Chapter Forty-Nine: The Alliance Scheme

Jian Hui was still midair when the frigid white surge of energy swept behind Hong Jian. At that moment, the rock beast swung its massive paw in a wide arc, aiming straight at her. Faced with an attack from both front and behind, Hong Jian did not panic. She made a split-second decision, diving sideways in a nimble leap, rolling headlong into a nearby gully without so much as a backward glance.

Such quick reflexes!

Jian Hui was taken aback. He had been certain his spell would land, but Hong Jian had evaded it. He realized now that the girl had been on guard for a sneak attack from behind all along.

But what of it? The ambush was meant only to ensure victory while she was distracted by the beast. Even in a fair duel, Hong Jian would not be his match. A flick of Jian Hui’s hand and “Jade Dragon’s Roar” was unleashed once more.

There was no time for Hong Jian to turn and counter. The lumbering rock beast had already burrowed through the earth and appeared at her side, crouched low, both elbows raised with a whistling wind as it hammered down toward her head.

Relying on her small, agile frame, Hong Jian curled up tightly, shielding her head. Jian Hui’s spell missed her by a hair, striking the earth beneath her instead. Stones and dirt exploded, and with a thunderous crash, a large section of ground collapsed. Hong Jian, seizing the opportunity, tumbled into the gully, landing in a heap of tall dead grass and brittle leaves nearly as high as a person. She struggled to rise, but her feet sank in the mud, leaving her unable to stand or even show her head above the grass.

The rock beast had struck at nothing and slid down the crumbling slope after her. In the narrow gully, dead branches and leaves flew everywhere as the creature roared in fury. In such a cramped space, how much longer could Hong Jian hold out?

Jian Hui approached with an indifferent expression, betraying neither joy nor sorrow. “Still not willing to use ‘Moon Surge’?” he said coldly. “Then I’ll bury it here with you and this beast, little sister.” He raised his palm, aiming at her.

A terrible sense of danger gripped Hong Jian. She broke away from the rock beast, one final blow left in “Moon Surge”—her sharpest attack, daunting even to those at the Foundation Establishment stage. Yet instead of unleashing her weapon, she cast “All Streams Return to Source”—a spell she had realized yesterday, in a life-and-death struggle with Jian Hui, was his nemesis. With no time to think, beset on all sides, she sent it out to defend herself.

Jian Hui had anticipated this. His pupils narrowed; the true energy swirling in his right arm surged. As the immense suction of “All Streams Return to Source” missed him by a hair, he stepped forward, ready to unleash his devastating force and reduce everything before him to dust.

But as he stepped, something felt wrong underfoot. Several thick roots or vines, unnoticed until now, had coiled around his feet, tightening abruptly with his movement. Unprepared, Jian Hui was instantly ensnared!

Damn, it’s a trap!

Jian Hui was shocked. He couldn't fathom how he had failed to sense a third person hiding nearby, but it was clear the helper lurked beneath the dead grass in the gully. The strength of the vines was limited, likely the work of that wood-elemental youth at the Qi Refining stage. These things entangled swiftly; he fought to break free while still hurling his long-prepared “Jade Dragon’s Roar” at Hong Jian.

Faced with two opponents, lured into a prepared snare, Jian Hui knew things had gone awry. His signature technique was impressive in its momentum but, against prepared foes, would be neutralized again. Now, all that mattered was breaking free of the Demon-Suppressing Vines and escaping.

Sure enough, Hong Jian agilely leapt back. The rock beast, still bound in place, roared helplessly, its feet clearly trapped by the Demon-Suppressing Vines as well. The whole fierce battle between human and beast had been nothing but an act for Jian Hui’s benefit.

All of Hong Jian’s focus was on Jian Hui; there was no way she would just stand there and take his blows. The true energy she saved was enough for one “Moon Surge”; her own spell, “All Streams Return to Source,” she could cast four or five times more. Besides, with yesterday’s experience, she’d learned that as long as she absorbed his spell, her own true energy would only grow stronger.

She leapt up, dodging the frontal blast. “All Streams Return to Source” met the incoming “Jade Dragon” head-on, and at the same moment, she summoned “Moon Surge.” With all her strength, Hong Jian unleashed everything she had. Jian Hui, bound by the Demon-Suppressing Vines, had only moments before he broke free, and though she had help, she’d never faced such chaos—her hands and feet were a jumble.

Jian Hui, unable to move, had no choice but to take the attack. In a hurry, he activated the artifact “Reflecting Shadow”—ripples of water shimmered from head to toe. Hong Jian’s true killing blow struck him, and his figure shook violently. He was, after all, a Foundation Establishment cultivator, his true energy deep; he managed to withstand the onslaught.

From beneath the dead grass, Shi Qingxiang cried out, “Think of something, I can’t hold on much longer!”

With Jian Hui’s struggles, all of Shi Qingxiang’s energy had been poured into summoning fresh Demon-Suppressing Vines, but his reserves were running low and he would soon collapse.

Hong Jian clenched her teeth; she had no solution, only pouring everything into “All Streams Return to Source.” The watery shield around Jian Hui flickered erratically, his face growing ever paler. In the deadlock, he drew a sharp breath, bracing “Reflecting Shadow” with his left hand, while his right hand unleashed another spell—“Autumn Water’s Fine Needle,” a technique he had learned long ago for its elusive, spiritual attacks, aimed at wounding the opponent’s mind. But to Jian Hui’s dismay, the moment the little Qi Refining girl beckoned, his “Autumn Water’s Fine Needle,” like the “Jade Dragon’s Roar,” vanished midway.

Only then did realization dawn, and despair filled his heart. So her spell is meant to absorb only water-elemental true energy? Is this fate? Heaven, how unjust you are to me, Jian Hui! He was a water-element cultivator; all his techniques depended on that element. With this, how could he possibly continue the fight?

At that thought, Jian Hui frantically struggled to break free and escape. His Dao foundation shielded him; the vine’s thorns were powerless against him. Shi Qingxiang, anxious, suddenly called out, “Senior brothers, help! Don’t let him escape!”

Normally, Jian Hui wouldn’t have fallen for such a ploy, but now—like a panicked stray dog—he shuddered at the words. How had that Shi boy escaped his repeated spiritual sense scans? “Are the two Qi Refining disciples Elder Jin took in also here?”

Hong Jian had caught the eye of Elder Jin and Grandmaster Sun Yougong on the day the Nascent Soul master accepted apprentices. Otherwise, as a mere unestablished female cultivator, how could she have been fortunate enough to become a disciple of a Golden Core master and live at Snowdrift Cliff, his junior sister? That was also the reason Jian Hui dared not kill openly on Late Tide Peak. Now that Shi Qingxiang was involved, things were already troublesome; if Elder Jin ever learned of this, the consequences would be dire.

His panic gave Hong Jian the opening she needed. As the watery shield around Jian Hui dimmed, she unleashed “Moon Surge.” Fortune was with her—“Reflecting Shadow” shattered at once. Jian Hui had no time for any further defense; the shards of light struck him in the abdomen. He spat blood and collapsed to the ground.