73: Chapter 73 She's Not Human

Shen Quan looked at the woman who had suddenly appeared, his internal alarm bells ringing loudly.

He had clearly just scanned a radius of a hundred zhang with his Divine Thought, confirming there were no traces of any Cultivator, before he moved to dig up the Spirit Medicine.

But when did this woman appear? Why had his Divine Thought failed to detect her completely?

"Who are you?" Shen Quan asked in a deep voice, secretly circulating his spiritual power, ready to strike at any moment.

Lan Xi did not answer; she simply leaped lightly from the ice stone, her feet landing without a sound.

She took light, graceful steps as she walked toward Shen Quan, her water-blue skirt dragging a shallow trail across the snow.

"Little brother, elder sister is very interested in what you have in your hand." Her voice was charming, but a flash of greed crossed her eyes. "Give this nine nether mysterious ice lotus to elder sister, will you?"

Shen Quan's expression darkened.

This item was something he had found with great difficulty; how could he possibly hand it over?

"And what if I don't?"

Lan Xi's smile remained unchanged, but a touch of coldness appeared in her charming eyes.

"Not giving it? Then elder sister will just have to take it herself."

Before her words had even faded, her figure flashed, and she transformed into a streak of water-blue light, pouncing toward Shen Quan!

The speed was so fast that Shen Quan had no time to react!

"Bang!"

A palm, white and fair as jade, struck his chest. The force was not great, but it precisely sent him flying backward.

Shen Quan flipped several times in the air before crashing heavily onto the snow, sliding several zhang away, a trace of blood spilling from the corner of his mouth.

"Young Master!" Liu Xuzi's voice exploded in his mind, carrying a hint of urgency. "This woman is at the Peak of the Dharma Image Realm! You are no match for her!"

Shen Quan struggled to stand up, wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth, and his expression turned extremely ugly.

Peak of the Dharma Image Realm!

He was only at the third level of the Soul Fire Realm; he was more than a full major Realm away from the Peak of the Dharma Image Realm. He was simply no match for her!

Lan Xi withdrew her palm, looked down at her fingertips, which were white and fair as jade, and a satisfied arc slightly curled at the corner of her mouth.

"Little brother, elder sister advises you to obediently hand over the item. With your level of cultivation, you are nothing in front of elder sister."

She walked toward Shen Quan, her pace unhurried, like a cat playing with a mouse.

Shen Quan gritted his teeth, staring fixedly at the approaching Lan Xi. His heart was filled with unwillingness, but his movements were not slow. He directly threw the nine nether mysterious ice lotus in his hand and turned to run.

Treasures were ultimately just external objects; his life was the fundamental thing!

He would not be foolish about such things.

Shen Quan's spiritual power surged madly within him, pushing his speed to the limit. He transformed into a streak of light and sprinted toward the depths of the ice plains.

Lan Xi watched Shen Quan's fleeing back and chuckled, "You think you can run after meeting me!"

She opened her fair palm and made a grasping motion toward Shen Quan.

A burst of spiritual power shot out, and Shen Quan's sprinting figure came to a sudden halt.

An invisible force squeezed in from all directions, as if he had fallen into a quagmire; every step became incredibly difficult.

His expression changed drastically. He tried his best to urge the spiritual power within him, only to find that the force was like maggots on a bone; the more he struggled, the tighter it got, and he simply could not break free.

"Little brother, why are you running?"

Lan Xi's voice came from behind him, still charming but laced with amusement.

She took light, graceful steps and walked leisurely to stand before Shen Quan.

Those charming eyes looked down at him from above, filled with playfulness.

"Elder sister won't eat you."

Shen Quan gritted his teeth, staring fixedly at the bewitching woman before him, his heart filled with both shock and anger.

"Who exactly are you?!"

Just at this moment—

"Young Master! This woman is not human!"

Liu Xuzi's voice exploded in Shen Quan's mind, carrying a hint of solemnity and horror.

"She is a demon! A snake demon!"

Shen Quan's pupils constricted.

A demon?!

He subconsciously looked at Lan Xi. In those charming eyes, the pupils had somehow turned into vertical slits, with a faint, ghostly green light flowing within them.

He immediately exclaimed, "You are a demon!"

"Oh?"

Lan Xi raised her eyebrows slightly, her gaze falling on Shen Quan with some surprise.

"A mere Soul Fire Realm Cultivator like you can actually see through my origins?"

She withdrew her fingers, stepped back half a pace, crossed her arms over her chest, and examined Shen Quan with great interest.

"Since you've seen through it, then elder sister won't pretend anymore."

Before her words had even faded, the aura around her suddenly changed!

A cold, violent Demonic Qi erupted from her body, sweeping across the surroundings like a tidal wave!

The snow, struck by that Demonic Qi, instantly froze into a thick layer of frost, and the temperature in the air plummeted by more than a dozen degrees!

Shen Quan was pushed back several steps by the impact of that Demonic Qi, his face deathly pale, and breathing became difficult.

The Demonic Qi of the Peak of the Dharma Image Realm was like Mount Tai pressing down on him; he simply couldn't catch his breath.

Besides terror, he was also filled with confusion.

The entrance to the Secret Realm was being watched by experts from the Three Great Holy Lands; how did this female demon manage to break in?

Lan Xi looked at his desperate expression, chuckled, and walked toward him.

"Little brother, elder sister originally wanted to kill you directly. But since you can see through elder sister's identity, I will keep you to study properly."

She raised her hand, and between her fingers, which were white and fair as jade, a ghostly green light slowly condensed, emitting a chilling cold that made one's heart palpitate.

Shen Quan's pupils constricted, and he struggled desperately, but he simply could not break free from that restraint.

Just at this moment—

"Bang!"

A muffled sound came from afar, followed immediately by a rapid sound of something breaking through the air.

Lan Xi frowned and turned her head to look.

Two figures were rushing in from outside the rocky forest, their speed astonishingly fast!

Black robes, masks!

It was Shen Yuanshan and Shen Yuanhe!

The two landed in front of Shen Quan, shielding him from the left and right.

Shen Yuanshan glanced at Lan Xi, a flash of coldness in his eyes.

"Demoness, how dare you touch someone from my Blood Rain Pavilion; you are courting death!"

Lan Xi narrowed her eyes, examining the two black-robed figures who had suddenly appeared.

Their auras were as deep as an abyss; she couldn't fathom their depths at all!

"Blood Rain Pavilion?"

She muttered the name, a trace of apprehension flashing in her eyes.

She had heard of the reputation of the Blood Rain Pavilion over the past two days—a killer organization from the Central Plains with unfathomable foundations; even the Tiangang Sect had suffered a great loss.

To think that this small Soul Fire Realm Cultivator was actually from the Blood Rain Pavilion?

No wonder he could see through her origins!

"The two of you, this is a misunderstanding." The smile on Lan Xi's face remained, but her tone became a bit more cautious. "I didn't know he was from the Blood Rain Pavilion, otherwise I wouldn't have..."

"A misunderstanding?"

Shen Yuanhe sneered, interrupting her.

"You almost killed someone from our Blood Rain Pavilion, and you think a simple misunderstanding will let you off the hook?"

He took a step forward, and the terrifying aura of the Primal Chaos Realm erupted!

That aura was like a mountain pressing down, causing Lan Xi's expression to change drastically, and she subconsciously retreated several steps!

"H-Primal Chaos Realm?!"

Her voice was trembling, and her eyes were filled with disbelief.