Aotian was stunned upon hearing Rihai’s words.

‘What is this woman talking about? What do you mean we’re all going to die?’

He looked at Rihai in confusion. She exuded a fierce aura, ready to die.

The city lord watched the scene without surprise, maintaining the smile on his face.

“Hoh, it seems your madness precedes you as well, Crimson Flame Liu,” he said indifferently.

But someone wasn’t indifferent.

“Pff! What a ridiculous name!”

Aotian couldn’t hold back and laughed out loud.

Rihai widened her eyes in disbelief, staring at Aotian.

‘What is this guy thinking at a time like this?’

She couldn’t help but feel confused by his actions. He never seemed reckless or oblivious to the situation.

“Sorry, and you are…?”

The mayor frowned, confused, but a subordinate stepped forward and whispered something in his ear.

“Ah! He arrived in the city with Liu Rihai after that incident? Then he must be the only survivor of the Red Tiger incident besides her. Even if he’s not, there’s no need to take risks. He knows too much—eliminate him too.”

He ordered coldly, waving his hand for his subordinates to attack. He had lost interest in conversation after being interrupted by Aotian multiple times.

And they obeyed, advancing like a swarm converging toward Rihai and Aotian.

The two instinctively stepped closer together, sharing the same intention: to protect each other.

“Try to stay behind me,” Rihai said, stepping forward. With a swift motion, she tapped her storage pouch, releasing five swords whose blades instantly ignited in flames.

As the first men arrived, Rihai dashed forward.

“Haaaah!”

She roared fiercely, sending her swords flying ahead. Like hot knives through butter, they sliced and incinerated bodies without mercy.

One of the attackers attempted a sneak attack, casting a spell, but one of her swords reacted faster, cutting through the water arrow before it could reach her. Before the man could react, the blade severed his arm, and flames spread through the wound, consuming him entirely.

“AHHHHHHHHH!!!!”

The man’s desperate scream echoed, but it didn’t slow down Rihai’s blades.

She wanted to glance back to make sure Aotian was okay, but the intensity of the attacks was overwhelming.

That confused her. Cultivators valued their lives far more than ordinary mortals, and forcing subordinates to fight to the death was extremely difficult without an overwhelming level of power—something the city lord clearly did not possess.

Yet these men showed no fear of death. On the contrary, they embraced it.

That made Rihai regret not using her trump cards earlier. Now, it was too late. They wouldn’t give her the time.

The intensity of the attacks escalated, and Rihai sank deeper into battle, pushing away all distractions. Her swords danced through the air, carving a path through her enemies, while her body became drenched in their blood. Her breath grew heavier, but she didn’t stop.

Piles of charred bodies began to form around her, and agonized screams echoed incessantly.

Her mind grew emptier with each passing moment. The sound around her faded, leaving only her own breath, drowning out everything as she continued to kill mechanically, striking down anyone who approached.

And then, at that moment, through the pile of corpses, a flying sword emerged, shooting toward her at high speed.

Before Rihai could react, the blade was already inches from her widened blue eye.

Everything froze in that instant.

The sound of her breath disappeared.

The battle scenes vanished.

Even exhaustion and fear faded away.

In that moment, there was only her and death in that small, frozen world.

In that world, time didn’t seem to pass, yet everything was happening so fast.

These were her final moments, and she knew it.

But this time, she was wrong.

Someone appeared and changed that predetermined fate.

A hand, filled with golden runes, suddenly appeared before Rihai’s eyes, shattering the frozen world. With absurd strength, it grasped the naked blade of the sword, stopping it just millimeters from piercing her eye.

“Damn, that was close, Hai’er. You strayed too far in the battle. I almost couldn’t find you in the crowd.”

Aotian’s voice, full of complaint, rang in her ears, pulling her back to reality.

Small tears rolled from her eyes as she saw Aotian’s bloodstained face. For a moment, she thought she had lost him forever, but she hadn’t worried—she believed she would soon follow him.

But seeing him alive and well—and even saving her from death—made her heart race like never before.

‘It seems I’m not as indifferent to life and death as I thought. Ever since you appeared, before I even realized it, my life stopped being that endless shade of gray. I don’t want to die anymore, Aotian… I want to live, live with you!’

She thought to herself, overwhelmed with emotion as she gazed at her beloved’s face.

Aotian looked at the stunned Rihai and was left speechless.

“We’re in the middle of a war—could you focus, please?”

He spoke helplessly as an earth spike emerged from the ground behind her, nearly impaling her.

He quickly placed his hand on her shoulder, and the same golden runes that surrounded his body now enveloped her as well.

It was the defensive spell he had synthesized—the same one Bao Hui had used to fight against the Black Mountain Lord. Its name was Radiant Armor.

With his high mastery of the technique and control over spiritual energy, Aotian could, as long as there was direct contact, activate the spell around another person.

Both the earth spike that targeted Rihai and several other spells aimed at them were easily repelled by the radiant armors.

“What the hell kind of spell is this? How can it be so strong?” Some attackers couldn’t help but complain.

Rihai was also surprised by the spell’s strength.

Aotian, on the other hand, was not. His spell, despite being at the Refiner-Tier, did not lose in strength to a Founder-Tier one. And the amount of energy consumed was only equivalent to an excellent Refiner-Tier spell.

The only problem was himself.

Even with this low-consumption technique, he was still only at the fourth level of Qi Refinement. And although his synthesized cultivation technique allowed his Dantian to expand greatly with each breakthrough, letting him store more energy than usual, he still couldn’t fight for long against so many opponents.

If not for his low spiritual energy capacity, he could wipe them all out without breaking a sweat.

“Rihai, we have to go!” Aotian said without wasting time.

Rihai snapped out of her surprise and quickly nodded, understanding the situation.

“I know!”

Without hesitation, she pulled the dragonfly wings from her storage ring, but unlike last time, they only fluttered weakly.

“Little one, I’m sorry, but this time I need you to push yourself. I don’t have any more high-grade spirit stones, but the situation is urgent.”

Rihai looked sadly at the wings and, taking out a mid-grade stone, placed it in the central slot.

The wings seemed to hear her plea and, despite their sluggishness, made an extra effort. With a beat of their wings, they flew onto her back.

Without further hesitation, she picked up the helpless Aotian in a princess carry and, with a push, shot into the sky.

Of course, throughout all this, the radiant armor protected them from countless attacks, but Aotian’s spiritual energy was on the verge of depletion.

He couldn’t even shield the wings.

Fortunately, the attacks that struck the fragile dragonfly wings bounced back as if they had hit a steel wall.

‘With my current insight as an artifact refiner and a Golden Core cultivator—thanks to my avatars—I’m sure these wings are at least greater than Core-Tier artifacts.’

Aotian mused, but he quickly refocused, as they were rapidly ascending.

Looking down, he saw a sea of figures—at least a thousand cultivators. On the ground, more than a hundred corpses lay, the result of his and Rihai’s fierce battle.

Fortunately, most of the stronger cultivators had only watched from the sidelines. But judging by the grim expressions of the city lord and Jun Moji, it was clear they hadn’t put in their full effort, as they never expected Aotian and Rihai to escape despite being so heavily surrounded.

Aotian, despite not fully understanding the reason for the attack—except for its possible relation to the Red Tiger Forest—didn’t miss the opportunity to leave a message of wisdom for his enemies.

Words they would surely never forget.

Being held in a princess carry by Rihai, Aotian smiled down at them, raised both middle fingers, and, pointing at everyone below, declared with wisdom:

“Go fuck yourselves! You sons of bitches!”

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep