But the legendary G.o.d of Fire defended himself admirably by striking out with his smaller but numerically superior fireb.a.l.l.s, causing the flaming projectiles to detonate in midair. Fire filled the once-blue sky, giving it a vicious, orange tinge.

Sect Lady Da Ji"s fireb.a.l.l.s might be much bigger, but they were limited to just nine, whereas Ling Huo Shen"s constellation of fireb.a.l.l.s almost numbered as many as the stars in a clear night. Even so, it seemed that Lady Da Ji had the upper hand in firepower, but the quality of Ling Huo Shen"s Divine Fire was higher than hers. As expected of the Pure Yang Flames, even when smaller than the larger Nine-Tailed Fox fireb.a.l.l.s, they packed an almost equal amount of firepower.

Boom!

Another explosion rang through the riverside, causing the fortification walls to reverberate violently from the impact. Despite the devastating tremors, both sides were caught up in a desperate battle, with squad 4 and Tong Xue engaging the survivors of the Incendiary Ifrit Sect fleet. Flames and blood gushed out in the air as they clashed, Spirit Weapons glinting as they reflected off the bright light of the fire or dull crimson of blood techniques.

"Tong Xue! Guys!" I yelled while dodging a torrent of fire from my end. Hitting the ground, I rolled up and summoned Snow Aegis, which blocked a rush of golden flames that incinerated the gra.s.s and ground around me.

"It"s useless to call out to them. they won"t be able to reinforce you." one of the Incendiary Ifrit Sect members chuckled as he steppe forward, swinging his sword to blast ineffectually against my huge snowflake-shaped shield. He was just wasting his qi. "Our sect leader, the G.o.d of Fire, has personally come to invade Nine-Tailed Fox Sect. We are all aware of the reputation and strength of Lady Zi Da Ji. That is why Sect Leader Ling has personally come to the frontline, for the sole purpose of occupying the Queen of the Nine-Tailed Fox Sect in combat. While she"s distracted by him, it"s an easy matter for the rest of us to subdue the Blood Blades."

I actually laughed at that, the frosty blades on my Snow Aegis detaching and blasting qi beams at them. Two of them were too slow to evade and had holes punched through them. Even before they hit the ground, I glared at the speaker from behind my hovering Snow Aegis.

"You think your Incendiary Ifrit Sect is capable of defeating us Blood Blades? Especially after our Sect Lady has destroyed the majority of the fleet?"

Despite being taken by surprise, the speaker scoffed at me. There was something about his c.o.c.ky, self-a.s.sured grin that disturbed me.

"Who says the Incendiary Ifrit Sect will be the one to subdue the Blood Blades? Have you forgotten that we aren"t your only enemy?"

A chill ran down my spine when I suddenly understood what he meant.

"This is a diversion!" turning to Sect Lady Da Ji, I yelled. "The Martial Arts Alliance is launching a simultaneous attack on the sect while the Incendiary Ifrit Sect distracts and keeps us bogged down in battle here!"

"Too late!" the Incendiary Ifrit Sect member sneered as he swung his sword, unleashing another torrent of fire at me. "Even if you know now, there"s absolutely nothing you can do about it!"

To my horror, I realized that he was right. There was no way we could simply disengage from combat and run off to reinforce Lang Xie, Hai Rong and the rest of the Blood Blades. That would leave our back open to attack, and the remnants of the Incendiary ifrit Sect were powerful enough to wreak havoc on our backline. We couldn"t afford to leave them alone to rampage through the River Gate and stab us in the back while fighting the other sects.

Glancing above, it seemed that Sect Lady Da Ji had realized the trap, but she could do nothing about it. Right now, she was being suppressed by Ling Huo Shen"s Divine Fire, his Pure Yang Flames actually increasing in intensity and numbers. She was completely focused on dodging in midair, weaving through the multiple bombardments and obliterating those fireb.a.l.l.s she wasn"t able to entirely dodge. Even as she flung out nine more ma.s.sive fireb.a.l.l.s of her own, Ling Huo Shen was able to defend himself with more fireb.a.l.l.s, the superior quality of his smaller infernos able to neutralize the ma.s.sive fiery projectiles in mutual destruction.

Sect Lady Da Ji frowned, a bead of perspiration trickling down her pretty face, but she refused to be perturbed by the current crisis. She had taught us Blood Blades to retain our cool and stay calm in the face of all situations, and right now she was exemplifying that to the letter. Noticing the concerned expressions of squad 4, she shouted out without turning to us.

