Chapter 106: Battling a Cultivator at the Great Perfection of Foundation Establishment

After Ge Qian finished speaking, a thought stirred in his mind. A stream of resentment spewed from his sleeve and took the form of Hong Mei, who cradled the Demonic Gourd in her arms and glared furiously at Lu Xin.

Lu Xin instinctively stepped back in fright. “You’re Hong Mei? How did you end up like this?”

Hong Mei replied coldly, “Lu Xin, all of this is because of you. You defiled me and planted a heart demon within me. Later, I transformed that heart demon into a vengeful spirit. You are my heart demon. Once I refine you, I can mend the deficiency in my soul and achieve true unity with myself.”

Lu Xin ground his teeth. “Don’t blame everything on me. It was your own uselessness. You couldn’t even deal with Ge Qian when he was only in the Energy Gathering Stage. If you had killed him back then, would we be facing this trouble now?”

“Bastard! How dare you insult Big Brother Ge! Enough nonsense—pay with your life!”

Hong Mei hated Lu Xin to the bone and struck without mercy.

The power of a second-tier vengeful spirit erupted. She slapped the Demonic Gourd, releasing a wave of poisonous gas so foul that it was nauseating even to smell. It surged straight toward Lu Xin.

At the same time, she flicked her finger, sending blade after blade of resentful energy hurtling toward him.

Lu Xin did not dare be careless. A savage expression spread across his face. This was a do-or-die moment. With his uncle, a peak Foundation Establishment cultivator, present, what was there to fear? An early Foundation Establishment cultivator was nothing before someone at the peak, let alone a mere second-tier vengeful spirit.

Lu Buyu shouted, “You vile fiend! How dare you try to kill my nephew? You’re courting death!”

He had not taken Ge Qian seriously at all. He was at the peak of Foundation Establishment, while Ge Qian was merely a youngster who had just entered the early Foundation Establishment Stage. Dealing with him should have been effortless.

He threw out a top-grade spirit shield. Golden patterns writhed across its surface as it flew in front of Lu Xin. Yet the poisonous gas rolled over it and swallowed it in an instant.

At that moment, Ge Qian also made his move.

“Your opponent is me.”

He formed hand seals and cast a spell. Eighty-nine sword rays swept through the air, descending upon Lu Buyu like a storm.

Lu Buyu’s pupils contracted. Eighty-nine sword rays launched simultaneously, each possessing tremendous power—something even a late Foundation Establishment cultivator might not be capable of. It required not only immense magical power but also exceptionally powerful spiritual sense. Otherwise, it was simply impossible.

With that thought, he struck decisively. A golden top-grade spirit weapon—a three-pronged golden blade—expanded into a ten-yard weapon that whirled like the wind, tangling with the sword rays.

Ge Qian’s sword rays were no ordinary attacks. They were not only incomparably sharp but also carried six different martial intents. Though Ge Qian’s cultivation was still too weak to unleash their full might, they could not be underestimated.

Ge Qian formed another series of hand seals. The eighty-nine sword rays merged into six ten-yard sword auras, which lashed out at the golden blade dozens of times in an instant.

Lu Buyu was thrown into confusion and could only barely defend himself. Meanwhile, the shield protecting Lu Xin let out a mournful cry as the poisonous gas corroded it. It fell to the ground, covered in countless tiny holes. The shield was ruined.

That was only to be expected. A second-tier vengeful spirit was already formidable, and with the Demonic Gourd in her hands, the two forces combined were far beyond what a mere shield could withstand.

With his defense broken, Lu Xin’s face went pale. He pointed a golden flying knife, another top-grade spirit weapon, straight at Hong Mei’s throat.

Hong Mei gave a cold laugh. “A mantis trying to stop a chariot. You overestimate yourself.”

She turned the Demonic Gourd toward the golden flying knife and drew in a breath. A vast force of suction and tearing appeared from nowhere. At first, the flying knife merely trembled faintly, but in the end it could not resist and was sucked into the gourd.

Lu Xin’s mind was connected to the golden blade. When it was captured, his spiritual imprint was forcibly erased, injuring his soul. He spat out a mouthful of blood.

Terrified, he realized that the situation had gone completely beyond his expectations. He shouted, “Uncle, save me!”

