WARNING: More misogyny, attempted sexual assault.

Chi Muyao threw out a concealed weapon.

The offensive methods of the He Huan Sect were primarily concealed weapons, supplemented by the illusionary spells cast with round fans. Although they didn’t have much direct attack power, they were very good at launching sneak attacks.

The concealed weapon made no sound as it travelled through the air thanks to the illusionary spell attached. This kind of Illusion Spell made it so that those attacked wouldn’t notice a thing.

That cultivator staggered back after being hit in the forehead by the concealed weapon. He had to plunge his sword into the ground to steady himself.

The man had a cultivation level of peak Foundation Building.

The woman he was attacking was mid Foundation Building.

And Chi Muyao’s cultivation was even lower, only at early Foundation Building.

After being attacked, the man searched using his divine sense and immediately found Chi Muyao. Then he ruthlessly launched a metal element spirit root attack, ‘Golden Piercing Rays Sword’, in Chi Muyao’s direction.

Chi Muyao had no choice but to leap out of his hiding spot. Upon landing, he gave the man a frank look. “Even He Huan Sect disciples have standards. Actually, we’re even more picky than average.”

It’s true. They were all very capricious people with very specific tastes for the cultivation furnaces they used.

The man was very surprised to see Chi Muyao. He looked him up and down with widened eyes before bursting into laughter. "You actually...you actually...Hahaha. How interesting."

Chi Muyao had no intention of laughing with him. He raised a hand and held Qiuqiu back from doing anything impulsive.

The injured female He Huan Sect disciple’s eyes lit up with intense joy when she saw Chi Muyao. She never thought a fellow disciple of her Sect would actually come in response to her signal, never mind her Little Shige!

The man didn't care about his still bleeding forehead. He shot Chi Muyao an angry look with sword in hand. “So the new number one beauty of the three realms turns out to be a He Huan Sect disciple too. This is hilarious. I never had any interest in men before, but someone with your appearance I want to try. You and her together. Tonight, I’ll have you both.”

He looked at Chi Muyao like he was nothing more than a plaything of interest that he had to have.

Chi Muyao was disgusted by being looked at this way. Tightly pursing his lips, he circulated his dantian’s energy and summoned his round fan.

The man came at him with a sword, but his attack failed to strike Chi Muyao, for the figure of the peerlessly beautiful man in front of him scattered into countless peach blossom petals.

Looking up, he saw Chi Muyao descending upon him, his goose yellow robes unfolding like a warm, blooming lily. He landed on one foot on the man’s face.

When the man raised his sword to attack, Chi Muyao pushed off his face into a somersault. He vanished under the moonlight with a wave of his round fan again, sending ripples through the cool night that soon dissipated. Only the glittering sea of stars above remained.

Chi Muyao's figure could barely be seen.

He didn’t go for direct attacks, so the man could only take a beating while trying to land a hit.

The man was no idiot. He knew that he would exhaust himself if this game of cat and mouse were to continue, so he switched to AOEArea of Effect attacks. Finally, he saw Chi Muyao get hit and sent, tumbling, to the ground.

"Pei." The man approached with sword in hand. “Bastard, did you really think you could wear me down like that? With your level of cultivation, I can kill you with one hand.”

Chi Muyao wretchedly got up, stroking his chest where he was hit. There was no fear in his eyes as he coldly laughed. “How unfortunate that you’re not too bright.”

"Still in the mood to curse? That little bitch summoned reinforcements, only to have a bastard like you come? She probably thought she was going to be saved. How laughable. I’ll make her scream later, but it’s your turn first. I’m going to find out if men or women feel better.”

Due to his advanced age, Chi Muyao was usually very lenient towards the misbehaviours of what were basically children to him.

He was rarely angry, but that didn’t mean he couldn’t be.

This was one of those rare moments. He realised that this man didn’t consider He Huan Sect disciples like them as people at all. In his mind, they were nothing but lowly wretches.

Beware the anger of a gentle man, lest you be taught a very dear lesson.

Chi Muyao's body suddenly straightened as he pinched thumb to forefinger and intently said, “Rise, Twenty-Four Shachuchen Formation二十四杀除尘阵 - lit. '24 Kill Dust Remove Formation'!”

With that, furious winds kicked up, circling around the man like an invisible cage. The drawing under his feet lit up, clearly illuminating the formation.

