It had to be said that the medical skills of the Beast Taming Sect were truly top-notch.
The herniated disc that had made it impossible to even walk just moments ago was mostly relieved of pain after the sect's old doctor inserted two silver needles.
Although a faint, dull ache still lingered in his lower back and abdomen, pinching his nerves, it felt much lighter now and no longer hindered his normal movements.
Du Qi propped one hand against his lower back and held onto a pillar, calling out to a medical disciple scurrying back and forth along the corridor, casually asking, “Where is Su Li?”
Yet, this casual question instantly froze the busy medical disciple in her tracks.
The medicine tray in her hands almost slipped. Standing there in complete disarray, she opened her mouth, stammering, unable to utter a word.
Good grief.
The person standing before her now was her direct superior's superior's superior—and the one everyone had tacitly accepted as the future sect master's “wife.”
For someone of this stature to take the initiative to speak to her today? It felt as if the empress herself had suddenly addressed her.
The medical disciple's head buzzed, her pale face turning stark white. Her tongue tied in knots from sheer anxiety, she stammered out, “The... the Sect Master... she went to Sword Peak. She said... said she had important matters to handle...”
So she went to Sword Peak. In that case, that giant torch over there is Sword Peak? She really can't stay still for even a moment. I just finished transferring her injuries, and she's already off causing trouble.
Du Qi's eyes flickered slightly, a trace of understanding flashing through them. His lips twitched, letting out a very brief huff of laughter.
He was amused by his own exasperation.
He raised his hand again to gently call back the little medical disciple, who was hanging her head, wishing she could turn invisible and slip away. Keeping his tone as gentle as possible, he asked, “Which way is Sword Peak?”
The little medical disciple, who had been about to make a clean escape, trembled once more. Her eyes instantly welled with tears, and her voice became as faint as a mosquito's buzz, looking as though she was on the verge of crying.
“T-That... Young Master... the Sect Master specifically instructed us to make sure you rest well in the hall and not let you wander around...”
She wanted to weep but had no tears left, her heart close to collapsing from distress.
She was just a low-ranking, timid little medical disciple of the Beast Taming Sect, whose daily duties consisted only of practicing the Rejuvenation Spell, running errands, and serving others!
Why did such monumental dilemmas and life-threatening questions always land on her head?
Yet she dared not refuse to answer, nor did she dare to be perfunctory.
If the head matron found out she had neglected this future sect master's “wife,” she would be given a hard time for the rest of her days in the sect, never able to hold her head up again.
Du Qi looked at her tearful face, his expression softening. He didn't press her further and simply waved his hand gently to dismiss her.
As if granted a royal pardon, the little medical disciple practically sprinted away from the area, not even daring to look back.
In truth, even without asking, Du Qi knew the direction perfectly.
In the direction of Sword Peak in the distance, flames billowed into the sky, dyeing half the sea of clouds red. It looked as if a blazing sun had been violently hurled down from the heavens, and the scorching fluctuations of spiritual energy could be clearly felt even from afar.
With an explosion of this scale, where else could it possibly be?
He tried lifting his right leg. His leg and foot were still somewhat unresponsive; a sore ache radiated from his thigh through half of his hip, throbbing with pain whenever he exerted any force.
“Tsk.”
Honestly, he wanted to ask if there was some sort of transport, as he was truly too lazy to use his spiritual energy.
But since walking was such a chore now, flying was his only option.
Du Qi sighed. Wasting no more time, he tapped his foot lightly and rode the wind toward the blazing Sword Peak.
At this moment, the conference hall on Sword Peak had already been completely reduced to a sea of fire.
Wrapped in golden-red flames, Su Li's third-stage half-beast state was fully active. Her nine tails danced wildly amidst the surging waves of fire, her overbearing aura resembling a demon god descended upon the world.
The temperature in the entire hall was pushed to the absolute limit. Scorching heatwaves billowed and rolled, almost completely drying out and distorting the air.
