From the fake emperor to the concubine

Zheng Hongzhi wasn't in much better shape. Although he was skilled in formations, there were simply too many and too fast demonic bats. He had barely set up a trapping formation when the bats scattered the formation.

Liu Ruyan handled the situation with ease, her Xuanbing Sword wielded with impenetrable skill, repelling the approaching demonic bats one by one. However, she could only defend herself and could not support others.

Zheng Yi shielded Xiaoyue with one hand while wielding his sword with the other. His swordsmanship was exquisite, each strike capable of slaying a demonic bat, but the sheer number of bats was overwhelming. Moreover, his movements were greatly restricted due to caring for Xiaoyue, preventing him from unleashing his full power.

Taking advantage of Zheng Yi's distraction in killing his companion, a demonic bat launched a sneak attack from the side. Zheng Yi noticed it, but if he dodged, Xiao Yue would be exposed to the bat's attack range.

Without hesitation, he chose to take the blow head-on.

He parried the bat's claws with his longsword, but the force of the impact still made his arm go numb. To make matters worse, another bat attacked from behind, its sharp claws digging into his back.

laugh--

His robes were torn, and a burning pain shot through his back. Although his protective spiritual energy had blocked most of the damage, he was still left with three bloody scratches.

"Master!" Zheng Bowen cried out anxiously upon seeing this scene.

"I'm fine!" Zheng Yi said in a deep voice, and with a backhand slash, he cut the demonic bat behind him in two.

Xiaoyue felt Zheng Yi's body tremble. Looking up, she saw blood seeping from his back. Tears immediately streamed down her face: "Big brother, you're hurt!"

"It's just a minor injury, nothing serious," Zheng Yi reassured him. "Don't worry."

But in reality, alarm bells were ringing in his mind. These Bloodwing Bats' claws were poisonous! That claw strike had not only left a wound but also injected poison into his body. He could feel a chilling power spreading through the wound.

With his cultivation at the Integration Realm, this amount of poison was nothing and he could expel it quickly. But right now he was fighting and had to protect Xiaoyue, so he had no time to refine the poison.

"We must finish this quickly!" Zheng Yi thought to himself.

Just as he was about to unleash an even stronger divine power, a deafening roar suddenly came from the depths of the canyon.

The roar carried an immense pressure, causing everyone's hearts to sink. Even the Bloodwing Demon Bats, who were attacking frantically, stopped in their tracks and looked into the depths of the canyon in terror.

Zheng Yi's face turned extremely ugly.

This aura belongs to a demonic beast at the peak of the late stage of the Nascent Soul realm, or even a half-step into the Fusion realm!
Sure enough, a massive black shadow flew out from the depths of the canyon. It was a gigantic bat, more than ten times the size of an ordinary Bloodwing Demon Bat. Its entire body was as black as ink, its wingspan blotting out the sky, its eyes flashing with blood-red light, radiating a terrifying aura.

"It's the Bat King!" Xiao Tianxing exclaimed. "The king of the Bloodwing Demon Bats! It's said that every Bloodwing Demon Bat colony has a Bat King, whose strength far surpasses that of ordinary demon bats, and whose intelligence is extremely high!"

The Bat King hovered in mid-air, its blood-red eyes looking down at the crowd as if they were dead. It opened its massive jaws and let out a long howl.

This sonic attack was dozens of times stronger than before. The invisible sound waves swept in as if they were real, and even the air itself was rippled wherever they passed.

Zheng Yi quickly reinforced the protective shield, tightly protecting Xiaoyue behind him. The sound wave struck the shield, unleashing a deafening roar. The shield trembled violently, nearly shattering.

Zheng Bowen and Zheng Hongzhi fared even worse; they were directly blasted back by the sound waves, coughing up blood. Liu Ruyan barely managed to block it, but her face also turned pale.

"This beast is too strong!" Zheng Bowen said through gritted teeth.

Seeing that its attack had worked, a hint of human cruelty flashed in the Bat King's eyes. It opened its mouth again, but this time it didn't spew out sound waves, but a cloud of black mist.

As soon as the mist appeared, the surrounding Bloodwing Demon Bats screamed wildly, as excited as if they had been injected with adrenaline. They rushed into the black mist, their scales beginning to glow with a blood-red light, and their aura surged.

"It's the Mist of Rage!" Zheng Hongzhi exclaimed. "This mist can temporarily boost the strength of demonic beasts, but it will also make them lose their minds and become even more ferocious!"

Sure enough, the blood-winged demon bats that inhaled the black mist turned blood red and completely lost their minds. They let out frantic screams and pounced on the group without regard for their own safety, as if they were determined to take everyone down with them.

Now we're in big trouble.

While a rational enemy may be troublesome, at least they will seek advantage and avoid harm. But an enemy who has lost their rationality is the most terrifying, because they are not afraid of death at all.

