Dismantle the Altar Before Rescuing Anyone

"I'm not a useless fool who'll wait until you've finished rescuing me before running away."

"Then stand steady."

"I'm standing steadier than you are."

Huo Wu held the short knife in her hand, but its tip pointed at herself.

Li Zhexian glanced at the blade. He gave her no warning, merely turning his sword toward the altar.

"The giant beast is already here. Break the formation first."

"I know that."

"Stay out of my sword's way."

"Just try touching me."

By the time the giant beast crashed into the valley entrance, half the stone wall had collapsed, and the falling rubble had knocked the braziers to the ground.

Huo Wu slipped, and Li Zhexian reached out to catch her, pulling her behind the stone platform.

"Let go of me."

He released her, turned, and severed the formation patterns on the ground with a slash of his sword.

The flames had gone out, and the Soul Power on the stone platform dispersed with them.

"Once the sacrificial formation is destroyed, the Soul Beasts will enter the town!"

The elder fled toward the mountain path with two disciples.

"Then stay and protect it," Li Zhexian said.

Several guards lunged at him. Jin Ling struck one of them aside with her palm.

Another swung a blade at Li Zhexian's back. Huo Wu flung out a line of fire, forcing the man to pull back his blade and retreat.

"Didn't you just say you didn't need my help?"

"I was helping myself."

The giant beast's tail swept across the stone platform. Li Zhexian couldn't dodge in time, and his body slammed into a stone pillar.

His shield value had already fallen by more than ten thousand points, and a ball of blue light dropped into the rubble.

He rolled over, picked up the ball of light, and opened it, taking out a healing pill.

"Do you not need your own life?" Huo Wu looked at the wound on his shoulder.

"I have a shield."

"You've already been smashed into a stone pillar, and you're still talking tough."

"The shield hasn't broken, but the healing pill can still be used."

Li Zhexian handed her the healing pill.

"Your wrist is bleeding too."

Huo Wu took the healing pill. "What do you need me to do?"

"Burn its flank. I'll hold it off."

"Can you hold it off?"

"I can try."

She put the healing pill away, and flames sprang up from both her palms.

When the giant beast charged, Huo Wu struck its flank with a ball of fire, burning its scales red-hot.

Li Zhexian used Wind Walking Step. The Azure Lotus Sword left lotus afterimages in its wake, and his sword Qi cut a wound through the heated scales.

The giant beast raised a claw and slammed it into the ground. Jin Ling attacked its hind leg from the side, making it turn around.

The villagers took the opportunity to drag the injured away.

An old woman's potatoes had rolled everywhere, onto the stone steps. A child beside her had just crouched down when his mother reached out and pulled him away.

Amid the chaos, the elder launched a Soul Skill at Huo Wu.

Li Zhexian held his sword across his body to block it, but the remaining force struck his shoulder. System notifications sounded one after another, and another ball of light fell at his feet.

The villagers had seen what happened, and they pointed at the elder and began cursing him.

"Didn't you say she could keep the town safe?"

"That attack just now was clearly aimed at her!"

The elder slammed his short staff against the ground. "She's the sacrifice! The formation has been destroyed, so naturally we need to bring her under control again!"

Huo Wu looked at him. "Who did you sell me to?"

The elder turned to flee, but Jin Ling chased after him and kicked him back beside the altar.

Li Zhexian held his sword tip against the elder's throat.

"Where's the ledger?"

Huo Wu found a thin booklet at the elder's waist and flipped to the last page. It bore the mark of the Spirit Hall.

"You'd already seen it?" she asked.

"We saw the token, but we haven't had time to ask about it yet," Jin Ling replied.

The elder braced himself against the ground and began to defend himself. "Without the sacrifice, the Soul Beasts would destroy the villages and town. We only used her Martial Soul to suppress the herd. A ledger doesn't prove anything."

Li Zhexian withdrew his sword.

"Let the villagers see for themselves."

The booklet was passed into the villagers' hands. Several gathered around to flip through it, and the sound of cursing soon spread.

The elder braced himself against the ground and tried to get up, but Jin Ling stepped on his hand.

"Let them finish reading it first."

The giant beast charged at the altar again.

Li Zhexian swung his sword and went to meet it. Huo Wu followed at his side, striking the beast's wound with flames again and again.

Lotus afterimages unfurled from the sword's edge, and sword Qi sliced through the scales again.

After feeling the pain, the giant beast turned and retreated toward the valley's exit.

Jin Ling struck the ground with her palm, sending rubble flying and forcing the giant beast to go around the altar.

It snapped two trees in its path, then fled into the woods.

"It'll come back again," Huo Wu said.

"Let's take the wounded out first."

"Aren't you going after it?"

"I didn't take a job to kill it."

"Don't you need a Soul Ring?"

"I already have one now."

Huo Wu looked at the Purple Soul Ring above his head.

"You've already absorbed the Ghost Vine?"

"Yes."

"Then why did you let it hit you just now?"

"That happened before."

"In that head of yours, is there nothing left but taking hits and wine?"

"There's wine too."

"That's not much different."

The villagers surrounded the elder and several guards.

Huo Wu returned the short knife to a villager, then bent down and picked up the broken chain.

"Are you planning to return to your sect?" Li Zhexian asked her.

"No. They'll come looking for me, so I'll wait for them here."

"Then where are you planning to go?"

"I'm going with you to settle the accounts."

"You can come along, but don't expect me to do the cooking."

Huo Wu threw the chain onto the ground.

"No one wants to eat what you cook."

"I can also accept being burned with flames for two hours every day."

Huo Wu raised her hand, flames appearing in her palm, then pressed it against Li Zhexian's shoulder.

The golden shield lit up, its value began to change rapidly, and system notifications appeared.

[Continuous fire damage detected.]

[A separate damage record has been established for the attacker.]