Chapter 263: Invisible Wings
This was the first time since Chen Changsheng and the Black Dragon had become acquainted that she agreed to help him without first negotiating the benefits. This was because the demon woman reminded her of some unpleasant memories, especially that large iron pot, which irritated her just looking at it. Moreover, that demon woman had mentioned the dragon-eater, which annoyed her even more.
The Black Dragon left Chen Changsheng's hand, transforming into a shadow invisible to the naked eye, and sped toward the center of the lake. Like a falling leaf, she silently sank to the lake bottom, effortlessly followed the passage that inverted heaven and earth, returned to the cold pool on the other side of the cliff, burst out of the water, and rushed toward a certain garden.
With her current level of cultivation, there was no way she could influence this battle. What Chen Changsheng wanted her to do was to warn others and find help. In Chen Changsheng's mind, it would be best if she could find those senior experts from various sects who had reached the upper level of Penetrating Spirit. But she didn't think that way. She knew very well who was the strongest human cultivator in this garden now. The world of the Garden of Zhou was vast, but fortunately for her, she didn't take long to spot a white-clad girl walking alone on the cliff. Yet, looking at the bow and arrows on that white-clad girl, for some reason, she felt a chill and fear.
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...
At that moment, Teng Xiaoming slightly raised his eyebrows and glanced into the distance. As one of the twenty-four demon generals, his cultivation was extremely powerful. Although the Black Dragon came and went like lightning, silent and unseen, he still sensed some movement. However, the Black Dragon's movements were too fast—too fast for him to see anything.
"Since Liang Xiaoxiao and Qi Jian are both people you want to kill, then I understand." Chen Changsheng looked at Liu Xiaowan and said. Earlier, when he had fired the signal arrow, the other side had shown no reaction, which he found suspicious. Now it seemed that this demon general couple had deliberately allowed him to call for help, intending to lure Liang Xiaoxiao and Qi Jian over and wipe them all out in one fell swoop.
Liu Xiaowan looked at him with a smile and said, "If we can solve all the problems in the shortest time, that would naturally be best."
Chen Changsheng glanced at the demon beauty whose throat had been pierced by Zhexiu and who was barely breathing, but some doubts remained unresolved.
"I really don't understand where you get this confidence to fight two against four."
Zhexiu said expressionlessly, "If we were outside the Garden of Zhou, with the fearsome reputations of the twenty-third and twenty-fourth demon generals, I would have already fled by now. But since you've forcibly suppressed your cultivation to enter the Garden of Zhou through some method, you can only fight at this level. At your strongest, you're just at the upper level of Penetrating Spirit."
Liu Xiaowan looked at him calmly and said, "Confidence is the foundation of the strong."
"But you know what? Chen Changsheng and I are both people of few words." Zhexiu suddenly said to her.
Liu Xiaowan raised her delicate eyebrows slightly, showing some interest, and asked, "That's hard to tell."
Zhexiu said, "He's been talking so much with you, and now I'm talking with you too. Actually, it's for the same purpose as yours... we're all buying time."
Liu Xiaowan's eyebrows rose even higher, and she asked, "Why?"
"You're right. Confidence is the foundation of the strong."
Zhexiu said, "Chen Changsheng is confident. He's stronger than you imagine Chen Changsheng to be. Coincidentally, I see myself the same way."
Just then, a clear and proud voice rang out from the forest.
"That's right. I think so too."
As the words fell, two young men in plain sword robes emerged from the forest.
The disciples of Li Mountain had finally arrived.
They had already prepared for battle, bringing with them a full aura of sword intent.
They looked at the demon general couple, and a crisp, dazzling sword light burst forth.
In the forest a little further away, faint figures could be seen—it seemed Zhuang Huanyu was also almost there.
At this point, the situation on the field had undergone a tremendous change.
Five of the most talented young humans against two demon strongholds—no matter how you looked at it, it was a fight worth having, and the odds of victory were quite high.
As Zhexiu had said earlier, no matter how domineering this demon general couple was outside the Garden of Zhou, inside the Garden of Zhou, the strongest they could show was only the upper level of Penetrating Spirit.
The confusion that Chen Changsheng hadn't been able to fully resolve was: why were they so confident?
Liu Xiaowan's expression remained gentle, completely unlike Liang Xiaoxiao and Qi Jian, who looked as if they were facing a great enemy. She looked at Chen Changsheng and said, "Even if we're going to fight, it seems we should exchange hostages first."
