After Faking Her Death and Escaping, the Junior Sister Fell to the Demonic Path - Chapter 61

After the battle.

Qin Qingyi and the others did not rush to leave but stayed at the martial arts arena to clean up the aftermath.

Many disciples were injured, and those with a slight understanding of medicine hurried back and forth, working non-stop.

Qin Qingyi and the others were not skilled in medicine, but they had plenty of high-grade elixirs. For those with minor injuries, a few elixirs were enough to heal them almost completely.

However, the injuries were not the most pressing concern; it was the demonic energy attached to the wounds, which was difficult to eliminate quickly.

The demonic energy adhered to the wounds of many injured disciples and gradually moved toward their meridians. Spiritual power and demonic energy clashed, eroding the major veins throughout their bodies. The disciples screamed heartbreakingly, rolling on the ground in pain.

Feng Ning was sweating profusely over this but could not find a solution.

It was Feng Ying who sought them out, forcing herself to fly to the location. Although she now possessed Golden Core strength and could fly, it was a power that Feng Ning had piled onto her with elixirs and heavenly treasures, not solidified through cultivation. Compared to others of the same level, she was naturally weaker.

Furthermore, she was inherently frail. After landing, she was almost exhausted after barely two steps, so she had to take out her wheelchair and sit down again.

But this did not diminish her talent in other areas.

Qin Qingyi looked at her, always feeling that someone like her should not be burdened by such a weak body.

“Hmm, there’s a mystery about her that even this Venerable One can’t see clearly.”

In her dantian, the Immortal Venerable Wuwang said curiously.

Qin Qingyi was surprised: “Even you can’t see through it?”

“Of course.” The Immortal Venerable Wuwang didn’t seem to find it problematic.

“The vast world is full of wonders, and it’s been a thousand years since this Venerable One’s era. It’s normal to have things I can’t see through.”

Qin Qingyi nodded lightly.

That was true.

Not far away, Feng Ning spotted Feng Ying and hurriedly ran up to her, asking gently, “Why did you come? Didn’t I tell you to hide well?”

Feng Ying shook her head: “The Demon Clan can’t reach my place, and besides—”

She slightly raised her chin and looked at the group of injured disciples who were still wailing: “I figured you might need me, so I came.”

Feng Ning bent her eyes into a smile: “I’m afraid it will be very hard on you.”

Feng Ying shook her head again: “It’s not hard.”

With that, she instructed Feng Ning to push her wheelchair forward to examine the injured disciples.

She carefully observed the demonic energy for a while before speaking softly to ease Feng Ning’s worries:

“This demonic energy is extremely difficult to remove. Spiritual power alone cannot completely clear it. It needs pure and gentle water and wood spiritual root power to completely eliminate it.”

Feng Ning looked troubled upon hearing this: “It might be hard to find.”

The Sword Sect primarily consists of disciples with metal, fire, or lightning and wind spiritual roots. Swords focus on killing, so in terms of spiritual roots, they are also quite rigid. Finding disciples with water and wood spiritual roots immediately would truly stump everyone.

Feng Ying herself had a wood spiritual root, but she alone wouldn’t be able to save so many injured people.

Feng Ning herself had a wind spiritual root and couldn’t help here. Looking around, none of Qin Qingyi’s group had suitable spiritual roots; only Feng Ying’s spiritual root could be useful.

After searching and asking around, they couldn’t even gather ten people. Those with suitable spiritual roots either lacked sufficient strength to be effective, or they were injured themselves and couldn’t even deal with their own wounds, let alone help others.

For a time, everyone was stuck in a stalemate again.

Zhou Zhixue was also nearby. Seeing the current situation, she hesitated for a moment before asking softly, “Can an ice spiritual root work?”

Feng Ying looked up at her, pondered for a moment, and replied, “It can, but the effect might not be as good as water or wood. However, your spiritual root is strong, so it probably won’t be too far off.”

Coincidentally, the few of them were standing next to an injured person, so Feng Ying immediately began giving instructions. She first told Feng Ning to cut open the clothing of the disciple whose arm was injured, exposing the wound, and then looked at Zhou Zhixue:

“Use your ice-element spiritual power to freeze the demonic energy at her wound. Be careful not to hurt her. Use your spiritual power to wrap the demonic energy and then pull it out.”

