Breaking the Precept

"Red lotus, red lotus, red lotus..."

Jian Xiaolou muttered incessantly, trying to figure out how to use the red lotus. Could it spit fire or do something else entirely?

Under the weight of frustration, the three-petal lotus mark on her forehead glowed an even deeper red. Suddenly, a beam of crimson light shot out from the mark, condensing before her into the form of a palace lantern.

The lantern stood about half a foot tall, with a deep red flame burning inside without an inner core. Its base was shaped like a lotus flower, with a red tassel hanging beneath the lotus disk.

Jian Xiaolou hovered mid-air, staring blankly at the lotus lantern. She slowly reached out her hand, and the lantern floated above her palm.

An intuitive sense arose within her. She instinctively flicked the lantern with her other hand, and a crescent-shaped flame blade shot out, identical in shape to the true yuan flame blades of the phoenix clan.

"This can't possibly be an inner core anymore," Su He, who had been about to intervene, was stunned. "Which ancestor of my clan crafted something so bizarre?!"

Flame blades, typically condensed from true yuan, should not emerge from an inner core.

Could it be that the inner core was forged into a magical artifact using true yuan?

Would such a method even work?

When a true yuan flame blade is activated, it requires time to condense true yuan within the body. But Jian Xiaolou's eighteen-petal lotus had clearly surpassed the category of inner cores, transforming into a celestial-tier magical artifact capable of instantly firing flame blades in rapid succession.

Su He silently calculated. If such a method could enhance both combat and survival abilities, should he give it a try?

The murderous Mo Jiuzi was caught off guard. A red lotus flame blade grazed past his ear, leaving a shallow cut.

"Who dares to ambush me?"

Mo Jiuzi followed the energy trail and spotted Jian Xiaolou floating mid-air with her lantern.

Damn it!

Jian Xiaolou felt a chill in her heart. As expected, any attack would expose her location. Still, the strike wasn't entirely in vain. The red lotus flame blade pierced through the demon's protective barrier, unaffected by her relatively low cultivation level.

However, her aim seemed somewhat off for some reason.

Mo Jiuzi swung his scythe, slashing towards Jian Xiaolou. "Who dares act so recklessly?!"

Jian Xiaolou flicked the lantern again, sending out another flame blade. This time, Mo Jiuzi finally saw clearly—it was a phoenix clan true yuan flame blade!

But why was it coming from a lantern?

Even someone as fearless as Mo Jiuzi hesitated, dodging the flame blade's range rather than risking contact with the karma fire.

Jian Xiaolou fired over twenty blades in quick succession. She noticed the flame within the lantern gradually dimming and realized the blades weren't infinite. With her practice, she had mostly figured out the mechanics, including how to control the direction of the blades.

"Go!"

As one blade shot forward, Jian Xiaolou immediately flicked again, releasing two blades from the left and right to trap Mo Jiuzi from all directions.

Even Su He couldn't help but praise, "This girl's comprehension is incredible. She's figured out Mo Jiuzi's patterns after just twenty strikes."

Yeyou remained silent, leaning against the window with a trident in hand, quietly watching.

Caught in a pincer attack, Mo Jiuzi began to panic and shouted, "Why aren't you helping me already?!"

Jian Xiaolou was startled when a string of black skulls materialized above her. The dense black aura pressed down, closely resembling the energy of Mo Jiuzi's Karma Severance Sword—it was a Black Flame Demon!

The lotus lantern's flame instantly extinguished.

Before she could react, Yeyou grabbed her by the shoulder and flung her away. Su He caught her, conjuring a protective barrier and teleporting them dozens of meters away.

The black skulls descended like a collapsing mountain.

Yeyou, gripping his trident, confronted the attack head-on with brute force.

"Another one of you damned karma fire phoenixes!" Mo Jiuzi cursed, pointing angrily at Su He.

"Oh, scared of us phoenixes, are you?" Su He laughed mockingly, hands on his hips. "So scared that you won't leave home without hiring a Black Flame Demon as a bodyguard?"

"You..." Mo Jiuzi roared in frustration.

Jian Xiaolou glanced toward Yeyou. The overwhelming black skulls had completely buried him. "Can Yeyou handle that?"

Su He waved dismissively. "Piece of cake. The dragon clan may not suppress Black Flame Demons, but white dragons are water-attribute. The demon flames are nearly ineffective against them."

Before he finished speaking, a loud explosion shattered the pile of skulls into dust.

Yeyou emerged unscathed, brushing off debris. "It's not that powerful. How did it injure Golden Feather?"

Su He rolled his eyes. "You only pick on weaklings. That Black Flame Demon was tenth-tier. Try taking on a fifteenth-tier one. And besides, we're the ones being suppressed here, remember?"

Yeyou pointed ahead. "That green demon ran away."

Jian Xiaolou had already noticed Mo Jiuzi fleeing. As long as he didn't massacre the city, it didn't matter if he escaped.

"Great, now we've made yet another enemy," Su He sighed, glancing at Jian Xiaolou helplessly. "You had your moment of heroism. Once you're gone, we'll be stuck cleaning up the mess."

"I told you not to come out," Jian Xiaolou mumbled, her gaze evasive. She felt guilty—without their help, she would have died. But in that moment, she had no better choice.

Ultimately, growing stronger was the only solution.

Angry, Su He opened his mouth to retort, but Yeyou tossed a soul lock toward him. "Weren't you planning to visit the Exile Realm? Go ahead."

Caught off guard, Su He stared blankly at the soul lock. "You're letting me go just like that?"

Yeyou nodded. "Thanks for taking care of me when I was injured. Farewell."

With that, he grabbed Jian Xiaolou by the shoulder, transformed into a white light, and vanished.

Su He stood there in a daze.

Freedom at last, yet why did he feel abandoned?

No, it was more than that—a sense of impending danger loomed.

That treacherous dragon must be up to something!