Chapter 25: Fierce Battle

  The Hall of Life and Death.

  Jiulao Nie Xingdong, who had been sitting in the corner of the hall for most of the day, opened his eyes and scanned the cocoons scattered throughout the hall before looking at the middle-aged man standing beside him: "It's already the sixth night. Feng Han, how many people are still trapped in the Mortal Realm?"

  Nie Fenghan hastily replied: "Sixty-three people."

  "Are their identities all clear?"

  Nie Xingdong said.

  "There are five members of the Bai family, three members of the Zhang family, seven members of the Hai family, five members of the Tong family, and one member of the Lin family. The remaining 42 people are all from our Nie family." Nie Fenghan counted them off with relish.

  "Hmm."

  Nie Xingdong nodded slightly, and a look of satisfaction appeared on his ruddy doll-like face...

  ……

  In the spiritual realm, almost all the spirit beasts have risen, and the mountains and fields are filled with the roars and howls of various spirit beasts, and the sky is boiling.

  In the depths of a mountain valley, Nie Kong sat cross-legged with his back against a jade armrest, his eyes closed. Except for the shorts he was wearing, his entire body was exposed. Nie Kong had no choice; he had originally placed a set of clothes in his pet backpack, but they had been secretly taken out a few days ago and given to Bai Yuke, who was almost naked, under the pretext that he was wearing two sets of clothes. After throwing away the clothes on his body last night, Nie Kong had no more clothes to change into and could only make do with this.

  In front of Nie Kong, Bai Yuqing's delicate body lay horizontally, her eyes closed in a deep sleep.

  This morning, Nie Kong heard the sound that Bai Yuqing made. At that time, she was drenched from head to toe, with many wounds all over her body and skin rolled up. As soon as Nie Kong saw Bai Yuqing's appearance, he knew that she had fortunately found a source of water and barely escaped.

  Bai Yuqing's injuries this time were more severe than ever before, Nie Kong had to use the "Nine Revolutions Golden Needle Technique" and used up three bottles of Rebirth Dew to heal her wounds.

  Up until now, Nie Kong has used up all thirteen bottles of "Rebirth Dew" he refined this month in the Life and Death Domain, which is worth over two million gold coins.

  Just thinking about this number makes Nie Kong feel a bit heartbroken.

  "Uh-huh."

  Bai Yuqing slowly opened her eyes, her gaze shifting back and forth, then suddenly sat up with a start, muttering to herself: "I'm actually still alive!"

  Nie Kong closed his eyes and said, "As long as I'm here, you won't die no matter how badly you're injured, as long as you haven't stopped breathing before I make my move."

  Bai Yuqing turned her head, only to notice Nie Kong's naked body, and she couldn't help but furrow her brow. She coldly snorted: "Put on your clothes, I don't want to stay with a perverted man."

  Nie Kong was amused by her words: "I'd like to wear it. Bai sister, I think this is a good idea, take off the clothes on your body and return them to me. Anyway, you're still wearing underwear and wrapping your chest, I don't mind staying with a half-naked woman at all."

  Bai Yuqing glared silently for a moment before standing up and saying, "I'll go outside to keep watch, lest some spirit beast slips in unnoticed."

  "Remember, don't get too seriously injured, the medicine I brought is running out." Nie Kong gave Bai Yuqing a preventive injection in a cold and detached manner.

  "You'd better worry about your own safety. With only a little more than a day left before the deadline, the spiritual beasts will become increasingly frenzied. Although we have that deal, I'm not sure I can hold off all the spiritual beasts charging into the valley." Bai Yujing said in a low voice, then turned and left the stone cave without looking back.

  Nie Kong smiled silently, his eyes slowly opening. The white jade stone wall still didn't emit any medicinal fragrance, continuing to cultivate the "Five Elements Shift Technique", and there wouldn't be much progress in a short period of time. Nie Kong stood up decisively, facing the white jade stone wall as he practiced "Cloud Piled Flower Explosion" and "Flying Flowers Flowing Shadows".

  After last night and this morning's battles, Nie Kong had a deeper understanding of these two skills. Now, after carefully recalling them, Nie Kong discovered many of his own shortcomings, which was just in time to take advantage of this opportunity to hone himself with the little guy, so that he could display them even more perfectly.

  "Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!"

  A fierce rumbling sound shook the stone cave, Nie Kong's shadow flashed faster and faster, his attack speed getting quicker and quicker...

  ……

  "Roar!"

