After My Rebirth, I Ended Up Happily Ever After with the Saintess - Chapter 113

Leaving the Western Regions Buddhist Kingdom, Ye Li and Qin Yixuan continued their journey. The experiences in the Western Regions had been fruitful, especially Ye Li’s understanding of karma and reincarnation, and the mysterious Buddhist prayer beads Qin Yixuan had acquired, which boosted their strength and foundation.

Following the increasingly clear pull from the divine origin within Qin Yixuan, their next destination pointed south. To the south lay the vast, boundless, primal, and mysterious Southern Wasteland Demon Domain. It was a paradise for the demon race, filled with treacherous mountains, deep jungles, swamps thick with poisonous miasma, and countless powerful demon beasts and transformed Great Demons. For human cultivators, traveling here was far more dangerous than the Western Regions.

The two did not rashly venture into the core of the Demon Domain, but instead traveled along the relatively safe peripheral areas, attempting to locate the source of the pulling sensation. The scenery of the Southern Wasteland was entirely different from the Northern and Western regions. Here, ancient trees reached the sky, vines were intertwined, and the air was thick with the scent of life, yet also concealed deadly dangers. Poisonous insects and ferocious beasts were everywhere; seemingly tranquil pools or flower patches could instantly claim a life.

They restrained their auras and cautiously traversed the dense forest. Sun Xiaohou’s Youge (Shadow Pavilion) squad, limited by their strength, could not follow them into such a dangerous area and had to establish a base on the outskirts of the Demon Domain, maintaining one-way contact through special means.

One day, while tracking the aura of a rare “Scarlet Sun Vermilion Fruit,” which had miraculous effects on repairing the Origin, they unknowingly ventured deep into a dangerous area marked on the map as the “Mist Swamp.” This place was shrouded year-round in gray-green poisonous miasma, visibility was extremely low, and spiritual senses were severely suppressed. Furthermore, countless bizarre and ferocious creatures lurked beneath the swamp.

“Be careful, the space here seems a bit abnormal,” Ye Li frowned slightly. She keenly sensed that the surrounding laws of nature seemed somewhat twisted, and the fragment of the Wheel of Reincarnation also emitted a faint, warning-like ripple.

Qin Yixuan nodded, her long sword tightly gripped in her hand. The Vast Sea Bright Moon Bead and the string of Buddhist prayer beads radiated a soft, luminous glow, dispelling the approaching poisonous miasma and malevolent auras. “The aura of the Scarlet Sun Vermilion Fruit has become very weak here. It seems… like we were deliberately lured here?”

The moment she finished speaking, an sudden change occurred!

The surrounding swamp mud violently churned, and eight gigantic stone pillars, engraved with strange demon patterns, broke through the mud and shot into the sky! An invisible force field instantly connected the pillars, forming a massive cage that trapped Ye Li and Qin Yixuan in the center! At the same time, thick gray poisonous miasma surged in from all directions like a living entity, frantically eroding their protective spiritual light!

“It’s a trap! An Ancient Demon Array!” Ye Li’s face darkened. Her Profound Ice Sword instantly left its sheath, and a fierce sword energy slashed towards the stone pillar, but it was like a mud ox sinking into the sea, only causing a ripple. The stone pillar remained completely unmoved!

Qin Yixuan immediately activated her Profound Water power, attempting to use softness to counter hardness and dissolve the array’s force field. However, she found the demon array to be extraordinarily sturdy. The force field was like a spider’s web, incredibly tough, and it possessed a sinister characteristic of corroding spiritual power and devouring life force.

“Tsk, tsk, tsk, I didn’t expect to catch two big fish this time! One human Nascent Core realm prodigy, and the other… tsk, tsk, that aura truly makes this King drool!” A hoarse voice, full of greed, came from the depths of the thick fog. Immediately after, a tall, hideous-looking transformed Demon King, with a single horn on its head and covered in dark-blue scales, slowly emerged. The demonic energy emanating from it was shockingly at the late-stage Nascent Core level! Moreover, its aura was ancient and ferocious, far beyond that of an ordinary Demon King.

