Chapter Ninety-Two: The Forbidden Art Fails

The brow of White Qirui tightened. He put away the Spirit-Clearing Fan in his hand, stepped forward, and struck out with a palm.

When Bu Meng saw this, for a moment she thought White Qirui meant to forcefully stop her, and she had even been prepared to suffer grave injury because of it.

But the spiritual force that hit her felt like clear spring water, cool and gentle. It also soothed the terror in her heart under these circumstances, slowing the speed at which she had been charging forward.

White Qirui then extended both arms to draw her into his embrace, and from the cosmos pouch at his waist he took out a medicinal pill, crushed it, and fed it to her.

Yet even though the pill had been crushed nearly to dust, able to melt upon entering the mouth, the moment it was given to Bu Meng she convulsed with violent retching. A long streak of blood slowly slid from the corner of her lips, making her face look even paler.

White Qirui’s brows drew together more tightly. With one hand he took her pulse, and with his divine sense he probed within, only to discover that the meridians in her body had been burned apart. The feeble, frigid spiritual force originally within her was now fighting to the death against a far stronger, searing force.

One was of yin, the other of yang.

His eyes brightened as he remembered that White Shengyun was born with the ability to harmonize yin and yang energies. He immediately turned and said, “Shengyun, lend a hand.”

White Shengyun had been channeling spiritual power into the Purple Serpents while also tending to Xie Yingying’s injuries, and so found it difficult to spare any attention. At the sound, he did not even look back, still fixed on the three purple serpents, and could only give a soft, “Mm?”

“Come save someone,” White Qirui said without the slightest hesitation, then supported Bu Meng toward him.

White Shengyun turned his head and sent his divine sense into Bu Meng, discovering that her meridians and internal organs were about to be melted by an abnormal and immense spiritual force. His brows instantly knotted, and he recalled all that Shen Ruru had just done to Bu Meng. Only a chill remained in his heart.

He appeared cold and detached, but in truth he was also easily softened, and in this respect he was somewhat like White Qirui.

More importantly, since White Qirui had asked him for help, he would not refuse. Thus he withdrew his spiritual force and instead took the completely limp Bu Meng into one arm.

Barely a minute had passed when Shen Ruru had already broken through Mirror Lotus and Fierce Sun’s blades and blazing flames, flashing in again to attack.

After White Shengyun infused the three purple serpents with spiritual power, they had long since become far larger, their skin growing layer upon layer of scales, purple light flickering in their eyes. Facing Shen Ruru’s lightning-fast charge, they showed no fear at all and opened their mouths to bite.

But in the next instant Shen Ruru’s cultivation abruptly surged again. Unafraid of death, she leaped onto the head of the leading purple serpent and drove her long sword down with all her might.

A piercing hiss rang out as the serpent screamed, blood gushing over the iron brambles.

She raised her sword and struck the other eye.

Under the blood moon, dark clouds gathered, lightning flashed within them, and thunder after thunder roared like furious beasts.

Within the space of the Violet-Gold Bell, the spirit artifact had gone mad, rolling wildly about. The one cry after another of a child’s wail merged with the thunder, sending chills through all who heard it. Many ghost cultivators within the demonic sect fled back into the grand hall, while the human cultivators and demon cultivators standing beneath the heavens were all struck pale with fright, breaking out in cold sweat.

Bu Meng, shocked by the tremendous noise, regained a little awareness, but the pain in her body burst forth like a volcano, driving her once more into confusion.

“This! This is outrageous!” Mirror Lotus’s hands trembled as he pointed at Shen Ruru and White Shengyun, cursing loudly. “Do you think this is some ordinary place? This is the demonic sect!”

But Shen Ruru paid Mirror Lotus no heed at all. Instead, she stared coldly at Xie Yingying in the distance, the hatred in her heart growing ever deeper.

In the blink of an eye, her aura had actually climbed another step.

This time everyone was so shocked they were left speechless.

Even White Qirui could not help frowning and muttering, “Madwoman.”

He had known that when Shen Ruru suddenly threw the hostage from her hands, it could not be so simple. It was clearly meant to distract them.

Suddenly, there was a crash.

The giant serpent beneath Shen Ruru collapsed directly to the ground, losing all vitality, then turned into a swarm of tiny purple lightning snakes scattering in every direction.

The other two purple serpents trembled. White Shengyun shielded Xie Yingying entirely behind him and once more infused spiritual power into the Violet-Gold Bell. At once the serpents’ eyes flared with faint red light, and the scales on their bodies reflected threads of brilliance beneath the blood moon, making them look majestic and imposing.

They narrowed their eyes slightly, flicking their forked tongues. One opened its bloodied jaws to bite, while the other swung its thick tail, seeking to pin Shen Ruru down.

Seeing this, Shen Ruru only gave a cold laugh. The long sword in her hand suddenly grew several times larger and rose high into the air, erupting with crushing pressure.

White Qirui sensed that something was wrong. He raised the Spirit-Clearing Fan and was about to engage Shen Ruru, and before stepping forward he also said to White Shengyun, “Be careful.”

White Shengyun understood. He focused intently on healing the two of them—there was truly not a moment to spare now. The two were far too gravely wounded, already with half a foot in the underworld’s gates; one careless mistake and they would die.

Seeing him move to confront her, Shen Ruru was without the slightest fear. She dodged the attacks of the two serpents and poured spiritual power into the long sword in her hand.

After a while, her expression changed.

Everyone noticed that her aura and cultivation were rapidly falling, even becoming weaker than before.

They had watched Shen Ruru become terrifyingly powerful with their own eyes, and now they watched her strength plunge like a meteor, and their hearts could not be happier.

“How... how could this be?!” She stared wide-eyed, muttering in disbelief.

It should have remained effective for more than a day, yet now only a few short hours had passed.

The moment she spoke this in her heart, she felt pain all over her body, as though all her organs were shifting out of place.

Frowning, she could not help but cough up a mouthful of blood.

Seeing her strength decline, the two purple serpents actually revealed a trace of excitement in their cold, emotionless eyes. Then both tails swept down at once.

This time, Shen Ruru could no longer evade. She could only watch helplessly as the scale-covered tail sent her flying with a single blow.

By the time White Qirui reached her side, she had already been struck away. So he simply withdrew his hand and stood behind the two purple serpents.

The serpents’ gazes were sly, tinged with smugness. Watching Shen Ruru flung far away, they could not suppress their delight and gently swayed their tails.

After Shen Ruru crashed to the ground, she saw Mirror Lotus and Fierce Sun rushing toward her, intent on imprisoning her.

Baring her teeth, she sprang up with a slap of her hand and turned to flee without hesitation.

Seeing her run, the two of them were completely unruffled. With cold eyes, they issued a command in unison to the disciples around them: “Go after her!”

Their disciples quickly answered, rubbing their hands and striking their fists together with disdainful smiles.

They had long found Shen Ruru unbearable. Now that they saw her strength in decline, if they did not catch her and beat her thoroughly, they would feel they had wronged themselves.

With that thought, they flashed away in pursuit.

Once White Qirui saw that someone was handling Shen Ruru, he turned and walked toward White Shengyun.