She held the life of that female disciple from the hidden Eastern sect.
The life of that demon beauty was in Zhexiu's fingertips.
"You are the dean of the National Academy. Although you're so young that even I think the Pope is messing around..."
Liu Xiaowan looked at him with a smile and continued, "But since you're from the Li Palace, you surely wouldn't watch a fellow human die. The Longevity Sect is the orthodox path of the Mystic Gate. Although Li Mountain is fond of killing, they can't just watch a fellow human die either. Zhefu Zhexiu is a wolf cub—he can live just by eating meat—but you can't."
After hearing this, Zhexiu glanced at Chen Changsheng.
On the snowy plains, he was the wolf tribe youth who wouldn't give face to anyone. What Li Palace, what Li Mountain—none of it had anything to do with him. He just wanted to live and then kill his enemies. But after his trip to the capital, he had put himself in the right place. In the Garden of Zhou, he was Chen Changsheng's bodyguard.
Chen Changsheng looked at Qi Jian, and Qi Jian looked at Liang Xiaoxiao.
"Swap." Chen Changsheng and Liang Xiaoxiao said in unison.
Qi Jian nodded, indicating that this was only proper. Zhexiu said nothing.
Liu Xiaowan gently flicked her sleeve, doing something unknown. The beautiful woman in the basket carried by Teng Xiaoming, who had been unconscious even after having her right hand severed, woke up.
Waking up suddenly, the first thing she felt was pain.
The woman's face instantly turned deathly pale, and two streams of tears burst from her eyes. But she gritted her teeth and, aside from a single groan at the very beginning, made no sound at all.
Seeing this scene, even Zhexiu seemed moved, as if some pity and respect had arisen in him.
Qi Jian quickly took off his outer robe, swung it out, and wrapped it around her.
It was only then that the woman realized she was completely naked. After a moment of shock, she glared hatefully at Liu Xiaowan a couple of times.
Liu Xiaowan smiled faintly, unconcerned.
"Please don't panic." Liang Xiaoxiao explained the situation in the most concise words.
"Thank you, fellow cultivators, for saving me."
The woman slightly crouched in a bow. The somewhat tight robe wrapped around her naked body—anyone would feel awkward. Her bare, snow-white feet stepped on the gravel-covered ground—anyone would feel at a loss. But between her beautiful brows, there was no trace of panic. She looked like a proper young lady from a noble family, still wearing her everyday clothes.
The appreciation in Zhexiu's eyes grew stronger.
Qi Jian glanced at him and snorted inwardly.
That female disciple from the hidden Eastern sect, who looked like a proper young lady, walked toward Chen Changsheng and the others.
Liu Xiaowan and her husband made no move to stop her.
The riverbank ground was difficult to walk on. She had just lost a hand and lost a lot of blood, so she was in a weak state. But she walked very steadily, probably not wanting to cause any more complications.
After a moment, she reached Chen Changsheng and the others.
Qi Jian stepped forward two paces and reached out to support her.
A hint of shyness and resistance appeared between the woman's beautiful brows.
Qi Jian then came to his senses, awkwardly withdrew his hand, and turned slightly.
Chen Changsheng nodded to Zhexiu.
Zhexiu withdrew his sharp claws, grabbed the demon beauty by the shoulder, and prepared to toss her back to Liu Xiaowan and her husband.
A change.
An absolute change was coming.
A change that everyone had been silently waiting for for a long time.
Finally, at this moment, it happened.
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...
The first change occurred with Zhexiu. As he threw the demon beauty into the air, she, who had seemed barely alive and on the verge of death, suddenly opened her eyes.
Her two bare legs, like two swords gleaming with cold light, slashed toward Zhexiu's throat.
The hole in her throat was still bleeding, and her severed wrist was still dripping blood.
From the moment she had been captured, she hadn't said a single word. Everyone thought she was too weak to fight anymore.
No one had expected that she was just waiting for the moment Zhexiu's fingertips left her throat.
The next change happened in front of Qi Jian.
Just as he awkwardly turned around, the shyness on the face of that female disciple from the hidden Eastern sect vanished instantly, replaced by nothing but indifference.
A cold sword blade tore through the robe, carrying a terrifying aura, and stabbed toward Qi Jian's throat.
