Yan Ding, standing close to Qi An, heard her clearly. He pointed at the girl enveloped in demonic energy, whose face looked as cold and frosty as if it were coated in ice, and asked in astonishment, “Is that the Demon Princess engaged to Prince Yangxu?”
Qi An gazed at Yuejiao, frowning. “It is her, but she seems… strange.” Although she had only interacted with Yuejiao once, the girl had previously felt like a sunflower under the summer sun passionate, bright, and full of vitality not this gloomy, shadowed presence before them.
Yan Ding’s finger shifted to point at a disheveled yet handsome youth standing before Yuejiao. “Then why is she attacking Prince Yangxu? Wasn’t it said that they were deeply in love?”
Qi An shook her head. It was her first time even seeing Yangxu, so how could she know why they were fighting? However, looking at the situation, it was clearly far more serious than a simple lovers’ quarrel.
While they spoke, the three Upper Gods inside the mansion had already been completely suppressed by Yuejiao. Yangxu, afraid of harming her, focused more on defense than offense and was at a disadvantage, suffering magical injuries to his arms and legs. He looked at Yuejiao with eyes full of confusion, unable to understand why his sweetheart had suddenly turned into this.
Three days ago, Yuejiao had transformed into a Seven-Star Insect, hiding in Qi An’s hair, and followed her all the way to the Heavenly Realm before finding Yangxu. Yangxu assumed she had run away from home after an argument with her brother. He thought he would coax her for a few days before personally escorting her back to the Demon Realm and paying a formal visit to the Demon Lord. Thus, he had hidden her away in his divine mansion. Today, while they were playfully joking around, Yuejiao had struck without warning, her moves lethal and merciless. He still didn’t understand why.
Qi An, watching from the sidelines, didn’t understand either. How could such a delicate-looking girl be so formidable?
Some immortals in the crowd wanted to enter the mansion to assist Yangxu, but the mansion was surrounded by a barrier. Unable to break it, they could only watch and fret. Just as Yangxu and the others were about to be defeated and suffer a cruel blow from Yuejiao, a powerful blast of magic descended from above, striking the barrier.
After a thunderous explosion, a crack appeared in the barrier. Two more flashes of spiritual light struck the breach, and the onlookers shielded their eyes. When they looked again, the barrier was broken.
A man leapt into the divine mansion, and everyone realized that the one who had shattered the barrier was none other than the Heavenly Emperor. Though the Emperor was occasionally foolish, he was ultimately the ruler of the Heavenly Realm; when he grew serious, his power and authority were not to be trifled with.
He raised his right hand, placing a protective shield over the three Upper Gods and Yangxu, then cast spell after spell at Yuejiao with one hand. Facing the Emperor’s relentless, torrential attacks, Yuejiao no longer had the ease she had displayed moments ago, and her weaknesses were quickly exposed. The Emperor seized the opportunity, conjured a divine sword, and lunged toward her heart.
Seeing this, Yangxu immediately shouted, “Father! It is Yuejiao—please, show mercy!”
The Emperor’s movements paused, and he immediately withdrew the sword. However, the sword had been enchanted; the abrupt retraction caused a backlash of sword energy. Though he blocked it in time, he was still forced back several steps by his own power.
Yuejiao realized she was no match for the Heavenly Emperor. Seizing the moment of his distraction, she turned to flee the mansion. The Emperor reacted quickly and pursued her. Seeing the situation turning against her and finding herself surrounded by gods wherever she turned, Yuejiao formed a new plan. She reached out toward the crowd, her palm generating a powerful suction that pulled the immortal closest to her to her side.
That unlucky immortal was none other than Qi An.
As she felt her body tilt forward, uncontrollably dragged by the force, Qi An had only one thought: Just send a lightning bolt to kill me. In the span of a few days, she had been tricked into a marriage, interrupted mid-process in becoming an official immortal, and now, dragged to watch a show, she had been singled out as a hostage?
Unlucky, too unlucky!
Watching Yuejiao’s face draw nearer, Qi An reached a conclusion: Joining a crowd to watch the fun can actually be fatal.
Yuejiao seized Qi An by the throat and walked silently toward the Heavenly Emperor, who had halted his pursuit. She walked slowly, as if taking a stroll in the park. Qi An, held up like a shield, plucked up the courage to try to build rapport: “Princess Yuejiao, you called me ‘Sister’ just a few nights ago. Do you remember?”
Yuejiao ignored her, her movements steady and her pace unceasing. Qi An could only look at the Heavenly Emperor. Seeing the Emperor still holding his sword, she said in a panic, “Heavenly Emperor, please save this minor immortal my life is very fragile!”
The Emperor remained silent.
Qi An: …Am I invisible?
At this moment, Qi An suddenly felt weak, pitiful, and helpless and incredibly wretched.
Just then, Yangxu emerged from the shield, flying rapidly toward Yuejiao. Qi An felt that despite Yangxu’s youth, he looked kind, so she hurriedly struggled for her life: “Prince Yangxu, I was the one who negotiated your marriage with Princess Yuejiao! Can you ask Princess Yuejiao to release this minor immortal?”
