Jiu Youyue glanced at Yun Xiu once more.
In her previous life, after she had left, Yun Xiu had nearly been killed by the Infant Spirit. Only Yan Zhen’s timely arrival had saved her.
But now, Yun Xiu clearly wasn’t so weak.
Mystic Saint experts possessed a Saint Dao Domain. Within that domain, all living beings had no choice but to submit.
If Yun Xiu could manifest her previous life’s Saint Dao Domain through a Mystic Technique, it would be like dimensional suppression. The Infant Spirit wouldn’t stand a chance.
However, Yun Xiu probably had no hope of actually killing the Infant Spirit either. The girl had a secret treasure bestowed by the Evil Consort for protection. In a pinch, she could even summon the Evil Consort’s own will.
There was no need for Jiu Youyue to worry about this fight.
Without hesitation, Jiu Youyue turned and left.
Yun Xiu moved to give chase, but the Infant Spirit blocked her way.
The little girl clutched a ragged straw doll to her chest. Her eyes were vacant, her face expressionless. Yet the words that emerged from her lips sent chills racing through the air.
“You’re going to die here.”
“In my previous life, I truly wasn’t a match for a Mystic Ancestor expert,” Yun Xiu said calmly. “But now, the one who’s going to die is you.”
Mystic Ancestor experts began to undergo divine soul transformation, their spiritual power far surpassing that of ordinary people.
Mystic Lord powerhouses could only draw upon the power of heaven and earth around them. Mystic Ancestor experts, however, resonated with it on a Mystic level, amplifying their strength to a degree incomparable with Mystic Lords.
They could tread the air without circulating their own energy. They could forge energy locks and barriers from the power of heaven and earth. These were the hallmarks of a Mystic Ancestor expert.
When a Mystic Lord faced a Mystic Ancestor, they would generally find themselves under immense suppression. They could barely mobilize any power of heaven and earth unless they cultivated superior arts or wielded more advanced Mystic Techniques.
And Yun Xiu met those criteria perfectly.
In her previous life, after achieving sainthood, she had become the Holy Lord of the Evergreen Holy Land. There, she had cultivated the land’s supreme secret: a Saint Mystic Art. Upon her rebirth, she had immediately set to practicing it.
Beyond Sect Mystic Techniques and Venerable Mystic Techniques, she had also mastered one Saint Mystic Technique.
Saint Mystic Techniques tapped into the Saint Dao Domain itself. The Starry Sky Dance that Yan Zhen had learned, for instance, had been acquired within the domain prepared by Master Chen Xi.
If Yun Xiu infused the domain she had comprehended in her previous life into a Saint Mystic Technique, she could unleash might rivaling that of a Half-Saint.
Forget Mystic Ancestors—even some Mystic Venerables would fall to her Saint Mystic Technique, provided she paid the necessary price.
“…”
The Infant Spirit wasted no more words. She struck directly, slapping out her palm once again. A massive blood-colored palm materialized in the air, curse patterns glowing with eerie light at its center.
Yun Xiu felt her blood beginning to congeal. Her body gradually stiffened.
This secondary body of the Evil Consort cultivated Blood Mystic Power!
Yun Xiu promptly abandoned the foundational art passed down from Cloud Heaven Palace. She circulated the Saint Mystic Art known as the Eternal Evergreen Formula instead. Her aura exploded outward, dispelling the stiffness from her limbs.
She followed up with her Sword Formula. One sword shattered the palm print. The wind-attuned blade light, sharp to the extreme, pressed onward toward the Infant Spirit.
Bolstered by the Saint Mystic Art, Yun Xiu’s sword could now wound even Mystic Ancestor experts!
The Infant Spirit hadn’t anticipated that a mere Mystic Lord could prove so formidable. Caught off guard, the sword light grazed her shoulder and drew a spray of blood.
Agonizing pain flared, but her expression remained utterly unchanged. Her eyes only grew more vacant.
“I’m leaving. Hurry up and die.”
Blood light flickered in the Infant Spirit’s eyes. She flipped her small hand over, condensing a dense orb of blood.
The blood orb swelled rapidly, soon dwarfing her tiny frame. With a fierce hurl, she sent it flying.
