Bamboo Spring Sect's bedchamber.
Liu Xuanye sat with her eyes closed. Her picturesque face was as still as a pool of water, utterly unruffled.
A sword came whistling in.
A sword went whistling out.
Drawing on the insights into swordsmanship she had gained while cultivating with Lu Ya, Liu Xuanye controlled her sword with her thoughts. From several miles away, she actually fought the Void Kun of the Nine Star Immortal Sect to a standstill.
Though her sword's spiritual pressure was slightly weaker, her peerless swordsmanship, overwhelming intellect, and flexible tactics had the Void Kun wailing again and again.
Enraged, the Void Kun thrashed through the clouds, stirring wind and rain. Lightning flashed and thunder boomed; wind howled through the rain as torrential downpour cascaded in pillars onto the fields below.
A one-star Immortal Sect holding off a nine-star one?
Lu Ya wasn't surprised at all.
He had witnessed Liu Xuanye's godlike swordsmanship.
Facing a Giant Kun that hadn't developed its intelligence, no matter how great the gap in cultivation, she could hold it off with her swordsmanship and tactics without getting hurt.
What surprised him was—
The Void Kun's giant tail had summoned a torrential downpour, and it was watering his spirit fields!
May the good Kun have a peaceful life!
As though it had heard Lu Ya's thoughts, the Void Kun suddenly let out a thunderous roar.
It had grown tired of battling the sword rain. With a sweep of its massive tail, it stirred up an even more violent storm and thunder.
Braving the sword rain, it went on a wild rampage, forcing its way toward Little Bamboo Spring Mountain!
A torrential curtain of rain.
Blotting out the sky and sun.
The Void Kun kept rampaging, stirring up ever fiercer winds and rain. It was nearly a disaster.
Liu Xuanye flashed onto the Sword Terrace. Her left hand rested behind her back while her right controlled the sword from afar.
"Sword Net!"
The Three Thousand Sword Formation shifted in the blink of an eye.
The sword rain wove through the air, rapidly forming a net that enveloped the Void Kun.
Though it couldn't cut through the massive Void Kun's flesh,
she used the sword net to haul its enormous body away, dragging it beyond the airspace around Floating Mountain and keeping the fields from being destroyed.
Fishing with a sword net?
Lu Ya thought, You really are something.
Thunderclouds rolled.
The Void Kun roared.
Even Liu Xuanye was starting to strain.
A sheen of sweat glistened on her snow-white brow.
Inside her Immortal Platform, her surging sea of qi churned.
Above the dark clouds.
Wine Fox Immortal and Golden Peng clashed fiercely, darting back and forth through the black clouds.
Light and shadow crossed. Immortal arts boomed, each blast shaking the Immortal Platforms of everyone watching.
Wine Fox Immortal was at a disadvantage in cultivation, but with Whirlpool Wine Illusion Sound bolstering her, she grew fiercer as the battle went on.
She fought Golden Peng until he grew increasingly irritated, yet for the moment, he had no good way to win quickly.
"You crazy woman—"
Golden Peng spread his black robe and raised his right hand, summoning a huge, long sword-shaped shadow.
"Black Feather Mad Sword Curse!"
Wine Fox Immortal was steeped in drunkenness, but she refused to back down.
"Three Waves of the Wine Sea!"
She waved her hand and scattered wine into the clouds. Waves surged at once, turning the sea of clouds into a sea of wine in the blink of an eye.
Wine Fox Immortal had lasted far longer in battle than Lu Ya had expected.
But as the fight reached a stalemate, her wounded body was nearing its limit.
The more fiery liquor she drank to maintain her cultivation, the more fiercely her injuries retaliated.
As time passed, she would inevitably fall into an irredeemable abyss!
And yet—
Lu Ya had a feeling she still had strength left.
Sure enough.
A moment later—
High above the Martial Arts Arena, a dazzling golden light burst from the rolling black clouds.
"Immortal Release!"
With Wine Fox Immortal's furious shout, her frenzied spiritual pressure surged like a tsunami, crashing against the clouds.
A colossal three-tailed fox revealed its Golden Body in the clouds, like a female version of the Nine-Tails!
At the Martial Arts Arena.
The Beast Immortals held their breath, no longer as afraid as before. Some even cried out in astonishment.
"Sect Master Liu and Senior Wine Fox are both so strong!"
Ning Zhongzi, however, furrowed her willow brows.
Apart from a handful of Immortal Venerables, the Kunpeng Brothers were the strongest in the East Floating District.
For more than a thousand years, the two had rampaged through the East Floating District's sects like Gods and Devils. Unless you ran into them head-on, even an Immortal Venerable couldn't do anything about them.
The Sect Master and Lady Wine Fox might be able to hold them off for a while, but they had no chance of winning!
Why hadn't Senior Brother stepped in yet?
Was he testing their limits?
Watching the giant fox's Golden Body burn through its sea of qi in the clouds, Lu Ya was left in awe.
"She can still use Immortal Release with injuries like that?"
Ning Zhongzi sighed softly.
"Don't underestimate her."
Lu Ya didn't quite understand.
By rights, after he had forced this woman into bed, she should have guessed how strong he was. At the very least, he had to be halfway to Immortal Venerable, right?