Just as Yangxu was about to speak, Yuejiao tightened her grip. Qi An felt a sharp pain in her neck and realized she might be heading to the afterlife in the next second.
Yangxu cried out, “Yuejiao, calm down! We won’t hurt you; release that immortal fairy first.”
Qi An was moved to tears finally, someone noticed her existence! But she couldn’t even voice her gratitude; her face turned bright red as the air trapped in her lungs couldn’t get out, and she was in extreme pain.
Yet, after Yangxu spoke, Yuejiao’s grip only grew heavier. The Heavenly Emperor’s gaze darkened; he dismissed his sword and said to Yuejiao, “I will not harm you. Release her.”
Qi An looked at the Heavenly Emperor with the little strength she had left. If I survive this, I am willing to take 1,000 fewer Heart-Clearing Pearls from the Emperor.
After the Emperor stepped back, Yuejiao sneered and took two steps forward, dragging Qi An with her. Sensing the situation was dire, Qi An decided to play her trump card. Gritting her teeth, she used all her strength to say, “Princess Yuejiao, you might not know this yet, but your brother is engaged to me. If all goes well, we might be family in the future. Attacking your sister-in-law doesn’t seem right, does it?”
“Oh?”
This sentence seemed to strike a chord in Yuejiao; she finally responded. Her voice was incredibly deep, as if it were emanating from her stomach.
Qi An reignited her hope and was about to say more to cozy up to her when Yuejiao said, “Coincidentally, I was wondering how to make that guy suffer. Since you are his fiancée, killing you will surely make him suffer immensely.”
Qi An was bewildered. Why do these siblings defy all logic? Yuejiao sneered again and fell silent.
All the gods held their breath, waiting for her next move. To everyone’s surprise, Yuejiao suddenly loosened her hand and shoved Qi An forward. Qi An couldn’t react in time; before she could even feel happy about regaining her freedom, a shrill voice came from the onlookers behind her: “Get out of the way!”
In the next instant, Qi An felt a blinding light erupt from behind her, illuminating the entire Heavenly Realm in a vast, desolate white. She saw a flash of determination in the Heavenly Emperor’s eyes, and in the blink of an eye, he vanished. Yangxu swept past her, throwing himself toward the deranged Yuejiao.
Qi An steadied herself and looked back a beat too late. The scene was pure chaos; all the gods seemed to be talking, though Qi An couldn’t hear what they were arguing about—she only watched Yan Ding shouting at her frantically. She frowned, mimicking the movement of his lips, and after a moment of thought, she finally realized: he was saying “Life-Return Art.”
Moreover, she discovered that even after turning around, the strongest source of light was still emanating from her back. Qi An finally realized it with a jolt: that powerful light piercing the sky was coming from her own body.
She had been cast with the Life-Return Art by Yuejiao. Though Qi An was somewhat unlearned, she had heard of it. Life-return meant: life given by heaven and earth, life returns to heaven and earth. The Life-Return Art uses the body as a sacrifice, borrowing ten times the magical power from the heavens and earth. Once this power is fully gathered within the offerer, the body cannot withstand the sudden surge and explodes, dispersing the power. This power then destroys everything in the vicinity; the stronger the power, the wider the range and the greater the damage.
This technique was generally used for mutual destruction, which was why Qi An had always assumed it could only be used on oneself. She hadn’t realized it could be cast on others. She had truly gained some knowledge, unfortunately, at the cost of her life.
The Heavenly Emperor obviously recognized the technique at a glance, which was why he had immediately moved into the crowd of gods and used most of his power to set up a barrier. Yangxu, having realized what was happening, brought Yuejiao into the barrier. Yuejiao seemed intent on watching Qi An’s end, becoming uncharacteristically quiet, staring only at Qi An.
Qi An sighed. They were overthinking it; with her current cultivation, even if it grew tenfold, she wouldn’t hurt them much. The only one who would truly suffer was herself.
However, she looked at the Heavenly Emperor and pointed inside the divine mansion, saying, “There are still three of them inside don’t forget them.”
The Heavenly Emperor was startled. He hadn’t expected Qi An to react this way under such circumstances. He mouthed a silent “Sorry,” then raised his hand, sweeping the three divine lords into the barrier.
Confirming no other immortals were in the danger zone, Qi An sat down on the ground. Accompanied by the increasingly blinding light and the immense, powerful magic continuously surging into her body, she closed her eyes.
She accepted her fate with calm. She only wondered, did she have a next life? If there was one, would she meet Shang Ziliu again?
Thinking of this, she opened her eyes, wanting to discuss with the Heavenly Emperor about letting her meet Shang Ziliu in her next life. But once she opened her eyes, all she saw was white. She couldn’t even see her own hands or feet. She stared blankly at a single spot, quietly feeling her veins expanding, the pain clamoring wantonly through her flesh and bones.
Just as she was about to be unable to withstand the pain, anticipating that within a single breath she would explode, she experienced what seemed to be a hallucination. She felt as if someone was calling her name by her ear, and their breath stirred a lock of hair at her temple.
“Qi An, don’t be afraid.”