Chapter 60
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Chapter 60: Title
In Yunze’s shadowed alley, the Blood Demon’s bulk sealed the only escape.
Its claws scored deep gashes in the walls as it wheezed, ravenous eyes tracking two cornered figures.
Though both appeared crimson-clad, moonlight revealed one’s garments were white linen dyed red with blood.
The swordswoman shielded the younger red-clad cultivator, death’s resolve hardening her gaze.
"Go, A Li. It wants me." Lu Ciyou leaned against crumbling mortar, her right eye swimming in blood. The Soaring Dragon spear slipped from her grasp as demonic energy seeped from claw wounds gouging her cheekbone.
"No!" Yan Li’s hands shook. Her robes clung, soaked in another’s blood – blood from wounds she couldn’t staunch. Leaving meant death for the woman who’d shielded her.
Lu Ciyou’s weakening voice held laughter. "You’ll live… if you go."
"You’ll die if I do!" Yan Li barked, eyes locked on the circling demon. Her heartbeat thundered louder than claw-scrapes grating against stone.
The Blood Demon relished their despair, claws dragging slowly across walls. Each metallic shriek stretched nerves closer to breaking – until that fatal moment when resolve snaps, and minds unravel.
This Blood Demon exhibited a disturbing hint of "humanity." Had most of its head not been hacked away, it might have been grinning widely at this moment.
Yan Li’s teeth ground together as she struggled to maintain composure, though the haunting sounds from the Blood Demon still shook her focus.
Unable to endure further, she abruptly twisted her wrist, sending sword energy slashing toward the demon in an attempt to cut it in half.
The Blood Demon leaped agilely between walls, evading every strike with unsettling ease.
Clinging to the stone surface, it emitted mocking guttural noises.
The three-meter-tall monstrosity suddenly lunged at Yan Li. Its half-destroyed head bubbled grotesquely, the wound visibly regenerating until a new mouth stretched wide in a ghastly smile.
It batted Yan Li aside, then engulfed her head in its massive palm – one squeeze would crush the sword cultivator’s skull.
Yet the vicious creature chose to hurl her against the ground instead, watching coldly as she failed to rise. Its newly formed eye swiveled toward the barely breathing figure by the wall.
The Blood Demon roared with pent-up fury and bloodlust before stomping toward Lu Ciyou, claws extending to shred its helpless prey.
Steel flashed. Broken Stream plunged into the demon’s back before it could touch its target.
"Don’t! Touch! Her!" Yan Li snarled through bloodied teeth, hands locked on the hilt.
Enraged, the demon slammed repeatedly against the stone wall until cracks spiderwebbed through it. The metallic stench of blood heightened its frenzy as rubble cascaded downward. Yan Li bit her lip raw to stay conscious, copper flooding her mouth.
Every cultivator’s spiritual power resided in their Dantian. When depleted, only one desperate option remained – shattering the Golden Core.
Burning one’s cultivation was madness, but Yan Li acted without hesitation. Agony seared through her meridians as the Golden Core dissolved, drawing bloody tears of frustration.
Survival would mean becoming a powerless cripple, betraying her Master’s teachings. Still, she refused to regret this choice – Lu Ciyou’s life-debt demanded repayment.
Broken Stream unleashed devastating sword energy inside the Blood Demon, each strike infused with its wielder’s sacrifice. The creature dissolved into Blood Mist before realizing its demise.
Yan Li collapsed heavily as rain began falling over Yunze, the leaden clouds hanging so low they seemed ready to crush the rooftops.
On the empty, silent street, the sound of hard objects hitting the ground echoed now and then.
Cultivators who’d escaped using artifacts peered out, spotting a blood-drenched woman carrying another person, trudging forward step by step. The clanking came from the spear dragging in her hand.
Some recognized the divine weapon Soaring Dragon, yet none dared approach. Even greedy onlookers resisted stealing it from the badly wounded pair.
Yunze had become a dead zone. No one knew where the Blood Demon might strike next. Those devoured by it left no trace of soul behind.
Artifacts mattered less than survival.
People quietly withdrew, pretending they’d seen nothing.
"Almost… almost there…" Yan Li didn’t know their destination, only the direction Xia Shi had indicated – where Blood Demons couldn’t reach, where safety waited.
She must get Lu Ciyou there.
Her Golden Core kept burning despite being nearly spent. Each step snapped another meridian. Her mangled lower lip bled freely from constant biting.
She bore the agony silently.