Behind the Demon King were several other fierce Soul Formation stage Great Demons.

“Who are you? Why have you set up this array to trap us?” Qin Yixuan questioned clearly, maintaining her composure despite the peril.

The Demon King licked its lips, its scarlet eyes fixed on Qin Yixuan, particularly the pure divine aura around her: “This King is the lord of this Mist Swamp, the Green-Scale Demon King! Little girl, your scent is very unique, very much like those hateful ancient gods… If I devour you, this King might undergo bloodline atavism and break through the realm! As for that ice block beside you, her Nascent Core is pure, a great supplement too! Be obedient and become this King’s blood meal!”

It turned out this Demon King was targeting Qin Yixuan’s divine Origin and Ye Li’s pure Nascent Core!

“Delusional!” Ye Li coldly shouted, no longer holding back. Her Nascent Core cultivation erupted entirely. The power of the Youhuan Imperial Sutra and the Ice Emperor’s Sealing Heaven Art fused. The Profound Ice Sword transformed into an icy-blue long dragon, carrying the will to freeze everything, and aggressively attacked the Green-Scale Demon King! They had to eliminate the array’s controller first!

“Hmph! How dare an ant resist? In this ‘Eight Desolations Spirit-Locking Demon Array,’ your spiritual power will be continuously devoured. Let’s see how long you can last!” The Green-Scale Demon King sneered, brandishing its sharp claws, which brought forth a blood-reeking wind, and met Ye Li’s attack. Its physical body was extremely tough, and its claws were comparable to divine weapons. Clashing head-on with the Profound Ice Sword, it emitted the sound of metal striking metal!

Qin Yixuan also immediately struck. The Vast Sea Bright Moon Bead shone brightly, and her Profound Water Sword Intent, like a reversed celestial river, attacked the several Soul Formation Great Demons, alleviating the pressure on Ye Li. The string of Buddhist prayer beads also automatically flew up, scattering a peaceful Buddhist light that had a clear restraining effect on the demonic energy, temporarily holding off the Great Demons’ encirclement.

However, just as the Demon King said, this Ancient Demon Array was extremely potent. Trapped within, both Ye Li and Qin Yixuan felt their spiritual power rapidly draining away, constantly being consumed and absorbed by the eight stone pillars and the pervasive poisonous miasma. Furthermore, the array’s force field was continuously compressing their space for movement, imposing a heavy pressure.

The battle was exceptionally fierce. Ye Li utilized the Universal Traceless Steps and the “Frost Coagulation Finger” to their limit, maneuvering against the Green-Scale Demon King. Every clash of swords made her blood and energy churn. The Demon King’s strength far surpassed that of an ordinary late-stage Nascent Core cultivator, and with the array’s assistance, the pressure on her was immense.

On Qin Yixuan’s side, although she was temporarily fending off the Great Demons with the divine Origin and the Buddhist treasure, her spiritual power was depleting even faster, and her face grew paler. In a moment of carelessness, she was struck on the back by a Shadow Demon specialized in sneak attacks. Though she managed to block it with a water shield in time, she still sustained a significant internal injury and spat out a mouthful of blood.

“Senior Sister Qin!” Seeing Qin Yixuan injured, Ye Li’s heart clenched fiercely, and a momentary lapse occurred in her attack, which the Green-Scale Demon King seized upon, slapping a claw onto her shoulder!

“Pfft!” Ye Li also spat out a mouthful of blood, her shoulder a bloody mess, and the pain excruciating! Had her body not been repeatedly tempered and nourished by the Origin of the Wheel of Reincarnation fragment, this one claw would have crippled her arm!

“Ye Li!” Seeing this, Qin Yixuan disregarded her own injuries, forcefully activated her divine power, and a beam of cleansing divine light forced back the encircling Great Demons. She rushed to Ye Li’s side, standing back-to-back with her.

Both were injured, their spiritual power greatly exhausted, trapped in a deadly array, and facing formidable enemies. The situation was extremely critical!

