Chapter 82: Expelling the Heretical Sect

Lieyang looked at Jingling with curiosity, but saw that Jingling’s expression was calm and unperturbed, as if she had expected this, confirming that she too knew something about the matter.

Meanwhile, Shen Ruru had originally intended to strike again, but seeing the three elders of the Evil Sect arrive, she had to immediately withdraw her spiritual power, biting her lip as she glared at Bai Qirui. After all, with the three elders now present, if she continued to make trouble on their turf, she would only end up hurting herself. With tensions high between the two sects and her own rank not high enough, she doubted anyone would stand up for her.

Noticing how familiar Huo Tianqing and Bai Qirui appeared with one another, she looked at Bai Qirui with a cool, mocking tone. “So you and Huo Tianqing have known each other for ages. I said you were scheming for the position, and you still denied it!”

Bai Qirui smiled helplessly and replied, “Your master also knows Huo Tianqing. Should I then assume your master wants to seize the position of the Immortal Sect leader as well?”

“You—!”

“All right.” Huo Tianqing, displeased at being drawn into their quarrel, interrupted Shen Ruru. “Who I know has nothing to do with you. Stop making a fuss.”

Jingling, knowing Huo Tianqing was angered and not wanting him to release those wild, indiscriminate ghosts again, swiftly changed the subject, glaring at the two as she spoke with fury. “One after another, you come to my Evil Sect—what is it you want? One of you wants to take our disciple away, and now the two of you are fighting here, causing my perfectly sound palace to collapse!”

Annoyed by her tone, Shen Ruru, already blocked by Bai Qirui and Huo Tianqing in conversation, seized the chance to vent her frustration, scowling as she retorted, “Isn’t it just a palace? I can afford to pay for it! Must you howl like some beast? I never imagined the Evil Sect was so poor now—how laughable!”

Bai Qirui couldn’t help but burst out laughing at her words.

Lieyang raised an eyebrow, sneering, “You can afford it?”

Shen Ruru hadn’t intended to respond, but seeing even this brat dare to question her, she replied with a harsh tone, “So what if I can?”

“Very well, let me settle the bill for you.” At some point, a calculating abacus appeared in Lieyang’s hand, clicking away as he spoke. “This palace was the residence of our ancestors, housing many treasures and texts. The gates are made from thousand-year pearwood, the paint was gifted by the demon of the Northern Sea…”

The more Shen Ruru listened, the darker her face became.

Lieyang finished his calculations with a smile. “Excluding the treasures and rare texts within, you owe me eighteen thousand seven hundred thirty-two high-grade spirit stones.”

Shen Ruru was struck dumb, her anger rising so rapidly she nearly attacked Lieyang.

Lieyang’s expression remained unchanged, but his gaze was filled with disdain and icy coldness.

He raised his hand lightly, and instantly, flames swept over everything, leaving nothing alive in their wake.

Shen Ruru hastily summoned a shield of spiritual power to block the fire, but her clothes were still burnt through in several places.

“Ant.” Lieyang clasped his hands behind his back, his expression not at all like that of a child, but rather aged, with a hint of world-weariness in his eyes.

Shen Ruru’s face changed, sensing his aura and realizing this child’s cultivation was no weaker than Huo Tianqing’s.

“All right, Lieyang, why waste words with her?” Jingling took out a dagger, whose blood-red blade reflected the crimson moon in the night sky, its evil red patterns surging. “This is the third prince of the Heavenly Fox clan—we cannot touch him. But this nobody—why shouldn’t we?”

Lieyang nodded, a dark red flame suddenly flaring in his palm. “You're right.”

Bai Qirui had intended to stand aside and watch the spectacle, but in the next moment, Huo Tianqing, instead of attacking Shen Ruru, grabbed a little black-headed, black-bodied ghost and sent it toward Bai Qirui.

He dodged nimbly, his robes fluttering, expression steady, and asked, “Why attack me? I’ve found my own younger brother, and naturally, I’ll leave.”

“That depends on how you’ve raised Bai Shengyun!” Huo Tianqing retorted, then swung the shrieking little ghost at him again.

Bai Qirui dodged once more, his smile fading, growing serious. “He came to fetch his sister-in-law. Is that wrong?”

“Sister-in-law? Did I approve their marriage?”

“Even if you object now, it’s too late—the wedding has already been held.” Bai Qirui chuckled.

No sooner had he spoken than he sensed something amiss—a cold chill at his back. He turned, only to see a ghost infant appear out of nowhere.

The ghost infant moved with extraordinary speed, its aura of resentment and death shocking Bai Qirui’s soul, leaving him stunned for a moment.

In that instant, Huo Tianqing and the ghost infant attacked him simultaneously.

This time, Bai Qirui had nowhere to dodge and was forced to take both attacks head-on, his chest bone shattering with a sickening crack.

Clutching his chest, he suppressed the blood rising in his throat, his stance unsteady.

Meanwhile, Shen Ruru, under the assault of Jingling and Lieyang, let out a miserable scream and collapsed to the ground, her limbs twisted at impossible angles, a sight that inspired terror.

Jingling hoisted her up, disgust clear on her face, and murmured, “Truly an ant.”

Shen Ruru, never before so humiliated, blushed in fury, about to curse.

Suddenly, a fierce wind swept up, sand and dust stinging her eyes, forcing them shut.

Moments later, she landed with a heavy thud on hard ground. Before leaving, the sand deliberately made her swallow a mouthful, making her cough uncontrollably.

Struggling to open her bloodshot eyes, she saw she was outside the Evil Sect, Ning Qingqing unconscious beside her, Bai Qirui standing upright in the distance.

Yet she noticed something amiss.

A thick line of blood trickled from Bai Qirui’s sleeve, droplets falling to the earth, quickly sinking into the soil.

“Haha…” Shen Ruru laughed grotesquely at the sight, her face twisted. “So, Bai Qirui, you’re heavily wounded too—serves you right!”

Bai Qirui didn’t reply, nor did he turn around. He simply opened his storage pouch at his waist, took out several bottles of elixirs, and swallowed them all.

Then, he picked up the Clear Heart Fan and tossed it backward.

It seemed an effortless throw, yet the fan spun and sped toward her with astonishing speed.

Seriously injured, Shen Ruru could barely evade, managing only to twist aside, but still the fan cut a bloody gash across her slender neck, exposing deep flesh.

She gritted her teeth, staring hatefully at Bai Qirui’s unmoving back.

Had she not dodged, that fan would have sliced most of her neck clean through!