Dozens of ferocious demonic bats swept in like a black storm. Zheng Yi gritted his teeth and pushed Xiaoyue behind him: "Hongzhi, protect Xiaoyue!"

"Yes!" Zheng Hongzhi immediately rushed over, pulled Xiaoyue to his side, and set up several defensive formations.

With his worries about protecting Xiaoyue gone, Zheng Yi could finally go all out.

"Space-Time Domain!"

A powerful force of spacetime erupted from him, enveloping an area of ​​several dozen feet in radius. Within this domain, he controlled the flow of time, and the frenzied demonic bats immediately slowed down, as if they were stuck in a quagmire.

Taking advantage of the opportunity, Zheng Yi swung his longsword repeatedly, unleashing streaks of sword light. Each sword light precisely struck the demonic bats' vital points, killing them one by one.

However, using the spacetime domain consumed a great deal of spiritual energy, not to mention the toxins churning within him. Before long, Zheng Yi felt a wave of dizziness, and the wound on his back was throbbing with excruciating pain.

"We can't delay any longer!" he thought to himself.

Just then, the Bat King moved. It clearly saw Zheng Yi's weakness, and with a flap of its wings, it swooped down like a black lightning bolt, its giant claws aimed straight for Zheng Yi's head.

The attack was incredibly fast and powerful. Zheng Yi barely managed to raise his sword to parry, the immense impact causing his hand to split open and bleed profusely. To make matters worse, the Bat King's other claw seized the opportunity to grab at his chest.

Zheng Yi gritted his teeth and forcibly twisted his body to avoid a fatal blow, but his shoulder was still grabbed. The claws pierced deep into his flesh, and the excruciating pain almost made him lose consciousness.

"Master!" Zheng Bowen and Zheng Hongzhi were almost bursting with rage when they saw this scene.

Liu Ruyan was also stunned. In her memory, Zheng Yi had always been so strong and composed, and had never suffered such a serious injury before.

Xiaoyue was so frightened that she trembled all over, tears streaming down her face: "Big brother, big brother!"

Despite the excruciating pain, Zheng Yi slashed at the Bat King's abdomen with his sword. The Bat King, in agony, released its grip and flew back. Zheng Yi staggered back a few steps, half-kneeling on the ground, his robes stained crimson with blood from his shoulders and back.

The Bat King hovered in mid-air, a hint of mockery flashing in its eyes. It knew that the human powerhouse before it was at its last gasp. A few more strikes would be enough to kill it.

It swooped down again, this time not for Zheng Yi, but for Xiao Yue!

The Bat King clearly realized that what this powerful human was most concerned about was the little girl. Capturing the little girl would make him hesitant to act against her.

Zheng Hongzhi's expression changed drastically, and he hurriedly activated the defensive formation. However, the Bat King was too powerful; with a single swipe of its claw, several defensive formations were torn apart as if they were made of paper.

"Oh no!" Zheng Hongzhi cried out in despair.

Just at this critical moment, a figure stepped in front of Xiaoyue. It was Zheng Yi.

Despite his severe injuries, he instantly moved in front of Xiaoyue, opened his arms, and shielded the little girl with his own body.

The Bat King's claws gripped Zheng Yi's chest tightly.

click-

The sound of ribs breaking was clearly audible. Zheng Yi spat out a mouthful of blood, his body flying backward and crashing heavily into the canyon wall. The impact created a large crater in the wall, and fragments of rock fell down.

"Big brother!" Xiaoyue cried out pitifully, tears blurring her vision.

Zheng Yi struggled to stand up, but the excruciating pain in his chest made it almost impossible for him to breathe. He had at least three broken ribs, and his internal organs were severely damaged. Even worse, the poison on the Bat King's claws was a hundred times stronger than that of ordinary demonic bats, and it was frantically eroding his body.

But he still gritted his teeth and stood up.

As long as he has a breath left, he will never let anyone hurt Xiaoyue.

This is his promise.

The Bat King looked at the swaying Zheng Yi, a hint of surprise flashing in its eyes. It hadn't expected this human to be so tenacious, able to stand up even after suffering such severe injuries.

But that's it.

The Bat King launched another attack, this time aiming for a fatal blow.

Just then, a streak of icy blue sword light slashed from the side. It was Liu Ruyan! Taking advantage of the Bat King's focus on Zheng Yi, she unleashed her strongest attack with all her might.

"Mysterious Ice Myriad Swords Technique!"

The Xuanbing Sword split into ten in mid-air, then into a hundred, and finally a thousand. In an instant, thousands of icy blue sword shadows swept across the sky, slashing towards the Bat King. Each sword shadow carried a bone-chilling cold, freezing the space in its path.

