After Faking Her Death and Escaping, the Junior Sister Fell to the Demonic Path - Chapter 50

As soon as she entered, Zhou Zhixue immediately felt the surrounding area grow cold.

Unlike the refreshing chill of ice and snow that came from her pure Ice Spirit Root, the demonic energy swirling around them brought a thick, viscous, slimy, and nauseating wet sensation.

The surroundings were filled with vegetation mutated by demonic energy, twisted and horrifying. Zhou Zhixue looked up at the sky. Unlike earlier when they were at a distance, where they could still see the stars despite Black Water Cliff being shrouded in demonic energy, upon entering, even the crescent moon was obscured.

The entire Black Water Cliff was like a completely different world.

It resembled a strange region belonging outside the Xuan Tian Realm, where even the vegetation had been demonized into terrifying forms.

Was this the Demon Race’s territory?

The two ventured deeper. Qin Qingyi had been here once before and was still able to find some direction within this demon-infested lair surrounded by demonic energy.

For some unknown reason, the Nascent Soul stage demonic energy that had been relentlessly pursuing Qin Qingyi before had now vanished. Qin Qingyi could no longer sense it but dared not drop her guard, moving with greater caution than before.

Since there were no obstacles this time, the two quickly found a demon cocoon.

Zhou Zhixue looked at the scene before her, her expression identical to Qin Qingyi’s not long ago.

“It truly is… terrifying to the extreme!”

Qin Qingyi didn’t give her much time to contemplate, immediately thrusting her sword in, and then pulling the hilt downwards to slice the cocoon open from the middle.

A huge and dense surge of demonic energy escaped. After the near-solid demonic energy had almost completely dispersed, a small body indeed fell out of it.

The two quickly went to check.

“It’s a Human Race child, looks only about five or six years old.”

Qin Qingyi whispered, looking at the child who was neither fully human nor fully demon due to the modification by demonic energy. A look of unbearable sadness crossed her face.

Zhou Zhixue remained silent as well.

Qin Qingyi found a thin blanket from her storage bracelet, wrapped the child in it, and placed it in the bracelet before calling out to Zhou Zhixue, “Let’s go, to the next location.”

The two proceeded in this manner, subsequently destroying five more sites, retrieving four Human Race children and one young cub of the Beast Race, this one being a fox cub.

Seeing the fox cub, the anger in Qin Qingyi’s heart surged even higher.

Her heart felt as if it were steeped in sour and bitter vinegar; Qin Qingyi was filled with ineffable sorrow. That was a child of her Fox Race, yet she did not know when it had been abducted here to suffer the erosion of demonic energy!

What exactly were the demons doing?!

Qin Qingyi was determined to figure out the true purpose of the Demon Race.

But time passed little by little, and the two penetrated deeper, already approaching the innermost area of Black Water Cliff.

At this point, the demonic energy was so thick that the two could barely catch their breath.

Qin Qingyi’s eyes were bloodshot. She leaned on her knees, panting heavily. Due to the obstruction of the demonic energy, she was nearly unable to walk.

The situation of Zhou Zhixue beside her was clearly worse.

Her strength was significantly weaker than Qin Qingyi in her demonized state. Reaching this far, she was already struggling to hold on. Under the pressure of the surrounding demonic energy, Zhou Zhixue’s face was pale. If she weren’t tightly clenching her jaw, she would probably collapse in the next second.

The surrounding demonic energy was dark and heavy, flowing around the two as if it had condensed into a solid, presenting a strange black-purple visual.

This strange demonic energy seemed to possess life, swirling around the two. Every time their bodies touched it, they felt colder, and their movements became sluggish.

Reason told Qin Qingyi that they absolutely could not go any further.

Although she didn’t know why the demonic energy that previously chased her hadn’t shown up yet, given their current condition, going any deeper might lead to the danger of losing their lives here.

Thinking this, Qin Qingyi turned to look at Zhou Zhixue, speaking slowly with an extremely hoarse voice, “We can’t go any further, let’s go back…”

But in the next second, Qin Qingyi saw Zhou Zhixue’s pupils suddenly contract, and her face became twisted with terror, as if she had seen something horrifying.

And her gaze was fixed directly behind Qin Qingyi.

Perhaps being too deeply infiltrated by demonic energy had made Qin Qingyi’s mind slow to react.

What was behind her?

“What…”

She was about to ask, when she saw Zhou Zhixue pouncing towards her. The heart-wrenching cry seemed to slow down a hundredfold in Qin Qingyi’s eyes.

“Senior—Sister—Be—Careful—!”

Then came a heavy impact, a shock that even made Qin Qingyi feel a little pain.

Before she could react, Zhou Zhixue had embraced her and turned, taking her place.

“Pffft—”

The sound of flesh being pierced rang out. Qin Qingyi could feel Zhou Zhixue’s body, which was holding her, tremble greatly, yet she still held Qin Qingyi tightly.

