Chapter 85: Night Without Embers

The youth standing on the back of the mountain demon stared coldly at Cheng Xi with golden eyes, his silver hair dancing in the wind. He gripped a Five Elements Array Disk in his hand, and the multicolored light of the five elements intertwined, wrapping around the momentum of thunder as he smashed it toward Cheng Xi's face.

Cheng Xi was momentarily dazzled by the youth's peerless, handsome face, delaying her for a second. Seeing the golden light about to strike her, a figure suddenly blocked her path.

A familiar scent surrounded her nose. Li Zhi'an wrapped one arm around her waist while holding a Dharma Artifact in his other hand, colliding with the youth's attack. With a "Boom," the airflow reversed and thunder rumbled. Cheng Xi was held by Li Zhi'an as they tumbled to the ground, rolling a few times before coming to a stop.

Cheng Xi's fingertips felt a bit damp. She immediately scrambled up, only to see a feathered arrow piercing Li Zhi'an's shoulder from behind.

The arrow was covered in runes, with golden light flowing through them, faintly revealing a black hue; it was extremely eerie.

Cheng Xi's expression sank immediately. She bit her fingertip with lightning speed and, using her blood as a pen, carved a talisman seal around Li Zhi'an's wound.

She picked up Li Zhi'an's Long Blade, which was embedded deep in the ground. Dark red blood beads congealed on the hilt. As she gripped the hilt, a needle-like burning pain pricked her fingertips... it was the mane of the mountain demon.

On Wanxing Mountain, where clouds surged, the Long Blade in Cheng Xi's hand erupted with blinding blood-red light. She stepped forward, staring at the youth standing on the mountain demon's back.

"Cheng Xi."

Seeing that Cheng Xi was not acting like herself, Li Zhi'an grabbed her wrist.

Cheng Xi looked back at Li Zhi'an and gave him a faint smile. "Wait for me a moment. It's just a small curse. Once I kill the person in front of us, the curse he placed on you will disappear."

A curse?

Li Zhi'an was stunned. No wonder he felt his wound was wrong, leaving him weak all over and unable to gather Spirit Essence. Was he actually struck by a curse?

Li Zhi'an had been struck without realizing it. His eyes grew sharp as he looked at Cheng Xi and said, "Don't worry, I'm fine right now..."

"Li Zhi'an, you forgot that these eyes of mine are very powerful."

Li Zhi'an shut his mouth.

Cheng Xi looked at Jiang Boyu. "Watch him!"

The blood on Cheng Xi's fingertips soaked into the blade. She looked at the youth opposite her. "I'll give you a choice: either lift his curse, or... you die!"

The silver-haired, golden-eyed Ye Wujin seemed to have heard a funny joke. He sat on the back of the mountain demon, his black Dharma Robe snapping in the gale.

Demon Fire condensed at his fingertips, and the surrounding air instantly distorted. Purple-black mist steamed up around his body.

"Just you? A yellow-haired girl, you've got quite the nerve."

"It's merely a Yin-Yang Reversal Curse." Cheng Xi's blade split the mist. "Killing you is the simplest method; I just find it troublesome."

The smile on Ye Wujin's face froze. This little girl had actually seen through the curse technique, and the contempt in his eyes instantly receded by three parts.

He was about to ask a few more questions when he saw the young girl's Long Blade glow with golden light. Her voice tore through the void: "The Demon Race dares to use forbidden arts to wreak havoc in the Mortal Realm; there should be a place for you under the Demon Suppressing Stele."

Before the words had faded, the Long Blade had already turned into an afterimage and struck. The tip of the blade was wrapped in crimson flames, scorching charred marks into space wherever it passed.

The array disk in Ye Wujin's hand swayed slightly, splitting into seventy-two phantoms. The sky full of ice crystals and phoenix fire collided with a roar.

"Clang—"

The sound of the Long Blade and the array disk clashing made their eardrums ache. Ye Wujin's fox tail had wrapped around the Long Blade at some point. Amidst the sizzling sound of demonic energy corroding the metal, Cheng Xi caught a whiff of blood. Her blood boiled on the blade, and Ye Wujin's scarlet slit pupils were inches away, his lips curling into a cruel smile: "With your level of cultivation, you think you're worthy of fighting me?"

Cheng Xi's strength had not fully recovered, and her dantian ached slightly. Her left shoulder, which had been grazed by the Demon Fire, was covered in blood-red curse runes. Ye Wujin's array disk hid a Spirit-Eating Gu, which was now frantically devouring her Spirit Essence.

