"Qi... Brother Qi?"

Mo Xiaoniao's teeth chattered as she looked at Qi Ruoyun with a gaze full of confusion and fear.

Qi Ruoyun blinked and smiled slightly, patting Mo Xiaoniao's arm in comfort, "Don't worry, Xiaoniao. You've been so kind to me, I won't let anyone harm you."

"Eh?"

Qi Ruoyun's expression was so natural that Mo Xiaoniao couldn't tell if it was fake or real, her mind foggy, and she instinctively said to Dongyangzi, "Old Daoist, did you mistake someone? Brother Qi is just a failed scholar, not a Divine Monarch."

"Why don't you ask him yourself?"

A faint female voice sounded in her ear, causing Mo Xiaoniao to turn her head and see a tall, graceful woman in a red phoenix-patterned golden palace dress appear to the side, exuding a cold and noble aura.

Before Mo Xiaoniao could ask, Qi Ruoyun beside her couldn't hold back.

"Si Lingxi? How are you here in Great Jing?"

The next moment, Mo Xiaoniao felt herself enveloped in a gentle aura, then everything before her eyes turned blue-black, making it impossible to see anything clearly.

Suddenly, the sounds of "swoosh swoosh swoosh" water and "whoosh whoosh whoosh" wind and fire echoed in her ears, making her feel dizzy. When she opened her eyes again, she found herself still in her own small courtyard, just displaced three feet from where she was.

…

Outside the small courtyard gate, not far behind Dongyangzi, Lu Zheng and Yuanlin stood side by side. Two powerful figures with millennia of Dao practice, unable to intervene in this level of confrontation.

Yuanlin knew Lu Zheng's cultivation was higher, "Did you see clearly just now, junior brother?"

Lu Zheng nodded, then shook his head, "Still didn't catch some details. Just now Divine Monarch Xuan Ruo's Poisonous Water attack seemed like waves, but was actually rain, and its rhythm had a subtlety I couldn't discern."

Yuanlin nodded, "That Poisonous Water formed into a bizarre talisman instantaneously, its power suddenly increased by thirty percent, but our master's tightly knit Innate Cloud Qi, along with Sect Leader Si's Phoenix Divine Fire at the front, probably made this difficult for Divine Monarch Xuan Ruo to escape."

Lu Zheng nodded again, his right hand resting on his waist gourd, never letting go.

…

Inside the courtyard gate, Qi Ruoyun held Mo Xiaoniao's hand, never letting go, while Dongyangzi and Si Lingxi appeared to have not moved at all, coldly gazing at Qi Ruoyun.

The next moment, Qi Ruoyun flipped his hand, and a small banner appeared in his hand. As the banner swayed, a vast aura spread out, yet was blocked by layer upon layer of clouds, as if encountering an invisible wall, only making the floating water in the courtyard side farmland leap suddenly.

Qi Ruoyun's face turned dark, surprised at the strength of Dongyangzi's Innate Cloud Qi. 𝓯𝓻𝒆𝙚𝒘𝓮𝙗𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝒍.𝙘𝓸𝙢

Meanwhile, Si Lingxi's jade finger flicked lightly, a golden spark bouncing from the tip of her finger, its glow flickering. The next moment, the golden spark seemed to jump through space, instantly appearing before Qi Ruoyun.

His expression suddenly changed, unwilling to reach out to catch it, instead raising his sleeve to sweep, revealing suction at the cuff, drawing the spark inside.

The next instant, it seemed an eighteenth-level hurricane blew inside his sleeve, relentlessly billowing.

Then, the white clouds surrounding the courtyard began to roll slowly, threads gradually seeping towards the courtyard center, aiming at Qi Ruoyun.

His expression changed, a fleeting darkness flashing through his eyes, halting the advance of the clouds, though they billowed fiercely, they couldn't move an inch further.

"Hmph!"

The next moment, his billowing sleeve finally calmed, and he waved both hands, endless black water gushing from his sleeve like a giant wave.

This black water, as it emerged from the sleeve, seemed like a delicate stream, yet as it caught the wind, it grew into waves, flooding the land beneath, breaking free from the Cloud Qi constraints, spreading dozens of miles around.

The entire ground seemed to transform into a black sea.

Yet Qi Ruoyun's expression remained tense, as his eyes flickered and his face hardened, the black water accelerating its wild surge, covering an area of hundreds of miles within a few breaths.

Below, great waves crashed through the skies; above, the white clouds rolled.

Everyone hovered in the air; Yuanlin stood behind Dongyangzi, Lu Zheng arrived beside Si Lingxi, meanwhile, Qi Ruoyun pulled Mo Xiaoniao, hovering in the center of the black sea.

Lu Zheng looked around, then smacked his lips in amazement, "Impressive!"

Divine Monarch Xuan Ruo was indeed formidable, with the black water surging five hundred miles, filling the whole realm with intense poisonous Qi.

Dongyangzi was equally skilled, reversing heaven and earth so that these five hundred miles didn't actually exceed the confines of Mo Family Village, nestled by the riverside mountain foot.

If Divine Monarch Xuan Ruo wished to flee, even Si Lingxi probably wouldn't be able to stop him, yet Dongyangzi held him back.

In that instant, as the black water surged violently and the poisonous Qi ran rampant, eroding the surrounding white clouds, Si Lingxi spread her hands, a burning Phoenix shadow suddenly appearing behind her.

"Chirp!"

A sharp Phoenix cry echoed through the sky, instantly illuminating the heavens and earth.

Whether it was the boundless white clouds or the sky covering black sea, all were dyed in hues of gold and red.

Phoenix Divine Fire, burning sky and boiling sea!

The poison in the world was incinerated, the black sea evaporated, infinite flames burned through the realm, soaring temperatures escalating.

Qi Ruoyun's face turned exceedingly pale.

Water could extinguish fire, but his black water could not extinguish Phoenix Divine Fire!

Truthfully, Qi Ruoyun wasn't too afraid of Si Lingxi. Although he couldn't defeat her, and his black water couldn't douse the Divine Fire, it was, after all, Abnormal Water, combined with his cultivated Primordial Spirit Poison Pearl, enough to ward off Phoenix Divine Fire.

Most crucially was that Si Lingxi couldn't stop him from fleeing; as long as he made it to any Water Element location, especially back to his lair in Great Abyss Marsh, he was confident to drag it out against Si Lingxi.

Granted, provided he wasn't already hurt.

Currently, not only was he injured, he now faced Dongyangzi, making his heart sink.

In terms of pure battle strength, Dongyangzi wasn't as strong as Si Lingxi, yet upon testing, that tightly knit Innate Cloud Qi turned out Primordial Impermeable, able to reverse heaven and earth, incredibly resilient.

With these two joining forces, he was trapped immediately, now how to fight?

If he couldn't escape, no matter how profound his Magical Power was, able to resist for ages, but ultimately, due to actual disparity, he would be worn down to death!

"Qi... Brother Qi..."

At that moment, Mo Xiaoniao beside Qi Ruoyun was dazed by the scene before her. Turning back, she saw Qi Ruoyun's dark expression, her complexion paling.

Upon hearing her, Qi Ruoyun turned his head, his eyes gleaming strangely, raising his hand to pat Mo Xiaoniao's shoulder, his tone gentle, "Don't worry, Xiaoniao. You've been so kind to me, I won't let anyone harm you."

As soon as he finished saying so, Qi Ruoyun flicked his hand, sending Mo Xiaoniao into his mouth, and with two creaks, she vanished without a trace.