Qingwei and Du Yi were tightly trapped in the center of the fiery sea, forced to retreat step by step in utter wretchedness.
In terms of combat strength, Du Yi only possessed the level of a half-step Soul Transformation at best, which was completely negligible before Su Li in her fully unleashed state.
As for Qingwei, he was in an even worse state.
His fight with Zixiao a few days ago had left him covered in injuries. While the external wounds were fine, his internal injuries had not fully healed, causing his combat power to take a massive plunge.
On top of that, his life-bound sword was broken. Without a divine weapon to bolster him, he could not even exert thirty percent of his peak strength, making it utterly impossible to stop the completely frenzied, fully unleashed Su Li.
But what was Su Li, the main culprit behind this earth-shaking commotion, actually thinking? She knew very well that she had never intended to take anyone's life from the start.
There was not a shred of killing intent in her eyes. She was purely driven to a boiling rage by that insolent, uncalled-for remark of “Sister-in-law,” wanting nothing more than to give this big-mouthed fellow a severe lesson so he would never dare utter those words in front of her again.
Besides, what would happen if she actually killed Du Yi? She would have to deal with the messy public relations of the South-Central Du Clan, which would bore her to death.
Beating him up, burning him a bit, and venting her anger would suffice.
By now, Du Yi had already been cornered. In a panic, he raised his hands to prop up a thick barrier of spiritual energy while simultaneously activating the layers of protective accessories on his body.
With a crisp crack, a sharp sound echoed from his body.
A life-saving jade plaque worn close to his chest instantly cracked all over, losing its luster. The barrier that had been conjured barely managed to withstand Su Li's previous Delusional Sun before shattering into spiritual energy particles.
Su Li cold-snorted. He certainly valued his life, possessing quite a number of protective magic artifacts.
Well, that was just perfect.
Today, she would smash them one by one, leaving absolutely none intact, so this foul-mouthed bastard would feel the pain and learn his lesson.
Clenching her hand in the empty air, the scattered fiery spiritual energy rapidly gathered back, compressing wildly.
The crimson flames condensed, stacked, and tightened layer by layer. The wild, sky-spanning waves of fire were forcefully compressed into a small, dark, blackish-red energy orb.
Unstable fiery lines flowed across the orb's surface, and the spiritual energy within surged violently, looking as though it could explode at any second. Yet Su Li continued to compress and feed more fire into it.
Seeing this, Qingwei's pupils shrank, his eyes nearly splitting as his scalp went completely numb.
The previous wave of bombardment had already completely blown away the roof of the conference hall, leaving all the beams and pillars charred and broken.
If this girl unleashed another ultimate move, the very foundation of his conference hall would be overturned, leveling it completely!
“Su Li! Have you no end to this!”
Qingwei yelled in exasperation, his voice trembling. His heart bled with agonizing pain as he looked at his ruined property.
Su Li's eyebrows knitted together. She had seen clearly how Qingwei had stepped in multiple times to block her attacks for Du Yi.
It was true that she had let her anger get the better of her, burning down his conference hall first. She admitted she was in the wrong on that front.
She had never intended to dodge the bill anyway. She would definitely compensate him in full afterward, employing the best construction team from the Beast Taming Sect, with every single member possessing dual earth and wood spiritual roots.
But this man was holding onto this trivial matter relentlessly, which was incredibly annoying.
Just as she was about to snap back at Qingwei, her peripheral vision caught the side of his temples—where his graying hair was singed with sparks and still smoking.
“Pfft—”
Su Li really couldn't hold it in. Her tense anger dissolved in an instant. Oh, this was truly too hard to bear.
Qingwei's face turned completely black with anger and frustration. Looking at the insolent, wild young girl before him, he gritted his teeth and barked, “Stop this instant!”
No. One thing had nothing to do with the other.
