Watching Li Chong grieve so deeply, Zhao Huai did not feel good either.
If he could save Li Yanqing, he would have acted long ago.
But at present, he had no good solution either.
Just as Yan Jing had said, only by finding that demon and slaying it could they truly save Li Yanqing.
"Didn't the Divination Sign say the Fox Demon would come?"
Zhao Huai looked at the divination result in his hand. It was still misfortune. His brows were tightly furrowed as he tried to find a way to break the deadlock.
"Do you have a way?"
Yan Jing rose to his feet and whispered into Zhao Huai's ear.
Zhao Huai merely shook his head solemnly.
"No?"
"No, it's just very troublesome. That demon is in a brothel. If we head there rashly, danger is inevitable." Zhao Huai did not need to think to know that the Drunken Flower Pavilion was a place of great peril.
He had merely performed a divination on the way here, yet he had already received two signs of misfortune.
As for the third Divination Sign, even after he used Change Misfortune and Fortune, it had ultimately become misfortune.
One could well imagine that they had to proceed with the utmost caution this time.
"You've fought her before?" Yan Jing asked curiously.
"Not exactly fought. We only exchanged techniques with our demonic power. Though I won, her demonic power is at least at the seventh level of Qi Refinement. Her true body is likely even stronger."
Zhao Huai answered.
Upon receiving that answer, Yan Jing could only purse his lips helplessly.
In his eyes, apart from genuine sect disciples, Zhao Huai was already the strongest person he knew.
If Zhao Huai said it was difficult, there had to be a reason.
"Prefect Li, you should first send someone to the Ascension Sect. I know you are heartbroken, but that demon is still out there. You must at least seek justice for your son."
Yan Jing earnestly tried to persuade Li Chong, who was crouched beside the bed.
The Ascension Sect was the largest sect within a thousand li. It had over ten thousand disciples, and only they could deal with this demon.
"It can only be this way."
Li Chong's already exhausted body lost more than half of its remaining strength. His face was filled with numbness.
Suddenly, a cold gleam flashed from behind the crowd.
It was a servant bringing tea. With a kitchen cleaver in hand and savage eyes, he stabbed toward Li Chong.
"You!"
Li Chong's eyes widened, his face full of shock.
The next instant, Zhao Huai held two fingers together and forcefully formed a sword gesture.
A stream of True Qi shot forth.
The kitchen cleaver that was about to fall froze directly in midair.
Clang!
With a light flick of his finger, Zhao Huai's strike, carrying Ten Thousand Jin Strength and Peak Intent, collided with the gleaming cleaver and shattered it into fragments.
Yan Jing straightened, then sent the servant flying with a palm strike. His lightning-sharp eyes swept over the room as he asked himself, "What is going on? Is there an assassin?"
Zhao Huai walked over to the fallen servant, lifted his eyelids, and reached a conclusion.
"Something is wrong with his pupils. He has been controlled."
"When?"
Yan Jing asked, thoroughly shocked.
"Hallucinogenic incense."
Zhao Huai calmly rose to his feet, though his expression was far from pleasant.
"Medicine?"
Yan Jing questioned, his eyes full of doubt. He had not smelled any medicinal powder.
"It's the Fox Demon."
Zhao Huai's divine sense swept through the enormous room, yet he found no one else hiding there.
Finally, his gaze turned outside. Narrowing his eyes, he spoke two words.
"Stand back."
Hearing this, Yan Jing's expression turned grave. He pulled the still-dazed, terrified Li Chong to his feet and retreated into a corner.
Zhao Huai clenched his hand, and the Mysterious Ring flashed.
A long, azure Treasure Sword appeared in his hand.
Bang!
Zhao Huai kicked the door open.
Blade after blade immediately came hacking down.
Before him stood squad after squad of guards, clutching long blades. Drool flowed from their mouths, their eyes bulged as if they were about to pop out, and their faces were crimson and savage.
"I knew it!"
Zhao Huai gave a low shout and stomped his foot. The floor instantly shattered into pieces.