Not only was Chi Muyao searching for openings to sneak attack him earlier, he was also setting up the formation in secret. His clever actions left the man completely in the dark, thinking that he was simply waging a war of attrition.

The man was horrified after noticing the formation. He tried to brute force his way out of its confines.

In the end, Chi Muyao had little spiritual energy. It was extremely difficult for him to control a cultivator of higher cultivation, so he called out, "Lou Qiongchi, come help me."

Lou Qiongchi forced herself to get up and fed her spiritual energy into Chi Muyao’s body to help him trap the man.

The signature move of the demonic faction—’United Battle Force’.

The man noticed that the formation was a killing formation. These two disciples of the He Huan Sect wanted his life!

Even the name of the ‘Twenty-Four Shachuchen Formation’ was extremely arrogant, as if implying killing someone was no more important than clearing away dust.

The man immediately lost his mind. He wanted to ask for help from the other disciples of the renowned righteous sects, but his own choice of a secluded location to do evil deeds hampered him.

His voice and spiritual energy were both trapped in the formation with no escape.

In the end, he risked everything to deliver a deathblow to Chi Muyao. It was better to have his misdeeds exposed than to die here alone.

Suddenly gathering all the spiritual energy in his body, the man burned his own dantian’s energy as he bet it all on one final assault.

This was a spell very similar to self destructing one’s cultivation. Both were meant to be used in times of great peril, destroying half of your cultivation to safeguard your life.

After all, losing meant certain death.

Chi Muyao was gradually losing ground. Blood leaked out of the corner of his mouth.

Lou Qiongzhi was already very seriously injured. Even her best efforts were currently not enough to restrain this man.

Seeing that he was about to break free, the man held his sword with both hands, readying to give Chi Muyao a deathblow.

At this time, Qiuqiu took flight. Stretching its wings in midair, it underwent a sudden transformation.

Dazzling Hui Dragon Flames alighted on its wings until its entire body was bathed in fire. Sparks fell every time it flapped its wings, signifying it was no ordinary bird, but a Phoenix of Nirvana.

It attacked the man, instantly engulfing the surrounding area in Hui Dragon Flames.

This kind of fire couldn’t be extinguished. If it were to come into contact with your body, not even a trace would remain in the end. Unfortunately, there weren't enough Flames in Qiuqiu’s body to completely burn away a peak Foundation Building cultivator, but he could cause a number of fatal injuries.

Finally, the man was trapped for good in the array. With his three souls and six spirits all shattered, he collapsed like a puppet with broken strings.

He wasn’t dead, but there was nothing inside.

When the dust had settled, Chi Muyao quickly went over to scold Qiuqiu, “Didn’t I tell you not to act?”

Qiuqiu had already changed back to the shape of an oriole. It gave an aggravated “Qiu!” in response.

Chi Muyao was a little frazzled. “There’s only two people in the world who can use the Hui Dragon Flames, and now someone has been grievously injured by them. This…this…”

Lou Qiongzhi swayed before her legs gave out. She looked at Qiuqiu in Chi Muyao’s hands and sighed. “Little Shige, where’d you find such an interesting bird, ah? You’re raising a phoenix, right?"

"I originally wanted to ferry the Hui Dragon Flames to it as a way to hide myself, but now I've exposed myself instead."

Lou Qiongzhi smiled. "It acted to save your life and mine. Since the Hui Dragon Flames have already been used, we can only think of ways to cover it up now.”

Although Chi Muyao was frustrated, he didn’t scold Qiuqiu anymore. After all, it was trying to save him.

He quickly walked to Lou Qiongzhi's side to support her. "Are your injuries serious?"

"Yes!" Lou Qiongzhi replied, very aggrieved and even a bit incoherent. “But I’m far more angry. I’m so fed up! That stinking man deserved to die. So what if he has a rod between his legs, does he think everyone wants to dual cultivate with him because of it?! All men are sons of bitches!”

Chi Muyao: "..."

"Oh. Sorry, I keep forgetting that you’re a man too..."

Chi Muyao sighed. Probably all his He Huan Sect shijie and shimei took him to be a shimei.

Chi Muyao gave her some medicine and imbued her with some of his spiritual energy to speed her recovery. “I left an Illusion Spell in my place so I need to leave soon. Try to clean up the best you can. I’ll think of some way to deal with anything that comes up. Don’t be afraid.”

“En! Little Shige, you’re so kind..." Lou Qiongchi wiped away her tears before quickly getting up to clean up the scene.