"Do not panic! Do not falter! Right now, our duty is to defeat these invaders from Incendiary Ifrit Sect! Do not let your mind wander and focus on our current mission! We"ll worry about the rest of the sect only after we complete our mission!"

"Yes, Sect Lady!"

Pushing their worries out of their mind, squad 4 and Tong Xue doubled their efforts, roaring ferociously and momentarily driving the Incendiary Ifrit Sect members back, almost taking them by surprise.

However, seeing that Ling Huo Shen was suppressing and even overwhelming Sect Lady Da Ji with the sheer volume of fireb.a.l.l.s, the Incendiary Ifrit Sect rallied and fought just as fiercely. Casualties were mounting on both sides, but I was heartened to see that our enemies were bearing the worse brunt of it.

Unfortunately, while Tong Xue and Squad 4 were faring well atop the fortifications, I was alone in the riverbank, fighting against a numerically superior number.

"This is checkmate!"

Gloating, the crowing speaker slashed at me, his blade blazing with a weaker version of the Divine Fire that Ling Huo Shen was using. The flames dissipated harmlessly against my Snow Aegis, which held its ground firmly even as the demonic martial artist smashed against it. Holding onto my shield, I refused to yield even as my legs buckled slightly under the impact.

My current opponent was physically stronger than me, it seemed.

"Heh! A Qi Fusion Stage pract.i.tioner trying to go against a Pure Spirit Stage pract.i.tioner like me? How laughable!"

"So?"

Before I even completed my question, a qi beam from one of my mobile turrets and punched a hole through my a.s.sailant"s head. He crumpled to the ground, a cauterized crater in both the back of his skull and his astonished face. He didn"t even know what hit him.

Good. I finally didn"t have to listen to his annoying prattle. Stepping over his corpse, I faced the rest of the Incendiary Ifrit Sect disciples. Above, Sect Lady Da Ji continued to weave and evade the nework of detonating fireb.a.l.l.s, whirling around to narrowly dodge one while slashing another one with her sword. Throwing her other hand out, she launched a fireball at Ling Huo Shen, but he struck it away with his spear, splitting it in half.

The two halves of the immense fireball slammed into the river, throwing up steaming geysers. The cloud of steam was immediately dissipated when he punched through it with another volley of fireb.a.l.l.s, forcing Sect Lady Da Ji to withdraw once again.

d.a.m.n it, I had never seen Sect Lady Da Ji so pressured. I had heard legends of the venerable G.o.d of Fire, and it seemed that he lived up to his reputation as one of the strongest fire-based martial artists in the Great Zhou Empire.

But he was only ranked second, even with this much skill and power. I dreaded to think how much more powerful Lie Yang Fen Tian was.

"Idiot. You shouldn"t underestimate that person. He"s Fei Wu, the current prodigy of the Nine-Tailed Fox Sect."

This time, it was Ling Qing Zhu who spoke up. She took a step forward, bowing a bit apologetically.

"Even though you saved my life that time in the tomb, we are meeting as enemies today. I hope you will not resent me. We are both only doing our jobs. I will not hold a grudge against you if you defeat me, and I hope you will not either."

"That man…the Golden G.o.d of Fire, Ling Huo Shen, is your father, isn"t he?" I asked calmly. Ling Qing Zhu paused for a moment, frowning, and then nodded.

"So what if he is?"

I smirked as I pushed my gla.s.ses up my nose. Taking a deep breath, I yelled as loudly as I could.

"Hey, respectable Sect Leader of the Incendiary Ifrit Sect! I"m going to kill your daughter, you know? Are you fine with that?"

"You…!"

Ling Huo Shen"s eyes widened and he spun around. Earlier, he had been directing a huge volume of flames at Sect Lady Da Ji, but he paused around to glare at me, his crimson pupils blazing in anger.

"What did you say?!"

"I said, I"m going to kill your daughter," I replied calmly.

"Who"s going to kill me?!" Ling Qing Zhu snapped. Grabbing her Crimson Lotus Sword, she lunged at me. A torrent of flames spun rapidly around her blade as she thrust it at me, a killer technique that would have punched a hole in steel walls several meters thick and melt the metal. If she had used this technique the last time we met, in the Nascent Soul Stage pract.i.tioner"s tomb, she would surely have killed me.

However, the me right now was completely different from the me then.

Absolute Zero.

"!!!"

Ling Qing Zhu forced herself to stop, but she wasn"t able to make it in time. Just like Liang Shao Yang before her, she found herself trapped in unbreakable ice. It wasn"t simply entombing her in an ice coffin. Her very blood froze, and her qi stopped flowing, having been leeched away by the sheer coldness of my technique.

