Chapter 59
Chapter 59: Phoenix Jade Ring
Shao Heng didn’t trust the Vine Demon.
A late-stage First Realm demon cultivator already had keen intelligence. Nourishing its roots with Azure Emperor spirit liquid gave it enormous benefits.
Would it treat her as an honored guest and protect her, or imprison her and squeeze her dry?
Shao Heng wouldn’t gamble.
And among the three pursuers, first that younger female cultivator had tried to drag trouble onto her, forcing her to share the Vine Demon’s pursuit. Then, after Shao Heng escaped and shifted positions again and again, they still chased without letting up.
That kind of behavior stirred real anger in Shao Heng.
Green vines surged upward—dense, overwhelming—and slammed Lin Xuan and Cao Jing Yin off the flying shuttle.
Zhang Rong reacted at once and leapt down too. With her power poured into it, the flying sword split into a hundred sword shadows like a storm, shredding any vines they touched.
The green Vine Demon clearly wanted to retreat, but Shao Heng clenched her hand, stopped dripping the spirit liquid, and said, “They want to kill me. If you won’t protect me, then don’t expect any more benefits from me.”
Having tasted the sweetness, the Vine Demon attacked anyway.
Vines wrapped into a huge cocoon, trapping the three inside, and sprouted countless sharp poison spines. At the same time, a thin vine snapped around Shao Heng’s waist and yanked back, trying to drag her away.
In a blink, the waist vine was swallowed by black qi. It withered, turned yellow, and snapped with a light tug.
Shao Heng stayed where she was. She began controlling the death qi she had mixed into the spirit liquid, making it erupt inside the Vine Demon’s body.
Earlier, using the Azure Emperor had drained nearly seventy percent of her power. Likewise, the death qi buried in this demon body was already extremely dense.
Backstabbed from within, the vine cocoon’s strength dropped sharply. Lin Xuan and Zhang Rong were already fighting back, and within two or three breaths there was a boom as all three broke free and shot into the air.
Lin Xuan’s fury flared. His hands formed seals at lightning speed, and a massive palm of power slammed down, as if he wanted to crush the entire forest flat.
To defend itself, several green vines stood upright like roof pillars. Shao Heng eased the death qi at just the right moment, keeping the Vine Demon from collapsing completely.
A hoarse voice rasped out, “We… stop…”
As a vine demon cultivator, it had refined its transverse bone and could speak human words.
Shao Heng’s lips curved. With a flick of her fingers, a tiny crack sounded.
She used death qi to shatter the Vine Demon’s transverse bone from within, leaving it unable to speak or communicate.
If it tried to flee, the death qi would riot and torment it at the same time.
Lin Xuan’s group didn’t know the truth. They thought the demon was exhausted. Humans and demons were enemies, and they had already been attacked. Why would they stop?
They could only keep fighting.
The green Vine Demon clearly understood Shao Heng’s intent. It released a strange ripple that spread outward.
“That green Vine Demon is calling its companions in Demon Clan language. Be careful,” Ao Chuan warned.
Shao Heng didn’t answer, but she grew even more cautious.
Death qi condensed over her body like an eggshell, shielding her. At the same time, her Niwan flickered. Moonlight flowed through her meridians, ready to trigger Three-Thousand-Li Moon at any time.
The earth suddenly trembled. The ground wriggled, and in an instant countless vines burst from the soil. Together with the green Vine Demon, they shattered the descending palm imprint.
“Senior Brother, let’s take Junior Sister and run!” Zhang Rong shouted. “Too many Vine Demons are coming!”
Zhang Rong drove her spiritual sword to guard her body. She had cultivated metal-element immortal arts, and any vine threads that approached were shredded on the spot by sharp sword qi. But as more and more vines surged from underground, strain showed on her face.
Cao Jing Yin, protected at Lin Xuan’s side, gritted her teeth. “What skill does that ugly burly man have? He’s only mid-stage First Realm, yet Vine Demons won’t touch him.”
“Senior Brother, if we got that method, wouldn’t we move freely through the forest? Collecting Shattered Moons would be so much easier!”
Hearing her, Lin Xuan’s eyes locked on the figure below.
That black fog wrapped around him like armor. Confusion flickered—then greed ignited.
“Junior Sister, don’t worry,” Lin Xuan said, voice hard with certainty. “With me here, these Vine Demons are nothing!”
