Luo Hongyan stumbled back several steps, collapsing onto the ground.
Changqing lay in her arms, a large gush of blood pouring from his mouth.
“Changqing, Changqing, are you alright? Don’t scare me!”
Luo Hongyan supported his shoulders, laying him flat on her lap, and shook his head repeatedly.
“Hiss.”
She lifted her clothes and looked down, only then discovering a shallow wound on her waist, from which blood was flowing in small trickles with her movements.
But she could no longer worry about that, because Changqing’s body, even without lifting his clothes, clearly showed a massive blood-hole, piercing through his abdomen.
Luo Hongyan was a Spell Cultivator, not skilled in combat, and had almost no experience fighting others. Just now, she had been fully focused on controlling the Azure Flame Mystic Bird, when Dan Ji suddenly moved with incredible speed, giving her no time to dodge.
At the crucial moment, Changqing rushed over. Dan Ji’s giant claw pierced through his body, and the tip of the claw grazed Luo Hongyan’s waist.
Under normal circumstances, such a wound would not be a problem for him. His Qi was still abundant, and both Blood Healing Spirit and Blood Demon Spirit could allow him to recover quickly.
But at this moment, he had Qi but no Imperial Spirit, making a wound of this severity fatal.
Changqing felt his vision begin to blur, and a chill swept through his entire body. He suspected it was a symptom of excessive blood loss.
“Look, can I still be saved?”
He did not panic, but asked calmly. Dan Ji was now without the power to resist, and the raging fires could not stop Luo Hongyan, who could manipulate flames. He knew Luo Hongyan understood medicine and might still be able to save him; victory was within reach.
Luo Hongyan’s eyes were red, and she subconsciously shook her head, then quickly nodded, wiping away tears from the corners of her eyes, and said urgently.
“There’s hope, there’s hope! Don’t worry, I’ll save you right now.”
However, Changqing saw all her expressions. He sighed.
“Then don’t bother. The Hundred Flowers Token is buried in the soil over there. Once you confirm Dan Ji is dead, quickly take the Hundred Flowers Token and leave.”
He raised his hand, pointing to where the Hundred Flowers Token was buried not far away, then seemed to remember something and asked.
“By the way, you weren’t injured, were you…?”
Luo Hongyan touched the wound on her body. She was very intelligent and rational, but at this moment, her mind was in Chaos. She knew this young man was about to die, and she didn’t know what to say. She could only shake her head repeatedly, as if begging Changqing not to die, or perhaps begging Heaven for a miracle.
“That’s good, that’s good…” Changqing smiled, raising his hand with some effort, wanting to place it on Luo Hongyan’s face.
Seeing this, Luo Hongyan grabbed his hand and placed it on her chest, as if this could warm his cold hand.
“I’m really too tired, I want to… sleep for a while.”
But his hand could not feel the warmth from the girl’s chest. The world quickly plunged into darkness and cold.
“No, no, no!”
Luo Hongyan desperately shook his shoulders, her voice turning from a whimper to a scream.
“Stop shaking him. Only I can save him now. Instead of crying there, make a deal with me.”
Dan Ji’s voice came from behind.
She looked in the direction of the voice, only to see Dan Ji still in her final attack posture, unable to move, like a statue.
Luo Hongyan wiped away her tears, stood up, and questioned.
“How can you save him?”
“That’s not difficult. This boy is a Blood Arts cultivator and an Innate Spiritual Body. His wound can’t heal only because I just took all his Imperial Spirit. As long as I return his Imperial Spirit to him, this small wound can recover in the blink of an eye.”
Upon hearing this, Luo Hongyan’s eyes lit up, unable to hide the surprise in her tone.
“Whatever your conditions are, just state them.”
“The conditions are simple.”
Dan Ji smiled playfully.
“We’ll exchange Spirit for Spirit, so no one loses out. As long as you destroy all of your Imperial Spirit, I can return this boy’s Imperial Spirit to him.”
Luo Hongyan nodded without hesitation.
“Alright.”
With that, she raised her hand, and light shimmered. More than ten Mystic Spirits radiating a light blue glow and over a hundred Yellow Spirits radiating a milky white glow appeared before her.
