They Are Archenemies, But They Have A Child - Chapter 7

Chapter 7: Dual Cultivation or Fighting

In mid-air, the divine consciousness in the form of a Bai Ze stretched its front paws slightly forward. Its slender tail swung up in a half circle. Its eyes were fixed intensely on the fiery red fox opposite, poised to leap and attack the moment the other moved.

The eight tails of the demon consciousness stretched out in all directions, ears erect, its golden eyes also staring intently at the Bai Ze.

Leng Lici’s true form was not entirely red, but a mix of a large amount of red and some black. Two of his eight tails were entirely black, and three were half black and half red. Thus, his demon consciousness form was the same.

When all eight tails spread out, the mix of black and red was like a spectacular flare bursting from an abyss, gorgeous yet carrying a touch of wickedness. Standing alongside the snow-white Bai Ze, who was inherently divine, it was like light and darkness—it was clear without words that they were on separate paths.

One divine, one evil, they moved cautiously, observing each other while assessing the other’s strength in this standoff.

This posture suggested a prelude to a fight rather than Dual Cultivation.

However, this situation did not last long. As if sniffing a familiar aura from each other, the tense atmosphere between the red and white forms gradually eased, and the distance between them steadily narrowed until they were breathing on each other.

The two distinct scents, previously divided like enemy territories, began to blend. The room felt as if an incense stick had been lit, and the cool scent of mint gradually diffused from it.

Leng Lici closed his eyes. The tactile sensation of the demon consciousness was transmitted to all his five senses without reservation. The warmth on his neck was subtle yet present, and the clear scent that wasn’t his own lingered in his nostrils, like… someone nuzzling and licking his neck.

Too intimate…

He frowned slightly.

The breathing sounds, close enough to hear, touched his ear repeatedly, and heat surged, making his skin tingle.

Leng Lici fiercely bit his lower lip.

He detested this feeling of being out of control.

This aversion, like a growing vine, uncontrollably spread into every inch of Leng Lici’s body. This psychological resistance violently pulled the demon consciousness back from the intimacy.

The red fox let out a low growl, suddenly biting forcefully at the Bai Ze’s neck. The Bai Ze rolled sideways, getting out of the way, and glared angrily at the fox that had suddenly turned hostile. A roar like thunder erupted from its chest, and the next second, it leaped up, pouncing toward the red figure.

The earlier sensuality and ambiguity were completely gone, leaving only the familiar hostility.

Clang! Bang!

The god and the demon opened their eyes simultaneously and struck a palm toward the other. The tools and objects in the cave instantly shattered into pieces. Under the trembling of the cave walls, cracks spread across them from the strain, leaving them precarious.

Cloud Qingwu summoned his ice spear. He was already at his limit of endurance, and the sudden attack by the demon consciousness completely reduced his patience to ash. The suppressed anger in his heart rose up without hindrance, intensifying with a vengeance.

Screw this, let’s just perish together!

Boom!

Under the combined force of the two powers, the already battered cave ceiling declared its defense a failure, opening up a huge skylight.

The battlefield of red and white figures shifted outside with the opportunity.

Wherever the two went, dark clouds obscured the sun, and all things withered. Living creatures fled back to their shelters, doing their utmost to escape the fate of collateral damage.

“Your capability is only so much.” A hint of mockery was reflected in Cloud Qingwu’s deep blue eyes. He thrust the long spear forward. The spear tip condensed cold energy, blocking the surging fierce fire.

Leng Lici’s eyes darkened, the anger in his heart growing more intense. He flipped over, and the bone sword in his hand, wrapped in fierce fire, extended its blade indefinitely. With an unstoppable momentum, it pierced through the cold ice and completely coiled around the spear shaft. The blocked fierce fire took the chance to rush forward, pouring out, determined to melt the ice-cold god completely.

Cloud Qingwu’s expression hardened. He decisively tossed the ice spear upward, waving his sleeve. Several ice shards instantly formed in the air.

It seemed another patch of land was about to suffer.

Screech—Bang!

The sword and spear that had been fiercely entangled abruptly lost their vitality, plummeting straight toward the ground.

And their masters did not escape either. The flames and ice shards confronting each other in the air completely dissipated, and along with them, their control over their bodies vanished.

Leng Lici keenly noticed that this dissipation seemed different from usual. When influenced by the little fry in the past, it was mostly physical sluggishness caused by an external force. But this time, he felt that the spiritual power in his body was dissipating at an extremely rapid pace.

A trace of panic flashed across his usually indifferent eyes, but this panic was quickly suppressed. Leng Lici quickly scanned the surroundings, his gaze falling on a nearby low tree. Before the last wisp of spiritual power vanished, he gritted his teeth and exerted all his remaining strength to shift his landing spot to that tree.

Given his unknown physical condition, if he were to fall to his death today, he would never rest in peace in the next life!

Cloud Qingwu, not far away, also sensed the difference this time. His first reaction was to try his usual trick of transforming into his true form for cushioning, but unexpectedly, no matter what methods he used, his body remained completely unchanged. Instead, the effort left him entirely passive.

