When Li Qinglin's army was attacking the Changsheng Temple, Qin Yi had just been ambushed. The two places weren't far apart in theory; after all, the Changsheng Temple was close to the royal palace. However, what seemed like a short distance in a capital city could easily stretch across an entire county from east to west. Both sides were attacking and defending at nearly the same time, but they were unaware of each other's movements.
It wasn't until the flames from the Ascension Platform lit up the sky that Qin Yi was on his way, rushing from the princess's residence to the prince's residence.
Seeing the distant fire, Qin Yi paused for a moment, and suddenly everything clicked in his mind. He understood everything.
"My brother-in-law is really a great teammate!" He felt relieved and smiled at Liu Su.
Liu Su simply replied with a "hm," feeling that a collaborator like Li Qinglin was so reliable that it almost made her feel a bit bored—like there was nothing exciting left to watch.
At that moment, Qin Yi even had a thought... With this fire, Mang Zhan would surely flee the city... The prince's residence should theoretically be safe for now. Should he not go back and instead find a way to hold Mang Zhan back, letting him die in Nanli?
That thought was fleeting. In the end, he couldn't suppress his worry for Li Qingjun and rushed back home.
Night Feather was still injured. If a powerful demon appeared, they could still be in danger.
The wooden sword formation was a static defense and couldn't be moved. If the two sisters stayed in the safe zone at the center of the formation, they would be fine. The problem was that the enemy's target might not be them. If they wreaked havoc elsewhere, like trying to capture Li Qinglin's family, Li Qingjun would definitely rush out to help.
Otherwise, she wouldn't be Li Qingjun.
...
The powerful demons that appeared at the prince's residence weren't just one, but two. When Ming He activated the Seven Stars Formation, they happened to be outside its range and narrowly escaped this disaster, becoming the last main force under Dong Huazi.
One was an eagle demon, and the other was a wolf demon. Both had transformed into human forms, looking like men. However, one had a particularly prominent hooked nose, while the other still had fangs and a lot of gray fur on his face.
Well... it was actually a bit challenging for them to pretend to be human because it was hard to find anyone so ugly.
It was clear that both were in the early stages of transformation, but that was already quite an achievement. If they were two foundation-building cultivators well-versed in high-level techniques, they could easily turn the whole Nanli upside down, let alone just the prince's residence.
Fortunately, these two were similar to Night Feather; they hadn't learned anything substantial. If they were to charge through a battlefield filled with soldiers, even with a warrior like Li Qinglin at the front, these two demons wouldn't be able to make much of a difference. But to storm the prince's residence and capture Li Qinglin's family, they would be unstoppable.
If they could force Li Qinglin to retreat, who would be the victor in the end was still uncertain.
Dong Huazi's quick decision-making couldn't be said to be wrong.
The two demons flew in, but before they reached the inner courtyard, they were met with hundreds of bows and crossbows hidden nearby, all aimed at them.
The eagle demon let out a sinister laugh, waving his hand as a fierce wind arose, scattering the hundreds of arrows into disarray.
"If it were thousands of arrows, that might be a problem. But just these few hundred? It's like scratching an itch for your grandpa Eagle!"
The eagle demon spread his arms, and a massive shadow of wings appeared, diving down swiftly.
The wolf demon shot forward, reaching the courtyard gate in an instant.
Both were known for their speed... but they didn't expect that someone could be even faster than them.
A flash of black light shot past, two black feathers like lightning, aimed directly at the throats of the two demons, moving so fast that they created a chilling whistle as the air seemed to tear apart.
The two demons halted just in time, narrowly avoiding the attack. Turning around, they saw Night Feather's small figure rapidly closing in on them, with Li Qingjun not far behind, rushing forward with a silver spear.
Qin Yi guessed correctly; the moment he saw the demons soaring toward the inner courtyard, Li Qingjun had already dashed out with her silver spear. Night Feather had to catch up, and her speed was famously fast, so she ended up ahead of Li Qingjun.
