Qing stared at the Formation taking shape before him as he carefully weaved his Spiritual Energy into it while keeping the Energy Circulation Formation under control at another side. When the first structure, the empty circle and its surrounding carvings, had completely formed, Yue arrived near his position, and the sudden movement caught his attention for a brief moment.
However, the moment he focused back on the Formation, he immediately noticed that something was wrong, the amount of Spiritual Energy required was far greater than what he had initially calculated, "This is no good, I can’t be distracted anymore."
With that, Qing immediately increased the amount of Spiritual Energy he was pouring into the Formation, stabilizing the structure before it could become unstable. Behind him, the sounds of battle continued to echo through the spatial domain, and from the intensity of those sounds.
Qing could already guess that Yue was beginning to consume a large amount of Spiritual Energy. The durable defensive layer of Demonic Energy covering the Demons’ bodies required considerable strength to cut through, especially when she had to deal with hundreds of them at the same time.
Even then, Qing continued focusing on the Formation without looking back. He completely trusted the woman fighting behind him, because at this moment there was nothing else he could do, and the only way for both of them to survive was for him to finish the Formation while Yue bought him enough time.
Several hundred meters behind Qing, Yue could be seen holding her sword with both hands as she panted heavily. Around forty Elite Rank Demons had already surrounded her along with several hundred Lesser, Common, and Rare Rank Demons, leaving almost no space for her to retreat. She glanced toward the Formation Qing was constructing and felt slightly relieved when she noticed that its structure was continuing to take shape.
’Good, it seems like they are completely focused on me now. Qing can complete the Formation quickly—!’
Before she could finish her thought, Yue suddenly sensed three lower-ranked Demons approaching from behind. Her expression changed immediately, and she turned around with a fast movement before swinging her sword, slicing through all three of their throats in a single motion. Their bodies fell to the ground, but before Yue could even turn back, four more lower-ranked Demons jumped toward her from another direction.
Yue frowned as she noticed their strange behavior. They weren’t trying to preserve their lives at all, instead, they were recklessly throwing themselves toward her as if their deaths didn’t matter. She quickly understood what they were trying to accomplish.
’They don’t even care about their lives, and it seems they are planning to make a big attack by throwing these lower-ranked ones at me as sacrifices.’ Just as Yue finished that thought, three Elite Rank Demons standing farther away from her and the other Demons suddenly began gathering their Demonic Energy.
The three of them concentrated an enormous amount of Demonic Energy at a single point, causing the surrounding space to tremble slightly from the density of the energy, "You are quite strong, Human! Now die!"
One of the three Elite Demons shouted with a grin, its canine-like teeth protruding from its mouth while its long tongue hung between them, saliva dripping onto the ground. The other two Demons also released their concentrated Demonic Energy at the same time, and the three masses instantly merged into a single spherical concentration of Demonic Energy before shooting toward Yue.
Yue narrowed her eyes as she felt both shock and suspicion from the attack. Without wasting another moment, she lowered her stance and tightened her grip around her sword, ’Blossom Slash — Chapter Seven — Dance of the Blossom!’
Yue lowered her sword even further and closed her eyes, making it appear as though she had completely given up on defending herself. However, just before the sword could fall any further...
BOOM! Spiritual Energy suddenly exploded outward from her body, spreading across the surrounding area. Everything around her seemed to slow down as the spherical mass of concentrated Demonic Energy approached, now only a meter away from her.
At that moment, Yue moved.
All the Spiritual Energy exploding from her body gathered toward the tip of her sword as she shifted sideways. She didn’t move with any complicated motion, yet nine afterimages appeared one after another along the path she had taken. Her body continued forward while she lifted her sword and swung upward, the edge of the blade already positioned at the perfect angle.
The moment the edge of her sword came into contact with the spherical mass of concentrated Demonic Energy, the entire attack split cleanly into two halves. Both halves shot upward at incredible speed, passing far above Yue and disappearing into the sky before—
BOOOOOOOOOOOM! BOOOOOOOOOOOOM!
The two separated masses exploded nearly at the same time, producing ear-deafening sounds that shook the entire spatial domain. Yue exhaled heavily as she lowered her sword and prepared to open her eyes, but before she could even do so properly, she suddenly sensed two powerful presences directly behind her.
Two Elite Rank Demons had already reached her.
Both Demons attacked with claws coated in dense Demonic Energy, their movements carrying fierce velocity as they struck directly toward her back. Yue tried to react, but after the previous attack her body had not fully recovered, and the two claws struck her almost simultaneously.
SHHHK!
Two massive claw marks appeared across her back, tearing through her robes and flesh as Demonic Energy immediately seeped into the wounds.
"AHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!" Yue screamed in pain as the Demonic Energy began spreading through her body.
Her Spiritual Energy and innate regeneration immediately activated, causing the damaged flesh to slowly begin stitching itself back together, but the process quickly slowed down. The Demonic Energy was corroding the Spiritual Energy inside her wounds, and with the amount of Spiritual Energy remaining in her Dantian already too low, her regeneration was unable to properly suppress it.
Her legs faltered, and she dropped to her knees as a mouthful of blood escaped her mouth. Yue forced herself to regain her rationality before quickly taking two pills from her Space Ring and shoving them into her mouth. She swallowed both pills, hoping that the Spiritual Energy recovery pill would restore enough energy while the healing pill dealt with her wounds.
However, before either pill could properly take effect, the Elite Demons surrounding her began moving at once. Each of them wore a grin as they rushed toward her, their Demonic Energy surging around their bodies.
"Hahahah! This is your end, Human! Next will be that one behind you! Hahahahah!" The Demons laughed as they charged.
Yue stared at them, and for the first time since the battle began, despair and regret appeared in her eyes. She knew the pills would need time to restore her Spiritual Energy, while the healing pill would require even more time because of the Demonic Energy corroding her wounds.
’The pills need time to recover my Spiritual Energy, and the healing pill will need even more time because of the Demonic Energy... Am I really going to die here?’
Her thoughts immediately wandered toward Qing, who was still behind her working on the Formation. She had promised him that she would hold the Demons back for three minutes, yet now her body had already reached its limit.
’I-I am sorry... I failed at my job to hold them—!’
Just as Yue finished her thought and closed her eyes, she suddenly felt her body being lifted from the ground. Her expression changed in surprise, and when she opened her eyes, she found herself being carried in Qing’s arms.
Qing held her securely as he looked toward the incoming Elite Demons with an expressionless face. There was no panic in his eyes, nor was there any hesitation, and after briefly looking toward the Demons, he lowered his gaze toward Yue.
"Let’s go, the Formation is finished."
Before Yue could say anything, Qing activated Void Steps.
His Spiritual Energy had already recovered enough for another use because he had been using the Energy Circulation Formation itself to channel the immense amount of Spiritual Energy it was drawing from the outside world’s atmosphere directly into himself. He wasn’t recovering through his own natural reserves alone but was instead using the existing Formation as a source of Spiritual Energy while he completed his own Formation.
The next instant, Qing and Yue vanished from their original position.
They reappeared directly above the completed Formation, with Qing stepping into the empty circular space at its center while still carrying the unconscious Yue in his arms. The moment his foot touched the Formation, the countless carvings surrounding the empty circle suddenly activated, and the entire massive Formation lit up with a blinding white light.
The light completely swallowed both of them.