Li Nanzhu paced slowly toward Cang Dongqing's vicinity. Through her earlier probing, she had confirmed that Cang Dongqing had indeed reached Qi Condensation Great Perfection.
That speed of advancement was truly fast; she certainly lived up to her reputation as a genius with a heavenly spiritual root.
But admiration aside, Li Nanzhu had no intention of changing her plans.
After confirming that Cang Dongqing was truly trapped within the array and unable to see her, Li Nanzhu directly unleashed a series of attacks into the formation.
Originally, this was merely a trapping array that couldn't cause much trouble for Cang Dongqing, but Li Nanzhu's intervention forced her to deal with attacks coming from every direction.
However, Cang Dongqing possessed many dharma treasures. Li Nanzhu’s attacks were unable to cause any substantial damage to her.
Seeing this, Li Nanzhu pulled out the talismans she had previously obtained from the trio of robbers.
Among them was an explosion talisman.
Without hesitation, Li Nanzhu infused it with spiritual energy, using her power to manipulate it and send it flying precisely toward Cang Dongqing.
A deafening boom echoed, but Li Nanzhu didn't lower her guard for a second. She stared fixedly at the center of the blast.
If it were anyone else, Li Nanzhu might not be so wary, but this was the heroine. She felt it would be good enough if she managed to cause even a light injury to Cang Dongqing.
As it turned out, that was the case. However, along with the explosion, the array's eye was also destroyed. Coughing, Cang Dongqing walked out from within, only to be met by a series of dazzling fire lotuses.
Hiding in the shadows, Duan Xianxing was already dazed.
Why did his junior sister throw an explosion talisman into the array? Still, that Cang Dongqing should definitely be dead now—wait, why is she still alive? And how did the array eye get blown apart?!
The array disk had been set up by him and his First Senior Brother, so he knew exactly where the array eye was located. Moreover, the direction his junior sister had thrown the talisman was completely opposite to the eye. Why did it blow up there?
Duan Xianxing didn't understand, but Li Nanzhu knew all too well. It was nothing more than the heroine's halo at work. She had clearly felt a certain amount of directional interference the moment the explosion talisman flew out.
But it didn't matter. She hadn't expected to kill Cang Dongqing with a talisman anyway. Wasn't she taking care of it herself now?
Cang Dongqing struggled to release her spiritual qi to block the fire lotuses. She had actually noticed the explosion talisman the moment it flew toward her, but for some reason, her reaction had been a split second too slow, causing her to take a significant hit from the blast's aftershock.
Li Nanzhu also noticed that Cang Dongqing's injuries seemed more severe than she had imagined, which suited her perfectly.
She immediately released even more fire lotuses to attack.
It wasn't that Li Nanzhu didn't want to use Wood Vitality or the Xuanze Two-Polarity Sutra, but as a pure offensive method, the fire-attribute Kalpa Fire Dance Sutra was more powerful, and she could release more fire lotuses at once with it.
Cang Dongqing had already pulled out a healing pill and stuffed it into her mouth. She could feel the battle fluctuations from the distance growing weaker, and her heart filled with urgency.
Yet, she had no idea who was pursuing her so relentlessly; she could even feel the killing intent being transmitted through the spiritual energy.
Who exactly wanted her dead? That waste Li Nanyi too—it had been so long, and he still hadn't managed to get in and help her!
"Who is the person on the other side? I have never offended you, so why do you insist on driving me to my death?"
Li Nanzhu said nothing, only creating more fire lotuses. Villains died from talking too much, and besides, Cang Dongqing recognized her voice; she didn't want to cause unnecessary complications.
Seeing that no one answered her, Cang Dongqing could only retreat step by step. After all, if the opponent threw another explosion talisman, she didn't have a second vajra talisman to use.
She had obtained this talisman from Mu Zeting, which had been the cause of the massive argument between him and Rong Yuying that led to them parting ways.
To have something she worked so hard to get be used up so pointlessly here made Cang Dongqing incredibly furious, but the current situation gave her no choice but to retreat.
Seeing that Cang Dongqing intended to flee, Li Nanzhu didn't plan to let the opportunity slip. she circled behind Cang Dongqing, intending to plunge her dagger into the girl's dantian.