"Princess Zhaoyang..." The wolf demon spotted Li Qingjun behind Night Feather and cackled, "Capturing her would be more useful than capturing Li Qinglin's wife, wouldn't it?"
The eagle demon agreed, "A person like Li Qinglin can remarry after his wife dies. What good is capturing his family? At least Princess Zhaoyang can be used to threaten that guy named Qin Yi..."
The two demons shared the same opinion and decided not to enter the inner courtyard. Their eyes fell on Night Feather.
It would be easy to capture Li Qingjun, but this little girl was a problem. "That little snake that escaped from the demon-refining formation..." The expressions of the two demons grew serious.
They had experienced the horrors of the demon-refining formation firsthand.
Dong Huazi had left a backdoor in the demon-refining miasma. Any demon born from that miasma, when reaching the peak of spiritual connection and forming a demon core, would feel a call from their soul, mindlessly entering the demon-refining formation, only to be tortured to the brink of death, with their demon core forcibly extracted. The pain was indescribable.
They had knelt before Dong Huazi, begging for mercy, and swore loyalty to him because they couldn't bear the pain. Later, they had another opportunity and broke through to transformation.
Many other demons at their peak of spiritual connection didn't even have the strength to beg for mercy and were tortured to death. They had seen too many of those.
There was only one exception.
A little snake with wings had somehow broken through to transformation amidst extreme pain and escaped the formation, turning into black lightning and vanishing before anyone could react.
On the day the prince was attacked, when the prince's guards reported seeing "a flash of black light," everyone in the Changsheng Temple knew who the culprit was.
That was a terrifying great demon that had broken through through immense suffering, with resilience far beyond its peers.
The memory was fleeting, and Night Feather was already in front of them, hands on her hips, scolding, "Two ugly monsters, hee hee hee~"
"??" The two demons looked stunned.
A terrifying... great demon?
Was something off?
As she spoke, Li Qingjun also arrived, joining in the mockery: "You're both transformed into humans, yet how come Night Feather is so pretty while you two are so ugly? I think you should return to that demon-refining formation for a do-over; it's too embarrassing—no, too shameful for a demon."
The two demons were furious, smoke coming out of their ears.
Night Feather seemed to be enjoying herself, continuing, "Anyway, they've already lost enough dignity as demons. Princess, you don't know, back then they knelt and begged Dong Huazi for mercy, practically calling him grandpa, tsk tsk..."
The wolf demon couldn't help but retort, "You didn't swear loyalty to Li Qinglin, did you? Otherwise, how could he trust you?"
"That's easy," Night Feather replied cheerfully, "If the prince wants to transfer me to Qin Yi, then it's all good. Besides, Qin Yi never asked me to swear loyalty. I'm a free demon. Aren't you jealous?"
To be honest, they were indeed very envious. Who would want to bear a blood oath, working like a servant? If their master died, they would have to die too. Who could stand that?
Now there was a chance for liberation. Dong Huazi was in trouble, and if they captured Li Qingjun and brought her back, they might have a good chance to ask Dong Huazi to lift their blood oath.
The eyes of both demons were fixed on Li Qingjun, revealing a fierce glint.
Li Qingjun remained calm, her white wrist flicking as she lightly pointed her silver spear.
She knew she couldn't outrun these demons. It was impossible to lure them back to the formation now, and Qin Yi's carefully arranged sword formation had completely lost its meaning.
But she had no regrets.
If she could selfishly hide in the formation and watch her brother's family get into trouble, then she wouldn't be Li Qingjun.
Night Feather sighed like a little adult and gave up on trying to stall for time with useless chatter.
The Changsheng Temple was already ablaze, and even these two demons weren't foolish enough to be delayed here by a few words.
A fight was inevitable.
Night Feather's expression suddenly turned fierce, and with a flip of her hand, a black flame appeared ominously.
Tengshe, the fire god, home in the snake, master of terror, fierce general.
(End of chapter)