Chapter Two: Rapid As Wildfires 

"Don't you see?! All of your allies have turned their backs. Everything ends here. There are undercover agents and spies everywhere, the Orthodox Alliance shall erode for the Heavenly Demon Cult to rise!"

What was with all this nonsense monolouging? Certainly Xue Yuan felt the begining of a brain aneurysm due to how edgy the villainous lackey sounded.

Although perhaps the point of the hooded stranger's exagerated theatrics was to create a sense of hopelessness.

The bodies that lined the walls of the floor were now cold corpses. A few moments prior they writhed like bugs.

Such a sight would have been enough to cause even the most hardened of warriors to stiffen up. If only for a moment.

As for Xue Yuan, he didn't even flinch. His lack of feeling is what unerved him the most, rather than the sight of the ground stained with blood.

Whereas Liu Yanli was distraught but she remained resolved. Loyal guards who she hadn't gotten to know very personally were dead.

Soon enough swords clashed and the few remaining Orthodox Alliance members were slaughtered or they had retreated. To stay and fight was a pointless endeavour.

"Minister Xue, escape while you can. Since my job as Grandmaster is coming to an end I'll defend Xinyan City until my last breath." Liu Yanli ordered.

How strange... Mere words could cause such an elicit emotion within Xue Yuan. It was akin to someone disembowling his entrails.

Truly a twisted wretched feeling. Yet at least there were things that could be done to mitigate it. Such as keeping Liu Yanli alive and preventing her death.

Definitely that was another thing for Xue Yuan to add to his list of grievances which were important for him to mentally unpack later.

"Surely my liege it would be better for both of us to flee and fight another day then to continue with this pointless tirade." Stated Xue Yuan with a vacant smile.

Either that or he'd have to drag her kicking and screaming. Maybe even subdue her with poison until the two reached safety.

Again it was intrusive thoughts like that which were beginning to make him feel a little uneasy.

A few moments later an assain aimed for Xue Yuan's heart. To which Liu Yanli effortlessly cut the assailant in half.

"I suppose you're right..." She admited. "There's nothing left for me here except an early grave and Xinyan City has always been just my father's rotting legacy."

All escape routes were blocked by the Heavenly Demon Cult. Hence it was as if fate wanted to ensure that Liu Yanli died that day.

Xue Yuan was busy thinking about contingency plans. When only a moment had passed and he was picked up similar to a sack of potatoes.

Since it was Liu Yanli doing the heavy lifting Xue Yuan didn't mind being carried like a damsel in distress. Yet what he did have a problem with was the fact she decided to charge straight into the enemy.

Nonetheless they fell like dominoes one after another. Right, the might of a Martial Emperor was nearly peerless!

Meanwhile Xinyan City was utterly decimated. It was a ghost town in the making due to how abandoned everything looked.

The grand treasurey was raided of rare artifacts and resources. Meanwhile the Library Pavillion was left to burn while the books and scrolls were looted.

"It appears we're in the home free, so my leige if you would put me down now." Xue Yuan said.

"Light as a feather and yet theres some muscle hidden on your frame. Curious... You must follow some sort of training routine after all." Liu Yanli commented.

"That's what you notice of while we're still in the throes of danger? Nonetheless I'll take it as a compliment." He preened.

"How shameless! This one has only stated that which is fact."

The gate to exit the city was mere metres away. Yets whats to say there wasn't an ambush waiting ahead?

After all the Heavenly Demon Cult only used underhanded tactics.

Due to knowing literature tropes from reading webnovels, and being versed in the ways of Demonic cultivation, Xue Yuan was right. The enemy did have something planned.

"It seems we've walked right into their trap." He sighed.

"So be it, I'll win this battle with a single strike." Liu Yanli promised.

"Although if that's who I think it is surely this fight will take a lot more effort."

Out of all people why did it have to be that incompetent fool? However, as the main character's rival he was a character on par with the protagonist.

Yi Peizhi happened to be cowardly in the face of a much greater opononent. Albeit he was super unpredictable when provoked.

Nonetheless Yi Peizhi remained a mid ranking official of the Heavenly Demon Cult under the Inferno Alchemist Sect. Meanwhile In the far future once his sister was turned into a human cauldron only then did he deffect.

"Hahaha...You two stragglers will make the perfect living ingredients!" Yi Peizhi boasted.

The air suddenly grew warm and the atompshere was sluggish with heat. It had a similar feeling to standing next to an active volcano.

In terms of strength the match up should be rather laughable. Liu Yanli was in the upper Nascent Soul Realm.

Whereas Yi Peizhi was in the much lower Foundation Establishment stage. That being said he had a high tolerance to experimental drugs. Thus he pushed past his limits via an over reliance on pills.

Is it wrong to want to kill someone indiffrently in cold blood? Probally, considering Xue Yuan vaugely retained his twenty-first century morals.

That being said the impulse to commit murder was still there. Like an itch that couldn't be scratched, maggots crawling underneath skin.

Yet sometimes a twisted psyche is the most effective weapon. An unsound mind doesn't always mean an irrational individual.
Besides Xue Yuan had a facade to maintain.

Interestingly enough while Liu Yanli was a righteous cultivator she was currently giving off an aura of killing intent.

Regardless Yi Peizhi remained undeterred. He condensed his Qi to create a barrage of flames.

The flames nearly engulfed Liu Yanli but on a second glance they had dissipated. She had sliced through the torrent of fire.

Since Yi Peizhi's attacks wern't working he opted to target Xue Yuan instead. Such a thing could be considered an even more fatal mistake than blindly attacking a Martial Emperor.

A moment later Yi Peizhi fell to his knees and started coughing up blood. It seemed as the bad side effects of those dodgy pills he liked to take were finally kicking in.

However, that wasn't the case. Instead a mysterious lethal poison had been slowly taking its toll on him.

Meanwhile after making sure Xue Yuan was okay Liu Yanli was preparing to strike a killing blow. Yet then a teleporation array was activated. 

In a blinding flash Yi Peizhi was gone, although heavily wounded he had vanished into thin air.

The former had run away like a cockroach. Still, it presented the perfect chance for Xue Yuan and Liu Yanli to continue with their escape.

Miles away in a secret underground hideout that belonged to the Alcemist Inferno Sect was a young women. In most regards she was a jade beauty but there were unsightly dark cirles underneath her eyes.

"Truly disappointing, once again you return with your tail between your legs." She said with a dejected sigh. "Plus you owe me, since I wasted that 100 year old ginseng on you."

"Nonetheless I did as I was supposed to! Xinyan City is in shambles!" Yi Peizhi laughed.

"As if that was a feat you accomplished alone, consider the efforts of those else who were involved. Anyways you're lucky that fate still favours you."

"What do you mean?" He snapped.

"That substance that got into your system, its not a regular posion. Good thing it was such a small dose."

"Like that's a big deal. New forms of venom get invented all the time."

"I'm getting to that." The tired young women rolled her eyes."It nearly coroded your Spirtual Veins. You wouldn't just be crippled but the corrosion would also dissolve you alive."

"So someone tried to kill me. Like thats anything new."

"No brother, you imbecile! It was a threat, a warning even. This stuff is what's used to melt golden cores." Her bored tone became serious.

"Oh... An interesting development then. I suppose it would be best to press the Demonic Nightshade Sect for answers." Yi Peizhi snarled.