Marry First, Love Later With The White Cat Princess - Chapter 88

As soon as the words left her lips, Liu Fenyun struck. She activated her internal Demon Core, releasing a surge of demonic energy that coated her body.

Her hands transformed into sharp claws, nails keener than any blade lunged toward Zhuolan Baihua’s head. Had the blow landed, Zhuolan Baihua would have certainly perished.

Suddenly, a violent wind whipped up behind her. Liu Fenyun heard the system’s warning alarm and was forced to pivot mid-air to intercept a ritual ruler swinging toward her. Four wooden talismans tumbled from her pocket, the moment they hit the ground, vines erupted, twisting toward the two attackers.

While Danzhu Yangbu stepped forward to block Liu Fenyun, Zhuolan Baihua had already bypassed the vines at an awkward angle. Her Monster Slaying Sword thrust toward Liu Fenyun’s throat without a hint of hesitation.

The four demons naturally wouldn’t watch her fall into danger. Qi Ran was the first to pounce, using the vines as cover. She swiped away the Monster Slaying Sword with a claw, though the sharp blade sliced deep into her palm.

Tushan Shuo also leaped into the fray. Her agile fox tails braided into a single rope, snatching Liu Fenyun back to safety. The moment Liu Fenyun landed, Tushan Shuo unfurled her tails and lunged forward, her claws tearing a chunk of flesh from Danzhu Yangbu’s back.

But before she could strike again, a cloud of blood mist suddenly erupted before her. As soon as her claws touched the mist, they began to corrode. The pain was bone-deep.

“My claws!” Tushan Shuo cried out, instantly retreating. Staring at her claws, now stripped to the bone, she looked at Danzhu Yangbu in disbelief. “This is clearly a demon technique… but aren’t you human?!”

“Get back! This is a secret art of the Danzhu Clan!” Yin Sa, the most experienced among them, warned as he saw the blood mist spreading.

The massive blood loss actually facilitated Danzhu Yangbu’s movements. He used spiritual energy to levitate the blood mist, and with a toss of a wind talisman, the mist scattered in all directions.

“It hurts, it hurts! Isn’t this guy afraid of bleeding to death?!” Tushan Shuo dodged frantically, shrinking behind Yin Sa to treat her claws.

Yin Sa remained silent. He shifted into human form and rapidly cast hand seals, expanding a barrier to hold back the blood mist.

Liu Fenyun shielded Lian Yi, asking coldly, “If we kill them, will the Kingdom of Zhuhuang hold us accountable?”

Lian Yi was silent for two seconds before answering, “They are the strongest Exorcists in Zhuhuang. They cannot return home defeated.”

“If they don’t die, it’s you who will!” Liu Fenyun sighed, looking at the blood mist. “Since these two Witch Doctors are hell-bent on killing you, if we don’t settle this today, I’m afraid they’ll chase us all the way to the Demon Realm.”

“No, they might want to reclaim the Seventh Princess’s body,” Lian Yi whispered. “If I die, my demonic energy will leave this body, and the Seventh Princess will become human again.”

She pressed close to Liu Fenyun, her breath shallow. “But… I don’t want to die.”

“I won’t let them kill you.” Liu Fenyun gently kissed Lian Yi’s cat ears. “So, we must end this once and for all.”

Their journey to the Demon Realm had one primary goal: to separate the souls of Lian Yi and the Seventh Princess. They had agreed that if successful, they would return the Princess to Zhuhuang, if not, they would stay and fulfill their duties as Saintesses.

But reality was not going to let them reach the Demon Realm.

Qi Ran also retreated inside Yin Sa’s barrier, using the power of the God of Nurturing to heal her wounds as fast as possible.

“Do you see? These are the mortals you protect,” Qi Ran couldn’t help but say. “Or rather, it’s inevitable that such people exist among mortals, those who believe demons shouldn’t exist regardless of what they’ve done.”

Since the battle began, the God of Nurturing within the sea of consciousness had remained silent. But hearing Qi Ran, she replied calmly, “I am well aware. There are such extremists among demons as well. It is not rare.”

Even she had once looked down upon “Ordinary Demons” compared to the “Heavenly Clan,” despite both having a right to exist.

Qi Ran scratched the ground but didn’t reply. Suddenly, a wave of warmth enveloped her, and her wounds healed at a visible rate.

“I can no longer just watch. I shall lend a hand,” the God of Nurturing said. “However, it is inconvenient for me to manifest. Remember to credit the God of Medicine for this.”

Yin Sa and Tushan Shuo also felt the warmth, but before they could find the source, the barrier shattered. The blood mist swirled in, followed by the whistle of projectiles. Zhuolan Baihua was using gold talismans to condense short swords.

Liu Fenyun had seen her master use gold talismans, but Zhuolan Baihua was on another level. Within seconds, hundreds of blood-stained flying swords rained down. Even with the God of Nurturing’s healing, it was an agonizing struggle.

