The sword light of the Three Yang True Fire Sword tore through the Wind-Thunder Bird's black wings, splattering blood that dyed the sea surface red.
The Wind-Thunder Bird let out a shriek and plummeted from the sky.
Seeing this, the other five demon cultivators exchanged glances. The water and wood attribute demons dove down, intending to catch the Wind-Thunder Bird, while the metal, fire, and earth attribute demons simultaneously launched a fierce assault on Feng Ning.
Their intent was to relieve the siege by attacking the rescuer. Unexpectedly, Mo Tiange and Qin Xi didn't even glance their way. The Flames of the Vermilion Bird spread out, attacking the water and wood demons, while Mo Tiange waved her Heaven-Earth Fan, releasing a mist that surged from the fan and swept toward the Wind-Thunder Bird.
The water demon opened its mouth and spat, sending a towering wave crashing toward the Flames of the Vermilion Bird. Water overcomes fire, and as a sea beast that had grown in the ocean for years, it was confident against fire-based spells. However, the flames before it were no ordinary fire; they instantly vaporized the massive wave into steam and continued to surge toward the two demons.
The two demons were greatly alarmed. Scorched by the Flames of the Vermilion Bird, half their bodies were wracked with unbearable pain, forcing them to release the Wind-Thunder Bird. Qin Xi unleashed a sword qi that pierced straight through the Wind-Thunder Bird's chest.
Having lost its wings, the Wind-Thunder Bird could no longer use its Wind-Thunder Escape and had to endure the blow head-on.
The mist from the Heaven-Earth Fan transformed into countless fine threads, tightly binding the Wind-Thunder Bird and pulling it over.
Meanwhile, a strum of the konghou sounded as Feng Ning barely managed to block the attack, but her follow-up strength was insufficient, and she was grazed by the residual force of the fire demon's attack.
Seeing the captured Wind-Thunder Bird and the thoroughly defeated water and wood demons, the metal, fire, and earth demons exchanged another glance. All five demons simultaneously fled, escaping toward the direction of the demon city.
The five demons fled, but they did not give chase. Mo Tiange tossed the Wind-Thunder Bird to Qin Xi and turned to look at Feng Ning.
Feng Ning's entire sleeve was charred. She was clutching her arm, glaring at them angrily.
"Feng-guniang, are you alright?"
Feng Ning's face contorted for a moment before she finally couldn't hold back her anger. "You actually used me as bait?"
Mo Tiange acted as if nothing was wrong. "But you're fine, aren't you?"
"Of course you're fine!" Feng Ning grew angrier the more she thought about it, pointing at her half-sleeve. "I'm the one who got hurt!" The charred half-sleeve had turned her from an immortal beauty into a madwoman.
Mo Tiange looked at her and smiled, revealing gleaming teeth. "What's a little injury like this? Getting hurt is part of fighting."
"It's easy for you to say when it's not you!" Feng Ning then glared at Qin Xi. "And you just let her?"
Qin Xi smiled. "It really is just a minor injury."
"You... you..." Feng Ning was fuming, pointing at Qin Xi. "What, now that you've married someone else, this is how you treat me?"
Qin Xi paused.
Mo Tiange glanced at him, then looked back at Feng Ning.
Feng Ning sneered. "What? You treat him like a treasure, but I don't care for him!"
Mo Tiange, however, smiled. "Even if you wanted to care for him, you wouldn't have the chance, would you?"
"What did you say?" Feng Ning's temperament couldn't tolerate such sarcasm. "If I hadn't been uninterested, we would have been betrothed eight hundred years ago!"
Mo Tiange looked at Qin Xi. "Is that true?"
Qin Xi coughed and turned his face away. "This matter... I was unaware."
Judging by his expression, it was probably true. Mo Tiange snorted coldly inwardly but smiled at Feng Ning again. "Feng-guniang, my Senior Brother never agreed to it, did he?"
Feng Ning gave her a cold glance. "Senior Jinghe agreed."
