Chapter 429: Fray
"Let me see what you're capable of, daring to incite a beast tide with only a mid-tier third-rank cultivation!"
Li Zhixuan's eyes blazed with intense fire, her fighting spirit surging proudly!
"Be careful and defend! Let me go and slay this devil!" Before her words had even finished echoing, Li Zhixuan dashed out alone.
"Hmm?" Lan Jiao noticed the belligerent Li Zhixuan almost immediately, but it was only when she drew closer that it recognized her as an early Golden Core female cultivator.
"Hahahaha, has the Li family run out of men to send such a weak woman to the front?" Lan Jiao mocked loudly, shouting, "Hey! You girl, where's Li Zhirui from your clan? Call him out to battle me; I must avenge the disgrace of the past!"
Within the Devil Race, some clans revere females, others respect males, and the Monohorn Behemoth clan is one of the latter, seeing female behemoths merely as tools for reproduction.
Having grown up in such an environment, Lan Jiao naturally looked down on female creatures.
However, this notion was about to change very soon!
Li Zhixuan stood proudly in the air, her hand gripping the Three-feet Qingfeng, with eyes glinting with the coldness of death, "To deal with a little mixed-breed like you, there's no need for Jiu to take action; today, you shall die by my sword!"
"You're courting death!" Lan Jiao's expression turned dark as water, its eyes filled with intense murderous intent. It roared in anger and charged towards Li Zhixuan like a cannonball propelled by gunpowder, fierce beyond measure.
"Bring it on!" Li Zhixuan was wildly excited, feeling her blood coursing faster through her veins. Mana surged, her Spirit Sword shone brilliantly, and with a flick of her wrist, several deadly Sword Qi sliced through the air.
Although she had only reached the understanding of Sword Heart and was officially in the early Golden Core stage, her actual combat strength was not inferior to that of the Middle Golden Core Stage. And this was before her life-bound Magic Sword had been fully refined; once successful, its power would rival that of a Golden Core Late Stage cultivator who was not proficient in combat.
The material for Li Zhixuan's life-bound Magic Sword was simple in concept but very difficult to obtain as it involved only one kind of Spirit Material: Geng Metal, a fourth-tier Spirit Material known for its incredible hardness and sharpness.
If it weren't for her years of trials in the central lands, encountering some fortunate opportunities, and then spending all her wealth, she would have never been able to secure this highly coveted Geng Metal, perfect for a Sword Cultivator's life-bound Magic Sword.
In the time after securing the Geng Metal, Li Zhixuan did not know how many pursuits she had endured, how far she had fled, and the dangers she faced would be hard for even her current self to survive through if she had to do it all over again!
During the two years since her return to Wanxian Island, Li Zhixuan had ceaselessly used Pill Fire to refine the Geng Metal, aiming to soften it and remove impurities. However, she was still far from her goal. To achieve it, she would need at least two or three more years.
But back to the fight!
Lan Jiao felt a trace of death's threat, a mix of surprise and anxiety bubbling within it but quelled these fears swiftly. If it couldn't overcome this challenge, it would have no face to return to its kin!
In the Devil Race, the law of the jungle, 'survival of the fittest,' was exemplified to an extreme degree. Being previously defeated by Li Zhirui wasn't much of a concern, as their realms were comparable.
But to be defeated by an early Golden Core stage cultivator, especially a female one, would not only be shameful, but it would also mean wandering the boundless seas even if it managed to leave alive.
Lan Jiao tried to dodge the Sword Qi but found its movements anticipated by Li Zhixuan, who was watching closely. She unleashed several more splitting Sword Qi, not giving it the chance to escape.
With no other choice, Lan Jiao retreated. It certainly could not withstand a direct assault from a Sword Cultivator's Sword Qi.
Seeing this, Li Zhixuan was in no hurry at all, maintaining a steady and secure approach, slightly slower perhaps, but ensuring her safety.
"Aaaaaah!" Lan Jiao's chest was filled with a stifling resentment. This battle had been unbearably frustrating for him. Up to now, he hadn't managed to inflict a single wound on his opponent. Although he himself remained unharmed, his hair was disheveled and he looked quite disheveled.
"Kill!" Li Zhixuan roared and charged toward Lan Jiao and his flying vessel for the first time.
——
Within a small marketplace of Guangqing State.
"Disaster has struck! Disaster has struck! The few Immortal Cities to the north have been breached by Devil Beasts!" A southern gale howled, bringing with it dire news.
Guangqing State shared a border with Great Void Province, and if the defensive lines were broken, it was feared that a great number of Devil Beasts would surge in, rampaging throughout Guangqing State!
"How could this be! You must understand, the boundary is guarded by Shen Leishan, a formidable power with Nascent Soul True Lords!" Some people still couldn't believe it, and there were quite a few of them, for, in their hearts, Shen Leishan was an institution.
However, most cultivators still cherished their lives. Once the news was confirmed, they would likely leave this dangerous place at the first opportunity!
But none of the cultivators anticipated that the Devil Beasts would arrive so swiftly; in just one day's time, they had reached their village.
They didn't know that under the deliberate machinations of Shen Leishan, the remaining Li family cultivators were simply no match for the massive swarms of Devil Beasts.
Among those people, only a very few were still alive; the rest had likely perished on the way.
And then, the brutal slaughter began!
All of the cultivators were captured and killed, and the Devil Beasts consumed vast quantities of their flesh daily, which could be used to accelerate their cultivation.
In less than half a month, the vast Guangqing State had descended into a hell on earth, with countless beings meeting bloody, horrific deaths!
And the Devil Race, the culprits behind it all, were utterly indifferent to the carnage; they were not of the human race, so where would they find such sentimentality?
As for Lei Tian of Shen Leishan, the mastermind behind the scenes, there was no change in his expression upon receiving the news, as calm as though only a few ants had died.
But even Lei Tian, who had orchestrated all this, had not anticipated that countless members of the Devil Race from Great Void Province were rushing to gather urgently and then marching southward to occupy this land no longer perpetually cold!
And the few cultivators who had managed to escape back to Wanxian Island brought this dire news to their clans, prompting an emergency family meeting.
"What should we do now? With Guangqing State occupied by the Devil Beasts from Great Void Province, they might just squat there and never leave, just like what happened to Great Void Province in the past, taken over and becoming their territory," an elder spoke with both shock and fear.
"Why would the Devil Beasts of Great Void Province suddenly break through the defense line?"
The moment this question was raised, the grand hall went silent, so quiet that only the sounds of the candles burning could be heard, preventing complete silence.
The more astute elders had already comprehended who the manipulator behind this disaster was soon after learning of Guangqing State's calamity.
"Send someone to Yunping State, and have all our clan members return! Take away any Spiritual Objects that can be moved; abandon those that cannot," Patriarch Li Dayuan ordered decisively. It was not a matter for discussion, but it was what he deemed most important.