Chapter 079: Survival Comes First

"Have you been to the Forbidden Grounds of the Demon Sect?" Li Chengpeng blocked Ou Xinlai's path with a vicious glare. The little white snake's illusion spell couldn't last forever, as it still hadn't fully recovered its power or transformed into its dragon form. Sure enough, Ou Xinlai was caught by Li Chengpeng.

"What do you mean by that?" Ou Xinlai raised an eyebrow, looking at Li Chengpeng's face, which was full of intent to settle accounts with her. She had thought that if she encountered Li Chengpeng again, the only thing he would do was snap her neck.

Who knew Li Chengpeng would look at her as if she'd stolen his family's treasures? Was he planning to force her to cough up all the treasures she had taken from the Demon Grounds?

Now, things seemed to be getting far more interesting.

If Li Chengpeng truly served the Demon Sect wholeheartedly, the only thing he should do now was break her limbs, strip her of any ability to move, and drag her back to the sect.

But if he really knew what she had stolen, he wouldn't be asking such questions.

After all, the spiritual energy she absorbed could not be expelled, and as for the earthen fruit underground, Ou Xinlai wasn't sure if the Demon Lord knew about it or not.

Thus, Li Chengpeng's intentions were deeply intriguing.

"Hand over the treasures you took from the Forbidden Grounds. If you do, I'll let you die quickly!" Once someone becomes a Demon Lord and gains the right to enter the Forbidden Grounds, their supernatural abilities advance rapidly.

So everyone in the Demon Sect knows that treasures lie hidden in those grounds.

Many have risked their lives to enter and retrieve those treasures. But those who enter, even if they're lucky enough not to be caught, leave empty-handed. More importantly, for every ten who venture into the forbidden grounds, barely half escape the Demon Lord's notice.

Thus, everyone who enters the forbidden grounds ultimately meets only one fate: death.

Even Li Chengpeng, despite his desire to see the forbidden grounds, had never dared to act, knowing he could never match the Demon Lord. Unless one had the confidence to defeat the Demon Lord, those grounds, fat with treasures, could not even be sniffed.

This time, Ou Xinlai's arrival was an accident, but she managed to enter the Forbidden Grounds and wasn't discovered by the Demon Lord!

Even if Li Chengpeng hadn't received definite news, he was convinced: for Ou Xinlai to evade his surveillance and not be discovered, the only possibility was that she had entered the forbidden grounds.

Moreover, since she wasn't killed by the Demon Lord, Li Chengpeng was certain she knew the secrets of the forbidden grounds and had gained significant benefits from them.

Listening to Li Chengpeng's words, Ou Xinlai was speechless. Did he think she was a fool? If she handed over or refused, she'd die either way. Why should she make things easier for her enemy?

"Refusing to hand them over?" Li Chengpeng seemed to guess her thoughts, smiling darkly. "No matter. If you won't give them, I'll just kill you and search your corpse for them!"

"You dare!" Ou Xinlai shouted.

"Why wouldn't I dare?" Li Chengpeng thought Ou Xinlai was not just young, but quite naive. As the Demon Sect's Black Enforcer, what was there he wouldn't dare do?

"If you so much as touch a hair on my head, I'll destroy every treasure I took from the Forbidden Grounds. I won't let you gain anything." Ou Xinlai spoke with confidence.

Although she had reached the ninth layer of Yin-Yang Rotation, she hadn't achieved minor mastery, and wasn't certain she could defeat Li Chengpeng. She feared she would end up just like before, utterly powerless in his hands.

"You!" As expected, nothing else could threaten Li Chengpeng, but the treasures of the forbidden grounds mattered greatly to him. Hearing Ou Xinlai's threat, he grew furious, his eyes nearly bulging.

"Hmph!" Li Chengpeng snorted coldly and attacked Ou Xinlai without another word.

His strike was swift and fierce; Ou Xinlai narrowly avoided injury. Still, a lock of her black hair was severed.

Ou Xinlai grew angry. Regardless of whether she could win, she had to fight—otherwise, she was doomed.

She unleashed her Yin-Yang Rotation. At the ninth layer, if she could touch Li Chengpeng, his internal structure would be at her command.

But Li Chengpeng was not someone so easily approached.

Thus, Ou Xinlai was plunged into a bitter struggle.

Seeing this, the little white snake grew anxious. If Ou Xinlai achieved minor mastery of Yin-Yang Rotation, even without touching Li Chengpeng, she could control the internal Yin-Yang shifts within him.