“The demonic energy has already penetrated her meridians. You must be extremely careful when performing this operation. The ice spiritual root is highly aggressive, and a slight slip could damage her meridians.”

Zhou Zhixue nodded. Without saying more, she immediately activated her spiritual power and began the operation, carefully using the chilling spiritual energy to wrap the mass of demonic energy that was still wreaking havoc in the wound.

Everyone held their breath, carefully watching the scene.

After all, such a delicate operation could cause secondary injury to this disciple if they weren’t careful.

Zhou Zhixue watched as the spiritual power completely encased it, and then, with quick eyes and hands, she exerted force and swiftly removed the mass of demonic energy from the wound.

Once the demonic energy was removed, the injured disciple’s complexion improved significantly, no longer looking ashen and lifeless as before.

Feng Ying quickly gave the other person two elixirs, placing them into their mouth.

“One is to stop bleeding and regenerate muscle, and the other is to restore spiritual power.”

She explained.

The person obediently swallowed them. Seeing the wound gradually recovering and the body no longer feeling uncomfortable, the female disciple looked grateful: “Thank you, two Senior Sisters.”

“No need to thank us. We are fellow disciples; it’s what we should do.”

With that, Feng Ying led the group to the next injured person.

Then, removing the demonic energy and administering the elixir was done in one smooth motion.

“They cooperate so well.”

Feng Ning, standing nearby, suddenly sighed, for some unknown reason, watching the two busy individuals.

“If only I could help too,” Feng Ning regretted. “It’s just a pity my spiritual root isn’t suitable.”

However, for some reason, though these were kind words, they didn’t sound quite right.

Qin Qingyi glanced at her and then silently moved two steps away.

They couldn’t help anyway. It would be better to keep quiet and be the logistical support, passing elixirs and helping to stop bleeding for the injured. Why did this person have to speak up and become a target?

Sure enough, the two who were already expending effort turned their heads to look at her simultaneously.

Zhou Zhixue was better. She looked more and more like a statue sculpted from ice and snow now, and even upon hearing this, there was no change in her expression. She glanced at Feng Ning and lowered her head to continue working.

After all, removing demonic energy was delicate work and required full attention.

But Feng Ying was different. She not only glared at Feng Ning but also took a moment to reach out and pinch her shoulder, only letting go when the pain made her yelp.

“Nobody will think you’re mute if you don’t talk.”

Feng Ying squeezed the words out from between her teeth.

Feng Ning, having been reprimanded, clutched her pinched arm, lowered her head, and dared not speak again. She looked crestfallen, the picture of someone who had been scolded and was dejected.

After a flurry of activity, the number of people they had saved was still less than one-tenth of the injured.

Not to mention that Zhou Zhixue’s spiritual power was almost completely depleted.

The previous fighting with the Demon Clan had already consumed a large part, and now she was continuously using it. Even after taking a bottle of spiritual power restoration elixirs, she hadn’t recovered much.

Seeing her face turn pale and her forehead glistening with cold sweat, Qin Qingyi forcibly called a halt.

“She can’t continue anymore.”

Saying this, Qin Qingyi supported Zhou Zhixue’s shaky body. Looking at her terribly pale face and bloodless thin lips, she frowned deeply.

“You need to know your limits when using spiritual power. If you continue to exhaust yourself like this, it will damage your dantian.”

She lightly scolded, concern clearly visible in her eyes.

Zhou Zhixue’s dantian was already severely damaged at Blackwater Cliff. If it weren’t for the half demon core that was warming and nourishing her dantian, she would have been disabled by now, and it would be questionable if she could even stand here.

However, the energy provided by the demon core was also limited. If she over-exerted herself, even a whole demon core would be useless.

Yet, Zhou Zhixue gently shook her head: “It’s okay, Senior Sister. I can still persevere.”

Although she said that, Zhou Zhixue’s body still softly collapsed into Qin Qingyi’s embrace. She coughed twice. When she lowered her head slightly, her dark hair framed her pale, transparent face, making her look as though she would break with a touch.

She rested her head against Qin Qingyi’s neck, her warm breath spraying onto the thin skin. Seeing it turn slightly red, Zhou Zhixue rubbed against it seemingly unintentionally and spoke softly: “Senior Sister, there are still so many injured Junior Brothers and Sisters. I should go treat them.”

But Qin Qingyi did not back down. “You are spiritually exhausted. Forcing yourself to continue removing the demonic energy may damage your foundation. You cannot continue.”