When the path ended, she saw it – a tranquil courtyard.
She’d made it.
Yan Li laughed, blood gushing from her mouth with fragments of ruined organs. The warmth on her back stirred slightly. Cool fingers brushed her neck as Lu Ciyou murmured, "A Li… stop…"
Yan Li tilted her head until their foreheads touched. Rain blended with the warm drop falling on Lu Ciyou’s hand as she smiled.
Two shadows merged and moved again through the rain.
Behind them, a tall man turned. He raised his hand, choking an unseen Blood Demon through the air. His flat voice cut through the mist:
"Who permitted you to touch her?"
The mindless demon hung motionless in his grip.
He hurled it toward hiding cultivators. When the Blood Demon rolled their way, the watchers tore off disguises and fled screaming. Fresh prey ignited the demon’s hunt.
"They claim the Lord of Shura City lacks heart, yet here’s loyalty incarnate." Qing Gui emerged smiling, trailing fingers across his chest despite his frosty glare.
He seized her wrist. As she paled and buckled, she spat through gritted teeth: "If you cared about that young master, why wait? That fool nearly died shielding her!"
"Think me hesitant to kill you?"
A fog-serpent coiled round her throat. Qing Gui twisted away, shrieking: "Ghost Lord will avenge me!"
"Ghost Lord?" His laugh held winter’s edge. "You think she values us? The Thirteen Ghost Domains could burn – she wouldn’t blink."
Qing Gui’s eyes widened, stunned that this man dared to act so recklessly.
Yet she couldn’t stop turning his words over in her mind.
Among the six City Lords of the Thirteen Ghost Domains, her control skills had earned her a place from the outer six domains. But her strength ranked lowest among the inner domains’ lords, and she remained the only one who’d never met the Ghost Lord.
Her heart pounded as she saw the murderous intent in his gaze.
The black snake coiled tighter, forcing Qing Gui to strain her neck backward.
"I… I can’t control that Blood Demon!" she blurted in panic.
True fear gripped her.
The serpent loosened its hold, slithering fondly around the man’s wrist before dissolving into his swirling demonic energy.
"That Blood Demon has its own will. It fixated on Lu Ciyou, but I don’t know why," Qing Gui answered truthfully.
The Lord of Shura City scoffed. "Worthless!"
He vanished into the Black Mist.
Qing Gui’s face paled with suppressed rage as she glared at the path the two had taken. A cold laugh escaped her.
Of all places, they’d chosen to provoke that woman.
The Floating Life Palace Master had clawed her way through piles of corpses and oceans of blood. What mercy could such a creature have? Better to be devoured by Blood Demons than fall into her hands.
This same Floating Life Palace Master now glowered at two blood-soaked figures staining her doorstep.
Neither moved. The stench of blood clung to her gates.
She couldn’t let them scare Sister.
"Sister? Was that a noise?" Jiang Yun’s voice drifted closer.
Jiang Fenghe summoned the Blood-Draining Knife, poised to test it on the intruders, while calling back: "Just the wind!"
As he swung downward, two shadows burst from the backyard.
Twin swords parried his blade, saving the bloodied pair.
Jiang Yun’s footsteps approached. All three hastily sheathed weapons, frozen like statues.
Jiang Fenghe shot the rescuers a venomous look before covering Jiang Yun’s eyes.
"Don’t look, Sister."
Jiang Yun didn’t resist, but frowned. "Why do I smell blood? Is someone hurt?"
Watching Xia Shi and Suiyin drag the intruders inside, the Floating Life Palace Master bit back his fury. "They’re fine. Xia Shi and Suiyin will handle it."
Jiang Yun smiled. "Good."
To her, Jiang Fenghe remained that gentle boy who’d once picked flowers for her.
"Rest now. I’ll check on them."
Jiang Yun nodded.
Only after ensuring his sister slept did Jiang Fenghe storm toward the bloodstained hall. His roar shook the rafters:
"Is this an inn? Since when do we welcome every stray?"
At this moment, the two people in the room wore grave expressions. Lu Ciyou’s main injury was the claw wound to her eye, while Yan Li had completely lost her cultivation, with shattered meridians and even her Golden Core missing.
These two weren’t weak cultivators and possessed divine weapons – how could they end up so severely injured?
Xia Shi looked up at the seething Floating Life Palace Master and abruptly ordered, "Fetch a medical cultivator."
Floating Life Palace Master: "…?"
Who did she think she was commanding?!