The white snake spat out blood, expending what little energy it had left. With a buzz, a formation crashed heavily onto Li Chengpeng.

He froze, as if a balloon was swelling inside him, forcing his entire body taut.

Seeing Li Chengpeng reeling, Ou Xinlai faced two choices: gamble and finish him off before he recovered, or flee.

She gritted her teeth. Faced with a man who killed without understanding the facts, she couldn't bring herself to run.

So, Ou Xinlai darted in front of Li Chengpeng and struck him with her palm.

Then, like a startled rabbit, she fled without looking back.

By the time Li Chengpeng regained his senses, the dizziness was gone, but his body was hurt. His heart throbbed painfully, as if struck.

Yet his heart was within his body, protected by his formidable cultivation; those under level ten couldn't harm his flesh at all. If they couldn't hurt his body, how could they harm his heart, wrapped in iron and bronze?

Li Chengpeng exhaled, his face darkening. "Ou Xinlai, let’s see how far you can run!" Since breaking into the divine cultivation realm, he hadn't been wounded in ages. That was why he acted so recklessly; he had no fear of the Ou family seeking revenge.

The Ou family was no fool. If it were just him, that would be one thing. But if the Demon Sect's Black Enforcer died, the Demon Lord would never let it rest. This matter would be endless.

Li Chengpeng was certain the Ou family wouldn't oppose the entire Demon Sect for Ou Xinlai, so he brazenly captured her. Now, being wounded by this mere fledgling, his fury was beyond measure.

"This won't do. Li Chengpeng will never let me go; I must find a way to deal with him." Ou Xinlai grew anxious. Li Chengpeng had chased her from the Demon Sect, clearly intent on her demise. Even if she wounded him, unless he died, the hunt would never stop.

"If you master minor Yin-Yang Rotation, you—" The white snake started.

"I want that too!" Ou Xinlai rolled her eyes. If only she could perfect her skills, no one could bully her. She had devoted herself to cultivation, reaching the ninth layer of Yin-Yang Rotation; that was already rapid progress.

"That ancient disk—absorb it! If you take in all its innate energy, combine it with your own Yin energy, you’ll achieve minor mastery!" The white snake suddenly recalled: after consuming the earthen fruit and reaching the ninth layer, if Ou Xinlai absorbed all the innate energy from the ancient disk and combined it with her own, she could achieve minor mastery.

"Absorb it?" Ou Xinlai was startled. How could she absorb such a stone? Surely she couldn’t just swallow it?

As Ou Xinlai and the white snake discussed, Li Chengpeng attacked again. Seeing her flee, he struck her from behind.

Ou Xinlai tasted blood and spat it out. Li Chengpeng had avenged the blow she dealt him earlier.

She turned to cooperate with the white snake, activating the previous purple lightning formation.

In the critical moment, the blood in Ou Xinlai’s veins boiled, flowing rapidly. Purple lightning flickered. The white snake opened its mouth, and the purple lightning grass in Ou Xinlai’s body activated, sending a bolt of lightning at Li Chengpeng.

He was startled; Ou Xinlai was supposed to lack supernatural abilities, so where had this lightning come from?

Ou Xinlai herself was surprised. The white snake had said she should possess supernatural power, but it was blocked. She didn’t know how she had manifested the lightning, but since her channels weren't fully open, she couldn’t repeat it.

But once was enough.

Ou Xinlai quickly threw silver needles, locking all the elemental meridians in Li Chengpeng’s body and piercing several vital acupuncture points within him.

It was as if an invincible man had every joint nailed down, rendered immobile.

Now, Li Chengpeng found it much harder to kill Ou Xinlai.

When he realized he couldn’t move, his rage was immense, his glare murderous, as if he would devour Ou Xinlai alive.

Though frightened by his ferocious look, Ou Xinlai refused to retreat and fought on.

Now she understood the vast gap between herself and a level ten cultivator. She spent all her strength attacking Li Chengpeng’s vital points, but it was like scratching an itch through a boot—barely effective.

Even using Yin-Yang Rotation, reaching his internal organs, the bodies of level ten cultivators were so robust that even their organs were far tougher than normal. No matter her attacks, his organs hurt and he spat blood, but nothing broke—he did not die.

After taking several hits, Li Chengpeng’s fury was beyond words.