Mo Tiange didn't hold back, rolling her eyes. "So Feng-guniang likes my Master? Although the age difference is a bit large, it doesn't matter. For us Nascent Soul cultivators, what are a few hundred years? My Master is only around a thousand years old, still far from passing away. He might even smoothly advance to late Nascent Soul, and reaching Soul Transformation is just around the corner!"
"Nonsense!" Feng Ning's face flushed red. "Who has that kind of relationship with Senior Jinghe?"
Mo Tiange put on an extremely surprised expression. "Didn't my Master agree to your marriage proposal?"
She was deliberately twisting her words. Feng Ning stamped her foot in frustration. "I said Senior Jinghe agreed to the marriage between me and Qin Shoujing!"
"Oh, so that's it." Mo Tiange seemed to lose interest, muttering, "How strange. If my Master agreed to the marriage, why didn't he tell my Senior Brother? Could he have been joking? Ah, that's just how my Master is, always teasing his juniors for fun, really..."
"..." Feng Ning's face turned from red to green, then from green to red, before she finally pointed at Mo Tiange and shouted angrily, "Mo Qingwei, you...!"
"Why is Feng-guniang so angry?" Mo Tiange leaned closer. "Getting angry often makes you age easily. With such beauty, Feng-guniang, wouldn't it be a pity to grow old?"
"..."
"Ahem." Qin Xi pulled her back. "Stop teasing. Feng-guniang is injured. Let's return first so she can tend to her wounds."
Mo Tiange turned her head, her gaze sharp enough to kill, enunciating each word clearly. "What did you say?"
"I... didn't say anything."
Mo Tiange nodded with satisfaction, then turned back with an exceptionally amiable smile toward Feng Ning. "Feng-guniang, rather than staying here angry, wouldn't it be better to go back and change your clothes? If Elders Luan and Feng see you like this, they'll surely be heartbroken."
Feng Ning glared at her, gnashing her teeth, before finally flicking her intact sleeve and transforming into a streak of escaping light, heading toward Bixuan Pavilion.
Only after her figure disappeared did Mo Tiange retract her smile and turn to look at Qin Xi.
Feeling uneasy under her gaze, Qin Xi braced himself and said, "Master did mention it, but I was obsessed with cultivation at the time and didn't respond..."
Mo Tiange closed her Heaven-Earth Fan and crossed her arms. "So, she likes you?"
"How could that be?" Qin Xi said. "Many people fawned over her. I only met her a few times and barely exchanged a few words..."
"That's hard to say," Mo Tiange replied. "Back then, Senior Sister Wei also..."
Thinking of Wei Jiasi and her tragic end, she fell silent.
Qin Xi defended himself again. "Don't be suspicious. Feng Ning is just resentful. Since her birth, she's been coddled by Elders Luan and Feng. With her beauty, everyone treats her with courtesy, so..."
Mo Tiange didn't say anything more. "Let's go back." With that, she summoned her escaping light and flew back to Bixuan Pavilion.
Qin Xi, holding the Wind-Thunder Bird, stood there dazed for a moment before finally shaking his head and following.
Back in the Sect Leader Hall, Mo Tiange was already sitting to the side, enjoying Bixuan Pavilion's top-grade spirit tea. Seeing him enter, she turned her head away, ignoring him.
Qin Xi tossed the Wind-Thunder Bird aside and also sat down.
"Where are you demon cultivators from?"
Having suffered two sword strikes, the Wind-Thunder Bird was on its last breath. It opened its eyes slightly, then closed them again.
"Not talking?" A cold smile appeared at the corner of Qin Xi's mouth. "If you don't want to be turned into a corpse puppet while still alive, you'd better confess honestly."
The Wind-Thunder Bird let out a hoarse voice. "No need. I'll end it myself."
With that, the Demon Core within its body slowly began to glow.
Seeing this, both of them were greatly alarmed. Qin Xi immediately summoned his sword light and, without a word of warning, fiercely stabbed toward the Wind-Thunder Bird's Demon Core. Mo Tiange, meanwhile, pulled out her White Silk Handkerchief, transforming it into a piece of white cloth several zhang in size, and threw it over the Wind-Thunder Bird.