He opened his right palm. A jade ring rested there.
A Phoenix was carved into the clear white jade, wings spread, vivid as if alive.
As Lin Xuan poured power into it, the Phoenix carving changed from snow-white to red. Like something awakened, it detached from the ring and circled him in flight.
Lin Xuan formed seals and chanted.
“By my decree—burn!”
The red Phoenix swelled several times over. Wings spread wide, feathers gleaming, it condensed countless flames into spheres that fell like blazing meteors.
Boom after boom shook the forest.
Zhang Rong recognized it at once. This was a lower-grade immortal art Lin Xuan cultivated, already fire-aspected. With the Phoenix Jade Ring granted by Master, its might rose by another thirty percent.
Even so, Zhang Rong’s brows didn’t relax.
This forest spanned over four hundred li. Plant demon cultivators were beyond counting. What had gathered here might not even be a tenth of them.
Fire arts countered wood, but setting the whole place ablaze would draw hatred and pursuit. If they didn’t retreat in time, they’d fall into even bigger trouble.
“It’s all because of that burly cultivator!” Lin Xuan snapped.
Since Lin Xuan had already unleashed the art, Zhang Rong swallowed her discouraging words.
She formed seals as well and cast the lower-grade immortal art Profound Metal Sword-Control Technique. Metal qi howled, condensing into many small golden swords that mixed into the falling fire meteors, boosting their killing power.
“Thank you for your help, Junior Sister!” Lin Xuan laughed loudly.
Then a dazzling, multicolored arrow shot out from within the layered vines, and his laughter died in his throat.
His face stiffened. His hair stood on end. Every instinct screamed at him to dodge, but he realized he couldn’t move, as if locked in place by a divine sense technique.
“How can this arrow be something a mid-stage First Realm can wield?!” he blurted.
Points of light appeared on his forehead, linking together into a serpent-like shape.
This was Winged Fire Serpent, the sixth mansion of the Southern Seven Mansions—the wing of Vermilion Bird.
The immortal art rapidly restored his weakening power. Lin Xuan then summoned a red-jade round shield artifact and raised it before him.
The arrow pierced straight through the shield. Its power weakened, yet it still punched into Lin Xuan’s abdomen and exploded.
“Senior Brother!” Cao Jing Yin and Zhang Rong cried out.
At that moment, a figure arrived in a sweep of moonlight. With one reach, Shao Heng snatched the Phoenix Jade Ring from in front of Lin Xuan and gripped it in her palm.
“Thief!” Zhang Rong shouted, fury flashing through her eyes.
Her sword shot forward. Before it even reached Shao Heng, its sharp aura scraped across Shao Heng’s face, drawing blood.
Shao Heng could have dodged, but Lin Xuan remained conscious even after taking the arrow. He glared at her, and firelight surged around him, turning into fire snakes that lunged at Shao Heng.
Forced into haste, Shao Heng raised the Soul-Seizing Bell and shook it. The soul-stealing sound sent all three into a brief daze.
A white shadow flashed out from Shao Heng’s sleeve. With one claw, it crushed the golden insect on Cao Jing Yin’s shoulder. Then its tail whipped like a lash, flinging Cao Jing Yin and sending her crashing to the ground.
But facing two cultivators at First Realm perfection attacking together, Shao Heng was pushed hard.
The fire snakes charred her skin black in moments. Zhang Rong’s sword, thrown off by the Soul-Seizing Bell, lost some accuracy but not power. It missed Shao Heng’s heart and instead severed Shao Heng’s left arm.
Shao Heng clenched her teeth and swallowed the scream. She forced power into the wound and stopped the bleeding.
As the white shadow flew back, it snatched the severed limb as well. Shao Heng stored it in her storage ring.
Silver light flickered.
Shao Heng cast Three-Thousand-Li Moon, splitting into three Phantom Bodies, and slipped into moonlit shadows.
She pushed the escape art to its limit, crossing more than a hundred li in a breath.
Among the three, Zhang Rong was the least injured. She recovered from the bell first, caught Lin Xuan, and then froze.
His abdominal wound showed no sign of healing.
It was worsening—fast.
But she couldn’t stay. She rushed down, found Cao Jing Yin, took both of them, and fled, desperately trying to shake off the Vine Demon pursuit that had gone mad under the blaze.