He swiftly raised his leg and kicked toward the chests of the many guards before him.
Thud!
Thud!
Thud!
Figures were sent flying one after another.
Zhao Huai seemed to transform into a streak of white light, Treasure Sword in hand as he weaved through the crowd.
Sweeping his gaze outside, he discovered that everyone had fallen into a strange aura.
The steward and attendants stood where they were, their eyes dull and vacant.
Seeing this, Zhao Huai's brows drew together. With a sweep of his wide sleeve,
strings of withered yellow talismans flew from within it.
"Wood-Leading Thunder Talisman, draw!"
The space before them instantly became an ocean of talismans, washing over the crowd. The Wood-Leading Thunder Talismans hovered above their crowns.
Very soon, streams of black qi rose from their mouths.
Gathering together, it formed a terrifying black fox face. It grinned, let out a shriek, stared at Zhao Huai, and rushed toward him.
"Suppress."
Zhao Huai's expression was calm. His Treasure Sword led the way, its point braced at the forefront.
The two sides entered a standoff.
Zhao Huai's other hand did not remain idle. He immediately bit his fingertip and used blood as ink, rapidly drawing a talisman in the air.
Drawing talismans one-handed—such speed was terrifying! Before long, an enormous Daoist talisman had condensed. Zhao Huai thrust his palm forward and roared, "Golden Extermination Thunder Talisman, destroy!"
Thunder blossoms immediately flickered in the air, growing brighter and brighter! Rumble!
A deafening boom erupted high in the sky. Immense power burst forth, blasting the fox face formed from black qi into scattered fragments.
The black qi was completely wiped out, and the people around them all collapsed unconscious.
Before Zhao Huai could breathe a sigh of relief, Yan Jing's voice rang out from inside the room again.
"Brother Zhao! Come quickly and look!"
He turned into an afterimage and entered the room, only to see Yan Jing pointing at the person before him with a face full of astonishment.
Li Yanqing, who had been lying on the bed,
had actually sat up!
Yet the way his body twisted was exceedingly strange. His head kept shaking, and his eyes had turned white.
Zhao Huai narrowed his eyes slightly and tightened his grip on the sword.
"My son! What is wrong with you?!"
Seeing Li Yanqing in such a state, Li Chong was overcome with grief and tried to rush forward to embrace his son.
But Yan Jing seized him directly.
"Don't go over there. Something is wrong with him!"
"Li Yanqing" twisted his head in an unnatural manner. Facing Zhao Huai, he released a hoarse voice:
"So there is a cultivator here. You were the one who used talismans to sever my connection with the human puppet, weren't you?"
"Indeed."
Zhao Huai replied blandly.
"Good, very good! Do you think you are so formidable?"
"More than enough to deal with you."
Zhao Huai's face was as still as water as he immediately retorted.
"Ha ha ha ha!"
A terrifying, dry laugh emerged from Li Yanqing's throat, as though mocking Zhao Huai.
"What arrogance. Just wait—Jin Province City will soon be the next one. How long can you humans remain pleased with yourselves?"
The next instant, Zhao Huai vanished from where he stood.
When he reappeared, he held his sword behind his back with one hand, while the Soul-Subduing Mind Technique within his mind activated once more.
It transformed into a massive bell.
Dong!!
The vast bell chime could cleanse body and soul, purging demonic nature.
Sure enough, under the infusion of the bell's chime, a stream of black qi left Li Yanqing's body.
Li Yanqing lost all strength and fell back onto the bed.
Zhao Huai swiftly sealed all of Li Yanqing's meridians, then scattered Daoist talismans around the bedside.
Having finished, Zhao Huai let out a breath and was just about to speak.
A bright orange light entered his mind.
It immediately drew his full attention.
He focused his eyes.
Demon-Revealing Eye (Earth-Grade Middle): Wherever it looks, it can sense the aura of demons and devils, and see lurking demons. (Special Effect) See Through: Any demon whose true body is seen through by the Demon-Revealing Eye can have its Demonic Qi locked onto, revealing its weakness.
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