it.
This kid's demonic qi was extraordinarily pure, his foundation deep—far beyond her expectations.
The watching demonic cultivators' hearts shook violently. They'd thought the late-stage Nascent Soul pressure Su Rui had released at the auction was mostly from some treasure or talisman to bluff. His actual spiritual fluctuations were clearly early-stage Nascent Soul.
Yet he was clashing head-on with the infamous Gray Fiend Granny without falling behind!
"This guy... has such strength?"
"That pressure wasn't entirely fake. He's got real skill!"
Amid the shock, deeper wariness rose.
If these two fought one-on-one, victory might take time, slimming their chances at the treasure.
Almost tacitly, several concealed mana fluctuations erupted, silently striking at Su Rui from all sides to aid the Granny—aiming to cripple the treasure-bearer first, then fight over the spoils.
In an instant, demonic qi surged through the sky. Terrifying spells and treasures engulfed Su Rui.
Su Rui wove through the barrage, black flames forming layered barriers and demonic dragon fist shadows that shattered and nullified the assaults.
His Heavenly Extreme Demonic Flame Art was domineering, but at early-stage Nascent Soul, facing multiple same-realm foes—including a late-stage like the Granny—he could hold or retreat unscathed, but not overwhelm them all.
Yet he wouldn't retreat. His eagle-like gaze stayed sharp amid the chaos, his divine sense long locked on Yan Qingci—who thought herself safe in the rear!
As the Gray Fiend Granny's heavy strike missed, Su Rui twisted sharply like a coiled arrow, exploding toward Yan Qingci at a speed far beyond before!
So fast it left afterimages streaking through the air!
"No! Saintess, get back!!"
The Granny bellowed in rage, but rescue was too late.
Yan Qingci hadn't expected Su Rui to burst out at such speed under siege—and straight for her.
Her face paled slightly, but she didn't panic.
Just as Su Rui's palm neared her neck, an unassuming jade pendant on her erupted in dazzling moon-white light!
Bzzz!
A solid moonlight barrier formed instantly, runes flowing across it with vast, sea-like spiritual power!
Su Rui's palm slammed the barrier, a powerful rebound force hurling him back several zhang.
"Oh?"
Su Rui steadied himself, shaking his numb hand, a hint of surprise in his eyes. "An auto-protecting body treasure? This quality... clearly Yan Mingli's handiwork. Saintess, you've got one hell of a mother."
Yan Qingci relaxed as the treasure activated, but at Su Rui's mention of her mother, she shot back coldly, "What, that envious tone? No mother of your own? Some unraised orphan?"
Su Rui wasn't angered at all—he never fell for taunts. He grinned. "Sharp tongue, right up there with my wife. Wonder what it tastes like."
Yan Qingci swallowed her fury, forcing calm to distract him with words. "Want to know? Why don't... you come taste it?"
"Good. Once this laozi captures you, I'll savor that little mouth."
Su Rui sneered, eyes in the back of his head as he sidestepped a silent poisoned needle—the Granny's attack.
Clearly, even in banter with Yan Qingci, his focus stayed razor-sharp, alert to all around.
With early-stage Nascent Soul cultivation against so many powerhouses—especially the Granny's onslaught—he'd held this long. This strength shocked Yan Qingci more.
Su Rui seemed to read her mind, his mocking smile deepening. "Trying to rattle me with talk, Saintess? Ever think... this laozi might be doing the same to you?"
With those loaded words, a chilling sword intent erupted from behind Yan Qingci!
Too fast for reaction—a cold, sharp blade was already at her snowy neck.
That sword—Minglan.
Mu Xueyi had arrived.
The Gray Fiend Granny's withered face twisted in shock and fury at Yan Qingci's peril. "Release the saintess!"
Su Rui flickered to block between Mu Xueyi and Yan Qingci. As the Granny charged, demonic flames roiled in him, the first layer of Heavenly Extreme Demonic Flame Art—"Black Flame Burns the Heavens"—exploded forth!
In a flash, towering black flames surged like an avalanche, warping and dimming even the light in their path.
The scorching blaze met the Granny head-on, halting her ferocious assault and forcing her to pause and evade.
Though restrained, Yan Qingci's eyes darted, treasure lights flickering subtly as she secretly activated others for escape.
"Saintess..."
Mu Xueyi's cold voice whispered in her ear. Minglan's edge bit slightly into the snowy skin, drawing a thin bloodline. "If you don't want this pretty head rolling, I'd stay still."