If she didn't thoroughly vent this grievance today, she definitely wouldn't be able to sleep tonight, and it might even fester into a heart demon.
Su Li focused her mind. The blackish-red energy orb in her palm had condensed to its limit, the violent spiritual energy on the verge of its critical point. It looked as if it would explode in another second.
With a wave of her hand, she burned away the thick ink shields Du Yi had erected around himself. Then, with a flick of her wrist, she hurled this highly condensed, lethal spell toward the panicked, fleeing Du Yi!
“Phoenix Seeking Phoenix!”
The moment the blackish-red orb left her hand, it swelled and expanded rapidly.
The billowing flames coalesced into a giant, ferocious phoenix with full, majestic wings.
A crimson wave of fire swept in all directions. Wherever its wings brushed, intense flames erupted below. If it were any larger, it would have resembled Deathwing, turning everything in its path to ashes and charcoal.
The destructive fire spread relentlessly, swallowing up everything in its path without reason.
Naturally, these things included... Qingwei's exquisite wooden tables, wooden chairs, side tables, floorboards, and the remaining pillars. None were spared, all reduced to black charcoal in the flames.
“Ah! Stop it already!”
Seeing his solid wood furniture utterly destroyed, Qingwei completely disregarded his unhealed injuries. Spiritual energy surged through his meridians as he drew his sword and struck.
“Azure Cloud Sword Art, Third Strike: Whale-Bearing Strike!”
The towering sword qi surged like a tsunami, crashing violently into the incoming fire phoenix. Sword light and fierce fire clashed wildly, dissolving and annihilating each other. The resulting shockwaves caused the entire Sword Peak to tremble slightly.
Yet, any observer could easily see the disparity—Qingwei's sword qi was dissolving far faster than the fire phoenix's flames.
This Whale-Bearing Strike had shrunk by more than half compared to the power he had unleashed when slashing Bai Cen before.
Plagued by injuries, a broken sword, and depleted spiritual energy—with all these debuffs stacked together, even an immortal would be weakened.
As the saying goes, the one on the left always loses a beam struggle. Even though this wasn't a proper beam struggle but merely a clash of two projected spells, his disadvantage was glaringly obvious.
Gritting his teeth, Qingwei endured the excruciating pain of tearing meridians and reopening old wounds. As blood faintly seeped beneath his skin, he forced out a second Whale-Bearing Strike!
Pain. It was too painful.
He suddenly began to question his life in utter frustration—when this girl fought Zixiao to the death back then, she had been fierce and powerful throughout without holding back.
How was it that now she seemed to have no exhaustion, no injuries, and was in a state even better than her peak? It was truly beyond ridiculous.
Even with two sword strikes combined, they still failed to completely neutralize Su Li's lethal fire phoenix.
Watching the fiery phoenix head charge forward with unstoppable momentum, the veins on Qingwei's forehead bulged wildly, his mind completely collapsing.
“I bet the lives of all my furniture! I absolutely cannot lose! Deflect!”
Squeezing out the last drop of spiritual energy in his body, his sword light vibrated violently, forcefully altering the trajectory of the fire phoenix.
The destructive torrent of flames, which was supposed to crush everything horizontally, suddenly veered upward, shooting straight into the sky through the massive hole blown in the roof.
A magnificent, extremely luxurious phoenix firework exploded in the high sky. This served as a useful beacon for the traveling Du Qi, prompting him to fly a bit faster.
Meanwhile, Du Yi had already been scared out of his wits.
Taking advantage of the gap during their spell clash, he sprinted toward the hall entrance with all his might, wanting nothing more than to get far away from this crazy woman and escape this fiery purgatory.
But just as he reached the entrance, several towering pillars of fire erupted from the ground. The crimson flames locked down all exits, and the scorching temperature forced him back repeatedly, not daring to take even a single step forward.
Du Yi froze on the spot, his clothes drenched in cold sweat and clinging to his body, though he had no time to worry about that now.