That robe had originally been Qi Jian's.
What she was exploiting was Qi Jian's kindness and sense of propriety.
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...
Since the changes had begun, they naturally didn't stop there.
Qi Jian hadn't turned around, seemingly completely unprepared. It looked like he was about to die under the woman's sneak attack. But then, a clear sword light flashed.
The Li Mountain Dharma Sword!
Upright, but absolutely not gentle—full of killing intent!
The small and thin Qi Jian wielded a sword with absolute grandeur!
How could that ghostly, sneak-attacking sword match his sword, which had been gathering momentum for a long time and harbored no guilt?
With a crisp sound, the Li Mountain Dharma Sword in Qi Jian's hand directly knocked the woman's sword away. With a *swish*, it left a bloody mark on the left side of her neck!
If the woman's movement technique hadn't been too bizarre, and if Qi Jian's combat experience hadn't been somewhat lacking, he might have cut off her head with that strike!
Qi Jian was prepared for a sneak attack, so it was even more true for Zhexiu.
As the demon beauty's straight, bare legs twisted toward him like two swords, Zhexiu's hands were already waiting in midair.
Like blades stabbing into rotten wood, there were several dull *thuds*!
All ten of Zhexiu's fingers deeply pierced the demon beauty's ankles, and blood immediately gushed out.
The demon beauty let out an angry, miserable scream!
Zhexiu's expression was indifferent. He pulled out his fingers, his figure suddenly blurring, and his hands tore through the air as they fell, preparing to tear this woman to pieces.
Just then, Teng Xiaoming expressionlessly untied his carrying pole and swung the two ropes that held the baskets.
Those two ropes seemed to come alive, each tying up one of the two women.
With a series of *whooshing* sounds, the two women narrowly escaped the attack range of Qi Jian and Zhexiu.
The woman who had been impersonating a disciple of the hidden Eastern sect still had a solemn and dignified expression, like a proper young lady, but the blood soaking half her chest and abdomen made her look somewhat disheveled.
The demon beauty was even more miserable. From the stone comb at the center of the lake until now, she had suffered repeated severe injuries and could no longer hold on. She directly sat down on the ground.
With a *clang*, Chen Changsheng sheathed his short sword.
Liang Xiaoxiao's sword had also been drawn and was now in his hand.
The sneak attack and counterattack earlier had happened too quickly. Although they had been prepared, they still hadn't had time to draw their swords.
It had to be said that Teng Xiaoming, as the twenty-fourth demon general, was indeed a cut above the humans present in terms of insight, experience, and cultivation level.
The lakeside fell silent again.
The demon woman sitting on the ground, panting heavily, didn't care at all that she was completely naked. She glared hatefully at Chen Changsheng and the others and said, "I don't accept this!"
The woman wearing Qi Jian's robe slightly raised her eyebrows, also showing displeasure, and asked, "That fool over there is one thing, but how did you see through me?"
The demon beauty said angrily, "What do you mean by 'that fool'?"
The woman shook her head, as if unwilling to deal with her, and looked at Qi Jian, asking, "How did you know I would attack you?"
Qi Jian glanced at Zhexiu and said, "I didn't know. He told me."
The woman looked at Zhexiu, slightly raised her eyebrows, and asked, "Then how did you see that I was Nanke?"
Hearing the name Nanke, Zhexiu's expression became much more serious. He looked at her, was silent for a moment, confirmed again, and shook his head, saying, "You are not Nanke... I said, if it were Nanke, there would be no need to do so many things. She would just walk out and kill us all. Why would she need to be so long-winded and troublesome?"
The woman frowned slightly and asked, "Then how did you see through it? I don't have demon horns, and my blood is red."
The demon beauty's recovery ability was terrifying. Despite being so severely injured, she only sat for a while before standing up again, her face full of anger, and said, "Yeah! My blood is green, so that's one thing. I got a new hairstyle a few days ago and cut too much, so I couldn't completely cover my demon horns, and that's another thing. But what about this girl? Her blood is clearly red, and she has no horns. How could you tell she was one of our kind?"
Chen Changsheng and the others also looked at Zhexiu, wondering how he had figured it out.
After a long silence, Zhexiu said, "You were too deliberate. It was like you wanted us to see that her blood was red."
This referred to the demon general couple cutting off the woman's hand without a second thought.
