Translator: CinderTL
Just as Li Rui's flying sword was about to collide with the golden lightning, two crimson beams shot from the distance and struck the sword.
Li Rui was stunned to find his connection with his natal flying sword weakening, making it increasingly difficult to control. The once-brilliant sword aura gradually dimmed.
In the next instant, the golden lightning crashed into the sword, sending it flying. Yet the lightning's lingering force remained undiminished as it continued its descent toward the massive bronze bell below.
But the lightning was a step too slow. Before it could strike the bell, the two crimson beams had already landed.
As the blood-red light bathed the bell, the golden spiritual light shimmering across its surface began to dissipate. By the time the golden lightning struck, the yellow spiritual light had vanished completely.
Under the lightning's assault, the bronze bell followed the sword's fate, shrinking to a mere three feet in size before being hurled away.
The golden lightning continued its relentless descent.
By then, Li Rui had summoned a ten-foot-wide shield, which hovered above his head.
Boom!
The thunder struck the shield, instantly transforming into a golden waterfall that engulfed both the shield and Li Rui beneath it.
Li Rui's vision filled with golden light, his ears ringing with thunderous roars. He desperately channeled his spiritual power, barely managing to stabilize the shield. Yet the terrifying force carried by the golden lightning drove him and the shield crashing toward the ground.
Nearby, Li Zhengqing swiftly summoned a long blade.
The blade slashed through the air, cleaving directly at the golden lightning.
At that moment, Li Zhengqing's pupils suddenly contracted slightly.
A figure cloaked entirely in black was rapidly approaching him from the distance. Ahead of the figure, nine razor-sharp blades hurtled toward him with lightning speed.
Unable to assist Li Rui, Li Zhengqing urgently redirected his long blade, slashing at the black-robed figure.
Simultaneously, he summoned a jade token.
The palm-sized token glowed with a gradually intensifying azure light under Li Zhengqing's activation.
The azure light expanded outward, enveloping a hundred-zhang radius around him. Naturally, Li Xinxin and Young Master Ming, who stood beside him, were also enveloped within the protective aura.
This jade token was clearly a defensive spirit treasure for the divine soul, but its grade appeared low. The azure light it emitted offered only minimal interference against the nine incoming blades.
Nine transparent blades pierced through the azure light barrier, only slightly weakened, before plunging into Li Zhengqing's Sea of Consciousness.
"Ah..."
Li Zhengqing let out a piercing scream, his body twisting violently before collapsing stiffly to the ground.
Simultaneously, the power of his jade token and longsword treasures vanished.
Li Xinxin, standing nearby, swiftly channeled spiritual power to support Li Zhengqing.
Meanwhile, Li Rui had been forced to the ground by the golden lightning, creating a massive crater upon impact.
By now, the golden lightning's power was nearly exhausted. Though battered and bruised, Li Rui had managed to endure.
Suddenly, a blade of light erupted through the thinning golden waterfall, aimed directly at Li Rui's face.
His senses obscured by the surrounding golden torrent, Li Rui only noticed the blade when it was mere inches away. With no time to react, he could only duck instinctively, attempting to evade the strike.
He succeeded in dodging the blade, which grazed his scalp, shredding some hair and shattering his protective spiritual power.
However, the blade suddenly unleashed a torrent of Golden Sharp Qi, pouring down upon his head.
Instantly, Li Rui's scalp was shredded, blood gushing from the nearly pulverized flesh.
This minor injury posed no real threat to him, but the Golden Sharp Qi had not only lacerated his scalp but also pierced directly into his Sea of Consciousness, sending searing pain through his divine soul as if it were being flayed alive.
Clenching his teeth, Li Rui endured the agony and prepared to charge through the dwindling golden lightning with his shield raised.
Crack!
Another thunderous roar echoed from the heavens.
A second golden lightning bolt struck the shield.
The shield was instantly blasted away, and the golden lightning engulfed Li Rui, consuming him entirely.
When the golden light faded, Li Rui lay curled on the ground, his body charred black and wisps of smoke still rising from his scorched flesh.
Thanks to Song Wen's deliberate restraint, Li Rui had survived, though gravely wounded.
Seeing their two Void Refinement Stage cultivators critically injured and unable to resist, Li Xinxin and Young Master Ming were seized by terror.
"Senior, please show mercy!" Li Xinxin pleaded. "The raid on your cultivation cave had nothing to do with our Li Clan. Could there be some misunderstanding?"
The Cosmic Transformation Incarnation pressed its spear against Li Rui's forehead, while Song Wen approached Li Xinxin and her son.
"The one who raided my cultivation cave personally confessed to being a member of your Li Clan," Song Wen said coldly.
Li Xinxin retorted, "That robber cultivator must be spouting lies, trying to frame my Li Clan."
"Then why didn't he frame someone else?" Song Wen asked, his voice low and menacing.
"This..." Li Xinxin hesitated, unsure how to respond.
Song Wen continued, "Even if that robber cultivator isn't a member of your Li Clan, he's undoubtedly deeply connected to you. Either he harbors a grudge against the Li Clan, or he's entangled in some kind of power struggle with you. Go back and tell Li Tianhe—I don't care who that person is. The Li Clan is responsible for finding him and delivering him to me. Otherwise, all three of them... will die."
Li Tianhe was the Li Clan's Body Integration Stage Ancestor.
"You're letting me go back?" Li Xinxin asked, surprised.
Song Wen nodded. "Remember to tell Li Tianhe not to even think about rescuing them. If he does, I have plenty of ways to kill all three without leaving a trace for him to follow. And I'll continue to haunt the Li Clan, ensuring you never know peace."
Li Xinxin said, "May I take my son back? He's only at the Nascent Soul stage. Senior already has my husband and Li Zhengqing, both Void Refinement Stage cultivators, as hostages. To you, my son is inconsequential."
Song Wen replied, "You have no right to bargain with me."
Still unwilling to give up, Li Xinxin pleaded again.
"Senior, allow me to stay while my son returns to deliver a message."
"No!" Song Wen refused flatly.
This woman's earlier feigned retreat had been executed flawlessly. Keeping someone with such meticulous cunning by his side was far riskier than keeping Young Master Ming, that useless waste of space.
Li Xinxin hesitated, remaining rooted to the spot.
Song Wen added, "If you refuse to leave, all four of you will die."
"Senior, I'll leave immediately," Li Xinxin said hastily.
With a worried glance at Young Master Ming and a sweeping look at Li Rui, who lay critically injured at the bottom of the valley, she turned and departed.
"Mother, don't abandon me! I don't want to die..." Young Master Ming cried out, watching Li Xinxin's retreating figure.
But Li Xinxin never looked back, flying further and further away.
Song Wen gathered the three hostages and the Cosmic Transformation Incarnation, then swiftly vanished from the scene.
(End of the Chapter)
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