His mind was now filled with nothing but endless regret and dread. What on earth had possessed him to covet the interests of the Central Continent Alliance and provoke such a terrifying entity?
At this moment, he no longer cared about any family missions, any division of interests, the reputation of the South-Central Du Clan, or the punishment awaiting him upon his return.
In the face of life and death, all ambitions and calculations were not worth mentioning. To live. His only thought now was to stay alive.
Only by surviving would there be a future. If he died here today, everything would be for naught.
Stiffly turning his head, he looked back into the hall with lingering panic.
The flames surrounding Su Li were endless and inexhaustible. The violent fire ruthlessly swallowed all obstacles, and her murderous aura was chillingly terrifying.
Holding his broken sword, Qingwei stood in the sea of fire like a small boat tossing on giant, stormy waves. Holy moly, how is the wave I've been waiting for my whole life this kind of crap?
He held up his sword, struggling to hold his ground and retreating step by step. Even though his sword techniques were exquisite, they could not protect his furniture. He could only watch helplessly as his life's work was reduced to scorched earth.
Su Li's patience was completely exhausted by Qingwei's endless interference, her anger rushing straight to her head. She was truly annoyed, especially after seeing Du Yi almost escape just now.
“Qingwei! What on earth is wrong with you! I didn't provoke you, did I? Why are you risking your life to protect him! Is he your kid?!”
If she let Du Yi escape today, she would never be able to swallow this resentment, and it would definitely manifest as a heart demon!
Deflecting the scorching heatwave rushing at his face, Qingwei's face was filled with grief and indignation, his heart aching as his voice carried a hint of sobbing: “You still have the nerve to ask! My house!”
Looking at the messy, completely carbonized walls and pillars, and the charred debris scattered all over the floor, he raised his head, wanting to weep but having no tears: “Gone! It's all gone!”
Su Li gritted her teeth, both angry and speechless.
All this fuss, just for a bunch of furniture and a building?
She thought there was some monumental reason behind it. Uh... wait, did he say to take it outside to fight? Well, it's not my fault. He should have said it a few more times...
“You let go! I'll pay you back! All of it! I'll have it fully renovated to its exact original state, down to the last penny!”
Qingwei's cloudy eyes instantly lit up. All his grief and anger vanished into thin air, and he swiftly stepped aside to clear the path, instantly performing a theatrical face-change.
“Why didn't you say so earlier! Look at the mess we've made—please, after you!”
Standing nearby, Du Yi's eye twitched violently, his heart sinking completely to the bottom. He was finished.
No longer caring about his shattered protective talismans and depleted family assets, he exerted force with his fingertips, fiercely crushing the last peace jade button around his neck.
A dense, emerald-green barrier of spiritual energy instantly enveloped his entire body, tightly protecting all his vital points.
Du Yi steeled his heart, gritted his teeth, and closed his eyes. Suddenly bursting with speed, he forcefully broke through the fiery pillars blocking the entrance, rushing out in a state of utter wretchedness.
Su Li's eyes narrowed sharply. Her figure flashed as she pursued him, her intent to kill chillingly clear: “You think you can run?”
But when she stepped out of the conference hall, the scene before her completely defied her expectations. It was nothing like the pursuit she had anticipated.
Du Yi, covered in soot and ash, was tightly clinging to Du Qi's leg, completely breaking down on the spot. He wailed and sobbed, his face smeared with snot and tears, looking utterly pathetic.
“Brother! I was wrong! Please save me!!”
Du Qi looked down. First, he gazed at Su Li, who was approaching wrapped in flames and radiating a chilling aura. Then, he glanced down at Du Yi, who was sobbing uncontrollably on his leg, entirely stripped of the hypocritical facade he usually put on. Disgust was clear in Du Qi's eyes.
Looking at the girl enveloped in flames, he spoke softly, “So, what's going on here?”
Rate on N.U.