The enormous blood orb shattered into countless blood bullets that sprayed outward.
The blood bullets carried intense corrosive power. The slightest brush against plants or animals reduced them to puddles in an instant.
In her previous life, Yun Xiu had used the agility of her Wind Mystic Power to evade the Infant Spirit in a drawn-out battle. She had held out until this unavoidable barrage of blood bullets left her covered in wounds.
If Yan Zhen hadn’t arrived when he did, she would have perished at the Infant Spirit’s hands.
The thought of Yan Zhen invigorated Yun Xiu’s spirits. She retreated while swinging her longsword in sweeping circles before her, layering wind barriers one atop another. Drawing on the Eternal Evergreen Formula’s property of endless vitality, she blocked the blood bullet rain.
By the time the barrage ended, Yun Xiu was panting lightly from the exertion.
Running the Saint Mystic Art at such high intensity took a severe toll on her flesh and divine soul alike.
—She couldn’t afford to drag this out any longer.
With that in mind, Yun Xiu prepared to unleash her Saint Mystic Technique and bring the fight to a close.
“Hm?”
The Infant Spirit sensed a palpitating aura rising from Yun Xiu’s body. She went on full alert at once. Realizing she couldn’t delay either, the Infant Spirit unleashed her Mystic Ancestor aura in full. A surging mass of blood water gathered in her palm.
Her small hand pushed forward. The blood water transformed into a roiling blood tide that crashed ferociously toward Yun Xiu.
Runes flickered amid the blood tide, primed to detonate and unleash even greater destruction.
Sect Mystic Technique: Extreme Curse Blood Tide!
Yun Xiu, still building her power, was forced to evade with her movement technique.
Yet the blood tide moved as if alive, hounding her under the Infant Spirit’s control. Yun Xiu could only dodge frantically, with no chance to counterattack.
Seeing her advantage, the Infant Spirit released the straw doll clutched to her chest.
“…Help out.”
The straw doll floated into the air. It extended a limb that vaguely resembled a hand and unleashed the energy lock of a Mystic Ancestor expert, pinning Yun Xiu in place for a fleeting instant.
Yun Xiu broke free immediately, but that one moment was enough for the blood tide to close the distance.
—Not good!
Yun Xiu cursed inwardly. She had fixated on the straw doll’s death-substitution ability, convinced she needed to destroy it along with the Infant Spirit. In her focus, she had overlooked that the straw doll itself was a Mystic Ancestor expert, fully capable of aiding its mistress in combat.
The rune-shimmering blood tide yawned wide like a giant maw eager to devour her.
“Over here!”
Yun Xiu’s pupils contracted. She felt a powerful suction drag her into another space.
A vast plaza stretched before her, ringed by towering Heavenly Pillars. Beyond them lay dim void pierced by burning stars, and she stood atop the central altar.
Yun Xiu had been here before…
This was the Fire Refining Starry Sky—a mighty treasure capable of subduing Extreme Flame, and the pocket realm belonging to Master Chen Xi.
She turned her head toward the young man at her side, baffled at how he had returned from a hundred li away. She was even more puzzled by the pair of wings now sprouting from his back.
Had he grown wings just to fly back and save her?
Yan Zhen wiped the sweat from his brow, heaving a sigh of relief.
“Good thing I made it in time.”
Yun Xiu’s heart stirred. Her eyes shimmered with emotion as she gazed at her beloved.
“Chen Zhen, how did you… And these wings?”
It was the Special Trump Card: Paired Wings Flight.
“Just a little gadget,” Yan Zhen said evasively. “You okay, Yun Xiu? You nearly scared me half to death.”
Yun Xiu shook her head. She bit her lower lip lightly, a mix of annoyance and joy swelling in her chest.
“You fool. Didn’t I tell you not to come back? Why take such risks—”
“I couldn’t just abandon you two,” Yan Zhen said, scratching his cheek sheepishly. His voice grew softer. “Besides, one night as husband and wife is worth a hundred nights of grace.”
A flush crept across Yun Xiu’s lovely features.
“What nonsense are you spouting? Who’s your wife?”
“Ahem. Anyway, who’s that little loli outside? Where’s Jiu Youyue? I haven’t seen her.”
