Chapter 113: The Battle Reaches a New Stalemate

Though regretful that she hadn’t bought more protective talismans before coming to the Ling Medicine Sect, Chu Xiner could only crush the few defensive talismans she had, meager as they were. Inside her storage pouch were also some offensive talismans, seized from cultivators like Liang Fan, the man surnamed Bao, and Zhang Lingfan, all of whom had designs on her. Though these talismans were of average quality, they could at least negate some of the enemy’s attack power, so Chu Xiner activated and unleashed them without hesitation.

Two or three layers of light shields, each a different hue, appeared around her body. Combined with her own protective spiritual light, her defense seemed respectable at first glance. Yet as the scattered attack forces collided with her barriers, they immediately began to tremble violently.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

Talismans were single-use offensive tools with limited duration. The explosions and rumbling died down quickly, revealing Chu Xiner’s pale face and blood trickling from the corner of her mouth, her outer spiritual light now faint. Thanks to the talismans that partially nullified the opponent’s magical power and her desperate defensive retreat, she had sustained injuries but had not lost the ability to fight.

Witnessing this, Liu Kui’s face was filled with regret. Yet the wolf-tooth club he wielded grew sharper and more relentless, pressuring Chu Xiner to fall back step by step, leaving her no chance to counterattack.

Xiao Wenzi was unable to break through Liu Xiuqian’s defense. After a few strikes, he would have to use the Demon Shadow Technique to dodge her flying sword attacks. The situation was far from optimistic.

If this continued, both he and Chu Xiner would face defeat. Anxious, Xiao Wenzi kept searching for a way to overcome their foes.

“Ah, forget it. If it comes to it, I’ll just lose a few more red hearts,” he muttered.

After much deliberation, Xiao Wenzi realized none of his secret arts could defeat these powerful enemies—unless their outer light shields vanished, giving him the chance to pounce and inject his paralyzing venom into the woman’s body.

But brute force wouldn’t achieve this goal. Ultimately, he decided to feign defeat and death, then launch a surprise attack during his resurrection interval.

This plan was clever, but its success hinged on one condition: Liu Xiuqian would have to carelessly disperse her protective spiritual glow; otherwise, a failed strike would spell trouble.

Xiao Wenzi was more than seventy percent confident she would let down her guard, as she had clearly exhausted much mana when conjuring the vine cage earlier.

Certain of his death and that Chu Xiner posed no threat to Liu Xiuqian, the latter would no longer foolishly expend spiritual energy maintaining her protective shield.

“Damn brat, let’s see where you run this time!” Xiao Wenzi declared.

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Having made his decision, Xiao Wenzi deliberately weakened his aura and noticeably slowed his flight. Sensing this, Liu Xiuqian immediately intensified her assault, waving her delicate hands to summon the green vine cage once more.

Puff—

Watching the troublesome big mosquito disintegrate under the sword light, Liu Xiuqian exhaled in relief as her blue spiritual glow flickered and vanished.

By now, her cultivation was below thirty percent, but determined to end the battle swiftly, after a brief rest she controlled her flying sword to strike Chu Xiner, further worsening the latter’s disadvantage.

Suddenly, a familiar mosquito appeared out of thin air not far from Liu Xiuqian. It then multiplied into six, one settling behind her, its long proboscis piercing her jade neck with fierce intent.

“This can’t be! Uh—no, it’s poisonous.”

Liu Xiuqian never imagined Xiao Wenzi could resurrect; she had seen him disintegrate before her eyes. The suddenness left her unable to react effectively in time, and tragedy struck.

The moment the proboscis pierced her smooth, supple neck, Xiao Wenzi injected several drops of paralyzing venom. By the time she felt her body numb and immobilized, it was already too late.

Spurt! Spurt!

Blood sprayed as Liu Xiuqian screamed in agony; her skull shattered by Xiao Wenzi’s claw technique. As her unwilling soul left her body, a winged blade whistled through the air toward her.

“Little sister, I’m going to kill you!”

The tide turned dramatically. Liu Kui, seeing his sister’s soul destroyed, let out a beastly roar of fury. No longer caring about Chu Xiner, he rushed toward Liu Xiuqian’s corpse, hurling fireballs to annihilate Xiao Wenzi.

Yet as the gray shadow flickered, Xiao Wenzi used the Demon Shadow Technique again, easily dodging the fireballs trailing long tails of flame.

“Well done, Xiao Wen,” Chu Xiner cheered.

This was not the first time she had witnessed Xiao Wenzi’s miraculous resurrection after apparent death, always explained away by his inherited talents. Trusting each other, she never questioned further.

But this battle was grueling. At first, Xiao Wenzi seemed troubled, showing no signs of his usual mysterious concealment techniques.

Now that hope had appeared, Chu Xiner could not help but cheer loudly, while wielding two mid-grade magical weapons to counterattack Liu Kui.

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Seizing the opportunity, Chu Xiner avoided head-on clashes this time. She focused on controlling the golden sword and willow-leaf blade to slash at Liu Kui’s inferior flying swords.

If they could destroy even one of the enemy’s magical weapons and coordinate with Xiao Wenzi, victory might be possible.

Boom! Boom!

The golden sword and willow-leaf blade simultaneously struck Liu Kui’s low-grade flying sword, shattering it outright.

Puff—

Consumed by hatred, Liu Kui spat a mouthful of blood. Yet his bloodshot eyes regained clarity.

As Xiao Wenzi swooped in, wings flashing razor edges, and Chu Xiner’s willow-leaf blade struck, her dissipated protective spiritual light reappeared.

Although the blades bent and distorted the fiery red shield’s arc, Liu Kui’s higher cultivation level allowed him to withstand the assault.

“Good. Very good. You will pay for this,” he gritted his teeth, eyes brimming with rage and malice. Clenching his fingers into a seal, he slammed the wolf-tooth club down on Chu Xiner, ignoring Xiao Wenzi’s attack completely.

Liu Kui’s reasoning was simple: as long as that damn mosquito couldn’t harm him, he would focus all his strength on eliminating the young woman before him.

In the cultivation world, it was common knowledge that if a spirit pet died, its master suffered no consequences. Conversely, if the master perished, the spirit pet would be doomed.

To him, no matter how cunning or troublesome Xiao Wenzi was, if he killed Chu Xiner, the detestable mosquito would collapse on its own, and his sister’s vengeance would be fulfilled.

What Liu Kui did not know was that Xiao Wenzi and Chu Xiner had once entered a soul contract, but it had been dissolved nearly a year ago. Now, they were merely trusted partners.

Regardless of whether Liu Kui’s assumptions were flawed, as he intensified his assault, Chu Xiner felt mounting pressure, forced to devote all her energy to defending with the golden sword and willow-leaf blade. She could not spare any to dispel the spiritual shield around him.

At this moment, the battle devolved into a tense contest of cultivation strength.