"Fellow Daoist Jiang, you've finally come out. Are you all right?" On the Tianhe Fire Domain side, the man in the brocade robe and the charming young woman had been searching for Jiang Xintong for some time. They had nearly given up and were about to return to report to the Heavenly Punishment Palace when, to their surprise, Jiang Xintong appeared again.
Jiang Xintong's face was dark with anger. She had used the Blazing Red Plum to burn open a gap in the space here, hiding inside to escape calamity. She hadn't expected Lu Xiaotian to be so hard to deal with. He had seized the opportunity to strike her with that puppet battle automaton, driving her deeper into the spatial turbulence. Fortunately, the spatial fluctuations here were relatively mild. Even so, Jiang Xintong had struggled mightily before she managed to escape.
She had come full of confidence, only to gain not the slightest advantage. Worse, she had expended the precious Blazing Red Plum. And this was the Tianhe Fire Domain, her own territory. Even though she hadn't been injured, she had suffered a tremendous loss.
She had been on home ground, with two reinforcements close at hand, yet she hadn't gained an advantage—or even held out until they arrived. Since achieving success in her cultivation, Jiang Xintong had never suffered such a great loss. What was more, Lu Xiaotian had even managed to repair the gap in space, temporarily keeping Gu Yao and Min Kun in the dark. Clearly, Lu Xiaotian had been capable of entering the gap and continuing his pursuit. Had it come to that, Jiang Xintong would have been in grave danger. In truth, she had escaped this time only because Lu Xiaotian hadn't wanted to be delayed here.
"I'm fine. What about Saint Alchemist Dongfang?