Zu An was stunned. He noticed something that the creature had just said, though.
After what had happened in the Fiend races’ imperial tomb secret dungeon, he had some exposure to the celestial court and the ancient era’s legendary immortals. He knew that there really were deities in the world. Still, he wondered if the deities this Lord of Slaughter spoke of were the same as the deities of the celestial court that he'd seen.
“If you aren’t affected by any magical laws, how were you sealed underneath this snowy mountain in the past?” Zu An asked in frustration. If it really wasn’t affected by the different laws, that would really be hard to deal with. Many of his skills were actually just made up of various magical laws, and those were the skills that he relied on to defeat those stronger than himself. But now, they were all completely ineffective against this enemy. That was why he had to find out just how powerful this immunity was.
“Hmph, what else could it be? I was fooled by a crafty bastard…” The Lord of Slaughter gritted its teeth in anger as it spoke. “Now that I’m looking at you again, that bastard looked a bit similar to you. In that case, I’ll just take out my resentment on you!” After saying that, it charged straight at Zu An.
Zu An quickly raised his sword to protect himself. His body was actually extremely tough, but now that he was injured, he really couldn't withstand its ferocious attacks. Helpless to do anything else, he could only rely on his instant movement skill from time to time.
However, the Lord of Slaughter seemed like an absolute fighting machine. After fighting for a while, it gradually became accustomed to his skills. After Zu An teleported twice and reappeared in the sky, it was actually already waiting for him at his final location ahead of time. It opened its bloody mouth and chomped down in his direction.
At that moment, Zu An’s skill was on its ‘cooldown’ period. In reality, under the cooldown reduction effects of Mo Xi’s skills, it was already extremely short. Ordinary people wouldn’t be able to even notice that it existed, but the Lord of Slaughter was a fighting genius. Not only did it accurately seize upon that point, it even predicted where Zu An would dodge.
It was already too late for Zu An to use his skill to dodge. As he felt the threat of death approach, he looked dejected. He decisively slashed with his sword at the monster’s mouth in an attempt to take it down with him.
Suddenly, a bright lantern appeared in the sky. Its yellow light covered the Lord of Slaughter. Then, someone let out a light scoff, and a wall of light suddenly appeared in front of Zu An. It was the light element's ultimate defensive skill, the Wall of Sighs! And naturally, the lantern was the Empress Lantern!
The Lord of Slaughter’s movements became sluggish for the slightest of moments. The next moment, a claw lashed out toward the sky.
The Empress Lantern exploded into pieces, and the yellow light also quickly vanished. At the same time, the Lord of Slaughter's head slammed into the Wall of Sighs. The most powerful defense of the light element actually couldn't even last for a single second before shattering into pieces.
Even so, that bit of time was already enough for Zu An to catch his breath. He was able to increase the distance again. Then, he looked at the stunning and graceful young lady standing in the distance, exclaiming, “Honglei!”
The woman was dressed in a brilliant red overcoat that made her even more captivating. Who else could it be but Qiu Honglei? The last time they'd seen each other was at the Lake of Hatred. He had never expected to meet her again here, and for her to save him, no less!
As she looked at him, Qiu Honglei frowned. Then, her gaze shifted to the Empress Lantern in the sky that was now in pieces, and an absent-minded expression appeared on her face. This was an artifact that her master had given her. Even though it wasn’t the original, it had been made through the collective wisdom and craftsmanship of several generations of the Devil Sect’s elites. It had roughly eighty percent of the original’s power. This lantern had accompanied her for too many years already, staying at her side through countless dangers. It had helped her win against countless powerful enemies, and yet she'd never expected it to be destroyed here.
While she was feeling absent-minded, a foul stench swept toward her. The Lord of Slaughter had finally exploited Zu An’s opening and was about to kill him, and yet it was all ruined because of this woman. It wouldn’t be so easy to create such a chance again, because Zu An was like a slippery loach that was incredibly hard to catch. It was furious that the woman had ruined its plans. In that case, since it couldn't catch Zu An, it would take its anger out on her first.
Qiu Honglei had been to the daoist secret dungeon, so she had seen all kinds of powerful beings. Her reactions to situations and her mental state were already entirely different from the past. Dazzling white light instantly appeared in front of her. It was the light element skill, Blinding Radiance! At the same time, she created another Wall of Sighs in front of her. She also took out a pair of curved blades to use her most powerful skill, ‘Nebula Rend’. It was as if a starry cosmos appeared in front of her.