"Who dares harm my junior sister?"
Before the voice even finished, a blade of sword qi slashed directly toward Li Nanzhu.
However, Li Nanzhu didn't want to miss this chance to ruin Cang Dongqing. Without dodging or flinching, she continued to thrust her dagger forward with all her strength.
Accompanied by a scream from Cang Dongqing, Li Nanzhu's dagger did indeed sink in, but it was off the mark by several inches from her intended target.
Simultaneously, Li Nanzhu was sent flying back by a heavy blow.
Fortunately, because the arriving Li Nanyi was in too much of a hurry, he didn't have time to gather his strength. The sword qi he swung only managed to knock Li Nanzhu back.
Li Nanzhu had also endured quite a lot of physical hardship lately and had subconsciously channeled her spiritual energy to protect herself, so she only suffered some superficial wounds.
Duan Xianxing had long since ignored Li Nanzhu's instructions to stay hidden. He rushed out the moment Li Nanyi appeared, but he was a step too late. He didn't dare swing his own sword qi to intercept the other's, fearing that if he lost control, he might end up injuring Li Nanzhu himself before Li Nanyi could.
In that single breath of time, Li Nanyi had already propped up the dying Cang Dongqing, staring hatefully at Li Nanzhu.
"What a vicious woman! My junior sister is innocent and kind, yet you actually tried to kill her!"
He hurriedly stuffed a pill into Cang Dongqing's mouth. This was his trump card, yet he fed it to her just like that.
Without time to feel the loss, seeing another person appear beside Li Nanzhu, he could only grab Cang Dongqing and quickly depart on his sword.
Li Nanzhu had no intention of chasing them. She knew that even if Mu Wenyan were here, he might not have pursued the two of them to the death.
Strictly speaking, based on what had happened so far, she and Cang Dongqing hadn't reached a point of irreconcilable enmity. Furthermore, she and Li Nanyi didn't even have a real conflict.
Her current actions were based on her clear knowledge of what kind of person Cang Dongqing was and how she would eventually use the people of the Five Elements Dao Sect as stepping stones to her rise.
But the others didn't know that. Moreover, Li Nanyi was a direct disciple of the Sword Heart Sect. Even though the Five Elements Dao Sect had declined, they were still disciples of the Eight Sects and would not easily slaughter one another.
This was why Mu Wenyan had previously only heavily injured the two from the Wuji Sect without taking their lives; he wouldn't even damage their foundations, and they would recover with proper rest.
Li Nanzhu could roughly understand Mu Wenyan's thoughts. He still wanted to truly stand before the world with his dark spiritual root as a disciple of the Five Elements Dao Sect, so he strictly followed the rules of the great sects in many matters.
Nevertheless, she had at least come close to destroying Cang Dongqing's foundation this time. She could only marvel once more at the power of the halo—this was a Nascent Soul stage barrier, yet not only did Cang Dongqing get in, but Li Nanyi had somehow broken through just as she was about to destroy her dantian.
Trying to kill Cang Dongqing was truly difficult.
But since she could do it this time, she could certainly do it next time.
"It's alright, Fifth Senior Brother. Look, aren't I fine now? It's not your fault. Who knew how Cang Dongqing and Li Nanyi managed to break through the barrier? Besides, I was the one who told you to hide. It has nothing to do with you!"
"I know, Junior Sister. But if I were strong enough and could control my sword qi more precisely, I could have dispelled his attack before it hit you, and you wouldn't have been hurt."
Li Nanzhu didn't know whether to laugh or cry, but she turned to see Mu Wenyan, who had finished his battle, and quickly changed the subject.
"First Senior Brother, did you kill the demonic beast? That's amazing! You got the profound light glazed wood, right?"
Mu Wenyan smiled and handed over a jade box. Inside was indeed the profound light glazed wood, but its appearance was the exact opposite of its name. Instead of being crystal clear like glazed glass, it looked like an ancient, weathered tree branch.
"First Senior Brother, you didn't get the wrong thing, did you? This thing is called Glazed Wood?"
Duan Xianxing was immediately met with a corrective rap on the head from his First Senior Brother.
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