Chapter 44: Intense Battle II
Xiao Hong gritted her teeth as she glared at Mo Qingzhu, “This bitch…”
Mo Qingzhu, apparently feeling her gaze, glanced at her indifferently before concentrating on Gu Ran. It wasn’t that she didn’t want to say anything, but rather it was impossible. Their opponent wasn’t someone who could be trifled with. Despite the three of them ganging up on Gu Ran, they could only barely match him. Be it his destructive power or his Battle Sense, they were all overwhelmingly powerful.
During the short period of time she had announced the reward for killing or capturing Xiao Hong, they fell into a greater disadvantage and were firmly being suppressed by Gu Ran’s overwhelming strength.
Xiao Hong stuffed a few more pills and looked towards the oncoming Demonic Cultivators. Even if their greed had overwhelmed their fear, their caution remained. So, even as they were making their way towards her, they remained extremely wary, watching for any movement like hawks.
The Perfection-level Dark Flame Serpent was truly overpowered and the destruction it had caused left a deep impression on the Demonic Cultivators.
A sneer appeared on Xiao Hong’s face as she floated into the air, ‘Since you chose to attack me, get ready to face the consequences!’
She brought her hands together and started making hand seals.
Immediately, the Demonic Cultivators froze and retreated frantically while spreading out as much as possible! This way Xiao Hong’s spell would be less likely to hurt them, as it would be harder for her to control a larger area!
Xiao Hong’s grin widened as she abruptly stopped making hand seals and stepped forward disappearing in a flash of starlight.
A 7th Disaster Demonic Cultivator had barely retreated a few feet when a figure covered in starlight appeared right next to him! The Demonic Cultivator barely reacted with a Zhenqi barrier when a fist covered in red-gold Zhenqi slammed into the hastily made Zhenqi barrier, shattering almost instantly. Another fist slammed into his chest, shattering his ribs and crushing his heart!
Without even waiting for the results, she disappeared in a burst of starlight and reappeared next to a 4th Disaster Demonic Cultivator and attacked him, taking his life with a few punches.
Xiao Hong did not attack the 6th Disaster and above again - she had already lost the element of surprise when she killed the 7th Disaster Demonic Cultivator with her Physical Prowess. It would be ineffective to attack any other Demonic Cultivator at and above the 6th Disaster, since they could react in time and put up more formidable defences.
So she targeted the 5th Disaster and below.
Without stopping her frenzied attack, she disappeared in a flash of starlight and directly reappeared above a 4th Disaster Demonic Cultivator, her leg slicing down on him from above, covered in bright red-gold aura!
The Demonic Cultivators had already regained their senses from the shock by now, so this Demonic Cultivator could react in time!
“Haaaaaah!!” The Demonic drove his Demonic Qi with all his might, shaping it into a thick, grey barrier!
Yet, the sturdy-looking barrier did not even slow down Xiao Hong’s kick. It crushed down on the Demonic Cultivator, slamming him into the ground with such tremendous force that the ground cracked! A massive cloud of dust blew up into the air, obscuring the Demonic Cultivator’s vision.
When the dust had cleared, the Demonic Cultivator lay in a crater, missing half of his head When the dust had faded, Xiao Hong was nowhere to be seen and the Demonic Cultivator lay in a crater, half his head missing.
“Dammit, she’s a Body Cultivator as well!” A Demonic Cultivator who had just regained his footing exclaimed.
The other Demonic Cultivators had also come to the same conclusion!
“Where is she though?!” A Demonic Cultivator at the 5th Disaster level whipped his head around looking for traces when a powerful bolt of lightning slammed towards him from above!
The Demonic Cultivator reacted instantly and hundreds of vines shot out of his sleeves, weaving into several layers of thick and sturdy wooden shields.
Bang! Crunch! Crunch! Crunch!
The Demonic Cultivator had just breathed a sigh of relief when the Flying Sword that was stopped by his shields started to shake violently and crack. The Demonic Cultivator’s eyes widened in terror, ‘Fuck! She’s destroying the Flying Sword?! Is this woman fucked in the head?!’
Destroying an Artefact would cause a minor Divine Sense injury. Even if it was minor and could be healed in a few days, it was something no one dared to do - unless they were truly desperate and had no strength to fight back.
He immediately tried to escape downwards when he saw Xiao Hong shooting up towards him, weaving hand seals. The instant she completed the hand seals a huge Earth Shell appeared, directly blocking his path.
The Demonic Cultivator frantically threw all his attacks at the Earth Shell causing it to shake violently and develop cracks, but unfortunately for him, it wasn’t fast enough!
Seeing how he would not be able to break through in time, he cast every defensive method he could think of in panic!
Boom!
“Aaargh!” A blood-curdling scream ripped across the battlefield before stopping abruptly.
A powerful explosion slammed into the Earth Shell, rocking it! Inside, Xiao Hong’s nose and ears bled. Her eyes had turned bloodshot and tears incessantly flowed down her face! She resisted the urge to clutch her head and acted as fast as she could - using the Earth Burrow, she slipped out of the shell and directly used the Star Shifting Steps!