She stared into Dan Ji’s eyes, enunciating each word.
“After I destroy my Imperial Spirit, you must immediately return Changqing’s Imperial Spirit.”
Dan Ji, however, had an indifferent expression.
“Believe it or not, this boy is dying anyway, I’m not in a hurry.”
She was right. There was no time left for Luo Hongyan to think. Whether Dan Ji was lying or not, she had to believe, simply because Changqing’s life was slowly fading with time.
If Changqing were still awake, he would surely deliberate repeatedly.
Why would Dan Ji do this? What was her purpose in saving him?
Why would she do something that seemed to have no benefit to her, like making Luo Hongyan destroy her own Imperial Spirit?
This old monster was extremely selfish and calm; it was impossible for her to have a change of heart. So, what did she want to gain from this transaction?
But Luo Hongyan had no time to think further.
She gritted her teeth, closed her eyes, and all the Imperial Spirits before her shattered, turning into specks of light and completely dissipating.
A trace of blood flowed from the corner of her mouth; the backlash from suddenly losing all her Imperial Spirit also caused her considerable harm.
But she stubbornly extended her hand, “I did it. It’s your turn to fulfill your promise.”
Dan Ji did not hesitate either, nodding with satisfaction. Her body below the head began to rapidly wither and decay. Finally, the body, already occupied by countless crimson tentacles of the Blood Demon Spirit, turned into a dry, pale, bone-gray color.
With a “crack,” her body completely shattered, and her head fell to the ground. Among the ashes beneath her, a Blood Law Spirit shaped like a worm and another Blood Law Spirit shaped like a tumor, each radiating deep purple and light blue light respectively, appeared.
“These are the Blood Healing Spirit and the Blood Demon Spirit, enough to save him,” Dan Ji’s fallen head spoke.
She had expelled the Blood Demon Spirit from her body, and the parts of her body that had been parasitized and eroded by the Blood Demon Spirit also dissipated, leaving only her head.
But relying on the powerful vitality of her Natal Imperial Spirit, the Blood Sea Other Shore, she did not die. However, with her Qi depleted, she was temporarily reduced to just a head and could not regenerate her body.
Luo Hongyan quickly picked up the two Imperial Spirits, enduring her injuries, and stumbled to kneel beside Changqing.
“The Blood Law Spirit only needs to be eaten by him, and he will naturally use it and recover,” Dan Ji reminded.
Upon hearing this, Luo Hongyan hurriedly placed the two Imperial Spirits into Changqing’s mouth.
Indeed, the massive blood-hole on his body immediately began to heal at a visible rate. Before long, he opened his eyes.
Changqing felt hazy, as if he had returned to reality. Opening his eyes, he saw Luo Hongyan’s concerned face before him and subconsciously called out.
“Qinghe?”
Luo Hongyan’s face instantly darkened.
Seeing that something was wrong, Changqing quickly looked around, then reached out to touch the wound on his body, saying with some awkwardness and hesitation.
“Cough cough, I’m not dead?”
Luo Hongyan snorted, saying irritably.
“If I knew you wanted to die so much, I wouldn’t have saved you.”
Changqing scratched his head sheepishly, feeling the Blood Demon Spirit and Blood Healing Spirit within him, and asked in confusion.
“What’s going on? How did my Imperial Spirit come back?”
Luo Hongyan pointed to Dan Ji’s head on the ground.
“I made a deal with her and asked her to return your Imperial Spirit.”
“A deal?”
Changqing instantly became alert upon hearing this, asking urgently.
“What did you trade with her?”
As he spoke, he looked her up and down, as if fearing she might have lost an arm or a leg.
Luo Hongyan felt a bit embarrassed under his gaze, but she didn’t shake off Changqing’s hand; her eyes merely darted away.
“It’s nothing, let’s quickly deal with this guy and then leave.”
Changqing felt an indescribable strangeness, but seeing the still-burning fires around them, he also nodded.
“Alright, if anything, we’ll discuss it after we leave. However, Dan Ji won’t die so easily. We need to take her head with us and figure out how to Seal her or kill her completely.”