"Heavenly Dipper Break!"

Cheng Xi bit her tongue to forcibly activate a secret technique. The moment her life-essence blood merged into the blade's edge, the Spirit Essence at the peak of Wanxing Mountain suddenly rioted. Thirty-six golden chains emerged from the void, binding Ye Wujin's Demon Fox Dharma Image tightly.

Cheng Xi's blade pointed straight at the center of Ye Wujin's brow.

Ye Wujin's expression changed drastically. The fox tail behind him suddenly surged, and claws formed of demonic energy tore through the chains. The entire mountain peak began to tremble violently.

At the same time, the mountain demon went berserk and lunged toward Cheng Xi.

Cheng Xi instinctively lunged forward. A fishy wind brushed past the back of her neck. The moment the claws struck the blade, she saw the two-zhang-tall mountain demon wrapped in indigo mist, its saliva dripping from its fangs and corroding the fallen leaves. Most terrifying of all was that Ye Wujin's figure floated within those amber slit pupils.

The mountain demon's roar shook pine needles down like rain. Cheng Xi rolled into the hollow of a fallen giant tree and, with a backhand motion, Draw Talismans in Mid-Air, carving a Mountain Suppressing Curse onto the blade. As the first strike broke through the air, she recited the incantation, and the blade sparked upon hitting the mountain demon's chest.

The moment the mountain demon's giant claws shattered a century-old fir tree, Cheng Xi had already climbed onto the snake-patterned rock protruding from the cliff. The mountain demon's roar kicked up a wave of air. Seeing that Ye Wujin was about to run, Cheng Xi, unable to spare herself while reciting the curse, sent her Long Blade flying through the wind, straight into Ye Wujin's shoulder.

Ye Wujin couldn't believe it. It was only a Third-Tier Dharma Artifact; how could it break through his physical body? What was this girl's background?

He didn't have time to think, nor did he have time to pull the Long Blade from his shoulder. Golden light flashed from the array disk in his hand, tearing through space. He didn't even want the mountain demon anymore; his entire person instantly vanished into it, disappearing in a flash.

At this moment, the Mountain Suppressing Curse was complete. Wherever Cheng Xi's fingertips reached, the mountain demons were swallowed by the array, and dark green blood splattered everywhere.

Everyone was silent, looking up and staring at Cheng Xi, who stood in mid-air.

Jiang Boyu didn't even dare to breathe; it was too thrilling. Cheng Xi was actually this powerful. He wondered who would win if she had a fight with the Prince.

If the Prince hadn't been in such a hurry to save Cheng Xi earlier, he wouldn't have been hit by that brat Ye Wujin's curse.

Cheng Xi held on with her last bit of strength and drifted down from mid-air. Her legs went soft under her skirt, and she nearly collapsed to the ground.

"Eldest Miss!" Qin Yu rushed to support her. "Are you alright?"

Cheng Xi shook her head and looked at Ji Muzhi, who was treating Li Zhi'an's wounds. "Li Zhi'an, how is he?"

Li Zhi'an was already unconscious, his face pale as gold paper. Ji Muzhi's expression was grave as he looked at Cheng Xi and said, "This curse technique is truly strange."

"Yin-Yang Reversal Curse. It's a bit troublesome to break; it requires reversing the process." Cheng Xi sat on the ground with Qin Yu's help. "I sealed his heart meridian just now, so his life is safe for the moment. Let's carry him back first."

"Yin-Yang Reversal Curse?" Ji Muzhi's face looked grim. He was only an Alchemist; he could handle simple curses, but he couldn't break a curse like this.

Seeing that Cheng Xi's complexion was poor, he took out a Rejuvenation Pill he had refined and handed it to her.

Cheng Xi didn't stand on ceremony and ate three in a row before she felt she had some strength back. The people from the Tongtian Division silently cleaned up the scene. Under the Mountain Suppressing Curse, there were mountain demon corpses everywhere; if not handled properly, it would attract other Demons and cause trouble.

Looking at the unconscious Prince and then at the Eldest Miss, the Division Guards felt quite strange. People in Jindu all said the Eldest Miss was marrying above her station to the Prince; they now wished they could bring those people here and let them open their dog eyes and see!

Their Prince was very powerful, but the Eldest Miss was also very powerful.