Demon Sect Assault

One had finally found the motivation to read the Book of Fate; the other remained silent.

The carriage suddenly darkened.

"Careful!" Zhou Hen whispered.

"Stop!" An unfamiliar sense of authority entered Jiang Youfei's delicate voice.

All the horses stopped.

Zhou Hen shot Li Qingxian a look, lifted the carriage curtain, and stepped out.

The once-clear sky churned with black clouds. Within them emerged the heads of demonic monsters with blue faces and fang-filled mouths, bobbing up and down as their shrill laughter pierced the air.

Black, gleaming sludge submerged the earth, while thin white mist rose several li away.

The cold wind surged like waves. Everyone shuddered involuntarily and drew their collars tighter.

A Sky Firmament Sect disciple cried out, "The Twelve Heavenly Nether Demon Formation! It takes at least twelve Fourth Rank Demon Sect experts working together to lay it down."

"Move closer to Senior Brother's carriage," Jiang Youfei said.

The Sky Firmament Sect members and Night Guards hurried over, forming a circle with their backs to Li Qingxian's carriage.

Jiang Youfei turned and said, "General Zhou Hen, please protect Senior Brother!"

"Yes!"

Warmth filled Li Qingxian's heart.

"Demon Sect scum, come out," Jiang Youfei said, her voice as cold and sharp as a frozen spring.

"Jiang Youfei, we meet again."

A flippant voice rang out. A thin, frail young man with a pale, powdered face emerged from the white mist. He wore a crimson civil official's robe, and the cloud goose embroidered upon his chest patch spread its wings as if about to take flight.

Five people followed behind him, all clad in crimson official robes. Some bore embroidered cloud geese on their patches, others leopards; none had gold thread embroidery. They wore the garb of Subordinate Fourth Rank officials.

Dark-red chain patterns wound around the edges of their official robes.

Zhou Hen whispered, "The speaker is Zhang Tongshi, a direct Subordinate Fourth Rank disciple of Demon-Transforming Mountain in the East Sea, and the grandnephew of Demon-Transforming Mountain's sect master. Last year, Jiang Youfei used Severing Qingyun on this lot, leaving them unable to wear Principal Fourth Rank official robes."

Li Qingxian frowned. The one who had injured Zheng Hui had also come from Demon-Transforming Mountain.

"Many thanks to the Enchanting City Fairy for showing mercy during the Azure Cloud Examination. You wounded me without crippling me, allowing Tongshi to recover and once again behold Your Fairyship's peerless beauty." Zhang Tongshi smiled. Like those of the other Demon Sect members, his eyes had turned into slowly rotating green vortices.

"Today, you and I will fight again." As Jiang Youfei spoke, a clear clang rang out at her side. White vapor burst forth, and an ancient sword flew out.

The Sword Body was black, its blade silver-white, wreathed in blue-green patterns.

Jiang Youfei stepped into the air and ascended the heavenly stairway.

The Qinglei Ancient Sword pointed at Zhang Tongshi.

Zhang Tongshi burst into laughter. "Fairy, you misunderstand. I have come for two matters. First, on behalf of my sect master and granduncle, I bring a letter of betrothal. I wish to marry you, Fairy. As for the second matter..."

Zhang Tongshi looked toward Li Qingxian's carriage. "That depends on whether the Fairy accepts the betrothal letter."

With a flick of Zhang Tongshi's finger, a red envelope appeared from thin air and spun toward Jiang Youfei.

Jiang Youfei raised her right arm, extending her index finger toward the front.

Sizzle, sizzle...

Blue-white lightning coiled around her lotus-white arm, while her broad white sleeve billowed.

A blazing white bolt, over a zhang long and as thick as a wrist, shot from her fingertip and struck the betrothal letter in an instant.

Boom!

Electric light scattered in all directions. The letter exploded into faint green smoke.

Still smiling, Zhang Tongshi said, "A year apart, and the Fairy's Thunder Arts have improved another step. Congratulations. Yet the Five Thunder Orthodox Method struck the betrothal letter while wounding my heart. I have admired the Fairy for a long time, and Demon-Transforming Mountain's sect master has even sent a betrothal letter. Since you are so heartless, I can only proceed to the second matter. Hand over Lü Ren, and we will let you leave. What do you say?"

"You powdered, filthy wretch—what right do you have to bargain with me, Jiang Youfei?"

A Golden-Light Eight Trigrams diagram appeared in Jiang Youfei's left hand. Her thumb tapped repeatedly upon it as a fierce wind abruptly arose around her, making her white robes flap and her long hair dance wildly.