The Bat King was startled and quickly flapped its wings to defend itself. The sword shadows struck its body, and although they could not penetrate its scales, the biting cold still slowed its movements.

"A great opportunity!" Zheng Bowen and Zheng Hongzhi acted simultaneously.

Zheng Bowen unleashed his flaming longsword, channeling all his spiritual power into it. The longsword transformed into a fire dragon, roaring as it charged towards the Bat King. Zheng Hongzhi, on the other hand, cast a formation, setting up a trapping array around the Bat King to restrict its movement.

The combined attack of the three finally paid off. The Bat King was trapped in the formation, slowed down by the ice sword, and then struck head-on by the fire dragon. It let out a painful scream as the fire dragon burned a charred mark on its chest scales.

But that was all. The Bat King was injured, but not fatally. It roared furiously, its wings trembling so violently that it shattered the trapping formation, then swooped down and swatted at Liu Ruyan with one claw.

Liu Ruyan had just unleashed her strongest attack, and her spiritual energy was greatly depleted, so she had no time to dodge.

Just as she was about to be struck by the Bat King, Zheng Yi moved again.

He seemed to draw power from nowhere, his figure transforming into a blur as he instantly appeared before Liu Ruyan, once again shielding her from the attack.

boom--

This time, the injury was more severe. Zheng Yi's left arm was torn apart by the Bat King's claws, and blood gushed out like a fountain. He was sent flying backward, rolling several times on the ground before coming to a stop.

"Fellow Daoist Zheng!" Liu Ruyan exclaimed, her eyes filled with self-reproach and worry.

Zheng Yi lay on the ground, blood flowing continuously from his wounds, his face as pale as paper. His consciousness began to blur, and the scenes before his eyes overlapped.

But he still struggled to lift his head and look in Xiaoyue's direction.

Xiaoyue was safely protected behind Zheng Hongzhi. Seeing this, Zheng Yi managed a weak smile.

Good thing she's alright.
Just as Zheng Yi was about to lose consciousness, a strange power suddenly surged from his chest.

That's the jade slip we got in the stone hall before!

Sensing that its owner was facing a life-or-death crisis, the jade slip automatically activated a divine thought contained within it. A phantom flew out of the jade slip, transforming into an old man dressed in a green robe.

The old man's appearance was somewhat illusory, clearly just a remnant of divine thought, but his aura was extremely terrifying, even making the Bat King feel fear.

"How dare you injure my successor?" The old man sneered and pointed a finger.

A dazzling sword light flew from his fingertips, instantly piercing the Bat King's head. The Bat King didn't even have time to scream before it died on the spot, its massive body plummeting from the sky and crashing to the ground, raising a cloud of dust.

The remaining Bloodwing Bats, seeing their Bat King killed, scattered in terror and vanished in the blink of an eye.

The old man's illusory figure looked at Zheng Yi, a hint of satisfaction flashing in his eyes: "Not bad. To risk serious injury to protect the weak, you are worthy to inherit my legacy. Cultivate diligently and do not disappoint my expectations."

After speaking, the illusory figure transformed into a stream of light and entered Zheng Yi's body. The stream of light contained immense vitality, rapidly repairing Zheng Yi's injuries. Broken ribs healed, torn wounds began to scab over, and toxins within his body were forced out.

Moreover, the stream of light also contained some insights into cultivation techniques and experience, which greatly helped Zheng Yi's cultivation.

Zheng Yi could feel that he was one step closer to the mid-stage of the Integration Realm.

Zheng Bowen, Zheng Hongzhi, and Liu Ruyan all breathed a sigh of relief upon seeing this. Although they didn't know who the illusory figure was, it was clearly Zheng Yi's stroke of luck.

Xiaoyue broke free from Zheng Hongzhi's protection and stumbled to Zheng Yi's side. She knelt on the ground, her small hands trembling as she tried to touch Zheng Yi's wound, but she was afraid of causing him more pain, so she could only keep crying.

"Big brother, big brother, wake up! It's all Xiaoyue's fault. If it weren't for protecting Xiaoyue, big brother wouldn't have gotten hurt."

She cried her heart out, her small body trembling uncontrollably.

Under the healing light, Zheng Yi's injuries had mostly healed. He opened his eyes and saw Xiao Yue's tearful face, and his heart softened.

“Silly child,” he said weakly, “I said I would never let anyone hurt you as long as I was here. That was my promise.”

"But...but big brother is injured," Xiaoyue choked out.

"A little injury is nothing," Zheng Yi smiled, raising his hand to pat her head. "As long as you're safe and sound, it's all worth it."

Xiaoyue couldn't hold back any longer and threw herself into Zheng Yi's arms, bursting into tears: "Waaah, big brother... Xiaoyue is so scared. Xiaoyue thought she would never see big brother again." (End of this chapter)