Chapter Eighty-Seven: Bai Qirui Makes Another Incursion into the Heretical Sect

Beyond the thickets of iron brambles, crackling lightning coiled and hissed warnings at all who tried to press forward.

One of them seemed to take a particular dislike to Ho Tianqing. Whenever it pleased, the serpent would suddenly dart up before him, stare at him coldly, bare its fangs as if to strike, then withdraw again with a look of contempt.

Ho Tianqing’s face darkened at the sight.

Yet the Purple-Gold Bell was far too formidable. If he rashly advanced and forced out the artifact spirit or Bai Shengyun, the people here might not be able to defeat either of them. Moreover, Bai Shengyun still held Xie Yingying, and a strand of her soul remained within the Purple-Gold Bell.

Jing Ling kept slashing at the iron brambles before her with the Scarlet Moon Blade, but each time the branches were cut down at last, they grew back even more violently. After repeating this several times, she had long since lost her patience and turned to glare at Rielyang.

Rielyang was equally irritable at the moment. He had already burned the brambles with great sheets of fire, and they had melted beneath the blaze only to surge back several times larger in an instant. Looking helplessly at Jing Ling, he said, “As expected of the Purple-Gold Bell.”

And precisely at the moment he turned away, the flames he had just released and a lightning serpent clinging to them set off a chain reaction. The explosion shook the entire Pleasure Palace, and roiling smoke swallowed all sight around them.

Ho Tianqing’s expression grew even darker. With a sweep of his sleeve, he at last dispersed much of the smoke, enough to make out Rielyang faintly at the center of the haze.

After a long while, the dust finally cleared. Rielyang stood there with his face smeared black, looking at them in resignation before forcing out an awkward smile. “It seems using my fire only makes it worse.”

Yin Ling, seeing Rielyang with his hair turned pitch-black, was startled and blurted out, “Rielie, are you all right? Come, let big sis take a look.”

At that, Rielyang’s gaze turned cold. Furious, he snapped, “I’m older than you by who knows how many years, you little brat!”

Yin Ling realized what she had said and gave a faint cough, pretending she had said nothing at all.

“Enough!” Jing Ling was already anxious and angry to see them still joking at a time like this. “What time is it, and you still have the mood to play around?!”

As soon as she finished speaking, her expression changed.

Ho Tianqing and Rielyang looked the same.

Before Yin Ling could even ask, “What now?” the three of them had once again ridden the clouds and left.

“These people have no end to them!” Jing Ling cursed furiously. “Why can’t they just stay properly in the immortal sect?!”

Rielyang then asked Ho Tianqing, “Didn’t you say you had the formation block out that Bai Qirui? How did he get in this time?!”

“Do you think saying block him means he can be completely blocked?” Ho Tianqing gave a vexed snort. “I can only have the formation weaken the concealment talisman somewhat, then link it to a split strand of my own divine sense. If that strand detects him trying to enter, it can keep him out. But if my divine sense fails to notice in time, then it’s useless.”

“Then what on earth happened this time?” Jing Ling demanded angrily.

At her words, Ho Tianqing sent his divine sense toward the entrance to the passage. Sensing a trace of unusual ghostly aura, he immediately understood how Bai Qirui had entered the demon sect.

“This Bai Qirui captured a ghost to use as a substitute. He came in riding the ghostly aura!”

After hearing this, the other two no longer blamed Ho Tianqing for inadequacy.

After all, ghostly aura was dense and lingering. With that masking it together with the concealment talisman, Bai Qirui could still enter with ease.

The three stopped several hundred yards from the Pleasure Palace, and there they saw Bai Qirui in a fierce battle with a host of ghost cultivators from the demonic sect.

“Stop!” Jing Ling sent her voice outward with spiritual power, her furious shout ringing in everyone’s ears.

The demonic sect disciples, seeing that the three presiding elders had arrived, ceased their attacks and watched the altered Bai Qirui with wary eyes.

They had originally thought Bai Qirui would continue attacking, but after seeing the three elders, he also stopped, smiling gently. “Brother Ho, it’s me. I’m back again.”

Ho Tianqing’s face was black with anger. He did not bother with further words, simply hurling a ghost at him.

Seeing the one-eyed, one-armed ghost hurtling toward him, Bai Qirui raised a hand to block it, stared at the little wretch face-to-face, and then clicked his tongue with a shake of his head.

“This ghost is rather pitiful.”

When the ghost heard that, it took him for looking down on it. Opening its huge mouth, it began to bawl, then lowered its head and lunged to bite the web of his hand.

But Bai Qirui had already foreseen this and flung it straight back.

Ho Tianqing caught the little ghost flying back at breakneck speed, seized it by the neck, and tossed it into the arms of the nearest disciple. He himself surged forward, wrapped in immense spiritual power.

Bai Qirui took out the Clear-Mind Fan and gave him a gentle wave, saying, “Brother Ho, why fight the moment we meet? Calm down. Be calm.”

At this, Ho Tianqing narrowed his eyes slightly and struck out with a palm. “Who’s your brother?”

“Everyone one meets is a guest,” Bai Qirui said, blocking the blow with the Clear-Mind Fan and smiling. “Besides, isn’t such a form of address more polite? I can’t exactly embarrass the fox clan, can I?”

“You certainly have a silver tongue, and a well-considered mind,” Ho Tianqing said. The first half of his words sounded like genuine praise, but the second half made one want to beat him to a pulp. “Why not go learn from those bald monks, or from those white lotuses who spend their days pursuing so-called purity? Follow them in chanting sutras and copying scriptures day after day, and seek some emptiness of the six senses, some lofty inaction.”

“I’m a demon cultivator. They’re human cultivators. Our methods differ. How am I supposed to learn from them?” Bai Qirui replied coolly, his tone turning mocking at the end. “If I recall correctly, Brother Ho, you’re a human cultivator. Why don’t you go learn from them for a few decades first?”

Though Jing Ling usually sniped at Ho Tianqing from time to time herself, she still disliked outsiders speaking carelessly about the demonic sect. A flash of icy light swept through the Scarlet Moon Blade as she lifted it and rushed forward at once. “Hmph, watch your tongue, or I’ll tear it out!”

Bai Qirui hastily dodged, revealing Shen Ruru directly behind him, closing in fast.

Shen Ruru immediately slashed with her sword. Blade met blade with the Scarlet Moon Blade, producing a shrill screech and scattering sparks.

Jing Ling looked at her with surprise.

“So in just a little over a day, your cultivation has improved so much! Did you perhaps cultivate some forbidden art? Before long, don’t end up cast out like a stray dog!”

Her beautiful eyes narrowed, killing intent flowing within them as she sneered, “And so what if I did cultivate a forbidden art? If I don’t take your life today, my name isn’t Shen Ruru!”

“Oh?” Rielyang looked at her. “So you’re the Shen Ruru who spent years chasing after the crown prince of the fox clan, only to fail and end up grievously wounded?”

“What do you mean by that?! You little brat, see if I don’t kill you too!” Shen Ruru shouted angrily without looking back.

“What little brat? I’m older than you!”

That was the second time today Rielyang had lost his temper over his appearance.