A "boom" echoed. The cultivators in the square who were being pestered by Bai Yanfei turned their heads to see Bixuan Pavilion's Sect Leader Hall shake.
"Ahem." Mo Tiange waved her hand, dispersing the dust before her, muttering, "How cunning. So it was prepared to self-destruct its Demon Core all along."
Whether it was a cultivator self-destructing their Golden Core or Nascent Soul, or a demon cultivator self-destructing their Demon Core, it wasn't something that could be completed in an instant. But once it exploded, it was extremely dangerous. The Wind-Thunder Bird's Demon Core did ultimately explode. Fortunately, they reacted quickly. Before the Demon Core could fully detonate, Qin Xi's sword had already slain the Wind-Thunder Bird, and the remaining force was blocked by the White Silk Handkerchief. The entire Sect Leader Hall only suffered damage to a few chairs.
Mo Tiange picked up the White Silk Handkerchief, now riddled with eighteen holes, and sighed. This defensive treasure gifted by her great-grandfather was finally ruined. In such a tattered state, it couldn't even be repaired.
Qin Xi looked regretfully at the Wind-Thunder Bird, now a pile of mangled flesh. The body of an eighth-rank demon beast was full of treasures everywhere. If he could use an eighth-rank Demon Core for alchemy, his cultivation would surely increase greatly.
Ying Jinyi hurried over. Upon entering the Sect Leader Hall, she was startled. "Seniors, what happened...?"
"Clean this up," Qin Xi said.
"Yes." Ying Jinyi called over two miscellaneous duty disciples.
"Heh." A light laugh came from the doorway. Feng Ning, having changed her clothes, leaned against the doorframe, looking at them mockingly. "How carefree you two are."
Although they hadn't been hit by the explosion, they were covered in dust, looking quite disheveled.
Mo Tiange waved her sleeve, casting a simple spell to remove all the dust from her body. She looked at Feng Ning with a sincere smile. "Why didn't Feng-guniang stay in the courtyard to recuperate? Your injuries from earlier were quite serious, weren't they?"
Feng Ning's sore spot was poked again, and her expression changed. Her injuries were indeed serious; her entire arm had been invaded by fire qi, and it would take a long time to completely expel it.
With a dark expression, she said, "And I have you to thank for that. If it weren't for you, how would I have gotten injured?"
Mo Tiange smiled brightly. "Feng-guniang is truly noble and virtuous, willing to use yourself as bait for our sake. I am truly moved."
"Hmph!" Feng Ning glared at her angrily. "How dare you say that? I wasn't willing!" Her gaze swept over Qin Xi beside her, making her even angrier. "Men! Hmph, truly creatures who forget loyalty for beauty!"
These words were a bit harsh. Qin Xi raised his head, his gaze sharp as lightning. "Feng-guniang, if we hadn't done that, repelling those demon cultivators wouldn't have been easy."
Seeing his expression, Feng Ning knew she had misspoken, but she refused to admit defeat, arguing stubbornly, "Your cultivation is the highest. Wouldn't it have been more secure for you to restrain those demon cultivators?"
Qin Xi said calmly, "Firstly, the two of us cooperate seamlessly. Secondly, Feng-guniang lacks a means to deliver a decisive, one-hit kill. I apologize for causing you injury."
"..." Feng Ning turned her head away. "Hmph, I won't talk to you anymore. Don't bother with me in the future."
Mo Tiange took out a jade bottle from her Qiankun Bag. Hearing this, she showed a troubled expression. "I was just about to say, to express our apology, here are three Nine Revolutions Returning Yang Pills. But since you said not to bother with you in the future... I really don't know what to do."
Feng Ning whirled back around, staring fixedly at Mo Tiange, gritting her teeth. "Mo... Qing... Wei!"
Mo Tiange immediately responded, "What instructions does Feng-guniang have?"
"Go die!" Feng Ning exploded. "You're deliberately messing with me, aren't you? When have I ever offended you? You, you, you..."