What happened?

She was shielded against Zhou Zhixue’s chest, unaware of what was happening.

But in the next second, she saw it.

A demonic claw condensed from demonic energy had silently appeared behind her at some point, unleashing a stored-up strike.

That attack, which should have severely injured her, had its target switched to the junior sister because she had protected Qin Qingyi.

The demonic claw, carrying thick demonic energy, pierced straight through the thin layer of demon energy barrier Qin Qingyi had left on her junior sister, puncturing Zhou Zhixue’s abdomen and leaving a horrifying hole.

Qin Qingyi finally reacted—

They were ambushed.

And the junior sister had taken the fatal blow for her.

As if unable to sustain herself any longer, Zhou Zhixue’s body went limp. Those eyes, once as clear as ice and snow, gradually lost focus.

Qin Qingyi frantically supported her, breathing rapidly. She looked at the blood flowing from Zhou Zhixue’s body, her mind reeling as if struck by a heavy blow.

But those eyes still looked at Qin Qingyi, gentle yet regretful.

She opened her mouth, wanting to say something, but blood came out faster than her words.

The blood clogged her throat, making her words extremely faint:

“Senior Sister, run…”

Senior Sister, run.

This was the last sentence Qin Qingyi heard.

Feeling the life fading from the body in her arms, Qin Qingyi burst into tears.

How could this be…

How could this happen?

She had already planned to leave. Why did it turn out like this?

The junior sister possessed unparalleled talent, she was the rising star of the Sword Sect, a future Sword Immortal.

How could she be severely injured by a demon so easily and carelessly?

Qin Qingyi gasped softly, taking out elixirs and shakingly trying to pour them into Zhou Zhixue’s mouth.

Those were life-saving medicines. If she could consume them, the junior sister might recover.

But she forgot that the attack had gone through Zhou Zhixue’s lower abdomen, and the demonic energy had naturally seeped in along with it. No matter how many high-grade elixirs she gave her, the moment demonic energy entered the body, it would prevent the medicine from being absorbed.

Therefore, this was a futile effort.

Realizing this, Qin Qingyi trembled and stood up.

She had to avenge her junior sister.

At least, she had to do something for her.

The mass of demonic energy clearly had no intention of letting them go. It had already gathered its strength again, ready to deliver another devastating blow to Qin Qingyi.

The White Sheath Sword was drawn. Qin Qingyi gripped the sword tightly, tangling with the mass of demonic energy.

Perhaps the first strike had already depleted much of its power, or perhaps it was because of Qin Qingyi’s almost crazed fighting style, but the demonic energy gradually lost ground and was at a disadvantage.

Seeing this, Qin Qingyi’s fighting became even more intense, wishing she could pierce it through the heart with a single sword stroke!

However, before Qin Qingyi could completely strike down the mass of demonic energy, an extremely hoarse demonic chant sounded from an unknown place.

%@%￥@*……

Qin Qingyi couldn’t understand it, but the moment the demonic chant sounded, she felt the spiritual energy and demon energy in her body violently churn as if stirred by something. Her body was invaded by demonic energy, her spiritual platform was muddled, and her entire body ached unbearably. Her ears, eyes, nostrils, and even her mouth began to bleed.

Her demon power stalled and could no longer be mobilized. Qin Qingyi staggered, was struck in the chest by the demonic energy, and couldn’t help but spit out a mouthful of fresh blood.

Her vision swam, and if she hadn’t braced herself with her sword, she might have fallen directly to her knees.

With the aid of the demonic chant, the mass of demonic energy instantly swelled several times, and under the sky-covering demonic energy, Qin Qingyi could barely move an inch.

The demonic energy also realized that Qin Qingyi was now at the end of her rope. Thus, as if playing a game, it no longer used ruthless, heavy attacks, but instead turned into gusts of wind blades wrapped in demonic energy, which injured but were not fatal.

They tore Qin Qingyi’s clothes, leaving deep cuts down to the bone on her body.

Qin Qingyi struggled to defend herself, but defending the left meant exposing the right.

The number of wounds on her body increased. The demonic energy seeped in through the wounds, churning the spiritual and demon energy at the injury sites, tearing the wounds open and making the blood flow faster.

Before long, Qin Qingyi’s body was covered in wounds, many of which exposed her pale white bone.

Especially the hand gripping the sword, where her wrist was almost completely severed, rendering her unable to lift the sword again.

Blood kept flowing. She finally couldn’t hold on anymore and fell heavily to the ground.

Her clothes were already stained red with blood and smeared with the dirt of the demon territory. It was hard to tell whether there was more blood or more mud.

Qin Qingyi looked at Zhou Zhixue, who was unconscious leaning against a tree not far away, her vision darkening in waves.

