Chapter 408

Chapter 408: Which Friends Keep Holding Hands?

Dust billowed like smoke.

Immortal Qing Feng stared coldly at the wrecked ground and saw that the spot where Yu Zhi Yi had been standing now held no figure.

He didn’t think much of it: a mere ant at the Foundation Establishment Realm-under his full-strength strike she would be blasted to pieces, not even a complete bone left behind, which was nothing unusual.

He said with a chill in his voice: “This is what happens when you dare to go against Yue’er.”

He turned to leave.

But as soon as he moved, he sensed something wrong.

He blurted in shock: “You… you didn’t die?”

Not far away, Yu Zhi Yi stood at ease. Her slim, pale hand casually gripped a person’s neck and lifted them high.

She smiled coldly and said: “Sorry to disappoint you, I’m not dead.”

Yu Zhi Yi clicked her tongue, mocking him: “Didn’t you already know? Everyone in the Heavenly Secret Sect is gifted, with life-saving methods far beyond normal. If I wasn’t prepared, how would I dare enter the palace?”

Immortal Qing Feng had no time for her nonsense, his handsome face dark and cold as he warned: “Let go of Yue’er, and I’ll spare your life.”

Yu Zhi Yi tsked twice and said: “You spare me this time, and you can still kill me next time. Even if you personally let me go, your sect’s disciples can hunt me down.” Her eyes were full of scorn as she added: “Do you take me for a fool?”

Immortal Qing Feng felt a breath clog in his throat, stuck there and painfully hard to swallow.

What she said was true-he had planned exactly that.

Today he would pretend to let her go, then rescue Yue’er and settle accounts later.

Whether he did it himself or had disciples do it, this woman would die either way.

He had even thought he could take Yue’er into his arms one moment and kill Yu Zhi Yi the next.

After all, he had only promised that if she released Yue’er, he would spare her life-he had never said for how long.

He hadn’t expected her to see through every plan.

Yu Zhi Yi watched the flicker of change in his expression and laughed with sharper mockery: “So, Immortal Qing Feng, you really planned to kill the donkey after it’s done grinding!”

Suddenly her face hardened as she said: “Since I won’t be living anyway, let’s all be destroyed together.”

Without another word, she tightened her grip and twisted You Bing Yue’s neck.

“Yue’er!” Immortal Qing Feng’s eyes split with fury.

He didn’t hesitate. His aura exploded, rolling like a crushing tide. With terrifying Spiritual Energy wrapped inside it, he blasted Yu Zhi Yi to red-and-white fragments before she could even resist.

“Yue’er…”

He staggered to You Bing Yue’s body. These hands that could easily unleash a mountain’s weight now shook so much that he didn’t dare touch the corpse.

He didn’t know how long he stayed that way. At last he lifted the body into his arms and called hoarsely: “Yue’er! Yue’er!”

You Bing Yue’s head hung limp. She could not answer.

Two lines of tears slid from Immortal Qing Feng’s eyes.

After a long time, as if making a great decision, he said in a low, firm voice: “Yue’er, I will not let you die!”

He laid You Bing Yue down, took out three sticks of incense, and formed seals with both hands.

The incense lit without fire.

As he finished the final hand seal, he shouted: “Soul, come!”

A wind blew by, and nothing happened.

Confusion flashed through his eyes. Unwilling to give up, he formed seals again.

He cried: “Soul, come!”

And again: “Soul, come!”

A fierce wind rose.

After a long while, a faint human shadow slowly appeared.

Eyes red, Immortal Qing Feng stepped forward. He wanted to hold the weak soul, but he feared the strong yang energy on his body would harm her. He restrained all his sharp aura and cradled the soul only in a light, imaginary way.

He whispered, voice full of guilt: “Yue’er, I’m sorry. This is my fault. I hurt you.”

The soul’s face was blank and gave no reply.

His heart ached even more as he promised: “Yue’er, don’t worry, I will save you!”

Lost in heartbreak, Immortal Qing Feng didn’t notice how, at the instant he drew near, the soul’s body stiffened for a moment.

He took out a short piece of wood and spoke softly: “Yue’er, this is Millennium Locust Wood. It can nourish a soul. Go inside and rest for a bit-I’ll revive you soon.”

You Bing Yue’s soul drifted in a fog, unable to understand what he was saying.

Immortal Qing Feng sighed.

After death, some people become Vengeful Ghosts for a short time because of strong emotions, but far more don’t even realize they’re dead.

Especially right after leaving the body, for all kinds of reasons, a soul is often numb and unaware of everything outside.

You Bing Yue had been unconscious before she died, so it was normal that she was muddled now.

He waved his hand, and You Bing Yue’s soul attached to the Millennium Locust Wood.

What Immortal Qing Feng meant by “saving” You Bing Yue was this: find someone at the brink of death, pull out that person’s soul, and place You Bing Yue’s soul inside the body.

Someone whose life is still hanging by a thread isn’t the same as a true corpse.

A person already dead cannot be resurrected, not even by him; putting a soul in would only create a mindless husk.

But a body still clinging to life is technically alive, just terribly weak.

And healing a weak body was very easy for him.

When the dying person’s soul was pulled out, she was dazed and didn’t understand what was happening.

Immortal Qing Feng waved, and she was sent a thousand miles away.

He murmured with gentle relief: “Yue’er, you’ll be well very soon.”

Under his careful care, the body recovered quickly.

It belonged to a young woman with delicate features from a well-off family.

You Bing Yue accepted the fact of dying and coming back to life rather well. Aside from hating Yu Zhi Yi for killing her, she felt no rejection toward this body.

Immortal Qing Feng let out a long breath.

He was also very pleased.

He had discovered that the body You Bing Yue now used actually had a Spiritual Root. Because she had grown up among mortals, she had never discovered it.

Although it was only a dual Water-Wood Spiritual Root and not the best, in the Hidden Realm-where triple, quadruple, even quintuple roots were common-a dual root was pretty good.

She looked up in surprise and asked: “So, Immortal, does this mean I can cultivate?”

Immortal Qing Feng smiled and nodded, but then he noticed something off and asked: “Yue’er, why aren’t you calling me A-Feng anymore?”

You Bing Yue’s eyes tightened faintly. After a breath, she spoke with dimmed expression: “Before, I had no real sense of how strong a Golden Core Realm expert is. I thought you were just a bit stronger than me. When Yu Zhi Yi captured me and I couldn’t even lift a finger against her, I finally knew how wrong I was.”

She sighed and said: “Calling you A-Feng was me reaching too high.”

Immortal Qing Feng held her hand and said: “Silly girl, what are you saying? Between you and me, how can there be talk of reaching too high? If not for you, I would have died in the wilderness long ago.”

You Bing Yue pulled her hand back and said: “It was just a small effort.”

Seeing how she insisted on keeping a distance, Immortal Qing Feng felt a little hurt. He coaxed: “If you feel there’s a gap between you and cultivators, then I’ll teach you Cultivation. Now that you have a Spiritual Root, with your understanding you’ll reach the Golden Core Realm sooner or later.”

As he spoke, he reached for You Bing Yue’s hand again.

On the outside she looked like You Bing Yue, but the mind inside was Yu Zhi Yi: “…”

[What is with all the touching? Didn’t You Bing Yue say they were just ordinary friends? What kind of decent male friend keeps trying to hold hands!]