Zhao Lingyi said, "It's nothing, Master!"
Yun Dehe responded with a simple, "Oh!"
Pei Xianqiao insisted, "We must stop Li Luoqui from breaking through as soon as possible!"
Yao Ranran nodded. "Yes."
She had just drawn out her Nine Lotus Ring when a graceful figure darted past her, shouting, "Li Luoqui, do not harm them!"
Yao Ranran muttered softly, "...If you want to go up, then go up."
She lowered her Nine Lotus Ring in silence.
Yun Dehe tilted his head curiously. "Who exactly is she? Truly Elder Yue Qingsu's disciple?"
"Yes, she is Yue Qingsu's most beloved disciple," Yao Ranran added with a tone that carried more meaning than it seemed.
Yun Dehe and Zhao Lingyi exchanged puzzled glances, feeling there was something unsaid in Fairy Ranran's words.
Yao Ranran shook her head gently. Only she knew Yue Qingsu's true feelings toward the female lead. What a lonely, snow-like fate that was.
"Yao Ranran, watch closely! I have already advanced to the Golden Core stage. Even if it is Li Luoqui, I can face him head-on!"
Yao Ranran replied flatly, "Oh."
Yun Dehe and Zhao Lingyi were left speechless.
Were these two… familiar with each other?
Pei Xianqiao seemed stung by Yao Ranran's indifferent response. Her Cangling Snow Sword hummed with metallic resonance, sword light cascading like a waterfall as it swept through the demon clansmen protecting Li Luoqui.
"You woman! I told you Demon Sovereign should never have kept you alive!"
The demon clan cursed angrily even while resisting her attack.
Yun Dehe's eyes widened slightly in surprise. "This swordsmanship is extraordinary. For her to enter Yue Qingsu's tutelage, she must indeed have real skill!"
Zhao Lingyi agreed. "They say sword cultivators can fight across realms. This Pei girl truly has that ability. The might of her sword qi carries astonishing pressure!"
Yao Ranran folded her arms across her chest, speaking calmly. "You are right. Sword cultivators truly are excellent at wiping out small soldiers."
Yun Dehe and Zhao Lingyi looked at each other, baffled.
Enemy or ally, friend or rival—the relationship between these two women was unfathomable.
"Sword Qi like a rainbow!"
Fearless demon clansmen rushed forward to defend Li Luoqui's life. Pei Xianqiao floated midair, unleashing sword technique after sword technique, slaying demons as curses and howls echoed endlessly.
Li Luoqui could hear the chaos outside, but he had no intention of opening his eyes. To him, demons who could not survive were all useless waste. Their deaths were merely a natural elimination.
"Sword Qi like thunder!"
The demon clan swarmed toward Pei Xianqiao, but with a crisp incantation, she unleashed another strike. Sword qi fell like thunderbolts, splitting the sky.
The battlefield was suddenly lit as bright as day.
Yun Dehe and Zhao Lingyi gasped in admiration.
"Her swordsmanship has already reached the pinnacle!"
Yao Ranran nodded in relief. "Indeed. To see the once weak heroine grow strong—it feels like this."
"This…" Yun Dehe and Zhao Lingyi were bewildered at her words.
Yao Ranran smiled. "The small fry, leave them to you. The bigger ones, Pei Daoyou can handle. As for Li Luoqui—he's mine."
No longer waiting, she moved.
With most of the surrounding demons already occupied by Pei Xianqiao and Yun Dehe, Yao Ranran passed lightly beside Pei Xianqiao, flashing a pure smile.
"Thank you, Pei Daoyou, for your aid and for the spirit stones."
Pei Xianqiao stared at her in astonishment.
Yao Ranran soared forward, hurling her Nine Lotus Ring straight at the unguarded Li Luoqui.
Elder Shang rushed out. "Yao Ranran, you little girl! This old man will have a decisive battle with you!"
He chased after her.
Li Luoqui, eyes still shut, curved his lips in an unrestrained grin.
"Perfect timing."
He had worried that the demonic qi here was too weak to support his swift breakthrough to Divine Transformation.
By devouring the magic seed planted in Yao Ranran's body, that pure demonic qi would flow into his Nascent Soul and hasten his advance.
Boom!
A violent surge of black mist exploded from his body, forming a massive dark shield. Old Shang was knocked back as the shield enclosed Yao Ranran inside with Li Luoqui.
Li Luoqui slowly opened his eyes.
"Yao Ranran, this sovereign will give you one last chance. If you deliver Yun Dehe and Zhao Lingyi's lives to me, I will spare you the punishment for betraying the demon clan."
Yao Ranran's gaze swept over him curiously.
"Demon Sovereign, you haven't even broken through to Divine Transformation yet. How can you already be dreaming?"
Li Luoqui twitched. "…I know you are slightly mad. I will tolerate you this once. If you want to live, summon Yun Dehe and Zhao Lingyi to me!"
Veins bulged on his neck, his fists clenched so tightly his body trembled from restraint.
Yao Ranran frowned. "Did you just call me sick?"
Li Luoqui's brow twitched violently. "You are sick!"
And gravely so!
To stand with Yun Gu Sect against him at this moment was no different than courting death.
Yao Ranran tightened her grip on the Nine Lotus Ring. "Li Luoqui, the hatred between us—I will settle it today!"
Li Luoqui's eyes turned frigid, his lips curving into a cruel smile. "So you still choose the path of death!"
Boom!
Boundless black mist roared like a beast. Within the black shield, a massive fiendish entity manifested, filling every corner of space.
Elder Shang froze in dread. "It's over. That girl is finished!"
"Demonic Desire Soul Hook, Magic Seed Devours Life!"
Li Luoqui's eyes lowered, chanting ancient words with harsh cadence.
The enormous fiend opened its maw, swallowing Yao Ranran whole.
A faint light flashed. Confidence gleamed in Li Luoqui's eyes as he lifted his head with pride.
"Yao Ranran, you and I—our story ends here…"
Before his words faded, a colossal azure lotus bloomed inside the fiend. The dark beast shattered into foam. Li Luoqui spat black blood, staring at her in disbelief.
Yao Ranran stood atop the lotus petals, as pristine as a snow lotus upon the highest peaks. She was breathtaking, untouched by mortal dust.
Li Luoqui faltered, a deep-seated bloodline fear rising from within, suppressed for tens of thousands of years.
"Azure… Lotus?"
He murmured unconsciously, not even knowing what he was saying.
But an image flashed in his mind—
A lotus seed buried deep in the Abyss of Demons for countless ages, unearthed by him, gifted to a woman…
That woman's face seemed to overlap with the one before him.
"Azure Lotus!"
Li Luoqui's bloodline memory surged forth.
In the demon clan, Azure Lotus was despised, a spirit plant none would ever cherish. Their ancestors had once been defeated by Azure Lotus. That history was so ancient it had been hidden away, erased from their so-called noble bloodline.
"Azure Lotus emerges, the demon clan is doomed!"
A heavy, ancient voice echoed in Li Luoqui's ears. He suddenly tore free of the heavenly shackles, abandoning his breakthrough.
Bursting from the collapsing black shield, he looked at the mountains of corpses, rivers of demon blood, and his eyes turned scarlet.
"Who is it!!!"
His furious roar shook the battlefield.
From the pile of corpses, a man stepped out.
He wore an old azure robe, patched with care, yet still clean and orderly.
"Demon Sovereign, it is I… and your demon clan as well."
Behind him, a mass of demons pressed forward, gazes cold as they stared at Li Luoqui's body—
As though they were already looking at a lifeless corpse.