Lu Buyu was already struggling to fend off the six ten-yard sword auras. Hearing his nephew’s cry for help only made him more frantic.

He immediately bit the tip of his tongue and spat out a mouthful of vital blood, which sank into the golden giant blade. His hand seals shifted rapidly.

The golden giant blade suddenly trembled and split into two enormous blades of equal power. Together, they hacked viciously at the six sword auras.

Ge Qian immediately felt the pressure increase. Though the six sword auras possessed tremendous power, they were not physical weapons; they were merely manifestations of magical energy.

Compared with Lu Buyu’s peak Foundation Establishment cultivation and his strongest technique, Ge Qian was still slightly inferior.

With a thought, Ge Qian transformed the six sword auras into six shields and placed them before him.

The three giant blades shattered one shield, only to meet the second. The broken shield reappeared at the very back, forming an endless cycle. This was the defensive supreme art of the Sixfold Sword Art—the Sixfold Sword Shields.

The giant blades were fierce, but they could do nothing against the shields. For a time, the two sides remained locked in stalemate.

Taking advantage of the opportunity, Lu Buyu finally freed one hand to rescue his nephew. He cursed inwardly. That damned Lu Xin had brought this upon himself. Of all the people he could have chosen to refine with demonic arts, he had picked this abnormal monster. She was clearly only at the early Foundation Establishment Stage, yet her techniques were strange and her magical power profound. Trying to gain an advantage over her was harder than reaching the heavens.

He could not continue wasting time like this. Up to now, his opponent had fought with ease. Once Ge Qian and the second-tier vengeful spirit joined forces, he would no longer be able to withstand them.

He had better save Lu Xin first, then flee. Afterward, he could simply deny everything. With the Lu family’s influence, the sect would surely show them some consideration.

If not for the Nine-Leaf Ginseng, he would have left immediately and let that useless brat fend for himself.

At that thought, he slapped his spirit-beast pouch. A demonic rat five yards long appeared before him, its green eyes gleaming sharply. Upon receiving its master’s command, it transformed into a foul wind and lunged straight at Hong Mei.

Ge Qian gave a disdainful smile. It was merely a second-tier Earth-Burrowing Rat.

He slapped his own spirit-beast pouch. A flash of white light appeared, and the little white fox emerged. Without saying a word, its body rapidly expanded to ten yards in length. Its enormous, razor-sharp foreclaw shot forward and pierced straight through the Earth-Burrowing Rat’s skull.

With a mournful cry, the rat thrashed wildly with all four paws before dying on the spot.

The little white fox had long been filled with pent-up frustration. It had been oppressed by Cui Yun for so long, and although Ge Qian had rescued it, the resentment in its heart could well be imagined. Being able to help Ge Qian fight a powerful enemy filled it with inexplicable excitement. To some extent, it also wanted to prove itself.

That was why it had struck with such overwhelming force the moment it attacked. Although its cultivation realm had fallen, its claws remained deadly. A low-grade demonic rat like the Earth-Burrowing Rat could never withstand them.

Everything happened too quickly. Before Lu Buyu could react, his demonic beast had already been killed by a second-tier demonic fox. His face twisted with anguish. He had spent enormous effort raising that Earth-Burrowing Rat, yet before it could accomplish anything, Ge Qian’s spirit beast had slain it.

A chill instantly ran down his spine as the threat of death spread through his heart. He no longer cared about rescuing Lu Xin. He would leave first and think about the rest later.

While he was lost in thought, Hong Mei flicked her fingers. Five blades of resentful energy tore through the air and stabbed into Lu Xin’s groin, twisting savagely.

Lu Xin clutched his lower body and collapsed to the ground. He writhed back and forth in agony, howling without pause. Blood had already soaked half his trousers, and his testicles had been shredded into a mass of mangled flesh. The sight was unbearably gruesome.

Hong Mei said in a cold, sinister voice, “Lu Xin, you never imagined that this day would come, did you? This strike is for the sisters you ruined, sisters like me. Their spirits in the afterlife can finally rest. And this final blow will bring an end to you, you scourge.”

She was about to strike when Lu Xin crawled across the ground like a dog, wagging his metaphorical tail and begging for mercy.

“Hong Mei, please don’t kill me! I’ll do anything you want. For the sake of what we once shared, just treat me like a dog and let me go!”