Lin Xinyi raised her eyes and saw the woman standing not far away.
She was dressed entirely as an inner disciple.
But as black-purple demonic aura ignited around her, her original face slowly emerged.
She wore a very revealing dress, with her bright hair casually draped behind her, and green poison mist emanated from her whole body—clearly a villain’s style.
“Is the Great Demon Sect distributing traitors in bulk?”
Lin Xinyi looked at the aura the opponent was emitting—clearly the same as hers, a mid-Nascent Soul cultivator.
This made Lin Xinyi extremely frustrated.
‘Are things so tough in the demon sect now that even Nascent Soul cultivators are working as undercover agents? The old man earlier was at the end of his lifespan and wanted to trade one for one—that I could understand. But this woman in front of me doesn’t seem to be running out of life at all.’
“Elder Lin, we are both at mid-Nascent Soul. Now you dare to hide behind your disciple?”
Lin Xinyi looked at Qin Huaiyin, who was shielding her.
The golden blood had dripped from the sword tip onto her cheek, warm as it slowly trickled down.
Clearly, if Qin Huaiyin hadn’t blocked that surprise attack, she would have lost her head.
But now her qi and blood were depleted—she couldn’t even exert the power of a Nascent Soul cultivator.
Qin Huaiyin had never practiced any attack-oriented techniques, and although she had just awakened the Dragon Transformation Body, she was wounded and no match for a Nascent Soul cultivator, let alone now.
Lin Xinyi only wanted to stall with words.
“I have no grudge against you. Why are you trying to assassinate me?”
“That’s right, no grudge. Blame it on your ability to identify our sect’s traitors~”
The Poison Enchantress licked her lips, and instantly a poison blade appeared between her fingers.
Just the liquid dripping from it could corrode the ground beneath her feet.
“What? Elder Lin still won’t strike? Or do you think standing there can take me down?”
Hearing the teasing words, Lin Xinyi was extremely flustered.
She had only been trying to frame Bai Yuqian earlier—who knew those two were demon sect traitors?
Now, in just a short while, they had come knocking.
Lin Xinyi gritted her teeth and began to think of a way to escape.
If she really fought this woman, she would definitely fall here.
Qin Huaiyin wasn’t good at fighting either—otherwise she wouldn’t have been seriously injured by a single sword stroke.
“If Elder Lin won’t strike, then allow me to show my skill~”
The Poison Enchantress finished speaking and directly summoned her lifebound magic artifact.
Behind her, dozens of short blades dripping with deadly poison appeared, forming a circle, clearly prepared to fight to the death.
[Heart-devouring Bone Blade]
[Lifebound Magic Artifact]
[This blade can secrete lethal poison at any moment; any scratch within 5 meters that breaks the protective aura will allow poison to enter the body, causing death and leaving no remains.]
“These twelve blades are forged from my lifeblood. Even if you are a mid-Nascent Soul cultivator, you have no chance of survival~”
Lin Xinyi looked at the poison gas spreading behind the woman—even the nearby trees had turned to powder.
She realized the opponent’s strength.
Seeing her approach with confident eyes, Lin Xinyi could only force herself to threaten.
“Hmph, you’re so reckless, exposing yourself like this. You’re arrogant. I bet before I even make a move, our Sect Leader will have captured you.”
But the Poison Enchantress was completely unconcerned.
“Elder Lin, aren’t you being too naive? Since I ambushed you, I certainly prepared. Has anyone noticed me ever since I appeared?”
The Poison Enchantress toyed with the dagger in her hand while keeping guard against Lin Xinyi.
After all, Lin Xinyi was a mid-Nascent Soul cultivator.
Although the Poison Enchantress didn’t know why the woman hadn’t summoned her magic artifact yet, in her eyes it was just a trick to make her careless.
So even after releasing her lifebound artifact, she approached cautiously.
Even at the cost of her life, she could not let Lin Xinyi live.
‘There must be a barrier set up around here. I can’t rely on stalling.’
Just as Lin Xinyi was frantically thinking of a way to break the deadlock, Qin Huaiyin, who was shielding her, suddenly swayed and then uncontrollably fell backward.
Lin Xinyi saw her fall and instinctively reached out to catch Qin Huaiyin.
But when her body fell into her arms, Lin Xinyi realized that this rebellious disciple was actually so light.
But that wasn’t important now.
The key was that Qin Huaiyin was frowning, her whole body trembling uncontrollably.
The golden blood from the piercing wound on her shoulder was turning murky—clearly poisoned.
Seeing this, Lin Xinyi was shocked.
She grabbed the dagger stuck in the shoulder and pulled it out, then immediately threw it away.
“For a Nascent Soul cultivator, to use such a vicious method on a junior!”
Qin Huaiyin’s body trembled, her face turning livid.
Her body, once tempered by the Dragon Transformation Blood, now felt soft as if boneless.