"Kuh…!"

Ling Qing Zhu struggled momentarily, but within seconds she was completely frozen solid. Her eyes widened inside the ice, and I had to admire her strength. To think she was strong enough to resist my Absolute Zero concept slightly and still retain a modic.u.m of consciousness within the absolutely paralyzing ice.

My mobile beam turrets then shifted to aim at her. As an expert, Ling Huo Shen could not mistake the destructive qi gathered within them for anything else.

"You…!" he growled.

"If you don"t call your forces off, I"ll kill your daughter."

"Scoundrel!" he roared. "Is this how an orthodox sect fights? Where is your honor?! Have you sunk so low as to taking hostages now?"

"Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!" I couldn"t help but laugh. "Oh, man…the sheer hypocrisy is hilarious. You gang up with ten other sects to invade us, and you want to talk about honor? You drive us into a corner, and yet you expect us to fight in a just manner? What kind of f.u.c.king bulls.h.i.t is that? That"s double standards, isn"t it? You hypocritical b.a.s.t.a.r.ds won"t hesitate to swoop down and resort to despicable means to get what you want, but when someone else turns around and does it to you, you start complaining about the lack of honor and justice? Just listen to yourself!"

"!!!!"

"Hmph. Not to mention you"re a demonic sect, aren"t you?" Tong Xue scoffed as he slashed one of the Incendiary Ifrit Sect members. "What right do you have to preach to us about honor and justice in the first place?"

"…kuh!"

Unable to argue with us, Ling Huo Shen exploded into a rage.

"Qing Zhu!" he bellowed. "Hang in there! After I"m finished with this vixen, I"ll come and save you! And I"ll kill you, brat, after I"m finished with your mistress!"

Swoosh!

"!!!"

Out of the smoke, Sect Lady Da Ji abruptly emerged and slashed at Ling Huo Shen"s exposed back with her sword. Whirling around in reflex, Ling Huo Shen just barely managed to parry her blade with the shaft of his spear, but so great was her strength that he found himself hurled hack, tumbling helplessly in the air.

Spinning around to face him, Sect Lady Da Ji swung her sword, re-igniting it with crimson flames. Another nine fireb.a.l.l.s materialized behind and above her again.

"Who did you say was going to finish who?" she asked coldly.

"Vixen…" Ling Huo Shen growled furiously. "Get out of my way!"

"Sect Leader Ling, don"t worry! Leave your daughter to me!"

"We"ll save her!"

The remaining masters and disciples of the Incendiary Ifrit Sect a.s.sured him, turning around to glare at me.

"Go!"

"Don"t let a single hair get harmed on Mistress!"

A good number of the Incendiary Ifrit Sect disciples on the wall actually turned their backs on the Blood Blades fighting them and jumped off, all of them eagerly diving toward me with their flaming blades.

"What the?!"

"Oi! Don"t just run away like that!"

"How shameless!"

"Trying to s.n.a.t.c.h the glory away like that?!"

"We were here first!"

The remaining Incendiary Ifrit Sect disciples and masters, upon seeing their comrades abandon the battle with the Blood Blades, also spun around and dove at me too, aggressively channeling their qi into their fiery techniques.

"As long as Sect Leader Ling allows me to marry his daughter in future!"

"No, I"m going to be his future son-in-law!"

"For the sake of my future father-in-law!"

"…how shameless." I couldn"t help but gape at the approaching reinforcements. "I know Lady Ling Qing Zhu is quite the catch, but aren"t you guys too desperate?"

"He he he…" Ling Huo Shen had finally arrested his tumble and was straightening himself. Gripping his spear as he summoned more fireb.a.l.l.s for his confrontation against Sect Lady Da Ji, he chuckled in relief. "Then I"ll leave it to you first."

"Where do you think you"re going?"

Tong Xue"s eyes flashed dangerously.

"Turning your backs on the opponent…aren"t you underestimating us too much?"

"You"ll regret this."

Squad 4 were unamused at the sudden turn of events as well, but being well-trained and disciplined, they did not hesitate to exploit the opening I just created for them. While the Incendiary Ifrit Sect members were distracted by the idea of glory, my comrades descended upon them, stabbing them in the back and killing them instantly.

"Ugh!"

"Argh!"

"NOOO!"

"It"s a trap!"

The surviving Incendiary Ifrit Sect members, realizing that they had just made a fatal mistake, spun around to fight the pursuing Blood Blades off, but half of their number had already been slaughtered. On the other hand, the survivors on the ground, which was still a good number, were able to reinforce them, but the battle had spilled onto the riverbank instead of atop the fortified walls. On the other hand, I was no longer alone.

