Chapter 33 Part 1

What are you trying to do! Li Jiangying instinctively drew the short sword from her sleeve, assuming an offensive posture. Cold sweat slid down her temple, her heart pounding wildly.

Zhu Yue smiled contemptuously. A turtle-shaped phantom rose behind her back. She suddenly grabbed a knife and slashed her own wrist. Blood dripped down onto Li Yueying.

The moment the blood touched Li Yueying, it was as if she had suffered a violent attack. She clutched her head in agony, veins bulging on her neck and temples. Her eyes, already red, now looked as if they were about to bleed!

Li Yueying plunged into an unseen struggle. Zhu Yue tilted her head and deliberately taunted, “Little Ying Suanli, A Yue trusted you so much, liked you so much… Aren’t you going to save her?”

Her hand gripping the sword hilt tightly, Li Jiangying stared unblinkingly at Zhu Yue. She said coldly, “Of course I want to save her. What, is the City Lord willing to give me that chance?”

Zhu Yue flickered into an afterimage and suddenly appeared before Li Jiangying. She reached out and ripped off Li Jiangying’s mask. With a bloodstained finger, she lightly tapped Li Jiangying’s forehead, smearing blood onto it. She smiled.

“You know, sometimes I truly hate you. But other times, a woman like you is rather interesting. Besides, it turns out you’re not bad-looking either.”

As the blood touched Li Jiangying’s head, the dark purple runes beneath her feet began crawling up her calves. A strange impact on her divine sense made Li Jiangying falter for a moment. The next, she let out a pained groan, pressing her head and collapsing to her knees!

The short sword fell to the ground. There was no longer any need to struggle over whether to attack Zhu Yue.

Clenching her teeth, Li Jiangying said in broken gasps, “You want to take A Yue as your devil pet… and make me your slave!” Only now did she finally understand what all the preparations here were for!

“Correct.” One demon and one human had both fallen into a battle of divine senses and were about to become her permanent thralls. When that happened, she could make them do whatever she wanted! Zhu Yue’s mood was exceptionally pleased, but in truth, the pressure on her was not insignificant.

She turned and walked onto the altar, sitting cross-legged atop the turtle shell. She began using all her strength to battle Li Yueying. As for Li Jiangying? She was merely a fragile little character. Although she hadn’t been subdued instantly, she posed no real threat.

The most important target was still Li Yueying. Despite being a madwoman with decreased cultivation and severe injuries, she was still a demon at the Transformation Realm. Their spiritual and cultivation clash remained a deadlock.

Honestly, if Zhu Yue hadn’t exploited the Turtle Demon, she truly wouldn’t have dared to implement this plan.

Many years ago, Zhu Yue had used the Turtle Demon to aid her own cultivation. She refined its soul using the essence of condensed water, leaving its bones, blood, and turtle shell here. She set up an array to purify the Water Element Devil Qi that was channeled to the training room of the Star-Picking Tower.

And now, Zhu Yue had used the turtle demon’s bones, shell, primordial soul, and the Five Elements Essence Stones to set up a Demon-Suppressing Grand Array. Within this array, dense, pure Water Element Devil Qi would greatly enhance her strength, and the turtle demon’s primordial spirit would boost her divine sense.

Li Yueying—a heavily injured madwoman—would definitely be subdued by her! Zhu Yue silently consoled herself with this thought. But in truth, the more time passed, the less confident she felt.

Because…

Kneeling on the ground, Li Jiangying fought against the stinging spiritual assault and the illusions tempting her to submit, all while racking her brain for a way out.

Discovering it was a Demon-Suppressing Grand Array, Li Jiangying frantically began recalling all the knowledge stored in her mind. No perfect array existed in this world! There was absolutely no such thing as perfect!

Therefore, there had to be a way to break it!

Countless texts and images flashed rapidly through her distorted mental world. One by one, she analyzed the key requirements of the Demon-Suppressing Grand Array. Suddenly, Li Jiangying’s head snapped up. “Found it!”

All arrays need something to rely on. Terrain, the Five Elements of Devil Qi, and incantation materials must reach a balance to be stable. But this array had not yet achieved its optimal stability!