Yan Qingci froze. She felt the woman's icy killing intent clearly, and that early-stage Nascent Soul power—dense, heavy, faintly late-stage in might.
Who were these two? Cultivators far exceeding their realms shouldn't be unknowns.
She had no memory of the man, and this veiled woman didn't match any demonic cultivator. Righteous path?
"Fine, I won't move."
Yan Qingci shelved her thoughts for now, but her gaze caught the sword at her neck—the faint phoenix patterns, the unique aura...
Her pupils shrank. "Eh? That sword... isn't it Sword Sect's supreme treasure, Minglan? You... you're Mu Xueyi?!"
The name "Mu Xueyi" dropped like a boulder in still water!
The watching demonic cultivators' eyes sharpened instantly. Killing intent exploded, thickening the air into substance, all locking onto Mu Xueyi.
It was the deep-seated hatred from righteous-demonic enmity, built over ages—united in common rage.
Su Rui chuckled mockingly. "Wife, looks like the demonic path hates you even more than I thought."
Mu Xueyi's expression shifted slightly. She knew her identity was sensitive, but hadn't expected a mere name to unite these schemers so fast—their killing intent toward her so fierce.
"But don't worry, wife. The hostage you're holding will make them hesitate."
Su Rui's amused gaze fell on the grim-faced Gray Fiend Granny, voice rising. "Right, old hag?"
The Granny's face was ashen, suppressing her killing urge as she boomed to all demonic cultivators, "No one moves! Anyone who acts is an enemy of Eternal Night Palace!"
A sinister old man in dark bone demon armor, ghost qi swirling around him, sneered coldly. "Granny Gray, slaying Mu Xueyi is a massive merit for us demonic cultivators. We can't abandon it for one person."
Chill flashed in the Granny's eyes as she glared. "Yin Bone Ghost! You'd doom our palace saintess? I tell you, if she suffers a scratch today, the palace lord's wrath... no, my hand alone will flatten your Ten Thousand Skeleton Mountain, scattering your sect's lone souls and wild ghosts to oblivion!"
The Yin Bone Ghost's face flickered, feeling her undisguised killing intent and late-stage pressure. He snorted coldly. "Since Granny Gray insists, this seat will give you face. But if the others blame us later, it's not my concern."
"Mere blame won't faze Eternal Night Palace."
The Granny ignored him, her icy gaze sweeping the rest. Seeing no more objections, she turned to Su Rui and Mu Xueyi. "I've reined them in. Release the saintess. On Eternal Night Palace's name, I guarantee your safe exit."
"Kekeke..."
Su Rui cackled derisively. "Old hag, you take us for three-year-olds? Release her now, and we'll be torn apart on the spot! Here's a better deal: Let us go ten thousand li first, then this laozi releases your saintess. If you're worried, follow alone—but just you! If I spot a second tail, even half a step behind, don't blame this laozi for breaking the deal and destroying the flower ruthlessly!"
The Granny pondered briefly. With the saintess's life in their hands, she had no choice—and the terms favored her.
She inhaled deeply and nodded. "Agreed!"
Her late-stage pressure-laden gaze then swept the demonic cultivators coldly. "Any objections?"
Under her stare, they grumbled inwardly but stayed silent, tacitly agreeing not to follow.
Su Rui grinned in satisfaction, signaling Mu Xueyi with his eyes. The pair immediately whisked Yan Qingci away as one black and one white escaping lights, vanishing into the distant horizon.
The Gray Fiend Granny didn't hesitate, her form blurring into a space-fusing gray shadow as she pursued.
Left behind, the demonic cultivators exchanged glances.
A tall, thin cultivator in pale gray robes stroked his beard, puzzled. "What's his game? Kidnapping Yan Qingci but letting the Granny follow?"
The recently cowed Yin Bone Ghost snorted unwillingly. "Isn't it obvious? Without letting the Granny tag along, she'd never agree— it'd be mutual destruction. The kid knows how to balance."
A bead-holding demonic cultivator frowned in confusion. "Fair, but with a late-stage Nascent Soul 'big cultivator' shadowing them like a ghost, how do they escape? Even with deep mana at early-stage, they can't shake a late-stage!"
Why were late-stage Nascent Souls called "big cultivators"? Their mana was vastly superior to mid-stage, their grasp of heavenly laws incomparable to early or mid— a chasm-like gap.
Even fleeing under a big cultivator's nose was a pipe dream for them.
To them, Su Rui's move was just poison in honey—delaying the crisis.
The real life-or-death trial awaited ten thousand li away.