"Good thinking," Tong Xue praised me as he landed nearby. "In just one move, you completely turned the tables on the enemy!"

"Not good!"

Ling Huo Shen"s eyes widened when he realized the predicament his subordinates were in. turning around, he cried out.

"My daughter! I"m coming for you now!"

However, he stopped when a single sword cut through the s.p.a.ce where he would have been had he continued forward, and he withdrew.

"This kid…it was a trap!"

One of the Incendiary Ifrit Sect members cried out in fear as he desperately defended himself against a Blood Blade, and found himself ground onto the scorched earth.

"Good job creating chaos like that. I really didn"t think you had it in you to take a hostage." Tong Xue was shaking his head.

"Desperate times call for desperate measures," I replied coolly as I directed my mobile turrets to fire off another barrage of qi beams at frantically escaping Incendiary Ifrit Sect members. "We can"t afford to be picky with our methods."

"That"s right." Tong Xue glanced up at the sky, where Sect Lady Da Ji was confronting the distracted Ling Huo Shen, the both of them ringed by golden flames and orbiting fireb.a.l.l.s. "Sect Lady is currently having difficulty overcoming the Pure Yang Flames of the Golden G.o.d of Fire. So you"re using this tactic to distract that old man."

"If you don"t stop fighting, I"ll kill your daughter!" I called out to emphasize my point. Ling Huo Shen risked a glance over his shoulder.

"If you so much as harm a hair on her head, I"ll kill you!"

"Then withdraw!"

Ling Huo Shen gritted his teeth, weighing the odds, but realizing that he could not afford to back down here. Not when he had already promised the Martial Arts Alliance to carry out this diversion. He couldn"t very well abandon the mssion he had been a.s.signed just for his daughter alone. As much as he loved her, he knew as well as she did that the moment they both stepped into the battlefield, he was not allowed to show any favoritism toward her.

So many of the other Incendiary ifrit Sect disciples and masters had already died, fallen to the blades of the Blood Blades or the apocalyptic fireb.a.l.l.s of Sect Lady Da Ji. He couldn"t just give up the mission for the sake of his daughter alone. It would be extremely unfair to the other sect members who had sacrificed their lives in this battle.

"I swear, I"ll definitely get revenge for this!" he vowed. I merely glance up at him silently, running through the options in my head.

Right now, I couldn"t kill Ling Qing Zhu. Yet. Never mind that she was too powerful to kill – right now she was resisting my Absolute Zero, and I had no doubt that if I tried to attack her now, I would break her out of the ice and inadvertently help her instead. But her father didn"t have to know that. In any case, the moment I killed her, all hopes of negotiating with Ling Huo Shen and forcing the Incendiary Ifrit Sect to retreat would be lost. I couldn"t allow a moment of spite or blind fury to rule over my judgement, or we would lose everything.

Killing Ling Qing Zhu would make things worse. The old man would definitely fly into a rage and start rampaging around, killing everyone and destroying everything in his path. That would create a bigger headache.

"Try it," Ling Huo Shen snarled again, slicing apart another of Sect Lady Da Ji"s fireb.a.l.l.s and risking another glance at me. "I swear I will kill you. Nothing in this world will ever be able to protect you from my wrath if you kill her. No G.o.d, no Buddha, no demon, nothing. I will hunt you down to the ends of the earth myself!"

Boom!

"!!!"

Ling Huo Shen spiraled back, his robes smoldering a little as he barely defended himself against another of Sect Lady Da Ji"s fireb.a.l.l.s. She hovered between him and me, her gaze intense and murderous. Even though her killing intent was not directed at me, I couldn"t help but feel a h.e.l.lish chill grip the base of my spine.

"From now on," she declared calmly. "Don"t even think about taking another step forward. I will not allow you to touch any member of my sect."

She narrowed her eyes, which glowed crimson in a second. As if responding to her will, nine gargantuan fireb.a.l.l.s materialized in the air again.

"Hmph." Ling Huo Shen snorted as he turned back to face her, several streams of Divine Fire waving about behind him. "What a bag of hot air!" raising his hand, he conjured another dozen or so of those smaller fireb.a.l.l.s.

Thrusting his spear forward, he launched the numerous fireb.a.l.l.s simultaneously. Sect Lady Da Ji scowled and retaliated with her own, but while most of them disappeared in explosions as they collided violently with her nine fireb.a.l.l.s, a few slipped past the net and blazed toward her like comets. Sect Lady Da Ji kicked off the air and dodged the pursuing fireb.a.l.l.s, elegantly weaving through the skies like a celestial fairy.