Of the five beams of light from the Five Elements Essences, the red light in the southern corner behind the turtle shell was noticeably dimmer. Recalling that Zhu Yue had stepped out from behind the turtle shell…

It was as if a revelation had struck. Li Jiangying suddenly understood. Zhu Yue had been setting up a sub-array to release the power of the Five Elements Essences. Because her body was of the Fire Element, yet she cultivated the Water Element method, she had subconsciously left the Fire Essence for last.

Coincidentally, Li Jiangying and Li Yueying had arrived at that exact moment. She was just short of fully processing the Fire Essence.

With that thought, Li Jiangying abruptly stood up and staggered toward the back of the turtle shell. She couldn’t cultivate and couldn’t manipulate Devil Qi to cast spells, but she had the simplest and most direct brute-force method!

Zhu Yue glanced sideways, noticing Li Jiangying acting strangely. This woman was heading straight for the Fire Essence. “Damn it, what is she trying to do?!”

Zhu Yue shot up, attempting to block Li Jiangying. From the corner of her eye, Li Jiangying saw her. Pressing a hand to her temple, she shouted fiercely, “A Yue!”

The snake demon, already suffering from primordial soul damage and plagued by heart devils, heard this cry. Struggling to open her eyes amidst the agony and madness of her divine sense, she opened her mouth and let out a long howl, counterattacking fiercely. The fine iron chains inscribed with runes clanged, and the one binding her right hand shattered with a crash!

For her Jiangying—the root of all her heart devils—the snake demon struggled with desperate madness. Streaks of crimson seeped from where her scales overlapped. She swung her right hand with all her might, her sharp nails extending like tiny daggers, slashing toward Moon-Chasing Devil Venerable with a sound of tearing wind.

Zhu Yue’s face instantly turned deathly pale. With no energy to spare, she had to focus entirely on dealing with Li Yueying. As she tried to retreat, the demon whipped her tail around to block from behind. The chains cut deep into her snake tail, the fine iron inscribed with runes grinding against her scales with a horrific screech.

“You’re nothing but a madwoman! You’ve already gone insane! You are no match for me! I am the Moon-Chasing Devil Venerable, no weaker than you!” she muttered, her voice growing louder and louder. By the end, her beautiful, dignified face contorted into a savage mask. Her eyes were bloodshot, looking just as wretched as the snake demon trapped and attacked by the Demon-Suppressing Grand Array.

“I will make you my dog! You can only submit to me!” she shouted through gritted teeth. Devil Qi and divine sense clashed, layer upon layer, strand upon strand.

The snake demon let out a low, hoarse roar from her throat. “Dream on! She will only ever belong to Jiangying!”

Crack! Scales shattered and fell to the ground, revealing the pink membrane underneath. Blood streamed down the chains and scales. The snake demon did not flinch. Even bound, she would never yield!

While those two were locked in fierce combat, Li Jiangying endured the fierce winds and flying debris from their fight, and the suppression Zhu Yue had placed on her.

Li Jiangying clenched her teeth so hard the flesh on her cheeks trembled. If she didn’t, she truly feared her will would meekly surrender.

It was excruciating. The mental suppression, attack, and temptation were pervasive, washing over her like a waterfall. And the worst part was, she could only resist it head-on. There was no other way to block it.

Li Jiangying was barely aware of how she reached the Fire Essence. The essence was like a red crystal the size of a fist, floating two meters high, emitting a blinding, piercing light. The scorching heat felt as if it would roast a person alive. Li Jiangying lunged forward, grabbing the Fire Essence with both hands!

“So hot!”

The searing Fire Element Devil Qi erupted outward like a volcanic explosion. Hanging in the air, gripping it with both hands, Li Jiangying was soon drenched in sweat. She began circulating her technique, rapidly absorbing the Devil Qi within the Fire Essence.

So what if it was scalding? It didn’t matter if her meridians stung. Li Jiangying almost completely opened her acupoints, absorbing the Devil Qi from the Fire Essence in a frenzy, like a whale sucking in water or an ox gulping it down. Torrents of Devil Qi surged in, nearly bursting her meridians. But the moment it reached her dantian, it vanished without a trace!