So why was she still forcing herself to fight, even risking Immortal Release?
Was it because he had pushed her too hard and she wanted to reclaim some of her dignity?
But from those blazing fox eyes, seemingly filled with fury, he suspected there was more to it than that.
Above the clouds.
With no warning and no regard for the consequences, Wine Fox Immortal suddenly went on a rampage and seized the advantage.
She pinned Golden Peng's black-robed human form down and beat him savagely, trying to kill him before he could transform!
Unfortunately, she had underestimated the Nine Star Immortal Sect's defenses.
Golden Peng was beaten beyond recognition, his meridians shattered and his flesh torn to ribbons.
Yet his Immortal Platform and sea of qi were completely unharmed!
He licked his black-bloodied lips and laughed coldly, full of arrogance.
"Don't forget, humans learned Immortal Release from spirit beasts—Beast Release!"
Before his voice had even faded,
his mangled body abruptly swelled, and he quickly broke free of Wine Fox Immortal's coiling tails.
In the blink of an eye, an enormous dark-gray roc appeared in the clouds, its immense body as vast as a Kun.
Its wings were like clouds hanging from the sky. It shook the heavens, soared on the rising currents, rose beyond the clouds and bore the blue sky on its back. With a single beat of its wings, it scattered the thick clouds.
Beside his colossal body, Wine Fox Immortal's three-tailed fox looked no bigger than a pet.
Her fox form was small, but her bloodstained eyes blazed fiercely, and her face was set in a savage snarl.
Her three tails shot out, stretching as if without end, and instantly coiled around Golden Peng's neck!
A piercing cry rang out!
Golden Peng jerked his head and tore free. The shrill, shattering reverberation unleashed a tsunami inside Wine Fox Immortal's Immortal Platform, instantly crushing her internal organs.
He sneered coldly.
"Even now, you still think those little tricks can beat me? Still think I'll be too arrogant to attack your wounds? There's no such thing as a fair fight in this world. It's kill or be killed!"
Wine Fox Immortal spat out a mouthful of blood. She nearly reverted to human form, but her three tails fanned up like a peacock's feathers, and her crimson eyes fixed coldly on Golden Peng.
In an instant, her three tails twisted together and became an endless scarlet sword, stabbing toward Golden Peng's Immortal Platform.
At the same time,
Golden Peng's keen eyes shifted. His left talon shot out, clamping around her neck in a flash.
The scarlet sword formed from her three tails stopped just three feet from the roc's Immortal Platform.
But Golden Peng had Wine Fox Immortal by the throat with one talon.
Like a hawk gripping a chick.
The image froze.
The victor was clear.
Golden Peng fought on, panting heavily.
"Wine Fox Immortal, you're strong. Without your injuries, you might have been able to fight me. But today, you must die."
Lu Ya lifted his head slightly.
He hadn't expected this woman to fight so long!
If she had challenged Golden Peng at full strength, she might actually have caught him by surprise and won. No wonder she and Liu Xuanye were called the Peerless Duo back at the East Floating Immortal Academy.
But she was nearing her limit.
What a shame. She hadn't revealed her trump card.
Lu Ya slowly rose to his feet.
In the air,
Golden Peng's techniques were sharp, and his taunts were just as fierce. He was growing stronger as the fight went on, and his words grew more and more brazen.
"Humans are nothing but tailless heretics. They abandoned their tails as they abandoned their faith and dignity. Their greed knows no bounds; they'll stop at nothing to achieve their goals. They'll even abandon and kill those closest to them!"
In his enormous eyes, icy coldness and blazing heat mingled, as if the fury he had held back for thousands of years were finally breaking free.
"Today's battle has nothing to do with any personal grudge between us. You're simply a poor soul who chose the wrong side, a mantis standing in the way of the chariot of my Immortal Tail's dominion over the Immortal Realm—a sacrifice too insignificant to matter!"
The Martial Arts Arena fell silent.
The Beast Immortals no longer dared to look. It was as if they had returned to the days when Golden Peng's rule had filled them with terror.
They had all been disciples of East Floating District sects or rogue cultivators, forcibly abducted by Golden Peng. Under the pretense of granting them freedom, he had committed atrocities, slaughtered humans, and oppressed Beast Immortals, tormenting them in both body and soul.
They didn't want to return to those days...
Perhaps, like Wine Fox Immortal, death was their only end.
Golden Peng held Wine Fox Immortal firmly in his left talon.
Then he raised the middle claw on his right, as huge as a greatsword, and stabbed toward Wine Fox Immortal's Immortal Platform.
Ning Zhongzi was beginning to panic too, since Lu Ya still hadn't moved.
Was Senior Brother really sure of himself?
Muyu Feifei's little face had gone pale with fright. She opened her mouth, but no words came out.
All the Beast Immortals had closed their eyes.
Wine Fox Immortal was on the verge of death. Her wounded Immortal Platform couldn't even self-destruct.
Three thousand sword lights joined into a net, carrying the Void Kun as it rolled through the clouds.
Torrential rain swept down in pillars, as if the sky-sea were pouring out, flooding the Martial Arts Arena.
Lu Ya vanished from where he stood.
Before you continue