Liu Fenyun used an earth talisman to raise a wall, blocking the volley. It was her first time exhausting her demonic energy like this, she collapsed to one knee, gasping for air.

The System was right, they were no match for the Witch-Doctors.

“Host, try the Five Thunders Decree,” the System reminded. “Though it deals less damage to humans than demons, it draws power from the heavens rather than your own energy. If you keep this up, you’ll fall into a coma.”

Liu Fenyun recovered slightly and took the Five Thunders Decree from Lian Yi. Her hands were shaking.

The System selected the optimal incantation. As Liu Fenyun maintained the earth wall, she chanted. Thunderclouds began to gather over Yellow Leaf Hill once more.

However, Zhuolan Baihua and Danzhu Yangbu had seen this before. Knowing its power, they struck immediately.

As Liu Fenyun reached the final line of the chant, the System’s alarm shrieked. A newly formed sword from Zhuolan Baihua had bypassed the surface, tunneling through the ground to strike Lian Yi from below!

Seeing the sword’s trajectory on the System map, Liu Fenyun acted on instinct. She lunged and shoved Lian Yi out of the way.

There was a sickening thud. The blade buried itself deep into her flesh. Agony exploded in her dantian.

“Detection… Demon Core shattered?!” The System panicked. “Host! Host!! Protect your core! If you die, the world will reset!!”

The internal core is the life source of all cultivators, much like a human heart.

Enduring the pain, Liu Fenyun finished the chant word by word. Thunder roared, and azure lightning rained down like a storm, as if the heavens were answering her rage.

The sword in her dantian carried a paralysis curse. Liu Fenyun couldn’t move. She could only watch as the sword’s energy ground her core into powder. She tried to divert spiritual energy to protect it, but it was futile.

“A-Yun! A-Yun! Liu Fenyun!!”

She heard Lian Yi screaming her name, hysterical. On the affinity panel, the “Blackening Value” was skyrocketing at a terrifying speed.

“Host! Can you still hear me?! Host!” The System tried to funnel demonic energy to the dantian, but the core was gone, and there wasn’t enough ambient energy to reconstruct it. Liu Fenyun’s death was inevitable.

Liu Fenyun felt Lian Yi shaking her body. Warm tears fell on her face. She wanted to say something, but her soul was leaving her body faster than she expected. Within breaths, she was a ghost, floating beside Lian Yi.

She heard the System mutter a dejected “It’s over.” Everything went quiet, replaced by a cold, mechanical female voice starting a countdown.

“World reset in thirty seconds… twenty-nine… twenty-eight…”

Liu Fenyun floated helplessly. She saw Lian Yi clutching her body, no longer screaming but biting her lip in a way that hurt more to watch. Liu Fenyun reached out, wanting to touch her, to apologize in her final moments.

She simply couldn’t stand to watch Lian Yi be killed.

But she could no longer touch anything physical.

“Seventeen seconds… sixteen…”

Lian Yi suddenly let go of the body. She stood up, locked eyes with Liu Fenyun’s soul for a few seconds, and manifested her demon form. The white cat transformed into a giant beast the size of a human.

“Ten seconds… nine…”

“I’m sorry.”

“Five seconds… four…”

Along with the countdown, Liu Fenyun heard the giant cat offer a gentle apology. Then, a massive, bloody maw lunged forward and swallowed her whole.

Her vision went pitch black. Her soul plunged into an abyss.

The countdown stopped at three seconds.

Floating in the darkness, Liu Fenyun was dazed.

Did the cat… just eat her soul?

“System, are you still there?” she called out.

“I am, Host,” the mechanical voice replied, sounding relieved. “Congratulations, Host. Your soul has been successfully preserved in the current world. The reset has been averted.”

Liu Fenyun sighed in relief, then realized. “Then I’m… inside Lian Yi’s body?”

“Yes, Host,” the System answered. “I don’t know how Lian Yi managed to keep your soul intact, but thanks to her eating you in time, you survived.”

Liu Fenyun’s emotions were a tangled mess of joy and worry.

She drifted in the darkness for a while. She couldn’t feel or hear anything, nor could she access her data panels. “Is this her stomach? How do I get out?”

The System scanned the surroundings. “Apologies, Host. This doesn’t seem to be the stomach or an inner residence. I can’t identify this location yet, and there’s no exit. However, there is another soul below you with conscious fluctuations. It appears to be the Seventh Princess.”

Liu Fenyun floated downward. Soon, she saw a faint cluster of light. Inside sat a person who looked exactly like the Seventh Princess, Sha lanyi.

Liu Fenyun hovered before her. Sha lanyi’s eyes had been closed, but as Liu Fenyun approached, she slowly opened them, staring in shock.

“…Hello?” Liu Fenyun placed her hands on the light orb, trying to greet her.

“Hello,” Sha lanyi stood up hastily.

She could sense an aura around Liu Fenyun, one strikingly similar to the Great Fire God she had caught a glimpse of during a childhood ceremony. She bowed respectfully, her head low.

“Lord Fire God? Have you come to take me away?”