Her movements were so graceful and flawless that I was momentarily distracted, looking up to watch her. It was too bad that Tang Qi Hong rejected me, but I guess the good thing was that I didn"t have such a terrifying woman for my girlfriend"s mother. If by any chance I got married with Tang Qi Hong, I would have to ensure I never p.i.s.s off my potential mother-in-law, or I would be incinerated faster before I could say, "sorry."

That was when I noticed a stray fireball diverting from the others and streaking in my direction.

"!!!"

No, it wasn"t a stray fireball. It was homing toward my position of its own accord. Evidently Ling Huo Shen had been aming for me. This was his aim from the start! His attack against Sect Lady Da Ji was merely a smokescreen to cover up his true intentions!

I gathered all my qi to Snow Aegis and flung my shield up to block the fireball. The Pure Yang Flames detonated against my azure, crystalline shield, throwing my scorched Spirit Armament back. Buffeted by the explosion, I was knocked over, but I instantly caught up and threw my hands out while my Snow Aegis hurtled back uncontrollably. I managed to catch it, burning my fingers when they came into contact with the superheated material, and winced.

Fortunately, Snow Aegis didn"t seem to be too badly damaged. I could clear away the scorch burns during regular maintenance, and its core systems and most of its surface had remained intact.

"That Spirit Shield actually withstood a direct hit from my Pure Yang Flames?!" Ling Huo Shen exclaimed in astonishment.

"…"

Sect Lady Da Ji continued hovering in the air as she glanced in my direction in concern, but when she saw that I was all right, she breathed a sigh of relief.

"That was close!" Tong Xue gasped as he staggered back. Despite blocking most of the attack from the Divine Fire, furious embers had sparked off from my shield and rained down on the riverbank, burning several of us. The explosion had been so powerful that the blast had knocked us off our feet, and the surviving Blood Blades and Incendiary Ifrit Sect members were currently climbing back to their feet, singed and stunned.

"That old man really is powerful…" one of the squad 4 Blood Blades marveled, shaking his head and coughing.

However, the intense heat that seared across the riverbank had also melted the ice that entombed Ling Qing Zhu. Possessing the same elemental affinity and having learned the same martial arts techniques of her father, Ling Qing Zhu was able to draw upon and absorb the Pure Yang Flames from him, revitalizing her qi and regaining her energy. In an instant, she broke free of the ice and collapsed onto the scorched ground.

"Huff…cough!"

"Qing Zhu! Are you all right?!" Ling Huo Shen demanded, concerned. "Are you injured anywhere?"

"I…I"m all right, Father." Ling Qing Zhu looked up weakly and gave him a thumb"s up. Her father breathed a sigh in relief.

While his attention was focused on her, Sect Lady Da Ji appeared behind him.

"You"re supposed to be fighting me, yet you still dare to be distracted?"

"?!"

Ling Huo Shen barely turned around in time to intercept the merciless strike from her blazing sword, catching the fiery blade with the shaft of his spear. Despite gripping his spear with both hands, he found himself thrown backward. The tremendous impact caused tidal waves to surge out of the river, splashing over the riverbank and momentarily flooding the places. The Blood Blades and Incendiary Ifrit Sect alike all scrambled to higher ground.

I joined them as well, knowing there was way too much water for me to freeze all at once, and not exactly eager to get wet.

"Kuh…!"

Ling Huo Shen crashed back onto the single surviving ship that was being buffeted by the violent waves all around. He skidded across the deck, leaving skid marks, and finally arrested his momentum by plunging his spear into the ground.

"Huff…"

Straightening up as droplets of steaming river water rained down on him, he glanced up at Sect Lady"s descending figure, her sword still blazing brightly and vaporizing the water around her into an ethereal mist.

"Hmph!" Ling Huo Shen snorted coldly as he plucked his flaming spear from the deck to welcome her intrusion in a dignified manner.

Sect Lady Da Ji landed gracefully on the deck opposite him, and swung her sword to unleash the flames on its blade. An inferno ravaged the battered boat, surrounding the two combatants in a volcanic-like ring of fire.

"I remember saying this before."

The flames on her sword intensified as Sect Lady Da Ji spoke, and the inferno surrounding them seemed to expand even more ravenously than before. Her usually blue eyes turned crimson as she channeled her fiery qi throughout her body and activated Nine-Tailed Fire Fox Formula again.

"Don"t even think about taking another step forward."