Liu Xiaowan glanced at the woman and said with a smile, "See? I told you that method of yours was unnecessary."
The woman looked at Zhexiu, very puzzled, and asked, "Just that one reason? No other evidence?"
"Between life and death, one reason is enough." Zhexiu said expressionlessly.
Hearing this, the woman became even more displeased, thinking, *I worked so hard to come up with that plan, and it's completely useless against these humans?*
The demon beauty looked at her and mocked, "See? I told you your brain isn't very sharp, but you still insist on calling me a fool every day."
The woman said expressionlessly, "If you weren't a fool, you wouldn't have thought about sneaking away alone and trying to kill these two people by yourself."
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...
Chen Changsheng and the others had a very strange feeling.
The demon beauty was extremely seductive and alluring, exuding a mature charm. The other woman had a dignified expression and a beautiful face, like a proper young lady raised strictly from childhood. But watching the two of them mock and argue with each other, they felt that the two women were incredibly similar, as if they were the same person.
Qi Jian's feeling was even stranger. This was his first time truly seeing demons and fighting them. He found that these demons could also bicker and argue, just like the senior brothers and sisters in his sect. But the next moment, he came to his senses, realizing that this kind of thinking was too dangerous.
What brought him back to his senses was the change in the bodies of the two demon women.
Their hands, which had clearly been severed earlier, were now recovering at a visible rate!
It wasn't the terrifying scene of reattachment or the regrowth of muscle and bone tissue. Instead, a translucent, pale green hand had appeared on their wrists.
And that hand, which seemed like a spirit body, was gradually turning into a real hand.
Chen Changsheng was very surprised. Although demons had strong physical recovery abilities, unless they were of extremely pure royal blood, no one could regenerate severed limbs.
Moreover, this was clearly not some peerless demon technique like limb regeneration.
Zhexiu finally remembered something, and his face instantly turned pale.
These two demon women were indeed not Nanke. They were... Nanke's two wings.
"Have you had enough fun?" Liu Xiaowan looked at the two women, somewhat helplessly, and said, "If you hadn't been so eager to be first in everything, today's matter would have been settled long ago. When the Great One kills that phoenix and finds out about this, if he punishes you for another three years, see what you'll do."
Hearing this, the two demon women showed expressions of fear and said no more.
Liu Xiaowan looked at Chen Changsheng, smiled apologetically, and then said, "Let's begin."
Black hair flew, and robes fluttered wildly.
This time, it wasn't a sneak attack—just a battle of pure strength. But it brought even greater pressure to Chen Changsheng and the others.
Qi Jian was fearless and charged forward with his sword.
Zhexiu, expressionless, extended his fingertips with a metallic gleam and attacked the demon woman again.
The atmosphere by the lake was in chaos, with sword energy and demonic aura clashing.
Chen Changsheng looked at Liu Xiaowan, his expression serious.
Liang Xiaoxiao stared at Teng Xiaoming, his face slightly pale.
In terms of cultivation level, they were higher than Zhexiu and Qi Jian, so it was only natural that these two demon generals were their opponents.
In this battle, the young humans still had a chance to fight. And if they could fight, it didn't mean they would lose.
Or perhaps they could hold out until the Black Dragon brought other human experts?
That was Chen Changsheng's plan. But he had gotten one thing wrong.
When Liu Xiaowan had said "let's begin" earlier, she wasn't actually talking to him. She was talking to someone else.
Amidst the flying sand and stones, a sword came to Zhexiu's back.
This sword was very strong. This sword was very treacherous.
No matter how vigilant and careful Zhexiu was, he never expected a sword to stab him from behind.
With a *puchi*, the sword pierced his waist.
Blood sprayed out.
Almost at the same time, the demon woman flew in front of him.
Her hands, glowing with a sickly green, stabbed into his shoulders!
Her black hair shot out like steel needles, straight for his eyes!
At the critical moment of life and death, Zhexiu let out an extremely ferocious howl!
The wolf tribe youth's eyes turned blood-red!
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(The deputy moderator has set up a post in the book review section to collect questions. Everyone can ask me anything about *Zhetian Ji*—things you're interested in, curious about, or don't understand. Just reply in the thread. In a few days, I'll answer everyone's questions in one go. Mm, there's no other reason—I just want to communicate with everyone. Mwah... Tomorrow's update won't be too much. Also, the chapter title today really drained my brain cells.)