In that moment, Li Jiangying felt a sudden surge of gratitude for whatever thing was hiding in her dantian, stealing Devil Qi. The light of the Fire Essence grew dimmer and dimmer. The balance of the Five Elements destabilized, and the entire Demon-Suppressing Grand Array began to tremble.

Finally, the light of the Fire Essence completely extinguished. Crack! Gray powder scattered from Li Jiangying’s hands. With nothing left to hold onto, Li Jiangying fell to the ground with a thud.

Rumble… The Demon-Suppressing Grand Array began to collapse. The snake demon roared, her claws clenching into fists. The chains binding her shattered, link by link. With a mighty leap, her eyes gleaming with vicious bloodlust, she attacked Zhu Yue!

The moment the array broke, Zhu Yue, as its creator and beneficiary, suffered a backlash. Her divine sense and body severely injured, she couldn’t stop herself from vomiting a mouthful of blood. Looking up, she saw the murderous Li Yueying.

“She’s going to kill me… I’m going to die!” Trembling, Zhu Yue retreated. Suddenly, her gaze landed on Li Jiangying collapsed on the ground.

A hideous, twisted smile spread across her face. Even as her back was injured, she mustered all her strength to lunge toward Li Jiangying. Grabbing Li Jiangying by the neck, she faced Li Yueying and shrieked, “Stop! Or I’ll kill her!”

Li Yueying stopped. She stood frozen, trembling slightly, staring intently at Zhu Yue and Li Jiangying, not daring to blink.

A mixture of rage and fear surged through her body, making her quiver uncontrollably. But she indeed dared not step forward. That was the treasure she had yearned for so bitterly and finally seized, the weakness she could never let go of, her fatal Achilles’ heel.

“Let her go,” Li Yueying said in a hoarse voice.

Li Jiangying coughed wretchedly a few times and lifted her head to look at her. “Yueying! Aren’t you a madwoman? Why are you backing down now?! I’m already used to bad luck anyway.”

“Yingying!” Li Yueying called out cautiously.

The light of the Five Elements Essences dimmed and they fell to the ground. The dark purple runes began to recede from the surroundings, but they didn’t disappear entirely. As if possessing life, they flowed back to Zhu Yue’s feet, then spiraled into the air, enveloping both Li Jiangying and Zhu Yue.

Zhu Yue turned her head and spat out a mouthful of bloody foam. With a hint of triumph and ruthlessness, she laughed. “Ha! To think you actually care for her this much. Good… very good! Haha! Since I can’t subdue you, then I’ll subdue this woman! When the time comes, won’t you still have to obediently kneel and obey my orders?”

Weakly, Li Jiangying clutched Zhu Yue’s arm just to stay standing. Unlike Li Yueying—a demon in the Transformation Realm who required a meticulously arranged Demon-Suppressing Grand Array to be subdued— once the array broke, Zhu Yue’s power alone was insufficient to suppress her. The damage she could inflict on the snake demon was now limited. But subduing a mortal? It was as easy as flipping her hand.

No array was needed. Simple suppression by her own realm was enough.

Zhu Yue shifted all her focus onto Li Jiangying. It was like a heavy hammer smashing down from the crown of her skull. Li Jiangying was on the verge of collapse.

Watching Li Yueying tremble, her face full of heartache and fury, yet not daring to make a reckless move, Zhu Yue felt a surge of satisfaction. She looked down at the woman held in her arms and raised the corner of her mouth. Darkly and eerily, she smiled. “Little Ying Suanli… Heh! Li Jiangying, this Venerable One originally intended to merely take you as a servant. But since you refuse a toast only to drink a forfeit, don’t blame me for being ruthless.”

“What… do… you… want to do?” Li Jiangying’s voice came out in broken fragments as her throat was constricted.

“Then you shall be this Venerable One’s cauldron furnace!” As she spoke, Zhu Yue began channeling Devil Qi into Li Jiangying’s body, establishing a contract link. She said gleefully, “Forever and ever submitting to this Venerable One! You can only be a vessel for my cultivation! Eternally severed from the Great Dao! How about that?!”

“I think you’re dreaming!” Li Jiangying roared with all her might.

The torrential Devil Qi and powerful divine sense surged into Li Jiangying’s body like a destructive force, like a tiny boat tossed on a stormy sea, in constant danger of being shattered to pieces by the waves.