  Suddenly, a shrill roar awakened Nie Kong who was immersed in his cultivation. Immediately after, a chaotic clashing sound came from outside the cave.

  Nie Kong sprinted out, and the sky was already showing a faint dawn. In front of the cliff wall made of vines, lay a spiritual beast that resembled a wild boar but was several times larger in size, with fresh blood bubbling from its mouth, and a frozen wound on its chest and abdomen left by an ice crystal.

  Ling Beast's side, Bai Yuqing leaned on the broadsword she had picked up, standing proudly and coldly as usual, with a slightly childish face, as if what just happened was just a trivial matter. Nie Kong couldn't help but give Bai Yuqing a thumbs up, unfortunately, she didn't seem to appreciate it, not even blinking an eye.

  "Hoo-hoo!" "Aaah!" "Wooo..."

  Several shrill cries rose up, and three figures suddenly flashed out at the valley entrance, apparently alerted by the dying beast's mournful howl.

  In the distance, two people stood in front of a cliff wall. Three spiritual beasts suddenly went mad, letting out earth-shaking roars as they charged forward like lightning. Even from afar, Nie Kong could clearly see their bright red eyes and the fierce glint within them.

  In the time it took them to take a few breaths, they had already shortened the distance between themselves and Nie Kong and Bai Yuqin to about twenty meters.

  Three spiritual beasts with different shapes: the iron armor turtle with a stout body and black scales all over its body; the Qingling double-horned tiger with dark green fur and two sharp horns; the Yinying wolf that walks with a limp but is extremely fast... They are all second-grade spiritual beasts.

  "Ah."

  Bai Yuqing let out a loud shout, her body suddenly bursting forth, the broadsword in her hand slashing upwards from below at the foremost shadowy figure.

  Nie Kong clearly saw the dark wolf dodging to the side, but the broadsword's tip seemed to follow its shadow. A flash of blue light, and the dark wolf let out a mournful howl as it flipped over, its four limbs stiffening as it fell to the ground. Between its hind legs and front legs, an additional narrow gash appeared, covered in frost.

  Having settled the Shadow Wolf, Bai Yuke didn't pause for a moment. With a slanted stride, he stepped forward and stood horizontally in front of that iron-armored beast. As the spiritual beast approached with its jaws wide open, Bai Yuke's broadsword chopped down with lightning speed. After a burst of clashing metal sounds, the iron-armored beast split into two halves, its long head dangling motionless, while its frozen internal organs scattered all over the ground.

  "Ahhhroo!"

  Seeing the Shadow Wolf and Iron Armor Crocodile being killed one after another, the remaining Qingling Double-Horned Tiger suddenly turned its head in anger, roaring as it pounced towards Bai Yuke.

  Splish-splash!

  The same simple sword, Qingling's double-horned tiger fell to the ground.

  Three swords struck, three spiritual beasts fell, all of this happened in the blink of an eye, clean and efficient, without any drag. From start to finish, Nie Kong didn't even have time to react. Watching the returning figure of Yao, Nie Kong secretly admired, this little girl's actual combat ability was indeed formidable.

  In the following time, all the spiritual beasts in the Mortal Realm fell into a state of frenzy, and the number of intruders in the valley increased.

  In the morning, Bai Yujing alone could handle it. However, in the afternoon, there were often more than ten or twenty spiritual beasts appearing together, and even if Bai Yujing had three heads and six arms, he would still be busy to no avail. Thus, Nie Kong finally had an opportunity to strike.

  The further back they went, the stronger the spiritual beasts that entered the valley became. After a prolonged battle, Nie Kong's "Cloud Stacking Flower Explosion" and "Flying Flower Shadow" skills were used more and more skillfully, but the wounds on his body were also slowly increasing. By dusk, he had almost become a bloody man.

  "Hmmph..."

  In the midst of a sorrowful low howl, the last spiritual beast's head was pierced by Nie Kong's five fingers, and its claws, which were resting on Nie Kong's shoulders, also slid down along with its body, leaving behind several trails of deep red blood stains on his arm.

  With two thuds, Nie Kong and Bai Yuqin almost simultaneously sat down amidst the corpses of the spiritual beasts, panting heavily. The intense battle had left them both exhausted, with their internal meridians completely drained of spiritual power, not a single thread remaining.

  "Hiss!"

  However, Heaven seemed unwilling to give Nie Kong and the others a chance to catch their breath, as another figure emerged from the valley entrance accompanied by an eerie hissing sound...

  ……