“Kill her!”
Without the slightest hesitation, Li Ruobai gave the order.
In the next instant, a thousand arrows rained down, countless sharp shafts flying toward Chi Ming.
Chi Ming raised her long blade, blocking the endless arrow storm, but having just pierced through Lai Min’s body, her sword was badly damaged.
After deflecting only a few arrows, the blade snapped in half.
Immediately after, Chi Ming’s arm, thigh, and shoulder were each struck by arrows.
She instinctively retreated, but under the cover of the arrow rain, the other six members of the Ten Stars had already surrounded Chi Ming from different directions.
Their attack angles were so cunning that Chi Ming had no room to dodge.
Though she had slain the isolated Lai Min, against the Seven Stars’ siege, Chi Ming had no chance of survival!
Almost in a single moment, Chi Ming endured the combined firepower of six people, and with a heavy “thud,” she collapsed.
“In the end, you’re still worthless.”
Li Ruobai walked up to Chi Ming, speaking coldly.
He looked back at Lai Min, lying dead in a pool of blood, and gritted his teeth fiercely.
“A self-proclaimed demonic lunatic…only knows how to ambush, is that it?”
Li Ruobai grabbed Chi Ming’s hair, lifting her face.
“You killed my comrade. I won’t let you die so easily. Get up!”
Before his words finished, Fang Xiaoyu, who had been hiding nearby and had witnessed everything, acted without thinking.
She rushed out and shouted angrily at Li Ruobai:
“The despicable coward who only ambushes is you all!!”
Her impassioned voice drew the attention of Li Ruobai and the others.
When Li Ruobai looked toward Fang Xiaoyu and saw her face, he froze.
“This really is unbelievable.”
Li Ruobai released Chi Ming and, in a flash, appeared before Fang Xiaoyu, once again seizing her by the throat and lifting her.
“Didn’t I just kill you last night? Why are you still standing here unharmed?”
The fear of death sent a powerful shock through Fang Xiaoyu, and aside from the inexplicable “resurrection,” she remembered everything.
“Despicable… shameless… vile thief… you… will die a miserable death!”
Fang Xiaoyu kicked weakly at Li Ruobai’s chest, cursing hoarsely.
Li Ruobai stared at her expressionlessly, uninterested in arguing.
He believed that the reason Fang Xiaoyu had survived yesterday was probably because he had held back. With a little more force, he could end her life completely.
For someone about to become a corpse, there was no need to waste words.
Letting her curse a few more times before death was a form of mercy.
At this moment, Fang Xiaoyu hung by a thread, Chi Ming lay motionless, and the scattered cultivators hiding nearby, unable to escape, were filled with despair.
“Whether demonic cultivator or righteous sect, it doesn’t matter who—please, someone save us…”
“May Heaven open its eyes and take away this monster Li Ruobai, who knows not the difference between man and beast!!”
As the scattered cultivators desperately prayed to the heavens, Tang Qing did his utmost to treat Tang Mu.
His blood-stained hands trembled violently, for he knew that once Li Ruobai strangled the girl in his grip, it would be their turn next.
But at that moment, a clear, cold voice reached Tang Qing’s ears.
“Don’t panic. Take your time.”
Tang Qing started and turned to look.
He saw a girl with ice-blue hair, her head covered by a bamboo hat, walk up beside him.
“The road down the mountain is open now. After you finish bandaging his wounds, take the others and leave here quickly.”
Blue Ling’er spoke to Tang Qing, her frosty face calm and steady.
“You…who are you? The mountain path is blocked by giant stones—it can’t be cleared!”
Tang Qing’s voice trembled in reply.
“Do you want to live or not?”
Blue Ling’er glared at Tang Qing coldly.
“If you want to live, do as I say and stop spouting nonsense.”
Blue Ling’er’s chilling aura overwhelmed Tang Qing, and he dared not argue further.
He nodded silently, then looked toward Li Ruobai.
“What about those two girls over there…?”
Blue Ling’er answered casually.
“Rather than worrying about them, you’d better worry about yourselves first.”
When chaos erupted at New Moon Terrace, Blue Ling’er had chosen to clear the boulders blocking the mountain road, entrusting everything on the terrace to Chi Ming.
Even now, with Chi Ming lying still, Blue Ling’er felt no concern.
Because she knew clearly that among their seven sister disciples, there were two whom Master called “monsters.”
One was her First Senior Sister.
The other was Little Junior Sister, Chi Ming.
“Those people…can only knock her down once, forever.”
Blue Ling’er’s eyes shimmered, filled with anticipation as she looked at Chi Ming.
Tang Qing could not grasp the deeper meaning in her words.
But in the next moment, as he looked toward Chi Ming, his eyes widened in shock.
The fallen Chi Ming, without warning, slowly began to rise from the ground.
True energy surged from her body, transforming into waves of scorching heat that wrapped around her.
Her long hair, like a waterfall, turned completely crimson, as if a tide of fire rolled through the air.
“Let…go…of her…”
“What!?”
Li Ruobai had yet to finish strangling Fang Xiaoyu when he suddenly felt the heat of flames capable of burning everything, coming from behind.
“I said, let go of her!!!”
Fire danced in Chi Ming’s eyes, and blazing flames formed a fire bird that lunged at Li Ruobai, as if to swallow him whole.
Li Ruobai gave a wicked grin, intending to use Fang Xiaoyu as a shield.
However, he underestimated Chi Ming’s power.
Among the disciples of Among the Colorful Clouds, Chi Ming was the most diligent and hardworking.
Though her cultivation was not the highest, her control over her own strength was unmatched.
At the moment the fire bird struck, it spread its flaming wings and carefully shielded Fang Xiaoyu within.
Li Ruobai’s own cleverness backfired—every inch of his skin felt the burning pain.
“AAAAHH!! Why are you all just standing there? Hurry up and help me!!”
Li Ruobai could no longer harm Fang Xiaoyu. He released her, channeling all his energy to resist the burning fire bird.
The others snapped out of their daze and attacked Chi Ming together.
Chi Ming stood unmoving—a perfect target!
However, with every wound they inflicted, the blood that flowed from her transformed into scalding Phoenix Nectar, nourishing the fire bird and making it even stronger.
“Big brother! This isn’t working! The more we hurt her, the stronger her Phoenix Avatar gets!!”
They cried out in desperation to Li Ruobai.
“…What?”
Li Ruobai was stunned by this information, then his face contorted in fear.
Suddenly, he remembered words spoken to him by his Master, Li Daitian.
“The undying Fire Phoenix cries high in the heavens—”
“Sometimes elegant and gentle, bringing warmth and light—”
“Sometimes wild and violent, burning all and spreading chaos—”
“Those who can turn their blood into Phoenix Nectar to nourish the Fire Phoenix are the inheritors of the ancient Fire Phoenix Bloodline. And the last descendant of the Fire Phoenix under the heavens is Lady Demon Yu Yi Jue’s little disciple…”
Li Ruobai stared at Chi Ming, dread growing in his eyes.
“So…it’s you.”