If Yun Jianyue were here, she would definitely be extremely gratified, because Qiu Honglei’s cultivation was now much more powerful than before. Apart from Chu Chuyan, there was probably no one else among the daoists’ younger generation who could face her anymore.
Unfortunately, the enemy she was facing right now was far beyond her imagination. The terrifying Nebula Rend clearly hit the Lord of Slaughter’s head; normally, the enemy would have their body quickly shredded up by the chaotic spatial power. However, her attack actually scattered just from a brute force collision! On top of that, in its eyes, even the Wall of Sighs was no different from a sheet of paper.
Only the blinding white light seemed to have some effect on the Lord of Slaughter. It reflexively closed its eyes, and its body froze up a bit. After being crushed under a mountain peak for countless years, it was already unused to bright light.Using that moment when it was caught off guard, Zu An picked up Qiu Honglei and left this place. He initially wanted to use the chance to kill the Lord of Slaughter, but there wasn’t enough time for him to do considerable damage at all. Rather, both of them could lose their lives instead.
When it saw that it had lost sight of its target, the Lord of Slaughter roared furiously a few times. It was about to chase after them when the Snow Lady blocked it with a sword, buying some time for Zu An and Qiu Honglei.
“Why are you here?” Zu An asked while observing the battle.
“I was out for a random stroll. How could I have known that I would even run into you here?” Qiu Honglei harrumphed, but her body was no longer as rigid as before.
She had been completely stupefied when she inadvertently saw Zu An and her master doing the deed. On one side was her most beloved lover, while the other side was her most beloved master!
She was an orphan who had been raised by Yun Jianyue alone. Even though her master had been harsh on her, the love and care Yun Jianyue showed her was clear. The two were master and disciple in name, but she had already begun treating her master as family a long time ago. That was why she had been so shocked to see that scene.
Thus, she had fled the scene, feeling completely disheartened. Her only thought had been to leave the two of them as far behind as possible. Eventually, she unknowingly ended up in the dangerous Great Snowy Mountains. Only in a place as desolate and uninhabited as this would neither the human and fiend regent nor the Devil Sect Master find her.
At first, she felt awful, but as she spent her time in this solitary world of ice and snow, her mind gradually calmed down. Since 'that' had already happened, it just had to be dealt with. In the end, she'd decided to help her master and Ah Zu. After all, in her eyes, her master was just too unfortunate. Even though everyone else feared Yun Jianyue and thought that she was a murderous demon, only a disciple like Qiu Honglei knew just how lonely her master was. Alas, because of the whims of fate, Yun Jianyue had been forced to be alone all these years.
Qiu Honglei had previously had thoughts of playing matchmaker for her master, but every single attempt had failed and she'd even ended up angering her master, receiving a nasty beating as a result. As a result, she eventually came to understand that her master’s standards were incredibly high, such that there was no man in this world that could reach them.
She'd thought that her master would live out the rest of her life alone, but now, there was a man that Yun Jianyue actually found favorable. That should have been something incredibly blissful! The only sad part was that the man was also Qiu Honglei's own lover...
After thinking back to the kindness her master had shown her all these years, she'd made the decision to back out. However, when she thought about her lover, she still felt incredibly heartbroken. She'd made the choice to live out her pitiful life alone on this snowy mountain. But who would have thought that she would suddenly sense such an intense battle today? The blast waves had even made her feel alarmed and horrified. How could there be something this powerful in this world?
She'd instinctively wanted to leave, but then she sensed that the battle’s energy was a bit familiar, and something about it really resembled Ah Zu’s aura. Even though she hadn't expected such a great coincidence as Ah Zu being here, she still couldn't suppress her curiosity and went over to investigate. As it turned out, she really did her sweetheart, and even helped him out!
“How did you end up provoking such a terrifying monster?!” Qiu Honglei exclaimed. Even though she couldn't help but recall the despicable thing Zu An had done with her master when she saw him and really wanted to stab him a few times, she couldn't be bothered with that right now, since they were facing such a great enemy.
“It’s a long story. We might really end up dying together as sweethearts this time,” Zu An said with a bitter smile. Qiu Honglei’s cultivation was way too low to be of any help. She had already overperformed just now, and yet it didn’t do much to change the greater situation. She couldn't even run away. After all, no matter how long she ran for, the Lord of Slaughter would still be able to easily catch up.
“Hmph, who wants to die as sweethearts with you? You can go and find master to do that with you.” Qiu Honglei harrumphed.
Before Zu An could even reply, the Snow Lady snapped icily, “Are you two finished yet? I’m about to die fighting over here!”