“You need to rest for a while at least.”

Feng Ying also nodded in agreement upon seeing this.

“Rest first. Forcing yourself might backfire.”

Seeing this, Zhou Zhixue could only nod, agreeing to rest for a while.

Qin Qingyi supported her and found a clean spot to sit down. Their palms were pressed together, and warm spiritual power, like a trickling stream, was slowly transmitted from Qin Qingyi to Zhou Zhixue’s body through their interlocked hands.

Feeling the spiritual power flowing back into her body, nourishing her meridians, Zhou Zhixue softly hummed, half-coquettish and half-pleading: “Senior Sister, I’ll be fine after a short rest. You don’t need to transmit spiritual power to me.”

But her hand clung to Qin Qingyi’s palm with attachment, and her other hand tightly covered it, stroking the back of Qin Qingyi’s hand.

Qin Qingyi ignored her clinging, focusing only on transmitting spiritual power.

“Your task now is to rest well. Once you recover, you can naturally go and save people.”

Zhou Zhixue obediently nodded, merely leaning into Qin Qingyi’s embrace and closing her eyes to rest submissively.

Hu Yu saw this scene and “tsk’ed” in displeasure: “Putting on an act.”

The sound was very low, heard only by Xie Su beside him.

Xie Su glanced at him and whispered a reprimand: “Don’t talk nonsense. Be careful, Senior Sister might beat you.”

Upon hearing this, Hu Yu immediately shut his mouth. Although his face still showed indignation, he obediently went to distribute elixirs to the injured.

The disciples who had already been treated also joined the rescue team, moving back and forth, delivering elixirs to the injured disciples.

“There are too many injured people. We few alone are like a drop in the ocean.”

Qin Qingyi’s voice was filled with worry. She looked at the surrounding injured people, whose numbers did not seem to decrease, and was genuinely extremely concerned.

Everyone looked at the scene before them and couldn’t help but fall into a mood of frustration.

The atmosphere was low for a time.

“Oh dear, all of you. You didn’t retreat when you were fighting a bloody battle just now, but now you’re feeling troubled just because you need to treat the injured?”

From a distance, a delicate and arrogant female voice came.

Qin Qingyi and Zhou Zhixue both found the voice a bit familiar and raised their heads to look toward the source of the sound.

The person arrived quickly, reaching them within a few breaths.

The newcomer wore a flowing, colorful dress, her head adorned with jewels and treasures, and a layer of dazzling light enveloped her body.

It wasn’t noticeable from afar, but now that she was closer, the halo became increasingly blinding.

“Oh my, this low morale of yours is too embarrassing for the Sword Sect, isn’t it?”

The person was haughty, clicking her tongue and sighing as she looked at Qin Qingyi, Feng Ning, and the others, her words full of disdain and belittlement.

Hu Yu, behind Qin Qingyi, disliked the person’s manner, especially recognizing that the person was not a Sword Sect disciple, and immediately shouted sharply: “Who are you, and why are you appearing within my Sword Sect’s territory?!”

It was understandable that Hu Yu was wary. The Demon Clan had just retreated, and now a disciple from another sect had entered the Sword Sect. No one could help but overthink the situation.

If the person was a spy or an infiltrator from the Demon Clan, their current situation would be extremely dangerous, so a little extra caution was always a good thing.

Therefore, everyone was looking at the newcomer with guarded and scrutinizing eyes.

Even Zhou Zhixue, who was nestled in Qin Qingyi’s arms, feigning dizziness and holding onto Qin Qingyi without letting go, slightly opened her eyes, cold light swirling in her gaze toward the other party.

Feng Ning had a better temper. Recognizing the other party’s attire and the halo as unique to the Medicine King Valley, she asked nicely:

“May I ask if you are from the Medicine King Valley? I wonder what important matter brings you to the Sword Sect at this time? If it is not urgent, please wait a moment while I report to my Master before offering hospitality.”

She spoke with complete courtesy, not getting angry over the other person’s insolence.

Feng Ning thought well: there were so many injured disciples now. If someone from the Medicine King Valley was here, they could be of help.

However, the other party clearly did not think so.

Seeing the collective look of unfamiliarity in everyone’s eyes, the person became exasperated, pulling off the halo around her and stomping her foot while looking at Qin Qingyi and Zhou Zhixue:

“You actually don’t remember me?”