His brow furrowed, but his eyes did not show a trace of panic. His gaze fell on the other person not far away. Based on his understanding of the half-fox, the other party would never simply resign himself to fate.

Cloud Qingwu pursed his lips and pulled out a coil of golden rope from his robe. He tossed it toward Leng Lici. The moment the golden rope unfurled, it followed its target like a snake, quickly wrapping around the prey’s waist.

The person being restrained showed displeasure but was too weak to be distracted, only able to swallow his anger.

Crash!

The tree, which was not very tall to begin with, shook under the strain. The last few withered leaves on the dead branches fell to the ground.

Leng Lici lay face up on the frame of dead branches. Before he could catch his breath, another “heavy object” unceremoniously landed on him.

He closed his eyes, then fiercely kicked out, mercilessly tossing the “heavy object” away.

The “heavy object,” struck twice, couldn’t help but groan and rolled onto the ground. The Celestial Crown Prince, who was usually immaculate, now had gray smudges on his white hair and cheeks. Though disheveled, he looked a little more grounded.

The dense pain and exhaustion all over his body made Cloud Qingwu lose the will to move again. He simply spread his hands and lay where he was.

For a time, only the panting of the two figures—one in the tree and one on the ground—filling the silence of the woods.

Once they had completely calmed down, their emotions were also mostly cooled.

Cloud Qingwu raised his hand to rub his temples. At this moment, his head felt like a string of firecrackers had been lit inside, making it ache terribly. He was somewhat annoyed at his impulsiveness.

If he really had perished with this half-fox, not only would he be too ashamed to face his Grand-Father God, but he would also rise from the dead just to slap himself.

“Hey.” Cloud Qingwu propped himself up slightly and looked at Leng Lici in the tree. Seeing the other look over, he continued: “Give me your token.”

Leng Lici looked away, his tone wary: “For what?”

“The child. I’m going to have someone bring the child out.” Cloud Qingwu knew Leng Lici wouldn’t treat the child as his own, but knowing and personally experiencing it were different. He said in an annoyed tone: “Given our current state, do you still intend to walk back and bring the child out yourself? You might want to perish together, but I don’t want to participate.”

Leng Lici sneered: “You so-called gods are all uniformly hypocritical.”

Cloud Qingwu did not bother with Leng Lici’s sarcasm. He stood up and took out a wooden whistle. Once the whistle was blown, Hong Yuan would know his location.

Leng Lici’s eyes narrowed. He flipped down from the tree, slapped the wooden whistle to the ground, his tone carrying a warning: “Did this Venerable One permit you to call someone?”

He had no demon power right now and was no different from a mortal. He trusted no one.

“Then what is your brilliant suggestion?” Cloud Qingwu’s face was impatient, and his voice was slightly raised.

As if sensing the tension between the two, the ceaselessly howling north wind of winter seemed to slow down, falling into a state of stagnation.

After a long moment.

Leng Lici brushed his sleeve, turned, took out a palm-sized wooden knife from his robe, and slashed it in the air. A rift immediately appeared where the wooden knife passed.

The sound of miserable infant crying came from within, breaking the silence. The cries were punctuated, clearly indicating the child was struggling to catch its breath.

Leng Lici’s expression was stern. He reached his hand into the rift, and when it came out, it held a child.

It was the Flowing Separation Knife (Liu Li Dao).

Cloud Qingwu’s eyes shifted slightly. The Flowing Separation Knife was formed from the heart of the Fusang Divine Tree. The Fusang Tree renewed itself once every hundred million years, so the shedding of its heart also occurred only once every hundred million years. The shed heart needed certain fate to successfully transform into the Flowing Separation Knife. Thus, there were only three in existence to this day.

The one preserved in the Celestial Realm was the size of a long knife. Another’s whereabouts were unknown. The one in Leng Lici’s hand resembled the Merman Clan’s artifact.

That the usually aloof Merman Clan would willingly give up their clan treasure meant that Leng Lici’s position as the Demon Lord was more secure than he had anticipated.

“Wuu wuu wuu!”

As his thoughts wandered, Leng Lici threw something to him across the space. He instinctively caught it. Looking down, the infant’s red eyes were watching him with a pitiful expression. Because it had cried for so long, the old tears on its face had dried and scabbed, and new tears covered them, making the child look entirely unlike the clean state he first saw.

“Your child. Here.” Leng Lici dropped this line and walked straight ahead.

“…”

Cloud Qingwu looked at the child in his arms, who was sobbing uncontrollably. His body stiffened, and his hands and feet felt numb, as if they had lost sensation along with his spiritual power.

But quickly, all lost sensation was fully recovered, because the child’s sobs grew weaker and weaker, and the intense headache warned him that if this continued, neither of them would be far from the next life.

“Leng Lici!”

He adjusted the way he held the child and shouted toward the front.

As his voice fell, it seemed to trigger a mechanism. The person who had been walking away without looking back immediately stopped, though he still chose to keep his back to him.

Cloud Qingwu was startled, keenly noticing a clue—the demon’s hand was uncontrollably trembling, utterly contradicting the calm on his face.

Tch.