Chapter 224: Adversity and Poverty Come One After Another

The flames of the sword array began to diminish, yet Lingxiang remained seated in meditation, as if she were entirely unconcerned.

It was not that she was truly unconcerned, but rather that she was thinking of a countermeasure; having just deployed the Lotus Heart Sword Array, her Spirit Power was already running low, and if she were to force it now, she feared she would not last long. Furthermore, she had to find an opportunity to make Huiwu reveal a flaw.

Just as Lingxiang was wondering what to do, the flames of the Longyuan Sword Array suddenly vanished, as if the Spirit Power had been exhausted. Hearing a series of roars, Lingxiang snapped her eyes open.

There was no room for thought now; Lingxiang formed seals with both hands, intending to deploy an Array Formation, but the monsters swarmed over, moving with extreme speed, and were already upon her.

It was at this moment that a humming sound suddenly rang out, echoing instantly, and the monsters all knelt to the ground, clutching their ears, looking to be in extreme pain.

It was also at this time that the Seven-Star Longyuan, which had been stuck in the ground, suddenly took to the air, and then a sword light appeared among the monsters, fast as a shooting star, like a silver Snake.

It was Airborne Sword Control!

Wherever Longyuan went, there was a chorus of miserable howls; through the fragmented chaos, one could see Long Qi standing with his left hand behind his back, his right hand pinching a finger, his robes fluttering—what a picture of immortal grace and Daoist bearing.

Seeing this, Huiwu's face immediately turned ferocious; he exerted sudden force with his hand, and the Compass, seemingly sensing his anger, which had been glowing with a dim light, suddenly became even brighter, and the monsters became even more numerous.

"A mere mortal body, how much longer can you hold out!"

Just then, amidst a flurry of flying sand and stones, a blade was instantly held to Huiwu's neck, and the array patterns on the Compass in his hand were also sliced open by a blade.

And the one holding the blade was none other than Xin Yi, who had previously escaped using witchcraft.

"You've finally shown yourself; any later and I would have really thought you'd run off." Lingxiang stood up, brushed off her dress, and smiled.

Xin Yi had been waiting in the shadows for an opportunity; when the sword array vanished, he had wanted to appear to save Lingxiang, but just as he was about to move, he noticed Long Qi stand up, so he did not move. If he had exposed himself earlier, he likely would not have been able to destroy the Compass.

However, he also knew Lingxiang was joking, so he only smiled and shook his head without speaking.

The Array Formation was broken, and no more monsters appeared; under Long Qi's Sword Technique, the surrounding monsters were slaughtered clean in mere moments. Once he sheathed the Longyuan Sword, he hurriedly put away his cultivation technique and rushed to Lingxiang's side, asking if she was hurt, and checked her over from front to back before finally feeling at ease.

Lingxiang had not expected that Long Qi's exploration of the Innate Qi would have raised his cultivation to this level; reaching out to probe, she found that, just like her, he had already reached the Foundation Establishment Fusion stage.

At this rate, I fear I will be surpassed by him in the future! Forget it, forget it; considering he did save me, I won't hold it against him for now.

However, Long Qi seemed not to have noticed this point, or perhaps due to a change in his state of mind, he looked much more composed. He nodded at Xin Yi, who immediately understood, and pushed Huiwu toward the two of them.

But Long Qi was still somewhat uneasy and reached out to shield Lingxiang behind him, yet the latter did not seem to appreciate it and slapped his arm.

"I am an Elder of a sect, after all; hiding behind a disciple like this, wouldn't I have no face at all? I am perfectly fine, there is no need to be so nervous. As for you, have you noticed anything different?"

Long Qi rubbed his arm with an embarrassed look, but he carefully examined himself for a moment: "I don't feel anything different, it's just..."

"Just?" Lingxiang was filled with curiosity, blinking her eyes as she stared at Long Qi.

And Long Qi touched his face at this moment: "It's just that my face feels sore, and I don't know why."

He hadn't noticed while in a rush to save people, but now Long Qi felt his face was somewhat swollen and hot; could it be that the Qi would actually swell one's face up?

Adao's ears twitched suddenly, and he hurriedly turned his back, pretending to investigate when Zhao Wuyang might wake up.

At this, Huiwu sneered: "Self-proclaimed righteous sect, yet you use such low-class methods; truly shameless."

Hearing this, Long Qi was too angry to let it go and wanted to step forward to teach Huiwu a few lessons with his fists, but he was pulled back by Lingxiang.

Lingxiang said sarcastically: "Yo~ I don't understand this; the ancients have a saying: 'Use the other's way to treat the other's body.' In my view, that means 'to deal with what kind of person, one must use what kind of method.' What? You are allowed to be a low-class lackey for Bai Wuchang, but we aren't allowed to use these underhanded methods? Besides, all is fair in war, let alone dealing with a freak like you who is neither human nor monster?"

After this speech, Huiwu was so angry his face turned red and white, while Lingxiang looked full of triumph, staring provocatively at Huiwu—

How about that? I am just eloquent; I can anger people to death without having to pay with my life. What can you do to me?

If Xin Yi hadn't known that Lingxiang said this to defend him, even he would have found it quite infuriating to hear such a tone and expression, but fortunately, she was on his side, so hearing it this way, he actually found it somewhat amusing.

And the moment Lingxiang's "Yo" left her lips, Long Qi gave a start. He was all too familiar with this tone; when the two first met, he had already witnessed Lingxiang's sharp tongue. Whenever she started like this, she would surely spout a long string of rhetoric, capable of comparing astronomy to dirt and geography to retribution—he didn't know whose true teachings she had inherited for this tongue.

But what Long Qi did not know was that before he met Lingxiang, the Sect Leader and several Elders of the Yuanqing Sect had long since experienced this deeply, and Elder Zhaoming most of all.

Just as the three were lost in their own thoughts, a burst of laughter came from the forest, but the laughter sounded truly sinister.

"What a sharp-tongued wild girl; I will kill you today, and I want to see if that Dong Taishan above the Ten Halls will have the patience to listen to your glib tongue."

As soon as the voice fell, a rolling black mist appeared, which was exactly the same as what Xin Yi had used earlier.

"Not good! It's Guihua!"

Xin Yi shouted, and Huiwu took this opportunity to push Xin Yi away, strike back with a palm, and then turn around to break free from Xin Yi's restraint.

Then Huiwu flipped back a dozen feet, and at this moment, that mass of black mist landed beside him; it was indeed Guihua.

"Little brat, you schemed against me earlier, now I'll let you have a good taste of suffering!"

Long Qi and Xin Yi gripped their swords and blades tightly, their expressions stern, staring fixedly at Guihua and Huiwu, while Lingxiang looked relaxed.

"Yo~ Madam, do you think the tea from the green bamboo leaf was good, and have come to ask for more? My fault, my fault; I must have brewed the tea too weak, otherwise it wouldn't have made Madam miss it so much, right?"

Hearing this, Guihua was instantly so angry that her willow eyebrows stood on end, and she reached out to pounce on Lingxiang.

Seeing this, Long Qi hurriedly drew Longyuan, but just then, the earth suddenly shook, and accompanied by the world spinning, a series of roars came from behind, like thunder, deafening and incessant!