But the culprit, Poison Enchantress, stood not far away, one hand on her hip, playing with the dagger, clearly enjoying the show.
“Elder Lin, you seem to have misunderstood. That strike was aimed at you. If your good disciple hadn’t blocked it, you would be the one dead.”
“But it’s not bad. Send the little one down first, then you’ll follow soon~ Hahaha~”
Faced with the taunts, Lin Xinyi’s mind was in turmoil.
She had never imagined that Qin Huaiyin would be hurt to save her.
This caused a slight tremor in her principle of “if you don’t look out for yourself, heaven and earth will destroy you.”
At the same time, looking at the smug Poison Enchantress, anger rose in her eyes.
Poison Enchantress was in no hurry to attack; she stayed at a safe distance.
After all, for the Poison Enchantress, empathy was useless.
Killing a disciple in front of the master, sometimes making the master angry and lose composure—that was her favorite part.
“Come on, let me see you angrier~”
At the same level, an opponent who loses composure and rationality has essentially laid down their life.
At that moment they are most vulnerable and unprepared.
Poison Enchantress only needed to scratch a wound with her dagger, and her poison skill could enter through it.
With this method, she had even worn down a late-Nascent Soul cultivator to death.
‘But I’ve done this much, why isn’t she attacking? Could it be…’
Qin Huaiyin lay limp in Lin Xinyi’s arms.
The Nascent Soul-level poison was invading her body, causing pale green poison patterns to appear on her fair skin.
But on the other side, golden patterns from the Dragon Transformation Blood were forming, resisting.
At this moment, Lin Xinyi’s mind was chaotic.
Normally, she would have abandoned Qin Huaiyin—when her own life was threatened, everyone became expendable.
Should she take her away?
But the poison had reached her heart; this rebellious disciple was beyond cure…
Lin Xinyi held Qin Huaiyin tightly, feeling her spiritual energy fluctuations growing weaker.
For a moment, she lost her composure.
Earlier she had said she would kill this disciple herself, but now she was worried about her.
However, seeing that Poison Enchantress was already suspicious of her, Lin Xinyi knew she couldn’t hide her depleted qi and blood for much longer.
Soon the enemy would discover the truth, and then not only would Qin Huaiyin die, but she would also die at the foot of this mountain.
“Master…”
Just as Lin Xinyi’s mind was racing, Qin Huaiyin softly called out in her ear, snapping her back to reality.
At the same time, a surge of power began to nourish her body.
The blocked spiritual energy became slightly smoother, but it was still a drop in the bucket against Poison Enchantress—only enough for one burst.
“You rebellious disciple, stop using spiritual power! If you use anymore, the poison will invade faster!”
But Qin Huaiyin didn’t stop; she continued to nourish Lin Xinyi’s damaged meridians while transmitting another message.
“Master, I’ll hold her off. You just run.”
Hearing the telepathic message, Lin Xinyi was shocked.
While she was still hesitating, Qin Huaiyin had already made the choice for her.
“What are you saying? You want to sacrifice yourself to save me? What have I done to deserve this?”
“I just remembered some things, and then became a little more selfish.”
Hearing this, Lin Xinyi felt a wave of confusion, but she had no time to think.
Qin Huaiyin opened her eyes and pushed Lin Xinyi away from behind her.
At the same time, dragon scales began to appear on her body, and crystal-like dragon horns emerged on her head.
Poison Enchantress saw this, paused, then took a step back.
“Your disciple is quite tenacious. Hit by my lifebound artifact, and she can still stand. But it’s just a dying flash.”
Qin Huaiyin ignored the Poison Enchantress’s words.
Her vertical pupils appeared, and her pale purple hair drifted behind her.
She began to circulate the Heavenly Sound Art—the only technique she knew.
“Master, run! Don’t look back!”
As she spoke, Qin Huaiyin turned to remind Lin Xinyi, but when she looked back, there was already no one there—only footprints on the ground showed that someone had been standing there.
‘As expected of Master. She doesn’t even need to worry too much at a time like this.’
Looking at the empty space behind her, Qin Huaiyin gave a bitter smile.
She felt no regret, only worry about whether Lin Xinyi could escape safely.
“I was wondering why there was no reaction after all my taunting. So Lin Xinyi really is heavily injured?”
Poison Enchantress glanced in the direction of Lin Xinyi’s escape, her eyes full of contempt.
She had thought killing the disciple would enrage the master, but now it seemed Lin Xinyi’s heart was ice-cold, able to casually abandon her disciple.
“Your master ran away. Are you still going to hold me off for her?”
“Of course. I’d only be worried if Master didn’t run.”
Qin Huaiyin endured the pain and took a slow step forward.
But just that one step made her feel like she was about to collapse.
Still, she forced herself to walk toward the enemy.
“Forget it, your face is pretty nice. Later I’ll cut off your head and put it together with Elder Lin’s~”