Both her spiritual and demon energy were completely exhausted, her Dantian was dry, and she had nothing left to use. She took out an elixir from her spatial ring, but before she could bring it to her mouth, the porcelain bottle was shattered by a strike of demonic energy, and the elixirs were instantly enveloped by demonic energy, losing their efficacy.

This repeated itself several times.

So, Qin Qingyi stopped struggling. Perhaps sensing that her own limit was approaching, she began to crawl desperately towards Zhou Zhixue, her eyes resolute. She wanted to cuddle up next to Zhou Zhixue, muttering, “Junior Sister, don’t be afraid. Senior Sister will take you, back…”

Seeing that she was indeed at death’s door, the mass of demonic energy finally stopped hiding and gradually revealed its physical form within the surging energy.

It was a demon with two horns on its head, scarlet vertical pupils, and black scales covering its entire body.

He walked up to Qin Qingyi, squatted down beside her, and conjured a dagger imbued with sinister demonic energy in his hand.

Perhaps fearing Qin Qingyi wouldn’t understand, or perhaps he simply wanted Qin Qingyi to die with clarity, he spoke fluently in the Human Race language, addressing Qin Qingyi with malice:

“Intruding into my race’s forbidden land, and almost ruining our great plan, little demon, you deserve to die!”

With that, he grabbed Qin Qingyi’s hair, forcing her to look at him.

Another smaller mass of demonic energy lingered near his shoulder, without a physical form, yet Qin Qingyi always felt that there was another pair of eyes looking at her from within that smaller mass.

Or perhaps it was because he had never boasted to anyone before, this demon suddenly had the urge to converse with Qin Qingyi.

He brought the tip of the dagger close to Qin Qingyi’s eyes, admiring her closely:

“Excellent innate talent and root bones, unfortunately, you are too old. Otherwise, you might have had the honor of becoming a vessel for my Sovereign.”

The demon seemed to be sighing, but Qin Qingyi heard it and her pupils constricted, her scalp tingling with horror.

A vessel?!

Perhaps because death was imminent, Qin Qingyi’s mind, now free from the demonic energy’s interference, was racing.

Those young cubs of various races in the demon cocoons—were they all vessels?!

But wasn’t the Demon Sovereign already sealed?!

Where did this talk of a vessel come from?!!

Her heart was constantly shaking, but the other party ignored her shock, merely playing with the dagger to himself.

“What… vessel?”

She asked, her voice hoarse.

Perhaps he was genuinely kind, or perhaps he just wanted her to die with full knowledge, the demon laughed loudly and replied, “Naturally, it is for our race’s most magnificent Demon Sovereign, the Demon God whom all demons revere.”

He pinched Qin Qingyi’s chin, smiling cruelly and viciously: “It won’t be long now. Soon, my Sovereign will return. When that happens, the entire Xuan Tian Realm will be the territory of my Demon Race.”

“It’s a pity you won’t live to see it.”

With that, he seemed to have lost his patience. He raised the dagger high, and as it descended, it plunged straight towards Qin Qingyi’s glabella.

“I’ll give you a quick death. My name is Tivena, one of the Twelve Demon Kings under my Sovereign.”

“You’re lucky to die by my hand.”

The dagger fell, stirring up a gust of demonic wind.

Qin Qingyi closed her eyes, but secretly counted in her mind.

Three, two…

One!

Now is the time!!!

In a flash of lightning, Qin Qingyi suddenly opened her eyes, staring directly at the dagger that was right in front of her.

The dagger did strike her glabella, but it was forced to stop half an inch before her forehead and could not advance further.

A stream of spiritual energy circulated in Qin Qingyi’s glabella, blocking the dagger.

Tivena was surprised, but in the next moment, a brilliant white light suddenly erupted from Qin Qingyi’s glabella. The blinding white light forced Tivena to instinctively reach out to shield his eyes, thus he had to let go of Qin Qingyi.

“Master, save me!!!”

Qin Qingyi roared.

Her words immediately put Tivena on high alert. Fearing a sneak attack or ambush by the “Master” Qin Qingyi mentioned, he couldn’t help but retreat several steps.

Qin Qingyi took advantage of the moment to quickly run to Zhou Zhixue, while simultaneously swallowing large handfuls of elixirs.

She had waited a long time for this moment!

With the help of the elixirs, the spiritual energy in her Dantian rapidly replenished. She finally had the strength to pick up Zhou Zhixue and channel spiritual energy into her body.

“Junior Sister! Hold on, Senior Sister will take you back!!” She called out in a low voice, controlling the White Sheath Sword, and ran out without looking back.

Qin Qingyi gritted her teeth and sprinted all the way, her heart feeling like it was about to explode. As the spiritual energy circulated, it forced the demonic energy out of her many wounds, and fresh blood began to flow out.

She paid no mind to these injuries, only continuously celebrating in her heart.

Fortunately, her Master had left her a layer of magical power, otherwise, she and her junior sister might have both lost their lives here.