Just after she had disappeared, a wave of spells like a tidal collided with the Earth Shell, crushing it completely!
Without stopping her frenzied attack, she directly appeared above a 5th Disaster Cultivator. Through her Divine Sense, she knew that this one had thrown the last spell at her Earth Shell and thus was likely unable to counterattack.
But.
“Hehe!” The Demonic Cultivator grinned triumphantly, turned upwards and slapped his palm towards Xiao Hong, a vastly superior aura exploding outwards with him as the centre.
His Demonic Qi turned into a mountain bear-sized, jet-black palm that slammed towards Xiao Hong.
‘6th Disaster?!’ Xiao Hong was utterly shocked and immediately used her Movement Art!
Unfortunately, it was too late and Xiao Hong took the full brunt of the attack! She could barely condense a rudimentary Zhenqi Shield that was broken almost instantly because of the vastly reduced stability of her Zhenqi.
A shriek of agony ripped out of her throat as tremendous force slammed into her body! It was as if a truck had slammed into her, crushing her bones and mincing her flesh! Her mind blanked out, leaving nothing but the excruciating pain behind!
Blasted several hundred metres into the air, she could barely think straight. Yet, even at that moment, a terrifying sense of danger forced her rational thoughts back together. Through her Divine Sense, she saw another giant palm slapping towards her!
Gritting her teeth, she forcefully used Star Shifting Steps!
Barely suppressing the agony, she reappeared hundreds of metres away, stuffing as many Healing Pills as her mouth could fit.
She was incredibly thankful the Star Shifting Steps didn’t exert pressure on the Body and her Meridians remained undamaged, otherwise, she would have died there.
Barely had she finished stuffing the pills, when she realised that the 6th Disaster Demonic Cultivator was already shooting towards, employing some weird Movement Technique.
Xiao Hong decisively ran away.
“She’s heavily injured!” Some Demonic Cultivator shouted in excitement, “She won’t be able to fight back. This is the best chance for us!”
Instantly, the Demonic Cultivators’s courage shot through the skies!
Xiao Hong cursed, “Dammit!”
And once again she employed the Star Shifting Steps!
In the next period of time, she did not attack and only escaped. It was at this moment her Perfection-level Star Shifting Steps showed its power. She flitted around the battlefield in bursts of starlight, just ‘barely’ escaping the Demonic Cultivator’s attacks.
Of course, she could escape faster. If she wanted to, she could move at a speed the Demonic Cultivators would not even be able to touch the corner of her clothes. But that would not be conducive to her plan. She was stalling for time. She needed to recover her Zhenqi after all.
Since that Mo Qingzhu bitch had driven the Demonic Cultivators to attack her with all their might, she might as well use it to her advantage.
She would slowly decrease her ‘speed’ with every movement, causing these Demonic Cultivators to focus on her instead of the rest of the battlefield because they could ‘see’ that she was slowing down. With success just a few steps away, they would definitely be unwilling to give up.
If these Demonic Cultivators ignored her and attacked the rest of the disciples, they would instantly be put at a disadvantage!
Thus, in the next few minutes, a game of demonic cats chasing a single golden mouse ensued.
Xiao Hong, who was running around suddenly grinned as an over-eager 5th Demonic Cultivator appeared a distance away from her weaving hand seals. She employed Star Shifting Steps and directly appeared next to the Demonic Cultivator and threw a Zhenqi-boosted fist.
The Demonic Cultivator’s eyes widened in terror as he stopped making hand seals and tried to defend himself. But it was for naught since Xiao Hong’s fist directly broke through the flimsy Zhenqi Shield and slammed into the Demonic Cultivator’s chest, caving it!
“Phwagh!!” The Demonic Cultivator was blasted away while spitting several mouthfuls of blood! Xiao Hong, who had not completely healed, could not exert her full Physical Prowess, otherwise, this fellow would not have gotten away with a severe injury.
Right after, Xiao Hong turned around and spat out a glob of red Qi at the face of a 4th Disaster Demonic Cultivator that arrived right behind her
Black Rank Battle Technique - Nine Orifices Blazing Qi!
And then she employed her Movement Art and disappeared!
Normally speaking, this Battle Technique was too weak to do any significant damage, but Xiao Hong had used it at the most opportune time - when her opponent had just finished making the hand seals and his defences were weakened. Moreover, it had detonated at point-blank range!
Bang!
“Aaaargh-!” An agonised scream ripped through the Demonic Cultivator’s throat before it was abruptly cut off when a delicate hand covered in blood burst out of his chest.
Swinging her arm, she flung the dead Demonic Cultivator’s body at an incoming Spell before disappearing in a burst of starlight.
“S-She’s recovered” A 2nd Disaster Demonic Cultivator spoke. There was an odd inflexion to his tone that was almost like… fear.