Since ascending to the divine cultivation realm, he had never been so wounded. Ordinary people avoided him; even the other two Demon Sect enforcers steered clear.

He never expected that as the Black Enforcer of the Demon Sect, he would be wounded so badly by an insignificant bug with no supernatural powers. Even if he killed Ou Xinlai now, his reputation was ruined.

"I'll make you die!" Li Chengpeng roared, gathering all his strength for one attack, intent on grinding Ou Xinlai to dust. The silver needles locking his joints were forced out one by one, falling to the ground.

With a boom, a powerful force struck Ou Xinlai; she was stunned, her mind filled only with the words: finished.

A dazzling white light blinded her.

"Hahaha..." Seeing this, the battered Li Chengpeng burst out laughing. "Ou Xinlai, this time you’re dead! Those treasures in the forbidden grounds—if I can't have them, no one will!"

"It's not certain who will die!" With a clear shout, Ou Xinlai, who should have been killed by Li Chengpeng’s attack, burst from the light. She reached for him, her hand suddenly gripping something invisible.

At that moment, Li Chengpeng, confident of victory, twisted with shock and pain, staring at Ou Xinlai. "You... you mastered Yin-Yang Rotation..." Not only that, she had achieved minor mastery—impossible!

"So, you actually know Yin-Yang Rotation?" Ou Xinlai sneered. She’d been using it to attack him all along, but he hadn't realized it. Apparently, he only knew the effects once minor mastery was achieved.

Ou Xinlai narrowed her eyes and squeezed her palm tightly. With a sickening sound, something seemed to shatter.

Dark blood trickled from Li Chengpeng’s mouth, his eyes wide. Then, with a thud, his body crashed to the ground like a stone, lifeless.

Though his surface wounds weren't fatal, if someone cut open his body now, they'd find his heart inexplicably exploded.

Seeing Li Chengpeng finally dead, Ou Xinlai relaxed, dropping from midair to sit near his corpse. "At least I survived."

"You were lucky! You should thank Li Chengpeng for helping you. If not for his deadly blow shattering the ancient disk and fusing it into your body, you wouldn’t have mastered minor Yin-Yang Rotation at this critical moment. From now on, you needn't fear cultivators around level ten." The white snake boasted, as if it alone had accomplished this feat.

"Yes, I really should thank Li Chengpeng." Ou Xinlai wiped her brow, glancing at his corpse. That attack had made her think her life was over, but instead, his deadly strike shattered the ancient disk, fused it into her, and allowed her innate Yin-Yang to merge, achieving minor mastery.

She sighed deeply.

"But we can’t celebrate yet." Ou Xinlai shook her head, feeling a headache.

"Indeed, it’s too soon to be happy." The white snake nodded its round head. "With your current abilities, you can match level ten cultivators. But the Demon Lord has already entered the divine realm; to survive, you’ll have to surpass him." The Demon Lord was not easily dealt with, and Ou Xinlai was far from his level.

"When will I achieve major mastery of Yin-Yang Rotation? Then, I’ll fear no one! Whoever dares cross me, I’ll slap them to death!" Ou Xinlai complained. This world had too many villains.

"The founder of Yin-Yang Rotation never achieved major mastery. You... just do your best." The white snake thought for a moment, only able to encourage her. Even the technique’s creator hadn't reached its highest level.

"But you’re already far ahead. You’ve only been practicing Yin-Yang Rotation for a short time and reached this level—it’s impressive." The white snake added.

Though it had secretly helped Ou Xinlai and extended her training time, others didn’t know. To them, only three days had passed, but in reality, Ou Xinlai had trained for three years!

The white snake sighed. That was all it could do for her.

Ou Xinlai patted the white snake’s head. If not for its help in the forbidden grounds, using three years to break through the ninth layer and touch minor mastery, she wouldn't have survived just now; Li Chengpeng would have killed her.

"Let’s go. The Demon Lord is not to be trifled with. I don't know how Li Chengpeng managed to track us, but if it had been the Demon Lord, you wouldn’t have lived." Now was not the time to celebrate; escaping was urgent.

Ou Xinlai nodded. She needed to find a way to reassure her family and then find somewhere to hide.

Just as Li Chengpeng had thought, the reverse was also true.

No one saw Li Chengpeng die at Ou Xinlai’s hands; more importantly, no one could confirm she had ever entered the Demon Sect’s forbidden grounds.

Therefore, the Demon Lord would only act in secret; he would not challenge the Ou family openly.