She formed a sword gesture with the index and middle fingers of her right hand, channeled the Sky Firmament Sword Formula, and pointed at Zhang Tongshi.

"Go!"

Crackle, crackle...

The Qinglei Ancient Sword hung across the sky, its lightning surging violently to form a thunderous pillar over a zhang wide. It shot toward Zhang Tongshi in an instant.

Zhang Tongshi let out a strange cry and hurriedly retreated as he and the five behind him attacked together.

Black heads with blue faces and fangs filled the sky, dragging long dark-red afterimages behind them. With ear-splitting shrieks, they opened their maws and bit toward the pillar of lightning and the Qinglei Ancient Sword.

The demonic heads packed the sky, blotting out the daylight as they surged forward like a monstrous wave reaching the heavens.

The weaker Sky Firmament Sect disciples and Night Guards retreated again and again. Every demonic head possessed at least Tenth Rank strength, and there were thousands upon thousands before them—enough to destroy an entire city.

The pillar of lightning instantly slammed into the wave of demonic heads.

Amid an endless series of explosions, lightning spread through the demonic heads like a spiderweb across the sky.

Countless demonic heads vanished into ash.

The six Fourth Rank Demon Sect members shuddered and were all hurled backward, blood streaming from the corners of their mouths as lightning crackled around them.

"Retreat!"

The six spat blood in unison. Their blood turned into a crimson film that separated them from the lightning, while their bodies melted into dark-red streams of light. Only upon reaching the edge of the white mist did they regain human form.

The Sky Firmament Sect members and Night Guards all looked horrified. Though they were all Fourth Rank, Jiang Youfei had wounded six opponents of the same rank with a single sword strike. She was even stronger than the legends said.

Zhou Hen stood stunned for a long while before squeezing out a sentence. "Can't beat her..."

Li Qingxian lifted the carriage curtain and peeked outside.

Jiang Youfei took a step forward and flicked up her sword fingers. The Qinglei Ancient Sword soared high into the sky, then suddenly exploded into hundreds of millions of tiny swords, each an inch long, diving upon the six Demon Sect members like locusts gathering beneath clouds.

"Come out and help!" Zhang Tongshi shouted.

Another six figures rushed out of the white mist. Together with the first six, they joined forces. Some released demonic heads, some activated weapons, and some wielded artifacts, linking them into a sphere of black qi that blocked the descending myriad swords.

Clang, clang, clang rang without end.

The black clouds above the demon formation suddenly churned violently. All of them transformed into blue-faced, fang-toothed demonic heads, converging into a massive blue-black claw dozens of zhang across, like a small mountain, which slapped down at Jiang Youfei.

Zhang Tongshi grinned. The twelve had feigned drawing away the Qinglei Ancient Sword, only to seize the chance to unleash the demon formation's killing move, leaving the Qinglei Ancient Sword no time to...

Suddenly, some fine little swords condensed into a brand-new Qinglei Ancient Sword. Lightning flashed as it instantly pierced the Demon Cultivators' defenses and, with the speed of thunder too swift to cover one's ears, shot through Zhang Tongshi's brow.

The Qinglei Ancient Sword was like a tiger entering a flock of sheep—one sword, one person.

Having lost its support, the demon formation's aura plummeted. The blue-black giant claw stalled, and Jiang Youfei swept her broad right sleeve. Blue, white, black, red, and azure lightning burst from her five fingers, surging like a waterfall of lightning flowing upstream. It scattered the blue-black claw and shattered the black clouds.

Li Qingxian finally understood why Jiang Youfei had dared seek revenge for her senior brother.

It seemed this girl was not only a stubborn donkey, but also a fierce dragon.

"Stop!"

A violet-red demonic head tore through the air, shielding the last three remaining Fourth Rank Demon Sect members.

Mighty as the Qinglei Ancient Sword was, three consecutive strikes were all blocked by the violet-red demonic head, forcing it to retreat at once.

An Old Man with fury written across his face emerged from the southern white mist and strode through the air.

The Old Man was tall and imposing, with a large nose and deep-set eyes. He wore a violet official robe, and on the chest patch edged with gold thread was embroidered a brilliantly colored peacock. Dense chain patterns covered his violet robes.

A violet leather belt wrapped his waist, with a golden fish pouch hanging from it.

A Principal Third Rank high official.

He looked over the battlefield.

Three Fourth Rank Demon Sect members remained standing. The other nine had been pierced through the brow and the back of the head, their forehead centers split open as they lay strewn across the ground.