“It seems today we must truly fight to the death side-by-side,” Ye Li wiped the blood from the corner of her mouth, her eyes growing colder and more resolute, devoid of any fear.

Qin Yixuan looked at Ye Li’s blood-stained profile, feeling the warmth radiating from her back. The inexplicable emotion in her heart grew like wildfire. She gently held Ye Li’s uninjured hand, her voice weak yet filled with resolute warmth: “What is there to fear in death, when I can fight alongside you?”

In this moment, all differences in sect, all girlish reservations, seemed insignificant in the face of life and death. An emotion transcending friendship, akin to a vow of eternal companionship in the face of death, erupted deafeningly, clearly manifesting in both their hearts.

The Green-Scale Demon King watched their “intimate” appearance and let out a harsh laugh: “You’re still flirting even when death is at your door? This King will send you off to be a pair of ill-fated lovers right now!”

It roared, activating the array’s ultimate transformation! The demon patterns on the eight stone pillars blazed brightly, condensing into destructive gray light lances that shot towards the two like a torrential rain! Simultaneously, its main body transformed into a streak of blue light, lunging to kill!

Evasion was impossible! Defense was futile!

A true moment of life and death!

“I’ll risk it all!” A hint of madness flashed in Ye Li’s eyes. She prepared to disregard everything, forcefully activating the Wheel of Reincarnation Origin again, perhaps even burning her divine soul to unleash a forbidden technique!

“I’ll help you!” Qin Yixuan made the same decision. She was ready to completely detonate her divine Origin and the power of the Buddhist treasure!

Just at this critical juncture, another unexpected change occurred!

Perhaps it was the complete synchronization of their hearts in the face of death, and the mingling of their auras, that triggered a profound, subtle opportunity. The fragment of the Wheel of Reincarnation within Ye Li, the divine Origin within Qin Yixuan, and the string of Buddhist prayer beads—the three actually produced a strange resonance!

Buzz!

A power difficult to describe, surpassing the level of mere spiritual energy, spread outwards from the two of them! This power seemed to fuse the profundity of reincarnation, the purity of divinity, the compassion of Buddhist dharma, and… an ultimate strength derived from their belief in protecting each other!

The gray light lances shooting down like rain, upon contacting this power, rapidly melted away like snow under the sun! The figure of the Green-Scale Demon King, which was lunging to kill, was also violently shaken back by this power, its face filled with shock and disbelief!

“This… What kind of power is this?!”

Seizing the opportunity, Ye Li had a flash of inspiration. She stopped thinking about fighting head-on, immersing her entire mind into the miraculous resonance, guiding this fused power into the Profound Ice Sword!

“Reincarnation… cuts the ties of karma! Ice seal… suppresses the demon evil!”

She swung her sword. There was no earth-shattering clamor, only a seemingly simple, yet profoundly principled, hazy gray sword energy. Wherever the sword energy passed, the internal karmic flow of the incredibly sturdy Ancient Demon Array was forcibly severed! The demon patterns on the eight stone pillars instantly dimmed and became covered in cracks!

Rumble! The demon array… collapsed!

Under the array’s backlash, the Green-Scale Demon King and the several Great Demons were all severely injured. With a miserable cry, they fled into the depths of the swamp, daring not to show their faces again.

The crisis was actually resolved in such an unexpected manner.

Having survived the ordeal, Ye Li and Qin Yixuan collapsed to the ground from exhaustion. They exchanged smiles, seeing in each other’s eyes relief, weariness, and the intense emotion that could no longer be concealed.

“We… survived,” Qin Yixuan whispered, her hand still tightly holding Ye Li’s.

“Yes,” Ye Li nodded, turning her hand to grasp hers even tighter.

After this life-and-death trial in the Southern Wasteland Demon Domain, the relationship between the two had completed its most crucial sublimation. A seed named “love,” watered by blood and fire, broke through the soil and grew vigorously. In the future, they would undoubtedly walk hand-in-hand, no matter what difficulties or dangers they faced.