Meanwhile, Chi Muyao left with the He Huan Sect’s Instant Movement Technique.

Back at their resting place, no one even noticed that he had left as he laid back down again.

The injuries sustained during the battle were still painful, but he could only endure them in silence.

One of the downsides of being poor was evident at this moment. He had to endure injuries the other disciples could heal with a single pill.

* * *

The next day…

Yu Yanshu took their group towards that deserted valley. By the time they arrived, there was already quite a crowd gathered, all here because they had received word.

The first person to stumble upon the scene were disciples from the same Sect as that man. They tracked him down using his vestigial spiritual energy after noticing he was missing in the morning.

The three souls and six spirits of a disciple being shattered during the expedition made everyone very nervous. Not only would they have a hard time explaining themselves to their Sects later, this meant that their journey would be fraught with dangers from now on.

Therefore, they sent Sound Transmission Talismans to the other team leaders so that everyone could take part in a discussion and come up with ideas together.

The disciples gathered here were talking, "It's definitely someone from the Qing Ze Sect. Is there anyone else in the world who can use these Hui Dragon Flames?"

"Those demonic faction disciples really are up to no good. Secretly harming people now...just imagine what they’ll do later on.”

"Why don’t we call the Qing Ze Sect people out right now and fight them to the death? Otherwise we’ll have to always watch our backs.”

Chi Muyao was very tense with anxiety. He knew he had caused trouble for Xi Huai, so he kept playing with the hem of his sleeve.

There was no plan. He was just trying to comfort Lou Qiongzhi yesterday.

Right now, he was even considering stepping forward and telling everyone that he was the culprit. They wouldn’t be able to say anything if they saw Qiuqiu.

Chi Muyao didn’t care what they decided to do with him after that. In any case, he didn’t regret saving his shimei.

In the middle of his panic, Xi Huai’s group descended from the sky on their flying artefacts.

The trio always made an impressive entrance. The flying artefacts they used this time were so fast they left a trail of tumbling clouds that only dissipated after some time in their wake.

As Xi Huai leapt down from the flying spiritual artefact, his clothes and hair fluttered in the wind, almost as if they were dancing. His dark-red outer robe made him seem like a wildly blooming flower radiating an eerie, sanguine beauty.

On the ground, the trio also saw the wrecked surroundings. They also noticed how all the disciples had unsheathed their swords like they intended to fight to the death with them.

Xi Huai ignored them all as he surveyed the scene. The burn marks on the wounded person’s body were obviously made by Hui Dragon Flames, and there were traces of an attempted cover up all over the place.

But one more piece that can be gleaned from the injuries was the prior use of a formation.

Song Weiyue suddenly cheered up at the traces of Hui Dragon Flames. "Finally, a clue! Zong Sichen, remember well the list of attendees for this expedition! He’s one of them!”

Zong Sichen nodded excitedly as well, his joy overflowing into his expression.

After searching for more than two years, they finally found a clue after being surreptitiously framed. The three of them were all beaming.

The other disciples took great offence to that. They lost a fellow disciple, who had become a vegetable overnight. Yet these three demonic faction disciples were smiling after seeing this?! Everyone fumed and glared at the trio.

Another Golden Core stage cultivator questioned, "Xi Huai, you’re the one responsible, right?”

Xi Huai was still rejoicing at finally finding a trace of A-Jiu. In a good mood, he looked up and immediately admitted, “En. I hurt him.”

"Why did you suddenly hurt someone? You should at least give an explanation, right?"

Xi Huai actually gave it some thought. What reason should he give?

A moment later, he replied, "The sight of him offended me."

This answer made the other side even more furious. One shouted, "You hurt someone for such a ridiculous reason?!"

Xi Huai slightly raised his chin and looked at the person who asked with contempt. "So what if I hurt someone? Do I need to ask your permission or something? If you guys don’t like that, find me and avenge him. If you have the power, exterminate my entire Sect. I’ll be waiting.”

With that, a black dragon roared as it circled down from the sky. Its huge dragon head emerged from the fiery red clouds to regard the many disciples present below.

Xi Huai stood tall in front of the Hui and caressed its head with one hand, looking quite valiant.

It was still early in the morning. Smoke and mist swirled about in the deserted valley.

The appearance of the Hui made mountains tremble. In the ever present fog stood an arrogant and unrestrained man, as well as a huge, spiralled dragon.

Even the fog was not enough to conceal their thick killing intent.